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Each week Dirda's name appears -- in unmistakably big letters -- on page 15 of The Post's Book World section. If he's not reviewing a hefty literary biography or an ambitious new novel, he's likely to be turning out one of his idiosyncratic essays or describing his travels to, say, a P.G. Wodehouse Convention. Although he earned a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Cornell, Dirda has somehow managed to retain a myopic 12-year-old's passion for reading. He particularly enjoys comic novels, intellectual history, locked-room mysteries, innovative fiction of all sorts -- just the sort of range you'd expect from a Pulitzer Prize winner in criticism (1993).

These days, Dirda says he still spends inordinate amounts of time mourning his lost youth, listening to music (Glenn Gould, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, The Tallis Scholars), and daydreaming ("my only real hobby"). He claims that the happiest hours of his week are spent sitting in front of a computer, working. In the fall of 2000 Indiana University Press published "Readings: Essays and Literary Entertainments," a selection from Dirda's Book World columns. He hopes to bring out a companion volume soon.

Dirda joined The Post in 1978, having grown up in the working-class steel town of Lorain, Ohio and graduated with highest honors in English from Oberlin College. His favorite writers are Stendhal, Chekhov, Jane Austen, Evelyn Waugh, T.S. Eliot, Nabokov, John Dickson Carr, Joseph Mitchell and Jack Vance. He thinks the greatest novel of all time is either Murasaki Shikubu's "The Tale of Genji" or Proust's "A la recherche du temps perdu." In a just world he would own Watteau's painting "The Embarkation for Cythera." He'd also like to spend six months in Florida writing a book that would become a runaway best seller, a critical success, and the hottest cinematic property of the year. A guy can daydream, right?

The transcript follows.

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.

Round Hill, Va.: Good cloudy afternoon, and let's start with some poetry. In your opinion, what are the top three books of poetry any sane, educate (though slightly erudite, not to mention pedantic) person must obtain for the home library? By the way, I'm not talking about any one person in particular, and I say that because I know someone who will read this and think I'm talking about him. What is it with men? Well, that's another subject entirely.
Cheers!

Michael Dirda: Welcome to Dirda on Books. I was away last week in Ohio visiting my mother and touring the old neighborhood where I grew up. It was too complicated to plan on being here at 1, hence my absence. But it's a new dawn, or rather a new afternoon, and so for the next hour as usual we'll talk about books, reading, and related matters.
Three books of poetry? I expect you mean anthologies, for it would be impossible to pick just three poets, though if I had to (and excluding Shakespeare and foreign language folk like Dante and Baudelaire--and all three are favorites), they'd be Pope, Wordsworth and Yeats. As for anthologies, I'd go for the Auden/Pearson five-volume Poets of the English Language (little VIking portables, often found in second hand shops); The Oxford Book of English Verse; and the Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, edited by Richard Ellmann et al.
As for men, let me tell you there not half so bad as women. But as you say: another subject entirely.

Bethesda, Md.: I am a big fan of Ayn Rand. I loved her books, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. However, I can't seem to find any other books which spark my interest after reading those two books. Everything I see, I compare to those books and they don't seem worth reading. Do you have any suggestions on books?

Michael Dirda: What is it you like in Rand? The melodramatic plots? Have you tried, to name widely different authors, Umberto Eco and Tom Clancy, or A.S. Byatt (Possession) and Tim Powers (The Anubis Gates)? Rand herself once said that she regarded Mickey Spillane as a great writer. And, olf course, there are her own other books: Anthem, We the Living, and her varipous works of nonfiction.

Arlington, Va.: Hi Michael,

I recently ordered a book "The Catholic Imagination in American Literature," by Ross Larbie. It has essays on writers such as Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Do you have anything to say about "Catholic" literature per se, or anything about a "catholic imagination," if you think a defineable one exists?

Peace.

Michael Dirda: Well, the one thing that Catholic literature would seem to possess is a kind of moral seriousness. The books can be funny--J.F. Powers stories, or those of OConnor--but at heart one feels that the issues being examined are of consequence. Souls may hang in the balance. They are also books that make you think about the direction and nature of your life. At their worst, they can be contrived, earnest and tract-like; at their best, sublimely moving and radiant.

Silver Spring, Md.: I just wanted to let everyone know of a fabulous book I have strted reading called Treason by the Book by Jonathan D. Spence that is a great Chinese history. Have you heard of it?

Michael Dirda: Sure. Jonathan Spence is our leading Sinologist, teaches at Yale, and has written a dozen good books on China: The Gate of Heavenly Peace, The Question of Hu, etc. etc. Glad to hear you're enjoying his latest.

Mitchellville, Md.: Help! I just can't find something to read and am looking for some ideas. Drawn to books about exploration or faraway places -- loved Road to Ubar and his (Clapp) book on the Queen of Sheeba, and also loved an Unexpected Light. Can't get into many of the classic travel books -- writing seems to stilted. Any ideas, and no take a trip won't work as I just came back from one! A zillion thanks from a fan of these chats.

Michael Dirda: How about some of the more lighthearted modern travel books? Redmond O'Hanlon's Into the Heart of Borneo; Eric Newby's A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush; Bruce Chatwin's In Patagonia; Norman Lewis on Italy; Colin Thubron on Russia. You should enjoy these./

Takoma Park, Md.: Something to recommend for fans of unreliable narrator tales: Simon Silber, Collected Piano Works. The only novel I've ever seen in the form of liner notes. Narrated by the hired biographer of a classical composer who had all the hallmarks of genius, but no genius. Helps to know lots about recent avante garde classical music, but not required.

Very funny, and ultimately somewhat touching. Really good unreliable-narrator stuff.

Michael Dirda: OOh. This sounds really cool,though I'd never heard of it. Steven Millhauser has a wonderful story--tragic love--that is essentially the catalogue to a painting exhibition. Robert Irwin wrote a terrific "history" of 20th century literature based entirely on fictional authors (e.g. Nabokov's SEbastian Knight).

Takoma park, Md.: Another good anthology is the recent Penguin anthology of 500 years of sonnets. Nice variety, well-chosen. Will lead you to other works by the same poets.

Growing up, I had the 50-cent paperback treasury of American Verse by Louis Untermeyer, who included more of his poems than of many other better-known poets. Still a useful book, and I've got its little green self right here in my office.

Michael Dirda: Yes, Untermeyer was a standby. I myself grew up on Oscar Williams's Immortal Poems of the English Language. Randall Jarrell once described Willams poetry as sounding as if it was written on a typewriter by a typewriter.

The Ardent:
Michael,

Welcome back! I am reading Cervantes' Don Quixote and am in the first book, reading of the too-curious husband. There is something about the work that is bittersweet so far -- Don Quixote may be noble (and admirable) but he keeps making awful judgments (life-threatening at times) in the pursuit of knightly valor and glory! Sometimes you want to cheer for him, other times you just slap your forehead and then sigh (and indeed wonder whether he was truly insane).

This leads to two questions:

1. One tale deals with the suicide of Gisostromo, who was mesmerized by the glow, virtue, and beauty of one Marcela and wished to have her. She, on the other hand, rebuffed him and offered no hint of returned affections; showing up at his funeral, she explains her 'cruel' actions. Are there any similar depictions in literature? (And was she justified, or indeed cruel?)

2. I would like to re-read it someday after learning a bit more about Medieval epics and chivalry. Any suggestions from fiction, apart from Roland, King Arthur and Beowulf?

Once again, thanks!

Michael Dirda: Yes, I remember Marcela appearing at the funeral and presenting a remarkably modern justification for her rebuffing G's love--basically, was she supposed to surrender her virtue to someolne just because he sighed and wept with love for her? There are interesting similar heroines: Try Rosalind in As You Like It. Or Cressida in Chaucer's Troilus and Cressida.
Oh medieval literature is wonderful. I"d read W.P. Ker's little paperback, a hundred years old now, called The Dark Ages. Then I'd try an Icelandic saga such as Laxdaela Saga; Pound's The Spirit of Romance to give you the Provencal troubadours; the Niebelungenlied (with its cursed ring and background to Wagner); and Malory's Morte d'Arthur. That's a good start.

Washington, D.C.: Which of Roth's novels is your favorite?

Michael Dirda: Joseph or Philip?

Burke, Va.: This is for the poster who was looking for some good German books. I was lucky enough to study German in College so I'll give anyone who is interested in German Lit an overview of really great books. For Middle High German I'd reccomend Tristan and Isolde, and Parcival. Anything by Geothe is good, but especially fun are Faust and The Sorrows of Young Werther. Schiller is fun, and it's kind of interesting to see at how Rosseu influenced him. Hoffmann is great -- he's kind of like Poe, and if you have seen The Nutcracker you know one of his stories already. Thomas Mann is good -- but reading the Magic Mountain is like reading War and Peace -- with a lot less action. I'd reccomend Death in Venice. Rilke has excellent poetry. Hermann Hesse is ok - but the older I get the less impressed I am. Try Siddartha if you want to read him. The Tin Drum who's auther I can't remeber is good. Berthold Brecht is amazing, without him there would be no Max the Knife. Read the Three Penny Opera and Mother Courage. You could also read some children's books. Max and Moritz and The Stuvelpeter is good, as is any book about Till Eulenspiegel.

Michael Dirda: THanks. All these are good books. Gunter Grass wrote The Tin Drum. My favorite Goethe is the Mozartian novel of love: The Elective Affinities. And of Mann I most enjoy his last book, the surprisingly funny Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man.

Washington, D.C.: What do you think of Shakespeare's Corialanus? I am a political science major and one of my professor's suggested I read it. Just wanted to get your input before I go out and buy this book. Thanks a bunch!

Michael Dirda: It's a major play about political power, with much contrast between the privileged aristocracy and the voice of the people. Coriolanus is easy to dislike in his self-praising moral rectitude. The best editions are the Oxford and Arden.

Washington, D.C.: Hey there Mr. Dirda. I'm enjoying V.S. Naipaul's "A House for Mr. Biswas." I saw a new movie coming out titled, I think, "Mystic Masseur." Should I check out the book before I see the movie and ruin it?

washingtonpost.com: "Mystic Masseur" Director Ismail Merchant, (Live Online, May 13, 2002)

Michael Dirda: The moovie, which I reviewed for Style, is very artsy, but excellent. It does alter the climax of the book somewhat, but is otherwise pretty faithful in replicating dialogue, character and situation. I always think it's better to read the book first, but in this case I wouldn't press the issue.

Columbia, Md.: To the reader interested in medieval literature: Of course, you must read The Poem of El Cid! This is THE Spanish medieval epic. I've only read it in Spanish, so I have no idea if good English translations exist; but perhaps our host will know.

Michael Dirda: Yes, there's a good poetic one by W.S. Merwin, and several more scholarly translations too. Not only is it THE spanish medieval epic, it is just about the only one anyone outside of Spanish majors ever read.

Kingstowne, Va.: Feh to Ayn Rand! I just gave up on "Atlas Shrugged" after 90 pages (can't believe I hung in there that long, though it is an 1,000-page book). Now, after meaning to read it for the past six years, I am finally reading "Lolita," and I am mesmerized. I'm only halfway through it, but I am utterly astounded by the prose, the subtle satire, and Nabokov's mordant wit. I can't tell whether my reaction is so strong because I just gave up on a dreadfully dull doorstop -- Atlas Shrugged -- (and I'm a libertarian!) or because Nabokov is such a master. What is your opinion?

Michael Dirda: Ah, a nice question indeed. Rand is no stylist, though like Nabokov she was a Russian emigre. But her story is larger than life, vivid, science fictional (a marvelous engine), mysterious, and even conspiratorial (Who is John Galt?) The book does climax with a 90 page radio speech that is mostly Randian philosophy,but up till then the novel is quite gripping in a sheerly narrative fashion. But the philosophy is highly questionable: The Rand world is good for super-minds, but how about the rest of us?
As for Lolita--it's just about my favorite modern novel. I've collected multiple editions to study its publishing history. The prose is just as you describe it. And the story is incredibly funny, horrifying and piteous. "I am thinking of aurochs and angels, the mysteries of durable pigments. . . And that is all the imortality you and I will share, my Lolita." Spomething like that. My sin, my soul.

Menlo Park, Calif.: In response to the earlier Roth question, I'd ask what you'd recommend by Joseph Roth. A few months ago I heard Mario Vargas Llosa proclaim Roth's book The Radetzky March as the greatest political novel he'd encountered. Haven't read anything by him; am curious for your perspective. Thanks.

Michael Dirda: Yes, Radetzky is a marvelous evocation of the crumbling Austro Hungarian empire, of the changing standards of society and civic duty as seen in three generations. It's also touching, a love story, a war book, and much else. There are two translations, and some readers prefer the earlier one. I discuss Roth's work at some length in a review of his late novel, only recently translated, The Tale of the 1002nd Night, itself a marvelous book. You should read him.

Washington, D.C.: Besides your Rushdie and Roy, what other Indian writers would you recommend?

Michael Dirda: G.V. Desani: All About H. Hatterr. R.K. Narayan: any of the Malgudi stories or novels. Shashi Tharoor, The Great Indian Novel; Bharati Mukherjee, The Middleman and ohter short stories. And then there are the emigre's like Rohinton Mistry etc. etc.

Takoma Park, Md.: Author on Simon Silber is Christopher Miller, and there are many copies in the Montgomery County library including the Silver Spring branch. What's the title of the Millhauser? You may have convinced me to read him at last.

Michael Dirda: The Millhauser is olne of the novellas in Little Kingdoms.

Rockville, Md.: This doesn't have to do with any books, but I thought it would amuse a few people. I was at the Barnes and Noble on Rockville Pike this past weekend and the place was filled with cars and teens! And not just any cars, the hooked up cars with loud mufflers and funny lights. Looks like the local bookstore has become the hangout for car-racing clans. It's a funny sight.

Michael Dirda: what do you know

Southern Maryland: Hello Michael,
No question, just a comment and a brief little offering.
I'm sorry that I missed your last chat (26 June) and had to read it after the fact. When I saw you talking about your "innate wistfulness" and getting to the age of thinking about paths not taken, etc., it immediately brought to mind a little gem of a poem by Donald Justice: .

"Men at Forty"
Men at forty
Learn to close softly
The doors to rooms they will not be
Coming back to

Michael Dirda: Lovely poems. Ihope it's in Justice's Selected,which I have at home.

Washington, D.C.: Is Lolita an appropriate book to give to a spouse? I haven't read it but with I have heard about it, I may get a sideways glance for giving it as a gift.

Michael Dirda: Well, it is a book about a middle aged man who falls in love with a 12 year old girl. Nabokov doesn't condone this; though his hero justifies his passion throughout the novel.

Washington, D.C.: O'Connor funny? Yessiree, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "Everything that Rises Must Converge" were real knee-slappers.

Michael Dirda: Yes, she is funny--in her grotesque way. Come on, a salesman stealing a girl's wooden leg. Her letters, by the way, show that she was naturally humorous.

Somewhere, USA -- On Lolita: Chiming in on the Lolita discussion--Lolita was the first novel I've read in which I was overwhelmed by the language. I read it in high school and for the first time, really discovered the joy of reading a novel for the sake of exuberant, brilliant, aching prose, instead of for narrative drive or character development. That's not to say that Nabokov's plot wasn't compelling--but I found myself revelling in the sheer perfection of the language itself, almost above and beyond the narrative. It's a wonderful book.

Do you think Nabokov's other work rivals Lolita? My other personal favorite is Pale Fire, but I'd be curious to hear your perspective on his "second best book."

Michael Dirda: Pale Fire is my other favorite too. After that I'd pick The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, his autobiographical Speak Memory,and Pnin. Ada has wonderful language, but is a tad overrich.

Somewhere, USA -- Venus: More medieval literature -

Recently I read two excellent translations of Chretien de Troyes' "Perceval" and "Yvain" - both by Ruth Harwood Cline. They are brilliant.

Michael Dirda: Thanks. Burton Raffel has a good translation of Chretien too. Maybe of Yvain.

Silver Spring, Md.: What do you think of Ian McEwan? His most recent book? I sometimes get snobbish and avoid the bestseller list, thinking that the masses can't possible know good literature. Any comments? And if we get Harry Potter books when he is in his 40s, would you pose for the drawings?

Michael Dirda: Of course. Ido have an 11 year old who could be Harry now. Odd, though, that I should remind people of Harry Potter--I always view myself more as an Indiana Jones type.

Elkinsburg: Hi Mr Dirda,

I remember back when Mrs. Ted Bliss came out (which you reviewed very favorably) there was word that some movie company had bought the screen rights to Stanley Elkin's last novel. Any idea what became of this (I'm not unhappy it hasn't been turned into a movie, just curious. I don't know how anyone could make a decent movie that's even a shadow of an Elkin novel.) And any news of Gaddis' posthumous Agape? Thanks

Michael Dirda: Can't imagine a movie of Elkin's novel: He is pure language. But then Lolita was made into two movies/.
The Gaddis novella and a little book of nonfiction called The Rush for second Place (his most famous essay) will be out in October or November.

Takoma Park, Md.: Bharatee Mukherjee's recent book Desirable Daughters is pretty good, too. One of the best of her recent works I think.

And what do you think of Shiva Naipaul's fiction? Died too young, of course.

Michael Dirda: Well, he was WEst Indian, so didn't think about him. But I've never read his books, though he appears to be as much revered as his brother VIdia is much reviled.

Somewhere, USA -- Ayn Rand: Her aggrieved adolescent philosophy aside, is there a worse well-known writer in the English language?

Michael Dirda: Interesting question. Suggestions happily taken next week. One might point to Harold Robbins, James Michener and varipous other best sellers of their day--but these are subtle questions.

Washington, D.C.: What's your opinion of "Catch 22"? Worth reading? A classic?

Michael Dirda: A classic. And very funny.

Lenexa, Kans.: Philip, Joseph, or Henry (love the man). I even selected his Mercies of a Rude Stream to appear in background books of a portrait of me (some project of my wife's). Of course, I love Philp and Hapsburg decay Joseph equally.

Michael Dirda: Oh yes, I forgot about Henry. Call it my sleepiness.

Chicago, Ill.: Sorry, I'm probably being pedantic but I have to state that Jonathan Spence may be the leading popular Sinologist, but the leading Sinologist is probably David R. Knechtges. Although he has yet to receive the Prix Stanislas Julien for his work (an on-going translation of the medieval anthology Wen xuan; three volumes and counting, Princeton University Press); his erudition is admired by all of his colleagues both here and abroad.

Michael Dirda: THank you.

Venus: To the person looking for books about far-away places: how about some science fiction? "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert A. Heinlein and "The Chrysalids" by John Wyndham are beautiful. The latter may be difficult to find as Wyndham's English, but definitely worth the effort.

The person who asked about Catholic fiction may enjoy some of Graham Greene's stuff such as "The Heart of the Matter" -- not too doctrinaire.

On to another topic -- what's with that crack about women?

Michael Dirda: Thanks. Women only came up because the poster had mentioned men.

San Mateo, Calif.: Your mention of the 1,002nd Night reminded me... Are there any good modern translations -- or adaptations -- of the classic 1,001 Nights? As a kid, I listened over and over to a record of Julie Harris reading excerpts from the Nights in her wonderful velvety voice. And I loved the tales I came across in various children's anthologies. (Aladdin, Sindbad the Sailor, etc.) But when I came across the "real thing" recently (visiting my brother and sister-in-law in Cairo, and hoping to sop up the appropriate literary atmosphere for all those mosques, fortresses, and souks), I was quite disappointed. Most of the stories I found in a few random dips were basically raunchy, misogynist Traveling Salesmen jokes told in antique language. (I believe it was the Burton
translation, but I'm not 100% sure.) Is there another version that would convey "to adults" the mystery and magic of Islamic civilization when it was one of the most enlightened and tolerant on the planet? (A reminder both West and East could use about now, I think...)

Michael Dirda: Yes, Hakim Haddaway (sp?) has two volumes: one the core Arabian NIghts; the other the famous supplemental tales such as Sindbad. The stories are frequently salacious. A wonderful guide to this world is Robert Irwin's The Arabian NIghts Companion.

Washington, D.C.: Michael -- I'm just reading "Charlotte's Web" with my son -- first reading for him, third or fourth for me. What, in your opinion, makes this book so wonderful? Interesting that it only won a Newbery Honor. The Newbery Medal book that year (I looked it up) was "Ginger Pye," a book I also love but which isn't on a par -- at least with kids -- with "Charlotte's Web." Your thoughts?

Michael Dirda: I love C's WEb too, but I'm not as passionate about it as most people. Maybe because I read it first as an adult. But it is beautifully written and told.

Washington, D.C.: Follow-up to question on "Catch 22": Was that about it for Heller? Did he do anything anywhere near as good after that?

Michael Dirda: No, though Something Happened has its advocates.

Takoma park, Md.: For Catholic literature, don't forget two of David lodge's early books

First, "The British Museum is Falling Down," which centers among other things on a Catholic scholar who is trying VERY HARD not to get his wife pregnant again.

Second, a work published under several titles over the years but currently called Souls and Bodies. Starts with a group of Catholic students at a redbrick British university and traces their lives and the changes in their religion. Funny and moral.

Michael Dirda: thanks

Kilkenny, Ireland: A request for advice. I've been hearing for years about how good Robert Aickman's short stories are, but the collections are out of print, and extremely difficult to find. I've recently discovered that there is a complete edition of his stories available from a small press publisher, but at a somewhat extortionate price (150 pounds UK). Is he as good as they say? (I know this is subjective, but advice and opinions gratefully appreciated).

Michael Dirda: Aickman is the master of the modern uncanny story. You can find samples of his work in various ghost story anthologies, and two of his various collections are easy enough to find in used bookstores: Painted Devils and Cold Hand in Mine. The expenseive collected is overpriced I htink, especially since the type is so small. We really need a good selected Aickman. His most famous stories are "Ringing the Changes," "Pages from a Young Girl's Diary" and "The Stains." His work is not so much scary, as disorienting, uncanny, very, very strange. I love it.
And that's it for this week. Until next Wednesday at 1, keep reading!

washingtonpost.com:

That wraps up today's show. Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion.

Tim Page: Classical Music Forum at 2 p.m. EDT

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