Brian E’s Comments (group member since Jul 25, 2017)

Brian E’s comments from the Reading the Chunksters group.

I wanted to nominate Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry but I saw that it was previously read by the Chunkster Group in 2012. While I will be reading it for another group, I really enjoy how this group organizes its discussion threads into sections - it encourages full spoiler-free discussion.

I doubt that Beloved is a true Chunkster, but it sure felt long when I read it.

I've read and enjoyed it. I've enjoyed all 5 George Elliot novels I've read. I might join in a re-read as it has been over 20 years.

When you finish the novel, there is a BBC miniseries from early this century. It's pretty good with Hugh Dancy, Hugh Bonneville, Romola Garai, Amanda Root and Jodhi May, all experienced costume drama actors.
I once had it on my Netflix favorites but it's no longer there so I think it is off Netflix. It worth a view if you can find it somewhere.

Winnipeg, Manitoba. Wow, Carol. I'm copying the text of an answer I posted last week in a Name the Book thread in another Goodreads group:

The Diviners by Margaret Laurence
(not the Libba Bray novel of the same name)

I'm on a Manitoba roll the past 24 hours. This book takes place in Manitoba and, in another NTLTRC thread, Samantha just mentioned Bachman Turner Overdrive who come from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
And last night I started watching the movie Goodbye Christopher Robin and found out that Winnie the Pooh is named after a Canadian black bear at the London zoo and is short for "Winnipeg."

Penney wrote: "Hello to all,
I started reading Middlemarch as a bit of a joke..."

I've been meaning to comment for months that you must have a very interesting sense of humor.

Christopher wrote: "Well, I say, if all the posters vote 'weight,' and all the non-posters vote 'don't weight,' then even if 'no' wins, it proves the need for weighting, don't you see?

"No" won the raw vote, but afte..."

So you've been reading Catch-22?

Greg wrote: "Hi, I'm Greg, and I live in Florida, and I am thinking about moving to another country, so if anyone has a nice townhouse for sell in downtown Dublin, and at my price point, let me know. (Yes, ther..."

Closest I'll get is moving to Dublin, Ohio, though it does have good golf courses.

When I took a Shakespeare course in college, I found I understood the plays much better if I listened to a record of it at the library while I read it. That was before modern gadgets.

I am a currently a part time labor arbitrator, living in Springfield, Illinois, U.S. A. but grew up in Chicago, having retired from directing a state government labor relations agency in 2003.
Part time work leaves me plenty of reading time. I read a combination of modern and classics, have a non-fiction and fiction going at a time, averaging 30 fiction and 6 non-fiction per year.
I try to always have at least one Kindle, for dark place reading, and 1 real book, for coffee shop reading so I don't worry about I-Pad stealing when leaving my seat. I love owning real books and have often purchased both a cheap or free Kindle and a used hard copy of the same book, for my collection. They are my precious.
I joined this group for the Kristin Lavransdatter read and will participate in other Chunksters, but I read Moby Dick about 6 years ago and do not desire a re-read, I'm whale-oiled out, though I really wish I had read it in this group.

Wow. Both Buddenbrooks and the Deptford trilogy are so much favorites with me, first read in 1977 and the mid-1980's, respectively, that I re-read both of them (and the 2 other Davies trilogies) in 2012 and 2013, respectively. I am not yet ready for a 3rd reading.
But, strangely, I get more satisfaction from having this group read one of my personal favorites than choosing one I should read myself, like The Charterhouse of Parma, which has been a 20 year TBR. However, my wait may be because I did find The Red and the Black to be a grind.

Drew, I choose the P & V translations because I had read they are best and more true to Tolstoy or Dosty, but I really don't know. However, out of W&P, Anna K, The Idiot , Brothers K, and Crime and P, I probably enjoyed Crime & P the most, and that was the only non-P&V one I read.

Choosing translations is tough. Nice that you got a chance to read parts of the same book in both translations.

Drew, its good to have your opinions of the translations. The problem with the Archer translation is allegedly the archaic language. Many critics say the Nunnally translation is actually closer to Undset's style than the old Archer.
The archaic language in Archer is also its attraction, as you point out. I understood the Archer language as being closer to late middle ages English. which is what you liked. What I don't know is whether late middle age Norwegian's spoke the same way.
You've read both versions of the same book and in the same time period, and preferred Archer. I find it just as important that a college age you couldn't put the Archer edition down. I'll try the Archer in about 10 years. However, I'm still glad I first tried the easier and faster one, that reportedly didn't expunge any sexual scenes.

Brian wrote: "Nicola, I always enjoy your honest evaluations...."

Most people who don't want kids say diplomatically: " Oh, I like kids, just as long as they are other peoples' kids." Nicola, the straight-shooter says what they really mean: "I don't like kids." W. C. Fields would be proud.

Now, applying this to the saga we have read, I never quite got why Kristin loved having so many kids. They were such a wild pack of wolf cubs, I would think 3 would be more than enough. Four or five, maybe, but seven or eight? I know there's no birth control, but she seemed to really want them. I guess that is part of her complexity. Self-centered but wanting more kids. Maybe that's consistent, her wanting some 'chips off the old block.'

Maybe its because of my own experience. My wife loved and wanted 3 children, but after 2 boys, she cried when she learned the third one was a boy - and not just because she wanted a girl. Increasing our wolf cub pack from 2 to 3 just seemed overwhelming to her by the middle of the pregnancy.

I read the Nunnally translation and thought it a very smooth easy read. I had considered reading the Archer edition, thinking I might prefer the archaic language, but the reported expungement of certain scenes in the Archer edition turned me off. Also, when I read that the new translation spurred the rediscovery of the trilogy, I was convinced that the Nunnally edition was the right choice for me.

Nicola, I always enjoy your honest evaluations. I found Kristin to be a great character. She was often annoying, but unlike Lily Dale whose annoying acts were cloaked in self-righteous martyrdom, I found Kristin's annoying acts a result of true and interesting character traits/faults.

I enjoyed the trilogy immensely, though I agree that after 1000 pages I was ready to let go of them all by the end. There were just too many kids to care about any one is particular, and I was fine if they all died. While I agree with Nicola about the plague being shoved in at the end, after reading a book blurb mentioning the plague, I was just very relieved it didn't dominate the entire third volume.

Based on her religious thoughts, Kristin's nunnery entrance was a natural last phase after her husband's death. The religiousness of the book was actually less than I expected and more natural than I expected. I entered dreading the expected religiousness and instead felt it was a strength of the novel. I especially liked the confluence of Catholicism with prior religious superstition.

I've caught up and have finished. You first.

As the saga comes to its end, we encounter an eventful 8th of 9 Parts, unfortunately mainly bad. A few comments:
1. I was surprised that both Simon and Erlend wield axes to kill someone with what appears to be minimal provocation even for the more barbaric times. Both events led to their eventual demise. While, with Erlend's aid, Simon escaped the immediate consequence of his axe-wielding, I think the event may have encouraged Simon to intervene in the conflict that resulted in his minor, yet eventually mortal, injury.
2. As expected, Erlend and Kristin's character flaws overcame their other attributes, preventing a reconciliation and happily ever after resolution. Yes, I do think they have good attributes and I am fond of both characters. I was a bit surprised that it was Erlend who out-stubborned Kristin than vice-versa.
3. Due to the psychological insight into the characters, I get lulled into viewing them as similar to the 19th century Europeans I often read about, and then get reminded by events that it is only the late Middle Ages.
4. As I move on to the concluding Part, I am wondering about the fate of the boys.

I found it interesting that Simon's perspective is portrayed so extensively in this Part. At first I wondered why Undset chose Simon rather than Erlend to elevate as a character, but then I figured its a better choice to open up the story to more scenes and characters. Also, Simon is more thoughtful than Erlend and open to more psychological insights.
I was glad that Simon's son recovered as I was worried it was the start of the Plague and didn't want this volume to be just 400+ pages of painful dying.

Dianne, thank you for setting up topic threads early for all 3 Parts of The Cross. I've started and will go there when i finish the first Part. The number of chapters in each of the 3 Parts in each novel is:

The Wreath 7, 8, 8
The Wife 6, 8, 7
The Cross 6, 8, 7

I just read what seemed like a really long chapter in the longest book, The Cross, and my kindle doesn't have page #s or chapters listed in a table of contents so I checked this out. Interesting that the shortest book, The Wreath, has the most chapters.

I read a review of this book that likened it to Gone With the Wind and Kristin to Scarlett O'Hara. It is more of a potboiler than I had expected but I really enjoy it, though, why everyone uses Scarlett rather than Becky Sharp is beyond me. But, I don't see Kristin as calculating as either Scarlett or Becky. As Nicola says, she is a bit contradictory.
I do agree that most of her negative actions are a result of her Catholic guilt but I think that the sensual/religious quandary is interesting and accurately reflects the historical status of Catholicism in their lives. Kristin solves the quandary by doing both, first the sensual and then self (and Erlend) castigation afterwards. For years.

I agree with Rosemary and thought the purpose of dividing the book discussion into sections was that you didn't have to post spoiler alerts since you are only supposed to talk about events occurring before the end of the part in the discussion title. But I'm a group novice still learning group protocol.
I often use spoiler alerts for novels that have one discussion topic and generally state the Chapter I've finished reading. I didn't know how to do those "hidden" spoiler alerts so I will try one. (view spoiler)[ Knut Hamsun is another great Norwegian writer (hide spoiler)] Thanks, Nicola.

Like Tracey, I have mixed thoughts about this Part. However, most of the bad thoughts involve what's to come in the last half. (My Kindle has the trilogy 50% complete at the end of Part II of Book 2)

However, Part II was mainly enjoyable. Religion seems to be getting more prominent. While I'm not religious or spiritual, religion plays an important part in history so I am very interested in the part it plays in everyday 14th century Norwegian life.

Tracey, I read Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century While I don't remember much or any talk about Norway in that book, I do prefer getting medieval history from this novel. it's much more enjoyable,

I really enjoyed the Lavrans/Rangrid characters until its conclusion and will miss them immensely in the last half of the saga. Kristin is an interesting and lively heroine with strengths and faults. However, she is not at her best when dealing with Erlend and I am wary of the future of the Kristin/Erlend relationship. As to Erlend himself, the jury is still out.

I also enjoy the description of the wildness of the children, a pack of wild boys, unrestrained and overindulged like many 21st century lads. However, I don't yet identify with them as individual characters enough to be invested in their futures, Hopefully, they turn out fine. Wild ones sometimes do.