Big book on campus, part 2
It continues to be the most! wonderful! time!
I continue to will fall to actually approach with strong thoughts about campus books. Any campus will do, really. If you missed last week’s class and need to catch up on the assigned reading, it is here. Don’t do that again. Oh, and if anyone sees FALL, tell it it is EXPECTED to ATTEND.
This is a big EELS issue to me because it includes possibly my favorite book of all time. I am hesitant for you to continue reading because what if you hate it. What if you read it and hate it?? What if you read it and hate me??
I am feeling very vulnerable here. Let’s just push forward. God, it’s like being back at school again.
Do you have friends who would like this class, I mean, email? Probably yes! Forward this to them or share on your socials and let’s find out!
Want to see what I’ve recommended in the past? Guess what—there’s a handy spreadsheet out there with all sorts of helpful info to help you choose your next read, and if you’re an EELS subscriber, I’ll give you access to it.
🔍 The Secret Place
Tana French, 2014
I think Irish lit is great, and I thought this book was great, so I don’t know why I haven’t read literally anything else by Tana French. People, what are other Tana Frenches I should read? This one is a mystery that alludes vaguely to other ones in the series which, obviously, I know nothing about, but, obviously, that didn’t stop me from forging ahead. I have no idea why I did this but presumably someone told me to, and I am an obedient lamb.
Anyhow, it ended up on my audiobook queue, so listen I did, and was riveted. A squad of young girls—not unlike the Brodie set from last week and with all the terrifying politics Adolescent Girl World entails—are swept up in a murder mystery that is not at all cool and exciting and is instead upsetting and weird, whatever they may tell themselves. It’s damp and mossy and boarding-school-sneaking-out-thrilling but also boarding-school-sneaking-out-scary, when you’re too young to be seeing the things you’re seeing.
Recommended to: Those who love a good mystery and kind of wanted Stand by Me to be sadder and about girls. And in Ireland.
Recommended format: I loved the audiobook, which has two narrators. I’m becoming really predictable about this!
😬 My Dark Vanessa
Kate Elizabeth Russell, 2020
OK, speaking of “too young to be seeing the things you’re seeing,” My Dark Vanessa is VERY tough to read. Your warning is this, and it is not a spoiler: The main character is struggling to reconcile with her memories of a voluntary affair she had at a (boarding) high school with a middle-aged teacher. The effects it had on her were very real, and… whew.
I think you should all read this, unless you are already very aware of the effects and do not need to be reminded. In which case, stay far away. But, like last week’s Vladimir, this book illustrates how the ripples of this kind of thing affects a whole life. If you’re like, “Listen, I am NOT in the mood for this, I would prefer to read a beautiful hilarious work of art,” I totally get it and please read on or consult my archive spreadsheet for one of those (or just read Vladimir, which, like the Nabokov to which that refers, depicts similar awful subjects in the absurdity of beautiful, cheerful prose, on purpose). But, if you would like a moody thinkpiece, check it out!
Recommended to: Those who would like a moody thinkpiece, and would like to understand what going through something complicated feels like. A little empathy is going to serve you well in your life.
Recommended format: Again, I really like the audiobook, especially since I stuck around for the little talkback session at the end, where the narrator talked about how she used slightly different voices for young Vanessa and old Vanessa.
I put this book here because I loved it but also because the title itself is a reference to…………
🏓 Pale Fire
Vladimir Nabokov, 1962
Here it is, my favorite. I can’t tell you how much I love this book, which is a 999-line poem (bear with me) by a fictional poet named John Shade. It is presented as a volume with annotated notes by his “friend” and “colleague” (at a fictional university) named Charles Kinbote, complete with an intro, which you should read closely.
Even thinking about it makes me laugh!
You can’t just read the poem. You can’t read the poem and then read the notes. You must read the poem along with the notes. The poem is beautiful. The notes are hilarious and form a story. It all comes together, and it’s genius. Think: a guy kind of cracking up in one way while glomming like bad-breathed barnacle onto another guy who is an actual great mind of literature who was just trying to write a simple poem about his wife and daughter. I can’t believe Nabokov was a real person who wrote like this. Imagine it!
My brother Mike gave me a copy of this when I was youngish and impressionable and thank goodness. I know Pnin is supposed to be Nabokov’s big campus novel, and I’m actually reading it right this second and it’s great and all (and I’m realizing it is what the entire vibe of Less is Lost is based on), but nothing will top Charles Kinbote for me.
Recommended to: Those who have the time to flip back and forth and read every word. The payoff is tremendous.
Recommended format: I’ve never done this but I imagine an ebook helps out a lot with all the endnotes.
And now, a bonus recommendation
🚌 Dr. No and The Trees — Percival Everett, 2023 and 2022
Recommended to: “Read Dr. No if you don’t like Elon Musk but like James Bond. Not a James Bond story. The Trees is a great story kind of about the ghost of Emmett Till.”
Recommended by: Gabe, who is currently into yelling at contractors for not paying attention to any details, and once gave me (by my request) a list of books to read that year and I read every one. Pretty sure I loved almost all of them, but who can remember anything pre-pandemic. The last three books he loved were The Chief, An Inventory of Losses, and 4 3 2 1. Somewhere, Gabe is sighing because I definitely made him read Pale Fire once.
That was the twenty-first EELS! I would be just so grateful if you’d share widely with your networks! As always, send any and all questions, feedback, and shouted book recommendations by hitting reply.
📚 Susan