A splurge, but a small one. Relatively speaking anyway. As I had to stop by the mall last night after work (in search of a Mother's Day present) I, of course, had to stop by the bookstore as well. The only thing I had in mind to buy was Susan Vreeland's new book Luncheon of the Boating Party, which was released last week--a novel about Renoir's famous painting of the same name that I am looking forward to reading. I have heard very good things about Carmen Laforet's Nada. The Laforet is a lovely little Modern Library edition. They call it one of the most important literary works of post-Civil War Spain, and I am looking forward to reading it, too. For those reading the Edith Grossman translation of Don Quixote--she also translated Nada.
I have been thinking about the books on my nightstand (those books on my sidebar), and aside from there being too many as usual, only two of them are written by American authors, yet both are set in Britain. I am too predictable when it comes to my books, and I seem to alway neglect American authors and settings for some odd reason. It is not a conscious effort, it just happens that way. So I was thinking that I really need to read something contemporary (post-war literature at least), by an American and with a setting here in the US. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, and I wasn't really even browsing too hard (am trying to stay out of too much trouble after my recent UK book binges), when I came across Mary Gaitskill's Veronica. I have tried to mooch this book several times, and each time the mooch falls through. I broke down and bought it new instead. It is set in NYC in the 80s and is written by an American author. So far, so good. The only thing is I have heard varying reactions to this book. Still, I have wanted to read it, so I am willing to keep an open mind and give it a try. I was all ready to start reading last night, but then I took another look at my disgustingly tall piles of books sitting on my nightstand looking for attention and changed my mind! So it is sitting high up on the stack by my bed.
You would have seen one last book on the pile--Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd, but I put it back into the bag to take back to the store. Not only do I already have the book, but I have the same exact edition. It's sad when you can't even remember which books you already own and buy them twice! Now that I have been reading Tess of the D'Ubervilles in earnest I am all gung ho on Hardy. It's interesting how a book's reputation precedes it sometimes. I had formulated in my mind what I thought happened in Tess. It is not exactly as I thought it would be. It is still on the dark and brooding side (definitely), but the how the story plays out is very different than I expected. I do like being surprised, so this is actually a good thing. I like Hardy's writing style, even if things aren't going to work out well for our heroine in the end. In any case, the pages are turning quickly, and I find that I have to make myself set it aside at times to work on other books!
So my usual questions...do you have a certain type of book you return to over and over (for me it is--Victorian Lit. or books set in the Victorian era, books set during or around WWI or WWII, seafaring tales--though I haven't really read any this year...must change that--and the setting for these is almost always Britain), or is your reading all over the geographical and time period spectrum? And what is your favorite (all-time or recent) book set in America by an American author (the catch--post WWII books)?