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

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

Layli and Majnun by Nizami Ganjavi


320 pages - Review

Running total: 387,591

I read Boule de Suif last night and once again could picture the scenes as if I was there. I'm not usually great at "seeing" what I'm reading so this is quite the treat. (view spoiler)[The story itself was rather sad, I was sure that the snobs were going to get their comupance for using Boule de Suif but they don't. What's surprising is that we end with such sympathy for her, a trope which is normally villified as she is by her travel companions. (hide spoiler)]

I finished reading Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre (Guy de Maupassant's short story Boule de Suif, which opens the collection A Parisian Affair and Other Stories.

I've really been enjoying the first of a four album set by The Tedeschi Trucks Band, "I Am the Moon", which is inspired by Layli and Majnun by Nizami Ganjavi. I've decided that reading the source material for their inspiration, and Derek and the Domino's "Layla and Other Love Songs", could be quite interesting. It's in my AND list anyway, but I'm skipping few for the moment. My list my rules! :)

I picked up glasses to help with reading for the first time on Friday. It's all rather disorienting but the clarity words now have is astounding. I was also surprised by how long I read last night before getting tired, safe to say that reading with deteriating vision was more exahausting than I thought. All credit to my wife who insisted I go get checked as apparently it was looking more like I was trying to eat my books.

I finished Nausea, I rather enjoyed it. I've collected my thoughts in my review. I'm interested in reading his non-fiction at some stage, but first I must finish reading The Cave and the Light - in which Jean-Paul Sartre and existentialism get no mention!

Could Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre please be added?

Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre


253 Pages - Review
Total to date: 276,054

I goaded my eldest about not suggesting "Tristan and Isolade", she retorted "You forgot William Shakespeare!" This is particularly silly as we had lunch next to his birthplace on Sunday and I drive past Anne Hathaway's cottage most days on the school run. So Troilus and Cressida, Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra and Venus and Adonis.

A few more for the list, brought to you by Tedeschi Trucks Band (TTB) and Amazon Recommendations. I learned today that TTB are relasing a set of 4 albums over 4 months, with 2 out already. I love this band and have ordered the first and will pace purchasing the rest a month apart to honour the bands intention.

Reading more about their "I Am The Moon" project, it's inspired by Layli and Majnun. Called 'the Romeo and Juliet of the East' by Lord Byron, it's an old Persian narrative poem, just the sort of thing I dig. I quickly added it to my TBR and was amused to find it belongs on this list.

When I added it to my wishlist, Amazon helpfully recommended another book I have not heard of, Vis and Ramin. This is believed to be the first epic Persian romance and is another narrative poem. It's also supposed to be the inspiration for a third book ...

Somehow I have overlooked The Romance of Tristan, more commonly referred to as "Tristan and Isolade". I'm surprised I hadn't thought of this as my eldest is studying literature and is besotted with the Arthurian Legends. I'll forgive myself as it's not strictly an AND title, but I'll make an exception as I did with The Master and Margarita.

I can cheat a little here, I read Femme Fatale (review) a little while ago and it is essentially a sample from the larger collection. The stories included are:

-Cockcrow
-Femme Fatale
-Hautot & Son
-Laid to Rest

I enjoyed them all which lead to the purchase of A Parisian Affair and Other Stories, also a coincidence with Guy de Maupassant being author of the month!

I'm enjoying Maupassant's ability to paint pretty vivid scenes. You feel almost like a fly on the wall observing these shenanigans. The plots have been quite fun, mostly in a tragic comedy sense. The stories don't go the way you think they will and it's not because of a deus ex machina either. 29 more stories to go!

I picked up A Parisian Affair and Other Stories of which The Necklace is the last story. I rather enjoyed that tale and will tuck into a few more from this collection through the month. I note from the chronology at the front that I read this on the 129th anniversary of Guy de Maupassant's passing.

I bought Nausea years ago but never got round to reading it so this gives me an impetus to finally do so. I shall add it after my current short story before I tuck into my next long AND book. It'll also add a tick to three challenges; a translation, the epistolary personal challenge and a French Classic for the bookself bingo.

Thanks Chrissie, added those to the TBR. Vive la difference Stephen, and thank you for your interaction, much appreciated.

I have finished Sons and Lovers (review) and will now read the next short story in Ward No. 6 and Other Stories, 1892-1895, which happens to be Ward No. 6, before tucking into Wives and Daughters.

Sons and Lovers finished! Review link in the list above.

Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence


372 pages - review

Total to date: 250,466

I'm starting Once There Was a War today as the first entry is dated "Somewhere in England, June 20, 1943". My plan is to read the entries on the days written through the rest of the year, ending December 13th. I'm hoping that recreating the passage of time between the entries will help me to appreciate how long this snapshot of the war was.

Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia by Orlando Figes


729 pages - review

Total to date: 230,575

I finished it today too and found similar (review). When authors or musicians I knew were being discussed, it was quite a page turner however it was a slog for the artists and poets I didn't know. I think it satisfied my hope to have more context when reading more 19th century Russian works, but I had hoped to enjoy it more.

I have a smaller Orlando Figes book, Revolutionary Russia, 1891-1991: A Pelican Introduction, on my shelf too. It will be interesting to see how much it's Figes style that I didn't like or if he just tried to cram in too much.

Rosemarie wrote: "Thanks! You're reading an unforgettable book, DaCane. I read Grapes of Wrath in my last year of high school and that book has stayed with me my whole life. Such a moving book."

My folks did so too but Steinbeck didn't feature in my high schools - perhaps because I moved from Canada to the UK in the middle of high school. I'm planning to re-read Lord of the Flies by William Golding because I did read it in high school and wonder what modern me will make of it compared to disengaged teen me. The Grapes of Wrath is also waiting it's turn on my bookshelf.