It’s nice to read some more generous assessments of Joe Hill. I can’t say that I would be tempted to have him over for dinner, but he does seem to come from a very nice family.
I think Stephen King is a gifted writer, and I’ve enjoyed quite a few things he’s written, though in my opinion his work varies considerably in quality. I was sad when he had that awful accident back in 1999. We’re almost exactly the same age, with birthdays about three weeks apart.
In addition, I’ve got a kind of a six-and-a-half degrees of separation thing going with Stephen King because a guy I knew in college is a pal of his and has played music with him in the band “Rock Bottom Remainders.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Bottom_Remainders
Yes! In the library reading, Hill comes across as completely unpretentious, almost like a kid with the quirky enthusiasm he feels about writing stories.
Several things in the article made me think of Joe Hill:
Wilkie Collins “is considered the originator of the ‘ sensation novel’—a wildly popular Victorian genre that blended gothic horror and domestic realism.” Sound familiar? And then there’s this: “His novels are full of disabilities and disfigurations—blindness, deafness, epilepsy, drug addiction, discolorations of the skin—and his heroes are often outsiders, damaged in soul and body.”
Collins also made steady use of the cliffhanger. On that score, Joe Hill says in the NPR interview (in very modern lingo—I’m sure Wilkie Collins would have put it differently ):
The article notes that “He let everyone call him Wilkie, and shunned formal dress…with genuine bohemian disregard for appearances.” If you watched the library video, I need say no more.
“Collins’s first contribution was a classic horror tale called ‘A Terribly Strange Bed’ (the bed flattens sleepers like a book press)…” A short story right up Joe Hill’s alley!
Let me be completely clear: I am not saying that the above similarities make Joe Hill Wilkie Collins, any more than his current events references make him James Joyce. It’s simply fun to observe how he stands on the shoulders of giants.
^Most of what I knew about Wilkie Collins before this came from a long biography of Dickens that I read. It talked about how Collins lived openly for years with a woman he was not married to – very unusual back then.
I wonder what @jaylynn thought of the book. I was looking over the beginning of the thread and noticed she said she was half-way through. I don’t think we’ve heard from her. I always enjoy her recommendations on the other book thread so I’m curious as to what she thought of this one.
We can start kicking ideas around for our October selection at any time. As always, comments on The Fireman continue to be welcome for as long as people want to make them!
If we want to continue with books released this year, I’ve been hearing very good things about this one:
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith.
Here’s a snippet from the Kirkus starred review:
“Smith’s latest novel (Bright and Distant Shores, 2011, etc.) is a rich and detailed story that connects a 17th-century Dutch painting to its 20th-century American owner and the lonely but fervent art student who makes the life-changing decision to forge it.”
The “must read” book for the fall seems to be this book, which was only just released:
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
I think it is historical fiction mixed with fantasy. So many people are telling me I have to read it that it is beginning to feel a bit like homework, though.
I’ve always meant to read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.
Another one is The Physcian by Noah Gordon. I’ve seen the movie and it’s glorious! The book is the first in a trilogy. A brief description:
“In eleventh-century London, a child holds the hand of his dying mother and is terrified, aware something is taking her. Orphaned and given to an itinerant barber-surgeon, Rob Cole becomes a fast-talking swindler, peddling a worthless medicine. But as he matures, his strange gift—an acute sensitivity to impending death—never leaves him, and he yearns to become a healer.
Arab madrassas are the only authentic medical schools, and he makes his perilous way to Persia. Christians are barred from Muslim schools, but claiming he is a Jew, he studies under the world’s most renowned physician, Avicenna.”
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos also looks interesting…
I’m fine with anything suggested so far. I read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks but long enough ago (five years) that I’d read it again if chosen.
As I am new this time around (coincidentally saw the thread as I was reading The Fireman and thought I’d check it out!), are there any rules or guidelines you adhere to when suggesting or selecting books? Any genres you stay away from?
There was a big excerpt of * The Underground Railroad * in this Sunday’s New York Times. They made a big deal that it’s only in the paper version. I read it. It was okay, but didn’t really grab me. I guess the fantasy is that the railroad is actually an underground railroad. It didn’t seem like classic fantasy FWIW. Just slightly skewed history.
I still really have no interest in * Barkskins*.
I am still interest in the Camus pair.
And of course if anyone wants to help me discuss * A Suitable Boy * I’m still at it!
Nope … it’s kind of a free for all at this point and then works its way to workable. We veto if we don’t want to read something. (I think mathmom just politely vetoed Barkskins.) Eventually everyone picks their top three choices and we end up with a book.
@bearpanther – I’m new, too; this is only the second discussion I’ve been a part of. But my understanding is that suggestions are encouraged and welcomed! Reading everyone else’s suggestions is a fun part of this experience for me. Mary13 is great at narrowing down the suggestions and getting the group to consensus after a bunch of ideas are floated.
@nottelling and @ignatius hit all the high points. The only guideline I can think of is that we try not to repeat an author, but that’s more of a tradition than a hard-and-fast rule. We’ve given non-fiction a whirl, but tend to favor fiction. Again, that’s not a rule–just the direction we generally drift. Anything can be suggested and, perhaps more importantly, anything can be vetoed by anyone, no questions asked. There are so many books in this world that a request to drop one from the list is never a cause for concern.
Yeah, I’m going to withdraw my suggestion of The Physician for this round. Two long ones in a row might be a bit much (although I think eventually it would be a great one to read.)
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