I started and finished A Sense of Direction in one evening; I couldn't really stop thinking about it, so I couldn't put it down. I found it...
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Flann O'Brien's prose is more accessible than that of Joyce and Beckett (and funnier, I dare say), which is not to say that it is less masterful. O'Brien seems to be the forgotten Irish novelist, and I'm glad that a friend recommended him. This collection from Everyman's Library is both affordable and attractive.
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Sure, the chance encounters of Nathan Zuckerman, returned to NYC after a decade of reclusion in the Berkshires, would seem contrived, but these are the kinds of things that happen all too often in spite of their improbability. Roth has his erstwhile narrator and his other characters muse on a variety of subjects--the ubiquity of cellphones, the debacle of George W. Bush, the literary canon, our prurient interest in public figures, physical and mental decline, and ultimately, death. Fearless, hilarious, and sad--vintage Roth.
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(15 of 33 readers found this comment helpful)
Frank Bascombe returns, and his musings on love, death, illness, politics, and family life are at turns both heartbreaking and hilarious. I had forgotten what a great sense of humor Ford has, and despite the seriousness of the subjects that his protagonist reflects upon, his take on life is very often laugh-out-loud funny. Ford is one of our finest writers, a master of language both erudite and colloquial, and no other writer describes the American experience as well as he.
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(11 of 20 readers found this comment helpful)
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Patrick Day has commented on (3) products.
Flann O'Brien: The Complete Novels (Everyman's Library) by Flann O'Brien
Patrick Day, February 16, 2008
Flann O'Brien's prose is more accessible than that of Joyce and Beckett (and funnier, I dare say), which is not to say that it is less masterful. O'Brien seems to be the forgotten Irish novelist, and I'm glad that a friend recommended him. This collection from Everyman's Library is both affordable and attractive.(5 of 6 readers found this comment helpful)
Exit Ghost by Philip Roth
Patrick Day, September 19, 2007
Sure, the chance encounters of Nathan Zuckerman, returned to NYC after a decade of reclusion in the Berkshires, would seem contrived, but these are the kinds of things that happen all too often in spite of their improbability. Roth has his erstwhile narrator and his other characters muse on a variety of subjects--the ubiquity of cellphones, the debacle of George W. Bush, the literary canon, our prurient interest in public figures, physical and mental decline, and ultimately, death. Fearless, hilarious, and sad--vintage Roth.(15 of 33 readers found this comment helpful)
The Lay of the Land: A Novel by Richard Ford
Patrick Day, November 5, 2006
Frank Bascombe returns, and his musings on love, death, illness, politics, and family life are at turns both heartbreaking and hilarious. I had forgotten what a great sense of humor Ford has, and despite the seriousness of the subjects that his protagonist reflects upon, his take on life is very often laugh-out-loud funny. Ford is one of our finest writers, a master of language both erudite and colloquial, and no other writer describes the American experience as well as he.(11 of 20 readers found this comment helpful)