The 1956 Club starts tomorrow – this is the place to leave your review links, or feel free to put your review in the comments if you don’t write reviews anywhere.
For the uninitiated – every six months, Karen and I ask everyone to read books published in the same year, and together we compile a portrait of the year. All types of books welcome; all languages welcome. Make your own rules if you’re in doubt.
Can’t wait to see what everyone reads – it already looks like it’s going to be an absolutely stellar year.
My Dog Tulip by J.R. Ackerley
Spam Tomorrow by Verily Anderson
The Captive Reader
Stuck in a Book
The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov
Talk of the Devil by Frank Baker
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
Kinship of All Species
Book Around the Corner
Madame Bibi Lophile
A Legacy by Sybille Bedford
Zama by Antonio de Benedetto
Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino
The Fall by Albert Camus
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
What Me Read
The Chase by Alejo Carpentier
Marching with April by Hugo Charteris
Dead Man’s Folly by Agatha Christie
Hopewell’s Library of Life
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Booker Talk
Fifteen by Beverly Cleary
Journals of Jean Cocteau
The Man Who Japed by Philip K. Dick
Minority Report by Philip K. Dick
A Dangerous Game by Friedrich Durrenmatt
Five A.M. by Jean Dutourd
Knight’s Castle by Edward Eager
Every Eye by Isobel English
Karen’s Books and Chocolate
She Reads Novels
We Made a Garden by Margery Fish
Diamond are Forever by Ian Fleming
Gentlemen at Gyang Gyang by Miles Franklin
Thieves and Rascals by Mavis Gallant
Les Racines du ciel by Romain Gary
The Miracle Worker by William Gibson
Howl and other poems by Allen Ginsberg
An Episode of Sparrows by Rumer Godden
Down There by David Goodis
The Last Resort by Pamela Hansford Johnson
Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer
What Me Read
Desperate Reader
The Captive Reader
The Sybil by Par Lagerkvist
Miss Hogg and the Bronte Murders by Austin Lee
Rasmus and the Vagabond by Astrid Lindgren
Mio, My Son by Astrid Lindgren
Voyage into Violence by Frances and Richard Lockridge
The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay
Bookword
What Me Read
Dovegreyreader
Thin Ice by Compton Mackenzie
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz
Cop Hater by Ed McBain
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Typings
Tea at Four O’Clock by Janet McNeill
A Devil in Paradise by Henry Miller
The Last Hurrah by Edwin O’Connor
A Family Party by John O’Hara
Hopewell’s Public Library of Life
Houseboy by Ferdinand Oyono
The Diehard by Jean Potts
The Brazen Head by John Cowper Powys
Mrs. Pepperpot by Alf Prøysen
Finding Time to Write
I Read That in a Book
The Wings of the Night by Thomas H. Raddall
A Certain Smile by Francoise Sagan
The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon
Adventures in reading, running and working from home
Annabookbel
Bookish Beck
The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier
Finding Time to Write
Bookword
Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh
Beyond the Gates by Dorothy Evelyn Smith
Wildfire at Midnight by Mary Stewart
A Haunted Land by Randolph Stow
The Key by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki
The Keys of My Prison by Frances Shelley Wees
Captain of Dragoons by Ronald Welch
Night by Elie Wiesel
French Leave by P.G. Wodehouse
The Children Who Stayed Alone by Bonnie Bess Worline
Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
A 1956 Club game from Josie Holford!
Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor
I’m very sad I don’t have anything on the TBR for this year but I’m sure I’ll enjoy all the reviews!
Except it turns out I DID have one in the house and a fairly short one so …
Glad to join once again. Here’s my sign-up:
https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpress.com/2020/10/04/the-1956-club/
Thanks for hosting.
I’ve started my first book from 1956, Imperial Woman by Pearl S. Buck. I also two Persephones published that year, Madame Solario and Every Eye. I suspect I’ll finish Every Eye first because it’s only 150 pages (and a tiny little book). Madame Solario is almost 500 so that review might not make it by the end of the week!
I’m planning to read The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault. In fact, it will be a re-read as I’ve only just realized I read it many years ago.
Hurray! Looking forward to this one! :D
After scouring my TBR list I finally came up with a 56 candidate: The Fall by Albert Camus. Oh well at least I didn’t have to waste time procrastinating
I have always meant to read Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin but haven’t until now. I’ve never joined your club before but hello, maybe this is me joining in. :)
8 yrs ago, I put down my thoughts about Harry the Dirty Dog. I thought I might update the post for this event, but it still pretty much says everything I want to say about this delightful picture book, so here it is – http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com/2012/09/harry-dirty-dog-by-gene-zion.html
Here’s another one from the vault – The Flight from the Enchanter by Iris Murdoch
http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-flight-from-enchanter-by-iris.html
Finding Time to Write has just made me aware of this blogging club. I was 9 in 1956, so it sounds like the club for me. I’ll give it my best shot!
It’s my first go at participating in one of your clubs, though I’ve enjoyed reading other people’s posts in the past. I read Train to Pakistan by Kushwant Singh, which is roughly as grim as you would expect a novel about the Partition of India to be, but which is also brilliant and well-written, and I’m glad I read it. https://louloureads.wordpress.com/2020/10/05/train-to-pakistan-1956club/
My goodness, Brona, I also did Harry the Dirty Dog, which is a family favorite. I hope those unfamiliar will take a few minutes to listen to the Betty White readaloud I included:
http://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2020/10/harry-dirty-dog-by-gene-zion-and.html
I have an essay due Tuesday but then have some others I will complete.
Looking forward to everyone’s posts! Simon, hope you are feeling better.
Harry’s so much fun, isn’t he?
I’m very nervous about the new Harry due to be published next year though!
Here’s my first review for the 1956 Club, The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay: https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2020/10/05/review-1560-1956-club-the-towers-of-trebizond/
I also previously posted on a couple of books published in 1956, Night by Elie Wiesel: https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2016/01/29/day-841-night/
and My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell: https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2018/11/06/day-1281-my-family-and-other-animals/
This is the first time I am not in the middle of book when the date is announced. I will be reading Angus Wilson’s “Anglo-Saxon Attitudes”.
I’m reading The Man Who Japed by Philip K. Dick, one from my husband’s bookshelves so not at all my usual reading taste. I seem to have read all of my own 1956 books.
I have one review I have just posted for Voyage into Violence by Frances and Richard Lockridge.
https://bitterteaandmystery.blogspot.com/2020/10/1956club-voyage-into-violence.html
I am hoping to have another book from 1956 reviewed later this week.
Tracy @ Bitter Tea and Mystery
Here’s my first one: The Diehard by Jean Potts
https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpress.com/2020/10/06/the-1956-club-the-diehard-by-jean-potts/
Looking forward to the others I have selected.
I’ve read Wildfire at Midnight by Mary Stewart, which I enjoyed very much. I’ll hope to post a review tomorrow.
Here’s a contribution though I’m afraid it’s a re-run.
https://harrietdevine.typepad.com/harriet_devines_blog/2020/10/an-episode-of-sparrows-by-rumer-godden.html
Here’s my second book read specifically for the 1956 Club, Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer: https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2020/10/07/review-1561-1956-club-sprig-muslin/
The Lonely Londoners and Night were my two selections this time: https://bookishbeck.wordpress.com/2020/10/08/the-1956-club-the-lonely-londoners-and-night/
I don’t think she did it on purpose to tie in with the 1956 Club, but Lynne of dovegreyreader has just reviewed The Towers of Trebizond: https://dovegreyreader.typepad.com/dovegreyreader_scribbles/2020/10/the-towers-of-trebizond-rose-macaukey.html
Other 1956 Club entries:
The Last Hurrah by Edwin O’Connor, the Pulitzer Prize-winning story of a political boss and the smoke-filled rooms from which he ran his last campaign
http://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-last-hurrah-by-edwin-oconnor.html
Fifteen by Beverly Cleary, better known for Ramona and Henry Huggins, this is an example of a malt shop novel
http://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2020/10/1956club-fifteen-iconic-teen-novel-of.html
And two previous posts for 1956
To All My Fans, With Love, From Sylvie by Ellen Conford
https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2013/11/to-all-my-fans-with-love-from-sylvie.html
A mini-review of South Cover Summer by Sara Bassett
https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2020/08/catching-up-with-miss-hargreaves-poppy.html
I should have saved this for October but Cape Cod was right for August
I too read The Lonely Londoners https://annabookbel.net/the-1956-club-sam-selvon-lonely-londoners – loved it.
And here is my review of Wildfire at Midnight:
https://sconesandchaiseslongues.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-1956club-wildfire-at-midnight-by.html
Hello everyone! This is my second time joining in, after April’s 1920 Club. I started researching 1956 books back in April, and came up with a handful of interesting titles:
Lonely Londoners (Samuel Selvon)
L’ère du soupcon (Nathalie Sarraute)
Seize the Day (Saul Bellow)
Über die Seele im Zeitalter der zweiten industriellen Revolution (Günther Anders)
Essays by Emil Cioran
The Songs of the Red Ruby (Agnar Mykle)
Giovanni’s Room (James Baldwin)
I was pretty decided on Lonely Londoners, but for unknown reasons I went with the Baldwin instead. I am happy to notice that at least two other participants did choose Selvon’s book. My link:
https://kinshipofallspecies.wordpress.com/2020/10/08/giovannis-room-james-baldwin-1956/
thank you to Kaggsy and Simon for putting this together!
Here’s another book I read, sort of, for the 1956 Club, The Fall by Albert Camus: https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2020/10/08/review-1562-1956-club-the-fall/
Here’s what I read: The Miracle Worker by William Gibson. https://blbooks.blogspot.com/2020/10/122-miracle-worker.html
Finished my first book for the 1956 Club, Every Eye by Isobel English. I’m hoping to finish at least one more by the end of the week.
https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2020/10/every-eye-by-isobel-english-1956-club.html
Having read a 1956 book for the Club, I now discover the ENGLISH VERSION was 1956 andd the original 1954, …so please bear with me!
MIO, MY SON….by Astrid Lindgren
While Astrid Lindgren is better known for her cute children’s tales, she did venture into High Fantasy with this novel and “The Brothers Lionheart”.
The narrator here is Karl Anders Nilsson, an unhappy fosterchild in an unloving household. He yearns for the happy homelife of his friend, with an affable and kind hearted father.
And then a chance discovery of a genie in a beer bottle in a lonely Stockhom park sees him transported to a magical world.
Very much in the vein of CS Lewis’ ‘Narnia’, this is a fantasy world in which the adult reader sees a strong parallel with the Christian message. Karl Anders is adopted by an utterly loving King…but while his new life is magical, he soon learns of a dark world ruled by evil Sir Kato; a world which intrudes on his own as children are snatched away to that grim world, leaving bereft family. Karl Anders and his friend decide to go and fight Kato.
Truly lovely tale that references the Resurrection (as the Bewitched Birds are turned back into lost children); Jesus’ elevation in status after His death
(as the King remarks “Mio, my son, I do believe you’ve grown while you’ve been away! I think we shall have to put a fresh mark on the kitchen door tonight.” )
and most of all the relationship between Father and Son:
“then I saw my father the King! He was standing in the very same place where I had left him when I rode away…He was standing with his arms stretched out toward me, and I threw myself into them and put my arms tightly round his neck, and he held me close and whispered “Mio, my son!”
You see, my father the King loves me, and I love my father, the King.”
Can be read as pure fiction or with an awareness of the underlying message. Lovely story.
Here’s my review of Every Eye by Isobel English:
https://shereadsnovels.com/2020/10/08/every-eye-by-isobel-english-1956club/
I’ve just finished The Man Who Japed by Philip K. Dick https://piningforthewest.co.uk/2020/10/08/1956-club-the-man-who-japed-by-philip-k-dick/
My second book is The Keys of My Prison by Frances Shelley Wees.
https://bitterteaandmystery.blogspot.com/2020/10/1956club-keys-of-my-prison.html
Set in Canada, by a Canadian author.
Here’s a final review for the 1956 Club: Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz: https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2020/10/09/review-1563-1956-club-palace-walk/
Here are my reviews for the club (Little Old Mrs Pepperpot, Captain of Dragoons and Rasmus and the Vagabond): https://ireadthatinabook.wordpress.com/2020/10/10/1956-in-childrens-literature/
Thank you for hosting!
Here’s mine: https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/10/11/a-haunted-land-by-randolph-stow/
Randolph Stow published this first novel, A Haunted Land, in 1956 when he was just 21. He went on to win Australia’s most prestigious literary award, the Miles Franklin and the Australian Literary Society’s Gold medal in 1958. Thanks for the nudge to read the novel that started his literary career!
Just remembered this one:https://harrietdevine.typepad.com/harriet_devines_blog/2020/10/the-naked-sun-by-isaac-asimov-1956.html
I found a P. G. Wodehouse published in 1956, French Leave. Not his best but still a fun light read. Here’s a link to my review: https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2020/10/1956-club-french-leave-by-p-g-wodehouse.html
I’m still trying to finish Imperial Woman by Pearl S. Buck but it’s a pretty dense read, packed with history so it’s slower than I expected. Will try to finish it by the end of the week though.
Just checked my blog and found five other books published in 1956 in my archive!
The Long View by Elizabeth Jane Howard https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-long-view-by-elizabeth-jane-howard.html
Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer
https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2017/02/sprig-muslin-by-georgette-heyer.html
The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macauley
https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-towers-of-trebizond-by-rose-macauley.html
Peyton Place by Grace Metalious
https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2014/08/peyton-place-by-grace-metalious.html
The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West
https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2012/04/fountain-overflows-by-rebecca-west.html
Wow, 1956 was a great year in books!
One more from me:
Knight’s Castle by Edward Eager (found a Puffin cover; had not thought previously that Eager had been published in the UK)
http://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2020/10/1956club-knights-castle-by-edward-eager.html
Got my book and review finished just in time!
Gentlemen at Gyang Gyang by Miles Franklin (Brent of Bin BIn)
http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com/2020/10/gentlemen-at-gyang-gyang-miles-franklin.html
Mine are here: https://hopewellslibraryoflife.wordpress.com/2020/10/12/review-a-family-party-by-john-ohara-1956-club/ AND https://hopewellslibraryoflife.wordpress.com/2020/10/05/1956-book-club-dead-mans-folly-by-agatha-christie/
A late entry, I just had to finish it though it took longer than I expected:
https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2020/10/1956-club-madame-solario-by-gladys.html
Thanks again for hosting, looking forward to 1936!