As my final act of the wake period I want to throw in the mix 7 standalones that shall act like a mini-universe all unto itself within this wacky free for all curriculum I got going, so ahem, sit back and take a sip of your drink and try not spitting it out on your electronic device, that could be dangerous!!
1. Death on the Installment Plan by Louis Ferdinand Celine -- I've read and enjoyed his book he did before this, but i've never stuck the landing with this. Celine wasn't a nice guy, but he could write very dark stuff, he had a heart, he was just a lil racist and stuff. I have other stuff by him, but not in a rush to read them, this is almost as notorious as his previous, and that should get me through, for that oh so special Celine bile.
2. Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin -- I have a lot by this remarkable man, but this seems like the perfect first one to read, not his first, I want to jump to one of his best. I saw a short documentary of him once, he is fascinating, you could not pull the wool over that man's eyes!!
3. The Betrothed by Allessandro Manzoni -- this is a huge Italian classic that I guess many Italians hate because they have to learn it in school, so I as a Canadian should LOVE it!!
4. The Characters of Jean de la Bruyere -- my favorite of the French Moralists, i've never gotten past 20% in the ebook, and I dare to say he's my fave!! Well he's just that good. Just like his hairdo.
5. The Complete Poems of Ann Sexton -- she takes the cake for most depressed female modern poet, she started off with a bang, but then her act got old I think, she'd be doing public readings, and under the influence of drugs and stuff, and she wasn't a model parent by any means, but oh Lord have mercy her poems are SAD!!!
6. The Manuscript Found in Saragossa by Jan Potoki -- you may have seen the film, which is marvellous, but the book, the BOOK man, I have to fit it in!!
7. The Room by Hubert Selby Jr -- this gets touted by some as one of the most disturbing novels out there, and I wanna give it a shot!!
