Dirda on Books
Hosted by Michael Dirda
Washington Post Book World Senior Editor
Thursday, December 11, 2003; 2:00 p.m ET
Washington Post Book World Senior Editor Michael Dirda took your questions and comments concerning literature, books and the joys of reading.
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.
Annapolis, Md.:
Hello Michael,
My husband has requested Kipling for Christmas. Any suggestions on specific editions, collections, stand-alone volumes, etc.? I never developed a taste for Kipling, so I must admit I'm a bit at a loss.
Thank-you.
Michael Dirda: Welcome to Dirda on Books! For the next hour, we'll discuss books, writing, publishing, what have you.
It's a stressful time here in Washington. End of the year deadlines, doctor appointments before the holidays, the holidays themselves. No better time to try and sneak away for a few hours to read.
So on to the questions.
What an intelligent husband you have! I would recommend two books: Kipling's novel Kim--a novel about India and what was once called the Great Game--espionage in Central Asia. It is a charming, timeless, irresistible adventure story. The second: Any number of good collections of Kipling's short stories. Modern Library has, I think, the complete stories. But there are fine selected volumes and old editions turn up in used book stores all the time.
Don't miss: "The Finest Story in the World," "Wireless," "Without Benefit of Clergy," and a dozen others. Your husband is in for a treat.
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Bethesda, Md.:
Michael -- What can you tell me about the work of Saul Bellow, especially Henderson the Rain King? It is a book that I have considered reading for a while, not because I know anything about it or have even heard people talk about, but rather because it inspired one of my favorite songs from the early 90s.
Michael Dirda: What song was that? Now if you'd said the '60s I might have imagined "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." Henderson is funny, of a more manageable size than most middle Bellow, and a good introduction to his work. It's about a middle-aged guy who finds himself in Africa. Most people might suggest Herzog as the book to start with or The Adventures of Augie March, but there's nothing wrong with Henderson.
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Tysons Corner, Va.:
Michael, I read Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography last week and I'm interested in reading a biography next. I'm new to the biography genre and I'd like some recommendations on where I should start with Franklin. I have heard some about Walter Isaacson's Franklin biography -- what do you think?
Thanks so much!
Michael Dirda: Haven't read Isaacson's book, but it's been doing well, so I suspect you won't go wrong with it. But there are other biographies floating around in libraries and used book stores, including the semi-classic life by Carl Van Doren. There was also a very good biography a couple of years back, by I think H.W. Brands. Not positive of this.
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Washington, D.C.:
Hi Mr. Dirda,
Your recent comments concerning the Charles Martin translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses seemed lukewarm to me. Is this the one you would recommend for a first-time Ovid reader, or is there another you would suggest instead? There are many available, and of those I've looked at, I enjoyed Ted Hughes' the most, but I want the complete thing. (I don't think I want to start with the elizabethan Golding, either!) Thanks.
Michael Dirda: Well, I do like Hughes book a lot--it's certain the most engaging and sexy. Martin's is probably the one to go for, though, even if I wasn't as taken with it as I'd expected. There's a classic prose translation from Penguin by Mary M. Innes and two good verse versions by Horace Gregory and Rolfe Humphries. All these can be found readily in paperback at used bookstores.
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Washington, D.C.:
What do you think of William Gaddis? I picked up "A Frolic Of His Own" at a used bookshop recently, but I've been hesitant to start it because of his reputation for difficulty.
Michael Dirda: Gaddis isn't a walk in the park, but only because he expects you to pay attention. He seldom identifies who's speaking, though generally there's no problem in figuring this out. I think he's a great writer--and Frolic is both funny and relatively accessible. I reviewed it when it came out and expect to reprint the piece in my forthcoming collection of essays next year. Just be patient with Gaddis, laugh at the puns, wordplay, jokes, and satire. His first novel, The Recognitions, is I think one of the most important novels of the second half of the century, up there with Invisible Man, All the King's Men, Lolita, Catch-22 and Blood Meridian.
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Washington, D.C.:
Is "Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace worth the trouble to read? I'm interested, but I've heard that the book is gimmicky and self-consciously opaque.
Michael Dirda: Can't say for sure, one way or the other. I was put off the book when I looked at it because there was a lot about drugs--a subject which I find ineffably boring. On the other hand, people I respect tell me it's a great novel, albeit a bit too long. This is a case where one should take the obvious course: Stand at the bookstore counter and read it for 10 minutes and see what you think.
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Silver Spring, Md.:
Good afternoon, Mr. Dirda. Are you going part time these days? I didn't see you here last week. But what I really need from you is the name of the best dictionary available. I plan on buying a very nice stand for it. A friend of mine has a big Webster's, but before I buy, I want to make sure that there isn't a better one out there. I will also be using it as a weapon if need be, so it needs to be heavy. I am currently using a small Webster's new world dictionary, but it would be better used as kindling in my fireplace. You would not believe the words it doesn't have! As a dedicated wordfreak, this book is an insult to the language.
Michael Dirda: The world of dictionaries is riven with controversy. Among older unabridged version's the best is probably Merriam Webster's Unabridged Second International. It requires a stand. Among more modern versions, I would suggest the two volume Shorter Oxford English Dictionary--it's not the 20 volume original but it's more complete than almost any other and you don't need a magnifying glass to read it (as you do with the microscopic reduced OED). Of course, you can get the OED itself in 20 volumes or on CD. For a somewhat smaller dictionary I like the first edition of The American Heritage.
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Nani, Tex.:
I enjoy Kipling's poetry. Perhaps Mrs. Annapolis, Md. might enjoy The Female of the Species (is more deadly than the male). I love that one!
Michael Dirda: Oh, the poetry is great--in its barroom ballads and barrack-room camaraderie. "Though I belted you and flayed you, by the living god that made you, you're a better man than I am, Gunga Din." T.S. Eliot no less compiled a fine selection of Kipling's verse.
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Moonbloom:
Hi Mr Dirda,
NYRB has just reissued a novel called "Tenants of Moonbloom" by Edward Lewis Wallant. One friend of mine raves about it, another says it stinks. I'm going to give it a try, but wonder: do you know the novel and the author, and if so, what do you think about them. Thanks....
Michael Dirda: All I know is that this is the guy who wrote "The Pawnbroker," which became a powerful movie with Rod Steiger back in the '60s. At least I think he's the author. In general, the NYRB paperbacks are very well chosen.
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Arlington, Va.:
I adore Kipling, too -- what is your thought of his poetry? I think more highly of it than what I perceive to be the common thought, but I believe that his poetry has suffered from over-exposure. Heck, it may seem cliched, but at least he invented it!
I dare ANYONE to read the following without crying:
From: The Power of a Dog
We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept'em, the more do we grieve:
For when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-term loan is as bad as a long.
So why in Heaven (before we are there!)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear.
Michael Dirda: Yes, Kipling is melodramatically powerful. And I do like him. Do you know the Sestina of the Tramp Royale? It has some lines that go something like:
"It's like a book, I think, this bloomin' world
Which you can read and care for just so long
But presently you think that you will die
Unless you get the page you're reading done.
But what you're after is to turn 'em all."
As for dog poetry: There are two heartbreaking poems about the death of dogs in John UPdike's Collected Poems.
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Niagara Falls, N.Y.:
TIME MAGAZINE had a full page interview with Sara Nelson, author of SO MANY BOOKS, SO LITTLE TIME. I read the book, but I was disappointed by Nelson's concentration on "Chick Lit." I liked David Denby's GREAT BOOKS. Are there any other books you'd recommend to discover new books to read (and I have read your books, too!)
Michael Dirda: It's hard for me to comment on this question, as I am eaten up with envy--surely An Open Book deserved such treatment. That said, I do refer to lots of titles in my two books, as well as to The Lifetime Reading Plan by Clifton Fadiman. Oh, and there's a terrific collection called For the Love of Books, in which various writers choose and write briefly about their favorites.
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Beltsville, Md.:
While I understand the reasons An Open Book did not discuss in detail your thoughts on the 1960s, I look forward to you writing on this subject in the next installment. Until then, for those of us who arrived after this period in history, what readings (fiction and non-fiction) would you recommend to help us understand it, and perhaps get the flavor of this time?
Michael Dirda: Yes, I stayed away from politics because mine was a story about personal growth--how hokey that sounds. If I ever continue the story, I will tell more about the '60s, which for me began in the fall when I got back from Paris.
Books that give the '60s feel? Norman Mailer, The Armies of the Night, early Tom Wolfe, Hunter Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Joan Didion's Slouching Toward Bethlehem and The White Album, Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, and a dozen others.
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Youngstown, Ohio :
Mr. Dirda -- love the chats and your work.
I've been looking to pick up a copy of John Masefield's "The Box of Delights" but have noticed that most recent editions (1984, e.g.) are abridged, and that older editions are priced astronomically. Is the 1984 edition still worth reading?
Michael Dirda: Yes, the book has its longueurs and I think it's OK to go with the abridged version, which came out in paperback about 10 years ago. By the way, there's a good BBC production of the book as a film--it might be around in some video stores. "The Wolves are running!"
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Washington, D.C.:
Hello Michael -- How is your new job going? What are you writing about?
Michael Dirda: This morning I wrote a sidebar about Tolkien. The job is just starting still, as I've had lots of unfinished business to clear away. And, of course, there's the whole issue of the Post buyout, for which I am eligible. But if I take it, I'll try to keep this chat and still do my reviews for at least a year. Don't really know what my decision will be yet.
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Ballston, Va.:
Dear Michael -- what opinion (if any) do you have of "Cautionary Tales" by Hilaire Belloc?
My 4th grade son just found my old copy, and is reading it gleefully. Such works as the tale of Matilda, "who told lies and was burned to death," or Maria, "who made faces and a deplorable marriage," would not, I think, be allowed by today's moral and pure (!?) standards, but seem perfect for kids his age.
Michael Dirda: I love them. I mean kids love Lemony Snicket, and Cautionary Tales is rather in that tongue-in-cheek, black-humored style. Plus your little one will be learning how to make rhymes.
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San Diego, Calif.:
I am reading and very much enjoying Jeffrey Eugenides "Middlesex." Because it won the Pulitzer, I've been wondering if that committee has different criteria than, say, the national book critics or national book award people. Or do they generally go to the same pool?
Michael Dirda: The pool is roughly the same but the selection process is different. I've been a judge for the Pulitzer and the NBCC--in the first a committee of three or four makes up a shortlist of three books and the Pulitzer board chooses the winner; in the other, a group of 15 to 20 people present their favorite titles and argue among themselves until voting several times and finally producing a winner. Both processes are the work of honorable men and women; both are flawed. In the Pulitzer a lot depends on who those three people are; in the committee approach of NbCC it's not usually the most daring or original book that wins but the one that can garner a consensus--hence everyone's second or third choice.
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About the Sixties:
Perhaps something about Vietnam? In Pharoah's Army, Dispatches,....
And speaking of Gaddis, maybe JR.
Michael Dirda: Ok.
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San Francisco, Calif.:
Mr. Dirda --
I know that audio books aren't your thing but I particularly enjoyed your earlier recommendation of the Jeremy Irons version of Lolita. My mother is particularly fond of audio books and I would like to get her one for Chrismas. I am hoping you have further recommendations.
Michael Dirda: There are so many. I like virtually all those done by Naxos--generally classics, usually abridged (but not always, though always well). The English actors are a pleasure to listen to. My kids have listened to their versions of the Norse and Greek myths a dozen times. I enjoy their Ulysses and Gibbon, in particular. Recorded Books tends to be very reliable--and they always do unabridged readings.
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Washington, D.C.:
Happy Holidays!
I'm flying to London for Christmas and was wondering if you had any suggestions for a good "airplane" read. Something that's not too heavy or deep and will make a 6 hour flight seem quicker.
Thanks!
Michael Dirda: Again, it all depends on your taste. I might recommend Paradise Lost--if you don't like it, it'll put you right to sleep and the hours will fly by. (I love it.)
I suppose you're best bet is a good mystery--something absorbing but not too demanding. THis is why Agatha Christie has long been so popular. I'd suggest something very English since you're heading for London--Dorothy Sayers, P.D.James, Colin Dexter, EDmund Crispin, John Dickson Carr, Ruth Rendell.
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Boston, Mass.:
How about quitting the Post and come work for the Boston Globe? Our books section is now defunct and has merged with opinions/editorials something called "ideas."
I think we need a fire starter such as yourself.
Michael Dirda: Make me an offer.
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Rockville, Md.:
Hi Mr. Dirda, I chanced upon Alexander McCall Smith's "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" and I have to say that I loved the book as well as the rest of them in the series. I was curious as to your comments on the books. Thanks so much.
Michael Dirda: I haven't read any of these, though I've taken home the No 1 in paperback and hope to give it a try. What fascinates me is that this SMith guy came out of nowhere, or so it seems, and yet has written a lot of earlier books. A friend recently sent me a couple of lighthearted comic novels about a zany professor. Is it true as the dustjacket says that he's really some kind of professor at Edinburgh or somewhere? At any event, people do say these books are terrific.
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Washington, D.C.:
When's the Tolkien sidebar you wrote going see print and what's it about?
Michael Dirda: Oh, if it runs, it'll probably run with the Post review of Return of the King. It's just a little background on JRR and the creation of the LOTR. I handed it in to my editor just before this chat and don't know whether he cares for it or not. That's one of the problems about doing a new job--you have no solid ground to stand on and don't really know quite what you're doing. Oh well, I asked for it.
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Berkeley, Calif.:
I saw your review of "A Splendor of Letters" and wondered if there were other books on books you'd particularly recommend.
Michael Dirda: Nicholas Basbanes other titles are all good. My favorite is an old one called Taste and Technique in Book Collecting by John Carter, who also wrote the invaluable lexicon The ABCs of Book Collecting. My friends Allen and Pat Ahearn have a number of books on collecting first editions. The old classic of the field--written in a kind of tongue in cheek archaic diction a la Robert Burton--is Holbrook Jackson's two volume The Anatomy of Bibliomania. If you're book collector, then you know that book lists and bibiliographies make for the best reading of all.
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Out of the loop:
Um, what's all this about new job, leaving Post, etc. I must have missed that live chat.
Michael Dirda: Too long to go into now. But the Post has offered an attractive buyout to senior employees and I am debating whether to take it. You may feel that I am indelibly identified with books, but I did other things in my life before this and could do other things again. And perhaps should.
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Chevy Chase, Md.:
You're eligible for the buyout? I thought one had to be over 50? From your picture you don't look a day over 49!
Michael Dirda: That old! I thought I looked about 39. What can I say? I'm well preserved, though decaying like mad on the inside. Personally I alternate between feeling about 17--which does get me into occasional trouble--and about 93. A decrepit 93 at that.
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No. I Ladies Detective Agency:
Turns out, Smith is a medical law professor at Edinburgh Univ. but grew up in Bostwana. I couldn't get over that when I first picked up the book given that his books deal with a completely different subject!
PS: I'm a PG Wodehouse fan who wasn't allowed to send more PGW-related comments to this chat room!
Michael Dirda: THanks. ANd you're still not allowed.
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Washington, D.C.:
Recorded Books are a good way to introduce children to new authors -- We've listened to many on long car trips or even at home. I must say, the Recorded Books edition of "Treasure Island" was WONDERFUL -- the actor had such great accents.
Also, Brian Jaques does a terrific job at reading his "Redwall" books (different publisher!). My 9-year old son loved the audio of the first so much, he was no longer intimidated by the heft of those works, and has read them all the 'traditional' way!
Michael Dirda: Glad to hear this. I used to start reading to my kids and then found they got hooked on a book and read ahead themselves.
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Adams Morgan, Washington, D.C.:
Do you know what Dorothy Parker said when
someone asked whether she liked Kipling?
Michael Dirda: I do, but perhaps we'd better not go that way. I've been warned before about taste questions. After all, it was Dorothy who named her parakeet Onan because he spilled his seed upon the ground. And do you know what she told Harold Ross when he called late at night, when she was in bed?
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Buyout?:
Are we not buying enough copies of "An Open Book?" I've done my part -- I am giving it as a gift to my sister and my father (I have my own copy to keep, lest you think I am cheap enough to read it first before giving it away -- which, I confess, is what I usually do).
Or, are we buying too many, and prompting your longings to be a "full-time" author!? Hmmmm
Michael Dirda: Not enough. If I'd become a best seller, my publisher, agent and I would be happier. I've gotten good reviews--none of which I've read--but I'd relish just a week there on the list.
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Kipling:
To circle back to a chat earlier in the fall, I'd nominate Captains Courageous as a great Norman Rockwell type of novel. Though not American, Kipling was living in Vermont, I believe, when he wrote it.
Michael Dirda: He did live in Vermont for a while--his wife's family was from there. Yes, it does have that american-values tag on it--kind of a Shirley Temple movie for boys.
I read it years ago and liked it but don't have much desire to reread it. Am I making a mistake?
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Bonn, Germany:
Recently, you listed "Tale of Genji," "Anna Karenina" and "Don Quixote" as prime examples of novels. I was struck that none of these are books originally written in English -- so do you think surface structure is not as important in a novel? I know I'm nearly always disappointed when I look up favorite passages of English novels in a translation -- wouldn't this matter? Or is it simply that the story of these books is so overpowering that it compensates for the loss?
Michael Dirda: I almost mentioned Proust. How do you know that I didn't read these in Japanese, Russian, Spanish and French? Just kidding, though I did read the Proust in French.
My view on translations derives from Tennyson's Ulysses: "Though much is taken, much abides." All these books possess such power that it comes through. Having read books in foreign languages, though, I do recognize that there is a diminution. Some books like Madame Bovary can't be Englished without losing their poetry. Still, unless we can read those originals, there's little point in missing out on some of the great works of fiction.
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Richmond, Va.:
So I am finally getting around to Lucky Jim which has probably been on muy shelves a good five years now -- like it quite a lot although somehow --for me-- it is not the laugh out loud howler I guess I thought it would be. But man is Margaret a well drawn character -- Amis really captures that certain sort of controllling sad sack species of womanhood.
I notice that Amis has actually written a ton of other novels -- are there others you would recommend -- I am not the kinda girl to wend my way through all of an author's work -- life is short. Just the choice stuff for me.
Michael Dirda: I rather agree with you about Lucky Jim. As it happens, Amis can be rather misogynistic, so beware. Probabl the best of his later books is The Old Devils--about old age, randy old age.
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Adams Morgan, D.C.:
RE: what parker said to Ross: No, I haven't heard that
one, but I'm sure whatever it was, he didn't
understand it.
Michael Dirda: Oh, he understood. "I'm too f--- busy and vice versa."
And on that dubious note, it's time for me to hurry on to my dentists. No rest for the wicked.
See you all next Thursday at 2. Tell your friends.
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