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This Strange Eventful History: A Novel
This Strange Eventful History: A Novel | Claire Messud
7 posts | 4 read | 2 to read
One of Oprah Daily's Most Anticipated Books of 2024 One of New York magazine's "23 Books We Cant Wait to Read in 2024" One of The Guardian's "Books to Look Out for in 2024" One of The Globe & Mail's Most Anticipated Books of 2024 One of BookPage's Most Anticipated fiction of 2024 One of Literary Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2024 One of Book Riot's "Most Anticipated Books of 2024" An immersive, masterful story of a family born on the wrong side of history, from one of our finest contemporary novelists. Over seven decades, from 1940 to 2010, the pieds-noirs Cassars live in an itinerant stateseparated in the chaos of World War II, running from a complicated colonial homeland, and, after Algerian independence, without a homeland at all. This Strange Eventful History, told with historical sweep, is above all a family story: of patriarch Gaston and his wife Lucienne, whose myth of perfect love sustains them and stifles their children; of Franois and Denise, devoted siblings connected by their familys strangeness; of Franoiss union with Barbara, a woman so culturally different they can barely comprehend one another; of Chloe, the result of that union, who believes that telling these buried stories will bring them all peace. Inspired in part by long-ago stories from her own familys history, Claire Messud animates her characters rich interior lives amid the social and political upheaval of the recent past. As profoundly intimate as it is expansive, This Strange Eventful History is a tour de forceone of those rare novels that a reader doesnt merely read but lives through with the characters (Yiyun Li).
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ClairesReads
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review
JenP
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Panpan

I hated most things about this book. In fact I believe my ratings of other books were based on comparison to this one 😂. Our panel reviewed it here

https://thereadersroom.org/2024/09/02/2024-booker-longlist-this-strange-eventful...

If you liked it, do me a favor and drop a comment in our blog with your review. I like there to be a diversity of view points in our reviews but none of us liked it. #bookerlonglist2024

BarbaraBB It‘ll be my next read but somehow I expect to end up with the majority here! 2mo
JenP @BarbaraBB I do hope you like it. It was very painful for me and I don‘t wish that on you 😂 2mo
Graywacke @JenP i took you up on the suggestion and commented on the blog link 🙂 I liked it more than you. 2mo
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Graywacke @BarbaraBB it demands slow. You might like it. It has some real appeal. 2mo
JenP @Graywacke appreciate it. I mentioned you specifically bc I saw that you enjoyed it more than we did. I do think it was very well written but simply a bad match for me. 2mo
JenP I didn‘t rush thorough it honestly. I read it when the list was leaked so I had some time. For me this was like a way less superior In search of lost time (in terms of style, descriptions of the mundane) and my biggest issue was that it felt very emotionally sterile (until the end). 2mo
BarbaraBB Thanks for the heads up @Graywacke 🤍 2mo
squirrelbrain I just commented too…. 2mo
JenP @squirrelbrain thanks! I didn‘t tag you bc I think you had picked “so so” for your review of it but it‘s good to have some positive reviews up on the blog. Usually we are much more mixed in our reviews but two of my panel abandoned it lol 2mo
charl08 Still to read this one. 2mo
25 likes11 comments
review
rmaclean4
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Pickpick

3 🌟 read for me. I can admire this novel, and I enjoyed listening to the audio book, but I did not feel invested. This would not make my personal short list. 3 read, 3 in the process of being read, and 7 to go! #Booker @JenP @AnneCecilie @charl08 @JamieArc @BarbaraBB @Graywacke @jlhammar

squirrelbrain Yes, I liked it too, but it did skim along the surface a bit - not much depth. 3mo
JenP I was bored to tears for 75% of it and then mildly engaged for the last 25% 3mo
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BarbaraBB I‘m not really looking forward to it, after your review and @JenP ‘s! 3mo
rmaclean4 @BarbaraBB I did not hate it, just did not love it. 3mo
Graywacke Sounds about how i felt. I might have liked it a little better. It took me 17 hrs to read. As im sure you know, the audiobook is only 16 hrs. ☺️ 🦥 3mo
25 likes7 comments
review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

Ok, I‘ve finished book 2. A mere 11 to go 🙂 I enjoyed this, and closed it feeling very intune with the story, its lovely language and its recreation of moments. I can‘t comment on its shortlist promise yet, but i would rank it below most of last year‘s list. Still, I‘ll remember it more than most books I have read. It imprints. My model was curious 🐾
#booker2024 #longlist

BarbaraBB Great review. I am intrigued by it! 3mo
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dabbe 😂🐾😂 3mo
ShelleyBooksie OMG - best photo bomb ever ♡♡♡♡ 3mo
tournevis wrowroo? 3mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Great photo 🐾 3mo
Graywacke @tournevis that could have been her review. Or she may have just been asking me for grilled chicken. 3mo
tournevis @Graywacke I have similar experiences with ours, just a different dialect, more often mgnuff gnuff gnuff. 3mo
Leftcoastzen 👏🐶 3mo
Graywacke @tournevis 🤣 Our Pepper whines - for food, attention, because it‘s raining, because the cat has the water bowl, etc. 3mo
squirrelbrain So cute! ❤️ Great review too. 3mo
AnneCecilie Now you have me intrigued (edited) 3mo
Suet624 Great photo! 3mo
tournevis @Graywacke Igrec is just a grumpy old man who doesn't understand why we don't understand him tbh 3mo
Graywacke @tournevis sounds like my cat, who speaks in clear sentences (laced with bad words) and is aghast we don‘t understand. 3mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB @AnneCecilie hope you enjoy. It‘s a slow one. Slow pace. 3mo
Graywacke @dabbe @ShelleyBooksie @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Leftcoastzen @Suet624 she‘s grateful of all your comments. It‘s hard work being a book model, posing with never any warning, and always at nap time (which is always) 3mo
62 likes18 comments
blurb
Graywacke
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Getting going on the #booker2024 #bookerlonglist ( #booker )

I won‘t be reading these all before the winner is announced. But I plan to work through them this year or by early 2025. Reading Messud 1st.

squirrelbrain I really liked this one, which I read before the long list was announced. 3mo
BarbaraBB Enjoy! Looking forward to following your journey as always! 3mo
Deblovestoread I‘m looking forward to this one soon. 3mo
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jlhammar Can‘t wait to get started on the longlist, but finishing up a few others first. 3mo
Graywacke @squirrelbrain Cool that you already read jt. I‘m enjoying it. Nothing groundbreaking yet, but very pleasant. 3mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB will you be reading the list? 3mo
Graywacke @Deblovestoread oh, yay. I‘ll try to follow your posts on it 3mo
Graywacke @jlhammar are you going to read the full list? I usually give myself a year. I really don‘t like to feel rushed. But I might push to be a little faster this year. But also - I‘m not using audio for any of the longlist. That‘s a big change for me (edited) 3mo
jlhammar @Graywacke I hope to, but I might not get to them all before the winner is announced. The Kushner and Powers aren‘t out until Sept so waiting on those. And looks like I might have to order Stone Yard Devotional from Blackwell‘s (not seeing a US pub date yet, hoping that changes). 3mo
BarbaraBB I will! Will tag you! 3mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB yay! 🙂 I‘ll tag you too. But more slowly, i think. 🦥 3mo
58 likes11 comments
blurb
jlhammar
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I‘ve been so bad about posting reviews lately (see my profile page for link to my goodreads if you want to follow everything I‘m reading), but I‘ve been so good (or maybe bad?) at acquiring new books.

Very appealing Booker longlist this year! This is the first of two orders I placed the day it was announced. I‘d already read and loved James and had Wandering Stars waiting on my shelves. Can‘t wait to dive in!#Booker2024

squirrelbrain I‘m loving My Friends so far. Also really enjoyed the Messud. I‘ve just got Held from the library. Started Wild Houses on audio and it‘s yet to grab me. (edited) 3mo
charl08 Love your cover for the Matar. So clever. 3mo
BarbaraBB I‘ve been very tempted by the longlist as well. Of your books I‘ve only read and enjoyed Held, though not as much as her 3mo
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Suet624 Oh boy. I wish I felt I had the room to purchase a bunch of these. I keep hoping the library system will get them. 3mo
Graywacke I bought ten. Hoping to read the full longlist. I‘m reading the Messud right now. 3mo
kspenmoll I am tempted to but I have too much in my TBR… 3mo
67 likes6 comments
blurb
LiteraryHoarderPenny
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