21st Century Literature discussion

General discussion thread for Some Luck--please avoid any spoiler posts here.

Almost finished. Really looking forward to this discussion!

Not directly related to SL, but reading Smiley put me on the trail of her 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel. While I haven't read her expository chapters yet, I am enjoying her commentary on each of the 100 novels she read in conjunction with the project represented by this book, which seems to have been at least partly one of training herself about the novel.

Glad to hear someone is at least perusing it. I have the book and have promised myself a good chunk of reading time dedicated to it.

Has anyone read Moo? I started it a few years ago after reading A Thousand Acres but had a problem with the humor and out it aside. This may be the time to pick it up again.

Portia wrote: "Has anyone read Moo? I started it a few years ago..."

I'm another one that has Moo among many other unread books on my shelves.

FWIW, a few GR friends have read or attempted Moo with no one heralding it as of yet.

Portia wrote: "Glad to hear someone is at least perusing it. I have the book and have promised myself a good chunk of reading time dedicated to it...."

Portia -- I highly recommend, rather than dedicating a good chunk of reading time, jump to the 1-3 page reviews of 100 novels that comprise over half the book. Read a few for books you already know -- or for a book on your TBR (if you don't mind spoilers -- you may find them here -- I figure some books I may never get to read in their entirety, but I'd like to know more about them -- also, that any book worth reading is worth reading twice, even if one never finds time to do so -- but I know well not all share those attitudes). That's a lot less time than dedication, and a lot of fun in my experience, to sort of match wits on viewpoints about books against this esteemed teacher, author, and judge of literary awards.

(Unfortunately, page numbers for each novel aren't provided in the TOC, so one has to use the numbered sequence to find the desired entry.)

13 Ways...

Thanks for the excellent advice, Lily:)

I am halfway through Early Warning. The main characters here are the children of the 1st generation and their children. I am a Baby Boomer, so the events are even more familar than the last book. A far more complex world than was life on the farm. It is interesting, and a bit painful, to see what is happening to Frank, Joe, Lillian, Henry and Claire and their spouses and children.

Another new book with a Midwestern setting -- the review isn't over enthusiastic. Sounds like more of a beach read. If a day had infinite hours, I'd enjoy reading and comparing.

Summerlong: A Novel by Dean Bakopoulos

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/12/boo...

Linda wrote: "I am halfway through Early Warning. The main characters here are the children of the 1st generation and their children. I am a Baby Boomer, so the events are even more familar tha..."

I enjoyed it for the same reasons. Smiley kept my interest because I wanted to see which events she chose to highlight and which character was given which role in the event.