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

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

My update since June 12:
The Glass-Blowers by Daphne du Maurier - 384
The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares - 103
The Beach of Falesá: The Original Text by Robert Louis Stevenson - 120
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin - 182
Voyage to Kazohinia by Sandor Szathmari - 368
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl - 176
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator - 159
White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky - 82
The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy - 86
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka - 201
Aura by Carlos Fuentes - 145
Adaptation by Mack Reynolds - 116
The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster - 48

Total pages: 2,170

Total Group to date: 501,130

Finally, November is here! I've been waiting all year to read Leskov! I have Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk: Selected Stories which I bought in 2021. I hope to read all of it but will start with the title story. I'm reading 6 other books right now. I keep going back and forth between them, hoping to finish something! I can squeeze in a short story or 2.

Is anyone still reading? I’m on chapter 20. I think it’s Part 3. It’s hard to tell on the Serial Reader app. I’ve got to get back on it!

I made a wonderful discovery last Thursday. I visited and joined the library in the village between my dad’s city and mine. It’s very small and is actually an adobe-style home converted into a library. It’s very interesting! The first thing I noticed, after the indoor goldfish pond, was that they have a Spanish conversational group that meets once a week. So, I’m going to change my schedule a little so that I can go to it! I’m really excited for this! I need the interactive experience. I also found the dual language edition of Aura by Carlos Fuentes, which I have not found at the bigger library systems, plus a few other books I’ve been looking for. I love serendipitous finds!

That’s ok Dave! I didn’t even pick up on it. I haven’t read Wuthering Heights but I have seen the movie. I do want to read Jane Eyre, though. If I read Sargasso Sea, I will also read Jane Eyre since they are connected by one of the characters.

Chrissie- I do like the occasional short story but there has to be an obvious point to it! I don’t like ones where it feels like nothing happens. i like the unexpected ending. I especially enjoy stories by Daphne du Maurier and Ken Liu (sci fi & fantasy). I tend to read a few here and there but rarely finish a collection. I have a few Russian collections, including Nabokov, to start working on.

I just finished the short story White Nights by Dostoevsky, on the Serial Reader app. This was the first work I’ve read by him. I didn’t really like it but I think it was the subject not the writing. (I don’t like stories w a man pining for a woman or vice versa.) I plan to read Crime and Punishment next year.

I also started reading Spanish Short Stories: Penguin Parallel Text and have completed one story in both languages. The first story is not a classic but many of the stories are. I really like the format of the book and highly recommend it to people who want to read in Spanish but aren’t fluent. The footnotes are very helpful to explain cultural context to phrases. It’s also a good way to find stories, in either language, that may not be easy to find elsewhere.

Chrissie wrote: "Pam wrote: "I found another $2 classic at my library (a different branch I’ve never been to!)- Bend Sinister by Vladimir Nabokov, pub in 1947. I didn’t realize Nabokov wrote any dystopian novels so..."

Chrissie - I look forward to reading your review! I have only read one of his books Pnin and have been wanting to read some more. I like dystopian novels so this one appeals to me! Do you have a favorite?

I've updated post #2 with suggestions provided in 3 different posts. Thank you everyone for your ideas! If I missed something, please let me know. Wow, we have quite a list! I was thinking about starting the year with our authors from Mexico and Cuba, for those of you who want to read similar regions and authors.

I found another $2 classic at my library (a different branch I’ve never been to!)- Bend Sinister by Vladimir Nabokov, pub in 1947. I didn’t realize Nabokov wrote any dystopian novels so I’m excited about this one!

Cat lovers! 🐈‍⬛ 🐈

Nancy - I am also interested in reading some works in Spanish but I think it makes sense to keep it all under one thread. We would all be interested in the differences of the publication in the original language vs a translation. Maybe we’ll have some members reading the same book or author where we can discuss those differences! The translators can also make a big difference. I am really glad you found the thread. We will open up a new one for the 2023 discussion!

I found a copy of Conversation in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa on my library’s sale shelf ($2) so I snagged it! It’s a bit long at 601 pages but oh well, I’m going to try to read it in 2023 for the Latin American buddy read. This is the first book I’ve been able to find by Llosa. Although, after checking the catalogue, our library system has lots of his books in Spanish and a few in English but only 5 of his novels fall in our classics time frame. None of them are at my branch which is why I never see them.

Dave - I’m one of the few literature readers, especially in a classics group, who has never read Jane Eyre!

Dave - I’ve seen the movie Wide Sargasso Sea and I’ve heard of the book A House for Mr. Biswas. I didn’t realize Wide Sargasso Sea was a classic. That would be a good one to read before or after Jane Eyre.

Thank you Dave for those suggestions! I’m only familiar with one of them. Once I get back on my PC, I’ll add them to either the first or second post of this thread. Looks like we have lots of books to choose from! I’m starting early by reading some dual language short stories. This way I’ll get a feel for some of these authors I’ve never read before.

Luís - I’ve never seen a hybrid notebook before but I want one! I go through notebooks like crazy between my genealogy research, language learning, and Reading challenges.

I guess I’m lucky that I haven’t had any reactions to the flu or COVID shots. Shingrix was the worst. I had redness for 2 weeks and it was painful. Fortunately, after the series you’re done with that one.

Good for you Blueberry! Were you able to just walk in and get both vaccines? Here we have to schedule them. I’ve got my COVID booster scheduled for this week. My brother tested positive last week which motivated me to schedule it sooner rather than later.

I read the first chapter on the Serial Reader app. I think I would like the story but the writing was terrible, in my opinion. I found it to be very clunky, for lack of a better word. So, I’m going to pass on this one. I hope everyone else enjoys it!