Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion
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Archived Chit Chat & All That
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What Book(s) have you just Bought, Ordered or Taken Delivery Of?
Just made some Thriftbooks purchases A Spy in the House of Love
Children of the Albatross
Body Parts
And the Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo Frank
Girl in the Cellar
Orphans of Eldorado
Garden, Ashes
I dont know why, but I’ve been on a true crime kick lately all eras. I can’t read Stephen King, but I can read about real life psychopaths
I didn’t mind Oroonoko and I loved Evelina! 🤷♀️ I have Burney’s much longer Cecilia on my women’s challenge list for this year. Only 1056 pages, eek! 😬
I only read half of Evelina, but I don't remember dis-liking it. Fanny Burney, became Mme. D'Arblay and, so the story goes, progressively forgot how to write English.
The Wanderer: or, Female Difficulties is supposed to be nigh unreadable.
Take now a specimen of Madame D'Arblay's later style. This is the way in which she tells us that her father, on his journey back from the Continent, caught the rheumatism. "He was assaulted, during his precipitated return, by the rudest fierceness of wintry elemental strife; through which, with bad accommodations and innumerable accidents, he became a prey to the merciless pangs of the acutest spasmodic rheumatism, which barely suffered him to reach his home ere, long and piteously, it confined him, a tortured prisoner, to his bed. Such was the check that almost instantly curbed, though it could not subdue, the rising pleasure of his hopes of entering upon a new species of existence-that of an approved man of letters ; for it was on the bed of sickness, exchanging the light wines of France, Italy and Germany, for the black and loathsome potions of the Apothecaries' hall, writhed by darting stitches and burning with fiery fever, that he felt the full force of that sublunary equipoise that seems evermore to hang suspended over the attainment of long-sought and uncommon felicity, just as it is ripening to burst forth with enjoyment!"
Compare with it the following sample of her later style. "if beneficence be judged by the happiness which it diffuses, whose claim, by that proof, shall stand higher than that of Mrs. Montagu, from the munificence with which she celebrated her annual festival for those hapless Artificers who perform the most abject offices of any authorised calling in being the active guardians of our blazing hearths? Not to vain glory but to kindness of heart, should be adjudged the publicity of that superb charity which made its jetty objects, for one bright morning, cease to consider themselves as degraded outcasts from all society."
From Macaulay's introduction to The Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay — Volume 1
Christopher wrote: "I only read half of Evelina, but I don't remember dis-liking it. Fanny Burney, became Mme. D'Arblay and, so the story goes, progressively forgot how to write English.
[book:The Wanderer: or, Fe..."
I've read worse prose than the latter style in plenty of so-called classics, and they're doing just fine.
Christopher wrote: "I only read half of Evelina, but I don't remember dis-liking it. Fanny Burney, became Mme. D'Arblay and, so the story goes, progressively forgot how to write English.
[book:The Wanderer: or, Fe..."
I'm sorry, but once I got to "during his precipitated return, by the rudest fierceness of wintry elemental strife" I couldn't stop laughing, and it just didn't stop; it continued to get worse and worse.
Or rather, I should say better and better, because everything that came after only made me laugh harder.
For my birthday I got Cultural Nationalism and Ethnic Music in Latin America (it has a chapter by my brother), The Travelling Cat Chronicles, and The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition (!!!excitement!!!).
And just think I was going to buy you some Burney and Behn for your bday
Mod
Tom Jones is my single favourite Old School classic - you need ..."
LOL that is a great testimonial Darren!!
MK wrote: "I have my first T.S. Eliot on hold at the library right now :). Actually, I requested it earlier in the week, and it got stuck in limbo, no action on it, just 'Not Ready'. Last week I had an odd thing happen, where the book I wanted from the library 'met an unfortunate end', as I was waiting for it to be returned by the last borrower. When the T.S. Eliot book was left pending with no action for several days, I was afraid this one would turn up as lost or missing and unavailable to borrow, too! I called the Main Branch this morning, where it was supposed to be shelved. One librarian passed me to another, who went and physically checked the stacks to see if she could find it. She came back and explained, it's sort of a slim book, I guess we just couldn't find it at first. LOLAnyway, that one is on the way, it's Murder in the Cathedral. It will be my first T.S. Eliot read."
I am on a streak of bad luck with library requests! Just rec'd a hold cancellation. That makes 3 books in 2 weeks that had problems with them. One 'met an unfortunate end' while it was loaned out to another library borrower (The Children of Men), one was 'a very slim book, I guess we couldn't find it the first time we looked' (Murder in the Cathedral), and this latest one (Kid Beowulf: The Blood-Bound Oath) turned up 'missing'. :-(
Christopher wrote: "Well, MK, if you want to buddy read M in the C, I'm up for it."@Christopher -- I should be able to pick up Murder in the Cathedral this weekend. The loan period is 3 weeks, and I can request 2 renewals, so anytime in the 9 weeks after I pick up the book would work for me :D
Not quite a binge, but good titles nonetheless:
All the Odes of Pablo Neruda !!
Cane by Jean Toomer !!!
& Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder
Pillsonista wrote: "Not quite a binge, but good titles nonetheless: All the Odes of [author:Pablo Neruda|4..."
A damned good haul, by any standard.
MK- (sorry, no reply button on the app)- Sounds good. It shouldn't take long to read.
Christopher wrote: "MK- (sorry, no reply button on the app)- Sounds good. It shouldn't take long to read."Okay :)
Just done a spur-of-the-moment Waterstones order - their special edition of On the Come Up, signed edition of Once Upon a River, and The Marvels (which I've already read as a library book, but loved so much that I needed my own copy).
I just ordered two copies of the Robin Buss translation of The Count of Monte Cristo. My 12yo son and I are going to spend a month and a half reading through it together.
Just got back from the library :).Picked up six books, some duplicate titles ...
The Children of Men, by
P.D. James
Murder in the Cathedral, by
T.S. Eliot
The Graphic Canon, Vol. 1: From the Epic of Gilgamesh to Shakespeare to Dangerous Liaisons, by
Russ Kick
Beowulf: Dragonslayer, by
Rosemary Sutcliff
Beowulf, by
Kevin Crossley-Holland
The Forest Laird: A Tale of William Wallace, by
Jack Whyte
ALLEN wrote: "Received from Thriftbooks; Parliament of Whores - P.J. O'Rourke..."
Excellent book Allen. Enjoy!
Mod
Mod
Oh I agree. I do not list all the books I own. I try to keep my TBR list under 100. IN fact once I buy a book I remove it from my list. My TBR list is actually books I want to acquire so I do not forget about them, as well as a few of the Have-not-finished yet books. I never completely break up with a book; we just take a break.
Lynn wrote: "Night by Elie Weisel. I just bought the Kindle version. It is $1.99. I noticed that this book had been nominated several times in the group but did not win. It has been retranslated in ..."This was on the audible Daily Deal rewind sale that ended at midnight, as well. I almost bought it, but my library has it in their collection (book form), so I passed. Actually, they have books #1 and #2 in the trilogy. I'll have to use the statewide catalog to read #3.
I met Elie Weisel (briefly) in 1984. Such a charming, gentle man. I was a freshman at college, my older sister was a grad student in his department. She either took, or was a TA (can't recall) his freshman survey class. She knew him fairly well, because the polysci dept was a small, tight knit group.
BAM wrote: "Just made some Thriftbooks purchases A Spy in the House of Love
Children of the Albatross
Body Parts
[book:And the Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Ph..."
Have you seen or listened to the musical Parade? It's about Leo Frank and is so heart breaking!
Mod
Wow that's really interesting to have a connection to him. He has such an incredible story.
Lynn wrote: "Wow that's really interesting to have a connection to him. He has such an incredible story. "He really does, so true.
If I don’t list the books I own on here somehow I do not remember what I own, and I buy tons of duplicates. Happens all of the time. So I started a “to-buy” shelf.
And no! I’ve not even heard of Parade. I know nothing of this story, but I felt like it was something I needed to learn.
Aprilleigh wrote: "I just ordered two copies of the Robin Buss translation of The Count of Monte Cristo. My 12yo son and I are going to spend a month and a half reading through it together."I absolutely love that book - one of my all-time favorites. Like The Princess Bride only bigger and better -- it too has "fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles..."
Ok, maybe no giants or monsters. A great read to do with a 12-year-old boy :)
Yes! I agree about Monte Cristo. I just bought a great audio version.
BAM wrote: "Yes! I agree about Monte Cristo. I just bought a great audio version."Who narrates the great audio version? Maybe if I read and listen, I can actually get through the book this year.
I looked for an audiobook version, but I couldn't find one of the Buss translation - I'm not willing to use a different translation, so we read this one in hard copy.I thought we'd have an easier time of it with an audiobook, but he's already chugged through books that are almost as big without even realizing how big they are (you should have seen his face when I put it up against one of the Harry Potter books he's already finished and he saw it was only a little bit bigger - and the font is about the same size!).
John Lee is the audio narrator. He does all of Ken Follett's books and he has such precise, dignified intonation. He's such a pleasure to listen to.
Lucked out with an amazing little haul today, but the pièce de résistance was absolutely the Library of America's
Collected Stories
of Isaac Bashevis Singer in three volumes:
Vol. 1: Gimpel the Fool to The Letter Writer
Vol. 2: A Friend of Kafka to Passions
Vol. 3: One Night in Brazil to The Death of Methuselah
Plus:
The Collected Poems of Stanley Kunitz (!!!)
Against Forgetting: The Norton Anthology of 20th Century Witness Poetry, ed. Carolyn Forché
The Last Place on Earth: Scott and Amundsen's Race to the South Pole by Roland Huntford
In addition to the Singer, I was elated to find Kunitz's Collected Poems. I'm obsessed with his poetry at the moment, bewitched.
Pillsonista wrote: "Lucked out with an amazing little haul today, but the pièce de résistance was absolutely the Library of America's Collected Stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer in three ..."I was thinking of nominating one of Singer's short stories for the monthly read.
Milena wrote: "I was thinking of nominating one of Singer's short stories for the monthly read."You can't go wrong with him. For the story "Gimpel the Fool" alone I would give Vol. 1 five stars.
Anyway, this lovely just arrived in the mail yesterday:
The Time Regulation Institute by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar
What I would not give to have more of his work translated into English...
This month's haul (the result of back to back book sales today, four and three apiece):The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyŏng: The Autobiographical Writings of a Crown Princess of Eighteenth-Century Korea - Lady Hyegyeong
The Tale of Genji - Murasaki Shikibu
From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt Against the West and the Remaking of Asia - Pankaj Mishra
The No World Concerto - A.G. Porta
Hitler's Philosophers - Yvonne Sherratt
The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World - Steven Johnson
The Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde - Oscar Wilde
All but the first two were already on the TBR list, 'The Tale of Genji' already having been read (the edition was good enough to merit investing in for a thus far theoretical 'permanent' library that isn't subjected to the constant buying/selling cycle that plagues almost all of the rest of my books).
That looks like a good sale haul and it’s nice to upgrade a book for your library.
I'm always on the lookout for a copy of a book I borrowed that rated highly too. I just bought Everybody was so Young the story of Gerald and Sara Murphy
Aubrey wrote: "This month's haul (the result of back to back book sales today, four and three apiece):[book:The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyŏng: The Autobiographical Writings of a Crown Princess of Eighteenth-Century ..."
You’ve given me a rare spot of envy — back to back book sales in a single day. *swoon*
Plus what great acquisitions. If you like either or both of Ruins or Ghost Map, I’ll have to find them. The topics appeal greatly. (I own, want to read, and should have read the first two by now, but alas...)
This week I acquired or checked out:If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
The Grass Harp by Truman Capote
Gathering of Waters by Bernice L. McFadden
The Accidental Connoisseur: An Irreverent Journey Through the Wine World by Lawrence Osborne
An Untouched House by Willem Frederik Hermans
and The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
I loved The Grass Harp and The Railway Children.
Not a haul, and it doesn't need to be because it's a universe unto itself:
Samuel Menashe: New and Selected Poems (Expanded Edition)
God, I have wanted this book for so long. I was practically skipping to the mailbox today.
A friend of mine is downsizing and invited me to come and "shop" her shelves. I got these :)Fiction:
Dream Children: Stories
Beluthahatchie and Other Stories
More Soviet Science Fiction
Wildwood Road
Ice
Hook & Jill
Shelf Life: Fantastic Stories Celebrating Bookstores
Speak
The Persistence of Vision
The White Hotel
The Witling
Abyss
Nonfiction:
Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention
Burning Books
The Borgias and Their Enemies: 1431-1519
Plus, I helped fund a Kickstarter to publish So Far So Good Final Poems: 2014-2018, a collection of Ursula LeGuin's poetry from Copper Canyon Press. As part of my backer rewards I also got another Le Guin, Wild Angels, plus these:Things as It Is
Hold
Who Is Trixie the Trasher? and Other Questions
Dissolve
Girls Are Coming Out of the WoodsDangerous Household Items
Michele wrote: "A friend of mine is downsizing and invited me to come and "shop" her shelves. I got these :)Fiction:
Dream Children: Stories
Beluthahatchie and Other Stories"
Ice is very good, so I hope you like it.
Those are the kinds of friends to have!
Aubrey wrote: ""Ice is very good, so I hope you like it. Ice really is an extraordinary work of an extraordinary imagination. I'm hard pressed to think of another author who's oeuvre changed so radically after establishing herself as a published author.
That being said, maybe the shift isn't so difficult to explain. Anybody who has ever attempted to detox from a heroin addiction understands what true hell is and how it can fundamentally change a person.
(There but for the grace of God go I...)
Michele wrote: "A friend of mine is downsizing and invited me to come and "shop" her shelves. I got these :)Fiction:
Dream Children: Stories
Beluthahatchie and Other Stories
[book:M..."
I remember shopping in my friend's closet, but this would be much more fun! And I added two books from your list to my tbr--Ice and Shelf Life. Can't wait to read them--thanks!
I just finished The Mystery of the Yellow Room and had to snap up the next in the series The Perfume of the Lady in Black straight away
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Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)
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When I was assigned the "book" I told my professor that I wouldn't read one more wo..."
Thats another one i found ... fine :lol. I mean its quite short not much to it, i wouldn't put it or Wieland on any sort of list good or bad.
On the other hand i have a deep seated hatred for pretty much EVERYTHING they made me read at school :) ....except Pride and Prejudice, but that might be because i saw the mini-series and fell in love with Jennifer Ehle (Elizabeth) :P .