I find that their list is extremely varied, and there are lots that I probably wouldn't bother picking up - but I am besotted with many of their authors, including Tove Jansson, Elizabeth von Arnim, Elizabeth Taylor, Ivy Compton-Burnett, and Rose Macaulay. And then things like those two novels aforementioned that I knew nothing about before being seduced by those NYRB covers. OH, and the extraordinary The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton.
(I have stolen Thomas's image of NYRBs again, because I love it so much. Sorry, Thomas. And thanks.)
So please, dear NYRB fans, let us know your recommendations in the comments, please!
I'll be reading along as I too never quite know how to navigate and pick from their list. I'll be looking into some of the authors you've mentioned and I hadn't heard of as well :-)
ReplyDeleteIris on Books (can't seem to sign in on this computer)
They have some of the Simenon 'romans durs' on their list - Dirty Snow was marvellous.
ReplyDeleteNeither of them are particularly little-known, but just this week I happened to read and really enjoy two NYRB Classics: The Post-Office Girl by Stefan Zweig and Wish Her Safe at Home by Stephen Benatar.
ReplyDeleteI loved The Snows of Yesteryear by Gregor von Rezzori. And Skylark, obviously, is another favourite.
ReplyDeleteRecently came across a WONDERFUL book in library: 'Stoner' by John Williams, who I'd not heard of before. It's the tale of an obscure life - an assistant professor in a midwestern university, and his life: his love for his subject , a most dreadful marriage, colleagues good and bad.... It's beautiful, sad and I think you'd love it.
ReplyDeleteSally Tarbox
Elaine Dundy's the Dud Avocado is great!
ReplyDeleteThe Post-Office Girl by Stefan Zweig is BRILLIANT. Also The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning; The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley; The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson; and The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West. But you've probably read all of these already.
ReplyDeleteA Month in the Country by J.L. Carr! It's a quiet, thoughtful book about a WWI vet who has been hired on by a small village to uncover a mural that's hidden under whitewash in their church. I picked it up on a whim because I have also had good experiences with the NYRB classics, and I fell in love instantly.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, the question came up on our litchatboard but naturally the answers diverged (from topic I mean after the first page nobody on the same page)
ReplyDeleteI'd like to push 'The Mountain Lion' by Jean Stafford. It's a bleak, tragic, yet fiercely beautiful coming of age tale set in the American West. Stafford is a great writer and one who I'd like to see more readers discover. I loved this book and hope you'll consider it!
ReplyDeleteGreat Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood is one I think you would enjoy. It's novella length.
ReplyDeleteNYRB publishes Patrick Leigh Fermor's travel narratives, the first two as reprints - "A Time of Gifts" and "Between the Woods and the Water", and recently the trilogy's finale, "The Broken Road". Extraordinary, beautiful writing throughout. I will also second the suggestion for NYRB's 'A Month in the Country', loved it. The film was good too. One more NYRB reprint - Darcy O'Brien's autobiographical novel about his terrible Hollywood childhood, "A Way of Life, Like Any Other". I didn't love it, but it really got to me. Good teenager-with-unbearable-parents story.
ReplyDeleteTransit by Anna Seghers -quite absorbing and profound.
ReplyDeleteRichard Hughes' A High Wind in Jamaica and Oakley Hall's Warlock.
ReplyDelete