Friday Reads - End Of May

[@danicaholly1554]

Congratulations on your incredible accomplishment! Enjoy your clean desk! Thank you for your reviews - always an enjoyable treat. I remember, I liked Train Dreams long time ago when I read it. Hmm... In Defense of the Act - probably not for me :)

[@jacquelinemcmenamin8204]

Congratulations on submitting your book Marc 🎉🥳💐🤩

[@MarcNash]

Thanks Jacqui! 😃

[@that1comment]

Thank you for the very interesting list of suggestions. Been looking for variety and rare reads, these sound absolutely readable.

[@MarcNash]

My pleasure! 😀

[@BookishTexan]

I think I agree completely with your assessment of In Defense of the Act.

[@MarcNash]

👍

[@TKTalksBooks]

Congratulations on finishing and submitting your book! I loved Not a River. Train Dreams is my favorite Denis Johnson, with Jesus’ Son a close second. I had a similar reading experience of the Effie Black. Frankl’s book is essential reading. I just ordered Toxicon and Arachne .. sounds right up my street. You are my top reviewer on BookTube. Thank you. Cheers 🥂

[@MarcNash]

Aw thank you TK! I think my experience of Not A River was definitely influenced by having read Ana Paula Maia first. They really do cover similar themes.

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

How lovely to have got your novel sent off. I was much more engaged by Not a River than you. I love her sparse prose and her examination of masculinity. I find the sense of place she conveys very satisfying. It matched up well with Of Cattle and Men for me which I read around the same time. Both books have a sense of something a bit odd going on. Are those characters ghosts in the Almada? Is there a malign force at work or a suicidal consciousness aroused in the cattle in the Maia? But without losing a feeling of realism. I read both halves of the Frankl last year. One can't really criticise a memoir of a holocaust survivor but his theory of people surviving due to having a sense of purpose made me a bit uneasy. Surely for many people it was random luck or misfortune that tipped the scales. I loved Train Dreams but haven't read anything else by Dennis Johnson. I need to pick a Lispector to read in 2024.

[@MarcNash]

I thought the suicidal cows was down to some environmental pollution. Lispector's latest to be translated is The Apple In The Dark and so far so good!

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

​@@MarcNash it probably should be The Apple. I missed that the new translation was out.

[@bluewordsme2]

First, and most importantly, BIG CONGRATULATIONS MARC! Super happy for you and hope the book will find its way you-know-where!....so happy you enjoyed Lol V Stein...i read it at 16 and it amazed me, even more than The Lover...re-read in 20 years later, and loved it more (by then, i was a writer and understood what she was after, as novel, as meaning, and I read it in french)...everything that Debre does not accomplish....agree 100% about McSweeney...had same reaction for both....so happy to see some Johnson...one of my writing heroes and agree, 2 kinds of Johnson, but i've read everything and Train Dreams is a masterpiece....my fave too, with Jesus son and Angels.....have you ever read his last book of stories: The Largesse of the Sea Maiden...although uneven, i loved it...have a go ....and his poetry (early, which is how I discovered him in university).......i also have read Frankl, both parts (and more)....i'll send you a video later today about a form of existential therapy....GO ENJOY YOUR DAY under the apple trees.....bb

[@MarcNash]

I thought Largesse was almost good enough to bring me back to short stories. Probably the best collection I've read in all my time on BT save for Ben Marcus and Borges' "Fictions".

[@bluewordsme2]

Indeed. A brilliant and heartbreakingly powerful collection. What a god damned brilliant way to finish a writing life. 🙏

[@ianp9086]

I’m reading Defence of the Act next week. Meanwhile Train Dreams is also my favourite Denis Johnson but I haven’t read as many as you - Nobody Move is on my shelf and I love the cover, and I presume the title refers to the two guys laying low / not moving? I actually really liked Selva Almada’s book - I thought the tropical intensity was palpable and the two ghosts intrigued me! Congrats on managing to submit your latest book.

[@MarcNash]

Thanks Ian. Do you know something, the title 'Nobody Move!' only struck me in that meaning after I'd finished the book! I just think Ana Paula Maia does similar but in a more gripping fashion to Almada

[@thisisveryannoying]

I am not sure if anyone is practicing Frankl's logotherapy in its pure form, but modern existential therapy is certainly influenced by his work and exploring meaning of life is a big part of existential therapy now. Also, his paradoxical intention technique is widely used in many other forms of therapy, when a client is advised to refrain from doing things they are trying to achieve or to do things that they are trying to avoid - sometimes called reverse psychology, e.g. in case of erectile dysfunction homework would be to avoid having an erection at all costs :)

[@MarcNash]

Ah brilliant, thank you so much!

[@revilo00]

Do you have any idea how to explain the ending of Blue Lard. Just read it and it doesn't make any sense!!!

[@MarcNash]

I really don't I'm afraid!!!! I think Stalin outwitted Hitler and somehow the blue lard was a significant part of thagt, the prize if you will. But in the reversion to the future, I think they were just the letters that finally reached the guy's boyfriend, long after one if not both of them were already dead. But how that tied in with Stalin/Hitler I couldn't begin to tell you. Sorry, that's the best I can do! 😀

[@bbbartolo]

How did I fall off your feed? YT is insidious

[@MarcNash]

I'm not getting automatic notifications of new videos from other people I'm subscribed to. Very irritating.