[|literary suggestions

[NavyStyles]

Stu, I was actually going to mention Greene's The Power and the Glory. While I was reading it, it was nice enough. But I didn't fully appreciate it until after I had finished. All in all, I recommend it -- especially if you enjoy analyzing symbolism.

 

[Stu]

   All in all, I recommend it -- especially if you enjoy analyzing symbolism.

Classic Greene. Heavy on symbolism and God. It seems like every main character of his is a deeply religous Catholic at war with himself and wanting to be a good man of God but someone who is terribly flawed at the same time. Kind of like Johnny Cash. Greene's heavy on the theology and the struggle of one's soul and stuff like that.

But he is brilliant, and his work is insightful -- you learn from reading him. To understand Haiti, read The Comedians. To understand Vietnam, read The Quiet American. Not many novelists can educate as well as entertain.

 

[cristobal]

I'm surprised no one here mentioned Graham Greene.

I absolutely adore "Our Man in Havana." The dialogue's very witty, and Greene's attention to detail gives the reader a remarkable taste of life in pre-revolutionary Cuba.

 

[Stu]

Quote:

I'm surprised no one here mentioned Graham Greene.
I absolutely adore "Our Man in Havana." The dialogue's very witty, and Greene's attention to detail gives the reader a remarkable taste of life in pre-revolutionary Cuba.
yeah, that's good and entertaining, but IMHO not real indicative of classic Greene. He himself said so, and refused to call "Our Man" a novel. Rather, he referred to it as an "entertainment." he wrote a couple of so-called "entertainments." as opposed  to his more serious stuff. But it does have some Greene traits, such as the mocking tweaking of the British establishment by making fun of the M19.

 

[LabelKing]

Methinks Labelking subscribes to a certain philosophical tract.  Would you cringe if said that I believe in categorical imperatives?  Truth? Objective Morality?

I don't cringe at other's schools of thought. Besides I shouldn't wish for a lengthy philosophical discourse especially on a forum aimed at more of the superficial... Objective morality; "Les Chants de Maldoror," and "Justine" anyone?

If you're going to read Mann, Buddenbrooks.

One should read Buddenbrooks before venturing into that symbolic microcosm "The Magic Mountain."

Also I would add Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood," and Vidal's "Myra Breckinridge" for some examinations of American concepts.