1) COVID Vade Mecum https://bit.ly/2Epr0XO
2) ANIMATION OSCAR NOMINATIONS 2020 https://bit.ly/37uYw8v
. . . and because I didn’t blog anymore than twice in 2020, here are some
writing ideas from prior years:
3) FRITTERING http://goo.gl/zZ1djW
4) THINKING http://goo.gl/S7WMIq
5) LOOK BEFORE YOU WRITE http://goo.gl/bDITgS
6) GENRE WRITING http://bit.ly/1OkBv8t
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BOOK REVIEW
This blog is dedicated to John Le Carré, who was simply, with all due respect, the best writer of our time.
1) THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS
2) LE LAMBEAU
3) YOGA, a novel, Emmanuel Carrère – Also nominated for the Goncourt but disqualified due to legal wrangling. Emmanuel Carrère has made a career of telling the truth, not always a good idea for a novel. He often gets bogged down in tedious personal details but does give us some good characters and topical situations in the second half when yoga is no longer the subject. He too, was peripherally involved in the Charlie Hebdo terrorism.
4) SAPIENS
5) THE DIARY OF ANAIS NIN, Anais Nin is a Cuban/French/American writer, known for her descriptions of female sexuality, influenced perhaps, by her association with Henry Miller in Paris. Again, no characters, her characters are all herself & this gets boring very quickly. Her books are not really stories, but endless self-regard as small events occur in her life. Her writings made me scream with frustration but she does write well.
6) DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS, Walter Mosley – Starts with an elegant bang then the interesting characters get lost in complicated plot twists. Vivid writing with a lovable protagonist, Easy Rawlins whom we can find in subsequent books.
7) A SMALL TOWN IN GERMANY, John Le Carré – Magnificent portrait of a character defined entirely by others. The master, whom we are so sad to have lost this horrible year.
8) L’OBEISSANCE, François Sureau. Based on a true story of a French executioner who travels with his guillotine to Belgium to behead a prisoner. Odd & uninspiring; the characters are well-defined but contrive & predictable as is the outcome.
9) SINGLE & SINGLE, John Le Carré – Powerful opening scene: “This is not a gun.” Loveable and hapless protagonist becomes slightly less so in second half of the book. Again, the master of rich, relatable characters (he makes us identify with spies & millionaires & sometimes quite nasty people we normally would never care for). Read his entire oeuvre, never a dull moment or protagonist.
10) LE CONSENTEMENT, Vanessa Springora. Well-written autobiographical account of a young French girl sexually abused by a famous writer who is still at large, still at liberty. French misogyny is infuriating & hard to understand in a country so well-known for its equality & freedoms. I blame influential Balzac, whose female protagonists are all beautiful as well as “naturally” jealous, vain, vindictive, etc. & his male protagonists all paragons of virtue & always qualified to judge & dispose of any women they meet.)
11) L’ENFANT PERDUE, Elena Ferrante/Elsa Damien – Tome 4 in the series. Ferrante writes about the devastation and delights of her characters in a down-to-earth manner that makes them appealing and identifiable. Lena & Lenu have transcended cultures; we're all a little bit Lena and a little bit Lenu.
12) THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 2020 - I usually enjoy most of the stories in these annuals but not this year. The three best stories were: KEVIN WILSON's "Kennedy" will make you think of the Simpsons, slap you in the face then rip your guts out. "It's Not You" by ELIZABETH McCRACKEN features fine, crisp writing and the characters' magnificently distinctive voices in MARIAN CROTTY’s "Halloween" will inhabit you.
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BOOKS, AUDIOBOOKS, WRITERS, TWEETS, TWITTER,
