So, What's On the Bedside Table these Days? -- Part 2

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I liked Tender is the Night more than The Great Gatsby (which I enjoyed). I did notice that both male protagonists had a pretty rough go of it.

[Lori, Moderator]

Speaking of YA books (which I don't read very often), I just downloaded "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children." I've heard a lot of good things about it.

I used to be in the habit of just reading one book at a time until it was finished, but these days I've been reading four at once! Two for this group, then a third for when I've finished the readings for this group before the week is up (I get a lot of reading time during the work week because I teach in different companies throughout Prague during the day, and read on public transportation between them). Right now the third book is a history book, but I'll start Miss Peregrine when that finishes. The fourth is "How to Win Friends and Influence People." I've read it a couple times before, but I've decided to read a section of it every day, or every two days, for as long as I feel I need to. Reason being, I'm a socially awkward dork, and somehow getting worse with age. And I'll need to switch careers when we move back to the US. I'm looking at ghostwriting, and I'll have to market myself and work closely with clients.

[Everyman]

Am going to sleep these days with the quiet pleasures of Lake Woebegone and its inhabitants in Platoon by Keillor. Doesn't take any thinking, just quiet enjoyment.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I am rereading The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. I am enjoying it, so now I will probably reread some of the other Inspector Grant series.

[Lori, Moderator]

Rosemarie wrote: "I am rereading The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. I am enjoying it, so now I will probably reread some of the other Inspector Grant series."

That looks really good! I'll have to put it on the list.

[Deborah, Moderator]

Rosemarie wrote: "I am rereading The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. I am enjoying it, so now I will probably reread some of the other Inspector Grant series."

One of my fav. I tend to read for a mystery group at night, while reading during the day for other groups. My desire to read the choices is always so much more than my time availablr

[Everyman]

Deborah wrote: "My desire to read the choices is always so much more than my time availablr "

I think most of us here know the feeling. I sure do!

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I am reading The Moonstone and Doctor Thorne. I hope you enjoy Middlemarch as much as I did.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I like the Woman in White as well. I haven't read any other Collins novels, yet.

[Everyman]

Just wrapping up a re-read of the delightful Christopher Morley book, Parnassus on Wheels. Not great literature by any means, but very enjoyable and very book centered. Is in the public domain so available on Gutenberg for those who don't need to store yet another hard copy book (don't think many libraries will have it, sadly.) Parnassus on Wheels

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

Everyman, I enjoyed Parnassus on Wheels and read the sequel as well, called The Haunted Bookshop. The books are delightful and a nostalgic read.

[Everyman]

Rosemarie wrote: "Everyman, I enjoyed Parnassus on Wheels and read the sequel as well, called The Haunted Bookshop. The books are delightful and a nostalgic read."

I downloaded the Haunted Bookshop as soon as I was done Parnassus, and started it this morning.

I have both in hard copy, but I prefer reading on my Nook at breakfast since it sits on my book stand more easily than a traditional book when I need both hands for eating. A quick touch with my little finger turns the page instead of having to flip paper pages.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I usually read our local newspaper app at breakfast and catch up on my emails, etc.

[Johan]

I am currently finishing 'Romola' by George Elliot, which I have found to be a very entertaining read so far.

Delighted to see there are so many readers of Collins in this thread and can recommend 'Jezebel's Daughter' if you are interested in some of his works beyond the more famous sensation novels such as 'The Woman in Black' and 'the Moonstone' :-)

[Lori, Moderator]

I enjoyed Romola as well! George Eliot was amazing.

I've been slogging through The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft, but was surprised by how racist a few of the stories were. A quick google search of "was H.P. Lovecraft racist" brought back a resounding "yes, he was, and he wrote a poem about n****rs." Big nerd that I am, this was a huge disappointment. :-( It's true that a lot of famous authors were not nice people, but this was just unexpected.

[Everyman]

Current bedside books are Hardy's The Woodlander and Graham's Pagan Papers. Which one I read each night depends on mood. But both are excellent bedtime books -- interesting enough to keep the attention, and enjoyable, but not so engrossing that I don't want to turn the light out and go to sleep.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I am currently reading The Monk by Matthew Lewis, among a bunch I have on the go. I am almost finished The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, which I have been reading in Spanish, so quite slowly. I have come to the section of the novel dealing with the military dictatorship in Chile in the 70's, so this part of the book is grim. As a break, I read children's literature. I am currently reading The Ship that Flew by Hilda Lewis.

[Nicole]

Literally on my bedside table (though to be exact, it's a low dresser that functions as a bedside table would) are two books, one fabulous and one weighing me down like an albatross.

The fabulous: a copy of The Complete Saki purchased for one euro at the municipal library's annual bourse aux livres where they divest themselves of extra books. He is really, really, genuinely funny. I think most people read the widely anthologized "The Open Window" and then never hear from him again, which is a great shame.

The lead weight: Du côté de chez Swann, which much to my surprise, disappointment, and mild shame I simply do not like very much. It's overdue at the library for the second time, I've literally been reading it for months, but I've passed the halfway mark and feel stubbornly unable to just turn it back in unread. I'm hoping this week to push through to the end and have it gone from my life.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

Nicole, I agree with your comments about both books.
I have read the complete Saki(from the library) and love his humour.
As for Proust, one was enough, merci.

[Lori, Moderator]

I agree about Proust as well :-/
I filed it under "I understand the appeal, but no thanks," alongside Odysseus by James Joyce.

[Everyman]

Nicole wrote: "The fabulous: a copy of The Complete Saki purchased for one euro at the municipal library's annual bourse aux livres where they divest themselves of extra books. He is really, really, genuinely funny. "

Oh, I agree absolutely. I adore Saki! (Well, not so much the Reginald stories, which I enjoy but not passionately, but the rest of him, absolutely.)

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I am reading Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. It has been on my to-read since 1971!

[Patrick]

As usual, I have a lot of books in progress - a veritable Library of Congress on my bedside table, on my iPad, and scattered throughout my apartment. One novel that I am reading with intense concentration, because it requires no less, is Joseph Conrad's Nostromo.

I notice that the display format for these threads has changed on my iPad since two days ago, and no longer allows replying to individual posts (?).

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

Goodreads takes a while to get used to. It took me months to figure it out, and then they changed things. I would suggest that you check your notification settings.
I started reading Nostromo and didn't get ver far. I enjoyed Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim, by Conrad.

[Deborah, Moderator]

Patrick wrote: "As usual, I have a lot of books in progress - a veritable Library of Congress on my bedside table, on my iPad, and scattered throughout my apartment. One novel that I am reading with intense concen..."

I'm on an iPad and can still reply. So either they are rolling out a change or the difference is I'm using the internet, not the app.

[Everyman]

Rosemarie wrote: "I am reading Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. It has been on my to-read since 1971!"

Let us know what you think. Some people are impressed by its power. Others find it just depressing. (It is Hardy, after all!)

[Patrick]

I had accidentally switched to the "mobile version" (darn touchscreens!). Which is horrible.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I did that once by accident. It is horrible!

[Deborah, Moderator]

Patrick wrote: "I had accidentally switched to the "mobile version" (darn touchscreens!). Which is horrible."

So glad you figured it out. It is horrible. That's why I stick with the internet version

[Lori, Moderator]

I have way too many books on my to-read-asap list!
A friend recommended Sister Carrie a couple weeks ago. Yesterday, while doing some research on my hometown to write a poem for our writing group, I found out that the author, Theodore Dreisser, graduated from my high school. But then the local library burned his books.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I have Sister Carrie sitting on my bookshelf. I have been wanting to read it for a while, so maybe this is the year.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I finished Part one of Jude the Obscure. His marriage to Arabella was of very short duration. She tricked him into marrying her (oops, I'm not pregnant after all), and left him to emigrate to Australia with her family. He is 19 years old when this happens.

[Deborah, Moderator]

Rosemarie wrote: "I finished Part one of Jude the Obscure. His marriage to Arabella was of very short duration. She tricked him into marrying her (oops, I'm not pregnant after all), and left him to emigrate to Austr..."

I read it several years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Hope you are enjoying it too

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I am enjoying it, Deborah.

[Everyman]

Rosemarie wrote: "I finished Part one of Jude the Obscure. His marriage to Arabella was of very short duration. She tricked him into marrying her (oops, I'm not pregnant after all), and left him to emigrate to Austr..."

The contrast between the male and female approaches to life exemplified by these characters is striking. Jude is focused on the major challenge becoming educated at university when this is not an accepted option for one in his class: Arabella is, sorry to say it, basically a slut focused on trapping a man any way she can.

[Deborah, Moderator]

Everyman wrote: "Rosemarie wrote: "I finished Part one of Jude the Obscure. His marriage to Arabella was of very short duration. She tricked him into marrying her (oops, I'm not pregnant after all), and left him to..."

This is offensive. Women of this time period needed to marry as most jobs were closed to them, they were unable to own property, and in fact even their children were officially property of the husband only. They couldn't have a bank account or get a loan. Please choose your words carefully

[Everyman]

Deborah wrote: "This is offensive. Women of this time period needed to marry as most jobs were closed to them,...."

True. But that didn't, IMO, excuse deliberately getting them semi-drunk, luring them up to the bedroom, faking a pregnancy, and essentially blackmailing them into marrying you.

Or do you think she was acting responsibly and appropriately for a women of her times? All's fair in love and war? (Though which this was I think is debatable, or maybe not even debatable since I don't see a smidgen of love in her behavior.)

[Deborah, Moderator]

Everyman wrote: "Deborah wrote: "This is offensive. Women of this time period needed to marry as most jobs were closed to them,...."

True. But that didn't, IMO, excuse deliberately getting them semi-drunk, luring ..."


Until you actually wear somebody's shoes, you cannot judge, judging her and calling her a slut is offensive. When you become a female with the challenges they face and faced, we can discuss it.:)

[Patrick]

I'm wary of wading into this dispute, but logically speaking, doesn't that mean that no one can judge anyone else? That might be a philosophically desirable state of affairs, but I doubt whether it is practically achievable.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

Hardy is a powerful writer with intense themes. I notice that in this novel he writes very sparingly and visually, leaving many things unsaid. He doesn't say things directly but gets his message across. I think he is at the peak of his writing skill in this book.
Arabella did what many another girl had done, but Jude was such an innocent and totally smitten( at 19), that he had no idea what was going on. The marriage was not good for either of them since they were so mis-matched.

[Deborah, Moderator]

Patrick wrote: "I'm wary of wading into this dispute, but logically speaking, doesn't that mean that no one can judge anyone else? That might be a philosophically desirable state of affairs, but I doubt whether it..."

My point is this. You have an employee who comes in late and a bit disheveled. You deem them a bad employee. What you don't know is they are battling cancer. People today are quick to judge and make assumptions. Both are not in the best interest of anybody.

Besides I don't agree with the premise stated earlier - she got him drunk. Did she tie him up and force him to drink? Or did he willing accept the drink? He's got responsibility in those choices too. Too often women are held accountable for men's actions - she wouldn't have been assaulted if she didn't dress like that for example.

[Gyoza]

My understanding of the property laws of the period is that married women's property came under their husband's control, but single women could and did own and control their own property. You can see this in another Hardy novel, Far from the Madding Crowd, where the protagonist Bathsheba Everdene inherited and ran her wealthy uncle's estate. I have also just finished reading Balzac's Eugenie Grandet, about another young heiress who inherited her father's estate and before his death had the right to control the part of that estate that came from her mother, since her mother predeceased her father. Of course, French inheritance laws may have been different from British ones.

So I think that Deborah's assertion that women in those days had to marry because they could not own property is not accurate. It would be more accurate to say that women in those days had to own property in order to marry well, or that marriage was probably inadvisable for women who put a high priority on retaining control of their property throughout their lifetimes.

Deborah wrote: "Everyman wrote: "Rosemarie wrote: "I finished Part one of Jude the Obscure. His marriage to Arabella was of very short duration. She tricked him into marrying her (oops, I'm not pregnant after all)..."

[Hilary]

Too many! The Moonstone, swapping between Audible and tree book,

[Hilary]

Continued : after 'The Moonstone', Chekhov's 'The Early Stories' and Dickens's 'Great Expectations'. Off the bedside table many ongoing, but in 'Serial Reader' I'm plodding along with 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall' by Anne Brontë and 'Villette' by Charlotte Brontë. Plodding, simply because it's slow and not because the stories are boring. They are not! I deliberately chose these two together as Charlotte is said to have taken 'Tenant' out of publication after Anne's death. (Or something like that :O)

[Everyman]

Deborah wrote: "Until you actually wear somebody's shoes, you cannot judge, judging her and calling her a slut is offensive. When you become a female with the challenges they face and faced, we can discuss it.:) "

Deal, as long as you agree not to criticize male characters until you've become one! [g]

[Everyman]

Patrick wrote: "I'm wary of wading into this dispute, but logically speaking, doesn't that mean that no one can judge anyone else? That might be a philosophically desirable state of affairs, but I doubt whether it..."

And I think we need to keep in mind that these aren't real people we're talking about, but created characters. They feelings can't get hurt by what we say about them, they can't sue for defamation. I know that we often like to think of them as real people, and do especially when the author is skillful, but in the end they're just words on a page.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I am also reading Little Women for a "cozy" read, as a contrast to the Hardy book.
Hilary, you are reading a lot of good books, of which my favourite is The Moonstone, but I like all the others too.
I tend to read more than one book at a time, making sure they aren't too similar to avoid confusion and brain fatigue.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I think it says a lot about an author's ability to create characters when we feel so strongly about them-- that author has talent.

[Everyman]

Rosemarie wrote: "I think it says a lot about an author's ability to create characters when we feel so strongly about them-- that author has talent."

Agree totally. They do become real people to us emotionally, even when we know intellectually that they're just made up characters. But I do the same thing (witness my anger at Mark for being so stupid in Framley. Why would I get so angry at words on a page?? Because I do make him more than that.)

[Hilary]

Rosemarie, I have again become bogged down with just too many reads. I need not to keep adding more and more! I'm not at all self-disciplined. I see you're reading Little Women and Jude. I really must read L. Women again as I loved it. I hope that you'll like Jude!