Michael Dirda (The Post)

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Dirda on Books
Hosted by Michael Dirda
Washington Post Book World Senior Editor
Friday, Jan. 3, 2001; 2 p.m. EST

Washington Post Book World Senior Editor Michael Dirda takes your questions and comments concerning literature, books and the joys of reading.

Dirda's name appears weekly in The Post's Book World section. If he's not reviewing a fat literary biography or an ambitious new novel, he's likely to be writing a lighthearted essay about the joys and burdens of living in a house filled with way too many books. Although he holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Cornell, Dirda is still smart enough to be an unabashed fan of "The Simpsons," noting that "the show's genius derives from its details." He also loves P.G. Wodehouse, intellectual history, children's books and locked-room mysteries – just the sort of range you'd expect from a Pulitzer Prize winner for distinguished criticism.

These days, Dirda says he spends inordinate amounts of time mourning his lost youth and daydreaming ("my only real pastime"). Otherwise he just reads books and writes about them, with occasional visits to secondhand bookstores in search of treasures. He claims that the happiest hours of his week are spent sitting in front of a computer working on his reviews and Readings columns. "Do not imagine that I regard my taste for literary artifacts as anything but shameless and vulgar," Dirda says, "I have sunk so low as to covet Edward Gorey coffee mugs. I yearn for a bust of Dante to place on a bookcase."

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.

Lenexa, Kans.: Mr. Dirda,

I've never been a huge fan of haiku but do have a favorite:
HAIKU: AFTER THE ORGIES
All the Maenads had
terrible hangovers and
unwanted babies.
--Gavin Ewart
Catches some of de Beauvoir's "pathetic element of revelry."

QUESTIONS: I've been enjoying some of the ancient Mesopotamian and Eastern canon: Ferry's Gilgamesh (saw your name on cover), Narayan's Ramayana. I have some others planned. How important has the ancient Eastern canon been to your reading experience and pleasure? The Mahabharata, Analects? Others? Thanks.

Michael Dirda: WElcome to Dirda on Books. For the next hour I'll talk about and answer questions relating to books, reading, etc. Most of you, I suspect, know the format, so on with the show.

Great haiku--but then Gavin Ewart is a terrific light versifier.
My knowledge of Asian literature is fairly spotty, and, I hardly need add, entirely based on works in translation. What have I read? Gilgamesh (both as a Penguin and in Ferry's brilliant version, not precisely a translation); the Tao te Ching (Stephen Mitchell's version), The Tale of Genji, in ARthur Waley's version--one of the greatest reading experiences of my life (see the essay Heian Holiday in my book Readings); lots of Japanese and Chinese lyric poetry (various translators, including Kenneth Rexroth and Burton Watson); The Thousand and One Nights in the Huddawy translation (supplemented by Burton); Robert Irwin's recent anthology of classical ARabic literature; some Rumi; various modern Indian novels--Rushdie's Moor's Last Sigh; Roy's God of SMall Things; G.V. Desani's exuberant All About H. Haterr. There must be more, but that's all that come to mind.
Most of these things I read after I'd come to man's estate, so I don't know how much they've influenced me, or been important to me. Certainly, the GEnji has been. I wish I had read more. Do you or others have any recommendatoins?

Farragut Spring: Mr. Dirda,
After a college education spent reading too much unreadable political science marked only by the occasional foray into the dreck that is popular fiction, any suggestions for readings of a more literary bent? I'm looking for something that I could enjoy that could also make me think. I know this is rather broad, but any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Michael Dirda: Gee, that's such a broad question. But since you're a political scientist, how about Dostoevsky's The Devils (aka The Possessed) or Turgenev's Fathers and Sons--both focus on political change and revolutoin, generational and ideological differences, and are wonderful novels.

Spring Valley, CA: Recently I saw two raves over W.G. Sebald. I picked up The Emigrants and The Rings of Saturn the other day. Have you read this author and if you have is he like anyone else you can think of?

Michael Dirda: I have read Vertigo, his latest book (which I reviewed) and The Rings of Saturn. He's a bit like the Austrian novelist Thomas Bernhard (if yhou know his moodywork), but he has his own distincitive blend of melancholy, autobiography and political reflection. A very autumnal personality.

Elkin on the Potomac: Hi Mr Dirda,
Have you see the January 2001 Atlantic? Congrats: in the brief reviews Phoebe what's her name (Adams?) gives your book a rave!
Two questions, please: I know you're a big Blood Meridian fan and enjoyed the Border Trilogy (the first best, second second, third oh well) and I know McCarthy is notoriously secretive, but any idea what his next project might be and when? Second, what's you're opinion on John Fowles? Will he last? I think The Magus is wonderful, and French Lts Woman almost as good. As always, thanks.....

Michael Dirda: Yes, I did see the Atlantic, though the notice of my book is by its new literaryi editor Benjamin Schwartz. All I know about McCarthy's current project is that it has something to do with something deep under water, possibly in Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, and may involve diving or oil derricks. I know this isn't very useful.
I do hope Fowles' will last, but he's already in a kind of limbo--he may survive as a cult favorite.

Washington, DC: I enjoy reading diaries, notebooks, pillowbooks. I've read Colette, Thomas Merton, Renard, The Pillow book of S.S., Virginia W., Andre Gide.

Can you suggest some others.

Michael Dirda: Jules Renard's journal is my favorite diary. A couple of ideas: A Common World--W.H. Auden's commonplace book; Cyril Connolly's The Unquiet Grave--a "word cycle"; The Goncourt Brothers journal (in Robert Baldick's translation: Dinner at Magny's--great gossip about Flaubert, Maupassant, et al); Ben Jonson's Timber; and dozens of others. Thomas Mallon's A Book of My Own is about diaries, as is The Assassin's Cloak--a recent collection of diary entries, just out in ENgland.

Lenexa, Kans.: Mr. Dirda,

I finished Readings (an essay a day--a good pace)--yielding a nice "to read" list like those resulting from reading Fadiman/Major, Burgess, or Bloom. Off to a fun start: Uncle Fred in Springtime, Briarpatch.

My favorite Dirda, though, is the "cherry Coke" nostalgist. I was moved to tears by Listening to My Father (sense a deep father-son love transcending it all), Mr. Wright, and others.

QUESTION: You mentioned the rich jewel tone of the cloth cover. The jacket was also nice--a kind of interstellar Bernhard-torchbearer leaping from one book to the next while there's still time. . . .At least, there's no sign of Florida Sirens. How involved were you with the artist in its creation? Her initial concept of yours? Thanks.

Michael Dirda: The cover art and the frontispiece--a bespectacled guy sitting on a tree branch with a book--were both done by Susan Davis. Susan illustrated my column every month for about five years--until she grew too ill from cancer to work anyh more. She was a wonderful artist, produced several pictures books, a handful of New Yorker covers, and a lot of drawings for me, and for the much admired Henry Mitchell, the gardening columnist (also now dead from cancer) who wrote as The Essential Earthman. I sent Indiana a dozen or so of Susan's drawings and they chose that one for the cover. My favorite, of me as an owl, now seems to be lost. As for the Florida sirens, I hear them still.

Spring Valley, CA: This question may be a bit unfair, but here goes: If you had to say which newspaper's (other than your own) book coverage you admired most, which would it be?

Michael Dirda: In the United States it would have to be the New York Times Book Review. We're talking newspapers, right? There's not really a lot of choice. Except for the Post and the LA Times, most of the other major cities simply have a couple of pages devoted to books.

GloverPark: We're going to a 50th bday party this weekend for a friend who now lives in France, teaches some writing courses, is father to a young son, does a lot of travelling and reading. My fantasy gift to take is a thoughtful interesting book, could be fiction or non, that touches on theme of aging or living well in post mid-life. Hoped you or other discussion participants might have some favorites. Thanks.

Michael Dirda: Well, you could take my book Readings, which is replete with nostalgia, reflections on growing middle-aged, etc. Do other people have suggestoins?

crofton md: Michael I thought the Possessed was the best book on Russia I've ever read. I'm currently rereading the Idiot. Over the holidays, my 95 yearold uncle told me that Dostoevsky was the best. That shows just how much staying power he has. -BRian Michener

Michael Dirda: Thanks.

Bonn, Germany: Happy New Year! I'm looking forward to the Book Club discussion on Philip Larkin in February (note to webmaster: that list of upcoming books is very hard to find -- I finally got there via the FAQ). Participants might like to know that there is a 1983 (BBC?) recording of Larkin reading his poems, starting with "Mr Bleaney" and ending with "Aubade," with some comments by Larkin along the way. My tape is a copy of a copy of a copy -- perhaps you know where people might obtain an "official" tape? I also would like to recommend philiplarkin.com which, among other things, offers a (Larkin) "Poem of the Month."

washingtonpost.com: Thanks for the information. I will try and correct it after the show today.

Michael Dirda: I have a tape of Larkin reading; from Caedmon I think and it's probably what you have. I'll check out the Larkin web site before I do my show. Mr Bleaney and Aubade may be my two favorite Larkin poems, by the way. Talk about the still sad music of humanity.

Cubicledom: I recently have begun reading, for lack of a better term, "disease" genre--i.e., The Plague, etc. Could you recommend any works--books, poetry, etc, on HIV/AIDS?

Michael Dirda: Edmund WHite's recent novel The Married Man; Mark Doty's On Heaven's Coast; Paul Monette's Borrowed Time. All very moving.

London, England: Hello Dirda and co.

In reply to a question from last week, the latest Terry Pratchett Novel is indeed "The Truth" -- even here in England. I'm sure he will have another one out momentarily though. He's fast.

I'm in the middle of The Truth now, and I agree with your assessment -- good but not great. Still mediocre Pratchett is better than most other good fantasy. My only problem is that I got the book in a hardcover edition as a gift and all my other Pratchetts are in paperback. Makes the shelves look odd. OK, I guess I have worse problems but still...

Michael Dirda: Well, you could trade in the hardback at a used bookstore for the paperback. Or you could invest a lot of money and try to acquire hardbacks of all your paperbacks. I envy you such problems, though I know these are the kinds of things that keep collectors awake at night.

Somewhere, USA: Hi.
I enjoy your chat. Talking about youth and daydreaming I wish I read as many books as I did when I was a teenager. Nowadays I am greatful if i can read the newspaper! Out of curiousity, are you a Lord Galahad or a Bertie Wooster fan?? It's a pity that Wodehouse never took off is the US as much as in Great Britian and the former colonies like India

Michael Dirda: You mean Galahd Threepwood? I prefer the Blandings Castle stories to the Wooster tales, but just barely. The Mating SEason may be my favorite Wodehouse after Leave it to Psmith.

Milwaukee , WI: For Glover Park, absolutely your book Readings is the perfect gift. Speaking of which, do you have any suggestions for those of us who consider ourselves to be your fans on how we can helping add to/create the "buzz" about your work? And who would you consider to be its target audience?

Michael Dirda: I love these sorts of questoins. We could just rename this space--the Promote M. Dirda's Readings Web-Site. Just teasing. I have no idea how to create buzz, unless you happen to have connections with the media. I suppose you could go online and mention the book. As it happens, I have lots of uncollected material and am thinking I might try to sell Indiana or someone on doing a follow-up collection, to include a few of my reviews, longer essays and talks, as well as the usual Readings pieces.

Somewhere, USA: Which John Dickson Carr novels are your favorites?

Michael Dirda: The Three Coffins (his greatest locked room whodunit) and The Burning Court (his triple shocker). But I like most of his books from the 1930s, some from the 1940s; after that he falls off dramatically in quality.

Winston-Salem, NC: You've mentioned Ross Thomas previously, any suggestions for a place to start with his mysteries?

Michael Dirda: The Cold-War Swap; Chinaman's Chance; The Seersucker Whipsaw; or The Fools in Town are on OUr Side.

crofton md: happy new Year Michael Got your new book for Christmas. Anyway, I was discussing science fiction with a 22 year old college senior who tells me ted Sturgeon is the best. Have you read his book of short stories ?
-Brian Michener

Michael Dirda: There's a recent Selected Stories just out, but there's also an ongoing hardback edition of his complete stories. I've read a lot of Sturgeon and have a particular liking for his novel--a fix-up of three novellas--called More Than Human. It opens like this: "The idiot moved in a world of gray." Or something close to that. I wonderful account of a group of misfits and freaks who together constitute a larger entity of immense power. Sturgeon was one of the few early sf writers to be taken seriously: Bianca's Hands was in a best of hte year anthology back in the 1940s. He's a bit like Bradbury, for those who don't know his work.

Richmond, VA: I am a fan of the psychological mystery genre--Rendell, James, George, etc.

Can you recommend some new or less well-known authors who are worth reading?

Michael Dirda: Patricia Highsmith--Strangers on a Train; THe Talented Mr. Ripley;
Ira Levin, A Kiss Before Dying.
Cornell Woolrich, the black series (The Bride Wore Black, Rendezvous in Black); also as GEorge Hopley, Night Has a Thousand Eyes
C.S. Forester, Payment Deferred

Milwaukee, WI: For the participants over the past several weeks looking for inspiration to continue Blood Meridian, I'll note that I found it to be a page turner, particularly once they head south from Texas and into Mexico. The action rolls. But there is also a depth of payoff in the deeper symbols McCarthy seems to play with. Keep reading.
Question: I've just begun Riddley Walker for the third time and am looking for similar inspiration to continue. I haven't gone past the weird spellings in the first few pages, and nothing has yet gripped me. Since most of your recommendations match my interests exceedingly well, I'm looking for a boost. Got one?

Michael Dirda: Go with the flow. Think of it as Huckleberry Finn in a post-holocaust world. It's a harder book to read than even Blood Meridian, but think of the notch you can put on your six-gun.

washington, dc: I think that I saw a blurb in a magazine a few months back about an upcoming book based on the life of Clara Schumann. Does this ring any bells? If the book does exist (somewhere other than in my memory), is it any good?

Michael Dirda: fYes, there's a novel out now about Robert and Clara, with a title something like that. Can't remember author's name.

vienna,va: I recently discovered the guardian's(uk) website which is a great source of lists and other interesting info ( it is on www.booksunlimited.co.uk). In one such list a contemporary british novelist said that the tortoise and the hare by elizabeth jenkins and the judge's story by charles morgan were two of the greatest novles of the 2nd half of the 20th century ( or words to that effect). I have never heard of either of these writers - can you shed any light on them? thanks.

Michael Dirda: CHarles Morgan wrote back in the 30s and was amazing popular for a while, in Britain and in France. I don't think he ever caught on here. I've never read him, but see his books in second hand shops all the time. Elizabeth Jenkiins wrote a pretty good biography of Jane Austen, but I've never read any of her ficiton. I'll have to check these out further. Many thanks.

Washington, DC: Michael,

Out of sheer curiosity, did you give- or get- any books for Christmas? Also, I read a very warm review of your book of essays; I believe the review was in the New York Observer. The critic commented that he thought you were among the best book critics writing today- what do you think of that?

Michael Dirda: Actually, he noted modestly, the New York Observer's Michael M. Thomas said I was the best book critic in America. I wonder about that "in America." I myself would have said the best book critic in Silver Spring, Maryland, or at least its Woodside Park neighborhood.
I gave lots of books, received none.

WDC: As you have said that you enjoy “good” popular fiction, how would you assess William Goldman? Ever read “Boys and Girls Together”?

Michael Dirda: No, but I know the novel is set at a fictionalized version of my alma mater (and Goldman's) Oberlin College. I have read The PRincess Bride and Adventures in the Screen Trde, both uqite irresitble.

Alexandria, VA: Are there ever times you get tired of reading? I have started three or four books over the past few weeks and can't seem to muster enough enthusiasm to finish any of them. That's not including the one I checked out of the library three weeks ago and haven't even started.

Michael Dirda: Yes, as i've gotten older my enthusiasm for reading has flagged a bit. But in truth I don't read as much as people think--I spend at least as much time daydreaming (my only hobby)and writing. I read perhaps two hours a day by inclination, but if I'm behind in my reviewing I'll sometimes read for four or five hours to finish a book so I can writge about it. I do have a good memory.

Bonn, Germany: Re Philip Pullman: my husband and I have been enjoying_The Golden Compass_ and _The Subtle Knife_ -- hard to put down. I wonder, though, why Pullman chose the church as the bad guy? Current-day church doesn't strike me as that powerful an adversary (Larkin's "Church Going" comes to mind, and the fact that in a recent quiz show on German tv none of the would-be contestants were familiar with the Lord's Prayer). What's your guess?

Michael Dirda: I think he was looking at the church's influence historically, also taking a Blakean response--ie. that as an institution it tamped down people's spirit rather than encouraging them to welcome the life of this world.

Crystal City, Va: Sorry to hear that Martin Gardner's wife passed away recently.

Esquire once asked various celebrities to pick the one book they thought everyone should read; my pick would be his FLIGHT OF PETER FROMM. I've read it three times and will doubtless read it again someday. You could call it a sort of counterpoint to C. S. Lewis' SURPRISED BY JOY--it chronicles Gardner's passage from belief to doubt. An engaging and thought-provoking work.

Michael Dirda: Thanks.

Madison WI: Michael - What are your thoughts on the virtues of prose translations of poetry vs. verse translations?

Michael Dirda: I tend to prefer that translations match the original--ie. poetry should be poetry. I suppose a crib, for Latin say, might be an exception to this rule, if one is seriously tryhing to learn a poetm in a language one just barely knows.

Alex. VA: Hi. Have you ever read "The Leopard" by Lampedusa? I picked it up a while ago and have been pondering what to read next. Worthwhile?

Michael Dirda: A great, great book. I can't tell you how much I love that book. There's alos a terrific short biography of Lampedusa called The Last Leopard. A really interesting guy--this being the only novel he wrote. He does have a great story called The Professor and the Siren, in a book called Two Stories and a Memoir. kANd that's pretty much his oeuvre. But I would say that Svevo's Confessions of Zeno and L's The Leopard are the two best Italian novels of the past century.

Lakewood, Colorado: What is your opinion (if any) on the work of Charles Palliser (The Quincunx, The Unburied)? I was astounded by the intricacy of plotting in The Quincunx, and was taken into a new world (Victorian England), even though I've read about that period for years.

Michael Dirda: I reviewed The Unburied, liked it a lot, but unfortunately figpured out its secrets long before they were revealed. I thought the novel's introductory section gave too much away, at least if one kept alert. Haven't read The Quincunx, though everyone tells me I should and so someday I may. I do love books htat I once placed in a genre I called the antiquarian romance--Foucault's Pendulum, Crowley's Little, Big, NOrfolk's Lempriere's Dictionary, etc.

McLean, VA: I enjoy travel narratives. Rory Nugent's In Search of the Pink Headed Duck and Cathy Davidson's Tracks come to mind. Do you have some favorites?

Michael Dirda: My favoritge travel books tend to be humorous and cozy: J.R. Ackerly's Hindoo Holiday; Eric Newby's A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush; Robert Byron's The Road to Oxiana; Bruce Chatwin's IN Patagonia. All brits, by the way--the masters of the genre.

Michael Dirda: WEll, that's it for this week. Till next Wednesday at 2, keep reading!

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