Janine di Giovanni's Top Book Recommendations
Want to know what books Janine di Giovanni recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Janine di Giovanni's favorite book recommendations of all time.
Recommended by Janine di Giovanni, and 1 others. Janine di GiovanniWell, she’s a hero of mine, even though she was not very nice to other women. She was one of those people. I once interviewed her for The Times and I was so excited. She lived in Wales and I got buses and traipsed across fields and I finally got there and she opened the door and said; ‘I hope you’re not expecting lunch because you’re not getting any.’ (Source)
Recommended by Janine di Giovanni, and 1 others. Janine di GiovanniAh, this is about longing for a life that no longer exists. Elliot Paul was unknown to me until somebody recommended this book, but apparently he was quite a famous American journalist living in Paris in the 1920s, and he did this amazing thing which was to write a biography of a street, Rue de la Huchette. It’s a complete dump now this street, it’s right in a tourist area and full of Greek gyros... (Source)
Mohsin HamidWe think of Hemingway as an American writer, but much of his writing is set outside of the United States, just as much of his life was set outside of the United States. (Source)
Janine di GiovanniThe fact that Hemingway writes it as an old, rather bitter man trapped in his Idaho home with a bullying wife while he dreams of his youth in Paris with his first wife and child is so touching to me. (Source)
Wai Chee DimockThis is a memoir by Hemingway about his time in Paris, which includes sketches of people like F Scott Fitzgerald. (Source)
Janine di GiovanniThe quintessential book about the end of the Habsburg empire and the preface to the First World War. (Source)
James MeekA lyrical summoning of a remarkable world, the Austro-Hungarian empire, a balance between multiple ethnoses. (Source)
After enduring the Trojan War, Odysseus begins the treacherous journey home to Ithaca. On the way, he faces ravenous monsters and vengeful gods. But the real battle awaits, as his kingdom is under siege by unruly suitors vying for his wife’s hand—and his son’s head. To reclaim his throne and save his family, Odysseus must rely on his wits…and help from the unpredictable gods.
Homer’s The Odyssey was composed around 700 BC. It is one of the earliest epics in existence and remains one of the most influential works of literature today.
Revised edition: Previously...
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Ted TurnerWhen I got to college, I was a classics major, and that was mainly the study of Greek - and to a lesser extent Roman - history and culture, and that fascinated me: the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid by Virgil. (Source)
Max PorterI still have an image of Odysseus in my head from when I was a child – he’s very Anglo-Saxon and stubbly, a bit like Michael Fassbender (Source)
Janine di GiovanniThe thing I loved about Ulysses was that he’s so in love with adventure and with love. (Source)
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