Reading the 20th Century discussion
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Best of 2024
Best book The Stone AngelWorst book The Martian Chronicles
Fell in love with Margaret Laurence and have one more to read to finish her Manawaka novels.
2025 'goals' to read 25 random Virago Modern Classics I find in secondhand bookshops, complete reading the novels of Elizabeth Taylor and Penelope Fitzgerald, and continue reading modern women in translation.
2024 reminded me not to judge an author without reading them. Always thought Patrick Hamilton was not for me, but I loved The Slaves of Solitude. Thank you to this group for sharing your joy of reading.
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Ditto, this - I've loved everything I've read by Hamilton - what a discovery!
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The History Man
Best Non-Fiction Book:
Street-Level Superstar: A Year With Lawrence: 'One of the great Pop biographies' SUNDAY TIMES
Lot of mediocre books but I am not sure I've had anything I've hated or found worst. Not an obvious one anyway.
Which author(s) did you fall in love with, or rediscover, in 2024?
Discovered Charlotte Vasell, whose crime books I love. Also Michael Frayn.
What are your reading plans for 2025?
To try to read some authors all the way through. To finally read all of Jane Haddm's Gregor Demarkian books and also read Martin Amis in order. Also, the Cormoran Strike books.
Which author(s) or book(s) are you most looking forward to reading in 2025?
The new Charlotte Vasell and new Alice Slater.
What else do you want to say about what you read in 2024?
A good reading year in good company.
What was the best book you read in 2024?I think the book I'm reading now, Them by Joyce Carol Oates, will turn out to be the best book this year, I'm 80% of the way through, and the further I go, the more amazed I am. I'm hoping to finish it and the fourth book of the tetralogy Wonderland by the end of the month, but I'll probably slip into January.
Two others I thought were wonderful were In Diamond Square and The Heat of the Day. I will just keep reading Elizabeth Bowen until I've read all of her later books.
What was the worst book you read in 2024?
I would say Prophet Song, but maybe it doesn't qualify, since I DNF'd it.
For books I finished, I'll join Sonia with The Martian Chronicles. Too glib and obvious for me
Which author(s) did you fall in love with, or rediscover, in 2024?
I've fallen in love with Joyce Carol Oates. Do you think Elizabeth Bowen and Muriel Spark will be jealous?
What are your reading plans for 2025?
More Joyce Carol Oates and giving Proust a third (and final) attempt.
I want to finish the Montaigne essays (75% there) and the Heptameron, both of which I've paused to read other books but have not abandoned.
More Michael Frayn. I've enjoyed everything of his I've read. Not 5* but he suits me.
And some newer books that I haven't had time for yet: Creation Lake, Parade, Gilead and ... I'll stop there.
Which author(s) or book(s) are you most looking forward to reading in 2025?
Joyce Carol Oates
What else do you want to say about what you read in 2024?
I appreciate sharing my reading time with all of you here. It adds to the experience and I really enjoy knowing you!
I will post my statistical review of 2024 reading later in the month. So far, a very even split between male and female writers. I'll leave you in suspense for the rest of my stats.
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Parade is probably one of my best reads and I always love Kushner.
I'm going to wait a bit to do mine but can already say (have I said this before?!) that Wodehouse is the author I fell in love with this year.
Even though I didn't read much 20th century fiction this year, one of my top reads was the new English translation of Elfriede Jelinek's Die Kinder der Toten, The Children of the Dead. Like almost any chonkster, it probably could have been shorter but wow was it a trip.
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What was the best book you read in 2024?
It was a joy rereading A Dance To The Music Of Time which makes me wonder if I should be rereading more total classics
BUT the question asks for a book so I’ll do-a-Susan and have one fiction and one non-fiction…
Caledonian Road (Fiction)
Street Level Superstar (Non-Fiction)
What was the worst book you read in 2024?
It wasn’t awful but I was very disappointed by Mailer’s The Fight. My advice watch When We Were Kings instead.
Which author(s) did you fall in love with, or rediscover, in 2024?
Anthony Powell, Bernadine Evaristo, Anthony Trollope, Michael Frayn, PG Wodehouse, Patrick Hamilton, Margaret Drabble, Sally Rooney, Tom Sharpe
What are your reading plans for 2025?
We make plans and the gods laugh
Which author(s) or book(s) are you most looking forward to reading in 2025?
Elena Ferrante, Jonathan Franzen, Kate Summerscale, and possibly revisiting James Ellroy
What else do you want to say about what you read in 2024?
This group continues to educate, inform and delight. Always a joy discussing books with you lovely people
Anything else?
The only thing I love more than books is music. I’m lucky enough to have seen loads of live music this year and to have danced a lot throughout the year. I’m off dancing this very night.
Have a lovely seasonal period
David wrote: "Even though I didn't read much 20th century fiction this year, one of my top reads was the new English translation of Elfriede Jelinek's Die Kinder der Toten, The Children of ..."</i>ohh . That sounds interesting . I picked up [book:The Piano Teacher this year but haven't been in the mood to tackle it . Have you read it ?
Ben wrote: "What was the best book you read in 2024?I think the book I'm reading now, Them by Joyce Carol Oates, will turn out to be the best book this year, I'm 80% of the way through, and the further I go,..."
JCO . haven't read a bad one yet which , given her output , is amazing . Thanks for putting her back into my mind . I have the quartet on my tbr . Also loved In Diamond Square but The Heat of the Day was nudged out by The Selected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen: Selected and Introduced by Tessa Hadley and The House in Paris for me .
also dnf'd Prophet Song and Martian Chronicles ... like minds ?
Susan wrote: "Best Fiction Book:The History Man
Best Non-Fiction Book:
Street-Level Superstar: A Year With Lawrence: 'One of the great Pop biographies' SUNDAY TIMES
Lot of medio..."
I'm with you on The History Man , that novel is still alive in my head and brings a smile to my face and , but for this group , I would never have picked it up so a huge thanks .
Sonia wrote: "Best book The Stone AngelWorst book The Martian Chronicles
Fell in love with Margaret Laurence and have one more to read to finish her Manawaka novels.
2025 'goals' ..."
The Stone Angel sounds fabulous . Have added it to my birthday wishlist ( my library doesnt have it , sadly ) . I came across Patrick Hamilton by chance fifteen years ago when , in order to limit my choice , I decided to only read books from my library by authors beginning HA.. I also discovered Georgina Harding by this method ...
Nigeyb wrote: "Here are my answers....What was the best book you read in 2024?
It was a joy rereading A Dance To The Music Of Time which makes me wonder if I should be rereading more total classics
BUT the..."
Agree . ADTTMOT has been a sustained reading pleasure through 2024 . I'm currently dragging out the final volume as i don't want it to end . Interestingly Its also been " in conversation " with several other novels I've read this year , most recently the novels of Isabel Colegate but also Elizabeth Bowen and , indirectly , Simone de Beauvoir with its upper crust bohemian elements .
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"A Dance To The Music Of Time has been a sustained reading pleasure through 2024 . I'm currently dragging out the final volume as i don't want it to end . Interestingly Its also been "in conversation " with several other novels I've read this year, most recently the novels of Isabel Colegate but also Elizabeth Bowen and , indirectly , Simone de Beauvoir with its upper crust bohemian elements "
Wonderful news Hester - thanks for that update
I hope you can find time to post some final comments when you get to the end of Hearing Secret Harmonies
It's especially gratifying when books we read complement other books and interact
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The book that might be my favorite of the year is one I discovered thanks to Women In Translation month, Marlen Haushofer’s The Wall. It keeps rising to the top when I think back on my reading.Other standouts for me included three long-put-off classics that I found very powerful: A Tale of Two Cities, The Grapes of Wrath, and All Quiet on the Western Front. I also started Proust--reveling in Swann’s Way and planning for Within a Budding Grove early next year.
I enjoyed several reads with this group, and one of the most notable was Mother Night, because it started me on a Vonnegut run. I have since read Slaughterhouse-Five, am about to start Cat’s Cradle, and have a group read of Breakfast of Champions in a few months. Making up for lost time!
What I’m most looking forward to is The Mirror & the Light. I re-read the first two books this year, and in January, will finally be finishing the series.
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Roman Clodia wrote: "Kathleen, you know we're doing a slow read of Proust over 2025, at about half a volume a month? Do join the chat even if you're ahead of us."Oh, thank you--I'd love to! I think your planned pace is perfect.
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It's never possible to note just one superlative but for me, standout books I loved: We Do Not Part by Han Kang, My Good Bright Wolf: A Memoir by Sarah Moss, Liars by Sarah Manguso and Lost on Me by Veronica Raimo were all amazing in different ways.
What was the worst book you read in 2024?
Sorry, everyone, but I struggled with Mother Night, abandoned A Dance to the Music of Time, and concluded Henry Green is Not For Me!
Which author(s) did you fall in love with, or rediscover, in 2024?
Thanks to Nigey, I fell in love with Patrick Hamilton and P.G. Wodehouse - so much delight ensued for which I am grateful. More of that to come in 2025.
What are your reading plans for 2025?
As usual, I'm embarrassed that my reading plans never come to fruition! That said, there are plenty of things to look forward to in this group including our reading of Proust throughout the year.
Which author(s) or book(s) are you most looking forward to reading in 2025?
I want to finish all of Woolf, read more James Baldwin (who was another prime discovery this year), finish Annie Ernaux's mosaic autobiography, and re-read Sylvia Plath's journals.
What else do you want to say about what you read in 2024?
As usual, this group derails all my reading plans... but in the loveliest, mind-opening and pleasurable way! So thanks to everyone and here's to more book adventures in the New Year :))
Roman Clodia wrote: "Kathleen, you know we're doing a slow read of Proust over 2025, at about half a volume a month? Do join the chat even if you're ahead of us."Many of the volumes of the Penguin translations for Kindle are inexpensive today. I grabbed 4 of them
What was the best book you read I devoured four of the Seeker series by Shona (S.G.) Maclean , love them, set in Cromwell’s London. Other stand-outs were Time of the Child by Niall Williams and The Spider Orchid, one of our buddy Fremlins.
What was the worst book you read in 2024?
Most disappointing was Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater, so overhyped. And, like RC, I quickly ran away from Henry Green.
Which author(s) did you fall in love with, or rediscover, in 2024?
Patricia Highsmith was a great discovery for me thanks to this group. Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse defied my expectations.
What are your reading plans for 2025?
None really, I’m happy to go with the flow and keeping an eye on RTTC picks.
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It really is: I expected to love Death of a Bookseller and couldn't bear it - just skipped to the last chapter to get it over with!
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Some great choices there, SueLucie - lovely to see Woolf and Plath there!
What was the best book you read in 2024?- Pied Piper by Nevil Shute
What was the worst book you read in 2024?
- A Landing on the Sun by Michael Frayn
Which author(s) did you fall in love with, or rediscover, in 2024?
- Olivia Manning
What are your reading plans for 2025?
I seem to enjoy series, trilogies etc... In late 2023 & 2024 I very much enjoyed:
- Olivia Manning's The Balkan Trilogy & The Levant Trilogy
- Faulkner's Snopes Trilogy: The Hamlet, The Town, and The Mansion
- Patrick Hamilton's Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky &
- Patricia Highsmith's Ripliad pentalogy
So in 2025 I will read more series....
- E.F. Benson - finish the last 3 of the Mapp & Lucia series,
- Elena Ferrante - at least start her The Neapolitan Novels tetralogy
- D. E. Stevenson - her Dering Family Trilogy aka Vittoria Cottage Trilogy
- John Ehle - continue on in his 7 volume The Mountain Novels series
Which author(s) or book(s) are you most looking forward to reading in 2025?
New Authors
- Elena Ferrante
- Percival Everett's James - am rereading Huck Finn now
Newish Authors
- Winifred Holtby
- John Ehle
- Wendell Berry
Old Friends
- Celia Fremlin - finishing ALL of her novels in this group
- Ellis Peters - finishing the last 2 books of her Cadfael series
- Patricia Highsmith - another couple of her novels to add to the 12 that I have now read
- D.E. Stevenson - Dering Family trilogy
- P.G. Wodehouse - my escape valve from the surrounding insanity
What else do you want to say about what you read in 2024?
TOP 25 BOOKS READ in 2024
1. Pied Piper by Nevil Shute**
2. The Levant Trilogy by Olivia Manning**
3. China Court by Rumer Godden**
4. The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata**
5. Early Autumn by Louis Bromfield**
6. The Snopes Trilogy – William Faulkner
7. Young Man With a Horn by Dorothy Baker**
8. Small Mercies by Daniel Lehane**
9. Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes**
10. The Stars Look Down by A.J. Cronin**
11. The Shooting Party by Isabel Colegate**
12. Voyage in the Dark by Jean Rhys*
13. Ripley Under Ground by Patricia Highsmith*
14. The Siege of Pleasure by Patrick Hamilton*
15. Ripley‘s Game by Patricia Highsmith*
16. The Plains of Cement by Patrick Hamilton*
17. Living by Henry Green*
18. The Summer of the Danes by Ellis Peters*
19. A Pelican at Blandings by P.G. Wodehouse
20. The Heretic’s Apprentice by Ellis Peters
21. Mike and Psmith by P.G, Wodehouse
22. The Potter’s Field by Ellis Peters
23. Psmith in the City by P.G. Wodehouse
24. Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
25. The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides
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I completely missed this thread when it was posted. I am studying it now and what a treat it is. The comments of the group are my favorite benefit of being here. My 2024 reading was about 50% influenced by the posts in reading the 20th century group. The other half was a mix of impulsive random reading and a couple of book groups I follow.My favorite authors in 2024 were Patrick Hamilton, Anthony Trollope and Anthony Horowitz. I enjoyed Joyce Carol Oates but her books have been somewhat difficult for me to discern. Similarly, I found Clarissa Lispecter fascinating but not easy to grasp.
I am enthusiastic for the 2025 group reading. Joyce Carol Oates and Marcel Proust, two significant challenges but I’m in due to the potential to understand these works better when reading with a group.
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Anybody figure out how to find previous years' reading challenges in this new format? I was planning to review that in order to join in here, but all I can find is this year's, with all those stupid, distracting GR imposed goody two-shoes meaningless categories.
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Yes, those new categories are so silly - we're not aged 12!
But if you scroll down you'll see a button for 'previous challenges' - you can click that, then your chosen year to see your books listed.
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Roman Clodia wrote: "Thanks Brian - we've missed you on here! "Susan_MG wrote: "I completely missed this thread when it was posted.."
While I've had other things going on, one reason I'm not on here as often is because of the notification problems with Goodreads. I finally found this thread and posted my comment two days ago and made sure I checked the box to "Notify me when people comment." I got no notifications. Two days later I check the thread and there were 10 additional comments. And if I change the master settings, I get inundated with notifications. It's just more work to keep up on things and I was busy with other matters and found myself not looking on Goodreads so much.
Roman Clodia wrote: "Glad we've got Fremlin and Highsmith lined up for this year."
I have read some books that the group read without commenting too. I wasn't very present in the A Landing on the Sun, The History Man & Thérèse Desqueyroux discussions because I didn't much enjoy any of those books. When most people are liking a book, I don't like to be a Captain Bringdown so, if I post at all, I restrict myself to one comment or just my review.
Your post reminds me that I read The Two Faces of January but chose to read it in its proper month, January, so missed the discussion and then chose not to comment.
That's a lie. The truth is I planned it as a December read but got so busy with a knee replacement surgery recovery, catching-up on my arbitrator work and having visiting family that I deferred the book later and later in the month until voila, it was January. I think I'll post my review.
It can be a challenge to keep up with all that goes on here. I have many issues using Goodreads on an iPad. I tried desktop (on iPad, not a computer user now) and it’s just as frustrating. But the benefit outweighs the frustration. I hope your knee surgery is improving as it should.
Brian E, please do join me in my occasional role as Captain Bringdown. Dissent is welcome and fun.Good luck with the recovery.
Brian E wrote: "Roman Clodia wrote: "Thanks Brian - we've missed you on here! "Susan_MG wrote: "I completely missed this thread when it was posted.."
While I've had other things going on, one reason I'm not on h..."
I didn't realise that a lot of people stay logged into the site and don't clear cookies, if you are one of those then logging out and clearing cookies seems to sort out notifications.
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Captain Bringdown? See, this is why we miss you, Brian!
And yes, to echo Ben, I love seeing dissenting opinions, it enriches the discussion.
I cannot disagree with these comments about dissent. Critical thinking is never unappreciated.
Roman Clodia wrote: "I love seeing dissenting opinions, it enriches the discussion..."Susan_MG wrote: "I cannot disagree with these comments about dissent. Critical thinking is never unappreciated."
So you only appreciate my dissent when it contains critical thinking?
That's asking a lot from me. And I'm lazy.
That's why I think it's best if I just continue my reticence policy with dissenting opinions.
Brian, the comedian (said smiling). Hope you are healing well.
Belatedly . Best of 2024 .Recency bias makes Irmgard Keun the pinnacle but here are my other favourites .
A Dance to the Music of Time . Anthony Powell. Thank you Nigel and fellow travellers for the dance we maintained throughout the year . It made me think of The Hebrew Bible the way Nick Jenkins , the narrator, fades into the background like Jehovah . Ends with a whisper not a scream . And , likewise , there is no Satan , just a lot of complicated characters , as rich as Dickens but with less swagger and drama .
Novels of Natalia Ginzburg . All of them read in one glorious gulp . Huge stories delivered with wry observation and absolutely no self pity . Made me rethink my mother's generation .
Selected Short Stories . Elizabeth Bowen . Read several of her novels this year , all of which were very good to brilliant but her short stories are the tiny jewels in her much polished crown .
The Orlando Trilogy . Isabel Colegate . Dead heat with The Shooting Party , the latter a reread , but gave it to Orlando as it has opened the door to Sophocles for this older reader who has had no literary education .
Death and Nightingales . Eugene McCabe . Ireland . Deep and desperate emotions filtered through a wet boggy landscape that refuses to allow anyone even the hint of escape .
The History Man . Malcolm Bradbury . Thank you thank you to this group for putting this my way . Howard Kirk is alive and well and lives in my head still .
The Long Prospect . Elizabeth Harrower . Another thank you to Manchester Library and Borrow Box which holds a large catalogue of Australian literature . So glad she has been republished . Intense, modernist psychological portrait of an unloved working class girl in nineteen fifties NSW .
Chronicle of the Murdered House . Lúcio Cardosa . A great big fat feast of Gothic . Grotesque . Decay . Overblown emotions . Imagine Faulkner meets Rebecca . In Brazil .
The Bell Jar . Sylvia Plath . Waited fifty years to read this and it blew my head off . Strip away all the posthumous Plath/ Hughes Emotional Industrial Complex and you can still weep that this was her only prose work .
Clear Light of Day . Anita Desai . 183 pages and she nails the legacy of partition with room to spare .
Swimming Home . Deborah Levy . How people avoid engaging with their own hinterlands and each other . All elbows and uncomfortable encounters but brilliant and compelling , like a well cut diamond .
Off the prize list . I tend not to dive in but flutter around the edges finding three new favourite authors Charlotte Wood, Carys Davies and Sarah Bernsten .
Train Dreams .Denis Johnson .Western epic in 116 pages . A slice of perfection .
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Muriel Spark . A study of discipleship , dictators and downfall . Genius creation .
Jazz . Toni Morrison . A love letter to her mother's generation . Digressive , improvised , inventive with the base rhythm of The City . Standing on the shoulders of The Bible and folklore , those familiar stories weaving their way through the present day like a virtuoso saxophonist .
Poetry. Robert Browning's dramatic monologues . Thank you Josephine Hart, The British Library and you tube .
Non fiction . Podcast . The New Books Network . Hour long
interviews , where academics present their publications . A chance to grasp the neglected corners of the human experience ...Pick your topic and let these gems into your world .
A Swim in the Pond in the Rain . George Saunders . I adore short stories so this " guidebook " to the Russian masters was like a delicious box of chocolates but with the confectioner's great grandson at my shoulder telling me about the provenance of each ingredient .
In 2024 Goodreads tells me I read 223 books but , dear reader , this includes short stories , probably about seventy five and also summary notes for the academic listens , say twenty five ... still , it appears to be an absorbing hobby , on a par with football , if you include all the travel for the latter . Goodness knows how much time I also spend roving around Goodreads and selected blog posts / podcasts too .
Just to say , like all hobbies ,but is enriched no end by this group so thank you and long may it continue , despite the attempts of Amazon to sabotage communication .
Great list, Hester. Several of these I've discovered along with you or have been meaning to try. I'll bump Denis Johnson and Bowen's short stories up my TBR list.
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Ginzburg seems under read these days but the lovely new Daunt editions might change that.
Jazz is stupendous, how Morrison reflects the syncopated rhythm of jazz in her prose is just stunning.
And while The Bell Jar is Plath's only novel, it's not her only prose: there are the short stories in Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams and the new-out The Collected Prose of Sylvia Plath.
I've been meaning to try Denis Johnson and Anita Desai - and you've reminded me I've got more Keun after we read her The Artificial Silk Girl in this group.
Here's to another fantastic year of reading, everyone!
Thanks all and especially for the heads up about Plath, Roman C .
Reading the 20th Century
Books mentioned in this topic
Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky (other topics)Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams (other topics)
The Collected Prose of Sylvia Plath (other topics)
The Artificial Silk Girl (other topics)
A Landing on the Sun (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Patricia Highsmith (other topics)Patrick Hamilton (other topics)
Patrick Hamilton (other topics)
E.F. Benson (other topics)
Elena Ferrante (other topics)
More...
It's that time of year when many of us take a backwards glance at the year that was, so with that in mind here's a little questionnaire designed to share what we have each enjoyed about 2024 here at RTTC and what we are looking forward to in 2024....
What was the best book you read in 2024?
What was the worst book you read in 2024?
Which author(s) did you fall in love with, or rediscover, in 2024?
What are your reading plans for 2025?
Which author(s) or book(s) are you most looking forward to reading in 2025?
What else do you want to say about what you read in 2024?
Anything else?