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

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

I read both books several years ago. Very Good, Jeeves was my first book in that series and I enjoyed it. I found the dialogue/ expressions to be amusing. I hope you all enjoy both books!

I love Arthurian tales! I read this one as a teen and re-read it earlier this year and enjoyed it!

I just started The Lost Steps by Cuban author Alejandro Carpentier. I think it will be interesting! We have a 7 hr drive on Saturday so I hope to finish it then.

Pyangie - From the 3 ebooks I found on Overdrive, there are at least 3 different translations. I read the one by Robert Chandler and thought it was really well done.

I also watched Lady Macbeth, the British movie adaptation of the story, which I didn’t like. The book has a distinct Russian feel to it and giving it British characters and setting didn’t work for me. Plus, they completely changed the ending. The ending of the story was terrific but the movie’s ending was flat.

I haven’t read any Zane Grey but, just as an aside, we drove past the refurbished Zane Grey cabin (and Rim County Museum) in Payson, AZ the other day. My husband said he visited it as a kid but it later burned down to the ground and they rebuilt it. Grey has another historic cabin in Oregon.

The Enchanted Wanderer by Nikolai Leskov

Thanks Lesle! I’m loving the warmer weather! Can’t wait to go swimming and do water aerobics outside!

Yes, my dad has a coyote that has been jumping over his wall into his yard. (His back yard overlooks the Rio Grande Bosque so there are a lot of animals in the area.) The first time he was chasing a bird but not a road runner! His next door neighbor has seen the same coyote in her yard. I don’t think they are usually aggressive towards people but I’m not interested in finding out! They are known for attacking small dogs and cats.

I’m making my way through Leskov’s stories. Finished The Sealed Angel, which I liked, and now reading The Steel Flea.

23 degrees here this morning! Brrrrr. Fortunately, we are off on a road trip to a warmer destination, Scottsdale AZ. I’m looking forward to a change of scenery and milder weather!

My dad has had some interesting wildlife in his neighborhood recently- scrub jays, a coyote in his backyard, and a heron in his neighbor’s yard! I took a pic of the heron standing on top of the roof. They are huge!

Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels everyone!

I’m reading The Nose by Nikolai Gogol, which I found on SimplyE.

I found some used Latin American classics and one non-classic (6 different authors!) yesterday:

The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier
Collected Stories by Gabriel García Márquez
Captain Pantoja and the Special Service by Mario Vargas Llosa
The Alienist and Other Stories of Nineteenth-Century Brazil by Machado de Assis
The Violent Land by Jorge Amado
Happy Families: Stories by Carlos Fuentes (Well, not a classic YET! Published in 2006)

I also picked up 2 dual language books: Spanish Stories: A Dual-Language Book and Nine Centuries of Spanish Literature: A Dual-Language Book. There is some poetry in the 2nd book which I will probably read some for the December poetry read.
This really has to be the end of my book acquisition, until I free up some space!

Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson


151 pp
Group total: 596,383

Karin wrote: "I would like to do The Winds of War (1971)."

Karin - The Winds of War and the sequel War and Remembrance are both excellent. I think those 2 books were my introduction to WWII literature.

I just finished the short story Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and enjoyed it. I really liked the writing style (a more modern feeling than other Russian authors I’ve read), and the exploration of the dark sides of people. Interestingly, there are 5 adaptations - a Shostakovich opera, a ballet, and 3 films. The latest film is a 2016 British film titled Lady Macbeth. My library has it so I may check it out. Maybe it’s also on Netflix? I plan to read more of his short stories and The Enchanted Wanderer, if I can find it.

Chrissie - I hope that you like Bend Sinister! As soon as I finish reading 3 library books, I plan to read it and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Nikolai Leskov.

I did something that I shouldn’t have done. I went to a library book sale ($5/bag) and came home with 2 bags with 55 books! 16 are for my grandson and 3 for my dad. Of the remaining 36, 16 are classics and include: The Dwarf by Par Lagerkvist, Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow, The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, the New York Stories of Edith Wharton, Balthazar by Lawrence Durrell, To Have and Have Not by Hemingway, Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm, Kim by Kipling, Pere Goriot by Honore de Balzac, A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes, the House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, Rabbit, Run by John Updike, The Seafarers by Nevil Shute, Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and an unusual miniature hardback book with pen and ink drawings - An Amateur Peasant Girl by Pushkin. Now, my problem is that I’m out of bookshelf space so I will have to get creative!

Welcome Ana, Ellie, Dan and Kevin. I hope you all enjoy the group. There is something for everyone!

Dan - I also live in New Mexico and I get distracted by contemporary books all the time! But, the challenges and the Buddy reads and Group Reads help me stay on track to enjoy classics also.

It was 27 degrees F when I woke up today and we had our first snow dusting yesterday morning here in Albuquerque. High 60s to low 70s early next week, which is nice for November! A few more nice days.

I have recently been reading a lot of short classics on the Serial Reader App. The one I really liked was The Metamorphosis by Kafka. I'm excited to read more of his works in 2023! I loved it from the first page when Gregor Samsa wakes up to find he is a giant cockroach. I can see where this book isn't for everyone, but I loved it because it was so bizarre. (If you are interested in a contemporary twist on this story, Haruki Murakami has a short story Samsa in Love - a reverse Metamorphosis where a creature (presumably an insect but not mentioned) wakes up as Gregor Samsa! This story might be more palatable to some readers.) I also really enjoyed Aura by Carlos Fuentes. It was a great seasonal read for October - gothic, creepy, and mysterious. I'm still working on Anna Karenina. With the Serial Reader app, I only receive one "edition" a day and I have 48 to go so I can't finish until the end of December! My goal is to finish it in 2022!