YOU AND I KNOW ITS BIGGER THAN A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Pnin and Hard Times were the two most boring books I read this year.

Hi, i just wrote a topic test last month that i did very poorly on so I can commiserate with feeling dejected with school! It sounds like you are maybe and losing a bit of inspiration with your booktube endeavours. May i suggest maybe try reading some novellas if you are able to still make time for books? They are usually short and sweet. I don't know why but "the diving pool - by Yokohama Ogawa" is one that came to mind. I'm not suggesting it because i want you to do a review, but just some cathartic reading.

Yes, I’m more interested in writers like Isherwood and Spender before they were ‘true to themselves’.

I watch all your videos mate, even if you take a break i'll be watching your reviews. Love from Spain🙌

Thanks for your update & sharing your situation & the dilemma of clashing demands on your time. Please feel supported & encouraged on here.

Relax Dude. And whatever you do, do not set Matthew down in front of any TV. All the best.

University is much more important. Since I have subscribed to your channel, I will not miss any videos - whenever they may come.

Sesame Street is wonderful for children.

Please don't be bothered. You're not obligated. We only want to see what you have time and energy to produce. Blessings.

hi! i think we all are going to continue by here 🙂 I even been reviewing the videos since the beginning! And there's still a lot to listen to, and since they appeared, letting all the ads run. May everything go well Grant

Hang in there Grant! We're pulling for you. You got this! You're so close to a nice break. We'll keep you in our thoughts Patrick

Totally understand, and appreciate the work and prep that goes into each one. Remember, the hardship of presentation will help you grow and vault you to higher places. ( ps. I just read Dangerous Liaisons, an epistolary, by Laclos. a very good read. ) - Im looking forward to sharing your literary journey. These books are my safe space in life. ( truly ) You do good work THNK you.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You’ll have loads to talk about when you move to Japan besides books. I love the banter.

Great episode🌳

Take your time. - Ah, Japan. I am wondering if I ever have the chance to travel to Japan again ...

Brideshead Regurgitated.

If you do take a (needed) break, I will still watch the next video. Take time as you need it.

Love your channel

School seems like a pretty good priority. Don’t sweat the BookTube.

the real tragedy in this book is his love life and the life of his love.

thanks

I am reading "The naked and the dead" right now, and I think it's very good, but you made my laugh in relief with your observation about the "big dictionary" Mailer must have used to write it, as I am surprised at how many words I don't recognize! Did you read any other books by Mailer that you think are worth checking?

While quite interesting, you didn’t really review the book. The briefest of summaries followed by some general stuff about HF. I got into Fallada after hearing a radio dramatisation of Alone in Berlin. The film you mentioned is worth watching, I saw it here on KZbin.

'A Far Cry from Kensington' is my favourite Muriel Spark book. I don't think this would disappoint you. Also her short story (longish short story), 'The Go Away Bird' - I think that's what it's called, is brilliant.

good video. I love Simenon but don't know this one I '' catch up with it. Cheers.

I think you’re hilarious. Most people are so pretentious reviewing books and you are so down to earth. My book club is annoying the hell out of me because they just want to read Booker Prize winners or losers and I just find most books so mediocre today as well as the movies. I perpetually live in the past. I’m not made for post modernism. I hope Japan has staved off the mind virus which kills all humour.

Just finished the book. Absolute masterpiece!

Hey Grant ! Thanks again for your entertaining videos. As a book hoarder, I need to have my wife pry books from my fingers. I still have books in the attic that I haven't looked at for years. If the house catches fire, you'll be able to see it way the hell up there in Canada. I'm kind of rambling like you, so I'll close with a prayer that dear god, keep Grant on his quixotic path of doing videos, even when he moves to Japan. I'd like you to tell us more about your plans there. Maybe you already have in another vid. I'm hoping you'll do more even though I'm too cheap to raise my monthly contribution. Maybe I'll bump it up if you REALLY make me laugh. cheers, and Keep up the great work, Patrick

He's monetized! Hit the like button, please.

I feel like my books are slowly moving me out of my house.

It sounds like you are and will be interacting with many twenty something students. You'll have a unique perspective on reading Bell Jar to see how much of it is universal and timeless and how much is specific to that post-war bygone era. What is with the road. I've become in the minority in finding the book lame and obvious compared to the other work, which I love. But it constantly gets mentioned. I have that exact copy of Cousin Bette. This was a fun video, it made me consider books in a different context. Quite entertaining. But I can't believe these are the only books you're taking. What about what like night table books. Rimbaud, Whitman, Dickenson, Raymond Carver, writings of Lincoln and the King James bible. there are a few others, a few novels that I re-read that are the shelves closest to the night table. Okay, so if was going to Japan I may not bring Moby Dick, but the others I mentioned -- which are examples of the kind of books that I mean and mean something to me -- that I turn to for reliable literary solace and just knowing they're always nearby makes me feel like me.

The favourite book of Clifford Lee Sargent (Better Than Food) isn't Bataille's "Story of the Eye"?

I didn't even notice the fridge in the background. Great vid Grant!

Re Marques - for years I wanted to read some of his work so got a copy of "100 Years..." last years. I lasted 80 pages - not only was I not enjoying it, I actually disliked the style. I ended up putting it down. It's unlikely I'll go back to it. My preferences at the moment, for modern fiction tend towards Calvino, Eco and I have a Borges short story collection to try. I'm just reading for enjoyment - I have to split my leisure time between reading and listening/playing music so can;t afford to persevere with books that aren't happening hence abandoning 100 Years. The same happened with Infinite Jest - gave it three attempts over the years - only got as far as 300 pages. It is not on my shelf - it went to a charity shop. I also like classic crime fiction and, earlier this year, discovered Seicho Matsumoto when I read Tokyo Express. A great book - I look forward to reading more of his work. Good luck with the move to Japan!

I guess I'm boring too--I read Hopscotch front to back. I disagree as to the best of Garcia Marquez. I absolutely adore and love One Hundred Years. I first read it in one sitting. I literally could not put it down. But to your point, it might be difficult for many readers and his other writing is certainly worthy of reading as well. For younger Americans Chesterfield might mean bonkers, but I learnt whilst growing up, that a Chesterfield was just an armless and backless couch--basically an upholstered mattress with legs. It was also a brand of cigarettes. Wow! You've read Dos Passos! Not many these days can say that. Hanging on your every word, as always. All the best to you, Grant.

No room for regular books. Sounds like a job for ebooks.

Recently I've read Germinal and I should say it was one of the masterpieces and you can feel the life of the poor people better and empathy with them.... poverty is the worst thing that might be happened to anybody, it would take humanity from you

Hey Grant. I watch every single video you make, and I watch from Canada. My friend from Montreal also watches your videos. Are we that 0.7%? You are right, that is an outrageous number…

Ok, I am now going to read "Ragtime" for sure in 2025. I never even bothered checking what it's about, the title never seemed appealing to me. But I think you've convinced me to definitely give it a try, as I was just looking for novels taking place in the US in the first half of the 20th century. Thanks!

I read "Jane Eyre" for the first time a few months ago (yes, I was exactly like you describe in the video, staying clear from any "boring" classic literature...) and really liked it. I was very surprised how much more modern it was than I thought it would be. I didn't consider trying the book by Jean Rhys, but I think you've convinced me to give it a chance. I've also erased "Tobacco road" from my TBR, really not for me, thanks for that 🙂

l laughed out loud watching #2. I tried reading "The turn of the screw" 3 times, and gave up every time half-way, and I found it unreadable. I couldn't understand one sentence. Glad to see I'm not alone.

I have "Justine" on my shelf for at least 25 years, and now is the first time, after watching your video, that I actually want to try and read it. Thanks!

4:41 “a minor variation of chaos” could be a short story about my own life rn

great review. Could you review Kobo Abe’s Woman in the dunes when you get a chance please?

Didn't you do this one already? This was one Kawabata's best sellers, but I agree it's not as good as his other works and the sexual themes haven't aged well. It was a film about ten years ago, but that was kind of lame too there was a friendship and rivalry and it was thought because he was gay and a right wing fanatic Mishima felt was why he didn't get the Nobel and since I read Mishima when I was younger I'd swear he should have won, and Kawabata was more when I was older. Both were like when I read one I had to read whatever I could find. Kawabata has more compassion and a wistful melancholy that Mishiima lacks, but I wonder if I would've appreciated it as much in my 20s when I went full-on Yukio. Thanks again for prompting me to think about books I haven't thought about in a while.

Hi, Grant. Got to say this is something different. Have a good Monday and week.

Thank you for your review of The Stone Angel. I am 68 yrs old and just reading it for the first time. Actually, probably because I am in the U.S., I've never heard of Margret Laurence. The reading experience was very moving, although I admit to feeling extreme dislike for Hagar. Parts of the book were difficult to read but the ending although sad, was inspiring. I cannot imagine reading this book as a teenager, but at my age with a sense of death stalking me, this book will stay with me for a long time.

Once again, GOOD! The mention of short stories wakens a memory of when I promised myself to read one short story each day, because as third year student I didn't time time for long novels. Wonder why I can't seem to do it now? And my books runneth over, what to do?