So far delivering on the commitment to only buy 10 books a month
Books read (10)
BOTM: R.Musil, the Man without Qualities
A. Burroughs, Sellevision
A. Christie, Curtain*
D. Lessing, The fifth child
N. Mailer, The Castle in the Forest
P. O'Brien, Master and Commander
J. Reumann, Stewardship and the economy of God
D. Sevilla, Zita
I. Szerb, Journey by Moonlight
G. Tindall, City of Gold
I almost gave BOTM to Szerb, though the protagonist was annoying, and it has striking similarities to the Musil's epic. But in the end, the sustained quality of the latter won. It could do with being pruned from its 1,130 pages to perhaps 800, given that not a lot happens, but some of it is just perfect. That said, it does require a working knowledge of the basics of Austro-Hungarian history. The early chapter on kakania is very funny, but does require a bit of k.u.k. background. Incidentally, part of it is here). Others need no knowledge, but hovering over the entire book is the sense of total pointlessness of the whole enterprise - planning for a jubilee that never happens and discussing a peace that is about to shattered by the First World War. It evokes brilliantly the world that vanishes and contains echoes of much of the tragedy of the twentieth century to come.
NB. I'm using asterisks now to indicate the rereading of books
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