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.

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.

Sandra wrote: “What I did not like was the ending, even though I find it poetic. Maybe was her realization that she had to be chained to either of the man and that was the only way to be free.”

That was how I interpreted her choice as well. I also really disliked the ending quite a bit. It felt to me like a selling out of the story as a whole. How much more interesting it would have been to see—or even be left to imagine—Edna’s life continuing on! Even the title suggests that what Edna’s going through is the beginning of something, so that abrupt end didn’t feel warranted.

Renata wrote: “Ali wrote: “I nominate The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, 320 pages, first published August 2, 2016

Your book has already been read by this group in 2020....”

Ali, I see you’ve already nominated something else in the Catch-Up thread, but I (and apparently several others) would really like to read The Underground Railroad, so I went ahead and nominated it over there.

I nominate The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, 320 p. Last read by the group in July 2020.

I second All My Rage.

I second Neverwhere, The Stranger, and The Martian.

I second White Nights.

I second Eugene Onegin.

I second The Red Badge of Courage.

This begins our group discussion of our Modern book selection, Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, nominated by Sophie.

This discussion will be full of SPOILERS.

Did you enjoy the book? What stood out to you? Did you find the novel's shifting timeline & narrative engaging, or distracting? What questions were you left with?

This begins our group discussion of our Classics book selection, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, nominated by Sandra.

This discussion will be full of SPOILERS.

Did you enjoy the book? What stood out to you? The novel is firmly tied to its time and place—do you think it resonates well in modern times and other locales? Did you relate to Edna, or find her unsympathetic? What questions were you left with?

The Princess Bride has been selected as the Catch-Up title for May 2025. 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.

I nominate The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (351 p., pub. 1905).

I assumed I would find the book bleak—I certainly found the movie so, when I saw it years ago. But I hadn’t expected how much I would the strength of the writing would capture me.

He lay listening to the water drip in the woods. Bedrock, this. The cold and the silence. The ashes of the late world carried on the bleak and temporal winds to and fro in the void. Carried forth and scattered and carried forth again. Everything uncoupled from its shoring. Unsupported in the ashen air. Sustained by a breath, trembling and brief. If only my heart were stone.

And somehow it even drew me to the characters, in contrast to your experience, Paddy. There was something a bit impersonal—maybe even just the fact that they are never given names. But as I was reading, I did find myself empathizing with them.

I have to point out also this quote from much later in the novel, that really grabbed me. It certainly doesn’t challenge the novel’s reputation for bleakness, but this line was a stunner.

There were few nights lying in the dark that he did not envy the dead.

I don’t think I’ll soon forget that one.

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.

I second The Hound of the Baskervilles.