tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post5401326943380690302..comments2023-10-03T11:41:21.191+01:00Comments on The Truth About Lies: The Artist of DisappearanceJim Murdochhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-54695698872254448522014-11-11T12:06:30.841+00:002014-11-11T12:06:30.841+00:00I stopped worrying about who is or isn’t reading m...I stopped worrying about who is or isn’t reading my posts a long time ago, <b>Joe</b>. If people comment they comment. I don’t worry so much about the book reviews—if you’ve not read the book or don’t know the author then it can be hard—but I do look for more feedback on the monthly articles. I’m just happy that you’re sticking with me.<br /><br />I’ve been reading a lot this year and widely. Lots of women and lots of foreign writers. And mostly short novels and novellas. Desai I knew nothing about. I just took a chance. And was rewarded. Sometimes you are. And I’ve been lucky this year. I’ve stumbled across some good, even excellent, books.<br /><br />I’ve read four books by Brookner—in reverse order: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1159003.Latecomers" rel="nofollow"><i>Latecomers</i></a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/950270073?book_show_action=false" rel="nofollow"><i>Strangers</i></a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/84512.Look_at_Me" rel="nofollow"><i>Look at Me</i></a> and <a href="http://jim-murdoch.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/family-and-friends.html" rel="nofollow"><i>Family and Friends</i></a>—and’ll have no problems reading a fifth and a sixth; <i>Making Things Better</i> will probably be next. I’ve been thinking a lot this year about the differences between male and female writers and why I find myself preferring male authors although not male authors who write about male subjects—Hemingway is certainly not a favourite—and I keep coming back to a single word: storytelling. On the whole I don’t like stories, not in the old-fashioned sense of a story with a beginning, a middle, an end and a nice moral to carry away with you. In particular I hate anything that could be classified as a family saga. Brookner feels as if she’d be an author I’d hate and yet she completely wins me over because of her approach to the problem. I gave two of her books five-star reviews on Goodreads and I don’t hand them out lightly. Of <i>Look at Me</i> I said, “This is a book I would’ve liked to have written. That’s the best compliment I can pay it.” Can’t say fairer than that.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-49796179683813543962014-11-11T03:08:54.705+00:002014-11-11T03:08:54.705+00:00You may think, from my long silence, that I haven&...You may think, from my long silence, that I haven't been reading along. But I've been reading along. And I just want to say that Desai has been at the edges of my awareness for years but I've never picked up a book of hers. Now I will. And Brookner as well! I don't know enough about her to know why I should be surprised that she appeals to you, but I expect to find out. Thanks, as ever, for the insights....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com