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

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

Have fun. It's a good book.
You can tell which edition you have by the number of chapters. I'll check later.

Yeah, I have most of the kids books but I'd like to read at least some of the adult stuff. It sounds so different.

Pat the Book Goblin wrote: "@booknerd did Lesle or Rosemarie answer your question?"
Not yet.

I read these a few years ago. It was really interesting reading about that time.

Yeah, giant creatures are always fun but the story of the segregation of smarter humans sounds interesting too.

Annette wrote: "Clarke would be good. I’d nominate Octavia Butler but I’m not sure her works are old enough for this group. My second choice would be Jules Verne."
Yes, Octavia Butler isn't old enough but I loved the Xenogenesis trilogy so I'm reading the rest of her books this year. The good thing is there was only eleven more and she managed to write complex, deep stories without writing doorstops like many of today's writers.

Roald Dahlwas a British novelist, short story writer and screenwriter of Norwegian descent, who rose to prominence in the 1940's with works for both children and adults, and became one of the world's bestselling authors.

His first children's book was The Gremlins, about mischievous little creatures that were part of RAF folklore. The book was commissioned by Walt Disney for a film that was never made, and published in 1943. Dahl went on to create some of the best-loved children's stories of the 20th century, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and James and the Giant Peach.

He also had a successful parallel career as the writer of macabre adult short stories, usually with a dark sense of humour and a surprise ending. Many were originally written for American magazines such as Ladies Home Journal, Harper's, Playboy and The New Yorker, then subsequently collected by Dahl into anthologies, gaining world-wide acclaim. Dahl wrote more than 60 short stories and they have appeared in numerous collections, some only being published in book form after his death. His stories also brought him three Edgar Awards: in 1954, for the collection Someone Like You; in 1959, for the story "The Landlady"; and in 1980, for the episode of Tales of the Unexpected based on "Skin".
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Roald Dahl wrote seventeen novels for children and one collection was published.
He wrote twelve story collection for adults and two novels.
This will be a year long reading challenge. We'll see who can read them all.


Kids
The Gremlins 1943
James and the Giant Peach 1961
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 1964
The Magic Finger 1966
Fantastic Mr Fox 1970
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator 1972
Danny, the Champion of the World 1975
The Enormous Crocodile 1978
The Twits 1980
George's Marvellous Medicine 1981
The BFG 1982
The Witches 1983
The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me 1985
Matilda 1988
Esio Trot 1990
The Vicar of Nibbleswicke 1991
The Minpins 1991
The Roald Dahl Treasury (collection) 1997

Adults
Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying 1946
Sometime Never: A Fable for Supermen (novel) 1948
Someone Like You 1953
Kiss Kiss 1960
Twenty-Nine Kisses from Roald Dahl 1969
Switch Bitch 1974
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More 1977
The Best of Roald Dahl 1978
Tales of the Unexpected 1979
My Uncle Oswald (novel) 1979
More Tales of the Unexpected 1980
A Roald Dahl Selection: Nine Short Stories 1980
Two Fables 1986
Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life: The Country Stories of Roald Dahl 1989

I was about to put up the Roald Dahl thread. Should I put it here?

I've been wanting to read this for quite a while.

The Food of the Gods by H.G. Wells

What happens when science tampers with nature? A riveting, cautionary tale with disastrous results reveals the chilling answer.
Hoping to create a new growth agent for food with beneficial uses to mankind, two scientists find that the spread of the material is uncontrollable. Giant chickens, rats, and insects run amok, and children given the food stuffs experience incredible growth--and serious illnesses. Over the years, people who have eaten these specially treated foods find themselves unable to fit into a society where ignorance and hypocrisy rule. These "giants," with their extraordinary mental powers, find themselves shut away from an older, more traditional society. Intolerance and hatred increase as the line of distinction between ordinary people and giants is drawn across communities and families.
One of H. G. Wells' lesser-known works, The Food of the Gods has been retold many times in many forms since it was first published in 1904. The gripping, newly relevant tale combines fast-paced entertainment with social commentary as it considers the ethics involved in genetic engineering.

I've read Frankenstein before but it's definitely worth a reread!

Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was 18, and the first edition was published anonymously in London on 1 January 1818, when she was 20. .

I'm sure reading wither Frankenstein: The 1818 Text or
Frankenstein: Mary Shelley 1831 Edition is fine.
Here's something I found about the differeneces between the texts:

The 1818 Edition

The 1818 edition is the original work of Mary Shelley. It’s the one that started it all, and for some, the edition deserving of all the attention. The merit in this edition is in its origin. The 1818 edition was spawned from a friendly writing competition among Shelley’s friends and is loved by scholars and Franken-heads for its rawness and unaltered state. It’s believed this edition contains the original message of Shelley where the 1831 version tatters it. Plus, who wouldn’t love to own one of the original 500? Getting a hold of one may be difficult though, unless you have €350,000 to spend on Lord Byron’s personal copy signed by Shelley herself!

The 1831 Edition

To the chagrin of many, the 1831 version is the most widely read edition of Frankenstein. Anne K. Mellor wrote an essay in the W. W. Norton Critical edition arguing that the 1831 edition of Frankenstein loses Shelley’s tone and doesn’t coincide with her original vision. To understand the outcry of many, the alterations from the 1818 edition to the 1831 edition need to be listed:

The 1818 edition’s first chapter was expanded as well as split into two different chapters
The 1831 edition had changes made to the origin story of Elizabeth Lavenza
The 1831 edition introduces the concept of galvanism, a power thought to be able to reanimate bodies
The 1831 edition includes more of Victor’s motivations and thoughts for creating life

The Lilac Fairy Book by Andrew Lang


366 pages

Total to date: 715,442

Yes I'd say Galapas, Ambrosius, and Merlin are virtuous and all the character are flawed. Again, it reminds me of ASOIAF.
I understand the original legends had a more straight good and evil theme but I thought this story was meant to make it more realistic and human while keeping a few minor magical elements.

I didn't understand why there was a scene of him saying no to sex. In the back of my book the author's note says:
"There is so strong a connection in literature(and indeed history) between celibacy, or virginity, and power, that I have thought it reasonable to insist on Merlin's virginity."

I didn't really see it as good and evil. Merlin knows he has a destiny to fulfil and he goes along with the kings to do what he needs to do.

I should have about 600 coming before the end of the year. Maybe we can make three quarters of a million?

Hi Julietta. I wish I could read another language.

Hi Pieter! The Brothers Karamazov is a great classic. Are you enjoying it?

Hi Lisa!

The Olive Fairy Book by Andrew Lang


336 pages

Total to Date: 679, 750