Christopher Isherwood, The Berlin Stories
The Berlin Stories: The Last of Mr. Norris & Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood My rating: 4 of 5 stars The Berlin Stories collects Christopher Isherwood’s two novels of … Continue reading
Alfred Döblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz
Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin My rating: 4 of 5 stars Let’s get the literary-historical info and honorifics out of the way first: Berlin Alexanderplatz is one of the monuments … Continue reading
Thomas Mann, Doctor Faustus
Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann My rating: 5 of 5 stars Far out to sea the water’s as blue as the petals of the loveliest cornflower, and as clear as … Continue reading
In Praise of Semicolons
Literary influence is usually amorphous, which is why an influence-obsessed critic like Harold Bloom has to bring in words like clinamen, tesserae, and apophrades as well as esoteric schools of … Continue reading
Anna Burns, Milkman
Milkman by Anna Burns My rating: 5 of 5 stars “I did not like twentieth century books because I did not like the twentieth century,” says the narrator of Anna … Continue reading
Jens Peter Jacobsen, Niels Lyhne
Niels Lyhne by Jens Peter Jacobsen My rating: 4 of 5 stars This 1880 Danish novel was once immensely influential: it and its author were cited or praised by Hermann … Continue reading
William Faulkner, Go Down, Moses
Go Down, Moses by William Faulkner My rating: 4 of 5 stars Go Down, Moses (1942), though not always grouped with Faulkner’s indisputable masterpieces, is nevertheless one of his most … Continue reading
Gerald Murnane, The Plains
The Plains by Gerald Murnane My rating: 3 of 5 stars Gerald Murnane is in vogue. Every few years, it seems, a new writer or handful of writers is coronated in … Continue reading
Frances Stonor Saunders, The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters
The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters by Frances Stonor Saunders My rating: 4 of 5 stars Someone once said that beneath or behind … Continue reading
Eugene O’Neill, Long Day’s Journey into Night
Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Eugene O’Neill My rating: 4 of 5 stars Long Day’s Journey into Night, often considered one of the finest American dramas and as its … Continue reading
