Mar 13, 2008

Expanding Our Horizons

A newly discovered Laxness fan who is reading Independent People posted a comment saying that "the fact that it was by a Nobel laureate who is largely unknown was enough to arouse my curiosity... and I decided to investigate." This made me think of a blog I keep an eye on, Around the World in 100 Books. (And Booktraveller's earlier site.) What I love about this blog is the author's goal to read a sampling of literature from all around the world.

Unless I'm dim, there don't seem to be any links from the list of books read to the individual posts, so it is a bit hard to navigate. Nevertheless, it's an interesting blog to explore and discover new treasures. Just what we all need: a lengthier list of books on our "To Read" list! But expanding our horizons is a good thing. Sometimes even beyond Iceland. Perhaps.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Rose:

I sent a lengthy response by blog (I presumed) on Feb. 3, 2008, respecting your comments regarding Brad Leithauser's poetry. Since this was my first response to a blogger-page, I am now certain I did not accomplish the communication in correct fashion. My reblog may be floating in the cyberspace for all I know.

Responding to your recent - and intelligent - posting, I attempted to discuss my profound appreciation of Mr. Leithauser's poetry, especially "Darlington's Fall", his occasional verse ("Toad to a Nightingale" and "Lettered Creatures"), and the under-appreciated "Curves and Angles". You did not receive my response, as it happens, but now you may e-mail me at my email shown below. I believe we constitute a two-person fan club, and I have much more to add.

I request you refrain from posting this letter, since my comments are geared to Mr. Leithauser's innovative stylizations and his art - not my inability to blog.

Sincerely,
M Roth

Darien Fisher-Duke said...

M. Roth,
Clearly you do have an ability to blog, as you have successfully responded to my post via your comment! I have recently acquired a number of Leithauser's books, and look forward to enjoying them soon. Thanks for your comments.

Spectre said...

I hadn't heard of Brad Leithauser until I read his introduction to Independent People. He must be a writer of note. There's always something . . .

Darien Fisher-Duke said...

If you didn't see it, Spectre, I drooled all over his writing in my review of his "Friends of Freeland" (just use the search box, upper left corner of my blog). I haven't read his other books yet, but obviously M. Roth likes them just as much as I do "Friends"! I've read several books lately where I've enjoyed the introduction as much as the book itself.

Spectre said...

Okay, Rose. I dug a little deeper into your past posts, and also read about Brad Leithauser. Thanks!

I thought I had read a fair amount of world literature, and have tried to catch up with contemporay writers as well, but Leithauser had been completely off my radar --- I'm sure he'll not be the last one! But I regret that I'm unable to check him out any time soon because of all the 'must' reading I've been putting off. Laxness has contributed to it quite a bit as it is. :-)

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