spoko’s Comments (group member since Mar 05, 2021)

spoko’s comments from the EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club group.

Some questions to begin with:
⟡ What are your initial impressions? Is this your first experience reading Tolstoy? Do you have any preconceptions or expectations?
⟡ What are your impressions of the social world of St. Petersburg? What do you make of Tolstoy’s choice of that setting, to begin a novel about war?
⟡ We meet a large cast of characters right away. Did any particular individual(s) stand out to you?

I nominate The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (213 p., pub. 2019). Last read in January, 2021.

I nominate La Dame aux Camélias ( Camille / The Lady of the Camellias ) by Alexandre Dumas fils (256 p., pub. 1848).

I second A Doll’s House.

I nominate Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (529 p., pub. 2003).

I second Parable of the Sower.

Some reference pages from the Oxford World's Classics edition (Maude/Mandelker):
❦ Principal Characters, and Pronunciation — https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kq09...
❦ Historical Characters — https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kt80...
❦ Dates of Principal Events — https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kv0v...-
❦ Maps — https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kvSf...

THE SCHEDULE ITSELF
MARCH
Kropotkin: Parts 1 & 2
Garnett: Parts 1 & 2
Maude/Gibian: Parts 1 & 2
Maude/Mandelker: Book One, Parts 1 & 2

APRIL
Kropotkin: Parts 3–6
Garnett: Parts 3–6
Maude/Gibian: Parts 3–6
Maude/Mandelker: Book One, Part 3 – Book Two, Part 3

MAY
Kropotkin: Parts 7–9
Garnett: Parts 7–9
Maude/Gibian: Parts 7–9
Maude/Mandelker: Book Two, Part 4 – Book Three, Part I

JUNE
Kropotkin: Parts 10–12
Garnett: Parts 10–11
Maude/Gibian: Parts 10–11
Maude/Mandelker: Book Three, Parts 2 & 3

JULY
Kropotkin: Parts 13–16
Garnett: Parts 12–15 & Epilogue 1
Maude/Gibian: Parts 12–15 & Epilogue 1
Maude/Mandelker: Book Four (entire) & Epilogue 1

AUGUST
Epilogue 2 / Entire Book

Welcome to the Read-A-Long discussion for War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, nominated by Pony.

This discussion will be full of SPOILERS.

EDITIONS and their peculiarities:

As one would expect, there are multiple English translations of War and Peace. Unfortunately, the demarcation of books/parts/chapters is highly inconsistent among them. They do not use common terms—what some call a ‘book’ others call a ‘part,’ which is all the more confusing as the former may break the ‘book’ into smaller sections which it refers to as ‘parts’. I’ve tried to compare the three common translations that I myself have access to—which are three of the most common, as far as I know. I’ve broken them into six sections for the schedule, usually according to the largest headings used in the book (with one book being an exception). There are also two epilogues in most versions, which I’ve worked into the sections.

I won’t recommend a particular translation, but we may all notice that there are other significant differences among them. Aside from the labeling of the sections, for instance, they do not all use the same names for characters. One book’s Andrei is another’s Andrew, for example. Beyond that, some translations from the Russian leave other languages (such as French, which shows up quite frequently) intact. Others translate everything into English. If you don’t speak French, this alone may be enough to recommend one edition over another.

Unfortunately, I don’t know anything at all about translations from Russian into other languages, or frankly, about the original Russian itself. Since English is the common language of the group, the best I can do is to stick to it. So, without further ado:

The first translation I have is by Alexandra Kropotkin, and it breaks the book into sixteen Parts, which it identifies as “Part First, 1805” etc., up to “Part Sixteenth, 1813–1820”. This is strange in itself, by the way, because every other version I’ve seen treats that final section as the First Epilogue. This book seems to have no epilogues, because it has re-labeled the first and is indeed missing the second. The second epilogue is available on the website of Public Library UK, however, at http://public-library.uk/ebooks/104/5...

The second translation I have is by Constance Garnett, and it divides the book into Parts One through Fifteen, followed by Epilogue Parts One & Two. Simple enough.

The third translation I have is by Louise and Aylmer Maude. As if things weren’t already confusing enough, I have two different editions of this translation, and they are not consistent between themselves. The first is the Oxford University Press edition, edited by Amy Mandelker. I will refer to this as the Maude/Mandelker edition. It breaks the novel into four “books,” with each book containing from 3–5 “parts,” and the two Epilogues. These “parts” roughly correspond to the top-level sections of the other translations, so I’ve used them for breaking points, and I’ll note them as Book/Part.

Finally, there is another version of the Maude translation, published by Norton, edited by George Gibian. I’ll refer to this as the Maude/Gibian edition. It breaks the novel into fifteen Books followed by the two Epilogues.

For what it’s worth, I’ve kept the first epilogue with the preceding sections of the book, and left the second epilogue on its own for August. This is for thematic reasons: The first epilogue does continue the narrative to some extent, whereas the second is almost entirely philosophical in nature. So by the beginning of August, for those who manage to stay on schedule, there shouldn’t really be any spoilers remaining, and therefore the book can be discussed in its entirety.

Clear enough? 😀

This begins our group discussion of our Modern book selection, The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, nominated by Lea.

This discussion will be full of SPOILERS.

Did you enjoy the book? What stood out to you? How did the fragmented and somewhat non-linear structure impact your experience? The book and its author are vague as to which parts are fictional and which are not—did you find this detracted from the book, or added to it? What questions were you left with?

This begins our group discussion of our Classics book selection, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, nominated by Rachel.

This discussion will be full of SPOILERS.

Did you enjoy the book? What stood out to you? Did the novel's portrayal of the Land of Oz meet or exceed your expectations? Which scene or moment resonated with you the most? What questions were you left with?

Little Women has been selected as the Catch-Up title for March 2024. Please feel free to continue with points from previous discussion, or bring up something new!

Do remember that this is the SPOILER thread, in case you would prefer to finish reading before proceeding here.

Thanks everyone—nominations are now closed, and the polls are open! Help us pick the next Catch-Up read by casting your vote here.

Thanks everyone—nominations are now closed, and the polls are open! Help us pick the next Classic read by casting your vote here.

Thanks everyone—nominations are now closed, and the polls are open! Help us pick the next Modern read by casting your vote here.

JoJo_theDoDo wrote: “It was just an okay read for me. I didn’t really like any of the characters in the story. I guess I’m finding out that I need at least one likable character in a story to actually enjoy the story. ...”

I found the same. I already loved the movie, for what that’s worth. I’d be interested to see what you think of it, having read the book first.

I’ve been wanting to read this for quite a while, mostly because I really loved the movie. Sadly, I didn’t think the book stood up. Of course, I can’t say how the suspense would have been if I didn’t already know what was coming. I’d love to hear how that landed for anyone who wasn’t familiar with the plot.

I didn’t find Tom sympathetic, which isn’t always a deal-breaker, but I think our sympathy for him was supposed to propel the novel a bit. I just wasn’t that concerned with what would happen to him, I guess, so the stakes never felt as high as they might have. (It probably didn’t help that I knew there were sequels to this book, so that obviously limits how bad the repercussions could possibly have been for him.)

One thing I did find interesting was Highsmith’s actual portrayal of what was going on in Tom’s mind. He wasn’t the narrator, obviously, so to say that the book has an unreliable narrator would be inaccurate. But he is our primary observer, and his perception is clearly unreliable. One of the first things that jumped out at me was the moment when he spied the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The tower is, frankly, one of the greatest historical examples of unpredictability and the sense that things can go awry. But when Tom sees it, “It seemed to him a good omen, a sign that Italy was going to be everything that he expected.” I just thought to myself, “What?!” It was a great indicator of just how slippery his mind could be. (I also loved the little touch later, when he was trying to make the guidebook look authentically used for the police—him breaking the binding so that it would fall open at Pisa.)

There are probably better examples later in the book—times when he confuses himself with Dickie, for example—but that one instantly comes to mind.

Speaking of Dickie, though, that was one more thing I didn’t love about the book—he’s such a thin character. Most of the other characters are, really. Clearly our focus is supposed to be on Tom; it’s a very interior novel. But I would have liked a bit more substance for the world around him.

The film of The Talented Mr. Ripley was better than the book. I find the plotting in the film more complex, and more interesting. The characters and their relationships, as well. I’m ticking through them in my mind, and every single character is more interesting in the film. Ripley is more sympathetic, Dickie is a much fuller character, the triangular relationship among them & Marge is more interesting, etc. Philip Seymour Hoffman’s portrayal of Freddie Miles is one of the all-time great examples of a character actor at his peak. Then there are other characters who don’t—or barely—show up in the novel. Meredith Logue, Peter Smith-Kinsley. I assume they might be characters from later books in the series or something, but they do add quite a bit to the film.

I haven’t seen the original French film adaptation, Plein Soleil (Purple Noon), but since I know it has some of the same elements (not to mention Alain Delon), I suspect it might also beat the novel for me. Come to think of it, I will make an effort to watch it and see.

Renata wrote: “spoko, this book was read in 2020 by the group, but you can nominate it i...”
Sorry about that—moved it over.

So, I nominate The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (291 p., pub. 2003). And I’ll check the bookshelf more carefully going forward! 😁

I nominate The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (306 p., pub. 2016). Read in 2020.

We don’t have the ability to edit people’s posts, but I’ve posted a correction, so it can go from there. Thanks for catching that, Peggyzbooksnmusic!

Suzanne wrote: “—368 Pages

New Group Total: 46,403”

Not sure what happened, but this total should be 56,955. Adding Dennis’ book, the running total is now 57,416.