The BURIED Book Club discussion

Sure, he won a Nobel recently. But I doubt he won it for his book War, which may interest some readers here.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59...

I found it second hand bookshopping, by chance, having never heard of him, a little before he won the Nobel, which was a real surprise to me. I enjoyed the book immensely.

BTW: I don't know if he is a 'C' or and 'L'. Pretty sure a C. We'll see.

The bookbackblurb.

"War - in the mind of the fragile Bea B., in the infinite icy landscape she journeys through, in Vietnam, in 10,000 years of human history. The war of the title is not merely a war of arms but a generalised state of violence permeating every atom of Le Clezio's creation. Bea B. searches for clues for the origin of the evil. Under her searching gaze the most everyday objects - advertisements, cars, light bulbs - reveal extraordinary dimensions, as the earth trembles on the brink of cataclysmic explosion."

Hate to burst the bubble but this guy is published by Vintage and Penguin Modern Classics. Buried? Can we have adjudication here, leader?

Didn't know he was Penguined. I was going by the less than 30 ratings no reviews Mr Gaddis put up.

Just got his Terra Amata from the library. Don't let me down!

Can't speak for that one. I really like War and that's all I can say :p. I don't have your depth of Pomo/experimental writers/experience, so if he is thoroughly pedestrian I apologise.

Adjudication:

Yes, as Nick points out, Clézio (alphabetized here in accordance with goodreads' alphabet habits, which is fine for our purposes) has some folks reading him and won a prize; and as MJ points out he's pub'd by Penguin. BUT, despite the deception caused by my choice to ORGANIZE threads by AUTHOR, despite this CLUB being about BOOKS, Nick understood my intention to UNEARTH books (not necessarily authors) and he did bring our attention to War. As such, it stands.

I understand both Vintage and Penguin, but especially Penguin Classics, to be in the BackHOE business.

Ali wrote: "I thought he would also stand because of the allowance you make for books that are still buried in English but not necessarily in their original language, which looks to be the case here for most o..."

cf Eric's first post in the Melville thread: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

All I need is that one book. War. But there's that language thing too.

Thank you for the clarification. Maybe we should divide the folders into "BURIED books" and "BURIED authors," or is that too dratblasted fussy?

I am no one to you chaps, but in my humble, that seems sensible, if a little against what Mr. G has stated above.

MJ wrote: "Thank you for the clarification. Maybe we should divide the folders into "BURIED books" and "BURIED authors," or is that too dratblasted fussy?"

Clézio was unknown to me. Not any longer. And to have Nick's rec for War means I can go directly to Go and bypass the Prize Winner Books. Also, the unEARTHing of an unKNOWN book by a KNOWN author (v. Melville) is also of value. My hat always hangs on author-shaped hooks. [and otherwise too futzy] Meanwhile, I understand that things look a bit turned-about, but I hope that it eventually gets straightened-out.

Nick wrote: "I am no one to you chaps, but in my humble, that seems sensible, if a little against what Mr. G has stated above."

I've got something up for that now. My experience remains that generally the entire oeuvre, with an exception here or there, tends to be BURIED. In the opposite case, in which only a handful are BURIED but are worth reading on their own merits (no Kafka laundry lists!!) then they might be filled in that new folder, "BURIED books by KNOWN author."

Got it.

Nick wrote: "Got it."

But I don't know if you want to leave Clézio here or move him over there. Up to you.

I'm happy with your decision. Makes sense to move him there, and leave this bit for individual books?