This sub tends to be limited to repeating the same conversations about a handful of selected authors/titles.

A few times I tried to make posts recommending some different titles by newer authors, and the mods hassled me because of "promotion" (true, I guess?) and "low-effort" (ouch. I could be worse).

I could go elsewhere, but hey it's the only game in town.

If you haven't read Grant's own memoirs, his writing style is rather exquisite. Now that's one of my favourite books.

It was previously on Netflix.

Currently on CBC Gem.

I think Alias Grace is her best work, I just found the ambiguity swirling around the main character really fascinating.

The TV miniseries by Mary Harron is a pretty good interpretation of the story (with some rather violent scenes, of course).

I've read every novel by Atwood, and Cat's Eye is one of my favourites.

(My top list: The Edible Woman; Murder in the Dark; Cat's Eye; Alias Grace. Everything else is good.)

The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath has an army of cats come to the rescue. So there's that.

I was turned off by the fake-sounding cameos by real rock musicians. They made it read like bad fan-fic.

My fave was 1000 Autumns and I hated Utopia Ave.

Blurring of Reality was an essential aspect of the book. It's implied that the protagonist is completely delusional, but it's intentionally ambiguous enough to make his violent freak-outs a possibility. I think the film version also plays along this line and slips hints either way.

Readers can interpret it any way they like.

Jacob de Zoet is his best, Cloud Atlas is pretty good, everything else is just okay, except for Utopia Avenue, which sucks. It's like cringey rock fan-fic.

I'm harsh on Utopia Avenue because the concept is interesting, but he really botches it. I was also rather put off by really fake-sounding cameos by real famous persons frequently intruding in the story.

I didn't love it. Impressive writing, but often sloggy. I felt that the different sections didn't really cohere as intended for me.

Good explanation. Seen some musicals with canned (pre-recorded) backing tracks, and the undertone really tends to sound kinda stiff (edit: compared to pit band music, which is more lively).

Of course, a lot of pop megastars use canned tracks, and they intentionally compensate with flashing lighting effects and pyrotechnics.

I recall when the Musician's Union in New York protested against the use of string machines (polyphonic keyboard synthesizers) on Broadway in the late 1970s/early 1980s.

Go easy and take a break between sections.

The plotting and pacing are unconventional, so it will come across as odd. You have to go with it.

Gormenghast isn't for everyone, so if you don't get into it don't feel bad.

Whenever Clockwork Orange is mentioned, I like to recommend his other books, especially 'Earthly Powers' and the Enderby Series.

He's an interesting cat, and definitely a big-show-off of his vocabulary in his many books. It's true that English intellectuals from not-posh backgrounds can sometimes be pretty touchy about it (Orwell is another example).

His memoirs are worth a look.

I like to recommend 'Land of Heroes' by Ursula Synge to anyone interested in The Kalevala. Synge re-tells it in English in a style influenced by Tolkien, and it's awesome. And actually we did recite some of it out loud, since you mention it.