NYRB Classics discussion

The time has come already. Today we start nominations for our April book club. The nominations period is open now and closes on Feb. 7th at 11;59pm EST, after which a poll will be set up and left open for another week. Get your nominations in! A maximum of 5 per person please.

Louise wrote: "The time has come already. Today we start nominations for our April book club. The nominations period is open now and closes on Feb. 7th at 11;59pm EST, after which a poll will be set up and left o..."

Here's mine: Uncertain Glory by Joan Sales.

I am preparing to read this one in April.

Teffi, Tolstoy, Rasputin, Others, and Me: The Best of Teffi
Yuri Olesha, Envy - perhaps an interesting comparison with Berlin Alexanderplatz?
Vladimir Sorokin, The Queue
Tété-Michel Kpomassie, An African in Greenland
Sylvia Townsend Warner, Lolly Willowes

After having found it difficult to think of 5 books in previous rounds, now I have a list of 6 and I kept changing my mind which of them to leave out. (The sixth is Our Spoons Came from Woolworths.)
Also happy to support these short French thrillers that come up in the nominations such as Simenon and Manchette but not too particular about titles.

ETA: Envy now swapped for The Enchanted April

I think I'll nominate two for the time being, and maybe save the others if it looks like something needs my support

Act of Passion by Georges Simenon

Loving by Henry Green

Both quite short, by the way

I’ll go with any Simenon. If I can find the title in French I’ll read it that way as I’m trying to improve my French and Simenon is appealing

Janet wrote: "I’ll go with any Simenon. If I can find the title in French I’ll read it that way as I’m trying to improve my French and Simenon is appealing"

If you want a Simenon title in the poll you need to give me a title or two.

The Unknown Masterpiece
Hard Rain Falling
The Slaves of Solitude
Rogue Male
The Mountain Lion

Louise wrote: "Janet wrote: "I’ll go with any Simenon. If I can find the title in French I’ll read it that way as I’m trying to improve my French and Simenon is appealing"

If you want a Simenon title in the poll..."

Act of Passion

Dirty Snow

The Strangers in the House

I will second Rogue Male

and throw in a wild card:

Part of Our Time: Some Ruins & Monuments of the Thirties

I don't know when the NYRB ed. of Picture, by Lillian Ross is coming out, but I have read it, (in another edition) and would read it again.

Janet wrote: "Louise wrote: "Janet wrote: "I’ll go with any Simenon. If I can find the title in French I’ll read it that way as I’m trying to improve my French and Simenon is appealing"

If you want a Simenon ti..."

I will second all of these Simenon titles

I will also vote for

Dirty Snow
Act of Passion

and

Envy
Fatale

Dax wrote: "The Unknown Masterpiece
Hard Rain Falling
The Slaves of Solitude
Rogue Male
The Mountain Lion"

I second Hard Rain Falling. Would have liked The Slaves of Solitude but have already read it in January.

I would like to add two more to that list:
Uncertain Glory by Joan Sales
Tyrant Banderas by Ramón María del Valle-Inclán

So then a total of 3 nominations from me!

I second Loving by Henry Green

Randolph wrote: "Fatale is mighty good"

I agree.Fatale is really good.

I'm going to put The Invention of Morel back in the running, but too am in favor of a Simenon, particularly Dirty Snow

Summer Will Show
Lolly Willowes
The Invention of Morel
Loving
The Queue

Oh, definitely Invention of Morel.
Second.

The Invention of Morel
Tyrant Banderas
An African in Greenland
Hadrian the Seventh
As a Man Grows Older

A title like Dirty Snow is appealing just now in the northern hemisphere, but I for one would be less keen on it in April.

What's the best way to look through all the books NYRB have published? I searched Simenon on their website to see how many of his they have, and they only list Pedigree, Tropic Moon and Act of Passion - presumably the titles currently in print. There are none of his in the 2019 Complete Classics Catalog.

According to good ole Wikipedia:

The Engagement (Les Fiançailles de M. Hire, 1933) (New York Review Books Classics, ISBN 1-59017-228-0)

Tropic Moon (tr. Stuart Gilbert: George Routledge & Sons, 1940; Penguin Books, 1952) (Coup de Lune, 1933) (New York Review Books Classics, ISBN 1-59017-111-X)

The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By (L'homme qui regardait passer les trains, 1938) (New York Review Books Classics, ISBN 1-59017-149-7)

The Strangers in the House (Les Inconnus dans la maison, 1940) (New York Review Books Classics, ISBN 1-59017-194-2)

The Widow (La Veuve Couderc, 1942) (New York Review Books Classics, ISBN 978-1-59017-261-2)

Monsieur Monde Vanishes (La Fuite de Monsieur Monde, 1945) (New York Review Books Classics, ISBN 1-59017-096-2)

Three Bedrooms in Manhattan (Trois Chambres à Manhattan, 1945) (New York Review Books Classics, ISBN 1-59017-044-X)

Act of Passion (Lettre à mon juge, 1947)

Dirty Snow (La Neige était sale, 1948) (New York Review Books Classics, ISBN 1-59017-043-1)

Pedigree (1948) (New York Review Books Classics, ISBN 978-1-59017-351-0)

Red Lights (Feux Rouges, 1953) (New York Review Books Classics, ISBN 1-59017-193-4)

The Teffi
African in Greenland
Stoner
Arabia Felix

Linda wrote: "The Teffi
African in Greenland
Stoner
Arabia Felix"

Nothing comes up on the NYRB website when I do a search for "The Teffi". Is that the complete title?

Perhaps she means the Teffi collection nominated by Antonomasia?

Jeff wrote: "Perhaps she means the Teffi collection nominated by Antonomasia?"

That would make sense now wouldn't it. Thank you Jeff.

I will second:
Uncertain Glory
Loving
The Slaves of Solitude
Tolstoy, Rasputin, Others, and Me: The Best of Teffi
Act of Passion

I am willing to barter votes.

Antonomasia wrote: "A title like Dirty Snow is appealing just now in the northern hemisphere, but I for one would be less keen on it in April.

What's the best way to look through all the books NYRB have published? I..."

Just as a total aside , your comment about April reminded me of a delightful read published by NYRB, The Enchanted April originally published in 1922, made into a film about 20 years ago, but definitely recommended for those craving the sights, sounds and fragrances of spring, in this case, springtime on the Italian Riviera. Probably not enough interest for a group read with this group, perhaps, but enjoyable nonetheless.

You never know unless you nominate it.

Louise wrote: "You never know unless you nominate it."

Ha. Yes, it couldn't be a more perfect month, could it? It was a big movie here at the time.

Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky: A London Trilogy

also I'll second Rogue Male

Louise wrote: "Jeff wrote: "Perhaps she means the Teffi collection nominated by Antonomasia?"

That would make sense now wouldn't it. Thank you Jeff."

Oops...sorry guys. I did mean the Teffi collection!

Louise wrote: "You never know unless you nominate it."
You know, I’m going to be honest, here. I was hesitating on nominating it because the impression I get from this group is that everyone is very serious in their reading. And I guess I felt somewhat intimidated!

Elizabeth von Arnim’s The Enchanted April is a romantic comedy, a social comedy, a comedy of manners – a novel that is descended from Jane Austen rather than, say George Eliot. It’s a lovely, charming read, about women in unhappy marriages that get sorted out over an idyllic month in Italy, with memorable landscape descriptions, (which is my specialty) -- and in fact perfect for April. (For our Australian friends, EVA was born in Australia and cousins with, I believe, Katherine Mansfield.) So, here goes, I nominate it. See EVA's bio here:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

I'm glad you nominated it Janet. I have it on my shelves waiting to be read.

Enchanted April was very popular maybe 4 or 5 years ago among people I knew on GR. Before such a large proportion of my friendslist was made up of people reading new releases, there would be visibly big trends in some circles for certain older books for a few months at a time, and it would seem like everyone was always posting about them, in the same way as happens with new publications that catch on. I had always seen Enchanted April as quite a serious literary book because of the ways it was talked about, and never as a rom-com.

Well, it was a Merchant and Ivory picture which put Enchanted April back in play, so to speak. But I don't think NYRB can't have lighter fare. God help us all if that were the case. Dud Avocado is "light." ( to be honest, I haven't read it all).

My guess is if nyrb publishes a book we can feel safe that it is literary. Not all novels of literary value have to be deadly serious in content. If the characters are believable, and the syntax and diction are not sophomoric, the setting and story don’t really matter.

I read The Enchanted April a few years ago and really enjoyed it. It is a good March, April book, right when winter has lost its charm.

I nominate:

Lucky Jim
The Book of Ebenezer Le Page
The Vet's Daughter
The Old Man and Me
A View of the Harbour

Antonomasia wrote: "Enchanted April was very popular maybe 4 or 5 years ago among people I knew on GR. Before such a large proportion of my friendslist was made up of people reading new releases, there would be visibl..."

Not a rom com like the movie Pretty Woman, for example, but there is a love interest in the story. It is a comedy of manners. I think for me, the litmus test is, would I re-read it after these several years (my IRL book group read it a while ago) and I say yes, I would definitely would re-read it and do recommend it.

I'll second Lucky Jim.

Jason wrote: "I nominate:

Lucky Jim
The Book of Ebenezer Le Page
The Vet's Daughter
The Old Man and Me
A View of the Harbour"

I second The Book of Ebenezer Le Page.

Besides that I have earlier nominated for the following:
Hard Rain Falling
Tyrant Banderas
Uncertain Glory

A total of four nominations from me.

Fat City
The Exploits and Adventures of Brigadier Gerard
All About H. Hatterr
That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana

I saved a couple nominations for later—I’d like to add ‘Fat City’ and ‘That Awful Mess...’ to my picks

Not sure if it's just me, but with a couple of the comments about Fatale and Enchanted April, I can't tell whether the book is being nominated or if people are simply saying they enjoyed the books, while actually nominating other titles. Thought it might be worth clarifying before the nominations close.

I have written down two nominations for Fatale, one from me and one from Carissa, and I have one nomination for Enchanted April, by Janet.

It seems a shame not to have Enchanted April on the voting list for April, so I would like to swap out Envy by Yuri Olesha, if that's okay.

Antonomasia wrote: "It seems a shame not to have Enchanted April on the voting list for April, so I would like to swap out Envy by Yuri Olesha, if that's okay."

Will do!

It will need at least 3 nominations to make it to the poll. I have only nominated 4 so far, so I will add The Enchanted April as my 5th title.

This is showing as a hidden poll so far,

Yes it was decided it would stay hidden unless it's a close race. If it is close I will unhide it so people can change their votes if they want to support one of the front-runners.

This is what I posted on Jan. 12th under the "Choosing a book for March 2019" thread, message 49:

For future polls, I am toying with the idea of keeping the poll a secret so that people vote for the book they really want to read and to keep some of the surprise factor in BUT if I see that the results are very close, then I can make the poll public so people can change their votes if they would rather support one of the front runners in a close race.

Ah! Thanks for the reminder