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Saturday, November 07, 2009

Book List: Five for Time and Place

Penelope Lively picks five books "that excel in depicting a particular time and place."

That's an interesting criterion. Some quick additions:

Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood

The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe

7 comments:

  1. For another look at Berlin, this time right after WWII. The Good German by Joseph Kanon. Avoid the movie. Read the book.

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  2. Wally,

    That is a good book. I also like Philip Kerr's Berlin Trilogy featuring a private detective in Nazi Germany.

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  3. Washington Irving's Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gentn. just oozes mid-19th century.

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  4. Thanks!

    I just ordered the Irving book on Kindle and - poof! - it's here. Instant gratification.

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  5. Westminster Abbey is a great autumn chapter as is Rip Van Winkle and The Mutability of Literature.

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  6. Thanks for the tips. I'll start with those!

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  7. Dan Richwine7:38 AM

    From the list, I'm assuming this is a contemporary list, not an all time list. If you have a Time and Place list which does not include Dickens anywhere, I don't know how valid it can be.

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