WBBC Reviews: Dialogues in Paradise by Can Xue

[@misterpibb108]

Excellent review. Intuitive, transcendental, oe'rbrims the cup with the elixir of the artistic gesture and the vain attempt to put the mystery into words. Glad I found this channel. Thumbs up. Subscribed.

[@malexander4094]

Love this video! AND! Seek out Yelena Moskovich. A good intro might be 2021's "A Door Within A Door." It could be read in 2 hrs. Ignore the cover's comparison to "Crying of Lot 49" or most people's comparisons to David Lynch movies. It's weirder than both combined. And a lot of your descriptions of Can Xue's challenging & participatory writing reminded me of Moskovich.

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Thank you so much for the kind words and the recommendation! I've never heard of Moskovich before, but the descriptions I'm seeing on Goodreads all sound very intriguing. I'll definitely give her a try sometime soon.

[@tont760]

I've read a bunch of her stories, including The Last Lover. I highly recommend her book of short stories, Vertical Motion.

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Thanks for the recommendation! I'd been considering Love in the New Millennium next, partially because I'm curious how she can sustain her style over the length of a novel, partially because it's available for free on my library app, but I'm easily persuaded by more experienced Xue readers like you. Any particular reason why you especially liked Vertical Motion?

[@Weru212]

awesome video

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@theaelizabet]

Ice by Anna Kavan has been on my TBR for some time, recommended by many. Intrigued by Can Xue. Very interesting video. Thanks.

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Glad you liked it! One of the weirder bits of trivia about Ice: all the seemingly random locales her characters visit in the novel are actually places Kavan lived or traveled to for an extensive period of time. Definitely a far cry from your typical travelogue.

[@anenthusiasticreader]

I love it when I get haunted by the text. Then I'm left later with just the remnant of the feeling, but forget a lot about the actual text. Maybe that's the beauty of it?

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Right?! In my IRL book discussion group, the question we always end with is, "What do you think is going to stick with you the most about this book?" Interesting to try to predict--not always what you'd first suspect. It might make a fun video/experiment to try and give plot recaps of books I rated highly five years ago, then see how those recollections match up against the official synopses. Thanks for watching, Sonya!

[@theboyjazz]

Thank you again. Can Xue is ordered.And.... what a beautiful girl!

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Thanks! Can't believe she's already 2 now. Let me know what you think of Can Xue!

[@LauraFreyReadinginBed]

Now I get it. I get why I finished this book, and enjoyed it, despite not understanding it. (I'm reader #1, a messy bitch who lives for drama). This is wonderful, and you really MUST read Love in the New Millennium, I think you'll love it.

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

I'm glad you liked it, Laura! I definitely intend to keep exploring her work--extremely curious to see how her style plays out over a novel-length work. Here's to us MBWLfD's!