so-soGeorges Perec‘s undertaken the unenviable challenge - one entire novel, written excluding the letter ‘e‘. Quite the achievement, however frequent tangential excursions belaboured the prose, often leaving me detached. Gilbert deserves credit considering the extra trouble rendering comprehensible English text while sidestepping definite articles. Intelligent, entertaining yet unnecessarily contrived. 5/10 overall (10/10 effort!)
pickFascinating book! A rich buffet for word-nerds, a collection of essays on e.g: ASL; the rules of Icelandic naming; the Manx language; details of translating Les Murray's poetry into French; Esperanto; the grammar and syntax of phone-speech; the work of Georges Perec (appropriately excluding the letter "e"); and his own synaesthetic language of number.
(I'm considering the possibility that I have a crush on Daniel Tammet's mind at this point. ?)
pick4 Stars • The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino (published in Italian in 1973) where characters, unable to speak, use tarot cards to tell their stories. The novel explores themes of fate, chance, and storytelling through the symbolism of tarot, challenging traditional narrative structures by suggesting stories are like cards, reshuffled and reinterpreted endlessly. ⬇️
pickThis is a difficult one to rate. The narrative weaves back and forth between the MC's rather tedious and impoverished existence and his daydreams, which are so vivid as to sublimate reality. As someone given to vivid daydreaming, I completely relate to this, even if it can make for a disorienting reading experience at times. Queneau's wordplay is dazzling at times and very funny, even in translation. It's not quite like anything I've ever read 👇
#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl
Garbage tumbled out of the metal bin and fell in a torrent into the trash can, eggshells, cores, greasy paper, peels.
#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView
1. I have about a dozen books in the on-deck circle to read next, but I'm not sure which I'll choose. Most likely The Skin of Dreams or Portnoy's Complaint (thanks @RaeLovesToRead 😊).
2. No, between the NYRB bookclub and all my local used bookstores I have more than enough to read at the moment.
Tag @RaeLovesToRead @CBee @BarbaraBB @eeclayton @dabbe
Back from the open-air market with lots of fruit & vegs & Christmas roses. Glad for the warm coffee as it was nippy ❄
Have started a book of essays that seem to be mostly about the state of the French language & the un(der)recognised widening gap between spoken & written French. Quite apposite given the handling of language registers in my last read - the French translation of Thumbprint.
pickUn lessico complesso e articolato, ricco e completo. Un libricino che ti fa respirare aria surrealista.
Ambientato nella bella Parigi.
Gente di strada.
Storie di strada.
