The Fiction Corrida

I just finished The Naked and The Dead this a.m., hardly a holiday book. This won't be as grand I imagined it, I'm already quite behind on all the books that have arrived these past few days. My initial top novels were Patrick White's Voss and The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano. Many confederates launched their own picks, The Human Stain, Carpentaria, Fortress of Solitude, The Wall Jumper, Black Swan Green and Life: A Users Manual were all at the apex of certain lists. I must admit to mustering the courage for a dash at the Perec, there is even a tandem copy at the library's book sale (let my wife be warned, especially after i bought her Darkmans by Nicola Barker).

Upon reflecting what exactly defines impactful, I found that I needed to side with Roger and Joel, Against The Day by Pynchon bore quite a shaft into my psyche. Those Chums of Chance and the conveyence rides through the Inferno will not be lost.