Six Degrees of Separation is a meme hosted by Kate over at Books Are My Favourite and Best. It works like this: each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six others to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the titles on the list, only to the one next to it in the chain.
This month we’re starting with Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo which I’ve yet to read but I know it follows two brothers who deal with the loss of their father in very different and uncharacteristic ways.
I’m linking to Antoine Laurain’s French Rhapsody, another novel which features a musical term, this one about missed chances.
Laurain’s story begins with the delivery of a letter leading me to Denis Thériault’s The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman about lovestruck Bildo who likes to read other people’s letters before delivering them.
A habit shared by Albert in J. Robert Lennon’s Mailman.
Lennon is the author of The Funnies based on a comic strip leading me to Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay about a couple of comic book artists.
Chabon is married to Aylet Waldman who wrote about microdosing LSD to ease her bipolarity in A Really Good Day.
Leaning me Vesna Main’s Good Day? which recounts a daily conversation between a Writer and her Reader, who is also her husband, describing the progress of her novel about a couple whose marriage is strained to breaking point.
This month’s Six Degrees has taken me from a novel about grief to one about a wife writing a novel about her husband which he finds increasing uncomfortable. Part of the fun of this meme is comparing the very different routes other bloggers take from each month’s starting point. If you’re interested, you can follow it on Twitter with the hashtag #6Degrees, check out the links over at Kate’s blog or perhaps even join in.
Well, how about that? I’ve read three from your chain (the Laurain, the Thériault and the Chabon). Which suggests to me that the other three deserve my attention. But Time may suggest otherwise.
Yes, it does march on! Good Day? is very short, though…
Noted! Thanks.
Quite a few of us took a musical route for our first link. I haven’t read French Rhapsody but I have read a few of his other books so this one’s gone on my wishlist.
Hope you enjoy it, Cathy. I’ve just visted your musical link.
French Rhapsody is possibly my favourite Laurain (so sad Gallic Books is closing, but hope to see Laurain in Pushkin’s list?)
It’s let me comment again – I did clear all my cookies, browsing data and cache and updated Chrome. Seems to have done the trick with yours and others.
Hoorah!
My favourite’s The President’s Hat.. It is sad, isn’t it although they’re a good match with Pushkin.
Interesting chain, I like how you’ve linked them.
Thank you!
That’s three of us so far who went with a musical first link. French Rhapsody is a lovely book, and I also loved the Chabon novel.
I couldn’t think of another way to start this month! I think it’s one of Chabon’s best.
What an interesting chain! I’ve read one of Ayelet Waldman’s novels, Love and Treasure, but have never looked into what else she’s written. I have a musical link in my chain too, but it comes at the end rather than the beginning!
Lots of us seem to have taken the musical route! I enjoyed that novel – beautiful cover as I remember too. Her memoir was fascinating.
Nice to see your musical link for a start–I went with opera. A great set of links here which had me wondering once again how many postmen actually read the letters they deliver?
Best not to think about that! Your chain was very tuneful.
Apart from Rooney, whose new book I still have to read, these are all new writers to me. If you were to pick just one of them to get me started, who would it be??
That’s a tricky one so I’m going to prevaricate and say it would be a toss-up between the Chabon (a doorstopper) and Good Day? (a short read)!
Good work! The LSD thing–wow.
Thank you. She found it very effective. I’m not sure if she was able to continue with it.
Always fun to see Laurain!
https://wordsandpeace.com/2024/11/02/six-degrees-of-separation-from-dublin-to-chicago/
He’s great, isn’t he.
I’ve just started Intermezzo. I thought I’d steer clear, but now I’m slightly hooked (ahem, as if that’s a thing).
I think her writing is addictive. When I started Conversations with Friends I didn’t expect to finish it but after a while I couldn’t leave it alone.