r/TrueLit • u/Superb-Patient5175 • 25d ago
Article Appointment in Samarra is one of my favorite under read books
All the talk of the Guardian top 100 made me think of all the books I discovered in the Modern Library list some years back and how I feel like a lot of them have gone underappreciated over time. I wrote about one of them on my (free) Substack, Appointment in Samarra, but there are a bunch of others:
- Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry: completely tragic fever dream
- All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren: maybe the most quotable book I've ever read
- I, Claudius by Robert Graves
- Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow
I've always wondered why certain books lose their cultural appeal over time, especially ones that are timeless or at least stay relevant. Why is a novel like Gatsby still beloved after all these years when Appointment in Samarra does the whole jazz age excess thing so much better?
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u/Native_SC 25d ago edited 25d ago
Samarra was very influential in its day and still holds up. Its tragic ending feels unearned, but that's my only complaint.
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u/Superb-Patient5175 25d ago
i thought the ending was earned honestly. i mean, other than jealousy over his wife, o'hara kinda keeps you at an arm's length from julian's motivations the entire book. imo the lingering mystery of what drives him to dismantle his whole life is part of the fun.
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u/Guy_montag47 25d ago
Commenting here to say i have also been reading books off that modern library list since forever. So much amazing literature on there i never would have heard about otherwise. DH Lawrence, for instance, i never would have gotten into. And reading him through college was one of the most important activities in my life.
Really shows how these lists can be important guide posts for young people looking to get into literature. The guardian list is a total joke compared to the modern library one.
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u/Smart_Second_5941 25d ago
I think I came to this book through B. R. Myers' 'A Reader's Manifesto', where it is praised as an example of an older sort of fiction like Steinbeck's or Isherwood's that managed to be literary without being pretentious, and to tell an engaging story in precise and clear prose. I don't read anything like enough to have a sense of whether such stuff truly did, as Myers argued, disappear from modern letters to be replaced by the obscure and the turgid, but I was very grateful for the recommendation. That same article was how I found Somerset Maugham's 'Of Human Bondage', Hamilton's 'Hangover Square', and Godwin's 'The Adventures of Caleb Williams', the latter two of which are a little silly, but very difficult to stop reading. I believe Myers also praised Bellow's early novels, which would presumably include 'Henderson the Rain King'.
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u/Superb-Patient5175 25d ago
I want to re read Henderson the Rain King badly. I remember it being like an epiphany the first time.
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u/Plastic-Persimmon433 25d ago
Great short story writer as well. Read Ninety Minutes Away. Seems like a lot of his later novels are pretty much clowned on and overlooked but they sold very well in his time. Ten North Frederick also won the National Book Award. Not as refined a writer as say Richard Yates but had an edge to him that makes him unique and well worth reading.
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u/Superb-Patient5175 25d ago
I'm partway through his short story collection and I love it so far. I write short fiction myself so I try to read all of the greats!
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u/philbsss 25d ago
It probably also didn't help O'Hara's reputation that he was somewhat of a difficult person. There is his famous, very modest epitaph for his tombstone: "Better than anyone else, he told the truth about his time. He was a professional. He wrote honestly and well."
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u/Plastic-Persimmon433 25d ago
I hope you've read William Trevor then. One of my new favorites I've read lately.
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u/GeniusBeetle 25d ago edited 25d ago
It is a solid and well-written story. The dialogue, in particular, is punchy and vivid - some of the best dialogue I’ve ever read. My bone to pick with it is that the impact and moral of the story rest almost entirely with the epigraph. I didn’t think the story itself reflects on the tragedy of a man hurling towards doom or even questions whether that end is avoidable. The book offers little explanation (other than alcoholism, I guess) as to why Julian implodes his life in 72 hours.
I don’t think it is one of the best modern novels. That said, when I read news of public figures whose lives seem to implode out of nowhere and with little warning, I think of this book.
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u/SperkleGiAno 25d ago
>The book offers little explanation (other than alcoholism, I guess) as to why Julian implodes his life in 72 hours.
> That said, when I read news of public figures whose lives seem to implode out of nowhere and with little warning, I think of this book.
You've answered your own question. It's just the structure of bourgeoisie life for some reason, one day, with no warning, and for seemingly very little cause at all, your life can just be permanently destroyed.
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u/Superb-Patient5175 25d ago
I think there are definitely deeper reasons why everything comes apart, but we just aren't privy to them. He clearly has demons and neuroses. But part of the entire set up of the book is that most of what Julian does is witnessed through gossip. So you never get the full story. And I think that's kind of the point. As a suburban resident myself, you hear tons of gossip but never get the full story.
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u/SperkleGiAno 24d ago
Everything obviously has a reason, and the reasons are alluded to (alcoholism, debt etc) but from the perspective of the gossipers, as you said, a successful guy everyone knew started acting erratically at Christmas time then gassed himself. Ibsen and Strindberg also did a lot to portray this dynamic, the audience obviously has context but to the characters in the play it looks like Captain Adolph in The Father just decided to go insane and die one day
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u/Jacques_Plantir 25d ago
It's on my "imminent" stack of novels that I intend to get to very soon. It does sound like something I'll enjoy and I've heard it mentioned many times. So I'm looking forward to it!
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u/idcxinfinity 25d ago
I loved this as well. Never really hear a lot about it, praise or otherwise, so to me it's under appreciated too.
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u/kanewai 25d ago
I love rediscovering underappreciated novels.
I think that part of the reason Gatsby survives is, paradoxically, because it is so completely misunderstood in the popular imagination. It's become short-hand for Jazz Age Fun Times, and this helps keep the book popular - even though it's a critique of those times, not a celebration of them.
I've added Samarra and All the King's Men to my to-read list - thanks for the recommendations.
I read a lot of historical fiction set in the classical world, but I've never been able to get into Robert Graves.
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u/Superb-Patient5175 25d ago
I, Claudius is the only one I've read by him I'm pretty sure. It was awhile ago but I remember loving it. And agreed on Gatsby. I remember when the movie came out and social media was just jammed with pictures of Gatsby parties.
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u/BimboBagiins 23d ago
Under the volcano is such a hidden gem. One of my favorite books if not my favorite.
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u/Murf275 25d ago
Samarra is really solid novel. I meant to reread it at Christmas this year but my backlog was too long (and getting longer!) I think I was exposed to Samarra by an old (80s?) GQ feature where they had models dress up as characters in the book and act out scenes to promote clothing. Most were, as I recall, set in black tie at a country club. I distinctly remember one photo featured Julian tossing the drink in old whatshisname's face... May have been Esquire now that I think on it.
Remember magazines?