The discombobulating words strike me as shortcircuited, electric and nonlinear as a mind lit on fire, endlessly folding into itself in pleasure and pain. Books similar to leaving the atocha station leaving the atocha station. Leaving the atocha station proves hes a droll and perceptive observer, and a firstrate novelist. Stream and download audiobooks to your computer, tablet or mobile phone. Leaving the atocha station audiobook written by ben lerner.
In prose that veers between the comic and tragic, the selfcontemptuous and the inspired, leaving the atocha station is a portrait of the artist as a young man in. Ben lerners the topeka school revisits the debates of. Gales of laughter howl through leaving the atocha station. In read this then that, we pair new books with classics that have similar themes, structures, and stories ben lerners leaving the atocha station was the last novel i finished in 2012, and an excellent way to end the year. Leaving the atocha station ebook written by ben lerner. Linguistically, leaving the atocha station is one of the most remarkable books i have read this year. Before it, he published three well received books of smallpress modernist poetry, and probably no one will be surprised to hear that he has. This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title atocha. Other books to read if you liked the story cat person.
Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read leaving the atocha station. Leaving the atocha station kindle edition by lerner, ben. Leaving the atocha station by ben lerner librarything. Leaving the atocha station has a beguiling mixture of lightness and weight. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. Goodreads members who liked leaving the atocha station also lik. Ben lerner adam gordon is a brilliant, if highly unreliable young american poet on a prestigious fellowship in madrid, struggling to. Jan 07, 20 in read this then that, we pair new books with classics that have similar themes, structures, and stories. Leaving the atocha station is a bildungsroman and meditation and slacker tale fused by a precise, reflective and darkly comic voice adam gordon, a poet, having bluffed his way into a fellowship in madrid, makes friends, struggles with spanish, smokes hash, wanders around, writes poetry, doubts poetry and has two lowenergy love affairs. Leaving the atocha station paperback august 23, 2011. Shelf unbound one of the best fiction books of 2011.
If you loved cat person and want more of it, here are a few books that should whet your appetite. Thats what the young american poet adam gordon appears to be chasing at the start of ben lerners first novel, leaving the atocha station. Bbc radio 4 bookclub, ben lerner leaving the atocha station. Adam gordon, the narrator of ben lerners subtle, sinuous, and very funny first novel, leaving the atocha station coffee house. Feb 02, 2012 ben lerner was born in topeka, kansas, in 1979. Leaving the atocha station by ben lerner audiobooks on. Aug 01, 2011 leaving the atocha station is a bildungsroman and meditation and slacker tale fused by a precise, reflective and darkly comic voice adam gordon, a poet, having bluffed his way into a fellowship in madrid, makes friends, struggles with spanish, smokes hash, wanders around, writes poetry, doubts poetry and has two lowenergy love affairs. Leaving the atocha station is ben lerners first novel. Find books like leaving the atocha station from the worlds largest community of readers. Aug 23, 2011 leaving the atocha station ebook written by ben lerner. Is poetry an essential art form, or merely a screen for.
Its packed full of gags adam is convinced that ortega y gasset is two people, like deleuze and guattari and pagelong oneliners. This weekend, the new yorker short story cat person took over the internet, with everyone discussing author kristen roupenians cringingly relatable depiction of online dating and bad sex, and praising its revealing exploration of a young womans inner life. The stated goal of his fellowship is to write a long narrative. Listen to leaving the atocha station by ben lerner at. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Leaving the atocha station was a good book although it didnt quite live up to the buzz as an innovative novel.
Ben lerner is the author of three books of poetry the lichtenberg figures, angle of yaw, and mean free path. Listen to leaving the atocha station audiobook by ben lerner. Leaving the atocha station, 2014 novel by ben lerner. Oct 06, 2018 leaving the atocha station puts lerner among a clique of acclaimed contemporary authorsperhaps most notably philip rothwho deliberately blur the line between autobiography and fiction. His story of a postgrad american student on a fellowship in spain is an impressively verisimilar account of ennui and alienation is, as we must call it now, our post9. Ben lerners leaving the atocha station was the last novel i finished in 2012, and an excellent way to end the year. Fuelled by strong coffee and selfprescribed tranquillizers, adams r. Aug 23, 2011 leaving the atocha station paperback august 23, 2011. Leaving the atocha station by lerner, ben and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Adam gordon is a brilliant, if highly unreliable, young american poet on a prestigious fellowship in madrid, struggling to establish his sense of self and his relationship to art.
Their comments and ratings range from the onestar to the fivestar, which reveal a. Leaving the atocha station is remarkable for its ability to be simultaneously warm, ruminative, heartbreaking, and funny. A novel by ben lerner august 23, 2011 6 x 9 186 pages 9781566892742 from a national book award finalist, this hilarious and profound first novel captures the experience of the young american abroad while exploring the possibilities of art and authenticity in our time. The guardian leaving the atocha station is, among other things, a characterdriven pageturner and a concisely definitive study of the actual versus the virtual as applied to. Leaving the atocha station by ben lerner goodreads. Ben lerner on his novel leaving the atocha station about a young american poet on a prestigious fellowship in madrid. There are wonderful sentences and jokes on almost every page. Leaving the atocha station puts lerner among a clique of acclaimed contemporary authorsperhaps most notably philip rothwho deliberately blur the line between autobiography and fiction. Leaving the atocha station is a more modest book than, for example, roths operation shylock, but still provides compelling narrative even without a grandiose plot. If you liked cat person, here are some other books to read, all by women authors and compiled by cut staffers and friends. Leaving the atocha station by ben lerner overdrive rakuten. Like lerners debut, leaving the atocha station, this is an extremely funny book, the narrators neuroses providing most of the laughs.
Im probably making leaving the atocha station sound like a call to duty rather than pleasure. The firstperson narrator of the novel, adam gordon, is an american poet in his early 20s participating in a prestigious fellowship in madrid circa 2004. Dec 10, 20 leaving the atocha station steel infected bumps the screws everywhere wells perhaps this is a naive reading, but to my mind the poem is intensely erotic, sexual, orgasmic even. As adams private fears are dwarfed by terrorist train attacks, lerner casts light on how we must constantly rework the narrative of our lives to survive and flourish. Leaving the atocha station book the seattle public. Ben lerners leaving the atocha station hyperallergic. Leaving the atocha station is one of the most remarkable books i have read this year. Ben lerner in madrid on a fellowship, a young american poet examines his ambivalence about authenticity. Lerner is a poet, but this isnt a poetic novel, by which i mean the kind of work where mellifluous description acts as a kind of literary toupee. Which is all to say that this book is suddenly one of my very favorites and i have a serious crush on ben lerners brain. There are similar leitmotifs in leaving the atocha station and 10. What leaving the atocha station says about america the. Paul auster leaving the atocha station is a marvelous novel, not.
With a 2nd, apparently equally solipsistic novel recently published, 10. Its too ironic and intellectual to be the kind of novel that really moves. Jul 05, 2012 gales of laughter howl through leaving the atocha station. Leaving the atocha station by ben lerner overdrive. Leaving the atocha station 2011 is the debut novel by american poet and critic ben lerner. He has received fellowships from the fulbright, guggenheim, and macarthur foundations, and is the author of two internationally acclaimed novels, leaving the atocha station and 10. Leaving the atocha station paperback the elliott bay book. Jan 15, 2012 although leaving the atocha station might come off as a first person, autobiographical novel about the authors time in spain, the primary motivation behind its existence is the consideration of. Donna seaman, booklist like lerners debut, leaving the atocha station, this is an extremely funny book, the narrators neuroses providing most of the laughs. What is actual when our experiences are mediated by language, technology, medication, and the arts. Leaving the atocha station is a more modest book than, for example, roths operation shylock, but still provides compelling narrative even without a. His story of a postgrad american student on a fellowship in spain is an impressively verisimilar account of ennui and. Leaving the atocha station paperback the elliott bay.
Having lived in a country where i didnt speak the language fluently, the sections where he struggles with his diverse interpretations of peoples conversations were particularly amusing. All about leaving the atocha station by ben lerner. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Jul 12, 2012 leaving the atocha station is ben lerners first novel. Although leaving the atocha station might come off as a first person, autobiographical novel about the authors time in spain, the primary motivation behind its existence is. These books are both great travel books and the main characters are going through a similar time in their lives. The guardians best books of 2011 shelf unbounds top ten of 2011 new statemans best books of 2011 a subtle, sinuous, and very funny first novel. In the earlier books, the repetitions seemed to betoken an obsessive attraction to. Lerner is a poet, but this isn t a poetic novel, by which i mean the kind of work where mellifluous description acts as a kind of literary toupee. Dec 08, 2019 ben lerner on his novel leaving the atocha station about a young american poet on a prestigious fellowship in madrid. Leaving the atocha station by ben lerner adam gordon is a brilliant, if highly unreliable, young american poet on a prestigious fellowship in madrid, struggling to establish his sense of self and his attitude towards art.
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