Danaë’s Comments (group member since Nov 19, 2012)

Danaë’s comments from the Classics Without All the Class group.

When Ford closes a door he opens a window.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
Our Lord Ford made them all.

I think we had some foreshadowing of Bernard's true character in the first part of the book when he is boasting to Helmholtz after the argument with the Director. I hoped there would be more to him, but he is hard to like after this section where he exploits John. I suppose it isn't too unexpected that he would do so. Just like Jessica says about Lenina's self worth being tied to men's attraction to her, Bernard has been conditioned to feel the same, but has had a lack of women to give that self worth boost. In this society where the community is all and individuality is squashed how else are they supposed to measure themselves except by how many connections they have with other people? And since they are so encouraged to make those connections sexually it makes sense that he would go overboard when possible. The rational part of my mind says this, the emotional part says, "ick, what a slimy opportunistic jerk he turned out to be."

I am saddened by what happened to Linda. She was wholly unprepared for life outside "civilization" and her inability to adapt made her an outcast there. Then when she finally gets back to her beloved home, she is an outcast again.

Angie wrote: "Interesting. I very rarely felt like (at least the female characters) ever really described sex as being pleasurable - only an expected part of being an adult. I think maybe it comes more apparent in the last part of the book.
"

I noticed this too. They seem mostly concerned about seeming odd by not being promiscuous enough. This supposedly sexually liberated society is actually rather oppressive, forcing people inclined toward monogamy (as Lenina seems to be in the beginning with Henry Foster) to hurry up and move on to new partners.

I just realized that the edition I am reading (a paperback copy from the 60s) has only 177 pages, while many of the more recent ones have 260-some. The print doesn't look particularly small. Anyone have some insight on the differences between editions?

Liza wrote: "Just finished ch.6 and I definitly wouldn't want to live in a world where people are made in a factory, like a car or anything else is today.

And living by a standard set of beliefs, no thank you...."

I agree Liza, the baby conditioning was hard to read! I almost put the book down right there.

It was intriguing though that they were being conditioned to fear nature, but still want to go to the countryside as long as expensive toys were involved. Strikes a chord as I live in a rural area that gets a lot of recreational visitors who seem to enjoy riding around on various machines more than the scenery.

The discussion above on religion is very interesting. Lots to think about. Honestly, I hadn't looked much beyond being amused that Ford is worshipped, since during his life he attempted to build communities to his specifications, including mandatory square dances if I remember right - possibly sing-alongs too. Anyone wanting to dictate the particulars of people's lives the way he did would surely enjoy a little worship. :)

I thought the belts full of contraceptives and the conditioning to remember to use them were a little odd. Do you suppose Huxley just couldn't conceive (oh bad pun) of a longer term option when he wrote this in the 30s? Surely a society with all these advances could temporarily halt fertility and restore it when wanted. Or did he deliberately use the belts as a way to remind the reader that old fashioned reproduction was a smutty horror?

Martin wrote: "I just started the audiobook (the BBC version, with David Horovitch reading) because I thought it could be a bit of a slog, but it's turning out to be a masterclass in narration and I'm totally hoo..."

I just ordered the Horovitch narration myself, based on the sample. Sounds like I chose well! I'm looking forward to getting started on this one.

My goal was to read the complete works this month, but I only made it halfway through. Turns out I can only read/listen to so many detective stories back to back before they start to blur together. :) The Hound of the Baskervilles was definitely my favorite of the 3 novellas I read (A study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four were the others). I read the Adventures and the Memoirs too. I think my favorite stories were the Copper Beeches and The Yellow Face. I listened to most of the stories as Librivox recordings and found it interesting how Sherlock could come across as abrasive or congenial depending on the reader.

Nancy Kress

"What's up?" - Holmes in The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor. I'm listening to some of the stories this morning, and was startled to hear this "modern" phrase in amongst the old-fashioned language.

I think he should have told her. Although she wasn't harmed this time, who knows what scheme her stepfather would come up with next?

milk 3 days past the expiration date.

As fluffy as...

a mechanic's coveralls.

As green as...

Oops sorry for the crosspost, Francie! Same one too. :)

Zane Grey

I'm working on some sewing projects so I've been doing a lot of listening the last few days. I just finished The Android's Dream. It was the first John Scalzi I've read and I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't the fabulously bizarre and funny tale I got. I'm a couple hours into The Picture of Dorian Gray. I suppose I'm enjoying it so far, aside from the annoyingly petulant Dorian.

This is my favorite Holmes novella/story so far. Not unexpected since I'm a dog lover who reads a lot of fantasy - anything with a supernatural hound is going to delight me. :) I felt the writing was smoother than A Study in Scarlet or The Sign of Four. I'm not sure if it's because it was written later, or because I had read it before and it was somewhat familiar.

a puppy's ears.

As slippery as...

Melanti wrote: "I read The Sign of Four earlier this year, and it rather surprised me -- not the mystery, but the cocaine.

When I was a kid, I read a good chunk (if not all) of a Holmes anthology - and I don't r..."

Hmm, you made me curious Melanti. I've always known he used cocaine, but since I haven't read a lot of the stories, I didn't know how often it was actually mentioned. Luckily my kindle has a handy dandy search feature! ;) Cocaine is mentioned only 9 times in the complete works. 5 times in The Sign of Four (1890) and once each in A Scandal in Bohemia (1891), The Five Orange Pips (1891), The Man With the Twisted Lips (1891), and The Yellow Face (1893). Your anthology may not have had any of these earlier stories, since Arthur Conan Doyle wrote Holmes adventures all the way up to 1926.

Opium was mentioned more frequently. Not Holmes using it, but mysteries leading to opium dens and so on.

I enjoyed the mystery of the Sign of Four, but could have done without all the talk of "hideous savages." Common for the times though, I suppose. I loved the tracking dog Toby, and the kids Holmes employs as spies.

My head is spinning from all the different translations! I was going to read the Garnett translation because I got it free on Kindle some time back, but I decided I'd like to listen to it as well since it is so large. I sampled all the versions available on Audible, and personally liked the Maude translation read by David Horovitch best. To my ear it flows a little better than the Garnett. I also like that the Maudes worked directly with Tolstoy on their translation.

Tome wrote: "I enjoyed the flashback. Oddly it so reminded me of a book I recently read about meteorites creating chupacabrahs and a killer man-bunny. The book was it came from Del Rio. I think it was mainly ..."

One of the things I love about the discussions in this group are the vastly differing opinions. :)