David Kurnick explores what makes Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels so addictive. As he puts it, “In Ferrante we see what grand novelistic ambition looks like devoid of writerly vanity.” Pair with Cora Currier’s essay on reading Italy through Ferrante’s books.
Novelistic Ambitions
The Time-Traveler’s Dictionary
Say you find yourself transported 6,000 years in the past - would you still be able to talk to your fellow English-speakers?
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The Problem with “Brave”
On odd reading habits, the problem with "brave" writing and being a writer in LA: an interview with Meghan Daum, whose essay collection The Unspeakable was reviewed by our own Hannah Gersen.
Year in Writing
"In order to overcome their creative challenges, the authors I interviewed didn’t need to write prettier sentences: They needed to become more disciplined, more generous, braver. Literature seems to require these qualities of us, somehow, both in writing and in reading." Joe Fassler's "By Heart" series at The Atlantic provides us with another year's worth of writing wisdom, including advice from Alexander Chee, Michael Chabon, Lydia Millet, et al. We also highly recommend the conversation between Chee, Emily Barton, and Whitney Terrell about the decade each of them took to see their novels realized in the world.
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Poison in the Plot
Agatha Christie could actually kill you. She studied pharmacology and learned how to create poisons, which led to her use of poisons in her novels. You could also read Daniel Friedman’s essay on solving the mystery of how to close a crime novel.
Back from the Gulag
On NPR, Russian high school students now must read from The Gulag Archipelago. Genuine reflection or lip service? (Thx, Laurie)
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The End of the Hemingway Embargo
2,000 recently digitized copies of Ernest Hemingway’s papers will be transferred from Cuba to Boston’s John F. Kennedy Library – this will be the first time copies of the papers will be available to U.S. researchers. As of right now, I don’t believe there are any plans to return the urinal Hemingway took from a Key West bar to its proper location in Sloppy Joe’s.
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Read Like A Victorian
The website Victorian Serial Novels lets you experience 19th-century novels "serially and in their cultural contexts." Select your author, the timespan within which you want installments to come, and enjoy.
How to choose what to read first? Not to worry, these six Dickensian experts have you covered.
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Wednesday Links
From icy Philadelphia, some links to start the day:The latest round at the LBC is over, but we've posted our nominees for the next round. Read the books now so you can discuss them with us in a month or so. I was a nominator this round and my pick is The Cottagers by Marshall N. Klimasewiski.An Ask Metafilter thread on books by women for men who don't like books by women. Lots of good recommendations... Might do a separate "booklist" post here at some point compiling all those suggestions.Dan Wickett's Dzanc Books has two more titles on the way, one by Yannick Murphy who wrote LBC nominee Here They Come and one by Wickett fave Peter Markus (who he mentioned in his 2006 best of here at The Millions.)Combining Garfield and reference books seems like a bad idea. Note: A groundbreaking work in that it is the "1st dictionary with attitude" (via)