Reading the 20th Century discussion

Welcome to The Midnight Bell 2024 edition….


….a general discussion thread in which you can talk about anything and everything.

It also masquerades as a classic British pub.

Get your first pretend pint free - other pretend beverages are also available.

Come one, come all, gather round and, of course, be of good cheer.

New year new pub discussion


Here's to more great discussions and more great books in 2024

I'll be posting our next nomination thread very soon (for our March 2024 group read discussion). Hopefully later today.


It's a book from the 1940s this time round, so have a think about classic books from the the 1940s that you might like to nominate

Happy 2024 everyone!

(Is anyone else craving simple non-party food and a return to normality?!)

Ooh, 1940s, so many great writers and books. How would we feel about reading a play as I'm thinking of Tennessee Williams, maybe Cat on a Hot Tin Roof- but recognize not everyone likes reading plays?

I'm also wondering about The Bridge Over the Drina or Love in a Fallen City which I'm dying to re-read - though, again, not everyone likes stories as opposed to a novel. But it's January 1st so maybe a new year breakout of habits? 😃

Happy New Year and thanks this group definitely made 2023 a much better experience than it might have been! All those possibilities sound tempting, I'm a bit of a fan of Tennessee Williams, although mainly through the films, particularly Suddenly Last Summer and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

This group certainly is a little haven of loveliness but which also supports debate and discussion in a considerate way - so thanks to everyone for creating such a friendly space 🥰

Needless to say, I've never seen a Tennessee Williams film (!) - but I read Streetcar a while ago and was blown away by it.

Never read a play outside of school, but it's short, so wouldn't say no. Seen the film of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and a live performance of The Glass Menagerie a long time ago, and loved the atmosphere Williams creates.

Roman Clodia wrote:


"I've never seen a Tennessee Williams film (!) - but I read Streetcar a while ago and was blown away by it"

You really need to see the Vivien Leigh / Marlon Brando 1951 film

Ridiculously good

I don't mind reading plays and have really enjoyed reading a few, including...


Death of a Salesman

Journey's End

Gas Light

Rope: A Play


So yes, if you want to nominate a play then I'd certainly consider voting for it. That said I have just nominated and am keen to read that book too. And Susan has just nominated an old favourite that is always worth a reread

Ditto the comments about this group. I read every post and it’s comments. That’s why I found myself a copy of the Clarice Lispector biography that I am thoroughly enjoying. I am taking it slow, chapter by chapter, and the Complete Stories also. They are like reading confidential letters from a close friend.

For 1940s I was thinking about Tennessee Williams a bit. I looked up Pearl S Buck titles but the dates don’t work. And, I’m waiting to see what the veteran members have in mind.
Wishing everyone a great new year.

Thanks for that confirmation of plays - but just checked and Cat was 1955 so not for this round of nominations, although The Glass Menagerie was 1945.

I don't read enough plays, and appreciate hearing these recommendations. My favorite play to read is The Lion in Winter by James Goldman. The film with Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn is a must see, but reading it was great fun too.

Happy New Year all! Wishing everyone lots of wonderful reads and looking forward to more great book chat this year!

I was just looking at the Amazon page for Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky and underneath, in the section titled Customers who viewed this item also viewed was a list of firm favourites. Right at the end was a title I'd never heard of....



Tokyo Express (1958) by Seichō Matsumoto



'An irresistible Hitchcockian gem: a fiendishly-plotted crime novel told in crisp, elegant prose' Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train

'Matsumoto was Japan's Agatha Christie' Laura Hackett, The Sunday Times

'It was a puzzle with no solution. But he did not lose heart.'

In a rocky cove in the bay of Hakata, the bodies of a young and beautiful couple are discovered. Stood in the coast's wind and cold, the police see nothing to investigate: the flush of the couple's cheeks speaks clearly of cyanide, of a lovers' suicide. But in the eyes of two men, Torigai Jutaro, a senior detective, and Kiichi Mihara, a young gun from Tokyo, something is not quite right. Together, they begin to pick at the knot of a unique and calculated crime...

Now widely available in English for the first time, Tokyo Express is celebrated around the world as Seicho Matsumoto's masterpiece - and as one of the most fiendish puzzles ever written.



Anyone know it?

Would you recommend?

Nigeyb wrote: "I was just looking at the Amazon page for Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky and underneath, in the section titled Customers who viewed this item also viewed was a list of firm fav..."

Yes, I would. I really enjoyed this one though whodunit is clear from the start (or almost) and it is mainly the question of how the detective breaks his alibi and this involves a lot of railway timetables ad routes.

Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Nigeyb wrote: "I was just looking at the Amazon page for Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky and underneath, in the section titled Customers who viewed this item also viewed was a list of firm fav..."

I enjoyed that one too, it's a little dry in places but fascinating overall.

Thanks both of you

Nigeyb wrote: "I was just looking at the Amazon page for Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky and underneath, in the section titled Customers who viewed this item also viewed was a list of firm fav..."

I don't know Tokyo Express but I did love his Inspector Imanishi Investigates which I read in 2022.

I read that too (edit: Inspector Imanishi Investigates), and gave it 5 stars! Oddly, though, I can hardly remember it now ...

Thanks Rosina - all this positivity means it added to my list

Those both look good - I definitely didn't read enough detective fiction in 2023.

Rosina wrote: "I read that too (edit: Inspector Imanishi Investigates), and gave it 5 stars! Oddly, though, I can hardly remember it now ..."

Thanks Rosina, adding to my TBR. I enjoyed Tokyo Express and want to pick up more of his books!

I always enjoy essays by Parul Sehgal, who moved from the book review department of the NY Times to the New Yorker a few years ago. Terrible loss for the Times; their book reviews have declined immensely.

She has written a terrific article in the 11 December issue of The New Yorker -- yes, I'm that far behind-- about the lives of critics and mentioning a book by Wilfred Sheed Max Jamison that must belong to some important category for some members of this group. It's now on my To Read list at Open Library.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...

For Bolaño fans, Trevor Berrett and Paul Wilson are leading a read-along of The Savage Detectives, beginning in February: https://mookse.substack.com/p/the-sav...

In case anyone else missed the announcement, BBC4 and iPlayer are showing a series of vintage adaptations from their archives, most of which are from twentieth century books.

On 'old' TV they're on Wednesday nights, but also available on iPlayer. Currently we can watch the iconic Ehle/Firth Pride & Prejudice, the original I Claudius, Wolf Hall, All Passion Spent. Coming are Lady Chatterley's Lover, A Passage to India and more.

Thanks RC. iPlayer is the gift that keeps on giving

Thanks RC I'll be sure to check iplayer.

I hope this might be the place to report that my problem with notifications has been solved by Manuel at Goodreads Support. He recommended clearing my browser history cache and hey presto the new cookies downloaded when I next logged into goodreads restored the notifications. What a great site this is !!

Thanks, I'll give it a go

My notifications have started up again without clearing the browser cache.

They had gone silent both in the app and multiple browsers and across devices, so before you clear your cache and lose other histories you may want to check.

One of my regular podcasts is the monthly New Yorker fiction podcast, in which a writer and the New Yorker fiction editor read and discuss a story that has appeared in a previous issue of the magazine.

This month's story, Jennifer Egan's "Safari", which later became part of her novel A Visit from the Goon Squad, and the related discussion are excellent.

https://play.prx.org/listen?ge=prx_62...

Thanks Ben. I am a subscriber to the New Yorker online but didn’t think to look for podcasts.

There are some wonderful readings and discussions in the series, which has been going on for years. I didn't care for last month's reading of Bolano's Labyrinth but have enjoyed nearly all the others I've heard.

Ben wrote: "There are some wonderful readings and discussions in the series, which has been going on for years. I didn't care for last month's reading of Bolano's Labyrinth but have enjoyed nearly all the othe..."

Totally agree, it's definitely worth the time.

I agree Ben . ..I'm a regular fan too ..I also enjoy Selected Shorts , hosted by Meg Wolitzer, where the stories are read by actors .( A pet peeve of mine is that writers / poets don't always read their work very well . There can be a default flatness of tone and range that can strip a story of energy) . I'm going to be deliberately controversial and say it can extend to singer / songwriters too ....sometimes I shout at the wireless
" great song but let someone else sing it ! ".....sad person that I am ..

Yes, if the New Yorker podcast has a weak point, Hester, that’s it. But for me the discussions between the writer and Deborah Treisman make up for it. Treisman asks good questions and often she was the editor of the story or has some insight into the original writing. And it’s great to get a writer’s perspective on how a story is put together.

Two good finds at a NT secondhand bookshop today - The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton for our buddy read later this year and The Gentlewomen. On looking up The Gentlewomen I found that Laura Talbot (Lady Ursula Chetwynd-Talbot) was Patrick Hamilton's first wife.

Nice work Sonia

Superb article by Patrick Radden Keefe in the New Yorker. A story of the unsolved death of a middle class teen who created an identity as the son of a Russian oligarch.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...

Thanks Ben


PRK is always worth reading

Hi folks,
Audible intel I recently discovered:
-after I stopped paying monthly membership, I still had access to all the titles in the audible catalogue that were included with the membership (for "free" or since I stopped membership payment actually free). This access continued for six months after I stopped paying. I don't know if this would still happen now or if they've closed it off
-I have taken membership up again for a month and their phone app has removed the option to filter for free books/ books included for "free" with the membership. To filter for the free ones now you have to go on to the desktop site

Wonderful short story in the New Yorker about a gathering of Afghan refugees.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...

Thanks Ben! Afghanistan seems to have been forgotten, was really depressed to hear that stoning women is going to be reinstated there.

Alwynne wrote: "Thanks Ben! Afghanistan seems to have been forgotten, was really depressed to hear that stoning women is going to be reinstated there."

I agree on how quickly the main news cycles have moved on. And Afghan asylum seekers are being labelled 'illegal migrants' with all the associated vile actions and rhetoric. I even read some absurdities about people being told they need to get visa paperwork to prove that they worked with British troops signed by... the Taliban!

That's incredible, RC. Much like the UK interning Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany as potential enemies along with Nazi prisoners of war.

More history has happened in Afghanistan since the 1960's than most countries experience in two centuries.

Ben wrote: "That's incredible, RC. Much like the UK interning Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany as potential enemies along with Nazi prisoners of war."

Yes, exactly. And the Daily Mail at the forefront in both cases of demonising the most vulnerable, though hardly alone, of course.

For those interested in the new Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Until August, it is being serialised on BBC Sounds. Episode 1 today.

Sonia wrote: "For those interested in the new Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Until August, it is being serialised on BBC Sounds. Episode 1 today."

Thanks - I never check Sounds but enjoy everything I've listened to.

Going to hear Andrew O Hagan speak tonight at my local deli along with 70 others. Looking forward to a good night

Stephen wrote: "Going to hear Andrew O Hagan speak tonight at my local deli along with 70 others. Looking forward to a good night"

Hope you have fun! Sounds like nice way to spend an evening. I don't know much about him as an author, I read The Missing by Andrew O'Hagan during my true crime phase but don't really remember much about it, although I do remember liking it at the time.