The December List has dropped & the BookSpin Powers That Be have spoken. I'll hopefully read these two books this month. The tagged is listed at 112 pages - easily readable, right? My library has Wifey on audio. I'm excited for my first "adult" Blume.
@TheAromaofBooks #bookspinbingo
pickThis is an odd but funny novel; a dark, farcical satire. Some of the language is very 'of its time' - the casual antisemitism in particular made me wince - but its depiction of the military leaders and bureaucracy as incompetent, arrogant, petty, and often drunk is very witty, and the bleak humour skewers the absurdity of the war. Is Schweik 'feeble minded', or is he a subversive genius?
When you accidentally stumble on a bar named after the book you're reading
pickThis book gave me a bit of whiplash - which was an interesting parallel to the experience of the main character.
The premise that drew me in initially was resolved by the halfway point of the book, leaving a lot of text ahead that felt a bit disjointed from the rest. That said - this was a beautifully written, deeply felt, psychological novel that I plan to revisit in the future.
pickI wish I would have read this while in Prague and in a better headspace. I think it is very good, I am just not in the mood at the moment. He compares moving countries and going back to Odysseus and mirrors 2 characters journey. It was well written and smart without feeling pretentious.
panSometimes classics hit right and you understand why they are standing the test of time, and sometimes not at all. Unfortunately this is one of those lesser times. I hate the repetitive nature of his writing, you really need to know your philosophy and Eastern European literary critics (he throws a bunch of dead white men's names at you just to let you know he knows who they are). There are a lot of scenes with bodily fluids? Luckily this will 👇
pickThis is very enjoyable (and perfect pre-holiday reading). A really thorough and engaging exploration of Prague's fascinating and tumultuous history.
Oh no! This one is not for me. I normally like rambling existential books, and try to give things 50 pages but I am 15 in , have no idea what us going on - a guy found a book with funny writing and weird things are going to happen but only a couple of sentences a page seem to actually matter to the story. I have a bunch of other Prague books I need to get to so going to skip this, it was also my #doublespin
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@Dilara @TheAromaofBooks
Looking for book recs!
I am thinking about going to Prague in September. I have never been! There are not a ton of book recommendations online, so I am hoping some of you might know some. Either fiction or NF set anywhere in Czech - I would prefer a Czech writer (I only read in English), and NO WWII****
I have read most of Kafka, & The Unbearable Lightness of Being
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