Speaking of lists...

[kelber at mindspring.com]

I love these occasional interludes on the List where everyone's recommending (or warning against) books.  Being someone who approaches being a suicidal maniac on occasion, I try to avoid books that are gratuitously downbeat, horrifying or mean-spirited.  I feel I'm in safe waters with Pynchon, but I always approach "modern" (not so much post-modern) writers with trepidation.  Being in one of those moods lately, I've retreated to a modest-sized doorstopper (500+ pages, although in very small print):  Armadale, by Wilkie Collins.  I'm enjoying the escape (I loved his better-known The Moonstone).  But I forgot to factor in the Victorians' cruel loathing for waifs -- there's a scene where a pauper-boy's only friend, a dog, has been shot for trespassing in someone's garden, and some rich people jeer at the boy as he sobs over the dead, bloody pup in his arms (Pointsman's ancestors?).

Laura

And while I'm talking pre-modern (post-pre-modern?  I have no idea), Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott, is a lot of fun.


>On Nov 18, 2008, at 5:03 AM, Lawrence Bryan wrote:
>
>>
>> I was looking at Henry Roth's novel, Call It Sleep, and remembering  
>> how depressing it was. That was 40+ years ago when I was in one of  
>> those depressing life periods young folks sometimes go through. Was  
>> it really as depressing as I recall? What other good reads should  
>> those with suicidal tendencies avoid?
>>
>> Lawrence, not yet looking for an excuse to do away with himself...
>>
>