Reading the 20th Century discussion

It's that time again RTTC'ers....


For our May 2025 group read we invite you to nominate anything written in the twentieth century century


Yes, it's *wild card month* once again so the choice is yours


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'll kick things off with the follow up to The Godfather by Mario Puzo. You will probably recall we did a buddy read of The Godfather in August 2023 and it generated a great discussion. Click the link below to see for yourself....


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


Apparently, whilst linked, it's not necessary to have read the first book to enjoy my nomination which is.....


The Sicilian (1984)
(The Godfather #2)

by

Mario Puzo


The year is 1950. Michael Corleone is nearing the end of his exile in Sicily. The Godfather has commanded Michael to bring a young Sicilian bandit named Salvatore Guiliano back with him to America. But Guiliano is a man entwined in a bloody web of violence and vendettas. In Sicily, Guiliano is a modern day Robin Hood who has defied corruption--and defied the Cosa Nostra. Now, in the land of mist-shrouded mountains and ancient ruins, Michael Corleone's fate is entwined with the dangerous legend of Salvatore Guiliano: warrior, lover, and the ultimate Siciliano.

Praise for The Sicilian

"Puzo is a master storyteller."--USA Today

"The Balzac of the mafia."--Time

"An accomplished and imaginative writer."--Los Angeles Times

Nigeyb wrote: "I'll kick things off with the follow up to The Godfather by Mario Puzo. You will probably recall we did a buddy read of The Godfather in August 2023"

I had a blast reading that book with you guys!

I'll nominate Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir:

A superb autobiography by one of the great literary figures of the twentieth century, Simone de Beauvoir's Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter offers an intimate picture of growing up in a bourgeois French family, rebelling as an adolescent against the conventional expectations of her class, and striking out on her own with an intellectual and existential ambition exceedingly rare in a young woman in the 1920s.

She vividly evokes her friendships, love interests, mentors, and the early days of the most important relationship of her life, with fellow student Jean-Paul Sartre, against the backdrop of a turbulent time in France politically.

Roman Clodia wrote:



"I had a blast reading The Godfather with you guys!"


Me too

It was surprisingly popular and enjoyable


Thanks for the SDB nomination - looks good, and sure to be popular




NOMINATIONS

The Sicilian (1984) (The Godfather #2) by Mario Puzo (Nigeyb)
Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir (Roman Clodia)

I will pass on nominating this month. I'm too far behind!

I will nominate After Julius by Elizabeth Jane Howard published in 1965.

From the lauded, bestselling author of The Cazalet Chronicles, After Julius is Elizabeth Jane Howard's funny yet touching story of a family brought together yet falling apart.

'A novel that commands both respect and applause' – Sunday Times

It is twenty years since Julius died, but his last heroic action still affects the lives of the people he left behind.

Emma, his youngest daughter, twenty-seven years old and afraid of men. Cressida, her sister, a war widow, blindly searching for love in her affairs with married men. Esme, Julius's widow, still attractive at fifty-eight, but aimlessly lost in the routine of her perfect home. Felix, Esme's old lover, who left her when Julius died and who is still plagued by guilt for his action. And then there is Dan – an outsider.

Throughout a disastrous – and revelatory – weekend in Sussex, the influence of the dead Julius slowly emerges . . .

I've never read Elizabeth Jane Howard though I know there are fans here - she was married to Kingsley Amis, I think?

Ben wrote: "I will pass on nominating this month. I'm too far behind!"

We do have a lot of exciting buddies at the moment. I think of wild card as an opportunity to nominate something I'm planning on reading anyway, but with company!

Backlisted looked at her memoir recently, so I was intrigued.

NOMINATIONS


The Sicilian (1984) (The Godfather #2) by Mario Puzo (Nigeyb)
Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir (Roman Clodia)
After Julius by Elizabeth Jane Howard (Susan)


Who else is nominating?

Roman Clodia wrote: "I'll nominate Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir:

A superb autobiography by one of the great literary figures of the twentieth century, Simone de Be..."

I've been thinking about rereading the whole cycle, haven't since uni. But was put off because thought I'd need to keep checking her version of events against more recent revelations. So a group read would be brilliant!

Alwynne wrote: "I've been thinking about rereading the whole cycle, haven't since uni."

Me too, and prompted by lovely new copies of the first two volumes reissued by Penguin.

Yes, it's disconcerting knowing what we've learned since about the young women...

Last year I read a hat full of De Beauvoir's novels and can recommend Memoirs ....something I can't do for some of her others ....whenever Sartre is out of the picture De Beauvoir writes with more honesty and freedom .

Hester wrote: "Last year I read a hat full of De Beauvoir's novels and can recommend Memoirs ....something I can't do for some of her others ....whenever Sartre is out of the picture De Beauvoir writes with more ..."

I've never connected with any of the novels, but read a lot of her non-fiction from the memoirs to the reflections on her mother's death, The Second Sex, Letters to Sartre.

Roman Clodia wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "I've been thinking about rereading the whole cycle, haven't since uni."

Me too, and prompted by lovely new copies of the first two volumes reissued by Penguin.

Yes, it's disconce..."

I noticed that, I have a relatively new copy of the first volume, all the rest I found second-hand so very battered. Not sure if I can justify rebuying volume 2 or not. See it's 99p on Kindle for at least until midnight.

I'm going to suggest

Now in November published in 1934

Josephine Johnson

Pulitzer Prize Winner 1935

I read The Grapes of Wrath as a teenager and was deeply moved by it . This novel preceded it and focuses on the lives a a family of three daughters driven to poverty by the Depression .

Forced out of the city by the Depression, Arnold Haldmarne moves his wife and three daughters to the country and tries to scratch a living from the land. After years of unrelenting hard work, the hiring of a young man from a neighbouring farm upsets the fragile balance of their lives. And in the summer, the rains fail to come.

This was Johnson's first novel , written at 24 yo . She was raised in a Quaker family and wrote several more novels as well as raising a family and teaching at the University of Iowa .

Alwynne wrote: "I've never connected with any of the novels, but read a lot of her non-fiction from the memoirs to the reflections on her mother's death, The Second Sex, Letters to Sartre"

I went through an obsession with de Beauvoir in my teens/twenties and fell in love with her L'invitée/She Came to Stay and even more with Les Mandarins: - I re-read the latter and still had the sense of wanting to live inside that book: writing and arguing about left politics all day, drinking and dancing in basement bars all night.

I keep meaning to re-read She Came to Stay - definitely a book we can't read 'innocently' given what we know now.

Btw, Claude Lanzmann's Shoah is on iplayer - he's one of Simone's gang of friends. I haven't been able to watch it yet but want to.

I watched Shoah when it came out over one weekend in Bradford . Compelling and relentless . Had an enormous impact on me .

Roman Clodia wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "I've never connected with any of the novels, but read a lot of her non-fiction from the memoirs to the reflections on her mother's death, The Second Sex, Letters to Sartre"

I went ..."

It's worth seeing, imo anyway, although I think there's probably little that you don't already know in terms of facts, it's still very powerful. And the segment, think it was in this, where he reveals dismissive attitudes towards 'survivors' in Israel was something I hadn't really understood.

Hester wrote: "I watched Shoah when it came out over one weekend in Bradford . Compelling and relentless . Had an enormous impact on me ."

I can only imagine - I'm working up the emotional strength.

Roman Clodia wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "I've never connected with any of the novels, but read a lot of her non-fiction from the memoirs to the reflections on her mother's death, The Second Sex, Letters to Sartre"

I went ..."

I had a similar obsession but mainly with the non-fiction but it might have been the translations I encountered which made her style seem very stilted.

I've only dipped into her letters but do remember how cutesy the ones to Nelson Algren were - it came as a bit of a shock that this clever, smart, vastly intelligent woman could be so demeaning of herself. I think that put me off reading the ones to Sartre at the time but I should get to them.

The Second Sex was such an eye-opening, formative read for me - and yet it still comes as a revelation to some people that a woman is 'not born, but rather becomes, a woman.”

Alwynne wrote:



"I've been thinking about rereading the whole cycle, haven't since uni. But was put off because thought I'd need to keep checking her version of events against more recent revelations."

Where can I find out more about the revelations?

Is it the stuff mentioned in the second part of this article?....

https://www.thecollector.com/simone-d...

Thanks for your nomination Hester






NOMINATIONS

The Sicilian (1984) (The Godfather #2) by Mario Puzo (Nigeyb)
Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir (Roman Clodia)
After Julius by Elizabeth Jane Howard (Susan)
Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson (Hester)


Who else is nominating?

Good list!

Nigeyb wrote: "Where can I find out more about the revelations?"

Yes, it's related to the assertion that de Beauvoir had inappropriate sexual relationships with young women who had, at some point, been her students; and that she had potentially been 'grooming' them for Sartre.

There are also questions, though, about to what extent she was herself being essentially abused by Sartre who pushed her into some actions where she appears reluctant, even resistant.

It's disconcerting to see the extent to which she was in thrall to Sartre (and also other men) despite her intellectual capabilities and writing. I don't think we can forget that she was born in 1908 and went to the Sorbonne - so unusual for women - in the mid-1920s, graduating in 1928. She also came from a religious Catholic family though she later became an atheist.

None of this is an excuse, of course, but she was brought up as a conventional bourgeois young lady with all the concomitant values. Since Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter was published (1958), there has been work done on where it doesn't agree with her letters and journals, and it a 'narrativisation' that she wanted to tell.

It's already a fascinating book but this all adds another - if discomfiting - layer to her writing. Her novel She Came to Stay (1943) deals with a triangular relationship that might draw on one of these affairs - in which case it has an interesting ending.

More details here:
https://www.heristical.com/p/the-scan...

Thanks RC - very helpful and much appreciated

Any more nominations?



NOMINATIONS

The Sicilian (1984) (The Godfather #2) by Mario Puzo (Nigeyb)
Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir (Roman Clodia)
After Julius by Elizabeth Jane Howard (Susan)
Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson (Hester)

Nigeyb wrote: "Thanks RC - very helpful and much appreciated"

You're welcome! It's complicated story that deserves nuance.

Time to vote....



https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/3...



NOMINATIONS

The Sicilian (1984) (The Godfather #2) by Mario Puzo (Nigeyb)
Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir (Roman Clodia)
After Julius by Elizabeth Jane Howard (Susan)
Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson (Hester)

I think we can probably say that Simone de Beauvoir has got this one...



Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir - 5 votes, 41.7%
After Julius by Elizabeth Jane Howard - 3 votes, 25.0%
Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson - 3 votes, 25.0%
The Sicilian (1984) (The Godfather #2) by Mario Puzo - 1 vote, 8.3%

...with enough support for buddy reads of Julius & November if that's what their supporters want to do

#pollwatch

I think we have a lot of buddy reads at the moment, so probably not. I would read Memoirs if it was on kindle, but I struggle with the font of paperbacks now. Ah, the stress of age...

I'm going to pass on Memoirs too as I only read it last year but am happy to share in the discussion

If anyone would like a buddy read of Now in November I'm open to suggestions . it's quite short .

Hester wrote: "I'm going to pass on Memoirs too as I only read it last year but am happy to share in the discussion

If anyone would like a buddy read of Now in November I'm open to suggestions . it's quite short ."

I have a copy of Now in November. Would be happy to read in May or later over the summer.

Susan wrote: "I think we have a lot of buddy reads at the moment, so probably not. I would read Memoirs if it was on kindle, but I struggle with the font of paperbacks now. Ah, the stress of age..."

It shows up on Kindle in the US. Alas, it is more than I prefer to pay for Kindle books. I will purchase a used trade paperback. At 8"x5" print should be a decent size....I hope.

It seems to be quite the battle of books this month so it's still all up for grabs. If you haven't voted yet, do.

How weird that Penguin don't have a Kindle edition of Memoirs - maybe they will have by May as the second volume is on Kindle.

Simone de Beauvoir still in front with about half a day left...



Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir - 6 votes, 37.5%
After Julius by Elizabeth Jane Howard - 5 votes, 31.3%
Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson - 4 votes, 25.0%
The Sicilian (1984) (The Godfather #2) by Mario Puzo - 1 vote, 6.3%


#pollwatch


*


I'll also set up a May 2025 buddy read for Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson as both Hester and Sonia want to read it

Anyone else want to buddy read either of the probable runners up?

hi Sonia . really happy to do a buddy read with you in May

Hester wrote: "hi Sonia . really happy to do a buddy read with you in May"

Thanks. Am hoping it will not be as depressing as it sounds. I love Willa Cather, so am hoping there may be some light to balance out the depression and Ethan Frome references. I will have to look at what other books were published around that time to see why it might have won the Pulitzer.

I'd also like to join for the Now in November buddy read if I can. I've wanted to read this for some time. I find these type of stories inspiring!

We have a winner....


Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir


Thanks to everyone who got involved