Reading the 20th Century discussion

For our October 2024 group read we invite you to nominate a twentieth century classic (a classic book written in the twentieth century)


Please supply the title, author, a brief synopsis, and anything else you'd like to mention about the book, and why you think it might make a good book to discuss.

Happy nominating

I asked Google if the nomination I had in mind was a classic


Google reckons it's a modern classic....

Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery, The Alchemist (1988) has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations

....hopefully you agree


So I'll go with it...


The Alchemist (1988)

by

Paulo Coelho


One of the best selling Brazilian books of all time

Over 80 million copies sold worldwide

Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery, The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations.

Paulo Coelho's masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different--and far more satisfying--than he ever imagined. Santiago's journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams.

Because it'll be Halloween and because it's a classic, I'm nominating The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter (1979).

From familiar fairy tales and legends - Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, Puss in Boots, Beauty and the Beast, vampires and werewolves - Angela Carter has created an absorbing collection of dark, sensual, fantastic stories.

I loved, loved this as a teenager and also the gorgeous, gothic film.

And just look at the various book covers this has inspired:

Sounds fab


I was thinking Halloween but then thought, given this group's penchant for going early, it might make more sense to throw in something Halloween-y for the November poll

Roman Clodia wrote: "Because it'll be Halloween and because it's a classic, I'm nominating The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter (1979).

From familiar fairy tales and legend..."

Oooh, I've wanted to read this.

I will nominate The Shooting Party by Isabel Colegate

It is 1913 - just prior to England's entry into World War I - and Edwardian England is about to vanish into history. A group of men and women gather at Sir Randolph Nettleby's estate for a shooting party. Opulent, adulterous, moving assuredly through the rituals of eating and slaughter, they are a dazzlingly obtuse and brilliantly decorative finale of an era.

I've wanted to read The Shooting Party so great choice.

Ben, I'm hoping The Bloody Chamber lives up to my memories - Angela Carter was brilliant, died far too young at 51.

From her obituary in The Observer: "She was the opposite of parochial. Nothing, for her, was outside the pale: she wanted to know about everything and everyone, and every place and every word. She relished life and language hugely, and reveled in the diverse."

By pure chance I'll be reading The Shooting Party again towards the end of the year, as part of a group read of Isabel Colgate's novels . I also love Angela Carter and like the idea of something dark as winter approaches ...

Hester wrote: "By pure chance I'll be reading The Shooting Party again towards the end of the year, as part of a group read of Isabel Colgate's novels . I also love Angela Carter and like the idea of something da..."

Off nomination topic, but have you read Orlando King yet Hester? If you have do you think the books can be read individually. Am a bit put off at the thought of reading them in one go.

Hi Sonia . I think The Orlando Trilogy is on the list too. I haven't read it , I'm afraid, so can't advise until later in the year but I'm looking forward to it ...

I read Orlando King without knowing about the Greek connection and kept second-guessing what I was reading. I think they're published now in one volume.

Thanks Hester and RC.

Thanks all



Nominations so far.....

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Nigeyb)
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter (Roman Clodia)
The Shooting Party by Isabel Colegate (Susan)

I'll get the poll up on Friday morning UK time so about 50 hours to get in any more nominations

I won't be nominating this month. But I am reading!

Hurrah

I'll throw my hat in the ring with Thérèse Desqueyroux by François Mauriac.

Since I'm going to be reading a lot of Simone de Beauvoir this autumn I thought it would be fun to read another by this Nobel Prize winner , whom she loathes with a passion. I enjoyed Vipers' Tangle , a short but complex exploration of how we fool ourselves . And having just read a huge gothic baroque exploring the murkier sides of rural isolation. self deception and patriarchy Chronicle of the Murdered House I'm on a bit of a role .

Heres a little about the book

Set in the Bordeaux region of France, the novel opens as a court case closes; Thérèse has been acquitted of the crime of poisoning her husband, Bernard. This lays the groundwork for the subsequent events of the novel, exploring both the causes and the repercussions of her seemingly morally devoid act. Her unhappy marriage, unwanted motherhood and the intense social pressures upon her build a picture of a woman driven to unimaginable extremes by those around her.

Here's a little about him ..

So who was François Mauriac? He was a French novelist, essayist, public intellectual and later in life a prolific journalist. These days, though his novels are somewhat out of fashion, he still has a strong contingent of admirers. His novels, like those of two other modern Catholic novelists, Muriel Spark and Beryl Bainbridge, were short but exquisite and perfectly formed. Written with beautiful economy and profound psychological depth, they are a brilliant study of the murky depths of the human personality. There was little that was outside his creative range: incest, miserable marriages, sexual ambiguity, religious hypocrisy and the endless capacity of human beings for self-deception.

Sounds very juicy!

Very intriguing Hester

Can anyone nominate a book? if yes, then I'd like to nominate The Wings of the Dove by Henry James.

I recently watched Notting Hill again and Julia Roberts' character mentions this novel. I took a look at the blurb and found it pretty interesting.

A short intro to the book:
"The Wings of the Dove," published in 1902, is a novel by Henry James that delves into the complexities of love, wealth, and betrayal. It tells the story of Milly Theale, a wealthy and terminally ill American heiress, and her entanglement with Kate Croy and Merton Densher, a couple whose financial desperation leads them to an intricate and morally ambiguous scheme. Set against the backdrop of cosmopolitan London and Venice, the novel explores themes of desire, manipulation, and the moral dilemmas faced by its characters.

Thanks Anubha



Nominations so far.....

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Nigeyb)
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter (Roman Clodia)
The Shooting Party by Isabel Colegate (Susan)
Thérèse Desqueyroux by François Mauriac (Hester)
The Wings of the Dove by Henry James (Anubha)

Two excellent additions to the nominations. I have to confess that I have never read Henry James.

I tried to read the Mauriac in French as a teenager and didn't get far so would love to have another try, probably in translation.

Ooh, Wings of the Dove! One of my favourites but many people struggle with the winding sentences. Susan, hard to believe you've never read Henry James. I always suggest The Portrait of a Lady for a first James. I'd love to read James with this group.

Roman . I think there are a few translations into English to choose from

First published in French 1927 by Bernard Grasset
First English translation 1928 by Boni & Liveright
Translated by Gerard Hopkins (earlier editions); Raymond N. MacKenzie (later editions)

I think I tried to read James when younger and didn't finish. I would like to read him now time has passed! I don't mind a winding sentence...

His earlier works are easier going, and he wrote some excellent shorter stories too.

I've had a few aborted attempts with HJ but not for a long time, and not Portrait which is a top tip and obviously very well regarded. If we do one I'll be following closely with interest and possibly get tempted to participate. Audiobooks are a boon when it comes to enjoying more challenging works

I'm a Henry James virgin .. certainly interested in a group read

I love Portrait of a Lady but the original not the revised version. For the benefit of James virgins - everyone else can look away - he rewrote a number of his novels in the early 1900s and published them in collected volumes in what was called the New York edition. A money-making venture that failed rather spectacularly. Personally I prefer the original Portrait, I find the later New York revised version too convoluted - although Jamesian purists/academics love it!

In my opinion good starter James works are Washington Square - short, great plot and never revised because he wasn't that keen on it; and the ghost stories so something like this collection The Turn of the Screw and Other Ghost Stories.

I love Henry James--except for The Wings of the Dove, I'm sorry to say. (Maybe with enlightenment from Roman Clodia I could change my mind?) I agree with Alwynne, about loving Portrait and recommending those two shorter ones to start with.

Hester wrote: "I'll throw my hat in the ring with Thérèse Desqueyroux by François Mauriac.

Since I'm going to be reading a lot of Simone de Beauvoir this autumn I thou..."

I did the Mauriac at school as part of French A-level studies but don't actually remember it very well...I think the central character was quite intriguing but was probably too young to fully appreciate her/it.

I remember loving the Carter but was a while ago. I also saw the film of the Shooting Party and thought it was a very striking story sort of Downton-esque without the dodgy politics.

Kathleen wrote: "I love Henry James--except for The Wings of the Dove, I'm sorry to say. (Maybe with enlightenment from Roman Clodia I could change my mind?) I agree with Alwynne, about loving Portrai..."

I couldn't get into the one either Kathleen, I liked the Golden Bowl but it's quite heavy-going so not a good one to start with...

Maybe getting ahead of myself here but if Wings of the Dove doesn't win, shall we do a Henry James buddy read?

Turn of the Screw might be a good Halloween choice. Washington Square might be good as it's short or The Bostonians which proves HJ does have a sense of humor! Or Portrait, of course.

I'm going to predict Nigeyb will not get on with James. Sid used to laugh at my enthusiasm as James was on his 'no, no, no' list along with Woolf and Proust!

Oh, I have read Turn of the Screw.

Apologies, I have no idea who wrote anything... Honestly, I would be useful in a quiz even about books.

Needless to say I regarded Sid as a fine judge of a book🤠


Thanks for the warning/ prediction RC

I am nominating a relatively unread, with 946 GR ratings, mid-20th Century classic by an American writer I've been meaning to try:

A Time to Be Born by Dawn Powell

WIKIPEDIA says this about Dawn Powell:
Dawn Powell (November 28, 1896 – November 14, 1965) was an American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and short story writer. Known for her acid-tongued prose, "her relative obscurity was likely due to a general distaste for her harsh satiric tone." Nonetheless, Stella Adler and author Clifford Odets appeared in one of her plays. Her work was praised by Robert Benchley in The New Yorker and in 1939 she was signed as a Scribner author where Maxwell Perkins, famous for his work with many of her contemporaries, including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe, became her editor. A 1963 nominee for the National Book Award, she received an American Academy of Arts and Letters Marjorie Peabody Waite Award for lifetime achievement in literature the following year. A friend to many literary and arts figures of her day, including author John Dos Passos, critic Edmund Wilson, and poet E.E. Cummings, Powell's work received renewed interest after Gore Vidal praised it in an 1987 editorial for The New York Review of Books. Since then, the Library of America has published two collections of her novels.
This is the Library of Congress edition with ATTBB included in it:

WIKIPEDIA says this about A Time to Be Born
In 1942, Powell published her first commercially successful novel, A Time to Be Born, whose central figure—Amanda Keeler Evans, an egotistical hack writer whose work and media presence are bolstered by the assiduous promotion of her husband, the newspaper magnate Julian Evans—is loosely modelled on Clare Boothe Luce, wife of Henry Luce.

ooh. I've got the second volume of The Library of America collections and love this suggestion .

Sounds interesting, Brian. Here's the blurb:

Set against an atmospheric backdrop of New York City in the months just before America’ s entry into World War II, A Time To Be Born is a scathing and hilarious study of cynical New Yorkers stalking each other for various selfish ends. At the center of the story are a wealthy, self-involved newspaper publisher and his scheming, novelist wife, Amanda Keeler. Powell always denied that Amanda Keeler was based upon the real-life Clare Boothe Luce, until years later when she discovered a memo she’d written to herself in 1939 that said, “Why not do a novel on Clare Luce?” Which prompted Powell to write in her diary “Who can I believe? Me or myself?”

Hester wrote: "ooh. I've got the second volume of The Library of America collections and love this suggestion ."

I've got both of those, haven't managed to actually read anything of hers yet though. She was featured in the Gilmore Girls!

Was she ? ....love these connections . I have a thing for the Library of America books , such wonderful objects to handle ...my local library has a full set so I no longer can justify buying them ....

I have read 9 novels/novellas by Henry James and rated have them all 3 stars except for two of his earliest works The Portrait of a Lady (1881) and Daisy Miller (1878) which I rated 4 stars.

I preferred James' prose style and storytelling in those early works to those in his 3 highly-regarded early 20th century classics The Wings of the Dove (1902), The Ambassadors(1903) & The Golden Bowl (1904) where the prose was too dense and turgid to be very enjoyable. However, I did like The Wings of the Dove the best of those three and that book also has the best movie adaptation, the 1997 movie starring an excellent Helen Bonham Carter and the very good Linus Roache and Alison Elliot. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120520/

My review of Daisy Miller, the only James' novel I reviewed on GR: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I did like Washington Square but read it awhile ago and may have rated it 4 rather than 3 stars if I had read it within the past 15 years or about the time I read Daisy Miller. It also has good movie versions, with 1949's The Heiress considered a classic: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041452/ and a fairly decent version titled Washington Square also from 1997: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120481/... which I remember enjoying when I saw it at the theater.

EDIT:Wikipedia on James' Early and Late Period prose style:
Early Period - his style was simple and direct (by the standards of Victorian magazine writing) and he experimented widely with forms and methods, generally narrating from a conventionally omniscient point of view. Plots generally concern romance...
Late Period - he ...increasingly abandoned direct statement in favour of frequent double negatives, and complex descriptive imagery. Single paragraphs began to run for page after page, in which an initial noun would be succeeded by pronouns surrounded by clouds of adjectives and prepositional clauses, far from their original referents, and verbs would be deferred and then preceded by a series of adverbs. The overall effect could be a vivid evocation of a scene as perceived by a sensitive observer ...In its intense focus on the consciousness of his major characters, James's later work foreshadows extensive developments in 20th-century fiction

Am I too late to nominate?

If not, I'd like to nominate To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. I bought it earlier this year and haven't picked it up yet. It is a quite slim volume.

Love, love, love To the Lighthouse!

Now I don't know what to vote for ...

Very good choices for the poll this month!

I've enjoyed all of the early James I've read but I haven't read The Bostonians or Portrait and I don't remember enough of The Americans to count it as "read". I would also be very happy to reread any of his shorter works.

So count me in on the Buddy. My only caveat is that October is likely to be a low reading volume month for me due to travel, so if we do it then I'll just catch up later.

Time to vote.....


https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...



Nominations

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Nigeyb)
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter (Roman Clodia)
The Shooting Party by Isabel Colegate (Susan)
Thérèse Desqueyroux by François Mauriac (Hester)
The Wings of the Dove by Henry James (Anubha)
A Time to Be Born by Dawn Powell (Brian)
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (Jan)

Oh no, too many good choices...aargh...

Honest don't know what to vote for... May have to switch once the voting starts

Alwynne wrote: "Oh no, too many good choices...aargh..."

That's why God created Buddy Reads.

Poll watch


To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf - 3 votes, 33.3%
Thérèse Desqueyroux by François Mauriac - 3 votes, 33.3%

The Shooting Party by Isabel Colegate - 2 votes, 22.2%

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - 1 vote, 11.1%

A Time to Be Born by Dawn Powell
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter
The Wings of the Dove by Henry James


https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

I've switched votes twice already! Very happy to read any of those three though.