Welcome to Litsy!

An hour to spare between appointments this afternoon led to an impromptu HPB stop. The de Beauvoir, previously unpublished & with an introduction by Atwood, sounds interesting. At 150 pages it's a bit less intimidating than a few other bricks by de Beauvoir that have been lingering on my TBR. I can't wait to return to Strout"s world. Olive Kitteridge is one of my favorite characters of the past few years. I've been thinking about Denis Johnson ?

I'm sometimes wary of posthumous works, but this book had been completed before Johnson's death and had always been intended for publication. I knew Johnson's name because of Jesus' Son and nothing else, but bought this on a whim shortly after it was published. It certainly made me want to read more of his stuff. He has that spare, conversational way of writing that still manages to sound like poetry and fools you into thinking...👇

Own the paperback outright but the audio book is read by a veritable murderers row:
Nick Offerman
Mike Shannon
Dermot Mulroney
Will Patton
Liev Schreiber.

The first and last stories in this collection were impressive and surprising, but the three middle ones were just good. I‘d definitely recommend Jesus‘ Son over this collection. However, if you‘re a short story lover like me, then this is a worthy read. 4⭐️

#nutsinmay print book 1/4 @Andrew65

Finished both of these. And I 💘 them both. They're going to the keep shelf.

I don't know where the tagged book came from. I'm guessing #goodreads.

And as usual, RBG wants you to read more books.

This dude writing about death. This made me talk out loud. To the book. "Christ, that's morbid." And it is. But true at the same time. This book is really good but it's pretty dark.

Picked this back up. Not sure why I put it down.

I loved a lot of the language in this but I couldn't identify with much of any of it. I did enjoy it though.

Backyard bliss.

More short stories today! ☀️📖 the first sunny day in weeks and Tucker is saying “when is our walk time!?” 🐾

#litsywalkers #dogsoflitsy #shortstories

I have read and loved this book, but I had to get this edition as well because the cover is 🔥🔥🔥. And it‘s on the inside covers too! (I once asked the editor of a famous magazine that published Johnson‘s stories what it was like to edit his work, and she said, “Oh, honey. No one *edits* Denis Johnson.”)📚❤️📚

Definitely not for me.
Didn‘t like the first story at all.
Had hope for the second, but it spun out quickly.
And nothing really worked after that.

#marchmadness @JenP

This is my first Denis Johnson and I‘m guessing this may not be the best place to start. There is some undeniably gorgeous writing here, but I had a hard time caring about any of it. Somehow it felt as though there was a wall between these characters and me.

Unpopular opinion: The writing was good but I just found myself bored and not connecting with/caring for the characters.

Another attempt at reading short stories, which apparently isn‘t for me.

Top 10 of 2018

#7

I‘m gonna miss Denis Johnson so. damn. much.

The Largesse of the Sea Maiden is a collection of meditative stories. Each is an examination of mortality and fate, that questions what we do with our lives, and how does our use of this time matter, how do our connections with others change ourselves, and can we escape our circumstantial fate? Was this collection perfectly balanced? No. Was it a wonderful reading experience? Of course. Strangler Bob was a real stand out.

Great writing in this collection

TOO MUCH DENIS 😭😫

Stunning writing- so sad this is the last Johnson

Back on the #readharder2018 buzz with this for ‘a book published posthumously‘ so good to be back!

Feel I prefer this collection to that other of Johnson's I've read. Some really fantastic writing, not a dud story in the bunch, and each of them easily managed in a single sitting. Will look to pick up a copy to own when I next get the chance.

One of 3 books I'm right on the cusp of finishing, so I won't post anything too specific. Just that this full passage was so nicely composed as to be worth sharing.

Nick Offerman, Michael Shannon, Dermot Mulroney, Will Patton, and Liev Schreiber bring a fantastic addition of depth and emotion to these 5 short stories

This short story collection felt incredibly masculine to me. It reminded me of Richard Russo's work, though I prefer his style. Pieces of each story, an amputee's leg, an Elvis conspiracy theorist, & a phone conversation with an ex-wife, all stuck with me, but the details of the stories blend together.

“I note that I've lived longer in the past now, than I can expect to live in the future. I have more to remember than I have to look forward to.”

⭐️⭐️1/2

Objectively, I can see this is quite "literary" and original writing. There are great lines of dialog, a thoughtful contemplation of mortality. But it was like a literary version of jazz, all weird dissonances and long improvised rifts taking us miles from the original path. I might have enjoyed that eclectic style if I could have rustled up some bond with just one of Johnson's characters but curiously I felt quite removed from them all.

Bus commute audiobook. This is some lineup of narrators on this one.

#unpopularopinion time. These stories were fine but nothing special. I finished the collection yesterday and don‘t remember much today. I‘ve never read Johnson before and don‘t feel any urge to do so again. Oh well, it was worth a shot.

#25infive update. I'm 9.5 hours in and it's only 3 pm on Saturday here - so lots of progress could be made. I finished the tagged on audio while cleaning and showering post gym. I've also made about 100 pages of progress on my #horrorpost book today. Hoping to finish it next!

Three audiobooks finished so far. Lots of progress on print.

Meal prep + audiobook happening.

I have an hour to myself in Children‘s while I cover the in-between of shifts, so I‘m hoping to make some progress on this! I‘m really enjoying it so far; the first story was really lovely. #thelargesseoftheseamaiden #denisjohnson

I‘ve never read anything by Denis Johnson, but I saw this on the new releases shelf and thought it sounded interesting. We‘ll see! #thelargesseoftheseamaiden #denisjohnson

Does coffee count as a snack?

Unlike his previous collection, Jesus‘ Son, this set of stories didn‘t demand to be read. In fact, I fell asleep reading three of them. Strangler Bob and The Starlight on Idaho were winners, though. I hate to ding a man of his talent‘s posthumous collection, but here we are. 3⭐️ #shortstories #yearofshortstories

Everybody wants in on this party 📚🍷🐱 #catsoflitsy

I failed to take a #riotgrams pic before work today, so I'm finally getting to share one of my favorite quotes from Denis Johnson's stunning collection, "The Largesse of the Sea Maiden." Finished this week and already missing it.

Denis Johnson and I are off to work on Valentine's Day (aka day 14 of #riotgrams with @bookriot which is "hearts"). I've been stretching this book out for as long as I can. ?

This is a great collection of short stories. I love the way Johnson was able to take stories of ordinary people who have fallen on hard times and make something strangely beautiful out of them.

I find it much easier to review books that I don‘t love, but I‘ll give this a shot because it‘s worthy of praise. This is an exceptional story collection. I felt like I was unraveling some ancient mystery as I read this, but now that I‘m done, I realize I only uncovered more of the unexplained. Superb writing, some of the best dialogue I‘ve ever read, bizarrely engrossing storytelling, totally unpredictable. In short: so, so stinking good!

Contents: "The Largesse of the Sea Maiden," read by Nick Offerman "The Starlight on Idaho," read by Michael Shannon "Strangler Bob," read by Dermot Mulroney "Triumph Over the Grave," read by Will Patton "Doppelgänger, Poltergeist" read by Liev Schreiber

My favorites were 2 & 4, and I feel Triumph Over the Grave should have been the final story in the collection. Manly man stories but enhanced even more with these readers.

I have to spend two hours every single night in this room at this desk considering these hooks in my heart and writing down my life history, which we each go up at the two-week point and read to them, read to all the others, sit there in a chair, read your history of the downfall of your pitiful self to a circle of ghosts.

Poured myself a cup of lavender chamomile tea and I‘m ready to really dive into this book. Denis Johnson makes me nervous. He pulls me in and I don‘t know where he‘s taking me. But I like it.

Finally getting around to starting this one! Being able to get to this was part of my motivation to finish The Luminaries yesterday.

My stack for #24in48 plus some ebooks and audio. My kids have 4 birthday parties to go to this weekend so I don‘t think I‘ll get lots of reading in but I‘ll try.

#QuoteOfTheDay

You can read the story this quote is from online, here: http://theharvardadvocate.com/article/164/the-starlight-on-idaho/