Montarville's big books of 2017

I like thick books, and I always end up reading two or three per year. Perhaps I will read more this year, because my new year's reading resolution is not to obsess about the number of books I read. Most of my long reads will be in French, but I guess most will probably exist in English.

I was on holiday this week, so I used it to read my first big fat book of the year: Hérétiques, by Leonardo Padura. This one is not yet translated in English, but I suppose it will soon be. I recommend it.

And here is a list (that will of course be updated throughout the year) of my 2017 BFBs:

1. Hérétiques by Leonardo Padura, 714 pages.
2. Le lecteur de cadavres by Antonio Garrido, 751 pages.
3. Le Roman du piano (Pianoforte: a Social History of the Piano, by Dieter Hildebrandt, 609 pages.
4. The Rest is Noise, by Alex Ross, 695 pages.
5. Pour sûr, by France Daigle, 747 pages.
6. Russie, réformes et dicatures. 1953-2016, by Andreï Kozovoï, 683 pages.
7. La Bête creuse, by ChristopheBernard, 717 pages.

Welcome to the group and good luck with your BFBs. This looks like a very interesting book, and I see it has been translated into German. I'll put this on my list...

Welcome to the group and good luck with your big reads in 2017.

Welcome Montarville and good fortune with your big books in 2017 !

Good luck with your big fat books in 2017!

Thank you all!

I have just finished my second BFB of the year. Two in one month, that is a lot for me.

This book, Le lecteur de cadavres (The Corpse Reader in English), is a page turner. The story is set in 13th century China, and it tells (with a few liberties, I presume) the story of the first CSI investigator in history. I recommend it.

Congratulations! Sounds like another fascinating book...

After a few weeks with thin books, I spent the last ten days with a BFB: Le Roman du piano, (English title: Pianoforte: a Social History of the Piano)by Dieter Hildebrandt. It is non fiction, but it is a light read. Like the French title promises, it reads like a novel.

Hello Montarville, I joined this group a bit late. But I'm happy to see some familiar names.

Hi Montarville! I'm also joining late and recognise your name from ROOTs group. I think I've already wishlisted The Corpse Reader from your thread there.

Hello Connie53! Hello Floremolla! Welcome to the group! It is small, but cosy.

I have just finished reading another BFB (and it is also a ROOT): The Rest is Noise, by Alex Ross. It is a history of 20th century "classical" music. I found it very interesting. The reading of this book won't turn me into a fan of atonality or experimental music and I doubt I will run to concert halls to listen to the works of Schoenberg, Boulez or Stockhausen, but at least I understand a little more why such works were composed.

Interesting subject. I have a friend who enjoys atonal music but he explained he trained himself to like it. Sounds like hard work to me!

>15 floremolla: In my case too I would need training. For the moment, though, I just don't feel like making that sort of effort.

My second BFB of August is Pour sûr, by France Daigle. It has been compared to George Perec's La vie: mode d'emploi. It is build of 12 chapters containing each 144 fragments (12 x 12 x 12).

I loved that it seems to go in many directions at the same time, that it asks questions without answering them, that it lists words for, at first sight, no reason, that the story is built with hundreds of small slices of life, and especially that the characters speak in the particular kind of French spoken in certain places in New-Brunswick: chiac.

I thought in August that I was done with BFBs for the year, but apparently I was wrong.

I have just spent the past few weeks with Russie, réformes et dictatures, a book that covers the political history of USSR/Russia between 1953 and 2016. It's a period about which I knew very little, particularly the Brezhnev and Andropov years.

It is well researched, and it helps to understand the current situation in Russia. I had completely forgotten about that, but back in 2000, Putin had promised to defend democracy and get rid of the oligarchs, and everybody believed him because nobody had any reasons to doubt him. It didn't last long...

My main negative point about this book is that my copy seems to have been printed during an earthquake. On almost every page there were lines where the top and the bottom of the letters were not aligned. Plus, the shade (dark or light) of the ink was changing from page to page. None of this made the book less interesting, it just made it harder too read (and a bit headache-inducing).

>18 Montarville: Sounds like a great book, Montarville! That period of Russia is also when I am weakest, following Khruschev. I have looked, but this book is not published in English. However, I made a note that I need to find such a book!

I received a BFB for Christmas and I spent the last few days devouring it: La Bête creuse, by Christophe Bernard. It is a fascinating story, well written in a style that borrows a lot from the oral story-telling tradition, but I am not sure that I liked the book. Too many elements of the story left me with a negative impression. For one thing, despite its 717 pages, it doesn't pass the Bechdel test (generally applied to movies): at least two females characters are named (yes), there is a conversation between two female characters (barely, but yes), the conversation is not about a man (fail). Mainly, too many scenes that, I think, were supposed to be funny just made me very uncomfortable and even cringe a little. Nevertheless, it was a great Christmas gift and a nice way to spend the holidays.