The few, the brave, the James Joyce denialists. Since Dubliners is the James Joyce for people who hate James Joyce that would appear to wrap it up. You might enjoy it more if you listened the Jim Norton reading. You read enough Flannery O’Connor short stories and you begin to wonder if it’s possible for a young person to communicate his liberal social beliefs to a conservative elder without driving said elders to their deaths.
Hi Robert! I really loved reading Dubliners! Especially as my first foray into Joyce. I think of it and return to it often, and I’m looking forward to working my way through the rest of his body of work before long—do you have a favorite you’d recommend I read next?
In one of my first writing workshops, we read and discussed a different Dubliners story at each session. Probably one of the greatest learning experiences of my life.
I think the way you deal with the big honking James Joyce books is to push through them once to get the lay of the land then reread it in chunks throughout your life. There are also his two little books of verse, like so:
When the shy star goes forth in heaven
All maidenly, disconsolate,
Hear you amid the drowsy even
One who is singing by your gate.
His song is softer than the dew,
And he is come to visit you.
O bend no more in revery
When he at eventide is calling,
Nor muse: Who may this singer be
Whose song about my heart is falling?
Know you by this, the lover's chant,
'Tis I that am your visitant.
Actually if it’s me that’s pushing off Irishmen on you I’d point you to Flann O’Brien: The Third Policeman, At Swim-Two-Birds and The Best of Myles. To be honest, I’ve always been more interested in the fancy desserts of literature than the meat and potatoes. I’ve always looked on reading as a treasure hunt, trying to find the thing that no one’s heard of. If there was one unknown writer I could push off on you it would be John Sanford, and what I would push is A More Goodly Country, a volume of prose poems about American history inspired by William Carlos Williams’ In the American Grain (also good), not in print but inexpensive used. I would urge you to find used or check out of a library Fables in Slang by George Ade. There’s a very strange English writer named Gerald Kersh, whose short stories are where to start. Doom (a/k/a Jazz and Jasper) by William Gerardie. The Dark Fantastic by Stanley Ellin. I could go on and on.
Can't wait for you to read Madame Bovary! Have you read any other Muriel Spark? I have an old paperback of A Far Cry from Kensington I'm planning to pick up this summer
I loooved the post that inspired this piece and I think I love yours even more! So many titles that I have never heard of and will be adding to my list 🌟
Me too! So fascinating! And maybe this is an obvious question, but how prescriptive are your reading lists/the books you read? Are they from a set list for each module; or do you get more personal recommendations too?
not obvious at all! every program’s different, but we had a pretty wide selection of courses/modules we could choose to take each semester & then each had a specific set syllabus of readings as opposed to personal recommendations/reading lists
Welcome back! Great list, lots of titles I haven’t read that I noted down for my tbr. PS: inspired by your reading in public series, I also occasionally take notes of what people are reading, I really like it as reading inspo + observation practice. Enjoyed reading the London one too.
hi Cy! glad you caught a couple of titles here you're interested in- and it's so so fun that you're paying attention to people reading in public, I truly think it's the one thing I look forward to on any commute. I was in a subway car earlier this week and five people near me of all ages were engrossed in physical books, which felt like a new record
Such an incredible stack of books. Just picked up Annie Ernaux's A Girl's Story (recently read A Woman's Story and LOVED - on themes of daughters dealing with mother's death through writing i HIGHLY recommend Mother Mary Comes To Me) and Fleur Jaeggy's Sweet Days of Discipline from the library and can't wait to dig in this weekend!
What a good library pickup omg --I'm looking for a copy of Sweet Days to read before long too!! & I just had a conversation with a girl on the subway reading Mother Mary Comes to Me and she was absolutely gushing about it.. between the two of you, officially added to the list. Had you read Arundhati Roy's fiction previously? or do you feel the memoir is just as worthwhile on its own?
Totally worthwhile! I haven't read her fiction! I honestly had no idea Roy wrote anything else before reading the memoir. I think I'll enjoy having the context in which she wrote them, including some real-life influences that'll bring an interesting pov to my understanding of what happens within them
So nice to see you in my inbox! When I have more time and a pen and paper, I'm going through the last two categories again to get some inspiration. Love the way you've categorized btw, I find it so hard.
Good to see the Good Soldier make your list, A hidden literary treasure
A gem indeed! Thanks for reading!
The few, the brave, the James Joyce denialists. Since Dubliners is the James Joyce for people who hate James Joyce that would appear to wrap it up. You might enjoy it more if you listened the Jim Norton reading. You read enough Flannery O’Connor short stories and you begin to wonder if it’s possible for a young person to communicate his liberal social beliefs to a conservative elder without driving said elders to their deaths.
Hi Robert! I really loved reading Dubliners! Especially as my first foray into Joyce. I think of it and return to it often, and I’m looking forward to working my way through the rest of his body of work before long—do you have a favorite you’d recommend I read next?
In one of my first writing workshops, we read and discussed a different Dubliners story at each session. Probably one of the greatest learning experiences of my life.
I think the way you deal with the big honking James Joyce books is to push through them once to get the lay of the land then reread it in chunks throughout your life. There are also his two little books of verse, like so:
When the shy star goes forth in heaven
All maidenly, disconsolate,
Hear you amid the drowsy even
One who is singing by your gate.
His song is softer than the dew,
And he is come to visit you.
O bend no more in revery
When he at eventide is calling,
Nor muse: Who may this singer be
Whose song about my heart is falling?
Know you by this, the lover's chant,
'Tis I that am your visitant.
Actually if it’s me that’s pushing off Irishmen on you I’d point you to Flann O’Brien: The Third Policeman, At Swim-Two-Birds and The Best of Myles. To be honest, I’ve always been more interested in the fancy desserts of literature than the meat and potatoes. I’ve always looked on reading as a treasure hunt, trying to find the thing that no one’s heard of. If there was one unknown writer I could push off on you it would be John Sanford, and what I would push is A More Goodly Country, a volume of prose poems about American history inspired by William Carlos Williams’ In the American Grain (also good), not in print but inexpensive used. I would urge you to find used or check out of a library Fables in Slang by George Ade. There’s a very strange English writer named Gerald Kersh, whose short stories are where to start. Doom (a/k/a Jazz and Jasper) by William Gerardie. The Dark Fantastic by Stanley Ellin. I could go on and on.
I just ordered Blue Light Hours based on this list.
I’m so glad to hear it & hope you enjoy!
When I was a teen, my drum teacher told me to listen most closely to the songs I hated the most. Many thanks for the list and your comments.
Thanks for your comment, Ron! Your teacher was onto something…
Thank you for sharing! So interesting and so many titles I had never heard of…will add some to my TBR list. ♥️
Thank you for reading! glad you were able to find some interesting & new-to-you titles, hope you like them!
I have a few I want to read now from this list. Thank you.
Thanks for reading! hope you enjoy
so many books from our class!!! loveee
it was a good one!!!
A very interesting list for an MFA programme. I love The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Have Madame Bovary on my tbr stack for months! 🥺
Can't wait for you to read Madame Bovary! Have you read any other Muriel Spark? I have an old paperback of A Far Cry from Kensington I'm planning to pick up this summer
I have read The Takeover. I have Memento Mori on my tbr stack too. Time to read is always the thing 🥺
I loooved the post that inspired this piece and I think I love yours even more! So many titles that I have never heard of and will be adding to my list 🌟
I'm so hoping more mfa grads make their own lists (or any program of study honestly!!) because I find this kind of thing so fun & fascinating
Me too! So fascinating! And maybe this is an obvious question, but how prescriptive are your reading lists/the books you read? Are they from a set list for each module; or do you get more personal recommendations too?
not obvious at all! every program’s different, but we had a pretty wide selection of courses/modules we could choose to take each semester & then each had a specific set syllabus of readings as opposed to personal recommendations/reading lists
Welcome back! Great list, lots of titles I haven’t read that I noted down for my tbr. PS: inspired by your reading in public series, I also occasionally take notes of what people are reading, I really like it as reading inspo + observation practice. Enjoyed reading the London one too.
hi Cy! glad you caught a couple of titles here you're interested in- and it's so so fun that you're paying attention to people reading in public, I truly think it's the one thing I look forward to on any commute. I was in a subway car earlier this week and five people near me of all ages were engrossed in physical books, which felt like a new record
Okay I don’t have time right this minute but stopping by to say I am so excited to read this!!!!!!!!!! You’ve been missed!
Eve hi!!! I'm excited you're excited- I've missed this too!
Such an incredible stack of books. Just picked up Annie Ernaux's A Girl's Story (recently read A Woman's Story and LOVED - on themes of daughters dealing with mother's death through writing i HIGHLY recommend Mother Mary Comes To Me) and Fleur Jaeggy's Sweet Days of Discipline from the library and can't wait to dig in this weekend!
What a good library pickup omg --I'm looking for a copy of Sweet Days to read before long too!! & I just had a conversation with a girl on the subway reading Mother Mary Comes to Me and she was absolutely gushing about it.. between the two of you, officially added to the list. Had you read Arundhati Roy's fiction previously? or do you feel the memoir is just as worthwhile on its own?
Totally worthwhile! I haven't read her fiction! I honestly had no idea Roy wrote anything else before reading the memoir. I think I'll enjoy having the context in which she wrote them, including some real-life influences that'll bring an interesting pov to my understanding of what happens within them
So nice to see you in my inbox! When I have more time and a pen and paper, I'm going through the last two categories again to get some inspiration. Love the way you've categorized btw, I find it so hard.
& lovely to see you in the comments!! You'll have to let me know which titles you end up feeling inspired by or picking up!
Love this! Can’t wait to document as I head into my MFA in September 📚