Friday Reads

Books reviewed
Octavia E Butler - "Kindred"
Gabriel Blackwell - "Babel"
Don Delillo - "The Silence"

Other books mentioned
Kim Gordon - "Girl In The Band"
Blake Butler - "Nothing"
Thomas Bernhardt - "Correction"

[danicaholly]

As always, your reviews never disappoint and being always enjoyed...Thank you!

[evahnizdo]

I found the audiobook of The silence difficult and had to rewind occasionally. And I doubt really like sci-fi . But I persevered and I am glad I did. Made me think. That's a good thing . And I did like the language. wonder if his inspiration was partly the hurricane Sandy in NYC, Thanks for the review. you made me understand it better.

[saintdonoghue]

I thought the same about 'The Silence' but didn't put it as well: yes indeed, a sketch - with all the drawbacks that implies, however strong the book's elements are -

[BookishTexan]

Glad to hear that you liked _Kindred_ . Not sure I will be picking up the Dellilo book anytime soon.

[tomlabooks]

Agree on The Silence. Minimalist and whispered, not my favorite of his but still brilliant in many parts.

[jc-szlr]

I've just finished my first Bernhard. I was expecting same as you I think, a boring rant about 1970's / 1980's Austrian cultural scene, but was impressed with Bernhard's understanding of his audience. He didn't bulldoze over you with his opinions, he seems to know just the right moment to cut "himself" off (this is Wittgenstein's Nephew where the narrator is Bernhard and there is a bit of that what is fiction what is biography game happening) and give you something else. On another blog I read I saw the opposite, that 'concrete' is the more representative Bernhard. Either way I think 'Correction' will be the next one I try.

[PullDownTheMoon]

I have read the Patternmaster series by Butler and I enjoyed it and also the novella Bloodchild. I must preface that this is coming from someone who reads very little science fiction. I have to say her writing is one of the reasons I adored it, perhaps because I read so little science fiction, I find that I do not want it weighed down with a lot of language, I just want to understand the world I am placed in. That said the four books in the series are great, one definitely stands out more than the others and maybe more suited to you (it's called Clay's Ark) but I don't know. I enjoyed your review of Kindred and will pick this book up for sure upon hearing your review. I've never heard of Don Delilo but I like the sound of this book, I will check out his other books to see if any of them appeal to me and pick one up in the near future!

[scallydandlingaboutthebooks]

I have it in mind to read Dawn by Butler so I will let you know what I make of her prose. I will steer clear of the De Lillo I think.

[BookishNorth]

Thanks for a good buddyread! And I look forward to hearing about your non-fiction reads next week.

[Alan-wdwv]

I read Dawn by Octavia Butler last year and found it to be that kind of stereotypically wooden sci-fi that doesn't interest me. Even with hearing glowing reviews of Kindred, the wooden prose of Dawn really puts me off trying anything else by her.

I always thought Bernard would be my kind of author, but was disappointed by Wittgenstein's Mistress when I read it earlier this year - very meh. Might give him another go - I'll wait and see how you get on with Corrections. Although he can get in line behind Marias, N'Diaye, Solstad, Nooteboom.