oaki
Armadillo Pup
Posts: 9
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Post by oaki on Jun 12, 2011 13:50:44 GMT -5
I loved this book! Have you read The Last Little Blue Envelope? It just came out. It's not quite as good as the first, but it's still pretty good. I discovered its existence, bought it, and plowed through it in the span of twenty-four hours earlier this week.  I also heard about the second book yesterday, and now I'm looking for it online, since in my third world country[Romania] it'll be sold in two years probably...but I liked the first volume! |
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Lilt
Armadillo Pup
Posts: 14
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Post by Lilt on Jun 13, 2011 0:18:02 GMT -5
Alain-Fournier's Le Grand Meaulnes, sometimes translated as The Lost Estate. It was really, really good. Namely due to it imbibing three elements I absolutely love: nostalgia from lost childhood, the French, and waaaaay drawn out, beat-to-shit metaphor.
It's basically about a picturesque french village at the turn of the 20th century. One boy stumbles upon an extravagant wedding taking place in amongst a crumbling estate deep in the woods. Stricken by the ceremony — and by the beautiful girl he meets at it — he resolves to return to it, but doesn't know the way. He and the narrator spend the book trying to get back to this "Lost Estate" — lost childhood and nostalgia, eh, eh — and follows them as they move past adolescence.
It was one of those books you don't realize how good it was nor the degree of its emotional manipulation until it's over, which, if that was Alain-Fournier's intention, makes it a pretty damn good write-up on childhood.
You guys should read it. Penguin has a translation.
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Post by djcarter on Jun 13, 2011 0:28:58 GMT -5
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
I'd imagine some people would know it, but whenever I recommend it, people have no idea of its existence. It's a great story with elements of mystery and fantasy, set historically. Very well-written, and well-translated!
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andy
Young Armadillo
Posts: 80
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Post by andy on Jun 13, 2011 5:37:18 GMT -5
I discovered its existence, bought it, and plowed through it in the span of twenty-four hours earlier this week. I also heard about the second book yesterday, and now I'm looking for it online, since in my third world country[Romania] it'll be sold in two years probably...but I liked the first volume! Lol, so many books get published in Romania ages before they get translated and published in Britain. Umberto Eco's The Prague Cemetery, for example, came out in Romania last year in December - only two months after the Italian edition, but the English translation will only be released this year in November - so more than a year after the original was released. And we're talking about one of Europe's most well known contemporary writers whom everybody expects will gain a Nobel and a novel which sold millions of copies around the world and was an instant bestseller in many countries. The list of French writers I like which are not translated/available in the UK is practically endless, but I find Stéphane Audeguy especially lovely. I think that if he were translated and promoted seriously he would end up being a lot like Ian McEwan in terms of fame and fan following because he's really good, yet widely accessible. As it is, he remains virtually unknown in English speaking countries. |
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Post by Vergissmeinnicht on Jun 13, 2011 12:38:28 GMT -5
I'm not entirely sure how popular it is actually, but the YA novel Feed by MT Anderson.
Absolutely amazing.
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Post by Eternal Lobster on Jun 14, 2011 10:11:26 GMT -5
To bring up another Maureen Johnson book that I read in high school that none of my friends seemed interested in reading, The Bermudez Triangle. I had read about the drama, book banning, etc concerning this book on Maureen's blog and picked it up last summer or the one before. I loved it! I really wish that there were more books out there like this for young adults or that authors weren't afraid to write them. Oooo, I now have an urge to go read this again. |
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Post by cyanea on Jun 16, 2011 17:00:17 GMT -5
The Alienist, by Caleb Carr. It's a historical mystery, which is one of the genres that gets eye-rolled at by self-important literary people with sticks up their asses, but it's more than that. It takes place in New York City in 1896, and paints an INCREDIBLY vivid picture of the poverty, corruption, and suffering among the city's poor then. It makes great use of historical figures: Teddy Roosevelt plays a big role, as does Anthony Comstock and Jacob Riis among others. It's also a novel heavy on psychology and criminal profiling, which is incredibly interesting because both were at their infancy back then.
I love that book, as well as its sequel to a lesser extent.
EDIT - Oh, and The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Robinson. It's not the most well-written book on the planet, but it's fascinating. Basically, it's a depiction of Earth history had the Black Death wiped out 99% of Europe's population. The Scientific Revolution happens in Islamic countries, China colonizes much of North America, the Native American nations are able to fight off much of their oppressors and form a unified and powerful nation, and there's a 30-year war between China and India and an alliance of Islamic nations.
It's not the most cohesive book, but I love it because each of the short stories in it (the book is a collection of short stories that follows several characters that reincarnate time and time again) is written like something from that time. The piece that takes place in 2002 is very much a modern novel, while the part that takes place in the 1400s is written like something from then. In the later books, as science becomes more and more codified, it's startling to see how much of the science we use in the real world is US and Western-centric, which doesn't exist in this novel. For example, much of the scientific language changes ("qi" means electricity, for example) and the novel urges you to research why that word is used on your own. I loved it for that.
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Post by smallthings on Jun 16, 2011 20:05:05 GMT -5
I'm not entirely sure how popular it is actually, but the YA novel Feed by MT Anderson. Absolutely amazing. I've read Feed! I really liked it as well - the idea behind the story is pretty interesting. One of my favorite books that no one seems to have heard of is The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. I love it. |
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Post by djcarter on Jun 16, 2011 23:12:47 GMT -5
One of my favorite books that no one seems to have heard of is The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. I love it. I read this over the summer and was kind of underwhelmed by it. I felt the writing style, although poetic and beautifully done, soon got inappropriate for the harsh, dark subject matter of novel. Combine that with a lack of redemption for any of the characters and it soon feels like a book trying to do more than it should. Note this is my opinion, and I would like to hear what appealed to you about it? |
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Post by BasicallyRun on Jun 17, 2011 15:49:46 GMT -5
The Horatio Lyle series by Catherine Webb. Lyle was probably my first fictional crush - snarky, kind of awkward, carries explosive chemicals around, and solves supernatural mysteries with science. Ish. Also, he has a dog called Tate, which is possibly only funny if you're British.
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Post by embonpoint on Jun 17, 2011 18:32:01 GMT -5
One of my favorite books that no one seems to have heard of is The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. I love it. I have this on the bookshelf in my room! I've been meaning to read it - I think I actually may have started it once; I will get to it this summer, then. |
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Annie Ozone
Young Armadillo
Death of Cars, Reader of Books, Drinker of Booze, and Generally Accident-Prone Lady
Posts: 88
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Post by Annie Ozone on Jun 17, 2011 22:18:26 GMT -5
Any Eva Ibbotson book. I grew up on her kids' books (Which Witch? chief among them) and then they reissued her more adult books, and they're awesome too!
Also: Robin McKinley. One of my very favorite authors, yet her name seems to be mentioned only in the dark corners of fantasy forums... D:
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Post by devilishlybookish on Jun 17, 2011 22:28:04 GMT -5
Also: Robin McKinley. One of my very favorite authors, yet her name seems to be mentioned only in the dark corners of fantasy forums... D:
I once read a book so unknown that even *I* don't know what it is. I remember it being a period YA novel, set in medieval times. A princess was married off and the man who was to bring her from her father's palace to her husband's always kept his body completely hidden. Their trip is long and she spies on him eventually and finds that he's covered with hair. I think they even fell in love. Anyway, I renewed that book over and over again and, even though I can't remember it and no one else seems to know it, I LOVED it. |
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Post by serpentheart on Jun 17, 2011 22:50:53 GMT -5
One of my favourite books is Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman and I don't know anyone else who has read it. I love diary form, I love the middle ages and I love snarky interesting female characters. |
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Post by KatjevanLoon on Jun 17, 2011 23:30:31 GMT -5
One of my favourite books is Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman and I don't know anyone else who has read it. I love diary form, I love the middle ages and I love snarky interesting female characters. Wait. Did that involve a bit about "God's [anatomy]" being used as a curse word and the protagonist/narrator choosing "God's thumbs" as her favourite one? Because if it did, I've read that book.  |
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