Books I Bought While Traveling, Part 1
New to the TBR: Novels by Anne de Marcken, Mathias Enard and Iris Murdoch
I’ve been on the move this year, with visits to London, the Southwest, Tampa, Chicago and Washington, D.C. I try to hit at least one independent book store wherever I go and take home a souvenir that will fit easily into my luggage. A few you’ve seen already, including ‘Pisti, 80 Rue de Belleville’ by Estelle Hoy, which I bought in the Tampa airport, and ‘The Dog of the South’ by Charles Portis, which I got in Sedona, Ariz. (You’ll see my review of ‘The Water Statues’ by Fleur Jaeggy, which I bought in Washington, on Labor Day weekend.) Here are the books I bought in London and Santa Fe, N.M. London was a work trip where I spent my free moments hunting for Fitzcarraldo Editions. I am obsessed with this imprint because their books are hard to find in the U.S., their blue covers are beautiful, and they publish amazing books. Santa Fe was a stop on a road trip Donna and I took across the Southwest, where I found a volume by one of my favorite authors. Remember to vote for what I should review first! Your choices are:
‘It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over’ by Anne de Marcken
Daunt Books in London has these tote bags you sometimes see people carrying on the New York City subway system. It’s effective marketing, because I went straight to the Cheapside location almost immediately after getting off the plane. I knew nothing about Anne de Marcken’s ‘It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over’ when I saw it on display, other than that it was thin and the right shade of blue. It features a protagonist who is ‘voraciously alive in the afterlife,’ according to the back cover. ‘Traveling across the landscapes of time and of space, heading always west, and carrying a dead but laconically opinionated crow in her chest, our undead narrator encounters and loses parts of her body and her self in one terrifying, hilarious, and heartbreaking situation after another.’ Weird stuff like this is right up my alley, and I was like:
From Daunt, I walked to the Charing Cross Road location of Foyles, where I bought:
‘Tell Them of Battles, Kings and Elephants’ by Mathias Enard
Foyles is magical, and I wandered around its several floors for a long time. I was drawn to Mathias Enard’s ‘Tell Them of Battles, Kings and Elephants’ because of the blue cover, of course, and also because it was as short as Anne de Marcken’s book. The two would easily fit in the luggage, so why not get both! I flipped it over and read the description: ‘In 1506, Michelangelo—a young but already renowned sculptor—is invited by the sultan of Constantinople to design a bridge over the Golden Horn. The sultan has offered, alongside an enormous payment, the promise of immortality, since Leonardo da Vinci’s design was rejected…’ I stopped right there and headed toward the cash register. I did not have time for any other book stores while in London, but I did have the greatest grilled cheese sandwich ever. Look at this raclette beauty made by Kappacasein in Borough Market:
A few weeks later, I was in New Mexico, where I bought:
‘The Italian Girl’ by Iris Murdoch
This was a no-brainer when I saw it at Big Star Books & Music in Santa Fe. Of course, you all know I’m a huge Iris Murdoch fan and reviewed ‘The Black Prince’ to celebrate the eighth anniversary of BoG earlier this year (and have previously reviewed ‘The Bell’ and ‘The Sea, the Sea’). I was drawn to this copy for other reasons, too: It was luggage-friendly, the woman on the cover reminds me of Lady Gaga, and the short description on the back says ‘This is Iris Murdoch in frighteningly sombre mood. Never has she used to greater effect her unique talent for laying bare the deepest and most secret places of a human being.’ Wow! OK! Then, I flipped open the cover and saw this book plate inside:
Even the woman behind the cash register said it was cool. What do you think of these books? Have you read any of them? Let me know in the comments. As for when I should review them, let me know your preference in this poll:
Books on GIF does not solicit review copies. We feature books we purchase at independent bookstores around New York City and on our travels, or were borrowed electronically from the Brooklyn Public Library.
Thanks for reading, and thanks especially to Donna for editing this newsletter!
Until next time,
Mike
lol’ing at the short sharp london section
That first book sounds right up my alley too