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Posts tagged `literature`

¶ The Possessed

The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them by Elif Batuman: Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Year: 2010; Pages: 304

I like to think of myself as widely-read, though—paradoxically—the more I read, the more I find I haven’t read. Russian literature is an area of particular paucity for me, and it’s somewhat galling because writers like Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky are such fixtures in our literary culture. I have a feeling, though, that I am not the only one for whom such writers are the best novelist that no one’s ever read (to paraphrase a well-worn joke).

The Possessed is a collection of essays by Elif Batuman, a (then-?)graduate student in Russian language and literature, written in a sort of gonzo style. Not knowing much about the book when I picked it up, I assumed it would have more to do with Russian writers—a sort of Dostoyevsky for Dummies approach, perhaps—than about its own author, but the results are not only mixed in content, but mixed in success, or so I think.

§5205 · March 28, 2010 · (No comments) · Tags: Book Reviews, books, literature, nonfiction, reviews

¶ McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, Issue 31

McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Issue 31 ed. McSweeney's: Publisher: McSweeney's; Year: 2009; Pages: 187

Every issue of McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern comes with a sort of prompt given to its writers. In some cases, the theme is more generic; in other cases, it’s a more limiting construct. In the case of Issue #31, writers were either given or allowed to select (I’m not sure which) an old cultural form of story or poem. In the finished product, each form is introduced with information about its era, use, and prominent adherents. Then the editors excerpt a short (no more than two pages) historical example of the form by one of its more prominent authors (if, indeed, you could call them “prominent”). Finally, a significantly longer (except in the case of poetry) new work by a McSweeney’s contributor which follows or attempts to follow that same form.

§4576 · November 2, 2009 · (No comments) · Tags: Book Reviews, books, fiction, history, literature, reviews

¶ Special Topics in Calamity Physics

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl: Publisher: Viking Adult; Year: 2006; Pages: 528

I read this book previously in 2007.

There’s something particular about debut novels; sure, some authors start small and refine their craft, becoming better authors later in life. But there’s a particular kind of new author—the brash, young literate authors—whose first novels are fireworks displays, the pent-up combustive energies of potentially years worth of frustrated writing.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics feels like one of those explosions.

§4442 · September 8, 2009 · (No comments) · Tags: Book Reviews, books, fiction, literature, reviews

¶ Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith: Publisher: Quirk Books; Year: 2009; Pages: 320

First, a preamble. If you’ve been hiding in a cave with your eyes closed and cotton in your ears, you might not be aware that zombies are in. Though at one point nothing more than one entry in a pantheon of ghouls (which also included mummies and vampires), they have quickly worked their way into popular culture. Nowhere is this more apparent than the internet, where they have become a meme along with such colorful characters as pirates, ninjas, pirates vs. ninjas, lolcats, raptors, &c..

Zombies in particular have proved fodder for both cursory reference and more substantial fare: be it books such as World War Z or Breathers, films such as 28 Days Later, or video games such as Resident Evil or Left4Dead, zombies have begun to infiltrate our niche media.

§3860 · June 23, 2009 · 1 comment · Tags: Book Reviews, books, fiction, literature, reviews, satire

¶ McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, Issue 30

McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Issue 30 ed. McSweeney's: Publisher: McSweeney's; Year: 2009; Pages: 200

This is the very first issue of McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern that I have read, though not for lack of trying. Its title (if you can call it that) is “Rejoice,” and is clearly a nod to the recent election of Barack Obama as U.S. President, and all the warm, gooey-on-the-inside sort of feelings that might entail for you. On the surface, Issue 30′s stories appear surprisingly, well, depressing for such a lauded event.

§3817 · June 18, 2009 · (No comments) · Tags: Book Reviews, books, literature, reviews