MAIN » ARTICLESTON Book Club: December 2006
TON Book Club - a selection of the best, or most curious, books that have been read by me (Jay) or maybe even one day by some hitherto unforeseen contributor. There isn't any method used to choose the ones that get featured, and there certainly won't be any scholarly analysis or insightful comments into literature. As long as we all remember that, we'll get along fine.
The Theban Plays by Sophocles
10/10
An excellent example of Greek tragedy at its very finest, and I should know, I've now read at least 5 of them. King Oedipus is probably the most famous, or at least I assumed it to be when I first bough the book, it was being mentioned all over in History tutorials and Philosophy lectures. Aristotle loved it, it was his archetypal tradegy to which all others could be compared. From a philosophical point-of-view, some people would suggest you can use these plays in the debate (raised by Plato in his celebrated Republic) on whether children should be educated by such stories. By stories of heros or fallible men, by great humans or by even greater gods? So on, and so on. Great stuff. Loads of stars.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
(10/10)
I haven't read Will Self's modern take on this Wilde classic, but if it's anywhere near as scintillating and fluent in prose as the original, it is certainly worth checking out. As aesthetically pleasing as the written word can be, one is left cursing the fact that the great Irish playwright never produced more novels and only left this one masterpiece amongst a rabble of sharp, witty and unforgivably fascinating short stories. Wilde is renowned for his 'art for art's sake' approach to life and his works and again there is a link between this, in which the matter is raised almost continously, and the philosophy of aesthetics. If art truly is for art's sake, then this is beautiful.
The Prince by Machiavelli
(7/10)
Some casually comment on Machiavelli's most famous work in terms of it being a 'sell-out', a 'job application', or something along those lines. And it is. The great strategist himself lays out the purpose of his work in the opening letter to his potential employer. Whether or not it should be judged on the basis of this is irrelevent and it seems to me there is no finer example of someone with a great gift for governmental structure, a man who could advise even the most hapless of renaissance rulers. Imperative to the study of the era, it reads well enough to interest even those who aren't studying European history. I'll give it quite a few stars.
Red Dust by Ma Jian
6/10
Taking a leaf from the Jack Kerouac school of Beat-travel-novels, this autobiographical tale of one man escaping the city and taking on the guise of the arty gypsy, mingling with creative friends and colleagues, ambling threw small remote villages in the heart of China, trekking into deserts searching for something, perhaps searching for himself. The rating doesn't look very high, mainly because there are so many fine examples of this kind of writing. Part of Random House's East series, this is a great journey and entry point into Chinese literature. Ma Jian maintains interest even in the dullest of moments in his own life with colourful imagery and substantial references to the society that impacted on one man just trying to live his own way in such a complex, and often restrictive, society as the one we find in China in the 60s.
The Homecoming by Harold Pinter
9/10
A great play, if slightly odd and very perverse. I'd never read Pinter before and I haven't read any since, but if this is anything to judge by, unorthodox plays with abrasive, occasionally dumbfounding dialogue can still be brilliant. I loved it. I think.
Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk
8/10
Palahniuk, the author of Fight Club amongst other modern classics, has quickly defined himself as a cult-following master of modern alienation. There aren't many contemporary authors around that I consider to be establishing a long-lasting reputation that will outlive them, but Chuck is one. Fight Club, and novels like Survivor, will eventually be in the Penguin Modern Classics series which I'm sure isn't long away. The chapters go backwards, a morbid countdown to the inevitable and, lest I attempt to describe the plot and end up butchering any interest anyone may have in following-up this book, I will just say it's worth reading. Definitely someone original and refreshing amongst shelves of tedium in Waterstones.
Written by Jay
The Theban Plays by Sophocles
10/10An excellent example of Greek tragedy at its very finest, and I should know, I've now read at least 5 of them. King Oedipus is probably the most famous, or at least I assumed it to be when I first bough the book, it was being mentioned all over in History tutorials and Philosophy lectures. Aristotle loved it, it was his archetypal tradegy to which all others could be compared. From a philosophical point-of-view, some people would suggest you can use these plays in the debate (raised by Plato in his celebrated Republic) on whether children should be educated by such stories. By stories of heros or fallible men, by great humans or by even greater gods? So on, and so on. Great stuff. Loads of stars.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
(10/10)I haven't read Will Self's modern take on this Wilde classic, but if it's anywhere near as scintillating and fluent in prose as the original, it is certainly worth checking out. As aesthetically pleasing as the written word can be, one is left cursing the fact that the great Irish playwright never produced more novels and only left this one masterpiece amongst a rabble of sharp, witty and unforgivably fascinating short stories. Wilde is renowned for his 'art for art's sake' approach to life and his works and again there is a link between this, in which the matter is raised almost continously, and the philosophy of aesthetics. If art truly is for art's sake, then this is beautiful.
The Prince by Machiavelli
(7/10)Some casually comment on Machiavelli's most famous work in terms of it being a 'sell-out', a 'job application', or something along those lines. And it is. The great strategist himself lays out the purpose of his work in the opening letter to his potential employer. Whether or not it should be judged on the basis of this is irrelevent and it seems to me there is no finer example of someone with a great gift for governmental structure, a man who could advise even the most hapless of renaissance rulers. Imperative to the study of the era, it reads well enough to interest even those who aren't studying European history. I'll give it quite a few stars.
Red Dust by Ma Jian
6/10Taking a leaf from the Jack Kerouac school of Beat-travel-novels, this autobiographical tale of one man escaping the city and taking on the guise of the arty gypsy, mingling with creative friends and colleagues, ambling threw small remote villages in the heart of China, trekking into deserts searching for something, perhaps searching for himself. The rating doesn't look very high, mainly because there are so many fine examples of this kind of writing. Part of Random House's East series, this is a great journey and entry point into Chinese literature. Ma Jian maintains interest even in the dullest of moments in his own life with colourful imagery and substantial references to the society that impacted on one man just trying to live his own way in such a complex, and often restrictive, society as the one we find in China in the 60s.
The Homecoming by Harold Pinter
9/10A great play, if slightly odd and very perverse. I'd never read Pinter before and I haven't read any since, but if this is anything to judge by, unorthodox plays with abrasive, occasionally dumbfounding dialogue can still be brilliant. I loved it. I think.
Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk
8/10Palahniuk, the author of Fight Club amongst other modern classics, has quickly defined himself as a cult-following master of modern alienation. There aren't many contemporary authors around that I consider to be establishing a long-lasting reputation that will outlive them, but Chuck is one. Fight Club, and novels like Survivor, will eventually be in the Penguin Modern Classics series which I'm sure isn't long away. The chapters go backwards, a morbid countdown to the inevitable and, lest I attempt to describe the plot and end up butchering any interest anyone may have in following-up this book, I will just say it's worth reading. Definitely someone original and refreshing amongst shelves of tedium in Waterstones.
Written by Jay