Further to this thread, have just finished reading Suttree. What a magnificent book! Sad and funny in equal measure – and filled with stunning evocations of the American landscape.

As ever, I find his work strangely consoling, even at its most bleak.

Glorious book noteeth. It is really sad, for some reason. The whole novel is like an elegy for a time in America that is slowly coming to an end. The 'hell, old Sutree ain't dead!' line towards the end is exceptionally memorable for me.

Anything good lined up next? I can't really be arsed reading much of anything at the moment – I see Pynchon has one coming out next month that should get me started again.

The 'hell, old Sutree ain't dead!' line towards the end is exceptionally memorable.

Absolutely. Like much of his work, it lingers long in the mind.

Actually, just prior to Suttree, I'd taken your advice [on the other thread] and read The Sound and The Fury, fantastic and bewildering as it is. I've read other books by Faulkner (As I lay dying, Light in August), and it's not hard to see why many see CM as his spiritual heir.

Next – um dunno. I alternate wildly between becalmed inactivity and feverish reading – might switch from the Americana for a while, but to what, I'm not sure… 🙂