Anyone else got a bit bored with Norwegian Wood?

[Schulte]

I mean it's a good book and that guy's a great writer but all that shagging and beer drinking is starting to grate. It's a bit like Betty Blue, only Betty Blue is better. Or AIBU?

Meh, I didn't like it.

Remind me, who wrote it?

I think I have read it, if it is a Japanese writer then yes I found it a bit tedious

Haruki Murakami.
Tedious. Yes. I knew I was supposed to like it, but didn't.

I do like his style. But all that ever happens is sex and boozing. Maybe I am too old for it?

She was a student? Argh I hated it!

It was literary but not great writing.

Every writer should read some Raymond Carver and edit edit edit

Oh? What's the difference between literary and good writing?

In my mind (and probably my mind alone) I feel the weight of the wordiness in some authors.

Clever, dragging, too much.

Then I read my old mucker Carver or Camus and feel the tension / excellence in the lack of words.

But then it's probably entirely personal.

Oh god I hate his books. And all my family love them and think I'm weird for not 'getting' them. Bah.

I see what you mean.

Also a big fan of Camus.

Go on, recommend some books!

Ok
Looking at my books on the shelf my faves are

Bulgakov
Waugh
Chekhov
Pessoa
Capote
Carey
Calvino
Nabokov
White
Tabucchi

Sorry these are so obvious. I haven't had time to read for ages and I get library books these days and never finish them. And after a red wine I weirdly cannot remember those right now!

But Carver is great, any of his short stories. Ah I am tied up with children and miss books.

Oh good, there are some in there that I haven't read. I bought my dad a beautiful big Pessoa book for his birthday years ago and I don't think he's even opened it!

We have the same taste

What have you loved recently?

In fact I was going to get a David Mitchell book on Audible, and read up on him. Apparently he's the British Murakami. I immediately thought: ok, no ta.

I haven't had much time to read recently... but my heroes used to be Hemingway, Djian, Steinbeck, Kafka, Camus. Then there were some Irving books that I loved. And then I started to read Mother & Baby magazine

All my books are in boxes at the moment though as we've just moved house and haven't put any bookshelves up yet.

Oh and I read Paul Auster's Invisible recently and enjoyed that.

I subscribe to Junior magazine and flick through in five minutes .

But writing a list of books just reminded me of what it was like to be 22. I was soo fiercely in love with good writing back then. (and studying literature)

Worked at a publishers for a year, then realised doing book launches with authors was a weak substitute

And I cried at the salary!

And what did you end up doing for a living?

I'm not yet past chapter two. I'll stick with it a little.

His running books is inspiring. If you like running that is.

He's vastly overrated imo. I've tried NW, Wild Sheep Chase and the Wind-UP Bird Chronicle and found them OK but no more.

David Mitchell otoh I do love, less studenty and a bit more... strange. Cloud Atlas and Black Swan Green in particular.

Oh god. I am SUCH a pile of spaghetti.

I did publishing, then design, then strategy, then thought fark this for a pile of shite and became a painter. Sounds crap but have done international museum shows with all the greats (Freud, Saville, Katz etc etc). Has nearly worked out, just got to pump up my flagging career

The literature degree segued into Baudrillard and Derrida. Oh and an economics degree, nearly became a mang consultant too but wore dms to interview.

In fact I had a sliding doors moment at 17 when they scheduled advanced statistics with european literature. I chose Camus and the Gulag, Solzhenitsyn. Bastards

Cloud Atlas was definitely strange, but strangely compelling. Is Black Swan his latest?

Yes, it's more of a 'straight' story based in English suburban coming-of-age trope but with a darker undercurrent and just so perfectly written.

Wow, Marsha. Sounds like you have achieved a lot to me.

Sorry, did that sound patronising? 'Am in awe' describes it better.

Off to bed with Murakami now... am determined to finish it.