for a few years now i've been wondering if a) europeans really talk like that, b) the translations are bad, or c) i'm just a bullheaded westerner. probably some combination of the three, although reading rachel cusk has complicated my theory somewhat (no one speaks english like that!!!). these are such slim, modest books, and it robs them of any intrigue. glad i'm not alone!
I’ve made several false starts with Under the Volcano, most recently a few months ago with an old paperback copy that’s been on my shelf for years, but at this point in my life the print’s just too damn small, so I’m keeping an eye out for a hard cover edition.
a lot of it went over my head, but i'm not convinced it's actually...good? in any event, you'd need a PhD in mythology and four different languages to follow the plot + dialogue
I've started reading Under the Volcano so many times... haven't finished it yet. One of those books I want to read because of the way other writers talk about it. Maybe one day.
i read the first chapter, thought it was some of the best writing i'd ever encountered, then it just...went on for another 400 pages and i completely lost interest. i had to stop and look up a half-dozen references on every page, and the dialogue veers from english to spanish to french to german for no apparent reason, so uninterrupted reading was impossible. really weird experience
you too! i can't recommend JPM highly enough -- some of the books are kinda similar, and most are out-of-print (although they circulated so many, they're easy enough to track down online). imagine edwin o'connor with less melodrama, or john o'hara with breezier plotting. marquand also wrote like a dozen spy novels, which i haven't cracked yet. i'm not much of a re-reader, but i could read Point of No Return over and over
Amazing. Well I ordered Point of No Return yesterday. Can’t wait to dive in (though it’ll be a moment, since I’ve decided to kick off ‘25 with a re-read of Parade’s End. I’m only sometimes a re-reader, but it’s been almost twenty years and that book’s stubborn perversities suddenly feel attractive to me. God knows why).
looking forward to your thoughts! im planning to read stephen birmingham's 1972 biography of marquand this year, an ebook publisher recently bought up the rights and reissued it a few months ago
Man. I wonder why Marquand hasn’t been pounced upon by some enterprising NYRB/McNally type outfit yet. (Actually, even without having read him I have some intuitive suspicion.) I can’t wait!
i figured the rights were tied up in his estate, or something, but now some fly-by-night ebook publisher has them so your guess is as good as mine. on the one hand they're very plotty, domestic, mass-market novels, but like, the man won a pulitzer!
it feels like WWI-era novelists-of-manners -- wharton, forster, etc. -- are having a moment now, so i hope marquand's will follow
I think "plotty, domestic" is the key here. That's neither Lorin Stein's nor Ed Frank's jam, I think. That's my suspicion.
Wasn't his son also a novelist? I seem to remember him having a novel sometime in the mid-90s, but I might be misremembering (or . . . might be remembering someone both unmemorable and un-Googleable. I think the son was also "John" or "James.")
funny you say that -- a few days ago i read that one of steinbeck's sons was a quietly accomplished novelist himself, never knew that, put one of his books on hold at the library
“narrators speaking too frankly about their feelings” is such an accurate way to describe European novels
for a few years now i've been wondering if a) europeans really talk like that, b) the translations are bad, or c) i'm just a bullheaded westerner. probably some combination of the three, although reading rachel cusk has complicated my theory somewhat (no one speaks english like that!!!). these are such slim, modest books, and it robs them of any intrigue. glad i'm not alone!
I’ve made several false starts with Under the Volcano, most recently a few months ago with an old paperback copy that’s been on my shelf for years, but at this point in my life the print’s just too damn small, so I’m keeping an eye out for a hard cover edition.
a lot of it went over my head, but i'm not convinced it's actually...good? in any event, you'd need a PhD in mythology and four different languages to follow the plot + dialogue
I've started reading Under the Volcano so many times... haven't finished it yet. One of those books I want to read because of the way other writers talk about it. Maybe one day.
i read the first chapter, thought it was some of the best writing i'd ever encountered, then it just...went on for another 400 pages and i completely lost interest. i had to stop and look up a half-dozen references on every page, and the dialogue veers from english to spanish to french to german for no apparent reason, so uninterrupted reading was impossible. really weird experience
Sounds about right.
Man, I've always wondered about Marquand. Sold! And--Happy New Year, man
you too! i can't recommend JPM highly enough -- some of the books are kinda similar, and most are out-of-print (although they circulated so many, they're easy enough to track down online). imagine edwin o'connor with less melodrama, or john o'hara with breezier plotting. marquand also wrote like a dozen spy novels, which i haven't cracked yet. i'm not much of a re-reader, but i could read Point of No Return over and over
Amazing. Well I ordered Point of No Return yesterday. Can’t wait to dive in (though it’ll be a moment, since I’ve decided to kick off ‘25 with a re-read of Parade’s End. I’m only sometimes a re-reader, but it’s been almost twenty years and that book’s stubborn perversities suddenly feel attractive to me. God knows why).
looking forward to your thoughts! im planning to read stephen birmingham's 1972 biography of marquand this year, an ebook publisher recently bought up the rights and reissued it a few months ago
Man. I wonder why Marquand hasn’t been pounced upon by some enterprising NYRB/McNally type outfit yet. (Actually, even without having read him I have some intuitive suspicion.) I can’t wait!
i figured the rights were tied up in his estate, or something, but now some fly-by-night ebook publisher has them so your guess is as good as mine. on the one hand they're very plotty, domestic, mass-market novels, but like, the man won a pulitzer!
it feels like WWI-era novelists-of-manners -- wharton, forster, etc. -- are having a moment now, so i hope marquand's will follow
I think "plotty, domestic" is the key here. That's neither Lorin Stein's nor Ed Frank's jam, I think. That's my suspicion.
Wasn't his son also a novelist? I seem to remember him having a novel sometime in the mid-90s, but I might be misremembering (or . . . might be remembering someone both unmemorable and un-Googleable. I think the son was also "John" or "James.")
didn't know that! this guy?
https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/08/obituaries/john-phillips-author-and-editor-71.html
I guess that must've been him! Weird. I could've sworn it was 94-95 he had a new book (allegedly) coming.
Man. Novelist-son-of-a-famous-novelist is just a rough cross to bear, I'd imagine
funny you say that -- a few days ago i read that one of steinbeck's sons was a quietly accomplished novelist himself, never knew that, put one of his books on hold at the library