Sample Saturday is when I wade through the eleventy billion samples I have downloaded on my Kindle. I’m slowly chipping away and deciding whether it’s buy or bye.
4 3 2 1: A Novel by Paul Auster
Why I have it: Spotted it at Brona’s Books.
Summary: The story of one child told as four simultaneous and independent fictional paths.
I’m thinking: Maybe… but 880 pages?! (Note that this is one of the most generous ‘samples’ I’ve come across).
Cluny Brown by Margery Sharp
Why I have it: Spotted over at Madame Bibi Lophile Recommends.
Summary: 1938 – Cluny Brown, of the ‘working class’ refuses to ‘know her place’.
I’m thinking: Yes. I love that Mitford/ von Arnim/ Watson brand of wit.
Summer Before the Dark by Volker Weidermann
Why I have it: Lured by Susan’s review and the fact that I like Stefan Zweig’s work.
Summary: In a Belgian seaside town in 1936, author Stefan Zweig reunites with his estranged friend Joseph Roth. Initially idyllic, the holiday turns as Europe begins to crumble.
I’m thinking: Maybe. The subject is super interesting but the writing in the first chapter didn’t grab me.
Thanks for the link, Kate. Having already read the Weidermann I’ve a feeling I’d plump for both the Auster and the Sharp, despite having fallen out of love a bit with Mr Auster.
It’s odd because I found the Weidermann oddly detached. Perhaps that was just the first chapter but it was not what I was expecting (I had anticipated something more intimate).
I adore Cluny, as you know – please do stick with her, she’s just wonderful! Thanks for the mention 🙂
880 pages would definitely put me off but the Weideemann sounds intriguing.
Weiderman, oops!
Ok, I’m going to give up trying to spell his name correctly while on a moving bus….
And it’s 880 pages telling four different stories… not sure that I could keep track of it unless I had a solid block of reading time.
4 3 2 1 sounds intriguing (I did really like The New York Trilogy)
I haven’t read any Auster – thinking I should start with something shorter?!
Yes, definitely start with something shorter. Like I mentioned, I did really like The New York Trilogy and I also enjoyed The Book of Illusions.
So odd that he’s written so much and yet I haven’t come across him until now… That happened with another author last week, Anita Brookner.