No way !! I am so happy that you have read him , I thought Mathias was only known by us French people.. He is indeed a great strory teller and humanist !!
A great video. I was just recommended this author by a Booktuber I follow, Travel Through Stories, and was so happy to find and listen to this discussion.
Hi Chris, I read Tell Them of Battles, Kings and Elephants last night and it was so good. I loved the writing style, historical information and setting. I’m definitely going to read more from this author!
P.S. thank you for introducing me to authors I probably wouldn’t have stumbled upon by myself. Each book I’ve been directed to from your channel has been stellar ✨
Because of your discussion I'm reading Compass and I don't want it to end. As much as developing empathy is always talked about as a goal of reading, this is the first time I am really seeing the world through the eyes of Franz Ritter. What an incredible experience to feel such erudition bursting forth all around me as I lie awake! What an extraordinarily fecund imagination. This guy can riff on anything and everything. No wonder he can't sleep. His eletrifying thought processes are anything but tranquil. You mention Amos Oz, A Tale of Love and Darkness. That is one of my favorite books and I would love you to devote an episode to it. I'm looking forward to reading Zone.
I love the way you describe your vicarious experience of Herr Ritter! I feel so privileged to have been able to read Oz's poignant memoir while traveling all over Israel last year. I really should do a video. So glad you're enjoying the pleasures of Enard!
@@LeafbyLeaf In recent years I tend to find new books to read by going down the rabbit holes of a book I'm enjooying and Compass is the motherload I could probably spend the next year reading nothing but books referenced by Franz: Doctor Faustus, The Blind Owl, Saint Simon! Enard's bibliography for this book would be to die for. I'm going to restrain myself, though, and just limit myself to two Compass rabbit holes: The Complete Works of Albert Caeiro by Fernando Pessoa (I think one of Sarah's favorite authors) and a book of conversations between Daniel Barenboim and Edward W. Said - Parallels and Paradoxes; Explorations in Music and Society. "...when you read Goethe, you feel, in a funny way, German.... it's not only possible to have multiple identities, but something to aspire toward. The sense of belonging to different cultures can only be enriching."
“It will come to have less and less, just as today the monuments of the dead of 1914 in France don’t affect anyone anymore”. The first thing that popped into my head after hearing this was the Titanic. Such a terrible event is now joked about. No one would have dared to do that when the accident first occurred. But I think it’s unavoidable when no one alive today was personally affected or knows someone who was personally affected by the event. With enough time, tragedies stop being tragic and just become things that happened.
Oh man thank you for this vid. I love love love “Zone”. Have not read any of the others. Must of course. However: how to deal with TBR stack anxiety disorder? Or TBRSA for short? 😁 … there may be a video topic here …
I have ambivalent experiences reading Enard. First the positive: I enjoyed "... Battles, Kings and Elephants" and "L'alcool et la nostalgie", and my favourites by Enard are "Street of Thieves" and his poetry collection "Derniere Communication a la Suite Proustienne de Barcelone" - he is a very good poet. His novels and his poems are extraordinarily different in style. Now the negative: I could not read "Zone", I always gave up after a number of pages in, the style of it unnerved me. This is why I did not pick up "Compass" yet, but maybe I will give that one a try. Maybe I should have gotten the English translation of Z, when I hear you reading from it here it sounds quite good tome. I have the German translation, I often felt that many authers come across better in English. Somehow, for some reason, English can absorb other languages better. - However, for me a very good bridge from our European culture to the Islamic were the novels (and essays) by the Spanish writer Juan Goytisolo. His project is in this respect the same as Enard's, he has written much more though. Absolutely stunning are his novels "The Manuscript of Sarajewo" (in English "State of Siege") and "Quarantine", an extraordinary novel that takes place in the world of the dead, where they wonder for 40 days between death and eternity according to Islamic tradition.
Thanks for sharing you observations here! I will say that Zone is one of those that took me a little bit to acclimate to: with it being an unbroken sentence and all, its syntax (or lack thereof) and phrasing took me a bit, then it was smooth sailing. I will say that, although C shares similarities with Z, C's style and phrasing is not that of Z, so you may find you like it. Above all, thanks for turning my attention to an author I did not know about (Goytisolo). Happy reading!
I read the German translation and parts of the English translation because I was curious. I liked the German translation much better actually. I totally get that some people might have difficulties reading Zone. For me there cannot be another way to capture Francis Mirkovic’s thoughts (thoughts don’t know about syntax) about violence and hate. Reflecting about human nature with its unfathomable darkness and cruelty leaves you breathless just like reading Zone does. I was surprised that Chris did not mention the 500 pages one sentence structure of the book. Such an important feature. Also the novel within the novel was not mentioned. Compass got a lot more attention which suggested that Chris “rushed” through Zone and worked much more with Compass (much fewer post-it note markers seem to verify my hypothesis, just kidding). Zone is a fantastic book even if it is intellectually challenging with its zillions of references (historical events as well as books and authors). It could be the starting point for some serious research or filling of historical blind spots. I am reading Said at the moment… Have not read Compass yet but it seems to me somehow connected to Mirkovic’s time in Venice and his relation to Stephanie(?) and their different preferences for literature.
@@svenw8781 I'm still not convinced about Zone. This One-endless-sentence-style makes a lot of sense for me in Jan Fosses Heptalogie-trilogy, for the trancelyke state of the protagonist (I read it in German). But, for instance, already in László Krasznahorkai's The World Goes On it works only for some of the stories (they aren't really stories but it doesn't matter here), but in others it has the effect of showing off, just to make it look more interesting. Unnecessarily, because they are interesting anyway. And in Zone, like I said, it spoils it for me. I've purchased a copy of Kompass (in German), it is still on my tbr, but I read some of it just to get a first impression, and that one I'm shure I will enjoy. Anyway, you never like all books by any author, or very few authors.
I was just going through all of your video playlist, and noticed that there's no Henry David Thoreau yet! Are there any plans for HDT in the future Chris?
It's a shame that I don't have any HDT on the channel yet. Walden is one of the handful of books that altered my worldview. But I have big/different plans for the channel for next year and HDT (though not Walden) is part of it!
@@LeafbyLeaf thanks! Please try to get the "The Journals of Henry David Thoreau" by Dover publication, Hardback.. Those are difficult to get hold of, but I assume you have better resources than me 😊
Hahaha-you pegged it! I’m actually going with the fantastic selection from NYRB, but talking about the amazing journals nonetheless. I’m trying to be mindful of viewers who want to get their hands on the books I talk about. 😁
@@LeafbyLeaf there's one more version with annotations by Jeffrey Cramer named as " _I to Myself: An Annotated Selection from the Journal of Henry D. Thoreau_ ". This is also a highly regarded book.
"the quality or state of being radically alien to the conscious self or a particular cultural orientation".......I've always felt like an alien, and I'm definitely totally freakin' radical!!!
If you haven't- please read Ray Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine". Thank me later) Also Bradbury must be read in the summertime, it'll take you to your childhood from page 1 and then will be difficult to put the book down. Happy Summer! 🌻🌻
Oh my! You’ve brought back such pleasant memories for me with this comment! I read Dandelion Wine many, many years ago while at a mountain cabin for the weekend. It was an old, tattered mass-market paperback I got at a local farmhouse-cum-bookstore in Meadows of Dan, Virginia. This was in the height of my Bradbury phase of Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. Perhaps I still have that old paperback somewhere upstairs. Thanks for provoking this Proustian moment for me! 🙏
@@LeafbyLeaf I actually just started “index of self destructive acts,” and am just blown away by the style. A little of all my faves Wallace’s, Franzen, DeLilo. And was just wondering if there was anything else I should read or know about too! Haha Just thought I’d go to the book critics I really enjoy first 😉 📚
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
YES! Mathias Énard is so good. I'm really glad to see you reading him. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
The books are even better than I expected! Cheers!
No way !! I am so happy that you have read him , I thought Mathias was only known by us French people.. He is indeed a great strory teller and humanist !!
Je suis d’accord !
@@LeafbyLeaf that's so cool! A video on Enard! :)
Avec plaisir !
Impeccable timing, Chris. Just 2 days ago I came across a pristine copy of Compass in a used bookstore. It is my best score in some time.
Terrific score, indeed! Happy reading!
A great video.
I was just recommended this author by a Booktuber I follow, Travel Through Stories, and was so happy to find and listen to this discussion.
Hi Chris, I read Tell Them of Battles, Kings and Elephants last night and it was so good. I loved the writing style, historical information and setting. I’m definitely going to read more from this author!
P.S. thank you for introducing me to authors I probably wouldn’t have stumbled upon by myself. Each book I’ve been directed to from your channel has been stellar ✨
That's one of the biggest compliments I could receive!
Because of your discussion I'm reading Compass and I don't want it to end. As much as developing empathy is always talked about as a goal of reading, this is the first time I am really seeing the world through the eyes of Franz Ritter. What an incredible experience to feel such erudition bursting forth all around me as I lie awake! What an extraordinarily fecund imagination. This guy can riff on anything and everything. No wonder he can't sleep. His eletrifying thought processes are anything but tranquil.
You mention Amos Oz, A Tale of Love and Darkness. That is one of my favorite books and I would love you to devote an episode to it.
I'm looking forward to reading Zone.
I love the way you describe your vicarious experience of Herr Ritter!
I feel so privileged to have been able to read Oz's poignant memoir while traveling all over Israel last year. I really should do a video.
So glad you're enjoying the pleasures of Enard!
@@LeafbyLeaf In recent years I tend to find new books to read by going down the rabbit holes of a book I'm enjooying and Compass is the motherload I could probably spend the next year reading nothing but books referenced by Franz: Doctor Faustus, The Blind Owl, Saint Simon! Enard's bibliography for this book would be to die for. I'm going to restrain myself, though, and just limit myself to two Compass rabbit holes: The Complete Works of Albert Caeiro by Fernando Pessoa (I think one of Sarah's favorite authors) and a book of conversations between Daniel Barenboim and Edward W. Said - Parallels and Paradoxes; Explorations in Music and Society. "...when you read Goethe, you feel, in a funny way, German.... it's not only possible to have multiple identities, but something to aspire toward. The sense of belonging to different cultures can only be enriching."
Sounds like you’ve selected two choice rabbit holes there-enjoy!
Sounds like you’ve selected two choice rabbit holes there-enjoy!
“It will come to have less and less, just as today the monuments of the dead of 1914 in France don’t affect anyone anymore”. The first thing that popped into my head after hearing this was the Titanic. Such a terrible event is now joked about. No one would have dared to do that when the accident first occurred. But I think it’s unavoidable when no one alive today was personally affected or knows someone who was personally affected by the event. With enough time, tragedies stop being tragic and just become things that happened.
Comedians even have a tagline for making light of terrible events: “too soon?”
Oh man thank you for this vid. I love love love “Zone”. Have not read any of the others. Must of course. However: how to deal with TBR stack anxiety disorder? Or TBRSA for short? 😁 … there may be a video topic here …
Ooooohh yeessss, the disorder that haunts all bookworms. Coincidentally, I found myself pretty overwhelmed by my TBRs (yes, plural) yesterday!
@@LeafbyLeaf PLURAL? oh good lord .. you giving me ideas: canon, specfic, foreign, non-fic, guilty pleasure O M G !!!!
Yep. There you go. 😁
Never heard of this author before! Thanks for introducing him to me/us 😊
My pleasure!
I have ambivalent experiences reading Enard. First the positive: I enjoyed "... Battles, Kings and Elephants" and "L'alcool et la nostalgie", and my favourites by Enard are "Street of Thieves" and his poetry collection "Derniere Communication a la Suite Proustienne de Barcelone" - he is a very good poet. His novels and his poems are extraordinarily different in style. Now the negative: I could not read "Zone", I always gave up after a number of pages in, the style of it unnerved me. This is why I did not pick up "Compass" yet, but maybe I will give that one a try. Maybe I should have gotten the English translation of Z, when I hear you reading from it here it sounds quite good tome. I have the German translation, I often felt that many authers come across better in English. Somehow, for some reason, English can absorb other languages better. - However, for me a very good bridge from our European culture to the Islamic were the novels (and essays) by the Spanish writer Juan Goytisolo. His project is in this respect the same as Enard's, he has written much more though. Absolutely stunning are his novels "The Manuscript of Sarajewo" (in English "State of Siege") and "Quarantine", an extraordinary novel that takes place in the world of the dead, where they wonder for 40 days between death and eternity according to Islamic tradition.
Thanks for sharing you observations here! I will say that Zone is one of those that took me a little bit to acclimate to: with it being an unbroken sentence and all, its syntax (or lack thereof) and phrasing took me a bit, then it was smooth sailing. I will say that, although C shares similarities with Z, C's style and phrasing is not that of Z, so you may find you like it. Above all, thanks for turning my attention to an author I did not know about (Goytisolo). Happy reading!
I read the German translation and parts of the English translation because I was curious. I liked the German translation much better actually. I totally get that some people might have difficulties reading Zone. For me there cannot be another way to capture Francis Mirkovic’s thoughts (thoughts don’t know about syntax) about violence and hate. Reflecting about human nature with its unfathomable darkness and cruelty leaves you breathless just like reading Zone does.
I was surprised that Chris did not mention the 500 pages one sentence structure of the book. Such an important feature. Also the novel within the novel was not mentioned. Compass got a lot more attention which suggested that Chris “rushed” through Zone and worked much more with Compass (much fewer post-it note markers seem to verify my hypothesis, just kidding).
Zone is a fantastic book even if it is intellectually challenging with its zillions of references (historical events as well as books and authors). It could be the starting point for some serious research or filling of historical blind spots. I am reading Said at the moment…
Have not read Compass yet but it seems to me somehow connected to Mirkovic’s time in Venice and his relation to Stephanie(?) and their different preferences for literature.
@@svenw8781 I'm still not convinced about Zone. This One-endless-sentence-style makes a lot of sense for me in Jan Fosses Heptalogie-trilogy, for the trancelyke state of the protagonist (I read it in German). But, for instance, already in László Krasznahorkai's The World Goes On it works only for some of the stories (they aren't really stories but it doesn't matter here), but in others it has the effect of showing off, just to make it look more interesting. Unnecessarily, because they are interesting anyway. And in Zone, like I said, it spoils it for me. I've purchased a copy of Kompass (in German), it is still on my tbr, but I read some of it just to get a first impression, and that one I'm shure I will enjoy. Anyway, you never like all books by any author, or very few authors.
@@rjd53 it wasn’t my intention to convince you. 😉
Compass is simply magnificent. I’d like to read more by Mathias Énard.
Completely agree: Compass is outstanding!
I loved the description "patient and lush"
Thanks! :-)
I was just going through all of your video playlist, and noticed that there's no Henry David Thoreau yet! Are there any plans for HDT in the future Chris?
It's a shame that I don't have any HDT on the channel yet. Walden is one of the handful of books that altered my worldview. But I have big/different plans for the channel for next year and HDT (though not Walden) is part of it!
@@LeafbyLeaf thanks! Please try to get the "The Journals of Henry David Thoreau" by Dover publication, Hardback.. Those are difficult to get hold of, but I assume you have better resources than me 😊
Hahaha-you pegged it! I’m actually going with the fantastic selection from NYRB, but talking about the amazing journals nonetheless. I’m trying to be mindful of viewers who want to get their hands on the books I talk about. 😁
@@LeafbyLeaf there's one more version with annotations by Jeffrey Cramer named as " _I to Myself: An Annotated Selection from the Journal of Henry D. Thoreau_ ". This is also a highly regarded book.
Divine!
"the quality or state of being radically alien to the conscious self or a particular cultural orientation".......I've always felt like an alien, and I'm definitely totally freakin' radical!!!
😜
what is metterphor?
It’s my blundered version of metaphor. I didn’t realize it came out of my mouth like that until I was editing.
please do a video on Mishima :)
I recorded, edited, and uploaded my Mishima video last week. It’ll post in a few weeks.
If you haven't- please read Ray Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine". Thank me later) Also Bradbury must be read in the summertime, it'll take you to your childhood from page 1 and then will be difficult to put the book down. Happy Summer! 🌻🌻
Also Bradbury was the screenwriter for Moby Dick. I know that Moby Dick is your favorite American novel.
Oh my! You’ve brought back such pleasant memories for me with this comment! I read Dandelion Wine many, many years ago while at a mountain cabin for the weekend. It was an old, tattered mass-market paperback I got at a local farmhouse-cum-bookstore in Meadows of Dan, Virginia. This was in the height of my Bradbury phase of Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. Perhaps I still have that old paperback somewhere upstairs. Thanks for provoking this Proustian moment for me! 🙏
@@LeafbyLeaf I reread Dandelion Wine every Memorial Day weekend. This summer I decided to read all of Bradbury 😊
I love these little rituals/traditions we readers accumulate in our lives!
Said wrote a great introduction to the library of america edition of Moby Dick too, if you get the chance to check it out
Oh, wow! Thanks so much for letting me know. Snatching up a copy immediately!
Ever read any Christopher Beha?
No, I haven't. Is there a particular book you recommend?
@@LeafbyLeaf I actually just started “index of self destructive acts,” and am just blown away by the style. A little of all my faves Wallace’s, Franzen, DeLilo. And was just wondering if there was anything else I should read or know about too! Haha Just thought I’d go to the book critics I really enjoy first 😉 📚
Thanks for the compliment--and the book rec!
Thank for the advice! Greeting from Italy
Prego, prego!
I love metterfors
They're the loveliest of literary devices! :P