Blasted through Kevin Barry's new novel The Heart in Winter this weekend. Astoundingly cool book. Bonkers pace, but nothing overly frenetic. Simple plot at its core, but it explodes from there.

I would say if Cormac McCarthy or the tv show Deadwood is your shit, this book is absolutely for you. Takes place in Butte, MT in the 1890's, but has a distinctly IRISH VIBE to it throughout.

Isaac wrote: Mon Aug 19, 2024 12:54 pm Blasted through Kevin Barry's new novel The Heart in Winter this weekend. Astoundingly cool book. Bonkers pace, but nothing overly frenetic. Simple plot at its core, but it explodes from there.

I would say if Cormac McCarthy or the tv show Deadwood is your shit, this book is absolutely for you. Takes place in Butte, MT in the 1890's, but has a distinctly IRISH VIBE to it throughout.

Noted!

Just finished The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor. Currently reading Southermost by Silas House. The southern lit bender continues.

kokorodoko wrote: Sat Jun 29, 2024 1:52 pm

kokorodoko wrote: Mon Mar 27, 2023 5:42 am John le Carré

Started on Tinker Tailor...

And halfway through I've lost the plot and forgotten who all the people are. This book does appear particularly 'talky' in comparison with The Spy. I don't dislike it. There are very scenic moments, in simple things like walking home from a restaurant. But the very slow pace coupled with the confusion makes for frustration. It'll be a while before I return to this writer.

I've never read any Joyce Carol Oates. I want to.

Fairly bleak short stories tend to be my favorite form of fiction, and it sounds like she has a few of those in her oeuvre.

Any recommendations?

bigc wrote: Tue Aug 20, 2024 8:40 am I've never read any Joyce Carol Oates. I want to.

Fairly bleak short stories tend to be my favorite form of fiction, and it sounds like she has a few of those in her oeuvre.

Any recommendations?

AIRSHIPS and BATS OUT OF HELL by Barry Hannah
TINY LOVE by Larry Brown
LAST DAYS OF THE DOGMEN by Brad Watson
A STRANGER IN THIS WORLD by Kevin Canty
MY PEOPLE’S WALTZ by Dale Ray Philips
JESUS’ SON and LARGESSE AND THE SEA MAIDEN by Denis Johnson
COLLECTED STORIES by Breece D’J Pancake
THE COMPLETE STORIES by Flannery O’Connor
DUBLINERS by James Joyce
Everything you can find by Eudora Welty

I love JCO, you can’t really go wrong picking up anywhere in her bibliography. But the above are added suggestions for usually bleak and unsentimental stories that cut like a razor.

Southern Reach trilogy could not maintain past the first book, but I finished it anyway. A big "okay" at that ending.

Dave N. wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2024 7:26 am Just finished William Gay’s Provinces of Night, and now I’m reading Fay by Larry Brown. Eagerly awaiting the new ones from Willy Vlauten and James Wade.

I wrote at Larry Brown’s writing shed in Tula and made friends with his son Shane a year or two ago. Oxford is a fantastic place that just bleeds stories. I have a file box full of Larry’s stories and “novels-in-progress” that he sent to my buddy Clyde Edgerton, who is a brilliant writer in his own right. I liked FAY but I prefer the terse prose of JOE and FATHER AND SON. Brilliant writer.

Read Tim McLaurin if you haven’t already.

bigc wrote: Tue Aug 20, 2024 8:40 am Fairly bleak short stories tend to be my favorite form of fiction, and it sounds like she has a few of those in her oeuvre.

Any recommendations?

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, by Wells Tower. None finer.

Thanks so much for the recs, y'all. Now on the short list.

Any suggestions by JCO specifically? I've never read a word of her writing and want to dig in.

'the year of magical thinking'. i haven't read 'blue nights' but i should. 'very sad' doesn't really cover it, but it is.