Sadly, I have to bail on this one. It was really hard for me to get into. So instead of keeping it for another week, I decided to send it back to its owner.
#LMPBC #round17 #groupA
@pogue @TheBookHippie @Readergrrl
Sadly, I have to bail on this one. It was really hard for me to get into. So instead of keeping it for another week, I decided to send it back to its owner.
#LMPBC #round17 #groupA
@pogue @TheBookHippie @Readergrrl
Just letting my team know that I am back from Scotland and this book was waiting for me in my mailbox. I will start it soon.
#LMPBC #round17 #groupA
@pogue @TheBookHippie @Readergrrl
@vonnie862 you should be getting this soon. @TheBookHippie @Readergrrl I am still not sure what I think about this one. I liked it and I didn‘t if that makes sense.
I found this to be an intriguing, deeply contemplative literary work. What struck me most about it was its ability to encapsulate the multifaceted nature of relationships. Through the narrator's encounters with friends, lovers, & acquaintances, the book offers profound insights into the intricacies of human connections. It reminded me of the various people who have passed through my own life, leaving indelible marks & shaping my journey. 4.5/5⭐
Beautifully constructed on a sentence-by-sentence level, Sleepless Nights is a fragmentary, but immersive novel. Very loosely held together by the concept of ‘old woman looks back on her life‘ Hardwick masterfully constructs characters and contexts in brief episodic vignettes. I found Hardwick‘s writing very much like short stories, in that she captures the significance of moments in a life.
For those of you who read this book for #NYRBbookclub - The New Yorker has an article about Elizabeth Hardwick and Robert Lowell in the December 16th issue.
I took this photo at a bug/art exhibit. While it's beautiful, those bugs could also cause sleepless nights.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/16/marriage-betrayal-and-the-letters-...
Just realized I never reviewed this. Probably between a pick and so-so, but I'm going with a pick because the parts I enjoyed were pretty luminous. Other sections were less engaging, but overall I found this group of memories that go back and forth through time to be interesting. I appreciated Hardwick's eye for acute observation! 3⭐️s #NYRBClub #NYRB #Classics #PopSugarReadingChallenge #PopSugar2019 #Pop19 #BookWithUnconventionalChapters
#nyrbbookclub Question 5 of 5.
Would you agree that the novel is “a vision of a radical new kind of writing, one suited to a woman‘s body and language and experience outside of the primarily masculine narrative tropes of the past”?
#nyrbbookclub Question 4 of 5.
Hardwick said, "I remember that I started writing Sleepless Nights because of a single line. The line was: “Now I will start my novel, but I don‘t know whether to call myself I or she.” In autofiction what percentage of the book should focus on the protagonist?
#nyrbbookclub Question 3 of 5.
How would you categorize Sleepless Nights?
#nyrbbookclub Question 2 of 5.
Did you get a sense of the narrator through the snippets and fragments of her memories? Or did you feel she was more of an outline, with the focus being on her encounters with other people?
#nyrbbookclub Question 1 of 5.
Sleepless Nights is considered a plotless novel. What is the difference between plot & story?
So far, the conversations of my fellow attendants in the waiting room of the outpatient surgicenter have been much more interesting and revelatory than this book. So many good reviews from trustworthy readers! How did you guys get past the vaguely cryptic, narcissistic tone? #NYRBBookClub
I actually loved this from the opening line; it felt like I was there listening to her talk about her past memories. It‘s fragmented but that‘s what memories are like so I think in that way the form really worked. It builds up an idea of the narrator & her life. Some parts I was more invested in than others but overall it was a brilliant read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #nyrbbookclub
Excited to join the #nyrbbookclub this month! I did enjoy this almost-a-pick. As others pointed out, Hardwicke's writing sparkles and made me consider, what does a collection of memories of others say about the memory owner? Or is it a riff on the act of remembering, how it creates these characters, like an author of fiction might? The end struck me as no different from the beginning and the flatness kept it from a pick- otherwise I was intrigued.
I love how @vivastory described this as an "impressionistic scrapbook". Also Susan Sontag's blurb: " a novel of mental weather". I'll borrow from John Berger to subtitle this, "Ways of Seeing". A novel of fragments like prose poetry. Autofiction in which the narrator reveals herself through her moods, memories, & ways of seeing the world, propelled by Hardwick's glinting, probing intelligence. Every sentence a scalpel. I loved it ? #NYRBbookclub
Stella is not all that excited to be used as a book prop.
#NYRBbookclub
#pibble
#stella
#dogsoflitsy
I went in with some apprehension after seeing all the bails from other #NYRBBookClub members, and I can see why, but this wound up working for me. It‘s a life told in glancing vignettes about those who shared her life. @MerelyBookish made an apt comparison to Rachel Cusk‘s Outline, and much like that book, I can‘t articulate very well why I found it so affecting. For the sake of discussion, I will try to by Sunday.
It's off to a very intriguing start for me :)
#NYRBbookclub @youneverarrived @vivastory
I‘ve had many a sleepless night lately in which to read the random thoughts of this woman. I have to say that while it‘s a bit of a chore to read, there are passages that stun me. I see myself so clearly in her descriptions of the malcontent, of the snarky observer, of the person looking for meaning. I‘ve also known so many who are strident in their communist political views, yet end up living their lives like the rest of the “placid” masses.
It was not at all what I expected based on the description so I‘m glad I was “warned” by fellow #nyrbbookclub members! I found parts of this stream of consciousness novel captivating but also found my mind wandering while reading the rambling prose. Looking forward to the discussion!
Reminiscences of people and places, a plotless novel about the past's presence. Reminded me a bit of Rachel Cusk's Outline trilogy: how a woman writes her life by writing about everything except herself.
Which is to say I liked it. 😏 And I look forward to discussing (defending?) it soon!
#NYRBbookclub @vivastory @youneverarrived
A little food for thought for #shakespearereadalong folks in the #nyrbbookclub selection.
Can I make it a pick with an *? The middle part was so compelling to me but...Writing sometimes beautiful but doesn‘t draw one in .I‘ll say more in the #nyrbbookclub discussion.
My #lunchtimereading today. I'm hoping the #nyrbbookclub doesn't mind me tagging along with their reading. Between the NY theme and the stream of consciousness style, I'm really digging this book. I like the small snapshots that jump around.
But really this book had me from the beginning with: "Canadians, do not vomit on me!" surely I'm not the only one that's been vomited on on the NY subway! ???
#nyrbbookclub my obsession with NYC is way beyond normal bounds so in part 3 where she describes her grubby New York existence,I‘m hooked.Had to look up bar mentioned as I had heard of it.
#nyrbbookclub I drove to another town and got another library card to read the selection everybody seems to be bailing on.😂
I made it about halfway through this one but Hardwick's writing style just isn't for me 🙃 #toomanyNYRBstoolittletime #NYRBbookclub
Oh oh, #NYRBBookClub. I read Part One of this and HATED it. 😬😬
Does it get any better? Did I bail too soon?
#7days7covers #covercrush Day 1
Thank you for the tag @ShelfRighteous 💜
@Leftcoastzen if you're up for it—post a fave cover each day for 7 days, no explanation necessary 🙂
It was not easy to keep focussing on the beautiful sentences among the stream of conscience memoirs of Elizabeth Hardwick. I was not really in the mood for such a read unfortunately. #NYRBBookClub
The memories of her youth took place in #Kentucky so I can use the book for #ReadingUSA2019.
(Pic: This summer I stayed in a hotel in Brooklyn with the best pillows ever. I have searched everywhere and was able to buy them online!)
Picked up the next #NYRBbookclub pick today. Looks like it's been kicking around Denver Public Library since 1979.
Excited to read this one!
@vivastory @youneverarrived
Me. The mismatched china piece in my new environment here in Al Ain. :)
I love when books find me at the perfect time.
Reading this on Overdrive from my Singapore NLB subscription for my virtual #NYRBBookClub.
I miss the Singapore libraries most of all. 😭
2⭐️ I‘m conflicted about this novel. The writing is beautiful; but I feel like someone simply offloaded random ramblings about her past. Not my favorite, sadly 😓
1. Scottish Festival, working on art, lots of reading.
2. Have not slept well this week at all.
3. Amsterdam, Chiang Mai, London
4. Neither!
5. 84 F 😥
#friyayintro @jesshowbooks
1. Today I have lunch with a former coworker and then Work and Work
2. More like mornings. I haven‘t been sleeping well so I‘ve been tired
3. In the US I‘d say Boston or San Francisco. World I love Ljubljana and Zagreb
4. Sloth
5. It says it‘s going to be 86.
#friyayintro @jesshowbooks
Soooo I‘ve been MIA for a while and I‘ve missed you guys! I have a great excuse though! I had a baby and have been extremely sleep deprived and just a little busy 😂😂😂 loving every minute though and looking forward to hopefully being a bit more active on here again 💖
Had a long night with overtired kids so I didn't get much sleep. Not reading the tagged book, but I'm about halfway through my next #horrorpost book and I'm honestly excited about being stuck getting the car inspected today! I'm loving this, folks! @teebe @laundry_piles @Bengali.bookworm #NightmaresAhead
I tagged only a few, so don't be insulted if I didn't tag you guys! 😄👹👻
#Odetosleep #tuneintonov #insomnia #sleeplessinCT
No idea why, but woke at 3 a.m. Wide awake. So I turn to Litsy... have to be up at 5:30 to ready for work. 😱 Lots of ☕️☕️☕️☕️ today. Perfect night for this song though-
New Tricks, the latest issue of New York Review of Books (reading about Elizabeth Hardwick currently), in pajamas, with a purring Chico sleeping on my feet. Not a bad Sunday night.
#pajamaday #lazy #liveforpjdays