HAS ANYONE READ?

Trying to decide what to read next? Wondering if anyone else on CR has read it? Ask here instead of searching everyone’s library.

Has anyone read The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez. There’s a parrot in it and I like parrots. 🦜

>2 dianeham: I have not, nor have I read anything by that author. The book I'm reading now, Peter Duck, has a parrot, but only as a minor character.

>2 dianeham: Afraid not. I hope you like it!

>3 labfs39: Does the parrot talk?

>5 dianeham: Only a few typical things that a parrot is taught to say, but it happens to say "pieces of eight" in front of a mean ship captain who thinks the kids are after buried treasure.

>6 labfs39: I’ve been watching talking African grey parrots on fb lately. I had a blue-fronted Amazon parrot. She talked. I think because we don’t have a pet now since our gsd died in August that I have pet withdrawal. So I’m watching other people’s pets.

>7 dianeham: My sister had a small green parrot and then a Cockatoo. Both were rather opinionated!

>8 labfs39: none of the parrots I’ve been watching seem to curse. After I met my future hubby, Papagei started saying the F word. I blamed him but he said it was from watching cable (the old days before internet and streaming) tv. I got the parrot on Bleeker St in nyc in 1986.

>9 dianeham: My sister got hers before she was in a relationship. The cockatoo did NOT like sharing her once she was. It became quite vicious and they eventually decided to rehome it once they had kids. My sister was heartbroken

>2 dianeham: Haven't read it - it sounds rather like Becky Chamber's A Closed and Common Orbit, with a bunch of people stranded together. That's very SF, though (various alien species...I don't think there's any humans, actually, but they're all people not just quirks).

If you read kids' books - the ...Of Adventure series by Enid Blyton has a parrot as a major secondary character (one of the kids' pet, but very opinionated and vocal). The Island of Adventure is the first one.

>2 dianeham: Have you read Flaubert’s Parrot?

>11 jjmcgaffey: ooh I have the first book of that series and haven’t read it yet. I got it from Santathing 2 years ago. Have to get reading.

>12 kjuliff: No, I haven’t. Should I?

ETA: when I look up Flaubert’s Parrot here it says "Flaubert's Parrot
by Julian Barnes, Julian Barnes." Is that a parrot joke?

>13 dianeham: well it’s well-written but the parrot is stuffed and not real, and unlikely it is the same parrot as Flaubert had. Flaubert’s Parrot is really a livery conceit by Julian Barnes. But it’s a good book if you are interested in Flaubert.

>2 dianeham: I haven't read The Vulnerables, though it's on my virtual shelf, but I liked Nunez's The Friend a lot. I'm always interested in novelists who weave animals into their stories as something more than furnishings.

>15 lisapeet: Thanks Lisa - I’ll add it to my list.

Has anyone read A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza? It got a lot of positive reviews when it came out a few years ago.

It's about an Indian Muslim family and seems to kind of explore both the parent/immigrant generation and the children born as Americans and their experiences. I'm interested in it because it's a culture and experience that I'm pretty unfamiliar with and because my kids have lots of Muslim friends (though mainly Middle Eastern Muslim - Pakistan, Iran, etc) - always looking to expand my knowledge there. But honestly, the writing feels pretty pedestrian and it's not really grabbing me. I'm about 20% in according to my kindle and wondering if I should stick with it.

Is The Attack worth reading? It’s fairly well reviewed on LT - here
But there are so many books on this conflict and the plot seems beyond belief.

>2 dianeham: Diane, have you read Nghi Vo's Singing Hills novellas? They don't have a parrot, but the cleric who is the main character has a companion who is a neixin, a talking hoopoe bird named Almost Brilliant.

>19 Jim53: Thanks, I’ll give the first one a try.

Adrienne Rich? I get the impression she is a role model for some queer activists at least, and I’d like to read some of her essays, but I’m not sure where to start. Her Essential Essays collection is available for Kobo so that sounds like a good start… Any thoughts?

>21 FlorenceArt: I can recommend her collection Tonight No Poetry Will Serve: Poems 2007-2010.

>21 FlorenceArt: There was a poem of the day yesterday about her being anti-trans and I was looking that up. Let me see what I can find. Just did some research myself yesterday, Florence.

>21 FlorenceArt: Here’s the poem:

There’s No Trace of the Word “Transgender” in Adrienne Rich’s Biography
BY TORRIN A. GREATHOUSE

The term transsexual does not
appear—anywhere at all.
& this is how a history is written

out of itself. Blood bleached
from a cloth till no mark remains
but the chemical burn. Antonym

of a shadow. Lying is done
with words, & also with silence.
The book does not concern itself

with blood. Is best known for new
revelations about her sexual past.
It’s so easy for us to forget, history

& biography share no common root.
God knows, this is neither poem
nor myth nor biography, but
fact, with its gift for burning:

She helped to pen a book which
buried us; which named our gender
a Transsexual Empire—ever-expanding
border of “male” dominion. A metaphor

failing itself into a blade. They tried
to name us by a blade as well,
you know? Sappho by Surgery.

Scalpel-born dykes. They say
our bodies are violent by virtue
of breath. That to make our skin
livable is to render women down

to objects, to commit a kind of
theft. A misappropriation. They say
to claim our womanhood is nothing
less than an act of rape. Metaphor,

again, scraping its edges sharp.
Tasting blood. In the end the author
thanks her for her “Creative criticism,
& constant encouragement.” Her words

were purposeful. The words are maps.
I won’t forget the damage that was done.
The meds denied, surgery withheld,
the girls who suffered. But she’s dead

& unapologetic. Her violence buried
along with her. Our wounds rubbed
nameless as the stone of a grave.

& here I am—in the meaningless
wake of it—the thing she denied:
The girl & not the story of the girl
the thing herself & not the myth.

Source: Poetry (November 2022)

Good article - https://www.washingtonblade.com/2020/12/11/get-to-know-queer-literary-icon-adrie...

And excellent article in the New Yorker - https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/11/30/the-long-awakening-of-adrienne-ric...

I’ve only read her poetry.

>24 dianeham: Ouch. Well, there goes the role model. Thanks for that info. I may try to read the essays anyway, but with a large grain of salt. And I’ll check out the articles’

>25 dianeham:

Thanks for the articles, esp. the New Yorker one. I'm long overdue to read Adrienne Rich.

>26 FlorenceArt:

I wouldn't dismiss Rich on the basis of >24 dianeham:. First, she's not responsible for what words there are or aren't in her biography. Second, I looked and it's not in the least obvious what her connection to "The transsexual empire" may be.

I found an (not referenced) claim that "Rich was a tremendous supporter of Janice G. Raymond, author of The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male", but, confusingly, rather than substantiate this by Rich's own opinion, it's followed by (my underline): "Raymond even cites Rich in a viciously transphobic chapter, "Sappho by Surgery," in which Raymond argues that biological sex is the same as gender..."

https://prospect.org/civil-rights/adrienne-rich-anti-trans/

Now, obviously we'd want to know what it was that Raymond cited, but I suspect that, if it had been so obviously anti-trans incendiary, the internet would be pullulating with the reference already. I'll go out on a limb and suggest that, likely (and I'll stand corrected if otherwise) Rich did say or write something that implied the equivalence of sex and gender (I don't really know, do I) or something of the sort--the real question, IMO, is whether she was reflecting a common opinion of the times because she didn't know any better, or because she actively held transphobic views. Another telling quote from that article:

"Many people don't know about Rich's connection to transphobia, or the transphobia of many feminists in her era."

"Connection to transphobia", really? This is where we'll start placing the guillotines now? For my part, I'd need more evidence that Rich herself was decidedly transphobic, that it was a definite stance that she reflected consistently in her writing etc. Is it there? More:

"Discrediting Rich's entire work because of a few acknowledgements would obviously be unfair."

No kidding. And, again--acknowledgments that (supposedly) someone else made to Rich's work. Weirdly, however, by the end of that article, the argument magically twists:

"Unfortunately, there is no indication that Rich truly disavowed her initial endorsement of a text that was used to deny trans women's inclusion, identity, community, and in some cases needed medical treatments (with the exception of a nod in Feinberg's Transgender Warrior), but it is difficult to truly figure out exactly how she felt. But maybe that is not really the point."

So we are back to the claim that Rich "endorsed" some "text" used to yada yada... except, as I said above, no reference or direct quote is given. (The parenthetical about Feinberg's book makes no sense--granted, this is just a badly written article.) If it is difficult to "truly figure out" how Rich "felt" about the issue, why lean on the side of transphobia?

I found a more nuanced position in an article from last September on Jstor (not sure I can link) titled "The Incredible Versatility of Adrienne Rich". In it it is affirmed that Rich conceptualised a male-female binary, but one malleable to expansion i.e. trans-inclusion:

... Culture and literature scholars C. L. Cole and Shannon L. C. Cate teamed to pen an inquiry into Rich’s 1980 essay, “Compulsory Heteroesexuality and Lesbian Existence,” in which she called for the “denaturalization” of heterosexuality. Rich argued that in a patriarchal society, regardless of a woman’s sexual preference, the power of men would force her into the role of a heterosexual woman while denying her the right to govern her own sexuality, her reproductive system, and her creative agency.

Cole and Shannon wonder how Rich’s argument, which rests on a female-male binary, would work in a more trans-inclusive society. They note that where Rich would have heterosexual feminists in the 1980s strategically claim a place on the “lesbian continuum,” today, we might use her logic and her calls to challenge prescriptive sexuality to imagine a trans-gender continuum on which so-called male-born men and female-born women can find themselves building political connections with those whose gender is more obviously outside society’s narrow frame of the “normal,” ultimately challenging heteronormative and homonormative investments in binary genders altogether.

However, Rich’s exclusion of transgender people and the use of her work in anti-trans arguments remains controversial*, and from a current perspective, her writings should be marked as reflective of a period in which the foundations of LGBT+ theory were only beginning to be laid. Imperfect, somewhat gatekeeping, and not yet refined.

*The only reference linked is the American Prospect article I linked above.

TL;DR People are second-guessing that Adrienne Rich was transphobic based on shoddy grounds.

Has anybody read Hilary Mantel’s review of The Hite report by Shere Hite in herMantel Pieces? I had no idea that she could be so acidic. Thoroughly enjoyable.

>27 LolaWalser: Thank you, interesting perspective. Yes, better keep an open mind and read Rich herself to get an idea of her thoughts. It’s possible that she just didn’t include trans identities in her reflection, which is regrettable but excusable considering when she was writing I think.

I'm 50 pages into Palace Walk and it's boring me. Can anyone give me hope that it's worth sticking with? Others seemed to love it.

>30 AlisonY: I loved the book, but I was pulled into it quickly, so if it's not grabbing you, there's no reason to keep going.

>30 AlisonY: >31 RidgewayGirl: Same here, Alison. If it's not working for you, or if it's not the right book at the right time, don't force it. Nothing much changes in the next x hundred pages.

>31 RidgewayGirl: >32 labfs39: thanks both. There's always that conundrum - well, I've invested 50 pages of reading time already...

>30 AlisonY: It was a DNF for me, but I’m very fussy and like to be able to get into a book within the first 100 pages!

>30 AlisonY: Palace Walk was a 5 star read for me, FWIW. I loved it from the first page to the last.

Has anyone read The Woman from Uruguay. I know at least one member has, because I put it on hold after reading about it in a post, but I’ve forgotten who posted about it. Now all my holds are coming due though they were months apart when placed. But La Uruguayan looks so interest I’ve put aside A Long Long Way to read it.

>36 kjuliff: I was reading it but then my life got crazy and I stopped.

>37 dianeham: Thanks Diane. I remember now that it was you. Maybe you will get back to it. I’m really enjoying it and consider it a real find. I’d never heard of it or its author.

>38 kjuliff: I don’t remember where I came across it. And now I don’t remember where I checked it out from - probably queens.

>38 kjuliff: As soon as i finish this Muriel Spark I’m reading, I’ll start Uruguay again.

>40 dianeham: I think I’ll finish Uruguay by tomorrow night. I’m already 40% through. Parts of it are really funny. Pedro Mairal’s caustic descriptions of hospital doctors and his musings on bringing up small children are so true and amusing that I bookmarked them for my review. I only wish that more of his works had been translated to English.

Interesting that the translator Jennifer Croft won the translators International Booker prize for Flights.

I’m reading an Australian book that is truly dreadful - I think. I came across it when looking at a LT Interesting Library of a member I have a lot in common with. Unfortunately I checked a review - I normally don’t but I was unfamiliar with the writer, and read the following -

Repetitive, tedious, overly detailed descriptions (an exhaustive inventory of the contents of a minor character's car stretches over several pages) of featureless landscape and gratuitous characters mar this convoluted, disjointed narrative… - Publishers’ Weekly

Still unsure as to whether to keep reading The Salt of Broken Tears

Those who know the kind of books I enjoy - is Philip Roth's The Human Stain for me? I seem to read a lot of conflicting reviews about it.

>43 AlisonY: It's well written and the central conflict is complex. The main character isn't very likeable which may be the problem some readers have with it. But you enjoyed Updike's Rabbit novels, yes? I think you might like it.

>44 ELiz_M: I loved the Rabbit novels. Thanks - might buy it for my hols.

>43 AlisonY: I started to answer this yesterday, and then realized I was doing my usual confusing of that title, which I haven't read, with The Dying Animal, which I have.
After looking up The Human Stain, I wound up getting a copy this afternoon.

I’m looking at reading The Slaughterman's Daughter by Yaniv Iczkovits.

Yaniv Iczkovits is an Israeli novelist and ethicist who was instrumental in starting the Ometz LeSarev (Hebrew: "Courage to refuse") movement . Some six hundred Israeli soldiers affirmed their refusal to serve in the occupied territories. I looked him up *after* getting interested in the book.

But that’s not the reason for my interest in The Slaughterman's Daughter. I found a reference to the writer when browsing some LT “Interesting Libraries”. The Slaughterman's Daughter Is not a political book at all. It looks interesting and unusual, but it’s long, and I’m wondering if it will hold my interest, considering my current depression.

Members who are familiar with my reading choices may be able to help.

>46 SassyLassy: Oh excellent. If you get to it first I look forward to your thoughts on it.

>2 dianeham: If you like reading novels with parrots, look for Still Life by Sarah Winman

>49 Nickelini: thanks, I will. When I moved from Philadelphia to NYC in the mid-80s I bought a parrot - an Amazon. She has since passed away. We usually have a dog but we don’t any longer. I’ve been enjoying watching parrot videos on facebook.

>2 dianeham: have you read Flaubert’s Parrot?

>51 kjuliff: no, I haven’t.

>51 kjuliff:, >52 dianeham: It IS pretty parroty

Has anyone read Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe? It's been on my shelf for ages, but I rarely hear it talked about, though I think Wolfe was highly regarded as a early 20th century American author. I'm considering picking it up, but I need a little push (either way, actually).

>54 japaul22: I have! Better than average, but also a slow, dense read:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/304164#6842097

>55 ELiz_M: thank you! That's just what I needed to know. I think I will read it someday, but I'll make sure it's a time when I'm ready for a slow read.

>54 japaul22: Wonderful imagery. I read it in my late teens, and some people have suggested it's a book that captures people at that stage, but I would like to reread the whole thing. I've only reread excerpts in recent. years.

As >55 ELiz_M: says, the language is dense, but it's well worth it.

Slow reads are good.

>57 SassyLassy: thank you! I’m excited to get to it - Maybe before the end of the year.

Has anybody read Right and Left: The Legend of the Holy Drinker by Joseph Roth? It’s two novellas. I’m currently reading Right and Left and it reminds me a lot of Thomas Mann in style. There no reviews on LT but I’m interested in this writer and the period he’s writing about - Germany WWI through the early 1930s.

>59 kjuliff: No, but I’ve been working my way through Roth’s books intermittently for some years. He is a very interesting writer. You might also be interested in Ostend by Volker Wiedermann, a recent historical novel that explores some of the background to Roth’s last years in exile. And his devotion to alcohol.

>60 thorold: Thanks Mark. I’ll look out for Ostend. I’m really interested in Roth’s time in France.

Olga Tokarczuk’s Empuzjon has just become available on audio at my library. Has anyone rere in CR read it?

>62 kjuliff: This is on my wish list - I've seen the title translated to Empusium. I loved Magic Mountain, but might want to reread it before I try Empusium.

I'm wondering if anyone has read Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks? I picked it up at a library sale years ago. It's really long, but I'm interested in John Brown and the Civil War lead up, so I'm thinking about finally trying it. Could use a little push.

>63 japaul22: You've reminded me that it's on my shelve. I could use a little push too, even though Russell Banks is definitely one of my favourite authors.

>63 japaul22: This is on my shelf, too. I've heard good things about it, but it is a tome.

>64 SassyLassy: >65 RidgewayGirl: Maybe I'll be the guinea pig. I need to read something light and short first because I've had a few heavy reads lately.

>63 japaul22: >63 japaul22: >65 RidgewayGirl: I've read it. I love Russell Banks, and the book is very good, but it's definitely not my favorite book of his and I found it somewhat of a chore to finish it. I think this was more me than the book. It never really fully engaged me, but I also wasn't particularly interested in the subject matter going into it.

>67 arubabookwoman: Thanks! I think I will give it a try since I am pretty fascinated by John Brown. I also read The Good Lord Bird last year, so it might be interesting to compare. But, I've been much quicker to abandon books lately, and I'll be willing to in this case.

>64 SassyLassy:, >67 arubabookwoman: I've never read Russell Banks - what are your favorites?

>68 japaul22: I've liked all that I've read to date, but my favourites would be sort of bookends (not really, but close):

Continental Drift - 1986 - the first one I read, and still a favourite
Foregone - 2021 - excellent

>67 arubabookwoman: Your comment about the subject matter of Cloudsplitter, and also the era, made me wonder if that is why I've put it off for so long.