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| The Reluctant Romantic Hosted by Doing Dewey |
This is the first weekly check in for the The Reluctant Romantic challenge.
What genre are you reading this month?
This month I am reading modernist literature. Before this month, I knew very little about modernist philosophy / literature, and as far as I know I've only read one book in the genre - The Trial, by Franz Kafka. And I read that years ago before I was able to understand the philosophy (though the book was awesome!).
Why do you want to give this genre a chance?
Originally, I was thinking of romance, mystery, or law / political thriller genres because I don't read very much of those. But as I looked at those tags in LibraryThing, I realized that I'd read more than I thought I had in each of those genres. Then I realized that I already planned on reading at least one Virginia Wolf book this month for the #WoolfAlong. I looked at the modernist tag under LibraryThing and discovered a complete lack of modernist literature under my belt. How convenient! I guess I've always been hesitant to read it because I'm so unfamiliar with the philosophy.
Have you read any books in this genre yet this month?
I have already reviewed Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf. Currently, I'm working on The Reivers, by William Faulkner, since it is one of his Pulitzer Prize winners. I have also listened to the first lectures of two Teaching Company Courses, one on literary modernism, and one on Nietzsche (whose philosophy strongly influenced modernist thinking). I wrote summaries of both lectures:
Are you enjoying your new genre so far?
Well, as you can tell by my review of Mrs. Dalloway, I had to read a description of the plot on Wikipedia in order to figure out what was going on. But once I'd done that, the listening went much more smoothly. I enjoyed my first book, but I'm not going to judge the whole genre based on one book.
I generally like the modernest literature that I have read. With that, some of it is very difficult for me. I think that you mentioned that you were considering reading A Passage to India. I found that to be very accessible. I also thought that it was a fantastic novel.
ReplyDeleteYeah, modernist literature tends to be pretty heavy reading, and it makes intense listening because you can't just half-way listen as I do to a fantasy novel. I'll move Passage to India & Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man to my to-read pile and take out Ulysses. That'll leave more room. I suppose I'd also have more room if I took out the Proust...but he seems a necessary inclusion.
DeleteI'm with Brian. A Passage to India is one of my favourite books - the Colonialism experience explored in this book really struck a chord with me.
ReplyDeleteI want to read some Woolf too but I know it wont be easy after my first aborted attempt with To A Lighthouse many many years ago.
Good luck
Passage to India is now on the list. :) I was going to try To a Lighthouse this month, too, for the #woolfalong, but I have now chosen that including two Woolf novels will take away my chance to read squeeze in one more modernist author.
DeleteInteresting! Modernism seems like something we are swimming in already, to some degree, but I think it also depends on how you read some of the books classified as Modernist.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read Mrs. Dalloway, but I have read Orlando, which is a really interesting story if you're looking for another Virginia Woolf read. I love the way she decided to switch the main character's gender, and given all of the trans men and women coming into the spotlight nowadays, I think that particular title is still super relevant.
Interesting. I don't know that much about Orlando. I was half-way planning on reading it for the #woolfalong this year, but we'll see if I get around to it. I tend to enjoy these monthly challenges rather than the yearly ones. My short attention span you know. :)
DeleteI like that you are also looking at the genre from a scholarly perspective. Analysis is helpful sometimes, but keep in mind that authors are just trying to tell a story! My first attempt at Mrs. Dalloway was disastrous because I kept focusing on literary criticism instead of enjoying the novel. Ha!
ReplyDeleteGlad you're enjoying your foray into modernism :)
Well, I wouldn't say that they're "just" trying to tell a story. I think authors like Woolf are hoping that the readers will get something more out of the story than "just" the story. Generally when I listen / read a book like this, I focus on the story while I'm reading and then think about its meaning afterwards. And I love books like this with subtle meaning - it can mean something different to each person.
DeleteI'm unfamiliar with modernist literature and philosophy myself and I'm impressed by how much you're diving into it! While I'm actually in school, I've not been able to bring myself to do much taking advantage of online lectures, but I'd like to in the future :)
ReplyDeleteWell, I think if I were in school full-time I wouldn't take much advantage of online lectures either. There's only so much lecture you can fit into your head at once, right? But what I like about these is that I can go at my own pace.
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