Kate writes: Hey guess what? I’ve finished The Magic Mountain. Thus released, here are the books on my radar this week (with thanks to @artfulreader over on Bookstagram for letting me use this gorgeous bookshelf backdrop).
Cold Enough for Snow (Fitzcarraldo Editions) You couldn’t ask for more of a contrast from Thomas Mann than this short, deceptively gentle novel from Australian Jessica Au. A daughter takes her mother on a sightseeing tour of Japan. Along the way she muses on their relationship and her own sense of self. Reflective and enjoyable.
Sea State (4th Estate) Tabitha Lasley’s memoir of moving to Aberdeen where she interviewed men working on oil rigs, ending up in a relationship with one of the (married) men she meets there. I have such mixed feelings about this book, constantly aware of the ambiguity and ambivalence of my response to her choices while at the same time being fascinated by the world she evokes. Very different, I think very good.
The Magician (Penguin Viking) Post Magic Mountain I now feel more than qualified to read this novel about the life of Thomas Mann. Garth Greenwell writes ‘No living novelist dramatizes artistic creation as profoundly, as luminously as Cólm Tóibín, or conveys so well the entanglement of imagination and desire.’
In The Country of Others (Faber & Faber) I thought Lullaby was such an extraordinary book, I’m looking forward to reading this new one from Leïla Slimani, which Laura’s book club are currently reading.
The Thursday Murder Club (Penguin Viking) When you’ve finished a 720 page novel from a giant of European literature do you immediately reach for another one? Or do you succumb to your impulse for some light relief? I’ve already read the first chapter and can report back that the writing is as much fun as I’d hoped and the plot has me hooked.
Coming up on the pod
🎧 Out this weekend our new episode on long reads, Find out whether 226,000 words of The Magic Mountain was worth it, and whether we can tempt you into trying any of our 600+ page recommendations. We’ve got friend-of-the-pod Philip Chaffee and Toby Brothers, of the London Literary Salon joining us. Toby spends her days guiding readers through the classics – if she can’t convince you to give Ulysses a try then no-one can.
How about you?
What are you reading right now? Comment below and let us know.
