If only I had the will to write something. But I can read.
PHILOSOPHY
Fragments or Sayings or Tall Tales (4th
C. BCE), Diogenes the Cynic, tr. Guy Davenport
Cynics (2008), William Desmond - for an entry in a series aimed at students, surprisingly well written. It helps that the Cynics are entertaining.
FICTION
Darkness at Noon (1941), Arthur Koestler
Between the Acts (1941), Virginia Woolf
Behind the Door (1964) &
The Heron (1968) &
The Smell of Hay (1972), Giorgio Bassani - the last half of the "Ferrara novel." The Heron was my favorite, but all six books are worth reading.
Invisible Cities (1972), Italo Calvino
POETRY
Trilogy (1944-6), H. D.
Collected Poems (1943-87), Primo Levi
Otherwise: First and Last Poems (1984), Eugenio
Montale
CRITICISM
The Art of Poetry (1958), Paul Valéry
Wonder Confronts Certainty: Russian Writers on the
Timeless Questions and Why Their Answers Matter (2023), Gary Saul Morson - a major work.
IN FRENCH
“La jeune parque” (1917) &
Charmes (1922), Paul Valéry
Les armes miraculeuses (1946) &
Soleil cou-coupé (1948) &
Corps perdu (1950), Aimé Césaire
In Portuguese, I worked on grammar, although let’s not exaggerate
how much.
Did you finish Morson's book?
ReplyDeleteYes. This is really a list of "Books Finished." Nothing in progress or, rare as it is, abandoned. This month I abandoned Céline's Journey to the End of the Night (in French). Too difficult for my available concentration.
ReplyDeleteAh, Between the Acts. I keep meaning to get to it, probably in part from H Bloom's comments on it. I try to let those types of feelings subside before I read a recommendation, but any quick thoughts on it? I get the feeling if you like Woolf, you'll enjoy it. If not, well...
ReplyDeleteIt was not the advance or move from Lighthouse that The Waves was, but anyone comfortable with Woolf will likely enjoy it. It is not as hard as The Waves.
ReplyDeleteIt has a play-within-the-novel that takes up a lot of space. I loved it, but I could see it being a patience-tester for some.