Gladwell has a podcast series nowadays. 'Revionist History'. S1 a lot better than S2. Well researched stuff, similar to a short audiobook of his work. Been awhile since I've read his stuff. Hopefully his earlier work isnt as easily seen through as his S2 stuff.
1. 1/8 of Strong Motion by Jonathan Franzen (3.2/6)
-Still love The Corrections and Freedom even after the 'cool' opinion in literally circlejerks was to jump into the backlash and laugh him off. You can tell this is proto-Franzen. Cool dialogue and his eye for observation is there but its a bit loose and uneasy. Not far enough to rate yet but could be dope. He's too good at giving depth to characters by way of subtle foreshadowing. Almost not foreshadowing, just, you know what may happen by little brushes of characterization. One line or two.
2.7/9 of The Marriage Plot by Jeff Eugenides (1.6/4)
-Off-putting to me, and not enough of a stylist to make up for it. The central romantic relationship is interesting. The allusory English Major shit is both obvious for being obvious and uninteresting enough not to matter. Left this alone after Leonard got fat during his science gig. Small chance I finish it, 40ish pages left. Aware that I don't like the intellectual stuff because insecurities, know for a fact he's no Great Novelist or stylist.
3 Moby Dick by Herm Melville (7/8)
-Only book I've ever read. As a slow reader this took awhile. Dozens of earmarked passages for their style and beauty. Really engaging work. Big themes, a Heavy Book, Very Important, etc. Works on multiple levels. Biblical in scope, allusions, and takeaway ideas. Great stuff.
4. Stoner by John Williams (6.97/7)
-A great litmus test book. Can be the saddest shit or most affirming shit you've ever read, depending on your perspective. Its a story of this child of a farming family who lives into academia as a professor. No huge plot twists. The prose is beautiful, but not overpoweringly so. The plot is the point, but the plot inches along. It kind of seeps into your skin as your reading it, an interesting, fictional, telling of a life written without surplus. Handles interpersonal drama like an adult. The best/worst version of reality and retelling of reality. Highly recommended.
5. Purity by Jonathan Franzen (4/6)
-Worst novel I've read by him, but still good. Meta in that he tries to tackle his 'sexist' image by making a female character the nominal main character (Patty Berglund from Freedom shouldve debunked this criticism dead but whatever). I get nostalgia for the novelist character's chapters on hole 4 of a golf course I like for no discernible reason and it bothers me. The murder subplot is the most interesting and forward portion. The end is okay. Some really base level "this person is smart here is some base level psych dialogue by him" which I'm not sure is purposeful. Enjoyed it overall.
Most of these I read/half-read/one-eighteenth read last year. Need to read more.
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