Book Nerd’s Comments (group member since Dec 20, 2018)

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

Rosemarie wrote: "Nora, there is such a thing as second breakfast-about half way between first breakfast and lunch! Paddington Bear called it "elevenses"."

Hobbits do second breakfast AND elevensies. They really know how to live. :)

The Gormenghast Novels by Mervyn Peake


1272 pages

Totaol to date: 284,339

There's also a novella about Titus called Boy in Darkness. It sounds really interesting and I can't believe it wasn't included in the book with the trilogy.
I can't seem to find it for a decent price. Anybody know where I could get a copy or read it online.

I'm really glad I read these. I understand why people don't like the sudden change of Titus Alone but it's really the ending of that one that I keep thinking about.

I finished Titus Alone. It was a change but I liked it.
Now I'll read these critical analysis to figure out what it was about.

Fuschia is the girl.

Titus Alone is very weird, going from a medieval world to an almost sci-fi technological world.

I finished Gormenghast. I thought the story was better but I liked the characters better in Titus Groan.

Georgina wrote: "I am about half way through the first book and love the atmosphere, character names and dark humour of it, but somehow I'm struggling with the incentive to get through it. I think this may be down ..."
It was not that easy for me either. I tend to struggle with a lot of description and not much happening.

I want to read this. I'll get to it eventually.

So Titus (view spoiler)[threw the symbols of the Earl in the lake. From the beginning you can see that he's going to wreck the eternal traditions of Gormenghast.
One crazy thing is wondering about the details of how he, and Fuschia, were conceived. :/

It's weird that Gertrude commands both cats and birds.

Sepuchgrave started acting like an owl and then apparently was killed by owls. I wonder if that relates in any way to Gertrude's relationship with birds.
(hide spoiler)]

This also reminded me of Kafka quite a bit with their obsession with the meaningless ritual that's piled up over the centuries.

Rosemarie wrote: "If I remember correctly, Titus is a baby in that book, even though he's the title character."
Yeah, he's a baby here.

So Earl Sepulchrave's library (view spoiler)[burned and he lost it. I understand. :) (hide spoiler)]

It's interesting how something happens and then it jumps back and gives you some background on it..

I'm almost halfway through Titus Groan. It's slow going. So much is devote to atmosphere.

When you sat "grotesques" does that just mean weird looking and acting people?

I'm ninety pages into Titus Groan. It was really slow getting started but now stuff's starting to happen.
I'm picturing it as a Tim Burton animated movie.

Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock


163 pages

Total to date:206,701

I'll try to read it but probably not for a while. It's listed for June and July.
Okay so I've been warned about the third book.

They say money can't buy love or health. But it can buy everything else. And it makes even those easier.

Bind Your Hair was weird and fun. Yes, now that Canavan pointed it out I can see that there's a lot of sex in these.

"The first, so far as he could make out, told of a youth who, on being offered by a sage alternative gifts of Wisdom, Wealth, or Virtue, the gifts losing nothing of impressiveness by their Teuttonic initial capitals, selected Wealth. The sage thereupon remarked that the choice proved the youth already had Wisdom as he would now be able to afford Virtue."

I just finished The Waiting Room. Yeah, definitely reminded me of something by Dickens.

So they're all about sex and death? I guess that makes a kind of sense.

Bernard wrote: "Yes, I was disappointed by The School Friend too, but fortunately the other stories are better. All I can fathom is that Sally gave birth to some kind of monster. And the ending gave no disclosure at all."
It was like lots of pieces of horror stories that didn't actually connect.

I didn't finish Ringing the Changes at work but it seems pretty good.