Quote from: masterofsparks on October 26, 2009, 12:02:38 PMNow reading SABBATH'S THEATER by Philip Roth. Like the other Roths that I've read from the same period, the prose is utterly mesmerizing. I'm not sure where the story is going yet, but I'm enjoying the writing so much that I kinda don't care.That is one of his few novels I've still never gotten around to. I kind of overdosed on his stuff about ten years ago and haven't loved some of his more recent work, but the mid-career stuff is his best, I think, so I really ought to go back and check that one off my list. Of all his books I think 'American Pastoral' and 'The Counterlife' are my favorites. And 'Portnoy's Complaint', of course. It's as endlessly funny to me as the first Pee Wee movie.
Now reading SABBATH'S THEATER by Philip Roth. Like the other Roths that I've read from the same period, the prose is utterly mesmerizing. I'm not sure where the story is going yet, but I'm enjoying the writing so much that I kinda don't care.
Quote from: crumbum on November 05, 2009, 09:44:31 PMQuote from: masterofsparks on October 26, 2009, 12:02:38 PMNow reading SABBATH'S THEATER by Philip Roth. Like the other Roths that I've read from the same period, the prose is utterly mesmerizing. I'm not sure where the story is going yet, but I'm enjoying the writing so much that I kinda don't care.That is one of his few novels I've still never gotten around to. I kind of overdosed on his stuff about ten years ago and haven't loved some of his more recent work, but the mid-career stuff is his best, I think, so I really ought to go back and check that one off my list. Of all his books I think 'American Pastoral' and 'The Counterlife' are my favorites. And 'Portnoy's Complaint', of course. It's as endlessly funny to me as the first Pee Wee movie.AMERICAN PASTORAL is my favorite of the ones I've read. I really liked THE HUMAN STAIN as well. The one from this period that didn't do much for me is OPERATION SHYLOCK.
I just heard a lengthy interview with Roth on CBC Radio's Writers & Company. It's a good listen. There's a flash player here and podcast here.
I'm reading I Can't Go On, I'll Go On a career-spanning, 700+ page Samuel Beckett reader. I'm looking forward to hearing from all the other FOT who are also currently reading this.
James Ellroy seems like a creep but I'm reading the final part of the Underworld series right now. Blood's a Rover. Its actually tough for me to get into this one although I had no problems with the others. It may have more to do with the fact that I watched/read some of his recent interviews than it does with the quality of the writing.
Quote from: oncegompedtwiceshy on November 12, 2009, 05:56:51 PMJames Ellroy seems like a creep but I'm reading the final part of the Underworld series right now. Blood's a Rover. Its actually tough for me to get into this one although I had no problems with the others. It may have more to do with the fact that I watched/read some of his recent interviews than it does with the quality of the writing.I liked Blood's a Rover a lot. Ellroy does seem like a creep in interviews, but keep in mind he was the same creep when he wrote the other books. Plus it's hard to know when he's been serious in his interviews/public appearances. Someone called in recently reporting that they'd seen him at a book reading where he was saying things like "Rodney King deserved that beating" and kinds of other inflammatory shit, but I've read interviews where he was asked about his apparent political conservatism and he says something like "I just say that shit to fuck with people."
That's on my list too. I do love Beckett. There's a lot of unreadable -- not Beckett-unreadable, but just plain unreadable -- stuff in the first third of this, mostly juvenalia, but I'm a completist so I read it anyway.