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What are you currently reading?
I'm finishing up Bleak House which I started some unknown time ago, and also reading Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero.
I'm nearing the end of Bleak House myself. Li said he planned to finish in November, and you've just finished. Any thoughts as to what it's about?
My friend, Goodreads author Andrew Seddon, loves dogs in general but has a special soft spot for German Shepherds. His latest book, Bonds of Affection, is his homage to the breed, a collection of previously written short stories that feature fictional German Shepherds, interspersed with nonfiction memoirs about the real-life German Shepherds he's owned, or still owns. (All profits from sales of this book will go to support German Shepherd rescues.) He kindly gifted me with a copy earlier this year; but because of my various other reading commitments, I didn't have a long-enough bloc of free time to start on it until today.All of the stories appear in earlier collections by the author (or, in one case, in a magazine issue which I reviewed like a book) that I've reviewed earlier, and I've commented on at least several of them in those reviews; I also beta read versions of all of them. But since some or all of them have undergone revisions for their appearance here (and since I don't always recall every detail of the earlier versions, just basic outlines), I'm reading the whole book. Sorry I can't show the cover image; the book entry in the Goodreads database still doesn't have it, and because Andrew is a Goodreads author, I'm not allowed to edit that entry :-(
Donnally,, your question made me laugh, for sure! It's quite a list of characters, to be sure. I'm not expecting this generations-long legal case to be solved, but hope I'm surprised -- still have over 50 pages to go.Good luck with the Brothers K! I put that down years ago, and won't pick it back up until I have that cast of characters and all their alias names nearby.
I think the biggest question I have about Bleak House is why Dickens felt the need for the narrative from Esther Summerson's POV. Why couldn't he have told the story from the 3rd person perspective he adopted in the first couple chapters? And what is her purpose in writing, and to whom is she writing?
I haven't read Bleak House, so I can't comment on it specifically. I will say, though, that with first person fictional narration in general, although sometimes the author furnishes the fictitious narrator with a "purpose" for writing, and sometimes an equally fictional addressee, more often there isn't one. It's just understood that the first person narration is a literary device to let the narrator supposedly tell his/her own story, to whomever happens to be reading it. Telling the tale, in the realm of first-person fiction, is usually its own purpose.
Werner wrote: "I haven't read Bleak House, so I can't comment on it specifically. I will say, though, that with first person fictional narration in general, although sometimes the author furnishes the fictitious ..."Dickens begins Esther Summerson's narrative in chapter 3 of Bleak House with the words, "I have a great deal of difficulty in beginning to write my portion of these pages . . .", which gave me the impression she had a purpose in writing and was writing for someone specific. It appears, however, that Dickens has simply enlisted her to write her side of the story for the benefit of the readers of the novel.
I guess I don't understand why he needed the two strands: both the third person narrator (presumably Dickens himself) and the first person narrator (that of his fictional character Esther). What did he gain by that?
Donnally wrote: "I guess I don't understand why he needed the two strands: both the third person narrator (presumably Dickens himself) and the first person narrator (that of his fictional character Esther). What did he gain by that?"That's a good question; but it's one I'd have to read the novel myself in order to speculate about. It's on my to-read list, but I don't know whether or not 2020 will be the year that I finally get to it.
Since I'll be starting a common read on Jan. 1, I need short reads to fill in the intervening time; so yesterday I started on
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder. I'd previously read (and greatly liked) it back in my high school/junior college flurry of reading classics in order to become an "educated" person; but I've been wanting to read it again in order to do it justice in a review, and have been resolved to make this the year I do that.
I just finished Bleak House last night. The last 100-150 pages went better than other parts of the book, perhaps because things were finally reaching their conclusions. As far as Esther being a narrator, the only thing I can come up with is it gave a more personal feel to the book, that is, from someone who was able to give first-hand accounts. It is not my favorite tale of his, although it seems to get rave reviews. The subject matter was interesting enough, but as many have said before me, it can be tedious reading. I was put off by all the "my darling" and "my guardian" talk -- seemed weird.I've looked over all my shelves and not sure which fiction to read next. (Maybe I need a trip to the library to inspire me, lol...) For now, I've got a handful of nonfiction that I'm perusing bit by bit.
Although I appreciate fiction written from a Christian viewpoint, I don't read much "Christian fiction" in the book trade sense, because most of it is formulaic light romance, which isn't my preferred genre. So when the library where I work got a donated copy of Oklahoma-born writer and teacher Cliff Schimmels' novel Rites of Autumn, and I immediately saw that it was an exception to that generalization, it piqued my interest. (I'm also interested in reading more modern general fiction, which I've also neglected.) So, since it's short and I expect to finish it before Jan. 1, I started on it this morning. (It'll also add a state to my Literary Road Trip Across the U.S.A. challenge in another group. :-) )
For January, several members of another group I'm in are going to read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's historical novel of the Hundred Years War,
The White Company together, and I'm joining in. Since Jan. 1 is tomorrow (and it usually takes me longer than most people to finish a book), I've started it already. I count Doyle as a favorite author, so I'm excited about this one! For me, it will also finish up some "unfinished business" --I started reading it from the school library near the end of my last year of junior high school. But after I graduated, my plans to get another copy and continue the read fell through; as I recall, the public library didn't have it, and in those days I don't think I'd even ever heard of interlibrary loans (and would have been too timid to request one even if I had). So this will tie up a long-neglected "loose end." :-)
Last night, I started reading a self-published Kindle freebie,
Gears of a Mad God: A Steampunk Lovecraft Adventure by Goodreads author Brent Nichols (which got a good review from one of my Goodreads friends). It kicks off a series of Cthulhu Mythos spin-of novellas (which is available, from Smashwords and Amazon, in a paper-format omnibus volume).
Charly wrote: "Finished Easter Island, 4 stars reviewed."I took down Aku-Aku: The Secret of Easter Island by Thor Heyerdahl from my shelves earlier today, and wondered about reading it!
At one time, I really considered someday reading Aku-Aku, as well as other books by Heyerdahl; I'm interested in the kind of subject matter he deals with. But I just have so doggone many books on my to-read shelf already that the idea of adding another corpus of thick ones (especially at my age!) gives me pause. :-( If you read it, Jean, I'll be interested in your review!
We read The Kon-Tiki Expedition at school, which started me off. I've always been fascinated by Easter Island, so this was a must. It would be good to get it off my shelves too - as you say, Werner, it's a thick book!
I just finished Hero of the Empire, which was an abandoned book from last year, so you might find it surprising that I thoroughly enjoyed it! I am now beginning to read The Department of Sensitive Crimes, a new series by Alexander McCall Smith set in Sweden.
Finally finished The Bleak House. Started The Portrait of a Lady. Trying to get used to the 19th centuary wordy language and unfamiliar subject matter. I'm in chapter 5 of The Portrait of a Lady but I feel I would need to read this book twice to get a grasp of whatever Henry James was trying to tell us, that is, if I can deal with the boring story or lack of it.
Portrait of a Lady is bleak in its own way, too. :p However, it flows much better, and I certainly wasn't as distracted as when reading Bleak House. I don't want to say anything else before you've had a chance to finish it; but I do agree that Henry James is trying to tell us something.
Yesterday, I started on two new (to me) books. I'm taking part this month in a common read of
The Ghost of Thomas Kempe by Penelope Lively in another group. Also, I started reading
The Husband Tree, the second novel in Mary Connealy's Montana Marriages trilogy, to my wife. (Connealy's become a favorite author for both of us!)
Donnally wrote: "Werner, I liked Lively's The House in Norham Gardens, But I never read the one you're reading."This one is actually my first book by her. She wrote both adult and "children's" fiction (I use the quotation marks because books that appeal to discerning kids can often appeal to adults too); this is one of the latter. At the time it was published, it won the British Library Association's Carnegie Medal.
I'm reading The Ghost of Thomas Kempe too, and finding the protagonist reminds me so much of William Brown, Richmal Crompton's humorous and likeable roguish creation in the "Just William" series. He even has a best friend like Ginger! It could be termed "William Meets A Poltergeist" and is done for laughs.To be honest, I much prefer the one I've just finished, The Dark Is Rising - the second in Susan Cooper's Arthurian quintology. Although different in feel yet again, reading a third fantasy book with a teenage boy protagonist A Castle of Bone by Penelope Farmer is meaning that I am getting a bit confused! It's a problem when my library reservations come up at the same time (though I bought The Ghost of Thomas Kempe for the read.)
Other books I have on the go are nonfiction, Hannah's North Country and The World of Charles Dickens: Rediscovering the Places & Characters Portrayed in His Books.
This year, I'm hoping to read all of the remaining fiction by one of my favorite authors, H. P. Lovecraft, that I haven't read yet.
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is his only book-length writing by that I haven't read so far, so I started on it today. I'm not actually reading this edition; since it's quite short (141 p.), it's not easy to find a printing of it by itself, so I'm reading the 1970 Ballantine printing, edited by Lin Carter, that bundles it with several other fantasy works by HPL.
Currently reading The Portrait of a Lady (Henry James) and just finished chapter 15 today. I read the book word by word as it is impossible for me to comprehend many of the long and convoluted sentences otherwise, which makes this book a speed reading course instructor's nightmare. The first chapter or two seems to be among the most boring chapters of any novels that I have read so far, at least this is how I feel on the first reading. After finishing reading the first chapter, I wouldn't be able to give you a summary of what had happened if my life depends on it, other than a vague recollection of a droning murmur of three unwelcome voices carrying on a nonsensical conversation while I tried to figure out where I was and for what purpose I had been thrown into their presence. But by the time I reached chapter 15, I have developed enough interest in the main characters to feel keen to find out what will happen to them next. Although I cannot say I understand Isabel or why she makes her choices like she did, I think the author presents a plausible character for us to relate to and care for, so I have high hopes for the coming chapters.
Since I was looking for a fairly quick read between now and March 1-19, when I'll be mostly offline and not devoting time to reading, I recently started
The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton. It's been on my radar ever since I saw and liked the movie adaptation years ago; and it will add another state to my Literary Road Trip Across the U.S.A. challenge. More importantly, I'm woefully poorly read in books by black authors, and this will be a small step towards redressing that neglect.
I've just been catching up on this thread (have not read all your posts yet, being a new member!) and notice a few posts about Bleak House.Rather than backtracking, anyone is welcome talk about this on the thread I started "What the Dickens? - Dickens Chat with Jean" LINK HERE
I will try to make headway with my Dickens thread where I put all my notes about all his novels, but Bleak House was quite a late one, so I haven't transferred those yet.
I've never read Bleak House, but I definitely want to --one of these years. (Sigh!) "So many books, so little time!"
I've decided this year I'm going to get better acquainted with three authors who interest me: Euripides, Joseph Conrad & Anton Chekhov. I've added Euripides' Medea, Hippolytus, Trojan Women & The Bacchantes to my Currently Reading shelf.
Finished The Medea, Hippolytos, Trojan Women & The Bacchae by Euripides. Starting on On Heroes, Hero Worship and the Heroic in History
Ever since late last year, I've had a review copy of my friend Andrew Seddon's new SF novel
Farhope in hand (I beta read it in 2017 --and would have given it five stars then if it had a Goodreads record!-- but the published version is longer and incorporates some changes, so it needs a fresh read). I've been champing at the bit to get to it, but have just been waiting until I knew I'd have a long enough bloc of reading time to finish it before having to start another book. That time has arrived, so I started reading it yesterday! :-)
Donnally wrote: "Werner, you inspired me to start reading 1984"I hope you find it a rewarding read, Donnally!
Although I've actually read most of the material it contains already, I'm reading all of the previously-unread selections in
The Complete Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft. I discovered HPL relatively late, when I was nearly 40; but he quickly became a favorite writer of mine, so finally finishing reading his entire fictional corpus will be a significant milestone in my reading.
Finished 1984. Powerful and disturbing. This is one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. I was also struck forcefully by the quality of the writing. It is so well-written that one never notices the writing. His analysis of newspeak is also a very piercing study of how language is corrupted for political purposes.
So what to read next? It seems natural to move on to Friedrich Nietzsche's The Will to Power.
By the way, I could never warm to HPL. I very much enjoy the sort of dark fantasy he wrote, but his style IMO is over-the-top. I regard his writings as camp.
Glad you appreciated 1984, Donnally!Lovecraft isn't everybody's cup of tea. But then, it'd be a dull world if we all liked the same things. :-)
I can't decide what to read... I looked over all my bookshelves last night and all I saw was war, dystopian, depressing and set-in-France... it all overwhelmed me.
Reggia, I know this is hopelessly self-serving, but if you're, you know, looking for something fun to read, can I suggest my recently published novella Cage of Light? Here's what one reader had to say: "I just finished reading the most magnificent novella by Donnally Miller Cage of Light. It is humorous, sexy and even has a mysterious ending. It makes for exciting reading and might even help get through this pandemic. You can order it from Amazon and it will help you pass the time through self-quarantine."
And if you don't enjoy it, anyway it's a short read (25,000 words).
Reggia, another suggestion is Oedipus the King. Thebes is suffering from a plague. What is the cure?
Finished Philosophy and Civilization. Starting Ecce Homo and The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich Nietzsche.
Finished Ecce Homo and The Birth of Tragedy.
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Thanks, Charly! :-)