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Unfinished Business
Unfinished Business: Notes of a Chronic Re-reader | Vivian Gornick
6 posts | 5 read | 6 to read
One of our most beloved writers reassess the electrifying works of literature that have shaped her life I sometimes think I was born reading . . . I cant remember the time when I didnt have a book in my hands, my head lost to the world around me. Unfinished Business: Notes of a Chronic Re-reader is Vivian Gornicks celebration of passionate reading, of returning again and again to the books that have shaped her at crucial points in her life. In nine essays that traverse literary criticism, memoir, and biography, one of our most celebrated critics writes about the importance of readingand re-readingas life progresses. Gornick finds herself in contradictory characters within D. H. Lawrences Sons and Lovers, assesses womanhood in Colettes The Vagabond and The Shackle, and considers the veracity of memory in Marguerite Durass The Lover. She revisits Great War novels by J. L. Carr and Pat Barker, uncovers the psychological complexity of Elizabeth Bowens prose, and soaks in Natalia Ginzburg, a writer whose work has often made me love life more. After adopting two cats, whose erratic behavior she finds vexing, she discovers Doris Lessings Particularly Cats. Guided by Gornicks trademark verve and insight, Unfinished Business is a masterful appreciation of literatures power to illuminate our lives from a peerless writer and thinker who still read[s] to feel the power of Life with a capital L.
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merelybookish
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I'm late posting my #bookspin stack but looks like the picks are #9 (the tagged book) and ZZ Packer's Drinking Coffee Elsewhere (#8) that I had already picked as my #rememberingjenny read based on her 5 ⭐ review.
@TheAromaofBooks @Centique

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 2y
Centique That sounds like a good one! Look forward to your review 💕 2y
62 likes2 comments
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DrexEdit
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Mehso-so

Well it wasn‘t my favorite book and I probably won‘t re-read it. 😊 I thought it would be a light volume about the joy of re-reading and the different things you find in books when you pick them up at different times. There was some of that (very little) but mostly it‘s a heavy lit crit book talking about heavy 19th century classic books (and some 20th). Not what I was in the mood for. Total “meh” for me.

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DrexEdit
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Tonight‘s a good night to get lost in a book. 🥺😳👍

CaffeineAndCandy ❤❤❤ 3y
38 likes1 comment
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RobinGustafson
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“Like most readers, I sometimes think I was born reading. I can‘t remember the time when I didn‘t have a book in my hands, my head lost to the world around me.” Vivian Gornick, Unfinished Business : Notes of a Chronic Re-reader, p.3 #morningreading

Book purchased in January at Joseph Fox Bookshop, a wonderful bookstore in Philadelphia

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Rhondareads
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Essay writer extraordinaire Vivian Gornick her essays are always fascinating.Her latest book about her love of books .Really thrilled to get these three book of essays can‘t wait to start reading Thanks FSG for these wonderful books.

17 likes1 stack add
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Leftcoastzen
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Pickpick

I am , undoubtedly, a Gornick super fan! Her latest has something to tell us all , the great books that meant a lot to you,may have more to say to you now than when you originally read them.The eyes of experience can be different from the eyes of wonder.Her powers of observation & the weaving of the love of literature in her daily life made for a wonderful read.Nice edition from a feminist & a gifted essayist.

batsy Nice review! I just bought the Kindle version, couldn't help myself 😁 4y
Leftcoastzen @batsy I can‘t wait to hear what you think about it.I am inspired to re-read some of my favorites.I love her writing and way of looking at the world. 4y
cathipink I haven't read any of her books yet - do you have one you'd recommend I start with? 4y
Leftcoastzen @cathipink I love the one about her relationship with her mother 4y
cathipink Thank you!!! 4y
73 likes1 stack add5 comments