I'm feeling pretty rough so gonna keep this brief, had a lot great suggestions so thanks to everyone that sent something in! If nothing else, I'll have a load of great books to read through whatever happens.
I'm going to start us off with my chosen short story, then will run the people who've PM'd me through a random number generator.
So, my selection is this six word 'novel', often attributed to Hemingway but apparently actually predating him:
"For sale: baby shoes, never worn."
That's it. Now that I've got my current choice out of the way, let's see who comes up...
It's come up with number 1, the first person to PM me was Banjo, so that's who we're going with.
He has selected: The Case of the General's Thumb by Andrey Kurkov
According to Banjo: Kurkov is an interesting satirical writer, and being Ukrainian lends his work a voice and style you're not commonly going to see. Other works of his are very fun.
Some positive reviews from professional literary critics:
"An ebullient black comedy... Reminiscent of the best Soviet dissident literature" (Daily Telegraph)
"Full of touches of grim insight and tactful surrealism, with just enough of the absurd to suggest a cross between John le Carre's Smiley and Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita" (John Burnside Scotland on Sunday)
"Kurkov is a fine satirist and a real, blackly comic find" (Observer)
"Kurkov flips from mock-tragedy to comedy and back again, planting the ominous and the absurd neatly among deadpan descriptions of a daily life in denial" (The Times)
"Kurkov received universal praise for his debut novel Death and the Penguin... Kurkov's latest is better" (Time Out)
It's only 192 pages so not excuse for not reading it, could probably get it done in a couple of hours.
Synopsis:
The corpse of a distinguished general is found attached to an advertising balloon—and minus his thumb. Police Lieutenant Viktor Slutsky is sent in to investigate. So, too, is KGB officer Nik Tsensky. They begin their investigations unbeknownst to each other, but quickly find themselves mystified about developments caused by the other.
Thus begins a comedy of very dangerous errors as the two crisscross Europe, Russia, and the Ukraine, catalysts in a bizarre battle between the Russian and Ukrainian secret services.
What ensues is simultaneously hilarious, tragic, and suspenseful, with a fascinating cast of characters who would seem absurd if they weren’t so compelling: a larger-than-life hitman, a deaf-and-dumb blonde, and a turtle. Then there’s the gun that shoots backwards...
And as the two faithful investigators find themselves to be pawns in a story of post-Soviet collapse, it becomes—as usual in the work of this modern Russian master—an inspiring tale of resilience against the dark forces of the day.
Can you hook us up Irene?
I'll update the OP properly later, I want to go back to bed.
Alright, my pick! I've slacked so much on literature over the last few years, and Kurkov now has quite a respectable catalogue of work compared to when I first discovered him (a chance encounter with A Matter of Death and Life, which I saw in a Waterstones around ten years ago, which is even shorter than this). I personally can't vouch for General's Thumb, as it has sat unread on my pile for a long time, but if reviews are to be believed then it should be a good read, as I thoroughly enjoyed Death and the Penguin.
Here's hoping this gets book club off to a good start.
Gonna see if Irene can do something on the book front save buying it from Kindle, can't be doing with physical books actual paper just feel horrid and belugh.
Could you share the method? There's a bunch of books I've looked for digital copies of but can never find. I've got worn-out paperbacks so it's that big a no-no, right?
Rocsteady wrote:If you have a Kindle you have to download Calibre to convert it to .mobi. But if you have a Kindle you should really have Calibre already.
Will get started on this book later.
Thanks. It works great I iBooks so I'm all set from that
Frank wrote:Could you share the method? There's a bunch of books I've looked for digital copies of but can never find. I've got worn-out paperbacks so it's that big a no-no, right?
Will get it downloaded later. Excited.
Yeah it's using an IRC client to download books, just Google that and the first result is a Reddit page which has instructions.