Best books (fiction & non-fiction) of the 21st century?

Sat Dec 14 10:52:48 CST 2013

I learned more about how the Senate (and House) work from the Caro book
than from a dozen other books specifically about Congress.

On Sat, Dec 14, 2013 at 10:48 AM, Tom Beshear <tbeshear at att.net> wrote:

>  The LBJ books aren't just about LBJ; they're about the USofA in that
> time and how power is wielded. They're well worth your time.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Mark Sacha <msacha1121 at gmail.com>
> *To:* pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> *Sent:* Saturday, December 14, 2013 10:34 AM
> *Subject:* Re: Best books (fiction & non-fiction) of the 21st century?
>
> I loved Caro's Power Broker (what a bastard that guy Moses was, although
> fascinating as a character study...), but have been scared away from his
> LBJ series for the sheer size of it (five volumes? I don't know if there's
> a single figure in history I'd read so much about). Can't say I've read
> much nonfiction from this century, would vouch for Burrows and Wallace's
> Gotham if it didn't miss the cut off by a year or so.
>
>
> On Sat, Dec 14, 2013 at 10:33 AM, Mark Sacha <msacha1121 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I loved Caro's Power Broker (what a bastard that guy Moses was, although
>> fascinating as a character study...), but have been scared away from his
>> LBJ series for the sheer size of it (five volumes? I don't know if there's
>> a single figure in history I'd read so much about). Can't say I've read
>> much nonfiction from this century, would vouch for Burrows and Wallace's
>> Gotham if it didn't miss the cut off by a year or so.
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Dec 14, 2013 at 8:09 AM, Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>>   Joseph Tracy sez what I haven't said yet:
>>>  "I can't even rate books I really liked on a scale. I like them for
>>> very different reasons."
>>>
>>> I am like some pre-industrial cultures I read about in M. Mead once.
>>> They count None, One, Many....
>>> I judge Great. Good. Bad but I can't really rank either. When I try, the
>>> major "ranking' criterion is
>>> something like 'richness'. Which means size matters. (I still do not
>>> know how to judge whether
>>> Huck Finn could be the greater 19th Century American novel, as
>>> many great readers say,
>>>  since Moby Dick exists.)
>>>
>>> So, great books of the 21st Century: Against the Day. My emotional
>>> involvement makes me judge it
>>> so far ahead (of others I've read) that I am a joke judge beyond that
>>> book. Therefore an unreliable judge overall.
>>>
>>> Does anyone else jumping in here actually feel themselves unable to
>>> feel, to get, to enjoy many, many fictions
>>> because of Pynchon? Or Pynchon and Shakespeare for me?
>>> I'm serious here. Most others feel......superficial. Others which
>>> aren't, sez everyone,
>>> often take a mental wrenching (like the head-turning in The Exorcist)---different
>>> from absorbed mental concentration---which I am often not strong enough
>>> for ----euphemism for not smart enough for in some sense....
>>>
>>> I have been reading many older works, "classics" rather than the latest
>>> 'masterpiece' . Feeling I missed so many, so much
>>> and read or 'looked at' contemporary works too much most of my adult
>>> years.
>>>
>>> Yes, the parts of Caro I read on Johnson---early years which must be
>>> from the last century and JFK's assassination and
>>> his assumption of the Presidency are among the best of the 21st Century.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>   *From:* Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net>
>>> *To:* P-list List <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>>> *Sent:* Friday, December 13, 2013 11:25 PM
>>> *Subject:* Re: Best books (fiction & non-fiction) of the 21st century?
>>>
>>> Who decides?  I can't even rate books I really liked on a scale.  I like
>>> them for very different reasons.
>>>   Books  from  this century that affected my thinking most? no order
>>>
>>> Omnivore's Dilemna, Michael Pollan  ( plus his talks and articles from
>>> 2004-now)
>>> Against the Day, T Pynchon
>>> Mad Addam trilogy. Margaret Atwood
>>> Eaarth, and Deep Economy, Bill McKibben
>>> Murder City, Charles Bowden  affected me more than Bolano's 2666 but
>>> both powerful  in different ways
>>> Timothy; or notes of an abject reptile, Verlyn Klinkenborg  (
>>> demonstrates beautiful clear prose without a verb in every sentence.)
>>> Science Set Free , Rupert Sheldrake
>>> The Lacuna, Barbara Kingsolver
>>> The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein
>>> My name is Red, Orhan Pamuk
>>>     Fun and good - Michael Chabon, Neil Gaiman,  Jose Saramago,
>>>
>>>
>>> On Dec 13, 2013, at 8:19 AM, James Kyllo wrote:
>>>
>>> > 2666. The Kindly Ones, The Pale King, Europe Central, The Time of Our
>>> > Singing, The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break
>>> >
>>> >> So what are the best books of the 21st century, thus far?
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > J
>>> >
>>> > --
>>> > http://www.last.fm/user/Auto_Da_Fe
>>> > http://www.pop.nu/en/show_collection.asp?user=2412
>>> > http://www.librarything.com/profile/Auto_Da_Fe
>>> > http://www.thedetails.co.uk/
>>> > http://www.songkick.com/users/Auto_Da_Fe
>>> > http://big-game.tumblr.com/
>>> > -
>>> > Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>>>
>>>
>>> -
>>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
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