Reading the 20th Century discussion

For our September 2024 group read we invite you to nominate anything written in, or set in, the 1960s


Please supply the title, author, a brief synopsis, and anything else you'd like to mention about the book, and why you think it might make a good book to discuss.

Happy nominating

My nomination is Mother Night (1962)



Mother Night is a novel by American author Kurt Vonnegut Jr., first published in February 1962. The novel takes the form of the fictional memoirs of Howard W. Campbell Jr., an American, who moved to Germany in 1923 at age 11, and later became a well-known playwright and Nazi propagandist

Mother Night is a daring challenge to our moral sense. American Howard W. Campbell, Jr., a spy during World War II, is now on trial in Israel as a Nazi war criminal. But is he really guilty? In this brilliant book rife with true gallows humor, Vonnegut turns black and white into a chilling shade of gray with a verdict that will haunt us all.

I've read loads of Kurt's work but, curiously, not this one. Generally his novels are provocative, idiosyncratic, funny and profound, so hopefully Mother Night will be too

GR reviews are very favourable, there are...

96,086 ratings
4,680 reviews
Av rating of 4.23

https://www.thevonnegutcollection.com...

Great nomination Nigeyb!

Thanks Ben

I'm pondering:

Silent Spring
The Golden Notebook
Something by Jack Kerouac that isn't On the Road

I'm inclined towards Another Country by James Baldwin but think many here will already have read it?

All good ideas 👆🏻

I will nominate One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is an undisputed classic of contemporary literature. First published (in censored form) in the Soviet journal Novy Mir in 1962, it is the story of labor-camp inmate Ivan Denisovich Shukhov as he struggles to maintain his dignity in the face of communist oppression. On every page of this graphic depiction of Ivan Denisovich's struggles, the pain of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's own decade-long experience in the gulag is apparent—which makes its ultimate tribute to one man's will to triumph over relentless dehumanization all the more moving.

An unforgettable portrait of the entire world of Stalin's forced-work camps, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is one of the most extraordinary literary works to have emerged from the Soviet Union. The first of Solzhenitsyn's novels to be published, it forced both the Soviet Union and the West to confront the Soviet's human rights record, and the novel was specifically mentioned in the presentation speech when Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970.

Wonderful, powerful novel 👏🏻

I was thinking of Cancer Ward, but this is short and, as you say, powerful.

I'd thought of Cancer Ward too but it seems so depressing. I haven't read Ivan Denisovich.

I could always go for an Elizabeth Taylor or Patricia Highsmith, I guess.

I've never read anything by Kurt Vonnegut, so have been looking through and am intrigued by Mother Night.

Cancer Ward is brilliant, RC. By the nature of what it's about, it is depressing, but also well worth reading and I haven't read it for years and years.

I read Cancer Ward at about 20 but don't remember much about it so would definitely re-read it at some point.

I went through a Solzhenitsyn phase in Uni and a few years afterwards, including the Gulag, Ivan Denisovich and Cancer Ward, each of which was wonderful. I haven't read any of his since then.

I've been thinking about 1960s women writers but am struggling to come up with an appealing nomination: there's Edna O'Brien, late Elizabeth Bowen, Elizabeth Taylor and Patricia Highsmith but reviews say their 1960s books are not their best. I'm quite tempted by Valley of the Dolls even though I've read it: it somehow manages to be trashy and important all at once.

There's also The House on Via Gemito by Domenico Starnone set in 1960s Naples which I want to read: shortlisted for this year's International Booker.

Still pondering...

I thought of the L-Shaped Room, but I haven't read it, so I backed away.
I've never read Valley of the Dolls, but have always meant to. I used to love reading trashy novels my mother picked up at airports, like Condominium or Airport :)

Roman Clodia wrote: "I've been thinking about 1960s women writers but am struggling to come up with an appealing nomination: there's Edna O'Brien, late Elizabeth Bowen, Elizabeth Taylor and Patricia Highsmith but revie..."

I was thinking of Valley of the Dolls too. It is written in the 60s, although set earlier. But then I saw it is being serialised this week on BBC Sounds, so I may just listen to it. I was trying to think of books with a 60s feel written by women like the L-Shaped Room, or those by Nell Dunn, but I've read them. I need to put my thinking gap on.

The L-Shaped Room is fab and well worth reading


In a similar vein, and also 1960s, we recently read The Millstone which I was also really impressed by


There's other novels by Margaret Drabble which she also wrote in the 1960s....


A Summer Bird-Cage (1963)

The Garrick Year (1964)

The Millstone (1965)

Jerusalem the Golden (1967)

The Waterfall (1969)

I've just looked up Agatha Christies written in the 1960s and there are some goodies:

At Bertram's Hotel
The Clocks
Third Girl which, I seem to recall, places a grumpy Poirot in swinging Chelsea!
A Caribbean Mystery
Hallowe'en Party
The Pale Horse

I don't think I've ever read any Margaret Drabble, not quite sure why she's never appealed that much to me - some kind of unconscious bias, no doubt!

We've got The Ice Age coming up in August


Your opportunity to give her a go

No idea what it'll be like but The Millstone is really good so looking forward to discovering what else she has up her sleeve


My five star review of The Millstone is here...

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Roman Clodia wrote:



"Third Girl which, I seem to recall, places a grumpy Poirot in swinging Chelsea!"

Yes please

Ah, go on, then - this is my nomination: Third Girl (1966) by Agatha Christie.

I don't remember much about the plot other than it being set in swinging '60s Chelsea but it gives us both Poirot and dotty Ariadne Oliver (a witty self-portrait, many think) so much to enjoy even if it isn't one of the top mystery plots:

In this breathtaking Agatha Christie mystery, three young women share a London flat. The first is a coolly efficient secretary. The second is an artist. The third interrupts Hercule Poirot’s breakfast confessing that she is a murderer—and then promptly disappears.

Slowly, Poirot learns of the rumors surrounding the mysterious third girl, her family, and her disappearance. Yet hard evidence is needed before the great detective can pronounce her guilty, innocent, or insane.…

Hurrah 🙌🏻

Nominations so far....


Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut (Nigeyb)
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Susan)
Third Girl by Agatha Christie (Roman Clodia)

My nomination vote is going to be for the option that makes me feel better about the topics and biases of my formative decade…the 60s. I was a young girl and a young adult then. I was clueless about prejudice, racism, war, politics, sexual proclivities and just about everything for most of that era. I am wiser and far less hopeful these many decades later. I know, too much information but I really became depressed reviewing the lists of books written and published in the 60’s.

https://slate.com/culture/2013/08/lit...

Great article about Margaret Drabble, her sister A S Byatt, and a feud. I am keener than ever to read her now, Nigeyb.

Susan_MG wrote: "My nomination vote is going to be for the option that makes me feel better about the topics and biases of my formative decade…the 60s"

Not too much information at all, Susan - and you have the self-knowledge to admit that we all start off ignorant and have to learn throughout our lives.

Hopefully not everything about the 1960s was depressing though? There was lots of counter-culture kick-back too.

Has the group read any Iris Murdoch novels?

Possibly one or two as a buddy read, I think - I don't think I've read anything by her.

Ah yes, The Bell in 2018: www.goodreads.com/topic/show/19228927...

Ok

I would like to nominate The Time of the Angels by Iris Murdoch.

Carel is a widowed rector presiding over a London church destroyed during the war. The rectory is home to an array of residents: his daughter, Muriel; his beautiful invalid ward, Elizabeth; their West Indian servant, Pattie; Eugene, a Russian emigre, and his delinquent son, Leo. Carel's brother, Marcus, is co-guardian of Elizabeth, but his attempts to get closer to the rector are constantly rebuffed.

These seven characters maintain a constant dance of attraction and repulsion, misunderstanding and revelation, the centre of which is the enigmatic Carel himself - a priest who believes that, God being dead, His angels have been released.

I'll nominate A Shooting Star by Wallace Stegner, published in 1961, 433 pp.

A woman is married to an older, wealthy physician who no longer fulfills her dreams. An almost accidental misstep leads her down the slow descent of moral disintegration, until there is no place for her to go but up and out. How she comes to terms with her life is the theme played against the background of an old Peninsula estate where her mother lives among her servants, her memories of Boston, and her treasured family archives.

I won't nominate anything this month.

I would like to read more Iris Murdoch. Some great nominations this month!

Susan wrote: "I would like to read more Iris Murdoch. Some great nominations this month!"

Yes, some very interesting choices.

Can I just add that on Third Girl, one of the reasons why I think it would be good to discuss is that Christie was in her seventies, having been born in 1890, and was thus an observer rather than a participant in the 1960s. This book goes to the heart of whether she was a social conservative - I'm not convinced she was but it would be interesting to see what others think. Plus I just adore her books!

Nominations...


Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut (Nigeyb)
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Susan)
Third Girl by Agatha Christie (Roman Clodia)
A Shooting Star by Wallace Stegner (Jan)
The Time of the Angels by Iris Murdoch (Stephen)


Is that all the nominations?

Last call for nominations

A great list


Reading that old Iris Murdoch thread (see RC's link above) reminds me how much I loved the one and only RM novel I've read so far, Solzhenitsyn is Solzhenitsyn, Poirot in swinging sixties London sounds groovy, Wallace Stegner is a new name to conjure with, and then there's Kurt Vonnegut


PS: Thanks for the Drabble article Susan - I share your enthusiasm. Roll on August

Christie is quite grumpy by the Sixties, bemoaning short skirts, long hair and dirty nails, but she is - as always - worth reading.

If the Iris Murdoch doesn’t win I’d be interested in a Buddy read.

Nominations...


Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut (Nigeyb)
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Susan)
Third Girl by Agatha Christie (Roman Clodia)
A Shooting Star by Wallace Stegner (Jan)
The Time of the Angels by Iris Murdoch (Stephen)


Poll going up in about 15 hours so this is the very last chance for you to add a nomination

Time to vote....




https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Poll watch....



Third Girl by Agatha Christie - 5 votes, 55.6%
Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut - 3 votes, 33.3%
The Time of the Angels by Iris Murdoch - 1 vote, 11.1%
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
A Shooting Star by Wallace Stegner



https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

We have a draw at the moment. Please vote if you haven't already.

Looks like a good setup for a Buddy read of the second finisher.

Absolutely agree, Ben.

Or we do them both as we have done in the past


6 people voting to discuss each book is a good basis for each discussion

Yes, Sounds good.

I'm surprised as I thought Third Girl was a bit left-field!

Still, we don't read enough Agatha C in this group considering her position through so much of the twentieth century so very happy.

And her books always give an insight into social and cultural values and how they're shifting: she's just such a good observer.

I am looking forward to the Backlisted episode on Christie. She is very underestimated, I agree.

Have you heard of the podcast "I've never seen Star Wars" on which a semi-famous person is invited to do things they have surprisingly never done and then talk about the experience?

Well, I've never read Agatha Christie.

Ben 😱