308. One, No One, and a Hundred Thousand

One, No One, and a Hundred Thousand
Luigi Pirandello
1926
Around 175 pages

This is one of those novels I had to put down frequently to reflect on the crazy, brilliant ideas Luigi Pirandello presented. What a great find, I would have never checked this out without the List. 

Vitangelo Moscarda's wife tells him he has a big nose, which sends him into an existential crisis. Girl, I would have the exact same reaction. He realizes that everybody he has ever met has constructed a different persona of him, none of which correspond with the real "Vitangelo." Which is crazy and true.

We are a new person to everybody we meet. Some people know me as daughter, girlfriend, that bitch who doesn't "get" Joyce. Am I all of these things, or none of these things? And do we have the authority to proclaim we know our true selves, or does that right belong to somebody else? 

Vitangelo is chillingly sane, and this made for a fascinating novel.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Pirandello began writing this is 1909. That's so inspirational to me. Some projects take a long time to gestate. Don't give up!

UP NEXT: The Plumed Serpent by D.H. Lawrence. 

307. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Agatha Christie
1926
Around 290 pages

The List rarely lets its hair down long enough to give us a decent detective story. You can see how influential this novel was on the entire genre, and it definitely makes me want to check out more of Aggy's work. In my off-hours, of course.

All Hercule Poirot wants to do is retire to a quiet English village and cultivate vegetable marrows. But crime doesn't take any gardening breaks, and his friend Roger Ackroyd is murdered. The story is narrated by Dr. James Sheppard, because doctors make the best narrators in crime stories. Hey, I don't make the rules.

You can see the vast influence this had on future novels. Christie is truly a master at weaving red herrings and important clues in her narrative. Crafting a story like this takes a lot more savvy than say, repeating the same phrase sixty times on one page (ahem Gertie).

Hercule Poirot isn't the most exciting detective ever created, but the story was stunningly original. A great choice if we can only have one Christie. 

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Took inspiration from the Charles Bravo murder, which remains unsolved.

Voted best crime novel of all time by the British Crime Writers' Association.

UP NEXT: One, No One, and A Hundred Thousand by Luigi Pirandello

306. The Making of the Americans

The Making of the Americans
Gertrude Stein
1925
Around 925 pages

Gertrude Stein wrote a book (typed by her long-suffering partner, Alice B. Toklas), and it's basically unreadable. The book Gertrude Stein wrote can't be read. As I was saying, Gertrude Stein's book is an unreadable one.

Are you crazy yet?

It took me about 400 pages into this tome before the rage really hit. Obviously, the repetition is hella intentional. Gertie would call it insistence, not repetition. I suppose the steel man argument is that meanings shift with every repeated phrase, like how you can't say your name 100 times in a row without it eventually devolving into meaningless sounds.

I think saying "As I was saying" four times per paragraph is just bad writing. Artful writers can insist upon a point without bludgeoning the reader to death with it. I got through this one by sheer force of will, because hey, I've journeyed this far into the hellfires of the List. If you're not fighting for something as noble as a check in a box, you'll never make it.

RATING: -----

Interesting Facts:

Published in excerpts by Ford Madox Ford, at the urging of Ernest Hemingway. Guys, get a grip.

My boyfriend recently took me to see Gertrude Stein's home in Pittsburgh! It's near one of my favorite breakfast places, Bier's Pub. I hate her, but it was still nice.

UP NEXT: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. This is the only Christie I have read so far.

305. Manhattan Transfer

Manhattan Transfer
John Dos Passos
1925
Around 340 pages

Some novels are forever stained by the memories associated with the reading experience. This was my waiting room book as my father underwent open heart surgery. So I was never going to be hanging on every word.

That being said, this was probably not going to be my cup of tea anyway. The story follows many characters in New York, with a wide range of subplots. This certainly immerses you in the chaotic feeling of New York City. But it's a little hard to follow all the characters, who are, predictably, not a happy bunch.

Once again, we have an author playing with the form of the novel itself. And I don't like it! I really want to sink my teeth into a story, and I didn't really enjoy the flashes of misery I saw bouncing from character to character. 

Anyway, another author trying to be James Joyce. Skippable.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

D. H. Lawrence called it "the best modern book about New York."

Inspired the name of the vocal group Manhattan Transfer.

UP NEXT: The Making of the Americans by Gertrude Stein. I've really been dreading this one.

304. Mrs. Dalloway

Mrs. Dalloway
Virginia Woolf
1925
Around 200 pages

Virginia Woolf becomes more and more experimental as she ages, which probably has a lot to do with her deteriorating mental state. This is the fourth Woolf novel on the List, and I feel like we are in the sweet spot. She's found her footing as a writer but things haven't become too weird yet. 

We were introduced to the minor character Clarissa Dalloway in The Voyage Out, but she is bumped up to protagonist for this gig. The novel takes place in a single day, the day of Clarissa's party in London. She spends the day getting ready and reminiscing about her choices. 

I love novels that take place in a single day (though I will bitch about Ulysses until the end of time). I love how she zeroed in on the particular, the everyday actions that make up our existence but novelists never pay much attention to. 

And I love getting more queer novels, especially when the writer isn't a pedophile. 

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Working title was The Hours.

Often considered a response to James Joyce's Ulysses. Oh honey, you won!

UP NEXT: Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos.