The Nobel address of Olga Tokarczuk, Polish writer, clinical psychologist and 2018 winner of the prize for literature, focuses on the role of narrative and the need for a new way of telling the world’s story. 

 

My favorite quote so far: "The King died, and then the Queen died" is a story. "The King died, and then the Queen died of grief" is a plot.

 

Teaser excerpt:

The world is a fabric we weave daily on the great looms of information, discussions, films, books, gossip, little anecdotes. Today the purview of these looms is enormous—thanks to the internet, almost everyone can take place in the process, taking responsibility and not, lovingly and hatefully, for better and for worse. When this story changes, so does the world. In this sense, the world is made of words.

How we think about the world and—perhaps even more importantly—how we narrate it have a massive significance, therefore. A thing that happens and is not told ceases to exist and perishes. This is a fact well known to not only historians, but also (and perhaps above all) to every stripe of politician and tyrant. He who has and weaves the story is in charge.

 

Today our problem lies—it seems—in the fact that we do not yet have ready narratives not only for the future, but even for a concrete now, for the ultra-rapid transformations of today’s world. We lack the language, we lack the points of view, the metaphors, the myths and new fables. Yet we do see frequent attempts to harness rusty, anachronistic narratives that cannot fit the future to imaginaries of the future, no doubt on the assumption that an old something is better than a new nothing, or trying in this way to deal with the limitations of our own horizons. In a word, we lack new ways of telling the story of the world.

Strange pilgrims.  GG Marquez

an entertaining collection of short stories. Good characters. 

Seeing. Jose Saramago.

political satire, aiming at the dirty deeds of govt. 

East of Eden. Steinbeck

simple elegant compassionate.
very good.

 

The sun also rises. Ernest Hemingway.

Hard boiled Hemingway. Great dialogue. Always lovely crossing the bridges of Paris.

God help the child.  Toni Morrison

found it unsatisfying as it lacked the depth of other novels. Then I found out it was her first. 
Good story ,beautifully written , perfectly constructed.
 

Pincher Martin. William Golding.
'there is nothing here but torture.'
interesting analysis of self.
 Visceral writing.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6464937-too-much-happiness

too much happiness  Alice Munro 
 9 superb short stories. The quality never drops. The sense of foreboding is balanced by the easy style as we are taken through death , loss and abandonment.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/dec/18/death-by-water-kenzaburo-oe-review

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/12/gabriel-garcia-marquez-one-hundred-years-of-solitude-history

My name is red. Orphan Pamuk 
Constantinople 1680 , the view of an artist, with a murder mystery thrown in. Very good 

 haresfur wrote: 
Parts of the movie are very scary ...

There's a house in my neighborhood I call the Boo Radley house.

 Antigone wrote: 
I watched it when I was home alone at about 9 or so years old. It made a huge impression not just about the plot itself but because it opened up a whole world of serious themes. My parents came home near the end and were pissed because they thought I was too young. Heck, so was Scout.

 meower wrote: 
thanks!

 lily34 wrote: 

Carson McCullers for both

 Antigone wrote: 
who is the author? i guess i could google

 Antigone wrote: 

LOVED IT
and my all time favorite, albeit very sad is The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.   

 lily34 wrote: 
Another really great read (in terms of Southern lit) is The Member of the Wedding. Highly recommended.

 sirdroseph wrote: 
yeah, i'm going to do that this weekend, i think!

 lily34 wrote: 

This is a must see for you then.  This movie is Peck's Opus and nearest representation of his essence as an actor and a person to be sure.