| Dirda on Books
Hosted by Michael Dirda
Washington Post Book World Senior Editor
Thursday, May 22, 2003; 2 p.m. ET Washington Post Book World Senior Editor Michael Dirda took your questions and comments concerning literature, books and the joys of reading. Each week Dirda's name appears -- in unmistakably big letters -- on page 15 of The Post's Book World section. If he's not reviewing a hefty literary biography or an ambitious new novel, he's likely to be turning out one of his idiosyncratic essays or describing his travels to, say, a P.G. Wodehouse Convention. Although he earned a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Cornell, Dirda has somehow managed to retain a myopic 12-year-old's passion for reading. He particularly enjoys comic novels, intellectual history, locked-room mysteries, innovative fiction of all sorts -- just the sort of range you'd expect from a Pulitzer Prize winner in criticism (1993). These days, Dirda says he still spends inordinate amounts of time mourning his lost youth, listening to music (Glenn Gould, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, The Tallis Scholars), and daydreaming ("my only real hobby"). He claims that the happiest hours of his week are spent sitting in front of a computer, working. In the fall of 2000 Indiana University Press published "Readings: Essays and Literary Entertainments," a selection from Dirda's Book World columns. He hopes to bring out a companion volume soon. Dirda joined The Post in 1978, having grown up in the working-class steel town of Lorain, Ohio and graduated with highest honors in English from Oberlin College. His favorite writers are Stendhal, Chekhov, Jane Austen, Evelyn Waugh, T.S. Eliot, Nabokov, John Dickson Carr, Joseph Mitchell and Jack Vance. He thinks the greatest novel of all time is either Murasaki Shikubu's "The Tale of Genji" or Proust's "A la recherche du temps perdu." In a just world he would own Watteau's painting "The Embarkation for Cythera." He'd also like to spend six months in Florida writing a book that would become a runaway best seller, a critical success, and the hottest cinematic property of the year. A guy can daydream, right? The transcript follows. Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
Washington, D.C.: Looking for some riveting genre fiction -- preferably horror -- that is actually written well. I've heard good things about the Horned Man and Ordinary Horror. Any other books that you can recommend? Michael Dirda: Welcome to Dirda on Books! Supposed to rain this afternoon in DC--perhaps it's already pouring. Not that we'd know it, sitting in our little windowless cubicles, chained to these terminals and forced to answer questions about. . . no, I mean honored to reply to queries from.... etc. etc. Anyway, for the next hour, we'll talk codices. So on with the show!
Riveting genre fiction? Preferably horror? Well written? The Horned Man is terrific (except for the end) -- very suspenseful and mysterious. But if you want well-written horror, return to the masters: Sheridan Le Fanu, M.R. James, Robert Aickman, and Vernon Lee. I'm about to write an essay on this last--she is the author of the best ghost story I know: Amour Dure. Live in Italy at the end of the 19th century, died in 1935, expert on Renaissance and such. But a great short story writer. Easiest place to find Amour Dure is probably the classic Montague Summers anthology The Supernatural Omnibus.
Aickman wrote what he called "strange stories" and these are very disturbing, but you often don't quite know what happened.
Also, do you know Maupassant's classic chiller, "The Horla?" Or "Who Knows?" Worth looking for.
Nowadays, horror is somewhat in decline, but you can go back to the recent masters like Clive Barker.
Hope this helps.
Richmond, Va.: Hi Michael, I'm wondering if you've heard anything about Paul Elie's The Life You Save May Be Your Own. It sounds interesting to me. Thanks. Michael Dirda: We're running a review on June 1. Yes, I would have reviewed it myself, had I learned of it sooner--as it was, one of my colleagues assigned it to just the right person.
For those not in the know, this is an interlaced biography of Thomas Merton, Dorthy Day, Walker Percy and Flannery O'Connor.
Red Line, Washington, D.C.: I'd like to write a comedic novel and would like to read a couple of books in that genre as inspiration. Any you recommend? I generally like Philip Roth, Woody Allen short stories, Tim O'Brien, etc. Michael Dirda: Good choices. Look for my list in Readings of 100 comic novels, with brief annotations. There are so many kinds of humor, it's hard to suggest. I mention P.G. Wodehouse all the time, but there's also Evelyn Waugh's Decline and Fall, Stella Gibbons Cold Comfort Farm, David Lodge's Small World, the outrageous Tom Sharpe, the Discworld books of Terry Pratchett. And a zillion others.
Cubesville, Md.: Just finished reading The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, which I found out about on this chat. It was wonderful -- funny, literary, imaginative to the nth degree. I wondered if you know anything you could share about the author or how he came up with the delightful concept for the story. Thanks for (another) great recommendation. Michael Dirda: Don't know much more about him, I'm sorry to say. I think there's a Web site, though, and you do know that the sequel is just out: Lost in a Good Book--more Thursday Next adventures.
Lewisville, Tex.: Hi Michael,
Love your chats! Reading one of the archived transcripts is my daily indulgence.
My question is -- do you read books on spirituality? If so, what are your favorites? Thanks. Michael Dirda: Sometimes. I tend to read the easier philosophical books that have some spiritual component. Pascal's Pensees, for instance. But I'm much attached to St. Augustine's Confessions, Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy, and the little books of Father De Mello on how to love. I have no interest in New Age spirituality.
Washington, D.C.: I am a fan of the old detective-murder genre, and share your high regard for John Dickson Carr. "Hag's Nook" is, to me, literature. I am wondering who your other favorites are, pre-1960 detective fiction. I nominate Raymond Chandler, which I guess is obvious, and Rex Stout, which is less so -- but I think the world he created, and the personalities, are first rate. Christie, to me, was wonderful, but it is unfortunate that she could not write. You? Craig Rice, mebbe? Michael Dirda: Never read Craig Rice. Among the golden age writers, aside from those you mention, I admire Anthony Berkley/Francis Iles (The Poisoned Chocolates Case; Before the Fact), G.K. Chesterton (the Fathre Brown stories), some Ellery Queen, Dorothy Sayers (especially Gaudy Night), Cornell Woolrich (The Bride Wore Black), James M. Cain (Double Indemnity), and many others. I do like classic puzzles and/or good writing--Chandler and Hammett being the best, in their different ways.
Bonn, Germany: Here's an appeal to the professorial you: tell me about Stendhal's Red and Black. There's been an unabridged daily reading of it on the radio for weeks now, and I'm still not sure what to think. It's hard to like any of the characters, with everyone (except Mme de Renal) scheming and calculating. So what is Stendhal trying to do -- what should I get out of this book? Michael Dirda: Madame de Renal is the most admirable character in the book, but Julien Sorel is every young man from the provinces whoever dreamed of making it big. And Mathilde is wonderfully hotblooded and romantic, if shallow. But who says we need to admire the characters to admire a work of art? Think of Liaisons Dangereuses, for instance. Stendhal portrays how society works, how people interact how disappointment is our lot: "That's all there is?" is Julien's cry, as it is for most of us, whether we are dealing with love, career, success, what have you.
Fairfax, Va.: Michael,
What's your take on the alternative history subgenre of SciFi/Fantasy? Turtledove, for example, puts out these massive volumes - are they worth taking a look at? I'm afraid I'll see nothing but pastiches of historic figures, weak representations of other characters, and formulaic plot. Any reason to hope otherwise? Michael Dirda: Haven't read Turtledove's but some alternate history stories are first rate. You might try: Ward Moore's Come the Jubilee (South wins Civil War); or Keith Roberts Pavane (no Protestant Reformation in England) or his story "Weihnachtsabend". There are a couple of paperback anthologies of alternate history stories worth looking for.
Decadent Books: Michael, I am a big fan of both Bret Easton Ellis and Jay McInerney. Are there any other authors out there who make good reading for a morning commute along the lines of these two? Michael Dirda: Hmmmm. George Saunders, maybe. Decadence, eh? You might go back to an early thriller by Ira Levin, A Kiss Before Dying or the novels of Patricia Highsmith, such as Strangers on a Train or The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Vancouver, B.C.: As for comedic novels, how about "A Confederacy of Dunces?" Michael Dirda: Sure. It's a great book.
Washington, D.C.: Speaking of comedic novels, have you read Dave Barry's two? Good enough to spend time on? Michael Dirda: Maybe. But I wouldn't. He's a very funny writer, but I've never imagined him as a novelist.
Kingstowne, Va.: Excellent recommendations for the aspiring comedic novel writer. Might I suggest a few more? "The Bonfire Of The Vanities" by Tom Wolfe, "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole, "Thank You For Smoking" by John Buckley (especially if the novel is D.C.-based), "The Pat Hobby Stories" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller. Michael Dirda: Yes. But that's Christopher Buckley (his cousin John did write something funny about DC, though).
Silver Spring, Md.: In deciding to reread Orwell's "Down and Out...," I discovered it in the library fiction section, and indeed inside it was listed as "A Novel." Since the book is celebrated as a straight journalistic account, this was puzzling. Was Orwell, a very moral man, reluctant to call the book non-fiction because he made up a few quotes or even a character or two? Your thoughts? Michael Dirda: I think it's a novel because he combined a lot of things that happened to him to make a better story, rather than stick to the exact truth in chronological order. You won't want to eat in a restaurant again.
Bethesda, Md.: Spirituality: It's not quite spirituality, but the Essays of Montaigne might be worth looking into. It's my understanding that although he was French they were originally written in Latin. I don't know if there are different translations, but in the one I have, the writing can be enjoyed solely for itself. Michael Dirda: Montaigne is one of my favorite people--right up there with Murasaki Shikubu as my choice to represent earth in the Galactic Federation. The essays were actually written in French, a slightly archaic French but not that hard to read, a little like looking at Chaucer (but even easier). Yes, there are many translations, most very good. Florio's is a classic of Renaissance English; Screech's in Penguin is probably the most scholarly; and Donald Frame's the most American and clear.
Silver Spring, Md.: Hello! I am reading M. Atwood's latest dystopian novel and loving it. Can recommend other novels of the same genre? Michael Dirda: Half of science fiction could be regarded as dystopian fiction. You might try the old classics first: We, by Zamyatin; Brave New World, by Huxley, 1984, by Orwell, The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick.
Lenexa, Kan.: Mr. Dirda: No wonder K. Amis called The Man Who Was Thursday (heavily touted by Bloom, Dirda, et al.) "the most thrilling book I have ever read." Not since Kafka's The Castle did I have such excitement at a chapter closing when Syme--after speeding all over London and sneaking into a dark tavern near the docks--finally shake the crippled old anarchist professor who seemed to be following him. Syme ordered beer, and then: "A moment later Professor de Worms entered the place, sat down carefully, and asked for a glass of milk." The reader at this point would pay ransom to go on... Thanks. Michael Dirda: Oh, it's a wonderful book. And I won't say more, lest I mar your pleasure. The Napoloen of Notting Hill is also terrific, albeit without the suspense. You do know the Father Brown stories? And the essays?
Tyson's Corner, Va.: I never thought I'd be saying this, but I have a ... gulp ... poetry question for you, Michael. I was listening to the latest "Mars Hill" audio journal, and it includes a lengthy interview with poet Dana Gioia on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Gioia claimed Wadsworth has been overshadowed by Whitman and Dickinson, and in many cases has been neglected altogether in contemporary curriculum. Gioia said Wadsworth used to be required reading for students, and he sang the praise of Longfellow's "Evangeline" as an example of how Longfellow was able to write poetry that connected with the masses. Wouldn't ya know, I've never read any Longfellow and don't recall ever being assigned his work in grade school. I graduated high school in 1988. Anyway, while at the library today, I picked up a copy of "Evangeline," a paperback edition that includes some other Longfellow poems, including "Song of Hiawatha." I look forward to trying to read some Longfellow, hoping that it might stimulate my interest in poetry. I've never been a big fan of poems, although I did, within the last year, buy a "The Fall and Other Poems," a small collection of religious poetry by J. Bottum. I thought that would do the trick and, umm, convert me, but I haven't taken the time to delve into the slim volume. Now, with Longfellow to back me up, and 32 years of living behind me, I hope to make the connection to poetry that my seventh-grade English teacher so wanted to see in me. My question: Do you have any particular favorite poems of Longfellow's? Michael Dirda: Evangeline and Hiawatha are both good--but long narrative poems. Why don't you look for a Selected Longfellow and dip into it? Paul Revere's Ride is famous and The Village Blacksmith and any number of others. Gioia has a long introduction to Longfellow in the Columbia Guide to AMerican Literature. My favorite anthology as a boy was Oscar Williams' Immortal Poems of the English Language--I write about it in my memoir AN OPEN BOOK. I also think Housman is a good poet to start with. Short, heartbreaking lyrics.
Washington, D.C.: On your recommendation, I recently read Zeno's Conscience (called Confessions of Zeno in an earlier edition). I loved it. A blurb on the jacket compared Svevo to Proust, Joyce and Kafka, none of whom I've read. Is this a fair comparison? If yes, which of these authors would you recommend? Which books? Any particular translation?
Thanks. Michael Dirda: Well, he's not as monumental as those three. Why don't you read Svevo's other great novel: Senilita, now called Emilio's Carnival, but in the translation I read As a Man Grows Older (a title given to the book, I'm told, by Joyce, who was a friend of Svevo's). Of the three you mention, Kafka is the most accessible: Try some of the short stories, such as "In the Penal Colony" or "The Hunter Gracchus," and then The Metamorphosis. Any translation will do. The standard is, I think, still Muir for these. The novels have been retranslated.
Virginia: Have you read the Michael Lewis book "Moneyball?" If so, what is your reaction? Michael Dirda: Just read my colleague Yardley's review--makes it sound good, but I'm not much of a baseball fan. As a kid, I loved to play baseball--second base--but I was never one for watching it on television or getting into stats. I do like to catch a game now and then at the stadium--the crowd, beer, hot dogs, the slow moving game. Amazingly restful and restorative.
Arlington, Va.: What do you think of Joan Aiken? Michael Dirda: I revere Joan Aiken. I've also reviewed two or three of her books-both his novels and a recent collection of stories. But all the Dido Twite books are wonderfully rumbustious, the Mortimer stories are lots of fun, and her ghost stories are both cozy and chilling, albeit not very frightening. She possesses a wonderful narrative voice, and all children should read her books.
Herndon, Va.: I have been listening to The Lord of the Rings in my car during my commute. I just started the third volume, The Return of the King. I have never enjoyed driving as much as I have during these past two months. I actually look forward to my commute. But thanks to last week's chat, I have a pretty good idea of how it ends. Michael Dirda: Do you? Well, let's just say that Sam gets home.
Bethesda, Md.: Portnoy's Complaint? One of the funniest books ever written (in modern English), yes? For males with immature minds at least. Michael Dirda: All males have immature minds when it comes to sex.
Richmond, Va.: Just wanted to recommend a new book called Reading Lolita in Tehran -- it so conveys the power that great literature has to transform people's lives by transforming what they can expect from their lives. And it has really given me a wonderful introduction to Nabokov (I'm sure I didn't really get him before -- I'd only read Pnin). The author -- a female Iranian professor of literature --- quotes Nabokov's line "Curiosity is insubordination in its purest form." Isn't that great? I love that. Michael Dirda: It is great. Nabokov was a great spinner of draconian statement: See his collected interviews Strong Opinions.
Butyou haven't read Lolita?! I am shocked, shocked. Nor Pale Fire--the greatest book of our time! (Sort of). You're in for treats. But aside from these, Vlad can be a rather cold and Olyhmpian writer--but so clever, and with such wonderful prose music.
Richmond, Va.: Well, I just read my first Iris Murdoch, A Severed Head. As most people here do, I read a lot and am not easily shocked (in the puritanical sense or in the sense of being taken by surprise), but she managed it. I like her style -- a veneer of civility but savage underneath I think. I want to read another soon -- I'm liking the title Nuns and Soldiers but am wondering if you have a preference among her other works. Also -- reading some of Stephen Crane's short fiction right now -- I like him. Was wondering about your thoughts on him as well. Thanks. I really enjoy the chats when I can make it -- and the transcripts when I can't. Michael Dirda: Well, A Severed Head is shocking. Let's not tell the others the details. I'd suggest trying The Black Prince or The Sacred and Profane Love Machine or A Word Child or The SEa, the Sea or The Bell. In roughly that order.
Gaithersburg, Md.: I couldn't find the book I was looking for on my shelf (Clowns of God, by Morris West -- something about coping with the last days appealed to me these rainy days), so I picked up The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks (a totally different mood from the West novel, I know). I had forgotten how great they were. Who is writing now that you would put in the same class as Robertson Davies? The wit, the observation, the total love of language. Has anybody every published an annotated Davies novel? I know that for every allusion I catch, I miss 17. Michael Dirda: Who writes like Marchbanks? Well, you know that was a persona assumed by Davies, and the man is a bit gruffer, more opinionated and occasionally irritating than Davies himself. You might want to read The Enthusiasms of Robertson Davies, or his letters, or A Voice from the Attic-similar but even more winning, I think. As for who else has that voice? Why, me, of course.
Washington, D.C.: Mr. Dirda,
What is the scariest book you've read? I know you're partial to Victorian era ghost stories, as am I, but while these often have a nice atmosphere I don't usually find them all that frightening. The one book I've read that left me unable to sleep? "Ghost Story" by Peter Straub. Popular fiction it may be, but that does not diminish its effectiveness. Michael Dirda: The scariest story I've ever read is probably "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. After that, hmmmm. Perhaps "The Stains" by Robert Aickman. Or "The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood. But when I was younger you couldn't beat H.P. Lovecraft--The Rats in the Wall, The Call of Cthulhu.
New York, N.Y.: I'm reading one of Robert Caro's works right now, and I was wondering whether you have some favorite biographers and/or biographies? Michael Dirda: Sure, but they mostly write literary biographies--Richard Ellmann (Joyce, Wilde), Richard Holmes (Coleridge), Claire Tomalin (Pepys), A.J. A Symons (Quest for Corvo) Boswell, et al. Caro is first rate. I'm also particularly fond of a biography called Hugh Walpole, by Rupert Hart-Davis--the account of a now forgotten best selling novelist. It's really a guide to making it in the literary world of Edwardian London.
Lucia in Reston, Va.: My daughter asked me what is so great about "The Great Gatsby." I recall that I was never impressed with that book either. I have heard you recommend it time and again. Could it be a guy thing? Michael Dirda: My friend Dawn Trouard, a staunch feminist who teaches American lit, would be appalled to hear this. No, it's a perfectly written, perfectly put together story that reflects on the major issues that haunt American life. It may not be your favorite book, but it does what it intends with utter mastery. You might like Tender is the Night better--it has a more interesting heroine in Nicole Diver.
Sacramento, Calif.: For the poetry novice -- there used to be a paperback edition selected from Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" in which most of the poems were in their first and somewhat better state. Forget the editor --maybe Robert Creeley? Michael Dirda: Yes. But I don't think they're all that different in any state. Whitman tended to add things rather than change them.
Cubeville: re Nabokov: yes he can be cold, but one of most heartwarming (I know it doesn't sound right) memoirs I've ever read was his "Speak, Memory." Michael Dirda: The cradle swings above an abyss… Beautiful, yes, and he certainly loved Russia and his father, but I still think he's a cold writer. And I say this as one who owns all his books and reveres him as a master.
Friendship Heights: For comic novels, I would suggest one of the best, and a case where bigger really is better because I never wanted it to end, is Gravity's Rainbow. Unlike V or the Crying of Lot 49 (or Vineland for that matter) it really is funny, esp. the case of mistaken identity involving the general dressed in a pig costume. And it's intellectually challenging too. Michael Dirda: Ok. I am apparently the only person in America who regards Mason&Dixon as a masterpiece--albeit an autumnal, tender one. And it's funny too.
Library of Babylon, Argentina: Hi Michael, you are a doctor, here are my symptoms: I loved Victor LaValle's The Ecstatic, Alice McDermott's Child of My Heart, and am happily poring over the mutely psychotic characters in Patricia Highsmith's Uncollected Stories. But what next? Michael Dirda: Hmmm, what do all these have in common? Good writing? What next? Read Highsmith's novels--Strangers on a Train or The Talented Mr. Ripley. Or look for her earlier stories in The Snail Watcher and Other Stories. And McDermott's best book is still At Weddings and Wakes.
Casa de Oro, Calif: I have recently discovered Ryszard Kapuscinski and I am enthralled. I have no desire to hop a flight to the latest revolution, but there's something in his writing that speaks to me at many levels. If you know of him, do you perhaps know of anyone quite like him? Michael Dirda: Don't really know his work well. But you might like Bruce Chatwin's travel pieces to exotic places -- What am I doing Here. In one he's caught up in a revolution in Africa, with scary and funny consequences.
Michael Dirda: Well, our time is up for this week, folks. So now I must return to my Book World labors and writing headlines and plowing through another day. Till next Thursday at 2, remember: Keep reading!
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