This weekend brings us rain and winds and even a storm, and the perfect excuse to curl up on the daybed with a book. A good book.
I've been on somewhat of a reading rampage lately, currently enjoying Paul Auster's Brooklyn Follies- which seems to be one of his best recent books, on par with the adventures in mankind of the early ones. So far, even more exciting than Invisible, of which I thought the same thing (and I wasn't disappointed) when I started reading it a few weeks back.
Another book that kept me reading all day last weekend was Houellebecq's La Carte et le Territoire- which just won the Goncourt prize in France, to great controversy (but don't the French love controversy?). Despite all the bad rep he's garnered with the critics and the press in recent years- not being quite PC enough for Paris' liberal intelligentsia - I still think he wrote yet another great book, one with unexpected depths and layers. One only has to look at his brilliant passages on the nature of creation and art, the fascinating (and hilarious) use of himself and other public figures as characters, or his astute vision of his country only a few years ahead, with a countryside revitalized by tourism and the young eco-entrepreneurs. He's merciless in his analysis of the modern world, yet almost tender when it comes to humanity, but without any sentimentalism. And need I say, it's all extremely well written.
(Have you noticed, I'm actually reading male writers? it had been a while. But I still want another Pagano for Christmas, and a Hélène Bessette is next on my shelf.)
What have you been reading lately?
No comments:
Post a Comment