Middlemarch, George Eliot
Absorbed, deeply moved, caught up in suspense re how characters would resolve societal expectations, the judgements of others and their personal feelings/romances.
Mayor of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy
Compassion, pity, sadness...and foreboding tempered by exasperation re plot (too many unhappy/fateful coincidences).
Candide, Voltaire:A satire, taking the premise of "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds”
Amusement, increasing horror and frustration ..left me disturbed, thoughtful, philosophically challenged.
Gormenghast Trilogy, Mervin Peake (Titus Groan, Gormenghast, Titus Alone)
Dazzled, delighted, amused (especially with the inventiveness and allegory), awed, engaged, enchanted.. kept in suspense re how Titus’s life story would play out and disappointed to be left at the end of the trilogy with many unanswered questions.
Terry Pratchett, any
Tickled by the humour, satire and spoofs, impressed with his background knowledge, delighted by the word play, warmed by feelings of familiarity and recognition when re-entering Pratchett’s Discworld.
Neuromancer, William Gibson: Labelled as the Father of cyberpunk fiction
Troubled, excited, fascinated, awed and engrossed – challenged to think about potential of technology, whilst enjoying the suspense, romance and thrills of the plot; disappointed to be tilted back into the real world when I’d finished… left me with high anticipation of the next book in the series.
The Portrait of a Lady, Henry James
Pity for Isobel’s life and times, dismay re the decisions she makes; totally stricken by her final choice and the romantically unhappy ending.
Post Office, Charles Bukowski: Low life loser’s account of working in a menial post office job – with appalling but enlightening accounts of being a cog in a wheel in his job and of his seedy life and times outside work.
Outrage, pity and amusement .. felt uncomfortable with and troubled by the degree of empathy I felt for such an awful/disgusting character.
Tom’s Midnight Garden, Philippa Pearce
Captivated, deeply touched - simultaneously heartened, sad and satisfied by the denouement.
If on a Winter’s night a traveller, Italo Calvino: Hard to describe to those not familiar.. 'You' are the main character - the Reader of Calvino’s story. However, the full text for Calvino's novel is not available. The reader is as frustrated as Calvino, who then gives us the beginning of another novel, then another, and another...each story compelling, each one breaking off. Chapters alternate between 'you' the reader searching for the missing ends of the books, and the beginnings of the books themselves. Themes include the nature of reality and the subjectivity of truth.
Exasperated, fascinated, intellectually challenged, and finally relieved that there was some sort of possible resolution of the plot.
Great selection! I was reading 'Post Office' yesterday - I often go back to it. If you liked it try 'Women' (if you haven't already).
ReplyDeleteI liked your comments on Calvino - 'exasperated' being an interesting word. How far can an author produce feelings of exasperation and get away with it - and why should he wish to produce exasperation...? And yet exasperation is certainly produced. Again, as with Julie's selection, the range of emotions produced by great fiction is very wide, and if one has a particular effect in mind it's easier to achieve it.
Pleased to see I had read five of your choices Sue. I will try to get a copy of Post Office as it does seem an interesting novel from your description, and one that i would like to read. I also wonder if Charles Bukowski is a relative as I have some long lost cousins by that name somewhere in the New York/ Chicago vicinity from my grandfathers foray there in the late 1920s - is he an American author?
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