Matthew’s Comments (group member since Mar 08, 2015)

Matthew’s comments from the Reading List Completists group.

I was able to add the first three discussion threads, but Goodreads seems to have a lockdown on creating discussion threads to prevent spamming, so I will have to add the last one later!

Discuss Anna Karenina - Part 5 and 6 here

Try and mark spoilers, but beware there could be some unmarked!

Discuss Anna Karenina - Part 3 and 4 here

Try and mark spoilers, but beware there could be some unmarked!

Discuss Anna Karenina - Part 1 and 2 here

Try and mark spoilers, but beware there could be some unmarked!

Judy wrote: "Matthew, was it decided to just kind of go at your own pace. I don’t want to spoil anything. Should we post by chapter or parts? I did see that it has 8 parts and the chapters are super short."

I will break it down into parts. Also, you can mark your discussion with spoiler code. Have you done the spoiler code before?

Judy wrote: "I don’t know how you guys quote one another, so someone can hopefully help me out there. Ginger you crack me up.
Well now we know about the names. I just read ‘Winter Of Witches’ and the names wer..."

To do the quote, all you need to do it select "Reply" under the post. I am not sure if it works if you are using the app.

Justin ••• wrote: "Not amazing or profound, I just found it amusingly phrased:

"He was afraid of sullying what his soul was brimful of."

(Part 1, Ch. 10; Constance Garnett translation)"

A perfect use of this thread! 😃

As I am listening to this today I have to remind myself, to me . . . none of this sounds particularly out the of the ordinary for undersea exploration. But, at the time this was written, the concepts were mind-blowing! Electricity on ships, fast sea travel, underwater exploration in diving suits, etc. And, the fact that the way Nemo has done it does not seem experimental or prototypical - he has some fully fleshed out sea exploration technology!

I will say that the name Anna Karenina did show up today - whether or not they had referred to her by another name using the Russian nomenclature, I am not sure.

I remember having problems like this with Russian names as well when reading Crime and Punishment

Judy wrote: "This classic has been on my list for awhile. I’m glad it was chosen. If you are a member of audible, it’s free on the plus account."

That is the one I am listening to - Maggie Gylllenhaal doing a great job so far.

My only question . . . is there actually a character named Anna Karenina in this book??? So far, I think "Karenina" has been said once in passing - and it was not referring to Anna.

Judy wrote: "This is one of my favorite books. I loved it so much. It made want to read all the time travel books I could find. Most of them are cheesy and can’t touch this book. I really enjoyed it and it flew..."

That is awesome! I seem to be in the minority with my experience. Probably my fault for biting off more than I could chew during a book slump!

Eileen wrote: "Which one was the last Big Read? And yes, this book was surprisingly readable. Then again, I thought Les Mis was surprisingly readable!

eta: Nevermind. I just remembered. I didn't get around to at..."

Agree about Les Mis!

How could you forget Gravity's Rainbow!? That one is never gonna leave my mind . . . permanent warpage!

Glad to find this classic very readable and easy to follow so far. Our last Big Read was not!

Justin ••• wrote: "Any thoughts on how fast to be reading through this so that it's completed in the scheduled timeframe?

I've only read the first 3 chapters of the first part, but I think the most interesting thin..."

I have not done the math on how much you should read to complete it in three months. I am going to try and dedicate at least 30 minutes a day to it and see if that gets me through it before the end of March.

I agree - the affair seems to be not so much a big deal for him. Sign of the time much?

Eileen wrote: "I thought the audio was very listenable. I got my copy on audible because it's one of the "free ones" on audible plus, lol. I was surprised at how "up-to-date" it felt to me."

That is the one I am listening to as well!

Good start! Easy to follow - sometimes that is not the case when starting off on classic novels and it takes a while to get used to the writing. Not a problem with that here.

Finally finished! It took a long time, but it was great!

Click for my review

Jessica wrote: "I loaned a Dutch translation from my local library but it made absolutely no sense! Sometimes I wonder how books get published, someone must have read the first chapter and wondered about the sente..."

Good advice, Jessica!

I am going to listen to a version on Audible . . . I will see if it stands up well!

Matthew wrote: "I got 235 books and it says I am in the top 9%"

I am up to 264 books now and in the 10%

Matthew wrote: "Added one - 17 now!"

Well - only 18 now - this is an odd list as well!