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From The Unvanquished: The Big Money
From The Diviners:
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams
The Wars
Lives of Girls and Women
Task 20.1 - RwS Anniversary!: - For Combo points:
20.9
Ivan Bunin
Born: in Voronezh, Russian Federation : ON: October 22, 1870
Died: November 08, 1953
20.8
Read a book written by an author who has more or less permanently settled in a country other than his/her homeland (the country of his/her original citizenship).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Bunin
The Gentleman from San Francisco and Other Stories (1944) by Ivan Bunin (Paperback, 224 pages)
the first Russian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature (1933)
Review: This is a collection of 19 stories, all written by Ivan Bunin, from various points in his life (first publication dates from 1915 through 1944). There are two translators for the stories: David Richards and Sophie Lund. I’m not sure which translator is more accurate. David Richards’s translations sparkle and draw you into the story. Sophie Lund’s translations are flat, this is this, that is that, yuk.
Bunin opposed the Bolsheviks, and fled Russia in 1920, living out the next 30+ years in Europe. His sympathies were with the “white Russians”; he despised Lenin and the Bolsheviks. Several of his stories wax nostalgic for the life lived upper-middle-class Russians BEFORE the Revolution. Overall, his stories were OK, not as good as Tolstoy, Dostoeyvsky, Chekov, Gogol, Gorky, etc., etc., but certainly readable and occasionally quite clever. Recommended for readers of Russian Literature.
+20 (#20.1 pub. 1944)
+10 Combo (#10.2 Russia; #20.8 exile; #20.9 (80 years)))
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: (1939-1989)
+10 Review
Task Total 20 + 10 + 05 + 10 = 45
Grand Total: 65 + 45 = 110
From: Tess of the D'UrbervillesThe History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (yeah! it came back!)
Barchester Towers
Barnaby Rudge
The Mill on the Floss
The Wings of the Dove
New Grub Street
Basil
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists
Now to check the other books!
From Herzog: The Sot-Weed Factor, Ten North FrederickFrom Wool Omnibus Edition (different from 8 hours ago): Leviathan Wakes, Dark Eden
Wow, these do change quickly! I "lost" one (The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling from Tess of the D'Urbervilles) I had penciled in because I hadn't posted it here in time. (It will fit elsewhere, but still.....) Anyways, I'll post here more promptly! And so .....From The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: Black Swan Green, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
From Tess of the D'Urbervilles: The Old Curiosity Shop, Vanity Fair, Mary Barton, No Name, The Warden, Brideshead RevisitedFrom Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1): Soft Apocalypse
From The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: Tarzan of the Apes
Task 10.4 - Island Dreams: Read a book that takes place (at least 75%) on an island country listed under Sovereign states.
Took place 100% in the United Kingdom.
Twelve Drummers Drumming (Father Christmas Mystery #1) (2011) by C.C. Benison (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover, 374 pages)
Review:This is a cozy mystery, the first of a series. A widowed vicar and his 9 year old daughter move to a small village to get away from the inner city. The vicar’s name: Tom Christmas, making him: Father Christmas. Ha! Other than the vicar’s name, there is nothing about Christmas in the novel. Father Christmas is able to solve the village’s murder because people tell him things, since, well, he’s the VICAR. There are plenty of sub-plots and red herrings in the novel. The murderer’s identity is a surprise. Overall, Twelve Drummers Drumming is a good starting novel of a series, with a lot of potential for further books in the series. Recommended for fans of cozy mysteries.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20
Grand Total: 45 + 20 = 65
Task 10.2 - Nutcracker:Read a book set in (75%) Russia or a former Soviet Republic.
The Gypsies & Other Narrative Poems (1824) Alexander Pushkin; translated by Antony Wood (Hardcover, 116 pages)
Review: This book starts off with 20 pages of introduction, including a very brief biography of Alexander Pushkin (surprise! He’s of mixed race African & Russian ancestry) plus a backgrounder on each of the 5 poems included in the book. (The five poems: The Gypsies, The bridegroom, Count Nulin and retold Russian folktales The Tale of the Dead Princess and Tale of the Golden Cockerel.) Ten pages of notes explain references in the poems that Pushkin’s contemporaries would understand but that contemporary readers would miss. I’m not a big reader of poetry, and it is always a Challenge when I attempt to read some. I’m not sure if it is Pushkin’s verse or this particular translation (plus notes), but I felt that I understood the poems when I read them. (Maybe because they were story-poems instead of feelings-poems?) Recommended for those interested in Russian literature or for those who like poetry.
+10 Task
+10 Non-Western (Russian)
+15 Oldies -151 to 250 years old: (1764-1863)
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 10 + 15 +10 = 45
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Liz got after me to figure out how to pull these authors from our database. I've had an interesting and happy morning.Author at least 80 years old.
If you see any data that you believe is incorr..."
Thanks for making the list, it is helpful.
Yeah! H.G. Wells! Does he still count even though:
born: September 21, 1866
died: August 13, 1946
Paullina Simons was born in Leningrad, USSR, in 1963. At the age of ten her family immigrated to the United States. My physical book includes the comment that she now lives in New York City. Would she fit this task? Thanks!
From Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea:King Solomon's Mines
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Stories
Kim by Rudyard Kipling
From: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
A Place of Greater Safety
From: Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1)
Fuzzy Nation
Ancillary Justice
Chinua Achebe 1930 - 2013Brian W. Aldiss 1925 - still alive
Ben Bova 1932 - still alive
Ray Bradbury 1920 - 2012
Antonia Fraser 1932 - still alive
Nadine Gordimer 1923 - 2014
Harry Harrison 1925 - 2012
Ursula K. Le Guin 1929 - still alive
Penelope Lively 1933 - still alive
Anne McCaffrey 1926 - 2011
David McCullough 1933 - still alive
Frederik Pohl 1919-2013
Jerry Pournelle 1933 - still alive
José Saramago 1922 - 2010
Mary Stewart 1916 - 2014
Kurt Vonnegut 1922 - 2007
Gene Wolfe 1931 - still alive
The most popular version of May Day does not have a pagecount. The second most popular version of May Day has pagecount of 94 pages. For this book alone, will the second most popular version count? Thanks.And .... great task!
Task 20.6 - UnderratedBigfoot Dreams (1986) by Francine Prose (Paperback, 288 pages)
Review:Our heroine is a writer at a Tabloid Newspaper, living and working in 1980s New York City. She is attracted to the bizarre and the unusual, both professionally and personally (friends, boyfriends). She writes preposterous stories about UFOs and Bigfoot sightings, completely invented in her mind, albeit inspired by random observations of her fellow subway riders. Much to her shock and surprise, one of her invented stories turns out to be closer to the truth than she thought possible. This has ramifications in her personal life, as well as for various characters associated with her story. (Can you say: mid-life crisis?) She has to decide whether to continue living her life valuing bizarre, unpredictable, unreliable people and situations, or to change and embrace predictability (even if it is boring). The 1980s trappings (the clothing, the aerobic dancing, the aging ‘60s hipsters, even the occasional VietNam references), along with the lack of internet or cell phones, gave “it happened long ago” feel to the story. Overall, an entertaining novel. Recommended.
+20 Underrated
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: (1939-1989)
+10 Review
Task Total: 20 + 05 + 10 = 35
Grand Total: 1425 + 35 = 1460
And that's it for me! Thanks to the moderators for all of their hard work & I'll see y'all in the Winter.
Task 20.6 - UnderratedHeart of Iron (2011) by Ekaterina Sedia
Sidewise Award Nominee for Alternate History (2011)
Review: Ms. Sedia, has written an Alternate History novel wherein the Decembrist Revolt (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decembri... ) was successful, Tsar Nicholas I was deposed, and the Decembrists leaders became leaders of Russia under Nicholas’s brother Constantine. (In real life, a handful of the Decembrist’s leaders were executed and the rest were exiled to Siberia for 20+ years.) In Heart of Iron, the successful Decembrists spark technological advances that did not happen in the *real* world, so that the characters have access to state-of-the-art trains, submersibles, and hot air balloons (can you say: steampunk?). I went along with a willing suspension of disbelief for the first 1/3rd of the novel. Then, the author has our sympathetic heroine decide that she has to (mild) (view spoiler). I had the reaction: oh, come ON now! But I continued reading. The rest of the novel was entertaining while being slightly preposterous. Still, I’d recommend it for fantasy / steampunk fans. The novel passes the Bechtel Test! And, the steampunk trappings are really cool.
+20 Underrated
+10 Review
Task Total: 20 + 10 = 30
Grand Total: 1395 + 30 = 1425
Task 20.6 - UnderratedThe Overnight (2004) by Ramsey Campbell (Hardcover, 396 pages)
Review:The Overnight was the 2005 Winner of International Horror Guild Awards for best horror novel of the year. The author states in a preface to this novel that he took a job at the local branch of Borders Book Store. Ramsey Campbell is a horror writer by trade. He combines his horror-novel writing ability with his newly acquired knowledge of life as a chain bookstore worker, and the result is this novel. We get to know the workers at the chain bookstore (location: near Manchester, England). The emphasis in the first half is on life as a worker at a chain bookstore. The manager is an American who is described as exemplifying every negative stereotype of Americans. The second half all occurs over the course of one night at the bookstore. The employees are preparing the store for inspection by upper level management. The spooky horror stuff is mostly in the background, and the characters of the story can be forgiven for finding natural causes for the events happening around them. Almost the entire novel is set in the Book Store. It was very claustrophobic, and not very scary.
Ramsey Campbell’s 1980s horror novels were spooky and interesting. This one was dull and claustrophobic. I don’t see how it won an award for best horror novel of the year. (Maybe 2005 wasn’t a good year for horror novels?) I have to say: not recommended.
+20 Task
+05 Combo (#10.4 “Overnight”)
+10 Review
Task Total: 20 + 05 + 10 = 35
Grand Total: 1360 + 35 = 1395
Task 10.5 - Dr. SalkRead one of the top 150 books from this list of Medicine and Literature
On November 20, 2014 this novel was #80 on the list.
Regeneration (Regeneration #1) (1991) by Pat Barker (Paperback, 252 pages)
Review: The novel, set in 1917, takes place at the Craiglockhart War Hospital (located near Edinburgh, Scotland). The War Hospital is where soldiers are sent if they have a nervous breakdown as a result of their experiences as soldiers during World War I. The book centers on poet Siegfried Sassoon's stay at Craiglockhart War Hospital. Sassoon, a military officer who had received medals for bravery during his time in France, had begun to write letters to newspapers opposing England’s continuing the war. His friend Robert Graves had arranged for Sassoon to be admitted to the War Hospital rather than see Sassoon court martialed. The novel focuses on the men in the hospital and on the psychiatrist who is treating them. The setup enables philosophical discussions between the characters regarding whether or not war is moral. There is also a focus on what war does to the mental health of soldiers (what we today call PTSD / Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). The back of my edition calls this “a war saga in which not a shot is fired”. I agree. Recommended for those who like literary fiction, and for those interested in arguments about the moral dimensions of war.
+10 Task (#10.5)
+05 Combo (#20.9 born 1943)
+10 Review
+100 Reading with Style Finish!
Task Total: 10 + 05 + 10 = 25+100 = 125
Grand Total: 1235 + 125 = 1360
