The Contemporary Nomad is where five authors talk with you, dear reader, about the important subjects of the day. Whatever we decide they might be. Read more 
W I G N A L L
As we had the Summer Bank Holiday in the UK yesterday, and Labor Day in the US today, summer is now officially at an end so I thought I’d look back on some of the books I’ve read over the last two months (I find it very hard to write during the summer so it’s one of the few times in the year that I get any reading done).
Blockbuster territory to begin with – I finally read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. It’s a great short book, and rather unfortunate then that it’s told over 530 pages. And nothing whatsoever happens for the first 150 of those pages. Despite that, I finished it, found it pleasantly diverting in an old-fashioned way, and was left bemused by its success.
Onto the classics. I reread The Outsider by Albert Camus (The Stranger in the US). I read this when I was seventeen and hated it, but so many people compare my work to Camus in general and this book in particular that I thought I ought to revisit. Guess what? I loved it, proof that there can be a right and a wrong age to read a book. I also read the Sword of Honour Trilogy by Evelyn Waugh. These three books are quite simply a masterpiece and I can’t recommend them highly enough.
Historical fiction. Hmmm. I don’t read historical fiction, so I was pleasantly surprised by fellow Nomad David Liss’s The Coffee Trader, an evocative and hugely satisfying read set in 17th Century Amsterdam. I also enjoyed The Siege of Krishnapur by JG Farrell, set during the Indian Mutiny of 1857, though it has to be said, the book is dated in many ways (it was written in the 70s, when it won the Booker Prize).
Eli Cash. Sorry, Cormac McCarthy. This has been a gap in my reading for a while, so I read No Country for Old Men and The Road. I preferred the former (I found the latter rather gloomy, even for a post-apocalyptic story), but it has to be said, his writing is almost like a pastiche of some past style. (Eli Cash is the character in The Royal Tenenbaums who is presumably a parody of McCarthy)
My new book of the summer, and in some ways the best new book I’ve read this year, is Brodeck’s Report by Philippe Claudel, a beautiful and even mythical story that in an indirect way deals with the holocaust. I think it also looks at the human condition in a way that “The Road” completely fails to do.
And finally, a word for The Levels by Sean Cregan (aka John Rickards), which I’ve just read in manuscript form. It’s out early next year and it’s a fascinating book. Imagine some of the big-hitting thriller authors of today, throw in a little of Alan Moore, maybe “Blade Runner” and a dash of “The Matrix”, and you might just be somewhere close to what this book is like. I’ll be interested to see how it does when it’s published.
Okay, that’s my summer reading. Assuming we haven’t alienated all our readers with our prolonged summer hiatus, what have you read this summer, and what do you recommend?
September 1st, 2009 at 7:28 pm
I also read a Liss book–he’s really the talk of the town this summer, isn’t he? Mine was the newest, The Devil’s Company, which I thought was wonderful. I’ll never think of the East India Company the same way again. (Wait a minute–how did I think of it before?)
A little before the summer I gave McCarthy’s Blood Meridian another try…and gave up about 1/2 way in. It suffered from the same thing The Road did, a constant turning of the same wheels of misery. While the characters moved forward, it never felt like the story did. Each time a horror occurred, I felt deja vu. So many friends love his books, but I just can’t make it work for me.
In preparation for the Spy Novel course I’ll be teaching I’ve been reading some great ones lately:
Charles McCarry’s The Miernik Dossier is fantastic.
I’d forgotten how good a prose stylist Alan Furst was until I reread Kingdom of Shadows.
Greene’s Our Man in Havana is utterly entertaining until the throw-away epilogue.
And I read some of the stories from Somerset Maugham’s Ashenden–very quiet and simple, in a good way.
A good summer of reading.
September 1st, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Oh, I didn’t realize David’s new book was about the East India Company – the Company is also central to “The Siege of Krishnapur”. Of course, as David knows, I chose “The Coffee Trader” because it was the shortest of his historicals. Yes, I’m that shallow.
Glad I’m not the only one who has questions about McCarthy. I think “The Road” is also oddly defeatist, which makes its US success all the more surprising.
September 2nd, 2009 at 3:05 pm
I’ll speak up on McCarthy’s behalf, albeit with reservations. I too find his style mannered and his themes a little monotonous . . . but years ago, the man I was dating loved his stuff, and would read me extended passages of the books aloud. My first encounter with BLOOD MERIDIAN was listening, rather than reading, and it was a revelation: McCarthy is an oral storyteller working in a written medium. Since then, I’ve listened to his works on audiobook instead of (or in addition to) reading them, and have a completely different take on them.
September 2nd, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Interesting point, Clair, although all that “caroming” and “yawing” makes me think of Eli Cash even more (there’s a brief scene in The Royal Tenenbaums of Cash doing a reading from one of his books and it’s just like that). But you know, it clearly works for a lot of people, and I’m not knocking that. I also believe he’s genuine in what he’s doing.
September 3rd, 2009 at 9:15 am
The oral storyteller point is an interesting distinction, but I’ve never had a problem with his mannered style. Though I was reading Blood Meridian, I listened to The Road, and in both cases quite enjoyed the prose. My problem was that, once the story got going (and both books are primarily episodic road-trip stories) there seems to be no development, just the same horrific scene repeated in different settings, the only difference being that they become steadily more horrific.
I realized this overly-episodic structure was my problem when listening to The Road. I’d listened to about 2/3 when the story started to refer to some things I hadn’t heard before. So I checked my iPod and found out my files were all screwed up–the chapters had been playing in random order. The point is that it took me 2/3 of the novel to realize this!
That said, one of these days I will get to the end of Blood Meridian. Too many friends have praised it too highly, so I know there must be something at the end that’s worth the struggle.
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:37 pm
I must agree with Kevin on “Tattoo”; it succeeds in creating a palpable sense of anticipation which the bulk of the book does not fulfill, making me question my desire to continue the series. The two protagonists are from different planets and it’s hard to see them solving crimes in tandem.
I very much enjoyed “The Road” when I read it a few years ago. And this from someone who tried and failed twice to get past the first 70 pages of “All the Pretty Horses.” This summer I read “The White Tiger” and just didn’t get it; I may be too American to fully appreciate its capitalist critique. It certainly isn’t subtle, I’ll grant it that.
A re-read of “The Great Gatsby” confirmed to its enduring appeal; it seems to sum up hundreds of years of American ambition and striving and the peril to which it often leads.
September 4th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Also agree on TATTOO. I think we have a mix of Scandinavimania and pathos (the poor author is dead)in this instance.
Very behind on my reading otherwise. THE SIEGE OF KRISHNAPUR sounds very much like my kind of book. I went through a phase of reading everything I could find on the great mutiny a few years ago.
September 4th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Matt, I read “The Great Gatsby” for the first time a few years ago and was very impressed by it, to the extent that I include a small homage to it in my new book. It’s James Twining’s favourite novel and he also includes a sly reference to it in his book, “The Double Eagle”.
Ingrid, “The Siege of Krishnapur” is certainly worth a read (it was included in the recent “best of the Booker” award). As I say, parts of it have dated but as you’ll already know, the underlying story of the Mutiny is fascinating.
September 14th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
The Rules of Attraction by BEE, Invisible Monsters by C. Palahniuk, Perfect Match Jodi Piccoult.
Bret’s was brill, even tho I’d sworn off him for 8 yrs after American Psycho. Chuck’s was rubbish but his style is amazing. Jodi’s dealt with child violation & it’s impact on the mother maturely but I won’t be reading any more of hers for a while.
There’s the book that was sent to me; it was dull.
September 15th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Ooh! Also, Alice Hoffman’s The Ice Queen – c’est tres bien!
September 15th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Now that’s interesting, Sara. I hadn’t read any Palahniuk and someone recommended “Invisible Monsters” to me – but I just couldn’t get on with it.
More interesting is BBE. I don’t think I’ve read any of his, though I’ve seem the films of both “The Rules of Attraction” and “American Psycho” (the latter never appealed to me as a book, but your comment makes me think the former might be worth a try).
September 15th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
Ooh yes do try it. It’s about college kids in the 80′s. The style of writing is like a hypnotic loop & I came away from it feeling impressed. Or you might like to try his first book Less Than Zero. I’ve heard bad things about Glamorama but The Informers will be a movie soon too. You’re not missing anything with American Psycho. Regretfully, I read it aged 16.
Yeah I felt too openly manipulated by Chuck, like he’s always trying to impress & he uses gimmicks!! And my friend felt similarly about his book Survivor.