Welcome to Litsy!

My selection for book 9 of #ClassicSummer2024 came onto my radar as I was making my way through Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Approximately halfway through the first season I noticed an adaptation of a Bradbury story. One that I was not familiar with. The basic premise of Shopping For Death is that extreme heat can cause increased aggression, even homicidal tendencies. Shopping For Death would be retitled as Touched w/ Fire in the tagged book.

Set six years after The Talented Mr. Ripley, book two in Highsmith's Ripley series is a tense book as Ripley is now married & involved in an art forgery scheme that is threatening to fall apart. Highsmith is great reading anytime of year, but her Ripley books are especially great summertime reading. This is one of the rare books where I liked the sequel more than the first.
#ClassicSummer2024 Book 8

Jumpei Nik visits a village to collect insects. He finds himself trapped at the bottom of a sand dune along with a woman & a small house. Jumpei has to clean the house at night due to the heat. The local villagers send down the bare essentials to keep them alive, but refuse to help them escape. Abe's novel is often interpreted as an existential story & Abe has frequently been labeled Japan's Kafka.
#ClassicSummer2024 Book 7

A woman, G.H., in a Rio de Janeiro apartment goes into her maid's room after she has quit. She finds only a strange drawing on the wall & a cockroach in a cabinet. What follows is a monologue that is in turns mesmerizing, baffling, luminous, unsettling & mystical. An unforgettable experience.
#ClassicSummer2024 Book 6

I have read several Wells books & loved all of them. My favorite however has always been Island of Dr. Moreau. The descriptions of the heat on the island has always stuck with me. It has been a few years since I have read Wells. I think I'm def. due to read some.
#ClassicSummer2024 Book 5

This is such a delightful book. I read this one with my NYRB Classic group & the summer atmosphere of the book will stay with you long after you finish. I am not a huge fan of summer weather in general, but Hartley managed to capture the gentler side of summertime even though the narrative is not a happy one. It has an iconic opener:
“The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.”
#ClassicSummer2024 Book 4

A modern sci-fi classic with two recent phenomenal adaptations. Largely set on the desert planet Arrakis, The Stillsuits worn by the inhabitants of Arrakis inevitably make me think of summer temperatures, made only more unbearable the past few years due to record breaking summers due to climate change.
#ClassicSummer2024 Book 3

I have the sneaking suspicion that a lot of French people feel about Sagan's novella the way a lot of American readers now feel about On the Road: either a rite of passage, not worthwhile &/or cliché. I do recall enjoying this one & being surprised by some of the darker elements in what I thought would have been a really charming read. A good beach read that will stick with you for a bit.
#ClassicSummer2024 Book 2

Lately I have seen several articles/video recommendations of 10 summer books, so I thought I would make a list of classic books that have a summer environment, or make me think of summer. Starting with the quintessential Camus, I have read this one twice now & the oppressive atmosphere stuck with me after both readings The sparse prose is evocative in depicting Meursault's indifference,
#ClassicSummer2024 Book 1