Out of the Depths

Monday May 21, 2007

More novels lay scattered on the bedroom floor, abandoned and unread. Now one title has now saved me from the bookless mess. I wasn’t aware that we had a copy of We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver but there it was, already yellowing on the shelf.

At last a book I know I will finish. It’s inspired me to invest in some new purchases, which include:

The first three choices are no surprises if you’ve read any of my recent posts. Woodward’s novel is the third in a trilogy that began with August and continued with I’ll Go To Bed At Noon. Both excellent, so I’m looking forward to this one.

I just hope they arrrive in time for next week’s camping trip.

Stephen can’t wait to see what you make of The Falling Man. I read White Noise a couple of years ago and enjoyed it but have not read anything by him since so look forward to your thoughts.

simon    21 May, 11:29 AM   

Simon: I’m really looking forward to it. They were very critical on Late Review I thought, although The Sunday Times loved it.

Stephen    21 May, 12:50 PM   

I’m in the middle of a Shriver novel (the latest) and am enjoying it a lot—she’s a good author to get lost in, isn’t she?

Dorothy W.    21 May, 01:38 PM   

Dorothy: Yes she is, and her new novel narrowly missed being one of my latest purchases (alas, I have a limited budget).

Stephen    21 May, 02:03 PM   

I’m really looking forward to reading the Shriver book, please do tell how you get on. And after The Road I’m looking for another McCarthy to wade into so I’ll be looking for your thoughts on No Country for Old Men. As for Don Delillo, I read Running Dog a few months back and I’m not sure it was the best introduction to his work. I loved parts of the writing but the overall project disappointed me. Falling Man is supposed to be wonderful, though.

verbivore    22 May, 07:31 AM   

Verbivore: I’d been looking for an introduction to DeLillo for some time. I couldn’t make up my mind where to start, and then along came Falling Man.

It was the same with McCarthy – “where do I start?” and then along comes The Road.

Stephen    22 May, 12:04 PM   

Must say that I found WNTTA… Kevin a thoroughly unpleasant book. Not a bad book, just an unpleasant one. In fact, an extremely well written and powerful book, which is precisely why I found it unpleasant.

It’s one of those one’s I’m glad I read, but I couldn’t actually say I enjoyed ...

JackP    22 May, 11:09 PM   

Jack: I’m about halfway through, and although I’m going to reserve judgement for now, I see what you mean.

Stephen    22 May, 11:46 PM   

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