K. G. ’s Comments (group member since Dec 28, 2012)

K. G. ’s comments from the Classics Without All the Class group.

6/26
A-Aristophanes--CLOUDS
B--Octavia Butler--KINDRED
C--Vera Caspery--LAURA
D-
E-
F-
G-
H--Dorothy B Hughes--IN A LONELY PLACE
I--
J--Shirley Jackson--THE BIRD'S NEST
K-
L-
M-
N-
O-John O'Hara--PAL JOEY
P-
Q-Raymond Queneau--ZAZIE IN THE METRO
R-
S-
T-
U-
V-
W--
X-
Y-
Z-Stefan Zweig--THE CHESS STORY

As of 31 December 2015--17/26

A--Aeschylus--ORESTEIA
B--John Brunner--SHEEP LOOK UP
C--Susanna Centliver--THE BUSYBODY
D--Philip K Dick--DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?
E--Michael Ende, THE NEVERENDING STORY; James Ellroy, LA CONFIDENTIAL
F--
G--Elizabeth Griffith--THE TIMES
H--Dashiell Hammett--THE GLASS KEY
I--Christopher Issherwood--MR. NORRIS CHANGES TRAINS
J
K
L--LeGuin, Ursula, A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA
M--Ross Macdonald--THE GOOD-BYE LOOK
N-
O--
P--Robert B. Parker, THE GODWULF MANUSCRIPT
Q--
R--Rostand, Edmond, CYRANO DE BEGERAC
S--Rex Stout--THREE DOORS TO DEATH
T--JRR Tolkein--THE HOBBIT
U--
V--Kurt Vonnegut--SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE
W--
X-
Y-
Z--Emile Zola--LA BÊTE HUMAINE

For Z, Emile Zola is always available; I read LA BÊTE HUMAINE for this year. At the rate I'm going, I'll be alternating Zola with Roger Zelazny for the next 20 years. NINE PRINCES IN AMBER is worth it--and is really short.

If you need an "i", try Christopher Isserwood--THE BERLIN NOVELS. There's also Kazuo Ishiguro (British author of Japanese descent)

"U" is Ueda Akinari--he's got a couple of books of short tales--18th century Japanese lit.

It's 20th century American literature, not 19th century. The periodization, like all periodization, is arbitrary. The 20 year rule at the end of the century is probably right. And I wouldn't characterize Nabokov as an American author; he lived in the US, but his literary sensibilities were still Russian. All that said, it's still a bit of an odd list.

I've read 12, 16 if you'll let me exchange AGE OF INNOCENCE for HOUSE OF MIRTH, FAREWELL TO ARMS for the SUN ALSO RISES, BABBIT for MAIN STREET, and THE LONG GOODBYE for THE BIG SLEEP.

The thing about THE DUBLINERS is this--you should read the stories in order. It's about Joyce's memories, fragmentary as they are, of Dublin. He comes to grips with his life in Dublin, tames Dublin, so to speak, to his art. THE DEAD is the culmination of his grappling with all he really dislikes about Dublin and Dublin society. After THE DEAD, Joyce is done with it all. It's not a coincidence that Joyce never wrote another short story again. He was done with that form; it'd served its purpose.

For 2014, I read--

a--Asimov, Isaac, ROBOT DREAMS
b-
c-Conrad, Joseph, HEART OF DARKNESS, Cowley, Hannah, THE BELLE'S STRATEGEM
d-Doody, Margaret, ARISTOTLE DETECTIVE
e-
f-Forsyth, Frederick, DAY OF THE JACKAL
g-Greene, Graham, GUN FOR SALE
h-
i-
j-
k-
l-LeGuin, Ursula, THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS, Leonard, Elmore, VALDEZ IS COMING
m-McBain, Ed. LADY, LADY I DID IT; McIlvanney, Wm, LAIDLAW; MacDonald, John D, CAPE FEAR
n-
o-
p-
q-
r-
s-Stevenson, R. L, DR JEKYLL & MR HYDE; Silverberg, Rob't. DOWNWARD TO THE EARTH
t-Thompson, Jim, THE GRIFTERS
u-
v-
w-
x-
y-
z-Zelazny, Roger, NINE PRINCES IN AMBER & GUNS FOR AVALON

I'll be doing the 2015 challenge, too, but so far, I've only read the HOBBIT.

SENSE AND SENSIBILITY

UNDER THE VOLCANO

I've read twelve specifically mentioned on there, but if we go by authors, it's about 20. There's probably six more on this year's classics list, like MY ANTONIA, which I've started.

Kainzow06 wrote: "It is by very far Possession,which I'm currently reading!!"

I gave up on page 49 of POSSESSION. It was like reliving my last year in graduate school. No thank you!

Crystal wrote: "S.K. wrote: "Crystal wrote: "I can't do James Joyce. Maybe one day...

I also remember having a really difficult time with John Steinbeck. I'm not sure how it would be now since that was ten year..."


If you go back to Joyce, start with DUBLINERS. It's his short story collection--much easier to pick up and put down. Also, his narrative style is much more normal in the collection.

With Steinbeck, try his short stuff first. I hated CANNERY ROW (it went nowhere), but I loved THE MOON IS DOWN, THE PEARL, and OF MICE AND MEN. I have never been able to get through THE GRAPES OF WRATH--too, too brutal. But I did read EAST OF EDEN, as flawed as it is.

For me, it was LORD JIM. I thought THE SOUND AND THE FURY, for all its real difficulty and surreality, was a cakewalk to LORD JIM. I had to read it in high school, and it turned me off to Conrad for the rest of my life.

12/26--not bad for starting mid-2013. Next year, I'll make it.

A
B--Banks, Ian M.--THE PLAYER OF GAMES
C--Colette, CHERI
D--Defoe, Daniel--ROXANNA
E
F--Faulkener, William--THE SOUND AND THE FURY
G-
H--Hammett, Dashiell--THE DAIN CURSE
I--Ishiguro, Kazuo--THE REMAINS OF THE DAY
J--Joyce, James--THE DUBLINERS
K--
L--
M--McBain, Ed--GIVE THE BOYS A GREAT BIG HAND
N-
O--Ozawa, Yuki--THE HOUSEKEEPER & THE PROFESSOR
P--Pohl, Frederick--GATEWAY
Q--
R--
S--
T--
U--
V--
W--
X--
Y--Yu Hua--TO LIVE
Z--Zola, Emile--THE LADIES'S PARADISE

Instead of Nesbo, Asimov, and Keyes, I went on a Ben Aaronovitch tear, devouring two of his books, RIVERS OF LONDON and MOON OVER SOHO, in five days. Now, I'm back to classics, reading currently BRIGHTON ROCK by Graham Greene and THE LADIES' PARADISE by Emile Zola.

I've finished ROXANA, ARISTOCRATIC VICE, and THE SOUND AND THE FURY. Now, I'm going to finish Azimov's ROBOT STORIES and Keyes's second PsyCorps novel. Maybe I'll get to Jo Nesbo's THE BAT.

I'm finishing Defoe's ROXANA; I doubt she ever truly repented, and she made some excellent points for not marrying. Also, I have just started Faulkner's THE SOUND AND THE FURY. I've finished the Benjy section--tough work because of the jumpiness of Benjy's limited abilities to comprehend/narrate.

I'm reading CRIME INTERVIEWS V.1 by Len Wanner and ROXANA by Daniel Defoe. I'm about half way through each.

I'd forgotten she was Stepan's sister. It's easy to lose track of that sort of thing in a Russian novels. Her maiden name would then be Oblonksa. The masculine/feminine of names gets lost in translation, particularly in the American press.

Aside from the number of characters with difficult names, the nicknames can create all kinds of problems because the nicknames change spelling depending on the emotion expressed. I found this out when I was writing a Russian character who wasn't very bright. My friend who does Russian linguistics lent me her name book. It's got the proper names, all the nicknames for those names, and the usages for those nicknames. Of course, the book was printed in Cyrillic, not Latin alphabet, but Boris isn't too different so I figured it out. Bora and Boba (angry nickname).

Jessica wrote: "Alana wrote: "Is it called Anna Karenina in the original Russian title? Or is it that way in the English version because traditionally women have taken their husband's last name, and it would have ..."

A Russian has three names--his/her given name, his/her patronymic, his/her surname; hence, it is Anna Arkadyevna (daughter of Arkady) Karenina. (Karenin is the masculine form.)
Tolstoy doesn't talk about the family to which she was born, so who knows what her maiden name was.

BTW, for Tolstoy himself, his full name was Lev Nicholayevich (son of Nicholas) Tolstoy. And there are multiple ways to transliterate into Latin alphabet since Russian is written in Cyrillic.