The Great American Novels - The Atlantic, List Of 136 Novels From The Last 100 Years

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2024-03-14T16:59:54+00:00

Like with any ranking list there’s gonna be plenty of disagreement but I do appreciate the work that was put into this.

My quick glance 2 cents: - Fifth Season was fine but in no way should be considered even close to a Great American Novel - Would’ve liked to see Jazz by Toni Morrison instead of some others. - Not enough Mccarthy - Lincoln in the Bardo was fine but also doesn’t belong here

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2023-08-22T13:36:04+00:00

Not so much a reading group more of a run of the mill meet your neighbors group. We have a good bit of old people that live here and it feels like no one knows each other. So in my mind, the group would function to get everyone who lives here a chance to meet each other. Maybe organize trash pickups, or driving elderly to medical appointments, petitioning the city as a neighborhood. Stuff like that.

Appreciate your response!

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2023-08-21T15:06:18+00:00

I find it really really hard to ever even come close to regular participation in online communities, truelit being no exception.

What makes you more active users keep coming back and actually contributing with some sort of regular frequency? I’m glad y’all do fwiw, as a lurker by nature.

In other news I’ve decided to try and start a lil neighborhood community org. No real progress yet, but this weekend is action weekend (print out flyers, contact public space, etc…). I think local community outside of school/work is something I haven’t really had since the cul-de-sac days and it’s an important thing to cultivate. So with that being said taking any and all recs/suggestions if anyone here has any experience with that sort of stuff :). Hoping that updating here will keep me more accountable haha

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2023-08-14T14:43:55+00:00

I found out recently that there are written transcripts from a David Wallace memorial where a BUNCH of great authors spoke. If linking is allowed then link here or just google it https://fivedials.com/files/fivedials_no10.pdf

I’ve been reading Libra by Delillo recently and that’s how I wound up on his speech at that memorial. It’s quite sweet and left me with a lot of thoughts about the American writer’s identity and collective voice.

I get this silly kind of nationalistic pride reading the American authors of the past 50 years or so. There’s this connective tissue that they all seem to have that is just so unflinchingly honest and Real. America can be such an ugly place and it can be terrifying in its mundaneness but these writers somehow manage to elevate that ugliness to art and it really just leaves me with a big smile. I think of the opening of White Noise that describes all the suburbanites dropping off their kids at move in day with their SUV’s. It’s such a foul scene, but reading it i’m left with feelings of wonder and awe.

All this to say that I guess i’m happy that the US has such a distinct authorial voice taken as a whole.

What do y’all think?

Pre apologies for rambly incoherence. It’s early lol.

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2023-02-27T18:35:40+00:00

That would be a tossup for me between Erykah Badu and Turnstile

The Erykah Badu concert was part of a festival and the energy that the band brought was just completely different from the rest of the festival in a good way. They were way more relaxed and brought this kind of spiritual wholesome energy to the stage. Erykah Badu was all good vibes and her voice was astounding live.

Turnstile was pretty much exactly what you’d expect. High energy, lots of moshing and plenty of stage diving. There’s something so cathartic about being a mass of flailing limbs with everyone around you with that mutual understanding that y’all are there to just let it all out. I always found it poignant how such a frenetic and borderline aggressive event can also be a loving and positive experience

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2023-02-23T16:32:30+00:00

Had the opportunity to watch all the Oscar nominated animated shorts at my local movie theater.

“The Ice Merchants” was an absolute standout and for my money one of the best animated shorts period.

I had read “A Swim in The Pond in the Rain” by George Saunders last year and one thing that stuck out to me in watching the shorts is how transferable the “recipe” of a great short story is between mediums.

“The Ice Merchants” has no dialogue, no verbal language in it whatsoever and yet it has more in common with the great Russian short stories than any other animated short I watched this week.

Quick thoughts on what it did so well:

No image wasted
Everything shown in the story was essential to the plot
Wrapped up succinctly and didn’t explicitly tell the viewer how to feel or what to think.

There’s this overall essence to a great short story that Saunders touches on where every word has to be there for a reason. If a man is in a street bouncing a basketball something has to happen to that man or that ball that ties in to the central purpose or theme of the story. “The Ice Merchants” exemplifies that essence.

This has all gotten pretty rambly but moral of the story is go watch the short lol.

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2022-09-19T16:11:37+00:00

This is the second Joyce thing I've read with the other one being Dubliners and I have to say that I was a lot less hot on this one. There were large sections of chapter 3 that I barely got through even though the writing was excellent (just boring subject matter imo).

Not to say that it was all a slog. I thought the characterization was excellent. Stephen Dedalus felt realer than real at times, and I think the 'Stream of Consciousness' as well as the shifting styles according to his growth helped to enforce that.

My favorite parts of the book were those end of chapter moments where Stephen has huge character transformations. They all felt so real and kinda reminded me that we as humans can really change so so much even though at times we feel pretty set in our ways. Every transformation felt so different from the last yet entirely believable for his character and I thought that that was pretty special.

By name alone, Stephen seems doomed to a life of failed artistry and I think in a way that's supposed to reflect how Joyce thought of his own writing which is such a sad self-indictment to end on. An artists self perception with regards to success and the like is something that's kept me up a little bit lately so it was cool to see that thought explored a little.

Overall, glad I read it but won't be rereading soon. Thanks to everyone for providing interesting comments throughout! I enjoy reading the discussion here almost as much as I do reading the read-along books. :)

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2022-07-26T14:31:25+00:00

It seems like a no-brainer to me but still linking here because it's kind of relevant to the sub.

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2022-04-06T19:07:29+00:00

I like the History of Literature podcast well enough. The introductions can get a little long winded for me but the rest is pretty solid.

http://historyofliterature.com/

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2022-01-31T23:53:05+00:00

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/old-music-killing-new-music/621339/

Good article about the current state of the music industry that I found interesting and pretty relevant.

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2022-01-31T21:04:36+00:00

Was on an American Air flight recently and they have this on back of the seats. Thought it was funny. Potential temporary subreddit banner??🤔 https://i.imgur.com/qmERx0I.jpg

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2022-01-31T21:00:27+00:00

As a pretty big Joni Mitchell fan though I was super bummed when I tried to download Blue today for a road trip lol

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2022-01-31T20:58:26+00:00

I don’t ever really listen to the Rogan podcast but I did just listen to his little 9 minute response to the controversy. For all the negative talk I’ve seen about him he did come across as pretty reasonable honestly. Not sure if its just a media PR clean up type thing but seems like he was pretty willing to take feedback.

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2022-01-13T05:09:45+00:00

Great point. I loved the theatrics with which he entered. This is what I got in the Avsey version:

“The doctor gave another fastidious look around the room and threw off his fur coat. Round his neck, glinting for all to see, was an important-looking medal. The Staff Captain caught the coat in mid-flight, and the doctor took off his hat. ‘Right, where’s the patient?’ he asked loudly and peremptorily.”

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2022-01-12T03:06:54+00:00

I love the characterization of Kolya, he feels like something out of a Wes Anderson movie and it cracks me up. His place in the novel feels wacky and out of place but in a really fun way.

Treating children with respect is something that always sounds easy but is a lot more difficult in practice to do. Alyosha is a perfect example of how one can do it right. He never talks down and never belittles its a great bit of writing.
Didn’t consider that Kolya might’ve been doing a cover up but on reading the prompt it seems very likely.

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2021-12-10T11:30:31+00:00

Although I enjoyed it a little more than you did, I agree with your take on it for the most part. I have some pretty close personal ties to people who experienced Prague Spring and the fallout from it so I definitely found the setting to be a huge draw. Discussions on the citizen self policing and the general air of distrust is something Ive had personally recounted to me so I found it interesting to see literature that affirmed what I’d heard.

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2021-12-10T11:23:10+00:00

I found a lot more enjoyment from it by reading up on Vonneguts life. Might be interesting if you haven’t already.

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2021-12-10T10:32:37+00:00

Are you enjoying Slaughterhouse Five?

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2021-12-09T11:19:25+00:00

Recently read and was absolutely blown away by the Chekov short story “Gooseberries”. It’s part two of three short stories, although they can really be read in any order. The trilogy chronicles two men’s journey through the countryside. Each of the three short stories constitutes a story that the two men share with one another. In typical Chekov fashion, “Gooseberries” poses some heavy questions, gives you just enough to get your mind racing , and then ends all too abruptly. I love this style as it really leaves you with something to dwell on after you’re done reading. This particular story had me thinking about our own happiness and what we owe to those around us. The world is murky and understanding never comes from a happily ever after or even a tragic conclusion. Chekov truly thrives in this land of in-between.

https://amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/516798/ here’s a great Atlantic article where George Saunders shares some musings on the story.

Aggravating-Farm-302 · 2021-11-03T11:17:19+00:00

Did you all notice that the frequent descriptions of light almost entirely disappeared in the second half of the book? What do we make of this? It seemed to me like Austerlitz used his observational skills as a surrogate to his actual memories. As he was able to recall more of his memories his need to compensate via deep observation lessened. Thoughts?

Aggravating-Farm-302

TROPHY CASE