Suggestions for April 2013 BOTM: Contemporary Novels Published After 2000

[Peder]

The gavel will decide.

I've already pretty much had my say on that other Grey thread.

 

[Meadow337]

 

[Sparhawk]

If you make me read the night circus I shall run away to a real one and never return!!!

 

[kelstan]

Back to topic, any more suggestions?

 

[pontalba]

Although I find the idea of batting about (no pun intended) in a discussion of 50 Shades of Grey, I think I'll nominate one of my all time favorite authors (no, to you old-timers, not Nabokov ) John Banville.

I nominate The Book of Evidence by John Banville. it is first of what I call his Freddie series.
Here is a synopsis from Amazon.......

Freddie Montgomery is a schizophrenic 38-year-old ex-scientist haunting dingy pubs who, nonetheless, ponders life and his illness via this superb novelized murder trial "confession." After study in America, Freddie returns to Ireland to find that his disowning mother has sold what he believes is part of his inheritance from his late father, some paintings that include an old Dutch master of a woman he thinks regards him with caring, benevolent authority. As he steals it, he murders a maid who catches him in the act. His lawyer advises him to plead manslaughter to quash evidence. Instead, the brooding, contradictory Freddie writes the "book of evidence" that we read. How much of it is true, how much sick fancy? Freddie makes us think, too.
- Kenneth Mintz, formerly with Bayonne P.L., N.J.

 

[Polly Parrot]

Last day to suggest a book. I will put up a poll tomorrow evening.

 

[Meadow337]

well if my second for Life Of Pi doesn't count as an actual suggestion, may I suggest

Sky Burial by Xue Xinran

In 1994, Xinran met a woman whose story was so extraordinary, it came to obsess her. Of all the Chinese women that Xinran had interviewed for her radio programme (famous in China for its discussion of women's lives), Shu Wen had endured things far beyond the imagination of most people. For over thirty years, she had wandered the empty, silent mountains of north Tibet in search of her husband, a Chinese soldier who was missing in action. She had gone there in the 1950s as a young woman in her prime; she had returned to China grey-haired and utterly changed by her experiences. Shu Wen's life story, brilliantly recreated by Xinran, gives a unique, moving and unforgettable insight into the landscape, religion and nomads of Tibet. At the same time it illuminates the complex and emotional relationship between the Tibetans and Chinese, uncovering the history that lies behind it. But, above all, this is an epic love story - the tale of a woman who adored her husband so much, she gave up everything she knew to travel thousands of miles to one of the most intimidating countries in the world.

http://www.amazon.com/Sky-Burial-Xinran/dp/0701176229

 

[Sparhawk]

Sky Burial by Xue Xinran

I second this sounds interesting.

 

[Polly Parrot]

Poll is up.