Celine

I have now read all of Celine's novels. I read that his contributions to literature influence Hemingway and many others, I assume from introducing the vernacular spoken word into literature. But I find that he influenced primarily the development of pulp fiction, much as Jane Austen gave rise to Harlequin romances. I also found Celine difficult to read, as I was not familiar with the vernacular of France in the 30s, 40s and 50s. He employed an interesting stratagem for his trilogy on World War II, which is supposed to be Celine at his best: he used a character called Celine, obviously himself, in all three. It was interesting from an structural standpoint, but was primarily effective in making me wonder how much was fiction, as he is known to have traveled to the places at the times described in the novels. I also read an issue of OK Magazine, an issue of The New Yorker, two issues of Eclectic Reading, two issues of The Economist, and an issue of The New Scientist since my last post.

I have now returned to the delights of Julien Green's journals.

Jules Renard

I read his novels and short stories, and I understand the verdict of history on him, that he was the poet of the countryside, and also that he is like Mallarme in his experiments with structure. I think he is largely successful in his experiments, unlike Mallarme himself. I also read his journals, which are combined with his writer's notebook. It was harder to pick out the journal parts from the notebook part, but I did think it was interesting to read about the notes he took as time went by. I didn't read his plays.

Since my last post, I also read OK Magazine, an issue of Eclectic Reading, an issue of The New Yorker, and an issue of The New Scientist. I'm reading two issues of The Economist simultaneously.

Yourcenar, Vidal

I read Myra Breckinridge first thing this morning, and I must say I was a little shocked at the content. In the introduction to the edition I was reading, Vidal mentioned a Russian publisher telling him Myra would never be published there, and I believe him. The sexual content is shocking...I've finished reading Yourcenar's memoirs and her essays, so I've completed the lot. I liked her memoirs, there's something unvarnished about them, and it's interesting to read about the French bourgeoisie. I also read an issue of Electic Reading, an issue of The New Yorker, and an issue of The New Scientist. Now I've figured out why I didn't read Dostoievsky's Adolescent -- it's unfinished, and I don't read unfinished works as a rule. I'm now diving into the journals of Jules Renard.

Yourcenar, Vonnegut, Paley, Bowles, Green, Pisan

Since my last post, I've read an issue of The Economist, an issue of Eclectic Reading, and an issue of OK Magazine.

I read Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle and I really liked it, particularly at the start. I don't find that the tone was sustained, but daring enough in its way. I saw it as black picaresque, not science fiction. I also read three or four of Grace Paley's short stories in Little Disturbances of Man, but they didn't capture my interest. I read in one go Paul Bowles' Sheltering Sky, and while I found some passages wonderfully written, I found the story not entirely outside predictability or stereotype. It's an interesting travelogue plus kind of story. I plowed through Christine de Pisan's inventory of women in hagiography, myth and history with some interest, as I had never read anything of hers. I also sprinted through some short stories, novels and novellas by Marguerite Yourcenar, having read her memoirs, and the novel Memoires d'Hadrien previously. I didn't find they held my attention.

Ah, but I am continuing to read at a leisurely pace Julien Green's journals, and those I find are teaching me all over again the French language. It is a pleasure to read someone writing in a language other than his first, English, and someone who was entirely bilingual.