Independence Day by Richard Ford - April 2024 Book Group choice
7 watchers
1 Apr
11:15am, 1 Apr 2024
53,925 posts
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McGoohan
Maclennane has chosen this Pulitzer-winning classic as the April 2024 book. Later filmed with Will Smith, Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum and with the plot completely changed to a tale of alien invasion, now read on. Pick your thoughts like daffodils and put them in the vase of commenting below... |
3 Apr
9:57am, 3 Apr 2024
85,327 posts
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Diogenes
Well, I'm really enjoying this so far. It is very much in the tradition of the big American novel about male middle-age. There seems to be an awful lot of these from the sixties right through to the noughties. Think Roth, Bellow, Updike, Heller, to name just four of the biggest-hitters. But don't let you put that off. I'd say this one is more accessible, partly because it was written in the 90s and contains much less toxic masculinity and patriarchal authority. It is, however, exhaustively detailed: There are no broad brushstrokes here, every single petal is picked out with a fine brush.
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8 Apr
9:45am, 8 Apr 2024
49,752 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Is this the same guy who wrote "The Sportswriter"? If so, his work was discussed on Opening Lines, Radio 4 yesterday, avail on BBC Sounds.
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8 Apr
9:47am, 8 Apr 2024
53,967 posts
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McGoohan
Yes, this is the sequel to The Sportswriter, I think
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8 Apr
9:48am, 8 Apr 2024
85,413 posts
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Diogenes
Yes, this is the second of three books featuring Frank Bascombe. (EDIT: there is now a 4th called "Let Me Be Frank".
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8 Apr
9:48am, 8 Apr 2024
49,753 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
bbc.co.uk
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8 Apr
9:50am, 8 Apr 2024
49,754 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Sounded like a great book / series, but a bit bleak?!  G
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8 Apr
10:00am, 8 Apr 2024
53,968 posts
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McGoohan
(PS - there's a fifth book Be Mine)
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8 Apr
10:00am, 8 Apr 2024
85,414 posts
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Diogenes
Well, I've not read The Sportswriter, but I wouldn't say Independence Day is bleak but then I'm not quite half way through, so who knows?
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23 Apr
1:40pm, 23 Apr 2024
85,662 posts
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Diogenes
I've finished Independence Day, and I enjoyed it very much. The quality of the writing and the storytelling, the insights are all of the very best. It's wise and quite progressive, especially when you realise that it was written 30 years ago. My reservations, if I have any, are wholly mine: I have read too many similar books in the past, including Saul Bellow's "Herzog" earlier this year. The two books are very similar to my mind, with The Ford being more accessible and the Bellow a greater, more significant work. I gave the Bellow 8 so, as we don't do half-marks, Independence Day must also receive an 8. The Audible version I listened to has an excerpt from the next Frank Bascombe novel tacked on the end and I find myself wondering what the fates have in store for Frank in the coming years, more so than I do to read the prequel, The Sportswriter. I guess I already know how that one ends. Good choice, Maccers-lenners, although I don't suppose many others will be thanking you for selecting such a weighty tome. |
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