lunababymoonchild

All my presents are bought - 2 of them! One Christmas card sent through the post, to the one person who does keep in touch throughout the year (and yes, I'm as guilty of not keeping in touch as everybody else. I'm just not prepared to pay 85p for a second class stamp and buy/make Christmas cards for it anymore). Not putting up decorations this year, and my brother is in charge of food. We are not hosting so it'll be quiet, which is what we all prefer.

Good wasn’t it?

Hello @Wiktoria and @friendofbooks, welcome to the board. I find these 'name your favourite books' incredibly difficult because I never finish a book that I don't enjoy, that and the fact that my favourite can change at a moment's notice. With that in mind, here is my top three for (the mnoment) this year : Sara Sherdian, The Secrets of Blythswood Square C S Robertson, The Trials of Marjory Crowe Cormac McCarthy, Child of God

Just started Murder in my Backyard by Ann Cleese,, Inspector Ramsey 2

Just started Hauntings by Neil Oliver. A factual book about ghosts in historical places

Just started The Visitor by Lee Child, Jack Reacher 4.

Oh, I’m so glad!

I loved it!

Herscht 07769 by László Krasznahorkai This is the latest from Krasznahorkai to be published in this country. It’s 407 pages long and one continuous sentence. There are chapters though and I read it on Kindle which had very strange page numbers. For example, I got to page 406 and stayed on that page number for the last hundred or so pages. It does this throughout the book. So, it can be confusing. The Herscht of the title is the surname of a man who is portrayed as special needs – to put it politely – or simple. The numbers refer to his postcode. His first name is Florian and we get to know him as the story progresses. He spends two years taking evening classes in Particle Physics which he completely misunderstands and as a result of this he engages in letter writing to Chancellor Angela Merkel to explain to her that he thinks that all physical matter will be destroyed. His teacher tries very hard to dissuade him of this to no avail. The story progresses from there and encapsulates neo-Nazis, and graffiti vandalism. There are other, strong characters in the book and there is also a well-crafted plot, which ended unexpectedly but with a nice touch. How Krasznahorkai managed to convey the whole book in one sentence is mind-boggling but not as confusing as I thought it would be. And why he would want to do that I don’t know. But, and it’s only my opinion, this is a towering work of genius and I highly recommend it.

Only you can decide whether to return or not. You could wait until near the end of the return period and then return if a fix isn’t forthcoming.

I don’t think so Wittgenstein’s Nephew. I saw that. And they are similar in style, naturally. I’m not in a position to ascertain which of Bernhard’s work is the best to read, as it’s totally subjective. As I’ve said before, I don’t know why anyone would read an author they don’t enjoy or finish a book they don’t enjoy. Obviously up to you.

The loser is a study on the impact of a ‘more talented than everyone else’ person has on those around him. Gould’s friends end up giving up playing because of it and one gradually ‘loses it’ as a result of both the effect and being called a loser by Gould. It has no paragraphs and many run on sentences - as you know - and this is to convey the atmosphere, anger and frustration (these are creative, artistic men) that the interpersonal relations of the characters create. In other words, it’s the whole experience that’s meant to be immersive. But…………if it’s not for you then it’s not for you.

I thought that you might be interested in this article : New Kindle Colorsoft users reporting 'distracting' yellow strip on screen

I don't know, I haven't read that one.

If I may, perhaps Bernard is considered difficult because it takes a lot of effort to understand the point he’s making. Not that it matters. If it’s not for you it’s not for you