That Bridge OverThe River Drina book - by whoever - that I simply stopped
reading when the mother tried to breastfeed her doomed chiold immured in the
bridge - that is a pretty sad book.
apparently ex yugo kids had to read it at school
when they tell me this i always ask - how? how did you read it?
----Original Message Follows----
From: Frederick Pollack <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: "Poetryetc: poetry and poetics" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Abrupt Snap - What is the saddest book ever written?
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 17:39:59 -0400
Funniest novel I ever read, apart from Tristram Shandy, was Snow White, by
Donald Barthelme. Runners-up: The Ginger Man, by J. P. Donleavy. Chapel
Road, by Louis Paul Boon (Flemish); mordantly funny, deeply melancholy,
sharply critical.
Since we're talking about novels, I recommend in the strongest possible
terms a short novel from around 1900 by Hjalmar Soderberg (umlaut over the
o) called Doctor Glas. One of the great classics of Swedish literature.
Definitely falls into the "sad" category, but goes way beyond it. Recently
translated and published here, with a good intro by Susan Sontag.
Most profoundly sad (and moving) modern novel I know is also Swedish -
Finno-Swedish: Axel, by Bo Carpelan. Who is also a noted poet. Sort of
book that, once you've finish it, makes it hard to get your life started
again.
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