tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post4121434051673988137..comments2024-01-06T10:36:04.084-05:00Comments on A Commonplace Blog: 15 books in 15 minutesD. G. Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-83854865510150866272009-06-20T00:37:27.398-04:002009-06-20T00:37:27.398-04:00In creating this list I'm attempting to leave ...In creating this list I'm attempting to leave out the extremely influential genre fiction (Verne, Christie, Orson Scott Card) from my youth and the angry authors (Heller et al) who I devoured in high school and, as much as I still appreciate the work, have attempted to remove from my conception of what the novel must do ever since.<br /><br />Ranked, of course, in terms of stick-to-me-itiveness, and not merit. <br /><br />1. Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby, stories<br />3. Salinger - Nine Stories<br />gap<br />4. Murakami - Sputnik Sweetheart<br />5. Saroyan - The Human Comedy<br />6. Updike - Pigeon Feathers<br />gap<br />7. Bellow - Augie March<br />8. Cather - My Antonia<br />9. Carver - Cathedral<br />10. Flannery O'Connor - Stories<br />11. Twain - Huck Finn<br />12. Frederic - The Damnation of Theron Ware<br />[here I thought: lord, this is difficult.]<br />13. Austen - Northanger Abbey <br />14. James - Daisy Miller<br />15. Foer - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (for better or worse)dan m.http://www.vivaelbirdos.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-18583840779859698202009-06-18T13:14:43.237-04:002009-06-18T13:14:43.237-04:00Indeed, without apology, I was intrigued recently ...Indeed, without apology, I was intrigued recently by Margaret Atwood's ORYX AND CRAKE, and I found that including the novel in a literature class produced surprising advantages and adventures.<br /><br />As for myself, all is well. Details? Not relevant. I'm not ducking the question but merely asserting the basic reality: avoiding room temperature is a laudable goal for day to day living.R/Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07791522136032565027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-7217977690722685712009-06-18T13:07:11.624-04:002009-06-18T13:07:11.624-04:00Margaret Atwood?
How are you feeling, R.T.? How d...Margaret <i>At</i>wood?<br /><br />How are you feeling, R.T.? How did the, er, um, procedure go?D. G. Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-19346323777425600702009-06-18T11:30:15.292-04:002009-06-18T11:30:15.292-04:00Having returned from my "hibernation" bu...Having returned from my "hibernation" but not ready to resume full-time blogging, I am nevertheless intrigued by the implicit challenge presented by both you and Terry Teachout. My idiosyncratic list, decided upon in less than fifteen minutes, includes the following books that have--for all sorts of reasons--"stayed with me" in curiously important ways over the years . For whatever my contribution to the conversation might be worth, here is my list:<br />A. S. Byatt - Persuasion<br />Carson McCullers – The Ballad of the Sad Café<br />Cormac McCarthy – Blood Meridian<br />Flannery O’Connor – The Complete Stories<br />Flannery O’Connor – Wise Blood<br />Frank Norris – McTeague<br />Franz Kafka – The Metamorphosis<br />Harold Bloom – The Western Canon<br />Harold Bloom - Blake's Apocalypse<br />Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go<br />Margaret Atwood – Oryx and Crake<br />Robert Louise Stevenson – The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde<br />Samuel Beckett – Waiting for Godot<br />The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty<br />The Complete Poetry and Prose of William BlakeR/Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07791522136032565027noreply@blogger.com