It's just so very pleasant listening to you. You're a great communicator, and I could see you doing radio. "The Great Gatsby" is a truly substantive classic that I have no doubt will continue to outshine "most of the rest" for as long as people read and study American literature. "The Heart is A Lonely Hunter" is a glaring omission as well. And clearly, African American literature had a hard time being recognized in the pre-WWII era--"Their Eyes Were Watching God" would have been more than worthy. A more recent book which I would have loved to have seen win the Pulitzer is Charles Frazier's "Cold Mountain," published in 1997. And Norman MacLean should've won for "A River Runs Through It" (instead, no prize was awarded). You mention Conrad Richter--indeed, he seems to be one of the great duds, in terms of any lasting reputation. His subject matter greatly interests me, so I may check out "The Trees" at some point and then I'll see if I work my way forward to "The Town," which won the Pulitzer. But the reviews on amazon have signals in them that "The Trees" may be a fairly good book, but probably no more than that.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for doing a video on worthy books from other decades! I have done some surfing of various YT channels - and it surprises me that so many seem devoted to ONLY books that have been published in the past few years, to the almost-complete exclusion of books that we have had around for so long that way too many are still probably not all that familiar with. Such a rich history of literature... not talked about all that much. (And WHY so many channels seemingly devoted to the complete works of Stephen King?! But I digress.) Don't get me wrong - I don't ignore new works and often read them. But there's so much stuff from before that doesn't get highlighted. So, thank you again. By the way, BY ALL MEANS do read 'The Heart is a Lonely Hunter' (one of the few books I've read twice) and consider also McCullers' 'Reflections in a Golden Eye' (a short, quick read). Two books of interest to LGBT+ book lovers.
Loving your channel. I also have an obsession with the Academy Awards, starting to be obsessed with the Pulitzer as well. Overall, awards intrigue me. The Oscars received a lot of hate, but if you take a lot of their Best Picture track record, you’ll find quite a lot of gems. Yes, they’ll drop the ball once in a while, but I agree with their decisions most of the time. And now that they’re giving more credit to foreign film, I believe their quality will grow. Way more prestigious than the Grammys, anyway. I personally feel music should have a much more distinguished award ceremony that doesn’t just give it to whichever pop star is trending. Nothing against pop or pop artists, but if you write a top 10 hit single, you pretty much guarantee a spot in the nominations pool. Going back to the Oscars, I do think they would benefit in having some top critics as members.
Dear Supposedly Fun, I love your UA-cam Channel! I discovered it by searching for a 'Lonesome Dove' Book review. I enjoyed that video! Keep up the good work! I am still uncertain if I will like Lonesome Dove or not It was pitched to me as a quest story.
I'll be reading The Great Believers for one of my bookclubs in June. Really looking forward to it. Also, I had some problems with Swamplandia but overall liked the writing. As for Erdrich, Love Medicine is amazing. I see all of her work as part of an overarching narrative, so it's all important (though I just finished and didn't totally love Future Home of the Living God; it's an offshoot of the main work.) Your Pulitzer series of videos are a joy to watch.
Having never read David Foster Wallace, it's hard to say with certainty but I really think my winner for that year would have been Train Dreams. I liked the ideas behind Swamplandia but the purple prose bothered me in many places and I also think it lost its way a bit in the middle. I'm really looking forward to reading Love Medicine (someday). I haven't read Future Home of the Living God because it looks like such an oddball for her, but I will say that I really didn't like LaRose. It's the only book I've read of hers that whiffed for me.
Great list. Amazingly Hurston wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God in 7 WEEKS.. Not only that but whilst conducting fieldwork as an anthropologist in Haiti- ie not even working on it full time
I just discovered your channel. I've been going through your videos. Your reviews ae fantastic. I just ordered five more books based on this clip. Thanks so much.
I totally geeked out of this video! I'm a little prize nutty too, and challenged myself to read all of the PP for fiction so I wouldn't be in the dark anymore! So I love when booktubers discuss the PP. Out of all of the winners, I gave 22, a 5 stars. "The fire next time" by Baldwin should definitely be a PP. I have not read the Carver "where I'm calling from" so will remedy that soon! I loved his SS that did win...he's just weird enough, but not too weird :). I've never heard of "a manual for cleaning woman" so will check it out. Yes, to "A tree grows in Brooklyn". Yes, to "Catcher in the Rye"....and all that David Copperfield crap! The way Holden talks about Jane and old Phoebe, for me, is the secret of happiness...noticing & enjoying fully, the tiniest things in life and seeing them for what they truly are. Love your channel!
I do love your channel and have read many books because of your recommendations, however I realize sometimes we don’t always agree on faves. Just watched this video and I agree with you concerning Goldfinch……I finished it but never did enjoy it! I am also attempting to read all the Pulitzer Prize winners…..the only reason I forced myself to finish the Goldfinch! Just wasn’t my cup of tea! ❤
I would definitely add Richard Yates's Revolutionary Road to your list. A great book about broken dreams and the awful truth that in spite of being unbearable has to be heard and lived with. Another strong recommendation is The Pale King, an unfinished novel by David Foster Wallace. Even in its patched, fragmentary form it never fails to amaze - a real hymn to boredom called life as Wallace must have viewed it.
I loved The Goldfinch. I have not read The Good Lord Bird but based on your criticism I will. If it’s better than The Goldfinch it will be more than amazing - imho.
Norman Mailer's The Executioners Song won over Philip Roth's almost perfect novel The Ghost Writer. Too bad because Mailer's The Armies of the Night won for non-fiction in a different year which totally earned it. Try reading the Roth book. You should love it
So close but...Gravity’s Rainbow was very readable, pretentious, turgid, and overwritten. It strains toward profundity and stumbles upon the sublime and insists upon the absurd. Every time I reread it is an experience to remember. I have no respect whatsoever for the chicken hearts on the board that denied Pynchon the award.
It's just so very pleasant listening to you. You're a great communicator, and I could see you doing radio. "The Great Gatsby" is a truly substantive classic that I have no doubt will continue to outshine "most of the rest" for as long as people read and study American literature. "The Heart is A Lonely Hunter" is a glaring omission as well. And clearly, African American literature had a hard time being recognized in the pre-WWII era--"Their Eyes Were Watching God" would have been more than worthy. A more recent book which I would have loved to have seen win the Pulitzer is Charles Frazier's "Cold Mountain," published in 1997. And Norman MacLean should've won for "A River Runs Through It" (instead, no prize was awarded). You mention Conrad Richter--indeed, he seems to be one of the great duds, in terms of any lasting reputation. His subject matter greatly interests me, so I may check out "The Trees" at some point and then I'll see if I work my way forward to "The Town," which won the Pulitzer. But the reviews on amazon have signals in them that "The Trees" may be a fairly good book, but probably no more than that.
A friend gifted me The Good Lord Bird. I read it but don't remember thinking much of it. I just read The Goldfinch. I thought it was remarkable.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for doing a video on worthy books from other decades! I have done some surfing of various YT channels - and it surprises me that so many seem devoted to ONLY books that have been published in the past few years, to the almost-complete exclusion of books that we have had around for so long that way too many are still probably not all that familiar with. Such a rich history of literature... not talked about all that much. (And WHY so many channels seemingly devoted to the complete works of Stephen King?! But I digress.) Don't get me wrong - I don't ignore new works and often read them. But there's so much stuff from before that doesn't get highlighted. So, thank you again. By the way, BY ALL MEANS do read 'The Heart is a Lonely Hunter' (one of the few books I've read twice) and consider also McCullers' 'Reflections in a Golden Eye' (a short, quick read). Two books of interest to LGBT+ book lovers.
Just found your channel and really enjoying it. You’re one of the calmest book tubers.
Thank you so much!
Excellent vid (presentation and content) You keep bringing them and I'll be watching.
Thank you!
Loving your channel. I also have an obsession with the Academy Awards, starting to be obsessed with the Pulitzer as well. Overall, awards intrigue me. The Oscars received a lot of hate, but if you take a lot of their Best Picture track record, you’ll find quite a lot of gems. Yes, they’ll drop the ball once in a while, but I agree with their decisions most of the time. And now that they’re giving more credit to foreign film, I believe their quality will grow. Way more prestigious than the Grammys, anyway. I personally feel music should have a much more distinguished award ceremony that doesn’t just give it to whichever pop star is trending. Nothing against pop or pop artists, but if you write a top 10 hit single, you pretty much guarantee a spot in the nominations pool. Going back to the Oscars, I do think they would benefit in having some top critics as members.
Dear Supposedly Fun, I love your UA-cam Channel! I discovered it by searching for a 'Lonesome Dove' Book review. I enjoyed that video! Keep up the good work! I am still uncertain if I will like Lonesome Dove or not It was pitched to me as a quest story.
It kind of is a quest story but that’s not how I would pitch it, I guess. Thank you for the kind words!
Just found your chanel and loving it! Best wishes from Merida México
Thank you so much (from Montana, USA 😉).
I'll be reading The Great Believers for one of my bookclubs in June. Really looking forward to it. Also, I had some problems with Swamplandia but overall liked the writing. As for Erdrich, Love Medicine is amazing. I see all of her work as part of an overarching narrative, so it's all important (though I just finished and didn't totally love Future Home of the Living God; it's an offshoot of the main work.) Your Pulitzer series of videos are a joy to watch.
Having never read David Foster Wallace, it's hard to say with certainty but I really think my winner for that year would have been Train Dreams. I liked the ideas behind Swamplandia but the purple prose bothered me in many places and I also think it lost its way a bit in the middle. I'm really looking forward to reading Love Medicine (someday). I haven't read Future Home of the Living God because it looks like such an oddball for her, but I will say that I really didn't like LaRose. It's the only book I've read of hers that whiffed for me.
Great list. Amazingly Hurston wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God in 7 WEEKS.. Not only that but whilst conducting fieldwork as an anthropologist in Haiti- ie not even working on it full time
That is interesting--thank you!
What I learned from this video: The Pulitzer Prize is extremely controversial.
Accurate!
I just discovered your channel. I've been going through your videos. Your reviews ae fantastic. I just ordered five more books based on this clip. Thanks so much.
Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy the books you ordered.
I totally geeked out of this video! I'm a little prize nutty too, and challenged myself to read all of the PP for fiction so I wouldn't be in the dark anymore! So I love when booktubers discuss the PP. Out of all of the winners, I gave 22, a 5 stars. "The fire next time" by Baldwin should definitely be a PP. I have not read the Carver "where I'm calling from" so will remedy that soon! I loved his SS that did win...he's just weird enough, but not too weird :). I've never heard of "a manual for cleaning woman" so will check it out. Yes, to "A tree grows in Brooklyn". Yes, to "Catcher in the Rye"....and all that David Copperfield crap! The way Holden talks about Jane and old Phoebe, for me, is the secret of happiness...noticing & enjoying fully, the tiniest things in life and seeing them for what they truly are. Love your channel!
I'm glad you get as excited about it as I do! Always nice to meet another PP completist.
Awesome video, thanks for pointing these ones out! I'm adding The Ox-Bow Incident to my reading list :)
I hope you like it!
I do love your channel and have read many books because of your recommendations, however I realize sometimes we don’t always agree on faves. Just watched this video and I agree with you concerning Goldfinch……I finished it but never did enjoy it! I am also attempting to read all the Pulitzer Prize winners…..the only reason I forced myself to finish the Goldfinch! Just wasn’t my cup of tea! ❤
I find it interesting when people don't necessarily agree on the books they read, so I'm glad you agree--and I'm glad we agree on The Goldfinch!
I would definitely add Richard Yates's Revolutionary Road to your list. A great book about broken dreams and the awful truth that in spite of being unbearable has to be heard and lived with. Another strong recommendation is The Pale King, an unfinished novel by David Foster Wallace. Even in its patched, fragmentary form it never fails to amaze - a real hymn to boredom called life as Wallace must have viewed it.
That was indeed a fun little story!
I loved The Goldfinch. I have not read The Good Lord Bird but based on your criticism I will. If it’s better than The Goldfinch it will be more than amazing - imho.
Norman Mailer's The Executioners Song won over Philip Roth's almost perfect novel The Ghost Writer. Too bad because Mailer's The Armies of the Night won for non-fiction in a different year which totally earned it. Try reading the Roth book. You should love it
Watching in 2022! Ha! Great vid ❤️
Thank you!
Many great books in a nutshell
That's a good summary!
WWAAAAAAOOOOOO ❤️❤️❤️
👌👌👌
I so hated Swamplandia. The first page of The Pale King is light years better than Swamplandia in its entirety.
I really need to get around to reading David Foster Wallace.
I haven’t read him either! Just that first page! But it’s SO good. 😄
Whatever you do, don’t start with Infinite Jest. His short stories, for example, are fabulously written
Gravity’s Rainbow was unreadable , pretentious, turgid, and overwritten. It strains toward profundity.
So close but...Gravity’s Rainbow was very readable, pretentious, turgid, and overwritten. It strains toward profundity and stumbles upon the sublime and insists upon the absurd. Every time I reread it is an experience to remember. I have no respect whatsoever for the chicken hearts on the board that denied Pynchon the award.