Sunday 19 November 2006

That'll be Nigel with the bree...

hello chums! (who was i discussing my annoying deja vu over this expression with? george perhaps? remembered it's caro from divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood!)
thought it was about time i contributed to this awesome little club we've got going on..elsa you are my hero for setting it up - immaculate work! and your peter carey wikipedia link to this thing is hilarious - let's spread the word/love!
my most recent read has been 'fictions' by jorge luis borges...was part of my 'great books of the twentieth century' uni course - apparently borges is really famous and quite seminal although i'd never heard of him before! he's often called a fore-runner of pomo lit e.g. with his destabilisation of truth, history etc..although you would contest this truth and relativism thing about postmodernism sal? (will have to discuss with you again later!) basically he writes these short stories, many of which begin in a really dry, essayistic style e.g. seeming like a boring book review or something...which then segue into these fantastic (meaning fantasy) totally bizarre stories - which are still written in an objective style as if they are fact not fiction..e.g. a man attempting to dream a son into existence, and then realising he is only someone else's dream (bit like chuang tzu and his butterfly dream!)...most of the stories reflect idealistic philosophy and if anyone is familiar with this i would love to discuss this and its flaws/lack thereof which annoy me no end and have done my head in! anyway they're a good read although quite odd and hard to explain! i have 'fictions' at home if anyone wants to borrow it..some wacky ideas in there but thought-provoking and gets a tick of approval from me overall..
also if you're after a light, yet really well written book definitely go the '44 Scotland Street' series by alexander mccall smith...about these quirky residents of an apartment building in edinburgh..very witty and charming and if you read it let me know so we can obsess about bertie and wanting to live in edinburgh and being an anthropologist like domenica and studyng pirates in equitorial guinea or somewhere! i have so much love for these books!
xox

5 comments:

els said...

fictions sounds most intriguing... i shall definitely be up for some of that after i finish my current epic effort (herman hesse - the glass bead game - and i'm totally loving it right now).
then again i may read something lighter first before my brain overloads - antropologists in edinburgh may be all i can handle!
xx

George said...

i didn't know there was a series of 44 scotland street? i read the one where pat moves in with bruce on her second gap year...how many others are there? and yes i have to agree with you about the good lighthearted read :) xxx

lyndsey said...

read 44 scotland street, but does anyone own any of the others in the series? in the mood for a lighthearted read... :D xoxo

sal said...

I would also love to read some of the 44 scotland st series! If anyone has any I would be very happy to exchange; though im not in a massive hurry because I must get through Bill Bryson's 'Short History of Nearly Everything' first, which by the way people should read if they are as scientifically naive as I am.

mohit said...

An enjoyable read The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. loved the way she wrote it. I find your review very genuine and orignal.