The 10 books are: Claire Messud: The Emperor‘s Children. John Barth: The Sot-Weed Factor. Daniel Kehlmann: Measuring the World. Tom Stoppard: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. Bill Bryson: The Lost Continent. Virginia Woolf: Mrs. Dalloway. Zadie Smith: White Teeth. Julian Barnes: Arthur & George. Colm Toibin: The Master. Philip Roth: The Plot against America.

Friday, January 5, 2007

Why did I pick these books (9 of 10)?

There can be only one reason why I am reading The Master. Because Colm Toibin's favorably reviewed novel about Henry James is about an eminent literary figure, like Cunningham's Hours and Duffy's Wittgenstein book. Henry James, the stiffy, or his elaborate and demanding books are certainly not the reason. How I was suffering while trying to read The Wings of the Dove! Only two of his books survived my limited eagerness to read the work of Thomas Mann's American twin brother: The Portrait of a Lady and either The Bostonians or The Ambassadors. I do not remember. It is so long ago, 20 years.

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