Comments for A Rat in the Book Pile

Comment on World Book Night – Giving Away The Road by Kerry

Kerry — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 02:21:39 +0000

It will have to be fun. Books, McCarthy, and your daughters (saving best for last, of course) are bound to make a wonderful day of it. I can’t wait to read the dispatches from the trolley!

Comment on World Book Night – Giving Away The Road by Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 00:52:34 +0000

Thanks Kerry. I hope it will be fun (and not cold and wet!) My daughters seem quite excited and can't believe they have to wait until April. I hope The Road will prove a good choice. It is rather wonderful to be able to practice tangible proselytization on behalf of a favourite author.

Comment on Ambrose Bierce by Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 00:36:00 +0000

Thanks for the link. Roth isn’t a very positive chap, is he? I hope he is wrong about the demise of the novel (I suspect he might be) and, unlike Bierce, he doesn’t compensate by being funny!

I am still not convinced that a novel needs to be read quickly to render it meaningful. No-one could read In Search of Lost Time in two weeks, and I think the extensive reading time implied by Proust’s monstrous book is a contributing factor to the (intended) effect.

Comment on World Book Night – Giving Away The Road by Kerry

Kerry — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 12:54:13 +0000

I love your sense of humor. (You made me laugh several times, but loved the picture and “load the books into an old shopping trolley”.)

I think The Road works pretty well, though. Having been endorsed by Oprah, those “mums” in the park are not very likely to be offended by your offering, at least.

But, mainly, congratulations. Giving away one of your favorite authors should be lots of fun. Best of luck to you!

Comment on Ambrose Bierce by Brian Joseph

Brian Joseph — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:56:07 +0000

While I also do not agree with the sentiments that Bierce expressed about the novel, I do find that the entry hilarious. It made me think about Philip Roth’s comments that one needs to read a novel in two weeks or less in order to really comprehend the work. While Roth’s ideas are not as extreme, I think that they reflect similar thinking. The link to a Guardian story quoting Roth is here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/oct/26/philip-roth-novel-minority-cult

Comment on Reading With Rats, Reprise by Sarah

Sarah — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:54:23 +0000

Thanks Brian. My blog was named for our rats, and we shan’t have them much longer. Kind of a swan song while they are still happy.

Comment on Invisible Cities – Italo Calvino by Sarah

Sarah — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:48:22 +0000

Hi. Thanks for commenting, and thanks for the link. That’s really made my day. What a fantastic article! Patel-Schwarz lost me at Hegel (I’ll have to go and look that up now) but the diagram of the structure was elegant and very satisfying. Of course, when I read Invisible Cities I hadn’t then heard of Oulipo, but I’m starting to see the signature features now.

Comment on Reading With Rats, Reprise by Brian Joseph

Brian Joseph — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 01:15:01 +0000

I must admit that I have a soft spot for most furry little creatures. The passing of my previous cat Midnight, indeed made me ponder the ravages of time like good literature often does. May your non human mammalian friends life long and happy lives!

Comment on Invisible Cities – Italo Calvino by nightingaleshiraz

nightingaleshiraz — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 22:12:49 +0000

Great summary Sarah, and wow to Matt’s take on it as well.

For what it’s worth, there actually is a pattern to the way the different kinds of cities are ordered. Someone named Medha Patel-Schwarz does a great job explaining it (I came across her essay while researching Calvino a while ago), so I’ll just point you to her:

http://www.medhasnotes.com/invisiblecities.html

(From around “The cities fall into eleven categories, and each category features…)

Cheers and happy reading!

Comment on Gravity’s Rainbow Rides Out by Sarah

Sarah — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:11:33 +0000

I think we started out on the same group read, #gravrain? I jacked it in only slightly later than you. With all due respect for the earlier group read, Infinite Zombies has tackled some real killer books in its time, and the organisation and resources are superb. Go on, you know you want to…