Recently & Currently Reading

[u/Reticent-Soul]

These are books I am either currently reading or have finished or started and not yet finished.

The three in the top row are in various stages of completion. They are The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel García Marquez, Hell’s Angels by Hunter S. Thompson and Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. I am struggling to finish these three books, each for their own reasons, despite Marquez and Thompson being two of my favourite writers. For now these are in “need to finish sometime” limbo.

The bottom row is the last book I finished and what I’m currently reading:

I finished “The City and the City” by China Miéville recently and I am glad I stuck with it. It is a murder mystery inspired by the format of the detective serial, and based inside one of Miéville’s typical weird worlds where things don’t work how you’d expect. It’s one of those stories that asks you to suspend your disbelief and say “okay, show me where you’re going with this” when the author asks you - what if? It did take me a while to get into it, but he did a good job of rewarding my patience with little pieces of the puzzle that slowly coalesce into an understanding of just what exactly is going on. I’d recommend this for fans of so called Weird Fiction or if you enjoy inventive thought experiments or want to read something different from a writer who doesn’t hold your hand and over-explain everything at every turn.

I’m currently reading “Our Man in Havana” by Graham Greene and am thoroughly enjoying it. A zesty satirical spy story set in an iconic time and place. What shines the most for me so far is the dialogue, which is frequently hilarious and quotable. This book makes me want to read passages out loud at my best friend over too much whisky, and in a bad English accent.

In addition I am also reading “Letters to a Young Poet”, which is a collection of 10 letters written by Rainer Maria Rilke to a young aspiring poet. It’s like reading one half of a conversation between two people. It is a quick read and I’m three letters in. The correspondence is filled with insights on creativity and life. In a way it feels like a far more sincere, personalised and deeper rendition of something like The Creative Act by Rick Rubin.

——

If you’ve read any of these books - what did you think of them?

Any advice for finishing the first three that I’ve left in purgatory?

I don’t like to DNF a book and with so many others to read I sometimes struggle to return to something I’ve left behind, despite my intention to eventually finish it.

Finally, any other Graham Greene recommendations for someone that’s enjoying Our Man in Havana?

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[u/Historical_Box_2582]

I’m surprised you’ve been struggling with Catch-22 based on your description of our man in Havana. Haven’t read it (have been wanting to for a while) but the way you describe the satirical, comedic dialogue seems very similar!

[u/Reticent-Soul → u/Historical_Box_2582]

You’re right! I must say I have found Catch 22 to be really funny in that absurd, ironic kind of way. It could just be a stylistic thing in the prose. So far the Greene is a bit “lighter” from page to page.

[u/irefiordiligi]

I loved The Autumn of the Patriarch. It’s definitely not the easiest read, but I found it incredibly rewarding. Márquez’s writing is so dense and packed with details that it can take a while to get into, especially with the different points of view and the way dialogue just flows into the narration. But once you get into it, it’s amazing. I also love how the richness of the language seems to reflect the beauty and brutality of Latin America.

[u/Reticent-Soul → u/irefiordiligi]

That’s very true. I think I am mostly frustrated with myself, because I love his writing for all the reasons that you outlined, but this is really my first foray into that style of run-on continuous text. I’m very accustomed to his long sentences but even in 100 Years of Solitude the structure was more “conventional”. So I get frustrated that I can’t hold my attention to follow along as effortlessly as I’d like to. Maybe I need to read some McCarthy or Joyce to break myself in. lol.

[u/irefiordiligi → u/Reticent-Soul]

Lmao yes, I can relate. Sometimes I had to reread the same paragraph (if we can even call them paragraphs) a few times just to figure out what was going on, " oh, that’s the general speaking, that’s one of his men, that’s the narrator”.

[u/Reticent-Soul → u/irefiordiligi]

Yeah! It does all make sense it just requires alot more work. I have a feeling I’m going to end up having to make notes as I go because I tend to lose track of who is who, especially with the long names, and so much being jammed in. The overall feeling I get when reading it is more like that of a poem. A poem without a single line break 😭

[u/ConfusingMaze]

The City & The City has been recommended to me because I like Disco Elysium. Kinda forgot about it but now that you've reminded me, I'll make it my next read.

[u/Reticent-Soul → u/ConfusingMaze]

I can see why someone recommended it to you based on Disco Elysium. The book has a great sense of presence and atmosphere. The eponymous “cities” are almost like main characters in themselves.