Pam’s Comments (group member since Jul 12, 2018)

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

I spent the afternoon with my dad the other day in celebrating his 89th birthday. I had a surprise for him - a small cake and I invited his 2 neighbor friends over. We had another surprise - a 3rd friend just happened to show up at the same time! So, it was a nice reunion of 4 friends. And then, my brother got him a cat. That will be good for him for some company but not too much maintenance since he is home bound.

So it sounds like I need to be patient with Conversation in the Cathedral and not give up too early! Thanks for the warning.

Thank you Luís! Onetti sounds very good.

Has anyone read Conversation in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa? I have good intentions to read it this year! I was very surprised to hear it recommended on the NY Times Matter of Opinion podcast on their Reading Recommendations for Your Summer Vacations episode! I assumed there was a religious element to it but found out that the Cathedral is actually a bar! I don't read differently by season so a summer reading list has no meaning to me other than I thought they would be discussing new books coming out this summer. That's not what the discussion was about at all! Everything they discussed was either on my TBR, I've read, or it sounds good and I added it! It was a great discussion for my particular reading tastes.

Book Nerd wrote: "Ficciones is definitely living up to my expectations ..."

I am so glad to hear that Book Nerd! I keep picking up the book at night and can't get into any of the stories past 1 paragraph! It may be a book I need to read during the day when I can concentrate better. One thing I don't like is the long paragraphs that are 3 pages! I think my eyes need to take breaks. It's just a visual thing for me. I'm hoping to read at least one of the stories this week. I'll look for one with shorter paragraphs. Let us know what you think of the rest of the stories, please! Are you doing a star rating for each story? I keep thinking I will do that with short story collections but I haven't yet.

Annette wrote: "I recently finished Zama by Argentinian Author Antonio di Benedetto. It was pretty easy reading."

Nice! Thanks for sharing Annette. Zama sounds like something I would like so I added it to my TBR. I have Benedetto on my TBR list. My library has several of his books but in Spanish only. Maybe next year I will give him a try, especially since they are short. And, I will continue looking for English editions!

Luís wrote: "That work - Captain Pantoja ... - made me laugh through to the tears."

I'm glad to hear you found it funny. I haven't gotten to anything particularly funny yet but I didn't get very far before putting it down to finish some other books. I'm hoping to finish it this year. My daughter (who's 30) saw it sitting downstairs and commented to my husband that it looked like I was reading something racy! The topic certainly is.

What did you think of Onetti? I haven't found any of his books yet.

I picked up The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor at the library on the free cart!

I liked the part where the literary characters were coming alive and dressed only as described! Now, when I’m reading other books I’m paying more attention to the clothing description and specifically what they are not wearing! 😂 I also found it funny that the demon with the posters/pictures of evil people included one of McCarthy or Goldwater. (I’m sure the Soviet censors loved that reference to Joe McCarthy.) The Goldwater reference makes sense in 1964 since he was the Republican Presidential candidate that year and was claiming the Democrats were soft on Communism.

There were some parts that reminded me of Harry Potter. One in particular was the “cap of darkness” which is similar to HP’s cloak of invisibility. Also, some of the names of the Departments (e.g., Dept of Defensive Magic) have a HP sound to them. I love the idea of a Dept of Unsolvable Problems! I feel like this is a book I might reread in a few months to see what I missed. It was just so strange the first time reading it.

Book Nerd - i just started one story in Ficciones but am going to finish something else before getting back to it. I keep starting too many books and not finishing them. I hope this is a good one! I’ve never read anything by Borges before.

I don’t know where July went either! But, I hope to make better use of my time… starting tomorrow! Today is already a bust, for the most part. Our pump for our downstairs cooler was replaced today. So, I’m thankful for that. Just in time for more 101 temps this weekend!

I finished the book in July. One of the lines in the book says that Monday starts on Saturday (referring to their work schedule) and this year August starts in July so that fit my early reading! It’s a very strange book and I’m not sure what to think of it. There were a few parts I found humorous and one discussion that is sticking with me as I read other books. I will wait to comment until others read it.

There are LOTS of references to Greek and Roman mythology and Russian legends. I read the ebook so I was able to easily look up the references. There were only a few, like Baba Yaga, that I was already familiar with.

Iv you are looking for a copy, I found the ebook on Hoopla (an App through your library). There is also an audiobook available.

Thanks Lesle and Luís for your comments! Thankfully, it’s been a little cooler and cloudy yesterday and today. I wish that my husband or I knew how to fix things! I’m going to watch the guy and try to learn something.

On a different subject, the kids go back to school this Thursday! I’m wondering if we have the earliest start date (Aug 3) in the country. It wouldn’t affect me except that one of our grandkids lives with us and we take him to the bus stop by ~7am. Have to get back in the early a.m. routine!

I was running around to different library branches last week dropping off flyers for a bluegrass concert that I was helping promote. So, of course, while at the libraries, I had to peruse the shelves and I wound up buying a few books including The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories. I don't think they are all classics but I know that some are. I'm looking forward to reading a few stories! I am not very familiar with Italian authors, with just a few exceptions.

Well, we discovered why our house has turned into a sauna this past week! It was 92 downstairs last night. That was the breaking point! We have a problem with our downstairs swamp cooler. It was blowing air but the water pump is not working so it was just hot air from outside. The plumbing company is coming out Wednesday to fix it. Fortunately, our upstairs cooler is brand new and working like a charm.

Thank you everyone for your Dickens’ suggestions!

After a 2 month break, I’m back to reading David Copperfield. I was reading it as the same time as Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver but it got too confusing since the storylines and names were so similar! I finished Demon and loved it and now will attempt to finish David. Even though it’s long, it’s an easy read. This is only my 2nd Dickens book. Does anyone have a favorite by Dickens?

Chad - I read Lonesome Dove a few years ago and watched the 1989 TV mini-series in tandem. I loved both!

John - The electric bills aren’t affected that much by fans. It’s running the A/C, or in my case, 2 swamp coolers that spike the bill! With this heat, people are running their A/C or coolers 24/7. This month, we’ve had 13 days of triple digit heat with 2 more expected. Our annual average is 3 days! Some parts of the country are more temperate (usually) and homes don’t typically have A/C units.

Book Nerd- Sounds good! Look forward to your comments.