Lounge Literary Folk: Good books for hard times?

[BlueIris]

I'm in a weird phase right now. I'm trying to, well, see my way through this depressing time and feel at least a little better about the future. I need a good novel to lose myself in for a while, preferably one of halfway decent quality, that can have drama in it but not too much real tragedy (or perversion). No B. Easton Ellis, Margaret Atwood, or Dorothy Alison here, is what I'm saying. An example of a book with themes, style and content that might convey what I'm looking for, which I read the last time I felt like this, was "Bright Lights, Big City," (a novel I still adore, despite its heartbreaking final chapters). Does anyone have anything to recommend? Anything that captured their vaguely nihilistic detachment, but had a hopeful(ish) message in it someplace or at least left them feeling hopeful? Anyone? Thanks.

[xchrom]

1. i'm rereading henry james ''the portrait of a lady''.

it's a good book to see where the roots of{american} realism are.

he has very easy way with writing that is very engaging.

[BlueIris]

2. I haven't read "Portrait" since college. I'll think about that one.

I was actually thinking about re-exploring James in wake of my recent feelings (or lack thereof). At the time, I was thinking that "What Maisy Knew" might be more appropriate for my circumstances, though.

[xchrom]

3. i know i want to get to ''ullyses'' again this year.

but i also want to read ''in cold blood'' for the first time.

i loved truman capote -- probably not a good book though{idon't really know} if you have the blues.

[BlueIris]

4. OMG, you read my mind. Well, my pick will be that other "Portrait"

if I go there, but...strange. My roommate keeps telling me to "just go read some Joyce" if I'm that depressed and alienated, and has attempted to foist her copy of "Ulysses" on me multiple times this week.

[xchrom]

6. lol -- well at least it's so well written -- you get joy

from that.

speaking of things irish -- if you don't mind gay novels -- i highly, highly recommend ''at swim, two boys'' by jamie o'neal.
wow -- is this ever a good book -- set in the 1916 uprising --- it issues of class, love, politics, remption, etc.

the wonderful thing about o'neal is that he is one author that manages to rise above this media age we live in and can write an amazing narrative.

i just finished reading everything irvine{trainspotting} welsh has written -- and i love it, very important writer, but very much affected by the media age we live in.

[tishaLA]

30. Just get a book of James' short stories

And read until you can't read any more. "The Beast in the Jungle," "In the Cage," "Figure in the Carpet," "Daisy Miller," "The Velvet Glove," "Broken Wings," "The Jolly Corner," "The Birthplace"....I could go on.

And I think all of James fits your criteria. And it's just some (most) of the most beautiful writing in the English language.

[REP]

5. Nabakov, "Bend Sinister"

It could be worse!

[Spider Jerusalem]

7. Dostoevsky, "The Brothers Karamazov"

or, really, almost anything else he wrote. Dostoevsky was very good at exploring the darkness in the human spirit, but his ultimate message is one of the triumph of man's innate goodness over the bleak emptiness of nihilism.

[BlueIris]

8. Oh, man. No Russian (novels) right now.

I've been digging through my books on the various Russian poets of the Silver Age, and that's sort of fitting, but I'm not interested in re-experiencing my bitter, traumatized memories from my days as a Russian and East European Studies minor right now. Basically, I'm not looking to make the bleakness any bleaker.

[jpgray]

11. Beat me to it--great book to puncture your nihilistic tendencies

And contains some of the best arguments for and against organized religion, coming from a conservative Eastern Orthodox Christian. :P

[BlueIris]

9. Kick, in case the night crew this evening has any further tips.

Can be contemporary lit, or non-fic, if anyone can think of anything appropriate. The truth is, while great literature is still a worthwhile pursuit for me, the classics and modern classics might be a little heavy for the mindset I'm in at the moment.

[AlienGirl]

10. "Up the Walls of the World" by James Tiptree, Jr.

[democracyindanger]

12. "Hunger" - Knut Hamsun

The beginning of the modern novel and dark humor.

[Whoa_Nelly]

13. Maybe...?

Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True

[NaturalHigh]

14. Les Miserables

[yellowdogintexas]

15. "Valley of Decision" by Marcia Davenport...big, thick, epic novel

with a ton of characters. Real old fashioned good read.

OR dive into a world that is not our own and start the George R R Martin series ...


A Short History of a Small Place is a great book.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

16. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn...Betty Smith

if you haven't already read it...

[henslee]

17. The late John Fante wrote a few good ones.. Wait until Spring Bandini and

of course Ask the Dust. What about some Chuck Palahniuk? Both these guys are awfully good writers. Fante wrote about L.A. in the thirties and his Bandini character is classic.

[Midlodemocrat]

18. I thought Wally Lamb's I Know This Much is True was

absolutely wonderful. Very inspiring, touching. The kind of book you are sorry to see come to an end.

[RetroLounge]

19. The TIme Traveler's Wife

by Audrey Niffenegger.

I highly recommend it.

RL

[Shine]

21. Agreed. Thumbsup

:thumbsup:

[philosophie_en_rose]

20. House of Mirth.

;)

[XemaSab]

27. That's a GRIM book!

[philosophie_en_rose]

33. True. True.

But it should make any woman a feminist. Poor Lily Bart did everything she should have in her society, yet still ended up dead. :cry: It truly highlights the hypocrisy of anti-feminist neocons that want proper appearances, while forcing people to choose between degradation and despair.

[BlueIris]

31. Hey, my copy of that is right here on my desk.

Egh.

[barb162]

37. slow train to hell

[azmouse]

22. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Silly fun and it will take your mind off your troubles.

[leftofthedial]

23. John Nichols Milagro Beanfield War

[trof]

24. Anything by Elmore Leonard.

Honest.

[Richardo]

25. Catch-22

you describe it perfectly: "...captured their vaguely nihilistic detachment, but had a hopeful(ish) message in it someplace or at least left them feeling hopeful"

My favorite novel ever.

[barb162]

36. That's a great one

[Taverner]

26. Catcher in the Rye?

[hopein08]

28. "The Far Pavillions" by M.M. Kaye

It's about India under British rule in the late 1800's. Over a 1000 pages but I loved every page. It made me laugh, cry (only a bit), but mostly hope.

[BlueIris]

34. Thank you. Great tip. And your icon is PRECIOUS.

:-)

[Shakespeare]

29. For well-written escapism....

I strongly recommend Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

STRONGLY recommend. I couldn't put them down, and they drive the fundies batty.

[BlueIris]

32. Thanks. And nice handle.

:-)

[barb162]

35. Erica Jong "Fear of Flying"

You will laugh. Or try Saul Bellow for sheer brilliance