Patrick’s Comments

Patrick’s comments from the Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) group.

Note: Patrick is not currently a member of this group.

April wrote: "I'm more than thirty years older than I was the first time I read it, so I'm expecting to hate it. I loved it then."

I read it for the first time deep into my adulthood, and was extremely impressed. The book is a quite startling literary performance.

A few chapters into No Name at the moment - excellent so far.

As you can tell, The Woman in White blew me away.

Michelle wrote: "I loved the book - my first as part of this group. As many mentioned, I loved the different narrators, the fabulous villain Fosco, and the twists of the plot, some of which I saw coming, and some I..."

Wilkie was extravagantly gifted in every branch of the novel-writing art. He had it all going on.

I would, but I am deep in too many novels and other books at the moment. I read Daniel Deronda some years ago and have a very high regard for it.

I hope to read all the classic Chinese novels. I'm two volumes into the five-volume Penguin edition of The Story of the Stone.

I read Ulysses a couple of years ago. For me, it completely lived up to its reputation, and I can't think of another 20th Century novel that would outrank it. The language, the ambition, the lasting influence, all important, but what clinches it for me is the emotion, the deep feeling for quotidian existence. It is truly significant that the last word is "Yes"; Joyce is saying Yes to life. I cried at the end.

Sue wrote: "Patrick wrote: "The concept of portmanteau words owes a lot to Lewis Carroll, who wrote explicitly about his use of them in the poem Jabberwocky."

I put that on my library list. Thanks!"

The poem itself is in Through the Looking-Glass; Carroll's explanation of the portmanteau technique is in his preface to the book-length poem The Hunting of the Snark. Whether Carroll was a direct influence on Joyce is debated.

The concept of portmanteau words owes a lot to Lewis Carroll, who wrote explicitly about his use of them in the poem Jabberwocky.

Reading out loud is a good idea. I have been doing that while reading The Canterbury Tales in Middle English, and it is frequently clarifying.

Pillsonista wrote: "Patrick wrote: "Some other actors with writer-parents: Christopher Reeve (F.D. Reeve), Laura Linney (Romulus Lin""

Daniel Day-Lewis is another one.

His father, Cecil Day-Lewis, was ..."

Absolutely! I should have thought of him; I love that generation of poets.

Marilyn wrote: "The Land Breakers by John Ehle. I am liking it a whole lot. For the Pride and Prejudice mini-series fans, the author is Jennifer Ehle's father."

Very cool that you are reading that. Ehle is a prolific but kind of neglected novelist. Wikipedia says he is still alive (92).

Some other actors with writer-parents: Christopher Reeve (F.D. Reeve), Laura Linney (Romulus Linney), Ralph and Joseph Fiennes (Jennifer Lash). There are undoubtedly many others.