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

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

Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens

817 pages

Total to date: 62 433

I was discussing historical maritime novels with a friend earlier including the novels of Patrick O'Brian. As he rightly notes, Master and Commander fits my criteria!

Ah, not just me then! I thought I must've turned notifications off or something.

While I liked the ending, I personally wasn't particularly taken by the story. The book I found had two other stories, The Sea Raiders and The Moth. I enjoyed The Sea Raiders a bit more as it mostly takes place near a cliff path between Sidmouth and Ladram Bay in Devon, England - a cliff path I know well! When my wife and I were first married we often camped in Ladram Bay and walked that very path to Sidmouth a fair few times.

The Door in the Wall by H.G. Wells
66 pages
Total to date: 53 582

Thanks for the tips on getting into audio books Dave! I'm living in the Midlands, a mere 15 minutes away from Shakespeare's birthplace. I take people there whenever they first visit me as well as nearby Warwick Castle. I used to commute past Kenilworth Castle, the inspiration for Walter Scott's Kenilworth a few years back. I bought a copy of the book from the gift shop in one of my many trips there but still haven't read it!

My eldest daughter is planning to study English Literature at university in a year's time and we've been planning a road trip for later in the year around her birthday to visit Charles Dickens' birthplace in Portsmouth and Jane Austen's house.

That is a pretty thorough coverage of North America! I visited 11 states, most of them briefly (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire & Maine) and two for longer stays (Pennsylvania & Nevada).

I'm in the UK where most people are astounded at any trip that spans multiple days without even leaving a province, let alone a country! Over here I've lived in England & Wales and visited Scotland, Nortern Ireland, Ireland, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Poland. I'd like to do a European road trip someday, perhaps when the children are a bit older and no so travel sick.

My music taste is quite eclectic but I can tell when I'm really enjoying a book when I realise I've missed several songs on an album. I like the sound of a word bath and must admit I've never actually tried listening to an audio book.

Beat me there too Karin, I lived in 2, but one only for the very first 6 weeks of my life! I first saw my birth-city watching the Calgary Winter Olympics and visisted it a few years later. An uncle was in the RCAF and we did two long road trips to visit him growing up. Once was around the Great Lakes, Canada on the way there, US on the way back. The other was the Maritimes but the US to get there, and Canada to get back. I remember reading a lot sat in the car between stops and also visting Green Gables in PEI.

Hi Dave, welcome! I'm a Canadian ex-pat and have only visited 7 provinces and no territories, you and Rosemarie put me to shame. I also don't watch TV and now wonder how many of us sacrifice all TV time in favour of reading? Despite working in the software industry I prefer to read physical books and usually listen to music while I'm reading. I usually have 5 books on the go and try to limit them to being a long fiction, a short fiction, poetry, a non-fiction and a work related technical read.

I just found a secondhand copy so hopefully I'll be reading this early next week!

Thanks Rosemarie, I've added it to the list. I've not read anything by Guy de Maupassant before so it's yet another new author for me courtesy of the idea of this list!

Stung with Love: Poems and Fragments by Sappho

160 pages

Total to date: 40 555

Thank you very much Rafael! That's at least "English Classics" ticked off my bingo card and likely several more as the year goes on.

Glad I checked, thanks for letting me know. At least Dombey & Son will add 817 pages when I finish it in the coming weeks.

I was trying to rig my bingo card to match my AND list and would like to ask for the following additions please:


Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens
Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse
Master and Man by Leo Tolstoy
Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw
Paul and Virginia by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre
Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer
Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie
Caesar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw


Thank you!

I have just finished reading Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, a 777 page Pulitzer Prize non-fiction winner in 1980. At 42 years old, is this a candidate for the 700,000 page reading challenge? I figured best to ask before adding it if it turns out it's a rule breaker and many corrections are needed.

I've ordered my Dune DVD, should arrive a week tomorrow. My eldest two are looking forward to watching it with me and I hope that they'll read the book after.

I saw both adaptations of Murder on the Orient Express over Christmas having been reluctant to see someone other than David Suchet. While Kenneth Branagh's mustache took some getting used to, I did enjoy it. I'll read Death on the Nile before I see it though!

My aunt & uncle used to live in Stittsville near (I think it might be in now) Ottawa and I remember them losing power many winters because the freezing rain pulled the powerlines down.

In the UK we have a fun condition called "freezing fog". It's a fog that freezes on contact with surfaces making for less than ideal driving conditions but beatiful patterns on branches.

I read Of Mice and Men for the first time last year and was mesmerised. I will likely read The Pearl and The Red Pony this year.

I also read A Russian Journal and found that quite interesting. This year I'll read Once There Was a War. The cover of my version is quite striking with St Paul's Cathedral standing proud amongst the ruins of London. Having been there myself it's hard to imagine the devastation pictured.

Time willing, I'd like to tackle one of the longer reads too...

My house laughs with yours Chad! We've been floating between -4 and 4 the last week and while there isn't much wind to speak off, the draft is blowing a gale indoors. I found a gap between the laminate floor and skirting board the other day and it's been better since I blocked it with a sheet but my wallet is still trembling in anticipation of the bill.