Greg’s Comments (group member since Jul 02, 2014)

Greg’s comments from the All About Books group.

Leslie wrote: "I have read this and Henry James isn't one of my favorite authors so I don't think I will join in. But maybe I will read another book by James as I have several on my Kindle..."

I think you might like Washington Square Leslie!

And as you may already know, it's also the basis for the wonderful play The Heiress (and later wonderful movie with Montgomery Clift and Olivia de Havilland). I find James' somewhat verbose style much more attactive in shorter lengths / smaller doses. I also saw a stage production of The Heiress with Cherry Jones that was fantastic; so there are a number of reasons I remember the source material fondly!

Leslie wrote: "I have finished Tobacco Road by Erskine Caldwell. I gave it 3* but I didn't really like it very much... it wasn't the writing but the content with which I had issues...."

I think I'll avoid that one based on your review. I like many depressing and bleak books, but I generally dislike books written from a philosophically bleak worldview.

Steve wrote: "The Silence of the Girls was quite a disappointment for me. I was very intrigued by the premise of looking at the Iliad from the perspectives of the women characters, but I felt that the execution ..."

Sorry it didn't work for you Steve, and I hope you like your next read better!

Leslie wrote: "I finished The Sea, The Sea audiobook (which turns out not to be on the Guardian's list as I had thought, oh well). At first I didn't think that I was going to like this book but in..."

It's been on my to-read list forever!

Leslie wrote: "Glad you liked The 39 Steps Greg! And I am intrigued by your experience with Carson's translation - I have been meaning to reread Electra. I am not sure whether I have r..."

Her translation is quite an easy read as it's rendered directly without awkwardness. You could almost read it in a single setting. And though the source material doesn't have the grand resonance or huge emotional impact of some other Greek plays, it's a fascinating read. Each of the characters' arguments are very persuasive from their own perspectives. I do recommend it!

But all the other translations I've seen are pretty awkward or clunky and therefore a bit unnecessarily hard to read without adding anything aesthetically. Carson's is both the most straightforward I've seen and the most beautiful/affecting/vivid. That can be hard to do so I give her a lot of credit! Apparently she's also translated some plays by Aeschylus and Euripides - I'm curious to read more of her translations someday.

As for the last day of last month and the first days of this month:

Finished The 39 Steps a few days ago and enjoyed it much more than I thought I would - it was a lot of fun!

Then, I read Electra (translated by Anne Carson). A really superb translation, though as far as the source material, I think some of Sophocles' other plays (such as the Oedipus Cycle) are much better.

Finally, this morning, I read a short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man. It was strange but quite interesting; I liked it better than I expected as Dostoevsky and I don't always get along.

Now, I'm in the middle of Rubyfruit Jungle (Rita Mae Brown) and Parable of the Sower (Octavia E. Butler).

Leslie wrote: "Yeah, slush is one of those things that were fun as a kid but a pain as an adult. Growing up in New England, I had waterproof boots that were great for stomping on the slush - a wintry version of j..."

Ha ha, I remember when I was a kid growing up in Illinois, my mother used to put plastic bags over our socks and put rubber bands on the top; then we would put on our shoes, and we would wear rubber galoshes over the shoes. Not sure we were going to wear any fashion contests, but I've got to say it was very effective! We walked several blocks through the snow to school.

Leslie wrote: "I am reading 3 books from the Guardian's 1000 novels list at the moment:
Tobacco Road which I am finding somewhat hard to take (so much bleakness!) so I am reading it in small incre..."

I applaud your fun Hambledon diversion Leslie!

I still enjoy some classics and "serious" fare as well, but I definitely mix in lighter stuff. I don't worry anymore about what I for some reason feel I should be reading and rather just enjoy what I want.

How is the Stephenson by the way? I liked Snow Crash back when I read it.

Leslie wrote: "Nidhi wrote: "I nominate Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson"

I will second this. I just bought the audiobook of this book a few days ago!"

It seems like the audiobook just appeared on Audible recently - I'd searched for it in the past, and it wasn't there. Glad it's there now!

Leslie wrote: "It's Saturday morning and I am sipping coffee watching the snow fall. The storm can't decide between snow and rain making a slushy mess on the ground :("

I remember slush well Leslie, and it wasn't my favorite. A good pool of slush can soak a sock in a second flat. :)

Got to do some errands this morning, and then I plan to be lazy this afternoon.

Nidhi wrote: "I nominate Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson"

I read it once many years ago, and I'd like to read it again. I'll second this one.

Thanks for the nominations everyone, keep them coming! :)

Sorry everyone that the old page hadn't been loading, and I'm glad the new thread helped. I'll take a look at the various group threads over the weekend and create new ones for anything getting massive. Seems like Goodreads doesn't like it when threads get too big! :)

Thanks Esther and Laura! :)

Leslie wrote: "You won't miss anything important if you skip the first book. The books really are almost stand alones so can easily be read in any order. I would recommend starting with The Moving Toyshop (book 3) but I am prejudiced in that it's my favorite one."

Thanks Leslie! :)

Leslie wrote: "I have recently finished:
"

Leslie, do you think I should start with the first in the Gervase Fen series to follow it well? I noticed that most friends rate that one lower than the later ones, but I'm wondering if I would miss out on too much setup if I started with the second or third in the series?

I've never read anything by Crispin and the series sounds fun!

Tweedledum wrote: "Joining this discussion very late!
Such interesting and insightful comments.

I voted for the book and fully intended to read it but then forgot all about it until I went on GR AAB to sign up for..."

Thanks Tweedledum, loved your comments!

I felt too as though I should have thought more ipreviously of these women in the myths, but for some reason I hadn't. Homer's and Virgil's epics contain such a huge amount of slaughter, but it is all from the perspective of the "heroes" of the combat. The few women-centric retellings that I've read like The Firebrand took the perspectives of the Amazons, who were also warriors. Told fom the perspectives of kidnapped, trafficked slaves it is a different thing.

I also think the Regeneration trilogy is brilliant!

And I do wonder where the second book of the Troy trilogy will go, whether it continues following Briseis or someone else.

Rosh wrote: "This is a nice thread. I am a GR librarian too and will be happy to help out. :)"

Thanks so much Rosh! :)

Cynda wrote: "Hi All. Hi Greg. Hi Rowena.
Usually I read with a general nonfiction group and a general classic fiction group (pre-21st century). In 2023, I will be doing a fast and furious read down of 21st-cent..."

So glad to have you Cynda! It's been SO long since you posted this though - very sorry to have missed it!

Hi Pam, I created a new Part 3 of the "What have you just read?" folder for new posts. I can open Part 2, but it takes forever; probably sometimes it fails to open at all - I moved part 2 to the General Archive folder.

Hope that helps! Let us know if there are any other threads that have trouble, and thanks so much for pointing it out!

The "What Have you Read?" folder had gotten so big that some people were having trouble opening it. Here is a fresh thread for new posts.

Here is a great place to let us know what books you've read and share your reviews.