2015: The Year of Reading Women discussion

Discussion and group reads for Lydia Davis.

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia_Davis

I'll be working on Proust this year. She did the recent translation of Swann's Way, which I have read and liked. Also liked her translation of Madame Bovary.

I picked up a book of her short stories recently (library resell shelf, I think). I'll have to check which set it is -- would like to dabble during the year. I believe she has a very recent release?

Lydia Davis is someone whose work I've wanted to dig into for awhile. I've read a couple of her short stories and I've her translations of Madame Bovary and Swann's Way both sitting on my TBR pile.

A couple weeks ago I nearly purchased The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis but I ended up putting it back when I came across David Lynch's Factory Photographs monograph.

Her translation of Madame Bovary is excellent. I still need to read her translation of Swann's Way. Not sure if I will fit that in in 2015 - 2016 is seeming more likely

I haven't read any of her fiction yet. I have The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis as well as some smaller collections, including her 2014 collection Can't and Won't: Stories.

I think I'm going to read Davis's only novel, The End of the Story, next weekend... probably from Thursday evening until Sunday evening, Jan. 15-18th.

obviously, if it takes a bit longer, for me or for anyone else, that's fine! it's not a very long book, and from skimming through it, it seems as if it'll read quickly. because of a read I need to get to fairly soon, I unexpectedly need to prioritize the Davis - which I welcome! it's been far foo long on my to-read list.

if anyone else is interested in joining me for this kind of spontaneous read of The End of the Story, please do holler!

Of all the Women writers discussed here, Lydia Davis is one writer that would carry my highest recommendation.

I am a great admirer of Lydia Davis's stories, having read her “Collected Stories” last year. She is master in both the shortest stories as well as long stories. I was never disappointed with any of her stories and I consider her as the best US short story writer living today (If you differ and have a different choice, let me know who that is.). In my opinion she is one US writer worthy of Nobel Prize and I am sure she will get it one day.

Here is a sample short story from "Collected Stories"

“A Different Man,”

“At night he was a different man. If she knew him as he was in the morning, at night she hardly recognized him: a pale man, a gray man, a man in a brown sweater, a man with dark eyes who kept his distance from her, who took offence, who was not reasonable. In the morning, he was a rosy king, gleaming, smooth-cheeked and smooth-chinned, fragrant with perfumed talc, coming out into the sunlight with a wide embrace in his royal red plaid robe…”

I liked the above story and how she concludes with a valediction of time passing, of a dwindling into cramped old age, but then in an act of ironically sentimental romantic retrospection, she delivers a final flurry—with the ever-present participles “gleaming” and “coming out into the sunlight” animating and glamorizing a last sentence that ends not with a period but with an ellipsis springing hope eternal.

Regarding Lydia Davis’ translation, I have compared very well her translation of Proust’s “Swann’s Way” with that of Moncrieff/Kilmartin, Davis though good is more literal and this may be because she rigorously follows the syntax and meaning of the original .Though I liked her translation, I was soon floored by the poetic power and entrancing beauty of the translation of Moncrieff/Kilmartin and therefore couldn't love the Davis translation quite enough. I haven't read her translation of "Madam Bovary" yet and hence I cannot comment on it.

The Sound of Scham
The stories in Lydia Davis' Can't and Won't are strange, sparse, and emotionless – and manic, portentous, and utterly devastating.

You might have heard the story about the three Swiss. They were sitting around at an Inn together. They were: Arnold Böcklin (the painter), his son Carlo, and the writer Gottfried Keller. Nobody said anything for a long time. Then, Carlo said, “It’s hot.” More time passed. Finally, the elder Böcklin replied, “and there’s no wind.” Silence. Then, Gottfried Keller got up and left. As he was leaving, he said, “I won’t drink with these chatterboxes.”


http://www.thesmartset.com/article/ar...

I have The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis too. Not sure when I could fit it in but I'm interested in trying.

I plan to read Can't and Won't: stories. Time TBD.

I'm interested in joining any group reads of Lydia Davis...

I’m starting Can’t and Won’t: Stories tonight.
Lydia Davis will be at the Brooklyn Academy of Music tomorrow night.

In MJ Nicholls's Review of Can't and Won't: Stories, Gregsamsa commented: “Is her middle name Sarah? Or Samantha? Or Sandy?”

Tonight I asked her.
DC: Some members in my book group are speculating that if you do have a middle name, it must begin with an S. So, what is your middle name?
LD: I’ll tell you in private, but not in public. My mother liked the sound of my full name, and thought I should always use it.

I didn’t pursue it. I think not knowing is more delicious. If you have read any of can’t and won’t you will understand.

Lydia Davis at BAM.