Reading the 20th Century discussion

New year, new discussion thread for 2024


So, what are you reading now?

I've got four books on the go at the moment...


Red Menace by Joe Thomas - second in a trilogy and courtesy of Netgalley. Susan put me on to these books and they are splendid. This is another winner

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman - these books have smashed al manner of publishing records so am intrigued to investigate their incredible popularity. It's certainly a light, easy and enjoyable read so far

Alan Partridge: Big Beacon by Alan Partridge - love these Partidge books especially on audio. Long time Partridge fan. Aren't we all?

A Question of Upbringing by Anthony Powell - first in the A Dance To The Music of Time books which we are reading throughout 2024. This is a reread for me and one I am looking forward to discussing with you lovely lovely people

What about you?

Currently reading The Reef after previously reading The Age of Innocence, House of Mirth and Ethan Frome. 80 pages in and as with those two you know that it is not going to end well, but for whom remains to be seen.

I am still reading Berta Isla which is fantastic when I have dedicated time but Marias is not a writer to be hurried - think a mash-up of John le Carre with an existentialist like Camus.

Unusually for me, I've just started a contemporary historical romance that comes highly recommended by a friend: A Wicked Kind of Husband - seems modelled on Georgette Heyer and is light and bantery, always a good thing.

And am about to start King Hereafter which I'm buddy reading with another group.

p.s. A non-reading friend has lent me this and said she's never read a book so fast: My Name is Barbra. Everyone knows I'm rubbish with films but even I've seen Funny Girl and The Way We Were {swoon!}

Thanks to Susan I have just finished reading Red Menace (2024) via Netgalley.


Red Menace is the second in Joe Thomas's United Kingdom Trilogy and follows White Riot (2023)

The second instalment is every bit as good as the first and this is up there with David Peace's Red Riding Trilogy which, as you probably know, is very high praise.

This time the real world context is the Broadwater Farm riot on 6 October 1985 which saw two deaths, Cynthia Jarrett (the previous day) and PC Blakelock. We also relive the Wapping dispute when print unions tried to block distribution of The Sunday Times, along with other newspapers in Rupert Murdoch's News International group, after production was shifted to a new plant in Wapping in January 1986.

My review....

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Do you think I'd like this, Nigeyb? I'm a huge Peace fan, as you know, but as much for his hypnotic, frenzied style of writing as for the content.

My dad was a printer involved in Wapping so this is one of my childhood memories.

As you like David Peace I'd say yes


The writing is not as good as DP and lacks that hypnotic element you reference.

That said I know you'd appreciate the political aspects and probably the London location too.

All that said I have a nagging doubt that it might not be your cup of tea

Thanks - maybe one to pick up from the library in that case.

Another book I currently have on the go is....



The Thursday Murder Club

by

Richard Osman


The first in the phenomenally successful Thursday Murder Club Series. After the fourth in the series was published in September 2023, the series officially surpassed five million copies sold in the UK and Ireland.

I can see a few members here have enjoyed the book and have to say, at around the halfway point, it is a lot of fun

Nigeyb wrote: "Another book I currently have on the go is....



The Thursday Murder Club

by

Richard Osman


The first in the phenomenally successful Thursday Murder Club Series..."

I had an email from the library today to say that the forth one has just come in; I was about 180 in the queue back in October. I hope to pick it up tomorrow.

Today I finished A Lady and Her Husband by Amber Reeves; she was the daughter of Maud Pember Reeves and would have been with her mother when she was visiting the working families who were struggling to survive on Round About a Pound a Week. It was interesting, but too heavy-handed over getting her message across.

I'm now reading One Year's Time by Angela Milne, who was A.A. Milne's neice. She was a prolific contributor to Punch, amongst others, but this is her only publushed novel.

I am currently reading:

Why This World A Biography of Clarice Lispector,

Complete Stories Clarice Lispector

Life After Life, Kate Atkinson

Burying The Crown, TP Fielden

We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Modern Ireland
(The first two will be read over weeks rather than days.)

Tania wrote:


"I had an email from the library today to say that the fourth one (The Last Devil to Die) has just come in; I was about 180 in the queue back in October. I hope to pick it up tomorrow."

Thanks Tania

Glad to learn the series has sustained your interrest

I've just started the new, yet to be published Andrew O'Hagan....


Caledonian Road (2024)


It's started brilliantly. Funny and very well observed

On Netgalley now folks


A biting portrait of British class, politics, and money told through five interconnected families and their rising―and declining―fortunes.

Campbell Flynn, art historian and biographer of Vermeer, always knew that when his life came crashing down, it would happen in public―yet he never imagined that a single year in London would expose so much. Entangled with a brilliant student, he begins to see trouble brewing for his family and friends. All his worlds collide―the art scene and academia, fashion and the English aristocracy, journalism and the internet―as dangerous forces enter his life and Caledonian Road gives up its secrets.
Andrew O’Hagan has written a social novel in the Victorian style, drawing a whole cast of characters into company with each other and revealing the inner energies of the way we live now.

“Not only a peerless chronicler of our times, O’Hagan has generosity, humour and tenderness, which make this novel an utter joy to read.”―Monica Ali, author of Love Marriage and Brick Lane

I finished another issue of the excellent Monkey MONKEY New Writing from Japan: Volume 4: MUSIC which showcases Japanese writing in translation in a variety of genres

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I read a first novel by Hester Musson The Beholders which was recently snapped up by Fourth Estate, a mystery set in late nineteenth-century England, there were some elements I found jarring and I didn’t think it entirely held together but, for all that, I found it surprisingly engrossing.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I was completely caught up in Anna Dorn's lesbian take on the 'messy woman' novel, Perfume and Pain set in LA, it centres on aggressively outspoken Astrid who's trying to survive possible cancellation and the LA lesbian dating scene, funny, sometimes deliberately provocative, reminded me of Halle Butler but mingled with Michelle Tea and a dash of Emily M. Danforth.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Alwynne wrote: "I was completely caught up in Anna Dorn's lesbian take on the 'messy woman' novel, Perfume and Pain set in LA"

That sounds fun!

Roman Clodia wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "I was completely caught up in Anna Dorn's lesbian take on the 'messy woman' novel, Perfume and Pain set in LA"

That sounds fun!"

It was snarky and provocative and slipped down easily.

I've just finished a slow re-read of Berta Isla by Javier Marías and this time it ended up at 5-stars from me: www.goodreads.com/review/show/2810234217

I'll be reading the companion, Tomás Nevinson, soon but probably need something plotty and faster-paced first.

Hi everyone,

I took inspiration from this book group to read Dodie Smith’s “I Capture The Castle” and just finished it.

I haven’t read such a delightfully funny but kind and heartwarming story in a long time. I loved the eccentric characters, the sweeping setting of a crumbling castle, and the beautiful descriptions of the English countryside. I wish I could retire to one.

Cassandra in this book reminded me of the namesake protagonist of Cassandra At The Wedding. While the characters themselves are quite different I couldn’t help but notice similar themes too. The atmosphere of days leading up to a wedding, in both books Cassandras objected to the match, and they both felt so separate and isolated from everyone else.

I wonder if there are more Cassandras to explore in other books.

Ooh, love that comparison between the two Cassandras - and love both those books!

Anubha wrote: "Hi everyone,

I took inspiration from this book group to read Dodie Smith’s “I Capture The Castle” and just finished it.

I haven’t read such a delightfully funny but kind and heartwarming story in..."
If you enjoyed the general structure of it--eccentric family, crumbly house etc, you might also enjoy The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets

Thank you for the recommendation @lady Clementina. I'll certainly add it to my reading list.

Anubha wrote: "Thank you for the recommendation @lady Clementina. I'll certainly add it to my reading list."

You could try Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love & Love in a Cold Climate, also Stella
Gibbon's Cold Comfort Farm, more downbeat but similar setting Elspeth Barker's O Caledonia.

Alwynne wrote: "Anubha wrote: "Thank you for the recommendation @lady Clementina. I'll certainly add it to my reading list."

You could try Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love & Love in a Cold Climate..."

Thank you Alwynne. I've already read and loved Cold Comfort Farm. I have a fondness for whimsical characters and Cold Comfort Farm doesn't disappoint. I found myself laughing out loud several times. I will definitely check out the other recommendations too.

Alwynne wrote: "Anubha wrote: "Thank you for the recommendation @lady Clementina. I'll certainly add it to my reading list."

You could try Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love & Love in a Cold Climate..."

I will definitely second Alwynne's recommendation of Nancy Mitford. I enjoy her books too!

I was glued to Jessica Zhan Mei Yu's acclaimed, debut novel But the Girl an intricate but accessible take on Sylvia Plath, race and the experiences of an Asian
Australian, PhD student embarking on a writing career.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Alwynne wrote: "I was glued to Jessica Zhan Mei Yu's acclaimed, debut novel But the Girl"

That sounds interesting!

Roman Clodia wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "I was glued to Jessica Zhan Mei Yu's acclaimed, debut novel But the Girl"

That sounds interesting!"

It was, you might like it, you'll certainly get all the Plath references!
It's been shortlisted for a major Australian literary award, and she's also written some interesting non-fiction and has a book of essays in the pipeline. I read a really interesting piece by her in The White Review a while ago about Asian Australian identity:

https://www.thewhitereview.org/featur...

I finished the audio of Walk Through Walls : A Memoir by Marina Abramović - and liked it more than Alwynne! 😉 I had similar thoughts on what's missing and what's annoying but given that I knew hardly anything about her life I enjoyed it, especially as the audio is read by Abramovic herself.

www.goodreads.com/review/show/5858230354

Anubha wrote: "I wonder if there are more Cassandras to explore in other books."

I recently read Cassandra by East German author Christa Wolf
GR describes it as "the story of the fall of Troy, but from the point of view of the woman whose visionary powers earned her contempt and scorn." Themes include "patriarchy and war" and Wolfe's goal was "to examine the past in order to insure a future."

It was a bit of a slog at times, largely due to my getting lost amidst all the characters thrown at me. However, by looking at outside sources and keeping a log of names, I was able to overcome this problem and get some satisfaction out of the read. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I gave I Capture the Castle 4 stars and did enjoy the Cassandra character. I've watched and very much enjoyed the movie several times too, a few times before I ever read the book.
I gave Cassandra at the Wedding 5 stars. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I'm trying some Italian Modernism with

Apparently James Joyce was a fan, but I won't let that put me off.
I'm about 100 pages in and just starting to get a feel for it.
It uses the strange conceit of being an autobiography written by the protagonist as part if his psychoanalysis, and then published without permission by the analyst after they fall out.

I'm making slow headway with the new, yet to be published Andrew O'Hagan....


Caledonian Road (2024)


...however it is superb. A real tour de force and another classic London novel but also very contemporary. Hopefully I'll have a bit more time to devote to it next week. Too much socialising at the moment


Currently on Netgalley


A biting portrait of British class, politics, and money told through five interconnected families and their rising―and declining―fortunes.

Campbell Flynn, art historian and biographer of Vermeer, always knew that when his life came crashing down, it would happen in public―yet he never imagined that a single year in London would expose so much. Entangled with a brilliant student, he begins to see trouble brewing for his family and friends. All his worlds collide―the art scene and academia, fashion and the English aristocracy, journalism and the internet―as dangerous forces enter his life and Caledonian Road gives up its secrets.
Andrew O’Hagan has written a social novel in the Victorian style, drawing a whole cast of characters into company with each other and revealing the inner energies of the way we live now.

“Not only a peerless chronicler of our times, O’Hagan has generosity, humour and tenderness, which make this novel an utter joy to read.”―Monica Ali, author of Love Marriage and Brick Lane

Nigeyb wrote: "I'm making slow headway with the new, yet to be published Andrew O'Hagan"

It sounds a bit like Anthony Powell brought up to date - but shorter!

I've read an ARC of Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz and enjoyed it hugely as an entertaining homage to Christie:

www.goodreads.com/review/show/6166507536

Yes, some parallels with A Dance To The Music Of Time in terms of scope. It's great

I finished Virginia Woolf's final novel Between the Acts a complex vision of England in the months leading up to WW2, written when the war was already in progress. Not destined to be my favourite of her novels but an impressive vision of national identity and disunity.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

As part of my reading for January in Japan, I've made a start on Yukhi Kamatani's manga series Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare, Vol. 1 a queer, coming-of-age story that reads a little like a Japanese equivalent of graphic novels like Heartstopper: Volume One The illustrations are really nicely done and I love the small details, particularly the numerous cats that hover on the edges of numerous frames.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Brian E wrote:
I recently read Cassandra by East German author [author:Christa Wolf|619..."


Thank you Brian. This sounds interesting.

I also loved your review of Cassandra at the Wedding. I especially liked your take on Cassandra's personality.

Cassandra’s distinctive voice was so fascinating that her unlikeable aspects just added to her appeal to me.

I agree that Cassandra can be neurotic and unlikeable at times but instead of detracting me from the book they actually added to her charm. She has a mysterious and ethereal quality about her that makes want to get to know her better. She reminds me of Margot from The Royal Tenenbaums (Goodreads is not letting me add a link to the movie page).

Anubha wrote: "She reminds me of Margot from The Royal Tenenbaums "

Good movie. I can see the similarity to the wonderful mess of Margot.

IMDb page: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265666/
IMDb video: https://www.imdb.com/video/vi34094948...
IMDb trailer: https://www.imdb.com/video/vi40679926...
IMDb photos: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265666/...

Still steeped in January in Japan, I loved Ito Junji's Cat Diary funny with an impressive dash of self-parody.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I had mixed reactions to Maki Kashimada's award-winning Love at Six Thousand Degrees it's an accomplished piece of writing but I found the ideas underpinning her narrative less relatable, I was fascinated by her reframing of Duras's Hiroshima mon amour less enthralled by the religious aspects and the many references to Dostoevsky - I'm not a fan of his work.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Nigeyb wrote:



"I'm making slow headway with the new, yet to be published Andrew O'Hagan....


Caledonian Road (2024)


...however it is superb. A real tour de force and another clas..."


I was thinking about how long it is taking me to read this one

I'm reading a Netgalley version on Kindle, so checked the print length - it's 700 pages

So a real doorstop which, combined with my current limited reading time, explains my slooooow progress

It's heading for five stars at around the 35% mark - though not sure it will have universal appeal. A real state of the nation novel that, not unsurprisingly concludes, Britain is rotten

It reminds me a bit of Mick Herron minus the humour and tension

January somehow feels like a good month for a big book - I'd say forget the page numbers and just enjoy. Lucky you if you've got a 5-star so early in the year - I haven't found my first yet.

Thanks RC. Great advice. I do worry about all the other books backing up that I have deadlines on but hey, what's the worst that happens?

Nigeyb wrote: "... but hey, what's the worst that happens?"

Well exactly! Don't think of 'deadlines' either just a group reading together. It's good to spread our reading out through the month as well and I love that we have so many different moods in our February books.

Mixed reactions to a new translation of stories from acclaimed Korean author Ha Seong-nan, originally published in 2006 Wafers. The atmosphere overall is melancholy, and the characters in the stories are often caught between their present and their memories of the past. Korea is presented as a challenging environment in which money and profit comes before the needs or desires of the individual. There were some excellent, accomplished entries particularly the stories at the beginning of the collection others I found less convincing and/or appealing. I also disliked the use of symbolism related to animals, chiefly dogs, often played out through violence or deliberate acts of cruelty.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Last Devil to Die is the 4th by Richard Osman in the Thursday Murder Club series.

More emotional than its predecessors now that readers have formed an attachment to the geriatric Fab Four.

My review -- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Thanks WR - I don't want to read your review until I get there though. I want to go in totally without any idea what might happen

I ended up binge-reading Patrick Hamilton's trilogy Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky: the first volume is one of this month's buddies but it's so good I couldn't stop there!

www.goodreads.com/review/show/6128959561

Nigeyb wrote: "Thanks WR - I don't want to read your review until I get there though. I want to go in totally without any idea what might happen"

Yes, I understand. I don't want to read my friends' review before I write my own review to avoid being influenced.

Enjoy, Nigeyb, is a good one.