10 BIG BOOKS I LOVE, PART II

Buy me a coffee: ko-fi.com/leafbyleaf
Still love 'em. Still can't lie.
The original "10 Big Books I Love" video:
• 10 Big Books I Love
The FEELING BOOKISH podcast:
/ user-63759823
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Links to videos on some of the books in this video:
2666:
• 2666 Group Read
The Man without Qualities:
• Robert Musil - The Man...
Mason & Dixon:
• MASON & DIXON by Thoma...
Don Quixote:
• DON QUIXOTE: PART I by...
Novel Explosives:
• (OLD) NOVEL EXPLOSIVES...
Fathers and Crows:
• FATHERS AND CROWS by W...
The Manifold Destiny of Eddie Vegas:
• THE MANIFOLD DESTINY O...
www.thisissplice.co.uk/2020/0...

[@9750939]

Excellent, as always. I spy on your shelf another big book you should cover someday, Leopoldo Marechal's _Adam Buenosayres_.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks, Mr. Moore! That’s one I haven’t even read yet, but guess what book compelled me to buy it. You guessed it: My Back Pages!

[@Tbtvitp]

We need pt 3. Honestly this could be an ongoing series

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Working on it! :-)

[@harrycorbiniv]

Facts

[@LeafbyLeaf]

🤣

[@gregstalnaker7741]

Just discovered your channel and have binge watched a half dozen videos back to back. This is really good stuff. The second best thing to reading books is listening to someone like you talk about books.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Glad you found me and glad you're enjoying the videos! All my best to you!

[@laetitiasergni3206]

Wow image, sound, editing, everything with more and more quality, congratulations for the incredible work and great content, good readings!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thank you so much for saying so! It was a lot of work (mostly because of my ineptitude with a/v stuff), but a fun learning process.

[@KadeMac]

Love that there’s a sequel video to my favourite video on KZbin. Thank you for introducing me to so much great literature in a never ending sea of books.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks so much! Glad you’re enjoying it. What a pleasure to be in this endless sea!

[@pbpaez]

This has become my favorite KZbin channel, he's so eloquent and shows great enthusiasm for books and language! I'm so happy to be here. Great job sir.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Very, very kind of you to say! Great to have you here!

[@menelvegor]

Another phenomenal video! I'm going to be reading 2666 in December. Extremely excited about that, will be watching your series on it. Thanks for this gem of a video.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks so much! Enjoy your journey into (and hopefully out of) 2666!

[@annezahra8566]

So glad I found this podcast. I loved Mason & Dixon. I'm glad you chose to introduce your listeners to this novel.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Hey there! Glad you found me, too. :)

[@liquidpebbles7475]

Great recs as always, including the podcast!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks!

[@Booksandchess]

Just discovered your channel last night via a intro video to philosophy and I’m hooked. You’ve got excellent tastes and you are great at motivating me to put my phone away and read…and maybe to tackle Infinite Jest again and hopefully finish it this time.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

If this channel is for anything at all, it's for inspiring people to read more. Glad you found me!

[@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse]

What a beautiful list! I will get on Ducks, Newburyport in 2021 and Mason and Dixon maybe later in the year... Turned on to a couple I don't know as well, thank you Chris! Great vid!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Awesome, dude! Enjoy!

[@SteveReadswithSeamus]

This video inspires me, Chris! And intimidates the hell out of me. Alas, we can read but one word at a time, and savor each chewed idea like candy an adult finally eats, the childhood impulsions saturating the lists of failures we now drown in the sweetness of appreciation for having made it to this point where the big books wrap their leafs around us leaf by leaf and warm our colding bodies.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

You just write the equivalent of a proem that I would love to use as a “trailer” to my channel!

[@SteveReadswithSeamus]

@@LeafbyLeaf for sure! It actually inspired a full poem from me that you can read here: fullbeardlit.org/2020/11/03/socrates-calls-a-poem/ and take what you wish!

[@frankiegumdrops8532]

Would love a continuation of the bookshelf tour. I’m not a voyeur in any other way, I promise. Great channel, thanks for taking the time.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Haha! They’re coming, don’t worry!

[@maldoso76]

Finding your channel has been a highlight of my 2020. So damn glad I found it

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thank you so much! I’m thrilled you enjoy it. Also: are you Silvina’s son? 😜

[@maldoso76]

@@LeafbyLeafno I’m not 😯but that’d be a helluva story if I was 🤝

[@LeafbyLeaf]

👊

[@OttoIncandenza]

Another of your videos that sends me right back to the bookshelf to devour more books and back to my computer to try and write something that could one day be worthy of a review on your channel haha! Idk if it truly counts as a big book but I love The Glass Bead Game. Obviously Infinite Jest, Gravity's Rainbow and The Recognitions but those go without saying at this point.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

You’re too kind. 🙏 I suppose that technically TGBG doesn’t meet my 700-page minimum requirement, but it certainly meets the thematic requirements of a big book. It has been a long time since I’ve read that one but I consider it Hesse’s best. IJ and GR and TR are all on my original big books video. In two weeks I’ll have a long J R video, and in three a long TR video.

[@austinjohnbaker9521]

Great video and great selections. The Brothers Karamazov is one of my favorites, so it was cool to see it here. Also, I agree with you about reading Dostoevsky. When reading The Idiot, the part describing what it is like to be executed was so stressful I was squirming as I read it.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks! And, yes, Dostoevsky is what could be called a psychosomatic experience!

[@alexschmidt2589]

Love that you chose to read from Ivan's Nightmare. It was one of the most impactful moments in the book for me too. (Which is saying quite a lot).

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I’ll never forget it!

[@helpyourcattodrive]

Loving watching and thinking and learning about books here. Great.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

So glad to hear it!

[@PaperBird]

loving the crisp clean A/V, Chris! looking forward to W&M on a future big books episode... maybe Terra Nostra, too? :)

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks, man! With W&M I’m waiting until after I’ve read all of McElroy’s others first (like I did with Theroux and Darconville’s Cat). Terra Nostra is a must!

[@astro368]

I would definitely recommend the Tobias Smollett translation of the Quixote as well, it’s beautiful.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I have not read that one yet! Thanks!

[@burke9497]

As always, I am loving your latest videos. I am drawn to big books. Don Quixote is one of my favorite books of all time. A few other big books that I don’t think you have mentioned yet are War and Peace, Anna Karenina, and Middlemarch. A book I haven’t finished yet but one that I’m drawn to is Clarissa by Samuel Richardson. And I’m intrigued by The Tale of Genji. You could spend a lifetime just reading these few titles...

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Exactly right: Flaubert's aphorism about one being quite a scholar from reading only a half dozen books, comes to mind. I have not read War and Peace, Clarissa, or Genji (though I own them, they are on my embarrassed-I-Haven't-Read list). Middlemarch was so long ago I'd need to reread before making a video. We shall see what the next installment of this series holds! And thanks for the compliments!

[@boyinthebadlands]

Audio and visuals looking/sounding great!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks! 🙏

[@annenilsen2665]

Loved the Brothers K! It was part of a college class, so there were marvelous discussions (and a few arguments) to enhance the reading experience.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I miss the days of good ol'-fashioned in-person classroom arguments.

[@ledsnipe]

Great video, many books I need to get to in this list, finally. You've also made me want to reread the manifold destiny of eddie vegas. I finished it two or three months ago and hardly a day goes by where I don't think about it. Donnie and Drake are the best

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks! I’m in the same boat-finished EV months ago but immediately slated it for a reread. Rick is at the top of his game in that one. Even when narrating the plane trip to Belgium, the whole bit with the guy in seat 22B is done in such a fresh and creative way.

[@tetrapharmakos8868]

I just discovered this channel and am enjoying it thoroughly. I see that we both have small collections.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Welcome!

[@alexgdsu7785]

i keep coming back to watch your videos on big books because i’m obsessed with them and have bought many of the novels you suggest in both videos, do you think you’ll make another video suggesting any more?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Glad to hear it! Yes, I plan to keep the "series" going. Just need to carve out some time to list a handful more!

[@lalitborabooks]

Excellent video. Sound quality is superb now(new mic doing its magic). I have read only The Brothers Karamazov and Don Quixote. Looking forward to read Ducks, Newburyport in immediate future. I would suggest you The Luminaries and The Goldfinch in the big books category.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks! I read The Goldfinch back when it first released and I loved it. Haven’t heard of the Luminaries, so I’ll check that out. Do come back and let me know your thoughts on Ducks.

[@lalitborabooks]

@@LeafbyLeaf sure will. The Luminaries won the Booker. It is a very complex murder mystery sort of book with complex characters set during Gold Rush of 19th century in New Zealand.

[@lightningbolt478]

Great video Chris! I'd like to read a few of the books you mentioned. Hoping to start Quixote soon. What are your thoughts on Tobias Smollett's translation of Don Quixote (Barnes and Noble Classics edition)?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I have only read Rutherford and Grossman. Smollett is on the list!

[@levitybooks3952]

I'd be interested in hearing of your favourite genres. Favourite short story collections, poems, essays? I think I like your library more than any other I've seen! Strange how The Manifold Destiny only has 19 ratings on GoodReads...

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Sadly, that book does not currently have a U.S. publisher. It did at one time, but that's a long story. Hopefully this will be amended soon. Plus--let's face it--not a lot of people read maximalist fiction. Thanks for the compliments on my library. To compliment my library and my books is to compliment my soul. :) I'll give some thought to videos concerning my favorites, as you say. In general my biggest love and academic training concerns classics of western literature from Homer and Hesiod on through Woolf and Proust, containing Dante, Chaucer, Milton, Shakespeare, KJV Bible, Cervantes, Goethe, Austen, Emerson, Melville, Dickinson, Whitman, and Joyce. But I did my master's thesis on a psychoanalytic study of Jack Kerouac, and, as you know, I love huge maximalist novels like Gass, Pynchon, Gaddis, et al. As far as genre, I suppose it would be the literary novel above all. I love the poetry of Hart Crane and Wallace Stevens and John Ashbery (though it seems I read less and less poetry these days). The notebooks of Thoreau. Wuthering Heights is always with me. And then there's Latin American fiction from Borges to Ocampo to Bioy Casares to Bolano. Short stories: Juan Rulfo, Raymond Carver, Borges. Man, there's just so much good literature. But perhaps I should give myself some sort of constraint and think on my overall favorites. Vollmann would have to fit in somewhere as one of my favorites, but he is an enigma.

[@alterego7305]

THE QUALITY IS AMAZING!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks so much! It’s a work in progress but I’m pretty pleased with it myself. 😁

[@b1oho]

Loving The FEELING BOOKISH podcast its like finding treasure

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Completely agree!

[@dinklebutt1003]

Love this! Can I ask what book you’re reading in the intro clip?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Bottom’s Dream by Arno Schmidt!

[@nelsonfrida]

Can’t wait to get in Brothers K. Great succinct read and review of 2666, ha! I’ll have to check out the longer ones that should go with a second read of the Opus. As a Mexican citizen, it’s probably a necessity . ;-) what’s Raintalk, btw?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Hmmmm, not sure about “Raintalk.” Could it be the literary review journal Rain Taxi? All my best to you!

[@lucaseravalli4924]

Hi, there! Obviously I couldn't resist checking your second video on big books - I got other very interesting suggestions for authors I did not know such as Bauer, Burton, Harsch. I doubt I will find them translated in Italian... but I can always read them in English! I'll try to return the favor mentioning some of my favourite big books (that are not your list already: our lists have many titles in common!) - Les Miserables by Victor Hugo: a super-classic that is always a great read - but probably you have already read it... - Europe Central by William Vollmann: my only Vollmann so far (very few of his books arrive in Italy) but an unbelievable experience! - UnderWorld by Don DeLillo: it seems strange to me you did not mention this masterpiece so far (or did I miss something?) - Heaven by Josè Lezama Lima: a fantastic book by a Cuban author that can be considered as the Gaddis of Central America - The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann: the great german author builds a unique world in this hospital isolated by the world - Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, gentleman by Laurence Stern: an experimental and avant-garde book written in the XVIII century - it was like finding post-modernism in something written 300 years ago! and finally what I consider the greatest novel of the XX century (surely in Europe, possible in all the world): - Journey to the end of night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline - he was one crazy fellow, but nobody could write like him... Keep up the good work!!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Great to hear from you again, Luca! Les Mis I've read. Ditto Vollmann (I'm a big WTV fan). Underworld will surely be in a future BBIL video, but, for now, it's distant in my mind. You enticed me to finally buy a copy of Paradiso! The Mann I have read and I loved it. It hit me perfectly at the time. Shandy is one of those that I have started several times but not stuck with for whatever reason. And it is very important to the books I favor. That's a strong comment on Céline! I read the Journey on a trip to Sweden years ago and it has never left me. The perfect antidote to jetlag. Have you seen this podcast? podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/louis-ferdinand-c%C3%A9line-essentialism-vs-relativism-episode/id1438983607?i=1000496039388

[@theheadytimetraveler3864]

Leaf by lead comin in clutch with the second part of the 10 books i love! Enjoyed this a lot, ✌

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Haha, thanks! 👊

[@theheadytimetraveler3864]

You're welcome! I've watched this 3 times LOL

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Wow! Glad you’re enjoying it.

[@theheadytimetraveler3864]

So when is part 3?! Lol

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Haha! Probably 2022. I’ve also got to work some bookshelf tours in!

[@reef6826]

I find myself caught up in that readers anxiety, constantly dreaming about all of the lists of books I want to get to, it gets in the way of the book that is presently in front of you. I have made a commitment I will not buy another book until I have read everything on my shelves. I have even cancelled my audible subscription as I have amassed quite the backlog there as well lol.

[@AnneSofieLovesMozart]

Ok, that passage from The Brothers Karamazov you read, it was incredible, so creepy, so alive I'm just getting in to Dostojevskij myself, having just finished a very well written introduction on him and his works, and his youth work "White Nights", which I found very intense and gripping. I'm going to read Crime and Punishment next, and then definitely The Brothers Karamazov after that.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

C & P is as equally powerful as The Brothers K. Dostoyevsky is a master. There’s also a little book called Summer in Baden Baden that focuses on an part of Dostoyevsky’s life; I recommend it. Also, the Russian TV series on him (it’s available on DVD). Happy reading!

[@AnneSofieLovesMozart]

@@LeafbyLeaf Thank you for the tips, I actually just started reading Crime and Punishment today, I'm really enjoying the writing so far. Yes I read about "summer in Baden Baden" in the introduction book about Dostojevskij. It's about his feud with former friend Ivan Turgenev, as he is visiting him in Baden Baden, or something like that? I certainly peaked my interest to look further into it.

[@jeffburseyauthor6243]

Are there any books by John Cowper Powys in your library? A Glastonbury Romance, Porius, Owen Glendower? Might suit this thread/theme.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Hey there, Mr. Bursey of c-town, pei! Powys is on my radar but nowhere in my library. In fact I was planning a trip to a lot of nice secondhand bookstores in the Maryland-DC area back in the summer and Powys was on my list, but then COVID dashed those plans. Can’t find his stuff around here.

[@jasezer]

Hello sir. It's because of you that I read 2666 and My Struggle. Both two of my favorite books I've read. Would you ever consider doing a series like your proust videos for My Struggle?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Music to my ears! So glad you liked the. That’s a great idea because I really want to reread My Struggle anyway!

[@ratherrapid]

good to see Man Without Qualities on this list as Musil seems to me a writer of amazing intelligence and insight.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Yes, yes! I do have videos dedicated to that work out here. They're a little old.

[@donniedewitt9878]

Excellent video

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks! 👊

[@filipe2444]

Hey man, just found your channel today because of your videos on 2666, great stuff, congratulations ! Seeing as you've clearly had no problem diving into Spanish language or Latin American literature I was left wondering if you've ever given Portuguese literature a chance (it's my native tongue). José Saramago would be a great place to start, even if his writing style is peculiar to say the least.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Hey! Welcome! I just did a written review for the most recent translation of Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas (it will be published in Rain Taxi) and I’m reading through the poems of Pessoa right now. Wonderful stuff! Saramago is on my list, beginning with Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis (this was in part an inspiration for Jim Gauer’s Novel Explosives). I read The Alchemist but it didn’t really resonate with me very much. Nice to hear from you. And: obrigado!

[@filipe2444]

@@LeafbyLeaf Amazing to hear, I love it when people from other countries explore our literature. Pessoa is a fantastic and fascinating author to learn about. Also, if realism is of your interest, you should give Eça de Queiroz a shot, he's sort of the Portuguese Tolstoy.

[@fabianschar77]

when's the war and peace read? would love to hear your thoughts on the best thing i've ever read

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Well, my friend, I failed to get around to War and Peace this year like I planned. Too many other opportunity cropped up. It retains its place on my Books I’m Embarrassed I Haven’t Read list.

[@jackwalter5030]

I have the hardcover version of 2666. A great novel and worth a reread.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Nice! I have the single- and three-volume paperbacks. One day I'm sure I'll snap up a hardcover of this one.

[@estebanmejia3473]

Wow, love the new intro Chris, also huge improvement in the quality of the video! 👌

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Gracias, Esteban!

[@geronimojones1564]

@Leaf by Leaf Mason & Dixon is hands down in my top favorite books. It possesses some special quality that is hard to describe.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I remember reading the fist 70pp in one shot, smiling and laughing just about the whole time. Always makes me giddy when I realize I have started a truly great book.

[@geronimojones1564]

@@LeafbyLeaf 🤫 It’s actually my favorite by Pynchon👌🏾✨

[@alphonseelric5722]

@@geronimojones1564 Geronimo, still hunting alligators? ;)

[@geronimojones1564]

@@alphonseelric5722 Lol. And I caught the Full Metal Alchemist reference.😏

[@billypilgrim1]

I think you still owe us a book shelf tour of your literature section!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Yes, I do! It’s coming. Although I think I’m going to do the poetry section next. Working up to the fiction wall.

[@billypilgrim1]

@@LeafbyLeaf Awesome! The quality of your videos keeps getting better

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks for saying so. I put a lot of time into figuring out how to use these new recording devices!

[@billypilgrim1]

@@LeafbyLeaf Sure thing, man. All that time's clearly paying off, Keep them coming!

[@TheMrMacintosh]

Do you have any tips for getting through these larger tomes? I feel like I get too impatient to get to the end and so it becomes demotivating. Thanks!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Check this out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h6rWaoGDe751e8U

[@dastafford]

So, I have a question for you. I was at Powell's bookstore in Portland some years ago. They had this large, white hardcover on display. It was German novel that was translated into English, and claimed to be the German literature's equivalent to James Joyce's Ulysses. I remember that the text did not have a standard layout, and looked a bit experimental. I know that is not a lot to go on, but...any ideas?

[@dastafford]

Aaaaaaaand, guess what?! You listed it. The last book, A Man Without Qualities is the books I saw. And now that I think about it, it was the Ulysses of the German Language, not the nationality. Thank you for posting this video. You have helped me solve a 5 year mystery.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Whoa--happy to be of service here! For what it's worth, I disagree with this analogy. Musil is of the importance of Joyce, certainly, but I wouldn't go into Man without Qualities with Ulysses in mind. As far as Germans go, it is Arno Schmidt who maps to Joyce, with his Bottom's Dream being the Finnegans Wake of the German language. All my best to you!

[@dastafford]

@@LeafbyLeaf -- actually, you are absolutely correct. Powell's actually emailed me after I made that comment to you, and the person who emailed me remembered specifically in 2017 that is was, indeed, Bottom's Dream. That's amazing! Good job :-) And, now, to somehow find an affordable copy for my library ;-)

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I feel like I won Jeopardy!

[@benjaminknol5990]

Was it Bottom's Dream?

[@astrumdeus7098]

Do you have any videos on how and why you tab your books? And if so can you send me the link? Thanks in advance!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I do! They are somewhere in my Q&A videos (there are 4 of them neatly organized in a playlist) and I talk about it in the early sections of my _War and Peace_ video. Hope this helps!

[@astrumdeus7098]

@@LeafbyLeaf awesome thanks for the response!

[@Nuance88]

Hey, this might be an odd question, but do you recommend a specific reading chair, one perfect for long stretches of reading? I would love to create the perfect reading nook, and I imagine you've found some good chairs (or types of chairs) for extensive reading. Let me know. Thank you.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Oh, yeah-an important question. For twenty years I used cheap chairs (the last few of which were the IKEA Poäng series). Finally I splurged and invested in a piece of furniture where I clearly spend a lot of my life. For me, I don’t want anything that is too slung back; I don’t want a recliner; and I don’t want an ottoman. Those will induce sleepiness. So I was pretty picky, and this is the exact one I went with: www.westelm.com/m/products/lucas-leather-swivel-base-chair-h1545/?cm_cat=Google&sku=8798555&region_id=772240&catalogId=71&cm_ite=8798555&gclid=CjwKCAiA4o79BRBvEiwAjteoYF97LRREoox3IFsE5KSWpKEwZBcFpJnjtqO8jN6vn9TOVAn5Z3_jBhoCnv4QAvD_BwE&cm_ven=PLA&cm_pla=Furniture%20%3e%20Chairs

[@Nuance88]

@@LeafbyLeaf Thank you! I greatly appreciate you taking the time to reply. This is helpful, and I agree that a good chair is a worthy investment for a lifetime of reading. Again, thank you.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

The chair and the reading lamp are definitely worthy investments. You will want to go and sit in lots of chairs of course. You don’t want anything too comfortable but you don’t want discomfort either. For me, the chair I posted was the Goldilocks juuuuust right.

[@samhilgartner988]

Philosophy/ Theology perspective. The City of God- St Augustine. From an agnostic’s perspective- very worth while, especially if one draws parallels with contemporary media criticism and antique monotheistic critiques of paganism/ polytheism. Also Peter Sloterdijk’s Spheres trilogy. Sloterdijk’s meandering and perhaps *slightly* pretentious erudition is graced by style, whit, and humor

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I love City of God! For these videos, I stuck with fiction exclusively. But I've been thinking of doing a video of my favorite theological works. That one will also make an appearance when I finally get around to my theology bookshelf tour. Great suggestion! Now--I have not read the Sloterdijk, so I'm checking that out straight away! Thanks!

[@haroldniver813]

Wonderful video, thanks. I’ve been trying to get my hands on The Manifold Destiny of Eddie Vegas... I’m going to email Mr Harsch to try to get a copy from Corona Samizdat.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Excellent! I’ll send your message to him now and let him know.

[@ihsannuruliman3656]

do you got any recommendation for book that is relaxing, calming, but at the same time it gives you new insights? Weather it's story or not. Perhaps the one like The Things You Can Only See When You Slow Down and One Hundred Years of Solitude.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Hmmm interesting request. Relaxing and calming and gives new insights. How about the journals of Henry David Thoreau for starters?

[@ihsannuruliman3656]

@@LeafbyLeaf 14 volumes? I'm dead ...

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Hahah! Get the abridgment from NYRB. www.nyrb.com/products/the-journal-1837-1861?variant=1094932069

[@ihsannuruliman3656]

@@LeafbyLeaf Okay, thanks.. but do you read those 14 volumes actually?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

No. I’ve only read the selection. But if I could someday get my hands on those 14 volumes I would read them!

[@annenilsen2665]

Do you have a list of all the books on your bookshelves?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I've desperately tried to keep up with such a record for years. My Goodreads shelves are maybe 90% accurate: www.goodreads.com/user/show/5976824-chris-via

[@Cristian.Dorelle]

Excellent video as always, the audio and video quality of this one in particular is astonishing. How could it be otherwise on the part of an Argentine, I recommend to you an excellent big book that I know is translated: Adam Buenosayres. I know it's the kind of stuff you'd like. Greetings from the southern hemisphere.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thank you so much! Really appreciate that. If you look over my left shoulder (my right shoulder from your POV) you will see that very book sitting on my shelf. Also, check out the pinned comment from critic Steven Moore (whose books My Back Page prompted me to buy Adam Buenosayres). Sounds like I need to priories this one. Great to hear from you, Cristian!

[@Cristian.Dorelle]

I hadn't seen the comment or the spine of the book, what a coincidence. It's funny because yesterday I had dreamed of that book and that same day I had sold two copies of it during working hours. The world of books is reticular.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I love that!

[@hermetischism4671]

20:30 How the hell did Pynchon write another massive brick that's comparable to Gravity's Rainbow? I had no idea.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

And, actually, about 10 years after _Mason and Dixon_ , Pynchon wrote an even more massive brick (1,085pp) that's even more like _GR_ ! I'm reading it now and plan to make it my last video of this year. _Against the Day_

[@hermetischism4671]

@LeafbyLeaf Wow, that's incredible. Looking forward to it.

[@JeannyMeyer]

If you are interested in reading a bit more about 1913 I highly recommend Florian Illies “1913”.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

“The Year Before the Storm.” Indeed. Thanks so much!

[@siamesefightingfish2861]

I love your vids.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks so much! 🙏

[@mimispeike793]

Hello, Chris. I was sent here by Rick Harsch, who just posted an article on promotion on my writer site. After writing for forty years, I am finally about to (self) publish. What took me so long? My stuff is quirky, and difficult, and I never believed I'd find a trad publisher. I also illustrate. I am close to putting out a comic adventure in print. And I will soon e-publish book one of an eight-book series, another comic adventure, so I need to get on top of promotion. BTW, I call my genre 'Animals in Pants'. I write sophisticated nonsense, with my characters commenting on the world, the sixteenth century in one case, nineteen-twenties Hollywood in the other. Very enjoyable. I will definitely be back. Hmmm. "The telling detail ... to make the story seem real." That's exactly what I do. I'm a maniac for historical research.

[@josh440]

I love Feeling Bookish! You might also want to check out the podcast Books of Some Substance :)

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I love feeling bookish and Feeling Bookish! 😜 Thanks for the recommendation!

[@mr.knownothing33]

Big book means you got’a big book cover 😎

[@LeafbyLeaf]

😜

[@drakeroth4712]

Hey Chris, how close was Darconville's Cat to making the list?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I had just read DC for the first time last year. It will definitely be on a future list of 10 big books I love!

[@drakeroth4712]

@@LeafbyLeaf 👍Can't wait for the next installment!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Same here! Barth, DeLillo, et. al are sorely missing thus far.

[@ihsannuruliman4005]

Sometimes big books like those are hard to read... how did you practice?

[@estebanmejia3473]

He has a video on how to read big books, you should check it out if you haven't, he gives very valuable advice there

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks, Esteban. That’s what I was going to offer.

[@lunanielsen9144]

Brothers Karamazov is my favourite book

[@signifiature]

Love your videos! I will say that your editing can be choppy at times, to the point of being a little distracting. Thought I’d give some constructive criticism as I’d like to see your channel grow more

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks for that input! The editing is definitely a work in progress. I went unscripted with this particular video to minimize the needs for cuts, but it is definitely a skill that I’m having to work on from scratch. Thanks again!

[@Ipod2000Z]

did you read Sometimes a great notion by Ken kesey. took me some months last year (after reading Cuckoo´s nest) if not i highly recommend it. I know what you been by reading dostoevsky, it being really draining. I listened to both- Crime and punishment. and later Devils, the ladder being somewhat harder to follow. (the names...) I just started Inherent Vice and it´s funny. the movie is also great

[@LeafbyLeaf]

You know--I have not read that Kesey book. Thanks for recommending it! I wish I could do Audiobooks. For some reason, my wind just wanders. I have to have the written page in front of me to really lock in. Inherent Vice is pretty good, though minor, Pynchon, along with Vineland. I didn't even know there was a movie!

[@Ipod2000Z]

@@LeafbyLeaf I thought i would familiarize with his style, my cousin gave away his copy of gravitys rainbow. and i´m not ready to tackle that yet haha. but yeah like reading, listening is definitely an acquired skill, my mind tend to wander anyways so its nice to have it on so it keeps me on track.it was nice with Sometimes- having the same narrator as Suttree.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I’m thinking of rereading GR this fall and doing a video! McCarthy is one of the greats!

[@Ipod2000Z]

@@LeafbyLeaf indeed he is. nice i Will be watching that video

[@Love-is-all]

Roberto Bolaño! Awesome writer

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Hear! Hear!

[@virgilgreen3108]

I loved Savage Detectives!

[@bighardbooks770]

I've read (twice!) and loved (and reviewed) _2666,_ _Mason & Dixon,_ and _Don Quixote,_ but need to read the others. If you're gonna doing a _Finnegans Wake_ read-a-long, please, count me in! I've read and annotated several copies in the past 3 decades, with groups and alone. Love that _shite,_ lol . . . Good one, Chris 🤓🍀😎

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Awesome, man! I will definitely keep you in mind for when I really take on the wake! Cheers!

[@bighardbooks770]

@@LeafbyLeaf Thanks. --Allen

[@prognition970]

Was re-watching this, been a fan for a long time, and on the point of Burton taking religion to task, hell, anyone who takes religion to task, particularly Christianity, the Bible does this already. In spades. It’s almost like people forgot that the Bible “beat them to the punch” and it is hard to take those people seriously.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

A great and incontestable point!

[@geronimojones1564]

@Leaf by Leaf M.B.S.: Multiple Book Slams

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I need to do some more MBS vids!

[@geronimojones1564]

@@LeafbyLeaf Yes sir.

[@KingMinosxxvi]

It should have been several books. ...Like most very long books

[@bend0matic]

I love Pierre Menards version of the Quixote a little better.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

😜😁👊

[@rickharsch8797]

I counted 11

[@rickharsch8797]

KaraMAzov

[@rickharsch8797]

EEvan

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I count the two volumes of Musil as 1 book. :)

[@cojojojo1222]

I really want to read The Manifold Destiny but cannot find where to buy it. Do you have spare copies to sale? I live in Europe but I will pay the fee.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

@@cojojojo1222 you’re in luck-it ships from Slovenia. coronasamizdat.com/catalogue/

[@nicolcacola]

Have you ever read through the Bible?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Several times, yes! I am a lifelong Bible reader.

[@nicolcacola]

@@LeafbyLeaf Wow, bravo! I've read the Bible piece by piece but never sat through and read from just cover to cover. Could you do a video on your favorite books from the Bible?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

The fastest I ever read cover to cover was 3 months, for what it’s worth. It is of course a collection of books and not exactly meant to be read straight through. I have been thinking for a while about doing a whole Bible series-it is such a crucial book to western literature! I will tell you that among my favorite books are: Genesis, Numbers, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, John, Romans, Philippians, and Colossians. Thanks for putting this idea higher on my radar.

[@beebot]

I can't get along with The Bros. Karamazov unfortunately, I know it's well loved - but I'm with Nabokov on it (he really hated it). Too much religious blabbering.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I totally respect your opinion. You're certainly not alone (as you've pointed out, you're in substantial company).

[@ggman69]

C. S. Lewis was so arrogant.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Well, yeah. Alas, the quality of so many great thinkers and rhetoricians. But I have always taken the meat and tossed aside the bones. Cheers!

[@eun-solkim7080]

13:10 whatsapp?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Eh?