☯Emily ’s Comments (group member since Jul 27, 2011)

☯Emily ’s comments from the Classics for Beginners group.

Heather L wrote: "Wow, this was a hard discussion to find. Methinks someone needs to unpin all the old discussions so it easier to find the newer ones - just a suggestion.

I finished reading this the other night. ..."

I forgot to make this thread the first topic. It should be easier to find now.

I will not be able to read the book with the group. There is no designated leader of this thread, so, if you are reading the book, please make comments and share your thoughts. This will make the reading experience more enjoyable.

This is the thread for discussing My Cousin Rachel. Please hide all comments that might contain spoilers for others. Thanks!

Apparently, there are more mysteries starring Rouletabille, but I can't find them in the US. Perhaps they can be found in French.

The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford

Welcome, Patricia!

Many people get started reading classics after reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. That was the case with me. Then I read Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope was hooked.

Did anyone else not understand how the "bad guy" disappeared in the gallery? I did not find the explanation very credible.

This book is one of the influences on Agatha Christie. However, she thought she could write a detective story better than others and I believe she was successful. How would Christie have improved Leroux's work or written the same plot?

Nina, you didn't have a map of the yellow room area and the gallery? My translated version had that written into the book. The narrator indicates that he is enclosing a illustrated description of those areas. That really helped during the disappearance scene in the gallery.

Courtney wrote: "Sula by Toni Morrison. I couldn't lead though."

Sula is not yet 50 years old.

Hi Classic Lovers!

It's time for our April nominations.

Nomination Rules
1. One nomination per person.
2. Classic books only (over 50 years old).
3. Books can be of any length, but if a book wins and is over 600 pages, we will read it over a two month period.
4. No book we have read before as a group read.*
5. No book from an author who we have read in the last 10 months.†
6. To facilitate poll creation, please use a Goodreads link to add the nomination by clicking on 'add book/author' above the text box.
7. Please indicate whether or not you would be willing to lead the discussion if your nomination is chosen.

*For a full list of books we have read before please check the master-list: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

(Note: lists sorted by book title, author surname, or date read)

†Authors not to nominate:
Daphne du Maurier (March 2018)
Gaston Leroux (February 2018)
Ernest Hemingway (January 2018)
Edith Wharton (December 2017)
Elizabeth Gaskell (November 2017)
Grahame Greene (October 2017)
Madeleine L'Engle (September 2017)
Agatha Christie (August 2017)
L.M. Montgomery (July 2017)
Malcolm X (June 2017)

You have until February 12th to nominate.

Nominations so far:
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
Three Lives by Gertrude Stein
Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford

Thank goodness for the diagrams and maps the author provided!

Spoiler alert! If you have never read Edgar Allen Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue, you might want to read it before reading this mystery. It is also a "locked-room novel." One of the characters in Leroux's book gives away the plot and mentions "who dun nit."

One common characteristic of these early detectives is arrogance. Sherlock Holmes is very self-confident with a superior attitude. It seem that Rouletabille shares that characteristic.

Nina, I started the book a few days ago and find it very readable. The only book I could find is in large print, so the pages turn quickly!

Many critics complain about Hemingway's depiction of women. They are either shrews or submissive, like Catherine. What do you think about Catherine and how she is portrayed?

As you read the book, do you consider it to be anti-war or pro-war?

Welcome back, Mallaree!

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

Hemingway was not an ideal husband and not a faithful one either. It isn't the best book in the world, but The Paris Wife gives a fictionalized version of Hemingway's first marriage. Much of the information in the book is based on facts.