I am Russian but find nothing strange in Lolita’s author Wellesley job. 
parabella, this lady has somewhat “soviet” tastes in literature
Flower Children by Maxine Swann - an extended prose poem on a fascinating sixties childhood.
I didn’t know Nabokov also wrote Lolita in Russian. Interesting – I think his 'Speak Memory" is one of the finest memoirs of the 20th century. So add that to my list of favorites.
BunsenBurner,
it would be somewhat off-topic but I’ve spent last 30 min trying to guess what makes for a “soviet” taste in books. Is it “Russian classics only plus politically correct Soviet writers”?
OT:
parabella, I’m sorry I was not really clear in my last post, but your guess is correct!
Back to books: bought Water for Elephants, and raided local library for some classic mystery books (Agatha Cristie).
I love Nabokov.
But here I will mention again Eat, Pray, Love. I also enjoyed the Eat part best, but that is probably because I am familiar with Italy. The language, italian language,is beautiful . Listen : Ti amo con tutto il mio cuore. Beautiful, isn’t it.
Kelowna, You didn’t find the character to be just a little self absorbed?
. . . here are the New York Times’ 10 Best Books of the Year (you may need to register to get to this web page - if so, it’s free):
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/books/review/10-best-2007.html?_r=1&ref=books&oref=slogin[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/books/review/10-best-2007.html?_r=1&ref=books&oref=slogin</a>
And if you’re really short, here are their 100 Notable Books of the Year (ditto):
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/books/review/notable-books-2007.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/books/review/notable-books-2007.html</a>
I have to admit to a secret desire to read How to Talk about Books you haven’t read: <a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/books/review/McInerney-t.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/books/review/McInerney-t.html</a> Though sadly, I’m already pretty good at it.
Hmm, best books that I’ve read in the last six months…
I would say “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln” by Doris Kearns Goodwin and “The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri. Also, I just watched the movie, “The Namesake” on DVD last night and it reminded me of everything that I enjoyed about the book, although the timeline was a bit altered. “Team of Rivals” was quite an undertaking–over 750 pages long and relatively slow reading–but (like every other Doris Kearns Goodwin book)so well researched and written.
I noticed a number of posts mentioning “The Botany of Desire.” I’ve never read anything by Michael Pollan, but I’ve noticed “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” in several bookstores and it does sound interesting.
I’m currently reading Michael Chabon’s “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union”–pretty dark and gritty–I’ve never read any of Chabon’s novels before–but I’m liking it. Next, I’m going to try Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina”: Judging from it’s size, this book is going to be my companion for quite a while.
A long book, yes - but if it’s any consolation, most of the chapters are quite short.
And as a long-term companion, I can think of few better. I just read it for the first time a year or two ago, and it was one of the more pleasurable reading experiences that I’ve ever had.
The recent translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, which is the one I read, has generally gotten rave reviews.
[Amazon.com:</a> Anna Karenina (Oprah’s Book Club): Books: Leo Tolstoy,Richard Pevear,Larissa Volokhonsky](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Anna-Karenina-Oprahs-Book-Club/dp/0143035002/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196733892&sr=1-2]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Anna-Karenina-Oprahs-Book-Club/dp/0143035002/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196733892&sr=1-2)
^Ah, that’s good to know, as the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation happens to be the edition that I have.
They’re really excellent. I think it’s very helpful to have one native Russian speaker and a native English speaker working together.
Yes, she probably is, that’s why her marriage failed
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the book, the freedom of it.
My dear girlfriend, whom I went to Florence with a few years ago, has just recently taken her husband there for a long weekend. Knowing that she is going to Italy, I send her the book, to be read on the plane. She loved it, her reply though was “Do I have to get divorce to experience all of that?”
Do we ???
Perhaps a divorce, sans kids, plus what I’d assume to be a hefty book advance. Most of us post divorce are rather nose to the grindstone economically. None the less, there is an unfettered joy in the travel and exploration, both inwardly and outwardly in Eat, Pray, Love, that brought me out of my narrowed path. I appreciate reminders that there are many possibilities in this world.
. . . all 100 of the New York Times’ notable books of the year (#149) - ha, ha - you might want to start digging into the ones chosen by the TLS’s writers; here’s an excerpt from the much longer piece that appeared in their print edition:
[Books</a> of the Year - Times Literary Supplement](<a href=“TLS - Times Literary Supplement”>TLS - Times Literary Supplement)
. . . as an added bonus - today, anyway - at the TLS website (above), and in the great British tradition of featuring high and low culture side by side, you can click on one of the “most read” pieces on the right side of the screen and read the first-person account by the divorced mother of four who “pay[s] a man for regular sex.” (If she’s paying for it, I would have thought she might prefer something a little irregular.)
Anyway, this is the kind of stuff you just won’t find in the New York Times.
But a few years back you would find reviews of ‘A Round Heeled Woman’ by Jane Juska in many publications, including probably the NYT which addressed some of the same issues. Another good read, though not sure how well it goes over with the married population.
Great link to TLS though, thanks!
Thanks for the link to the TLS, epistrophy. Graham Robb’s book has won kudos there and elsewhere. From the reviews, though, I have a slight feeling of d