
Maybe my best book of the year -- a perfect novella.
#12booksof2024 @Andrew65
Maybe my best book of the year -- a perfect novella.
#12booksof2024 @Andrew65
#weirdwords #weirdwordwednesday @CBee
Pulchritude: beauty
“How rare pulchritude is among the Irish, I said to myself; therefore what a trouble is made when it does appear...“
4⭐️ I reread this with my IRL bookclub and I loved it the same. My favorite character is Mrs. Cullen 😍 I can see myself in her 🤭 but not with a hawk. A raven is more likely 🐦⬛
Psychological novella set in 1920s French village—foreigners meet for an afternoon of drink and conversation. Part “Who‘s afraid of Virginia Woolf?” & part Gatsby. Cinematic scene-setting & world-weary narrator in the spirit of Nick Carraway. The random cruelties of marriage & intimacy, desire for beauty (symbolic & otherwise). Class, power, jealousy, domestication. Beautifully switches between flat, clear-eyed cynicism & romantic longing. 1940
^^The shifts from drama to comedy to spiritual longing, romantic symbolism, psychological musings, all in 100 quick pages. A cycle in an afternoon, furiously churning. Such great story pacing.
Loc 152: “I brought my hawk,” Mrs. Cullen unnecessarily announced.
>>Wry, spare humor.
KILLER line:
Loc 1055, Mrs. Cullen speaking of husband: “He has bated, don‘t you know.”
Bated, as in when the kept bird flaps wings frantically on tether. CALLBACK
I enjoyed this novella so much that I read it twice. A perfect example of how to write a story. The observations of a third party witnessing the tension of a marriage, the jealousy of a husband over his wife‘s devotion to a hawk, the perils of marriage itself, were spot on and delicious. Almost each sentence held a concept worth stopping and thinking about or chuckling over. This was just a delight. #NYRBbooclub
Caricatur-ish! A fantastic and satisfying read, and definitely a modern classic. Set in 1920s, the location was idyllic (who wouldn't love a novel set in French countryside?), the characters were a brilliant mess, and the prose was perfect. I am still wondering at the genius of Wescott to pack a ton in just 108 pages. It's essentially a tale of love triangles, not a common one though. There is a bird involved, literally. 👇🏽
Wescott writes of domesticity vs freedom & love vs desire among other issues. Considering the length, did Pilgrim Hawk work for you, or did it feel too full?
(Here is a link to an interesting brief article by Cunningham on Edwin Frank approaching him to writing the intro to Pilgrim Hawk as well as an excerpt: https://electricliterature.com/the-pilgrim-hawk-glenway-wescott/
Speaking of Jean, Eva & Ricketts, Cunningham writes, “One imagines they pass through this novel while living out an unwritten novel of their own, one in which they are the central figures, and the commotion created by those people in the parlor is important but secondary.“ Did you find any interesting points about class in Wescott's portrayal of the servants?
Why do you think Cullen released Lucy? Did this act surprise you?
After the commotion in the Daimler, when the Cullens attempt to leave the first time, Mrs. Cullen says “I don‘t even know which of us Larry thought of shooting, wife or chauffeur or haggard” [p. 98]. Which do you think is true, if any? Do Cullen‘s actions throughout the day make more sense when you know about the gun?
In the intro. Cunningham writes, “Oh, I thought, a symbol. And, the hawk is, of course, a symbol...Wescott knew what he was up against, what sort of portentousness he flirted with, and it is a measure of his talent that he was able to not only fully engage what might be implied by such a stubbornly meaningful image...but also to create a hawk that is...an entirely convincing, integral member of the story.“ Do you think Wescott succeeded?
#NYRBBookClub what a gem of a book! A garden party & our narrator has a gift with words & a gift of observing the human condition.Are we as tethered to our condition as Lucy the hawk is tethered to Mrs.Cullen?I sought out Wescott from a reference in a book about F.Scott Fitzgerald long ago.Book club members may recall 1 of my choices for the club was his Apartment in Athens.Tho I wouldn‘t have wanted to miss The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne .😁
#NYRBBookClub September Selection Discussion starts in about 80 minutes. As always chime in when you are available.
@Suet624 @BarbaraBB @emilyhaldi @sprainedbrain @mklong @youneverarrived @LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen @Liz_M @merelybookish @MicheleinPhilly @GatheringBooks @saresmoore @sisilia @batsy @Reviewsbylola @Theaelizabet @Billypar @Tanisha_A @daena @catebutler
Trying to be ready for tomorrow's #NYRBbookclub discussion, but not sure about this 99¢ 'excerpted' edition for Kindle. Hopefully I don't miss too much.
@vivastory @Suet624
Dear NYRBers: this week I‘ve been working 12 hour days at City Hall sending, receiving and alphabetizing thousands of ballots. 4,000 in the last three days. Then dividing these by district and then by ward. I‘ve also been reporting campaign financing for my daughter. Throw in two Airbnb cleanings somehow in there. I‘ll be working both days this weekend on ballot items. Scott has graciously offered to host tomorrow‘s discussion. I‘m so grateful.
I have been carrying a feeling of emptiness the entire week, because there was zero reading in it. Ugh! Today seems to be that day when i say bye bye to that emotion. 🙂
Loving the prose in here. That quote for instance -
“But on as fine a day as this, modern art was dimmed and dwarfed by the view of the garden and the park beyond it,...”
Maybe it's my #HarpySpinster condition, but I find all marriage novels to be vaguely exotic; it tells me about a life I only want to imagine. This novella grips you like how I imagine a falcon's claws would. A compact, menacing, & mysterious gem that's best summarised in Cunningham's intro: "in terms of character & event it is strung throughout with little bombs, some of which explode on contact, some considerably later." The writing is brilliant.
The Cullens, an Irish couple, bring their trained hawk as they visit the narrator & his friend outside of Paris for an afternoon. The narrator, Alwyn Tower & his friend & future sister-in-law Alexandra Henry, witness the state of the Cullens' relationship. Tower, a self-aware misanthrope, is an interesting narrator. He frequently ruminates on certain themes, but one gets the sense of him being uncertain due to his youth. We are never sure👇
I love the description here. "The solemn glance of its maniacal eyes" seems to come off the page. I don't know much about Glenway Wescott as a writer but there's a precise clarity to his writing and a psychological acuity that makes every page feel very complex and rich so far. #nyrbbookclub
The starting of the next #NYRBBookClub pick always calls for a glass of wine. 🍷
@vivastory @Suet624
This book breathes the 1920s in all its observations. It‘s The Great Gatsby all over again from the moment a young American opens the door and lets the Cullens in - a somewhat eccentric Irish couple of which the woman takes an hunting hawk everywhere she goes. The American - an unsuccessful writer, of course - tries to imagine their relationship during the course of an afternoon, based on how they behave towards the hawk. ⬇️⬇️ #NYRBBookClub
Cracking open this one. #nyrbbookclub
@vivastory @Suet624
Join @Suet624 & I Sat 10/3 @ 1 PM EST for discussion of September #NYRBBookClub selection. As you are reading you might want to jot down a line or two that resonated with you, as we will be discussing Wescott's style.
@BarbaraBB @emilyhaldi @sprainedbrain @mklong @youneverarrived @LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen @Liz_M @merelybookish @MicheleinPhilly @GatheringBooks @saresmoore @sisilia @Reviewsbylola @batsy @Suet624 @Theaelizabet @Billypar @Tanisha_A
Thanks to @batsy for co-hosting in August. Yesterday's discussion was wonderful & as always there were so many great insights. In September we will be reading Wescott's novella. Join my co-host @Suet624 & I as we read and discuss. @Theaelizabet I'm looking forward to your nominations for October. In order for people to request these from the library &/or purchase them, please post your 3 nominations by this Tuesday. #NYRBBookClub
#AboutAugust Day 31: I #always pair molten chocolate cake with my books, especially #NYRBBookClub titles.
#AboutAugust Day 29: Food is the #accessory to my book shots, evidently. #NYRBBookClub - mix grill for the win!
4⭐️ I love it when I get to read this kind of novella. Thin, but packed with so many details that got me thinking 😃 Michael Cunningham‘s intro said it all: this is “an endlessly intricate meditation on freedom versus captivity and passion versus peace.” This is my second Wescott, and am looking forward to reading more of his works
#AboutAugust Day 24: This is called the #absence of self-restraint. 🤷🏻♀️😭🤣😂
Our #NYRBBookClub choice for September is here!
This #BookDepository bookmark (that came with my latest order for the #NYRBBookClub) is pretty funny I think 😀. It doesn‘t really pair with the book cover, which is super creepy!
With 9 votes, Wescott's novella is the #NYRBBookClub September Selection. Join @Suet624 & I as we read and discuss!
@BarbaraBB @emilyhaldi @sprainedbrain @mklong @youneverarrived @LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen @Liz_M @merelybookish @MicheleinPhilly @GatheringBooks @saresmoore @sisilia @Reviewsbylola @batsy @Theaelizabet