Mike’s Comments (group member since Oct 28, 2021)

Mike’s comments from the Never too Late to Read Classics group.

I have enjoyed everything I have read of Steinbeck so far, but this isn't one I've read yet. I shall be reading this once I've finished my Greek selection, so probably towards the end of the month. I have some trepidation as my parents both remember studying it during high school but hopefully I will enjoy it as much as some of the high school texts I've revisited as an adult, such as Lord of the Flies.

I will be reading The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides once I finish my current read.

My eldest recently went to London with my father to see a performance of Electra staring Brie Larson. She plans to use Electra as a source text in her dissertation next year.

I started reading The Neverending Story last night, great to re-visit an old friend. Once finished, I plan to read The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides as my Greek classic and then move on to East of Eden.

I read the thirth-fourth short story from Fifty-Two Stories by Anton Chekhov last night. It was called The Kiss and was one of the longer stories in the collection. Number thirty-five tonight.

John wrote: "A great idea to involve your family Mike - one of my daughter's favourite sayings is "It takes a village to raise a child""

I'm inclined to agree! I am very thankful for the support my brother and his wife offer me, as I am of my parents. I am also blessed with some good neighbours who chat with the children, and the families of their friends who will take them on days out with their own children.

I think it would be very hard to truly do this on my own, so I am glad I am not really on my own.

John wrote: "Many of us of a certain age - probably the majority in this group - having benefited from good old-fashioned traditional education in a resource-rich global north, are handing the benefits of all o..."

This was not a response I was expecting, nor especially welcomed. It has rocked me and so at 2 am I respond so that I may rest. You have wildly misconstrued what I related, in fact I cannot write cursive myself, such was the state of the Canadian education system of the 80s and 90s for dealing with children like me.

I cannot take on the problems of this world as I have been thrust into deep problems within my own family that have consumed me for these past two years, and will doubtlessly consume much of my time for the rest of my life. My problems are not first world problems, nor will I share them publicly, but rest assured if you had any idea what has happened to me and my children you would not have taken such a liberty to throw the problems of the world at me.

I am but one man. I vote and I have missed only one election in my life. I even switched to postal voting to make sure that never happened again. I am raising six children on my own who will understand critical thinking, who will be able to communicate their ideas and who will understand that the only way we can affect change is by using our ability to communicate.

Technology has changed society, and it has changed the face of war. We have to adapt as parents to the threats of misinformation that are thrown into our children's faces through every app they use. These dishonest leaders you mention, both political and corporate, want nothing more than a mindless mass that can easily be manipulated through the consumption of manipulative media. So yes, a teacher is right to be concerned when children cannot even hold a crayon any more, for the pen is mightier than the sword.

Karin wrote: "It was already bad when my 30 year old eldest daughter was in kindergarten and there were children who didn't know how to play outside at recess due to too much time with TV and structured childcare, and that was before kids had cell phones and/or tablets."

A reception/kindergarten teacher friend of mine told me that cell phones and tablets have already impacted some of the skills that they used to be able to expect children to have when they started school. Many kids she sees now don't know how to even hold a crayon and assume that every screen is a touchscreen.

Late to the party, but here we go. 5 books in 4 months after quite the dry spell. Here's the plan:

1. Book from my The AND List - Pride and Prejudice
3. Translated fiction Classic - The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides
8. Young Adult Classic - The Neverending Story
11. Classic with a Pastoral setting (rural) - East of Eden
18. Classic Short Story collection - Fifty-Two Stories

Two of these (3 & 11) line up with up coming reads and #1 is fitting for the theme of the year. #18 I'm already reading so is a shoo-in, #8 is a personal favourite and I recently bought a new copy as it was at the checkout and I'm afraid my old copy will fall apart if I read it again.

Lesle wrote: "Mike I am impressed with your father skills. I had one child and a single parent and could not do it without my parents.

Reading has to be an enjoyable experience while everything else is taxing ..."

Thanks Lesle! I must confess that, while I was the only parent, my second and third eldest were around and they provided some help. It may also have helped that it wasn't the first time I've dealt with Chicken Pox.

I have big plans for relaxing reading tonight, children are bathed and in bed so I'm going to have a cup of cranberry and raspberry tea and read some more Chekhov short stories.

Rosemarie wrote: "Mike, YA and children's books are considered classics if they've been published 40 years ago for the first time.
The Neverending Story is magical."

Wonderful, I will read it as part of the challenge then! I remember being so captivated by the book, especially when Bastian is hiding to read the book, so much so I almost felt like I was Bastian.

Melanie wrote: "Hi Mike, glad to hear you're persevering with Les Miz. My reading group (there are three of us) was reading Don Quixote and I finally had to say, enough! I couldn't take it anymore that DQ and Sanc..."

Thanks, it's going to take a while but I'll get there. Remarkably I find that it's easy to pick back up after several months of not reading, some other books I lose the plot entirely and end up re-reading. I've nearly finished Part 2, I'm on Book 8 Chapter 4.

Certainly part of the challenge is that life is beating these people up, just like me. While perhaps there is a camaraderie to be found, it's a reminder of the reality I'm trying to escape. The kids are staying with their aunt and uncle the week after next, so that might be a week I make a little progress.

Kathy wrote: "Nice to hear hear from you, Mike. I agree about the relaxing reading. Take care of yourself."

Thank you! I need to be told more often to take care of myself, all too easy to be busy with everyone else and forget about lil' ol' me.

John wrote: "Great to hear from you Mike - and sorry to hear that the kids have been ill - three with chickpox must have been extra stressful. Look after yourself - and enjoy the Raspberry Pi !"

There was lots of calamine lotion and cuddles. From start to finish it was nearly 5 weeks, one of which being a miserable half-term for two of them. But it's over and not something I'll have to deal with again!

The Pi is fun little device. It takes up no room compared to the old PC, extremely low power and silent with no moving parts. I've got it nicely set-up for email and Goodreads and it also acts as a media server for all the household CDs and DVDs. Quite pleased with the set-up, even if it's taken me nearly a year and some annual leave to get it up and running.

Rosemarie wrote: "It's good to hear from you, Mike. Thank you for taking time to update us on your very busy life.
Comfort reads and escapist reads are always relaxing. My go-to books are children's books, vintage m..."

I have been reading lots of children's books, every night! A firm favourite in this house are the works of Julia Donaldson103243]. I did pick up a new copy of a personal favourite of mine, The Neverending Story. My grandmother gave me my original copy for my 8th birthday but I've read it so many times I'm afraid it'll fall apart if I read that copy again. Sadly it's still 4 years too young to be counted here!

I've also started reading some Star Trek novels. No prize winning fiction here, but definitely light entertainment to distract for a short while. I have been meaning to read some older sci-fi such as Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke as well as Frank Herbert's non-Dune works.

Thanks for the messages, sorry it's taken so long to get back here. I got through 3 cases of chicken pox with the youngest 3, the oldest 3 had had it 10 years before. It seems a distant memory now, single parenthood has been quite the roller-coaster and time is easily my scarcest resource. That said, I've been dangerously close to burn out a few too many times and need to make more an effort to find time for me.

So here I am with a new computer (a Raspberry Pi 5!) and a goal to read at least 5 classics before the year ends - especially as my AND list made it to a challenge. I see the group is celebrating Jane Austen, so reading Pride and Prejudice is a must. I also see that East of Eden is starting next month and that has long been on my TBR. I think I can finish a short story collection by Chekhov too. I'll figure out the others as I go.

Someday I'll get back to finish Proust and Les Mis, they simply require a mental effort I can't currently sustain. In this season of life I've found myself in, I think it's more important for me to be reading in a way that is relaxing rather than taxing. That's certainly not to say I wasn't enjoying them, quite the contrary, however they do require sustained concentration I can't currently exert.

Luís wrote: "How far away did I have a magazine subscription? I had a subscription to a diary newspaper called "Público" many years ago. I haven't any because my house is full of books, and I have to read those..."

I have a few, all music related. Guitarist, Prog and Guitar Techniques all come monthly. The first two I thumb through with my morning coffee reading interviews and reviews that catch my eye. These eventually head to recycling. The third has a quick scan and lives on my music stand to play through exercises until the next one arrives.
I keep these to come back to as desired.

I've just finished Book One and what a ride it became. I found it a bit slow to get going, but found I struggled to put it down over the last hundred pages. Time for sleep but can't wait to start Book Two tomorrow.

Wonderful news, congratulations!

I've never been much of a fan of the Summer Olympics, but I will probably watch the 100m and 200m finals. Now, Winter Olympics, that I have on in the background for almost the whole 2 weeks!

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin


160 pages

Total to date: 185,056