Sorento62’s Comments (group member since Jul 22, 2016)

Sorento62’s comments from the Reading Classics, Chronologically Through the Ages group.

Showing 41-60 of 62

Feb 24, 2017 12:51PM

Oh, members of the group can also create a meetup and choose a book themselves and set a date, but that has only been done once so far, for Silas Marner.

Kenia's Reading Projects (81 new)

Feb 24, 2017 12:48PM

Hi, Kenia-

I provide a list of about 6 to 10 books for my classics book group to vote on at the end of each of our discussion meetups to choose a book a few months ahead, generally by having people rank their top three choices from the list. Usually from a given time period. We meet once a month. Right now in the fiction selections we are working forward in time from 1900 and are at about 1940 or so, then alternating that roughly every other month with working backward from 1900 and we are in the mid-1800s now. (I just started listening to Uncle Tom's Cabin yesterday.) I do take suggestions to some extent and fit them into the list with other books of the same time period. We read mostly fiction, because most people find it more entertaining than nonfiction. We generally do one or two nonfiction books a year.

After learning from experience, I've settled on general guidelines for Goodreads ratings and Goodreads "percent liked" as well as page number guidelines, with the criteria being a bit different for pre-1900 fiction vs. post-1900 fiction. For nonfiction, I like to have very high Goodreads ratings and not too long a book. We occasionally read a doorstop book like The Brothers Karamazov for example, but only once a year or so during the summer.

To find books to choose from, I draw from a number of different lists of "greatest novels" and such, as well as from books shelved as classics by Goodreads users.

The Meetup group has a couple hundred members, but only about 4 to 8 people generally show up each month, most of whom are regulars. I send email reminders about two weeks before the date of the event and another about two days before the event, asking people to change their RSVP to No if they won't be attending. No shows are very common, especially among first timers. The group link is here:
https://www.meetup.com/BooksIShouldHa...

-Julie

Kenia's Reading Projects (81 new)

Feb 24, 2017 09:53AM

Kenia wrote: "...have you ever considered starting your own? ?"
Hi, Cleo and Kenia-
I volunteered to be the organizer of a Meetup classics book club several years ago when the founder stepped down. It's been great, and I am now at the point where I want to encourage others in my group to present short lists of books for selection voting and to encourage others to lead some of the discussions even when I am not absent.
Let me know if you want any tips...
-Julie

Introductions (218 new)

Feb 10, 2017 03:17PM

Hi, Kelly!
We are reading Herodotus' Histories right now. It is a big book and we are taking January, February, and March to read it. Kenia says she may take longer though, because she needs to take a break and read something else for a while.
You are welcome to join us. Cleo and I recommend The Landmark Herodotus, which has very helpful maps. But if you're not quite ready to jump in with full force right now, I'd recommend going back to some of the books already read and discussed. If you post to the discussion board for a book, I'm sure people will respond even if they finished the book last year.
Herodotus is a doozie to start with, and we are already half way into it. That's why I suggest you might want to start with something else.
-Julie (Sorento62)

The Histories by Herodotus (440 BCE) - #7 (50 new)

Feb 04, 2017 08:02AM

I received my very ownty-own used (but beautiful) copy of The Landmark Herodotus this week, and I love it. The maps, for one, help SO much.

One thing that struck me is that the geographical area called "Greece" by Herodotus seems to consist of the Aegean Sea islands, today's Greek peninsula, and also many locations on the west coast of what is today Turkey. On second thought, this makes sense as it was probably easier to travel by sea than by land in those days. But in this day and age, countries tend to be defined more by land masses than by sea access alone, so it was at first surprising to me that "Greece" would have included cities on both sides of the Aegean.

The Histories by Herodotus (440 BCE) - #7 (50 new)

Jan 11, 2017 06:27AM

Hi, Kenia-
Oh, yes, Herodotus definitely deserves his honorific as "The Father of History". He was searching for truth and recording knowledge. He just got some of it wrong. :-)
I don't worry too much about remembering something from The Histories as fact that really isn't. It's pretty clear when reading it that what he wrote was his understanding at the time. I just need to think of it that way while I'm reading it. Some of it is true. Some of it is a reflection of the limitations of knowledge at the time. It's all a precious record of the intellectual climate at the time.

The Book List (54 new)

Jan 04, 2017 07:12AM

Kenia wrote: "I'm not one to read books more than once as Bauer suggests, but this seems like a good way to do it!"

I am finding The Histories uniquely difficult to soak up with true comprehension, probably because so many of the names and places are entirely unfamiliar. I think it will help me not to worry too much about full comprehension while I listen, then to be able to go back through the book to look at maps and re-read some portions.

Kenia's Reading Projects (81 new)

Jan 04, 2017 07:04AM

Hi, Kenia- I am perfectly content to wait til next year for Zeno's Paradoxes. We both already have ambitious enough plans for this year. ;-)
I want to gradually catch up on some of the earlier TWEM books (and other Great Books) I've not yet read, such as Gilgamesh and the Iliad, so reading the Rig Veda this year fits in well with that. Gilgamesh is on my list for this year too.
-Julie

The Book List (54 new)

Jan 03, 2017 04:54AM

I've been listening to an Audible version of The Histories and now I've got The Landmark Herodotus from the library to go with it. I'm ready for this! :-)

Kenia's Reading Projects (81 new)

Jan 03, 2017 04:46AM

Hi, Kenia-
Thanks for posting your plans. I am following along with some of your additional Literary Project selections in addition to the TWEM books in chronological order.
I had put Zeno's Paradoxes from your list on mine for this year, because I'd guessed might read it in 2017. I've replaced it with the Rig Veda so that we'll have an opportunity to be reading the supplementary books at the same time.
-Julie (Sorento62)

Kenia's Reading Projects (81 new)

Oct 24, 2016 03:00AM

The University of Connecticut occasionally does ancient Greek plays. We did go to see Antigone several years ago. Unfortunately there was a mixup about which theater it was in, so we missed the beginning of the play. But the part we saw has stuck with me.

Kenia's Reading Projects (81 new)

Oct 23, 2016 12:54PM

Supreme Court opinions. Hmmnn, interesting idea.

Kenia's Reading Projects (81 new)

Oct 23, 2016 12:52PM

Kenia wrote: "Shakespeare Project Book List

I intend to read through every single one of The Bard's plays. I have already read several in high school, but it's been so long that I'd like to reread as an adult.
..."

Better yet, see them all performed!

Sharon's Reading Projects (20 new)

Oct 04, 2016 10:50AM

I am just getting around to reading this thread more than 4 months later -- but I have to say I'm glad to hear that others are also depressed by reading Thomas Hardy. Here's what I wrote last week after reading the first part of Jude the Obsure:
"Ooof. I am taking a break from Jude the Obscure. Hardy's thesis seems to be that getting mixed up with a woman will completely ruin a man's life, and it's all her fault. This truly had me depressed yesterday even hours after I was no longer listening to the book."
I am feeling better now, and I do think I will be up to finishing the book later this month.
Oh, and by the way, I've just applied to join The Dead Writers Society group.
-Julie (Sorento62)

Sandy's History Project (32 new)

Oct 04, 2016 10:11AM

Sandy wrote: "Today I am so excited! A new book arrived in the mail -- The Medusa Reader ..."
Hi, Sandy-
I looked at The Medusa Reader table of contents through the Look Inside feature on Amazon that you so kindly provided the link to. Wow. I am amazed at all the literature that refers to Medusa. And yes, you could do a reading Medusa through history project, for sure.
-Julie (Sorento62)

Julie's (Sorento62's) Reading Projects (10 new)

Oct 02, 2016 11:03AM

Congratulations on your new house and new job, Kenia. I wish you the best with these momentous milestones. The pause in TWEM books will give me a bit of breathing room to finish up other reading and possibly to read one or two of the previous books on the TWEM list.

Julie's (Sorento62's) Reading Projects (10 new)

Oct 01, 2016 10:12AM

Hi, Cleo and Kenia-
I plan to start The Histories (of Herodotus) in November, listening to them on Audible. Sounds like it will be the read for this group starting in January, if that's when you are starting it, Kenia. I will take my time listening, as it is more than 27 hours long. Will this TWEM group be reading anything else together after Oedipus and before The Histories?
Kenia, I have roughly a two-decade head start on you for the classic fiction self-education project. We are starting at about the same time on the history, poetry, etc. You wrote elsewhere that you weren't interested in history or literature in school. I also was not interested in history (not old enough, mature enough -- or maybe no one taught it to me in an involving way). But I did enjoy literature throughout my school career and continued the habit after finishing college.
Cleo, I have only read about 10 of the books on the "100 Most Influential Books Ever Written" list. It's funny to hear you feeling unscholarly, since you have so much ancient Greek background. But I suppose that's different than the philosophy-heavy content of the "100 Most Influential.." running from ancient thru modern times.
As always, I love being able to connect with other "reading through history" nerds here. :-)

-Julie (Sorento62)

Julie's (Sorento62's) Reading Projects (10 new)

Sep 30, 2016 01:19PM

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Julie's (Sorento62's) Reading Projects (10 new)

Sep 30, 2016 01:19PM

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Julie's (Sorento62's) Reading Projects (10 new)

Sep 30, 2016 01:19PM