Let's Talk About 3 *Important* Books
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- Опубліковано 23 лип 2024
- Today I'm talking with you about three important books in their own right: The Man Who Knew Everything by Deborah Levy, At the Hands of Persons Unknown by Philip Dray, and Empire Falls by Richard Russo.
Two were disappointments (somewhat). One blew my mind.
Matthew's review of The Man Who Saw Everything: • The Man Who Saw Everyt...
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#20BooksOfSummer
I just found your channel through your review of a Little Life. I just wanted to say that I could listen to you talk about anything, all day. A lot of people watch youtube to relax and you have the perfect disposition for it. You're calm, measured, and just share your opinion without needing to be extremely sensational. It's a weird compliment but it's nice to see these types of videos uploaded to YT still...bringing back what youtube used to be in the good ol' days :) new sub
Oh my god, Kaley. This was SO nice! Thanks so much. Hopefully you have the patience for it, because I tend to ramble on and make longer videos than, well, everyone LOL. Your words were very much appreciated. Made my day 😁
I think the universal praise thing does happen a bit more in "fine art" music. I think the right analogy for "popular art" would be Top 40 music to NYTimes bestsellers, and there you'll find a range of dissent. Most people that listen to classical music would probably be afraid to admit they don't like Mozart or Beethoven in the same way that people who read literary fiction are afraid to admit they don't like whatever is being held up as great art.
I just want to say that I really love your conversational reviewing tone and style. Very much enjoying the 20 books of summer! At the Hands of Persons Unknown sounds fantastic.
Thanks so much, Sabrina 😁 It’s been tons of fun so far. And yes, it’s a great book. Obviously it’s going to be triggering for some people, and it’s hard material to sit through for 500 pages, but it’s so well done.
The mood in the beginning and the clothes thing strikes a little too close to home!
Always enjoy your videos! I'm reading This much I know is true by Wally Lamb & Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. I remember watching a video of yours where you talk about This much I know is true. I'm loving both books :)
Great point about taste and that comparison to music! I've actually seen a few negative reviews on booktube of Girl Woman Other. :P Love how that shirt kinda matches the flowerpot colour :D
Also - have you read the Cross and the Lynching Tree? If so, does it differ from At the Hands of Persons Unknown.
I’m currently reading The Dancing Girls of Lahore and mustering up the courage to read White Rage.
In the lighter side I’ve also decided to finish the Mistborn trilogy before Sanderson pushes out book 900 and I never catch up.
Sanderson writes so fast it makes no sense to me. I’ve yet to read his books because I don’t trust anyone who is that productive LOL. And no I haven’t read Cross and the Lynching Tree. Sorry!
I know! I am just keeping my sights on the three Mistborn only for now
Honestly, thank you for saying out loud that it's possible to absolutely see the craftmanship behind a book and to thoroughly "get it" but really just personally not being that invested/interested/captivated by it, simply due to taste. I wish we would hear that more often in book reviews instead of books being bashed for elements which are perceived subjectively. I thought about that a lot as well while reading a few (very popular) books.
I think it probably makes for better “content” to have a more extreme response, either positive or negative, so people stick to those lanes. I dunno. Just a theory!
Your point about taste in books is super interesting, especially when comparing it to music. There are some albums or artists people think are infallible, but it's not an entire genre like it mostly is with literary fiction. I absolutely think it should be brought up more.
I'm glad to find someone who feels ambivalent about the Levy book. I tried hard to like it because I respect the quality of the writing but it just didn't do it for me. One big issue I think was that I didn't like and couldn't care about any of the characters. I also felt as if time and time again I had to leave the flow of the book to try to figure out what was happening. It is my bookclub book up for discussion tomorrow and I am very curious to know what the others have made of it.
Well it is a great shirt.
I really enjoyed The Man Who Saw Everything but I get your point about personal taste.
Thank you! Most people seem to really like The Man Who Saw Everything, which is great. More power to her.
@@RickMacDonnell it is one of the glories of reading fiction that it is an individual and subjective process. I can see for myself now that we don't just consume a book, we interact with it as we read it. It is not just that I have different tastes from other readers, my own taste varies over time and depending on the current context and the circumstances of my life. There are things I loved thirty or forty years ago that I would dislike now. I think I might have picked holes in Girl Woman Other if I read it a year ago, but coming to it at the end of May this year I responded differently to some of her choices as an author.
I am currently reading Emma and Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley as I am revelling in Jane Austen July. Rereading Austen is a case in point about the taste question. I thought Mansfield Park was dreary when I read it as a teenager despite seeing the quality of the writing. When I reread it last year it was like a different book, but of course it was me that had changed.
Haha “spruce things up”! At the Hands of Persons Unknown sounds like a really important book! I have Richard Russo’s newest book- need to get to it.
I'm reading through Russo's catalogue, and it wasn't until I finished Empire Falls that I realized I missed two of his earlier books LOL. I thought Empire was his 3rd book for some strange reason.
There is so much about American history I myself as a 40 y/o black woman have only learned about in past 2 yrs.... like Juneteenth and Black Wallstreet. I'm appalled at what isn't being taught in schools. But you're right, as adults we've gotta mend that gap in our education and seek out the information ourselves.
Currently I'm reading "The Troop" by Nick Cutter. It's basically John Carpenters "The Thing" meets "Lord of the Flies".
Purple suits you very well!
Oooh, The Troop is good! Gotta love a shoutout to Canadian content :) Not usually the type of book I read, but I made an exception for that one. Good times.
I think the existence of Juneteenth was a surprise for a lot of people. Such a huge moment in history that was essentially erased from any social conversation.
Thanks for watching! And yeah I liked the purple too :)
@@RickMacDonnell P.S. if you're looking for a book rec, my #1 book for 2020 so far is "The Devil All The Time" by Donald Ray Pollock. It's exceptional ... I couldn't put it down.
@@toasted_.coconut I read Devil All the Time a few years ago. That book is a masterclass in creating atmosphere. Whew.
Fortress of solitude by Jonathon Lethem?
I got a definite 70s vibe from your last video. You’re right on trend with the tye dye t shirt.
I loved The Man Who Saw Everything. I experienced it via audio so maybe that made it easier?
Want a confession? I didn’t get Girl Woman Other. I didn’t get
The Topeka School
I DNFd American Dirt
The Song of Achilles
I often don’t gel with books universally praised and loved.
Recently there are online reports of six black men found hanged in one area of California.
Purple is your colour dude ☘️👋🤗
First books read in July
A Crime in the Neighbourhood
The Other Bennet Sister
Currently reading
The Weekend ( Stella Prize shortlist)
Oh, how was The Other Bennet Sister? I was looking at that in the book store the other day.
Not surprised to hear you didn't care for Topeka School. Lerner seems to be hit and miss with people. I read about 10 pages of one of his books a year or so ago and was like NOPE.
If you're in the mood for some 18th century Scottish philosophy, I recommend an afternoon hangout with my boy David Hume and his work "Of the Standard of Taste". bit.ly/2ClvRYF
I’m reading a little life by Hanya Yanagihara (that’s how I’ve found your channel, looking for people sharing their opinions about the book) and also SPQR, the Ancient Rome history by Mary Beard which is awesome
I’ve heard such great things about SPQR! Is it a longer book? As for A Little Life, I hope it’s not wearing you down toooo much, haha. It can be a lot! (But in a good way...most of the time)
@@RickMacDonnell it's a lot, really, was crying through the last 100 pages. SPQR I totally recommend if you're interested in history because it's a perfect balance between entertaining and scholarly writing, which is quite rare at least from my perspective. And Ancient Rome is the topic that, seems to me, every educated person has to know at least something about, and this book suggests a versatile analysis with several points of view of what was going on back then in Rome
Have you ever read AUGUSTUS by John Williams? I reviewed it here last year and it is great.
Rick MacDonnell no, but I’ll watch it, thanks!!
Oh, and Empire Falls blew me away when I read it. I knew nothing about Richard Russo or the book going in. The spine just popped out when browsing the library or something (maybe it was on a Pulitzer winner display?). In this day, it's probably hard to imagine that type of blank slate approach to a book. Let me tell you, it was shocking. I couldn't even sleep the night I read the big turning point. It came so suddenly out of nowhere. I kept thinking: wait, what, did that really just happen?
Shucks, Rick. You always look great to me... t-shirt or tuxedo; makes no difference! ;o)
Good reviews, too! :oD
I didn’t realize that shirt would be a thirst trap! Haha! Thanks, Joe!
Well there's good taste and bad taste 🤷🏼♂️ lol 💕
LOL! This was the perfect response from you
I had a similar experience with The Man Who Saw Everything!!! I thought it was technically good, but I'm left feeling a bit meh
Ummmm I’m pretty sure I’ve worn the same three t shirts in all my videos over the course of me having a booktube channel.
The man who saw everything was a book I loved while I was reading it, and then a week later it had just completely left me. Like, I can barely remember any of it. Also I didn’t like girl woman other. Thought it was really bad. Gave it like two stars on goodreads.
So YOU are the one! Lol. That’s fascinating. You’re literally the first person I know who didn’t enjoy it. I admire your courage 😄
Rick MacDonnell it was the first time I was nervous posting a booktube video... I was just like please don’t come for me with your pitchforks.
I need to watch that ASAP
From what we can see you look great in your shirt!! Good color for you! Now, do we know if the Senate passed the anti-lynching law ? Hopefully a hate crime, how can it be anything else ? I have worked 24 years in an Emergency Department in a hospital and have seen man's inhumanity to man almost every shift and repeatedly during my 12-24 hours there. It absolutely exhausts me, I have no idea how I could even be of any help to make this awful thing disappear from our landscape. I want it gone, but I have nothing left to help with the removal I am sorry to say.
What am I reading? Well currently Foucault's Pendulum (super good) and Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson and Boswells Presumptious Task the Making of the Life of Dr. Johnson by Adam Sisman. Yes, all at once, The last one is helping me to understand the second one. And Foucault's Pendulum is a joy.
Hey, take it when you can get it, my dear boy!
I really like Levy's nonfiction, but her novels have been only okay for me so far. This particular one I haven't read yet and I'm not sure I ever will.
This was my first attempt at anything from Levy. I think I’d give her another try, but if I got the same feeling as I had with this one, that would probably be it for me.
Empire Falls is, to me, a nearly perfect book. It’s a book I’ve read yearly since it came out.
I would definitely like to come back to it later, free of expectations. Now that I know the kind of book it is I’m hoping I can enjoy it a little better.
I'm reading Half of a Yellow Sun, my final Adichie 😭
Yes yes yes....100% agree abt taste. So I usually review with the comment "it just wasn't for me". And don't get me started abt rating low when someone dnf'd. You can't rate a book you don't finish!
Now, to be fair, I think there definitely are books that are objectively bad LOL. This just wasn't one of them. Now all bad experiences are a matter of taste. Some are just bad books :P
I agree!!! If it's bad I'll say so.... if it's just not for me, I'll say that too.
The Man Who Saw Everything is a 10/10 for me, but it’s a very different kind of 10/10 than what i would normally read. Levy is a very nebulous writer and I am just so impressed with what she can do with words. Love the discussion of taste. I’ve thought similar things.
And I am currently reading Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh. Very very MEH about it at the moment.
That's the thing: I'm incredibly impressed by Levy, I'm thinking "man this is well done", but it just doesn't get me fired up. It was a strange experience that way. Interesting, though! I love books that make the think about books differently, in general.
@@brookemercer2886 No clue what that is, and it sounds like I don't need to look into it LOL
Every time I see that Deborah Levy cover I'm struck by the resemblance to the person on that weird squinty-guy cover of A Little Life. I did see one video that ruled Girl, Woman, Other problematic trash that proves that English literature is not worth reading!
The Levy cover makes me think of Timothee Chalamet. Like, I can’t NOT see him on there.
Count me among those who couldn't get into "Girl, Woman, Other." 🙋
Apparently everyone was keeping this opinion to themselves until now, haha. Several people have now told me that they didn't care for this book.