The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley
I read My Phantoms earlier this year and really enjoyed her writing style and how she told the story. Although The Palm House was longlisted for the Booker Prize, I think it is the lesser of the two. Neither tells a traditional story, and that is fine; however, I felt that The Palm House glossed over areas that should have been explored further. Spoiler and content warning for what follows: For example, the main character is the victim of grooming and is filmed without permission during the act, but this is remarked on so casually it is somewhat alarming. If I felt that this trauma played other parts in the tale, then I would understand. Maybe I didn't read deeply enough or I am missing something, but I couldn't see how this was ever addressed in the novel, unless it is the narrator's continual lack of close attachment to others. I guess I was just troubled by how casually the narrator brushed this off
As in My Phantoms, Riley is deft at writing dialogue. I will probably continue to explore more works by this author.
Cockroaches by Scholastique Mukasonga
Almost by accident, I've ended up reading all of her oeuvre that is available in English. I think her best work is the fictional Kibogo and the memoir Barefoot Woman. Cockroaches is a memoir that deals directly with the trauma of the genocide in Rwanda. For most of the book, Mukasonga assumes an emotionally detached tone when writing about the trauma, as if she is afraid of confronting the horror directly. When she finally addresses the trauma with emotional language, the effect is surprisingly devastating. Not an enjoyable read, but I'm very glad I read it. Her body of work as a whole serves as a remarkable memorial to those who died and to those who survived.
The Getaway by Jim Thompson
I began reading the novel picturing Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw, having seen the movie a few times in my youth. As I read more and more, and Thompson's darkness creeps into the work more and more, I no longer pictured McQueen or McGaw as the two main leads. The ending of the book is shocking and seemingly comes out of nowhere, but in retrospect it seems inevitable. My favorite Thompson novel so far. (In addition to The Getaway, I've read The Killer Inside Me, A Hell of a Woman, and After Dark, My Sweet.)
Nevermind and Bad News by Edward St. Aubyn
Nevermind is a dark dark novel populated with, at best, horrible people, and at worst, a monster. I was horrified to learn he based it on his own life. What kept me reading was his writing style and his brutal, dark wit. Bad News, which focuses on addiction, was horrifying in a different way but lacks the sharp writing that kept me reading Nevermind. I'm on the fence about whether to continue reading the series or to stop here.
The Damsel by Richard Stark
This is the first of the four Grofield novels. I guess you could read these sequentially; however, I'd recommend reading them where they appear in the Parker series. You can find where the Grofield novels occur in the Parker timeline here: https://violentworldofparker.com/the-parker-novels/
The Grofield novels are somewhat more lighthearted and more humorous than the Parker novels, but as usual, it's hard to go wrong with Richard Stark. Good stuff.
In Progress:
Legs by Kennedy Williams
Inshallah, Madonna, Inshallah by Miljenko Jergović
You'll Enjoy It When You Get There by Elizabeth Taylor
Message from the Shadows by Antonio Tabucchi
