Books

• Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Refugees

Sometimes a book gets lucky with its publication date? Not as overwhelming as The Sympathizer (also I don’t particularly care for the short story as a form), but Nguyen’s range impresses, as does his empathy.

• Corrado Augias, The Secrets of Rome: Life & Death in the Eternal City

There aren’t many books that can be put on a shelf next to Georgina Masson’s Companion Guide to Rome but this is one of them. Not quite Carlo Levi’s L’Orologio, but what is? An old Italian guy telling stories about the cities: most of these are familiar, but they’re well-told, and there are entertaining digressions.

• Pramuan Burusphat, Destination: Still Unknown

It’s not often that there’s an art show in Bangkok that’s actually interesting: most everything seems to be aimed at providing decorations for hotels or is cartoonishly amateur. (That said: right now is a weird high point.) This show at BACC was surprisingly good: though I wonder if my reaction to it was that he was educated in the U.S. and his references (conceptualism in the 1970s) are familiar?

• Ellery Queen, Calamity Town

(for a writing project.)

• Flann O’Brien, The Hard Life: An Exegesis of Squalor

A list claims that I read this when I was in college. I have absolutely no memory of it at all, which is mildly worrying. Maybe I was confusing this with The Poor Mouth?

Films

• A Day at the Races, directed by Sam Wood
• Little Sister, dir. Zach Clark
• Love and Friendship, dir. Whit Stillman
• La stanza del figlio, dir. Nanni Moretti
• The Last Movie, dir. Dennis Hopper
• The River, dir. Jean Renoir
• Spider Baby, dir. Jack Hill
• Il racconto dei racconti (Tale of Tales), dir. Matteo Garrone

Exhibits

• “Pramuan Burusphat: Destination: Still Unknown,” BACC
• “Erwin Wurm: The Philosophy of Instructions,” BACC
• “Noppanan Thannaree: Simple-Truth,” People’s Gallery, BACC
• “For Those Who Died Trying,” BACC
• “Sopheap Pich: New Works,” H Gallery Bangkok
• “Peeraya Suphasidh: Iterations of a Dream,” H Project Space
• “Harit Srikhao: A Boy Who Was Kidnapped by Time,” Kathmandu Photo Gallery

Books

• Eimear McBride, The Lesser Bohemians

I still need to finish A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing. I like how wonderfully oral McBride’s writing is; it loses power when a character’s monologue takes over the narrative and perspective is lost (as well as the distinctive voice). But a very well-done book. More books should be written like this.

• Georges Simenon, Maigret Meets a Milord, translated by Robert Baldick
• Álvaro Enrigue, Sudden Death, trans. Natasha Wimmer

There are a lot of reasons I should like this book: its preoccupations with Rome, Caravaggio, and the early history of Mexico City. But it feels a little too much like a research novel. Probably not fair to read this so soon after the death of John Berger: it suffers when compared to G.

• Georges Simenon, Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets, trans. Tony White
• Rosamond Lehmann, Dusty Answer

Is there a reason New York Review Books has not reprinted this? Could be shelved next to Denton Welch or Alain-Fournier.

• Iris Murdoch, The Sea, The Sea

Someone should have a project of recreating all the terrible-sounding meals described in this book and putting them in a gallery to rot without refrigeration.

• Paul Murray, The Mark and the Void

This book is a probably twice as long as it needs to be, but it feels important: somebody’s using fiction to scrutinize how capitalism works, or doesn’t work, now. The subplot about the place of art inside of capitalism doesn’t come off as well, but it’s still a good effort.

Films

• Julieta, directed by Pedro Almodóvar
• The Cocoanuts, dir. Robert Florey & Joseph Santley
• Horse Feathers, dir. Norman Z. McLeod
• Monkey Business, dir. Norman Z. McLeod
• Everybody Wants Some!!, dir. Richard Linklater
• The Lathe of Heaven, dir. David Loxton & Fred Barzyk

Books

• A. R. Ammons, Garbage

For a project on garbage, maybe never to be finished.

• Karen Weiser, Or, the Ambiguities

Not sure that I loved this, but it’s nice that there’s still more to be mined from Pierre.

• Iris Murdoch, The Italian Girl

One of the slightest of Murdoch’s novels that I’ve read so far: a bit too happy to indulge in the Gothic.

• Jai Arun Ravine, The Romance of Siam: A Pocket Guide

I loaned this out before I could write something more substantial about this, and I kind of wish I hadn’t: this is one of the most thoughtful things I’ve read on the idea of Thailand and how that’s been received. Deserves more attention.

• John Ashbery, Breezeway

I had a panic that Ashbery was about to die and I went out and bought this, thinking I might not have another chance to buy one of his books while he was still alive. A little slighter than I wanted?

• Aleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus Project

I am confused why everyone gets excited about Dave Eggers and George Saunders when they could be getting about Hemon, who is better than either.

• Georges Simenon, The Late Monsieur Gallet, translated by Anthea Bell
• Georges Simenon, Teddy Bear, trans. John Clay
• Georges Simenon, Betty, trans. Alastair Hamilton

I like how simple these are: working my way through Simenon trying to come up with ideas.

• Jenny Diski, On Trying to Keep Still

I miss Jenny Diski’s writing, and I wish more of her books came my way: there’s the consolation of knowing that I haven’t read them all yet.

Films

• The Pink Panther, directed by Blake Edwards
• For Me and My Gal, dir. Busby Berkeley
• The Friends of Eddie Coyle, dir. Peter Yates
• Monkey Business, dir. Norman Z. McLeod
• Tod für fünf Stimmen (Gesualdo: Death for Five Voices), dir. Werner Herzog
• Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers, dir. Les Blank

Books

• G. V. Desani, All About H. Hatterr
• Leonard Cohen, The Favourite Game
• George V. Higgins, The Friends of Eddie Coyle
• Iris Murdoch, The Bell
• Iris Murdoch, The Sandcastle
• Jace Clayton, Uproot: Travels in 21st-Century Music and Digital Culture
• Chris Kraus, I Love Dick
• Don DeLillo, Zero K
• Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer
• Iris Murdoch, An Unofficial Rose
• Muriel Spark, Memento Mori

Films

• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, directed by Gareth Edwards

Books

• Svetlana Alexievich, Zinky Boys: Soviet Voices from the Afghanistan War, translated by Julia & Robin Whitby
• Iris Murdoch, An Accidental Man
• Iris Murdoch, The Green Knight

Films

• Ganja and Hess, directed by Bill Gunn
• Tickled, dir. David Farrier & Dylan Reeve

Books

• Iris Murdoch, The Sacred and Profane Love Machine
• Stanisław Lem, Memoirs Found in a Bathtub, translated by Michael Kandel & Christine Rose
• Aleksandar Hemon, The Making of Zombie Wars
• Irish Murdoch, Bruno’s Dream
• Stanisław Lem, His Master’s Voice, trans. Michael Kandel

Films

• The Parallax View, dir. Alan J. Pakula
• Rad der Zeit (Wheel of Time), dir. Werner Herzog
• Glaube und Währung – Dr. Gene Scott, Fernsehprediger (God’s Angry Man), dir. Werner Herzog
• Clouds of Sils Maria, dir. Olivier Assayas
• The Witness, dir. James D. Solomon

Books

• Mohsin Hamid, Exit West
• Iris Murdoch, A Severed Head
• Georges Simenon, Maigret and the Enigmatic Lett, translated by Daphne Woodward
• Iris Murdoch, The Flight from the Enchanter
• Grace Chia, The Cuckoo Conundrum
• George Szirtes, Singapore Notebook & Blessed Isle
• Yong Shu Hoong, Right of the Soil
• Jean Tay, Saint
• Timothy O’Grady & Anthony Lott, Belfast
• Ben Watt, Patient: The True Story of a Rare Illness

Exhibits

• Singapore Biennale, Singapore Art Museum
• “Port Cities: Multicultural Emporiums of Asia, 1500–1900,” Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore

Films

• Into the Inferno, directed by Werner Herzog

Books

• Norbert Davis, The Mouse in the Mountain
• Norbert Davis, Sally’s in the Alley
• Norbert Davis, Oh, Murderer Mine
• Jan Morris, Conundrum
• Italo Calvino, The Non-existent Knight, translated by Archibald Colquhoun
• Italo Calvino, The Baron in the Trees, trans. Archibald Colquhoun
• Leonardo Sciascia, The Day of the Owl, trans. Archibald Colquhoun
• Satyajit Ray, Indigo: Selected Stories, trans. Satyajit Ray & Gopa Majumdar
• Karan Mahajan, Family Planning
• Julio Cortázar, From the Observatory, trans. Anne McLean
• Karan Mahajan, The Association of Small Bombs
• Abraham Merritt, The Face in the Abyss
• Khushwant Singh, Delhi: A Novel
• Amit Chaudhuri, A New World

Exhibits

• Jantar Mantar, Delhi
• Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing, Amer
• City Palace, Jaipur
• Jantar Mantar, Jaipur
• Mehrangarh Museum, Jodhpur
• City Palace, Udaipur
• Bagore ki Haveli Museum, Udaipur

Films

• Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World, directed by Werner Herzog
• Caro diario, dir. Nanni Moretti

Books

• Italo Calvino, Collection of Sand: Essays, translated by Martin McLaughlin
• Jonathan Lethem, Gun, with Occasional Music
• Cesare Pavese, The Moon and the Bonfires, trans. R. W. Flint
• John Burgess, Temple in the Clouds: Faith and Conflict at Preah Vihear
• Michel Faber, The Book of Strange New Things
• Nell Zink, Nicotine
• Pierre Mac Orlan, A Handbook for the Perfect Adventurer, trans. Napoleon Jeffries

Films

• Capricorn One, directed by Peter Hyams
• L’enlèvement de Michel Houellebecq (The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq), dir. Guillaume Nicloux
• My Scientology Movie, dir. John Dower

Exhibits

• Angkor National Museum, Siem Reap, Cambodia
• “Praiwan Chairat: Opposite Horizon, One Sky,” Jamjuree Art Gallery

Books

• Philip K. Dick, The Zap Gun
• Philip K. Dick, The Simulacrum
• Philip K. Dick, The Unteleported Man
• Philip K. Dick, Lies, Inc.
• Philip K. Dick, Counter-Clock World
• Christine Chia & Joshua Ip, eds., A Luxury We Cannot Afford: An Anthology of Singapore Poetry
• Philip K. Dick & Ray Nelson, The Ganymede Takeover
• Philip K. Dick, Galactic Pot-Healer
• Philip K. Dick, Nick and the Glimmung
• Russell Hoban, Turtle Diary
• Italo Calvino, Hermit in Paris: Autobiographical Writings, translated by Martin McLaughlin
• Vladimir Nabokov, The Enchanter, trans. Dmitri Nabokov

Films

• Antonia, directed by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino
• Ladies They Talk About, dir. Howard Bretherton & William Keighley,
• Paisà (Paisan), dir. Roberto Rossellini
• Anomalisa, dir. Charlie Kaufmann & Duke Johnson
• Císařův slavík (The Emperor’s Nightingale), dir. Jiří Trnka
• Kybernetická babička (The Cybernetic Grandma), dir. Jiří Trnka
• Ruka (The Hand), dir. Jiří Trnka
• Tsukiji Wonderland, dir. Shôtarô Endô

Exhibits

• “Northern Land, Southern Seas,” Tang Gallery
• Angkor Panorama Museum, Siem Reap, Cambodia