tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post1046473885969810317..comments2024-02-10T19:58:20.327+00:00Comments on Stuck in a Book: Five From the Archive (no.4)StuckInABookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-83558562305477365972012-06-30T09:11:36.408+01:002012-06-30T09:11:36.408+01:00I've enjoyed reading both your post and the en...I've enjoyed reading both your post and the ensuing comments.<br /><br />I'm going to suggest 'Madame Bovary', for the description of Emma Bovary's suicide. It's quite shocking, I think, for a nineteenth century novel.Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10504446211868008723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-2241226166840743762012-06-27T20:37:57.988+01:002012-06-27T20:37:57.988+01:00I really like the sketches Simon. What a brilliant...I really like the sketches Simon. What a brilliant way of sweetening a difficult topic. It is a theme that is certainly worth raising. After all, as the saying goes there are only two things certain in life, death and taxes. Although, after the fun and games earlier in the week, we should perhaps add "women will love a bad guy" to that list? (Insert appropriate smiley icon to stress last comment intended only as witty aside.)<br /><br />Getting back to more weighty matters, I would recommend Susan Hill's Simon Serrailler crime novels as excellent reading on the subject of death. I do so not just because they are murder mysteries, but also because they deal quite intensively with questions of life and death, not least within Serrailler's own family. The most recent book in the series The Shadows in the Street is perhaps the one most closely concerned with death, focussing as it does on the thorny topic of euthanasia. It's a lot heavier than Christie, but nowhere near as grim as my description might suggest. (Incidentally, signed first editions of the next book in this series, published this coming autumn, can currently be ordered from Susan Hill's website for less than RRP. Writing this comment prompted me to order one.)David Nolan (David73277)https://www.blogger.com/profile/16898875181095358216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-43384352943123870722012-06-27T18:57:15.485+01:002012-06-27T18:57:15.485+01:00My vote would be The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I...My vote would be The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I picked it up as part of an offer and wasn't sure if I'd like it, but ended up adoring it and raving about it and lending it to anyone who would read it. It's set in Nazi Germany and is narrated by death and is wonderfully written and moving - highly recommended.Kaggsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07348319724492250546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-64249272426959763092012-06-27T16:39:58.056+01:002012-06-27T16:39:58.056+01:00I'm not sure how to decide that a book is '...I'm not sure how to decide that a book is 'about death.' I looked at my personal list of all-time favorites. Many of them end with a death but I'm not sure I'd say they are 'about death.' Perhaps "Memento Mori" by Muriel Spark would qualify. I love Hannah Green's "The Dead of the House" but it's more about the past of the narrator's family. John Berger's "To the Wedding" is about love and death, a novel that is both very sad and very joyful in addition to being beautifully written. <br /><br />Mary GroverAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-61381895454895350892012-06-27T12:50:04.353+01:002012-06-27T12:50:04.353+01:00The Magic Mountain for a start! I also think that ...The Magic Mountain for a start! I also think that David Lodge does quite a good job (in a much lighter vein) in Paradise News too. I totally recommend the unforgettable Norwegian Wood by Murakami; do consider reading that one if you haven't alreadyDark Pusshttp://morganas-cat.tumblr.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-7884420008619298802012-06-27T04:44:53.553+01:002012-06-27T04:44:53.553+01:00This is an intriguing subject and I love the varie...This is an intriguing subject and I love the variety of books you've chosen. But I am struggling to think of what I could recommend - what a vast topic!<br /><br />I don't think I have ever been as deeply affected by fictional deaths as I was by those in the books I read as a child. While others were crying over <i>Charlotte's Web</i>, I was devastated when I was nine by the death of Walter in L.M. Montgomery's <i>Rilla of Ingleside</i>. I actually put the book down at that point and walked away, refusing to return to it for several years because I didn't want to face a world where so many of my favourite characters were grieving. As an adult, I'm slightly more rational but only slightly.<br /><br />Roger Rosenblatt's <i>Making Toast</i>, a memoir about his family's life after his adult daughter's unexpected death, is very moving without feeling exploitative and I would be remiss if I didn't mention Helen Rappaport's <i>A Magnificent Obsession</i>, about Prince Albert's death and Queen Victoria's years of mourning. In a funnier vein, there's Jonathan Tropper's <i>The Is Where I Leave You</i>, a comedy about a dysfunctional set of siblings gathered to mourn their father. But, though they don't count as a book on their own, I think some of the most beautiful writing I have read about death and grief are STW's letters to William Maxwell, first after Valentine's death and then in the months before her own. Read those broke my heart.<br /><br />And, even though I’ve rambled on for far too long, I can’t end without telling you how much I love the D.E.A.T.H. cartoon!Claire (The Captive Reader)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07430380065718826213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-50833859619456618852012-06-27T04:42:01.521+01:002012-06-27T04:42:01.521+01:00OK, dh and I are laughing out loud over the sketch...OK, dh and I are laughing out loud over the sketches!Susan in TXhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09550766549670690646noreply@blogger.com