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Group Reads -> June 2024 -> Nomination Thread (1950s - won by Memento Mori by Muriel Spark)
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Here We Are (2020)
by
Graham Swift
It's been a while since I read any Graham Swift despite liking what I have read by him
According to the blurb this is set in Brighton in 1959 and the reviews suggest it's quite evocative of the era, although I understand it flashes forward and back from 1959 so perhaps it's not all set in the 1950s, but it looks as though most will be
Here's the blurb....
It is Brighton, 1959, and the theatre at the end of the pier is having its best summer season in years. Ronnie, a brilliant young magician, and Evie, his dazzling assistant, are top of the bill, drawing audiences each night. Meanwhile, Jack � Jack Robinson, as in ‘before you can say� � is everyone’s favourite compère, a born entertainer, holding the whole show together.
As the summer progresses, the off-stage drama between the three begins to overshadow their theatrical success, and events unfold which will have lasting consequences for all their futures.
Rich, comic, alive and subtly devastating, Here We Are is a masterly piece of literary magicianship which pulls back the curtain on the human condition.
Ooh--sounds like a good summertime book, Nigeyb.I'm kicking around two nomination ideas. In case anyone is in the mood for a love story, here are two by authors that can turn a love story into so much more.
A Game of Hide and Seek by Elizabeth Taylor"This is an unabashed love story, capturing all the uncertainty and inevitability and deceptiveness of true love, tracking the shifting currents of emotional life, and never yielding to melodrama. Set in Britain between the wars—a time of transition between old convention and new ways ..."
or
A Certain Smile by Françoise Sagan"Her second novel, A Certain Smile, less shocking and more psychologically convincing, was preferred by many critics. Like Bonjour Tristesse, this story is set in Paris in the 1950s and told by a young student bored by her law books, restless and curious about love and sex. She is fond of her loyal boyfriend, but he, too, bores her. His worldly uncle strikes her as more exciting, appealingly risky and forbidden."
Not nominations yet--still thinking.
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Elizabether Taylor is fab
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Speak, Memory
'Speak, memory', said Vladimir Nabokov. And immediately there came flooding back to him a host of enchanting recollections - of his comfortable childhood and adolescence, of his rich, liberal-minded father, his beautiful mother, an army of relations and family hangers-on and of grand old houses in St Petersburg and the surrounding countryside in pre-Revolutionary Russia. Young love, butterflies, tutors and a multitude of other themes thread together to weave an autobiography, which is itself a work of art.
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Baldwin's haunting and controversial second novel is his most sustained treatment of sexuality, and a classic of gay literature. In a 1950s Paris swarming with expatriates and characterized by dangerous liaisons and hidden violence, an American finds himself unable to repress his impulses, despite his determination to live the conventional life he envisions for himself. After meeting and proposing to a young woman, he falls into a lengthy affair with an Italian bartender and is confounded and tortured by his sexual identity as he oscillates between the two.
Examining the mystery of love and passion in an intensely imagined narrative, Baldwin creates a moving and complex story of death and desire that is revelatory in its insight.
This is supposed to be controversial for various reasons but also has very high ratings on both here and Amazon so I'm assuming lots to discuss. I think Baldwin's writing is sublime and his prose immensely powerful.
My nomination is Memento Mori by Muriel Spark.Dame Lettie Colston is the first of her circle to receive these anonymous calls, and she does not wish to be reminded. Nor do her friends and family - though they are constantly looking out for signs of decline in others, and change their wills on a weekly basis.
As the caller's activities become more widespread, soon a witch-hunt is in full cry, exposing past and present duplicities, self-deception, and blackmail. Nobody is above suspicion. Only a few, blessed with a sense of humour and the gift of faith, can guess at the caller's identity.
She is always a favourite of mine, and I think this is the book she wrote just before The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. I hope too many of you haven't read it yet. I haven't.
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Every month the nominations in this group are enticing. I have two of the books mentioned here in my books to read list.
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Here We Are (2020) by Graham Swift (Nigeyb)
Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov (Susan)
Giovanni’s Room (1956) by James Baldwin (Roman Clodia)
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark (Ben)
Unusually I have read all three of the nominations that are not my own
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How are your deliberations going Kathleen?
I'm on a train so can't send a link but can I nominate During the Reign of the Queen of Persia by Joan Chase? Published in 1983 and set in 1950s rural Ohio . Margaret Atwood described it as " a Norman Rockwell painting gone bad " it looks at family life and It has been republished by NyRB . It tells the story through a " we " voice , the "we " being the younger women so I'm intrigued ....
btw I can recommend Giovanni's Room and Here We Are ..and I think we have a great shortlist
I'm really interested in the other nominations, especially the Swift and the Spark. Giovanni's Room is stunning--a favorite. But I'll go ahead and throw the Elizabeth Taylor in the mix:
A Game of Hide and Seek
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Nominations....
Here We Are (2020) by Graham Swift (Nigeyb)
Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov (Susan)
Giovanni’s Room (1956) by James Baldwin (Roman Clodia)
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark (Ben)
During the Reign of the Queen of Persia by Joan Chase (Hester)
A Game of Hide and Seek by Elizabeth Taylor (Kathleen)
Anyone else going to nominate?
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There's a BBC production on iplayer, part of the BBC4 season of ground-breaking drama - it wasn't for me but I can see that it's brilliantly done with many famous faces including Maggie Smith and Zoe Wanamaker.
Am I too late?I'll nominate Hiroshima Diary: The Journal of a Japanese Physician, August 6-September 30, 1945 by Michihiko Hachiya. Originally published in 1955, re-published by NC University Press in 1995, with a new foreword.
From the back cover: Hachiya was director of the Hiroshima Communications Hospital at the time of the bombing. Although he was kept quite busy, he still found time to record the story daily, with compassion and tenderness.
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VOTE VOTE VOTE...
/poll/show/2...
Nominations....
Here We Are (2020) by Graham Swift (Nigeyb)
Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov (Susan)
Giovanni’s Room (1956) by James Baldwin (Roman Clodia)
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark (Ben)
During the Reign of the Queen of Persia by Joan Chase (Hester)
A Game of Hide and Seek by Elizabeth Taylor (Kathleen)
Hiroshima Diary: The Journal of a Japanese Physician, August 6-September 30, 1945 by Michihiko Hachiy (Jan)
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Memento Mori by Muriel Spark - 3 votes, 42.9%
Giovanni’s Room (1956) by James Baldwin - 2 votes, 28.6%
During the Reign of the Queen of Persia by Joan Chase - 2 votes, 28.6%
Here We Are (2020) by Graham Swift
Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov
A Game of Hide and Seek by Elizabeth Taylor
Hiroshima Diary: The Journal of a Japanese Physician, August 6-September 30, 1945 by Michihiko Hachiy
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I have given up on Nabokov but excited at the thought of more Spark, should that win.
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I have voted for Giovanni's Room as I think a buddy read of that will enhance my reading of the book. Recently read and enjoyed Go Tell it on the Mountain, after it having been on my shelves since 1989.
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Less than 24 hours to go
#tense
Probably sufficient interest to do both Spark and Baldwin 💡
Poll watch...
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark - 6 votes, 42.9%
Giovanni’s Room (1956) by James Baldwin - 5 votes, 35.7%
During the Reign of the Queen of Persia by Joan Chase - 2 votes, 14.3%
Hiroshima Diary: The Journal of a Japanese Physician, August 6-September 30, 1945 by Michihiko Hachiy - 1 vote, 7.1%
Here We Are (2020) by Graham Swift
Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov
A Game of Hide and Seek by Elizabeth Taylor
Yes. Two very different books, both written by masters of their craft.
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It's....
Memento Mori (1959)
by
Muriel Spark
A brilliant, daring and darkly funny novel by Muriel Spark, 'mistress of the highest high comedy' (The Times). Published as part of a beautifully designed series to mark the 40th anniversary of the Virago Modern Classics.
'Remember you must die.'
Dame Lettie Colston is the first of her circle to receive insinuating anonymous phone calls. Neither she, nor her friends, wish to be reminded of their mortality, and their geriatric feathers are thoroughly ruffled. As the caller's activities become more widespread, old secrets are dusted off, exposing post and present duplicities, self-deception and blackmail. Nobody is above suspicion.
Witty, poignant and wickedly hilarious, Memento Mori may ostensibly concern death, but it is a book which leaves one relishing life all the more.
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Giovanni’s Room
by
James Baldwin?
It can be easily arranged for June
Neer wrote: "I am interested in a buddy read for GR."I am too.
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Alwynne and I have also agreed to buddy Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley in June - everyone is welcome.
Roman Clodia wrote: "And me. Alwynne and I have also agreed to buddy Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley in June - everyone is welcome."
Great and also in for GR, haven't read it in ages and another I barely remember.
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Reading the 20th Century
Books mentioned in this topic
Devil in a Blue Dress (other topics)Devil in a Blue Dress (other topics)
Giovanni’s Room (other topics)
Memento Mori (other topics)
Hiroshima Diary: The Journal of a Japanese Physician, August 6-September 30, 1945 (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Walter Mosley (other topics)Walter Mosley (other topics)
James Baldwin (other topics)
Muriel Spark (other topics)
Michihiko Hachiya (other topics)
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Please supply the title, author, a brief synopsis, and anything else you'd like to mention about the book, and why you think it might make a good book to discuss.
Happy nominating