Victorians! discussion
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Conversations in the Parlor
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General chit-chat and information (part 2)
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Gabriele
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Jan 26, 2010 06:04AM
Interesting article, Paula. I just saw "Young Victoria" and really enjoyed it. But it ended too soon!
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Hello all!After reviewing the poll results regarding participation and preferred format, we have decided on a few changes.
First, the Tenant discussion will be a 6-week discussion, making the next book discussion start date March 15 (as opposed to the regular start date of March 1).
Second, the nominations for the next group read will be open for anything Victorian-related. This includes "true" Victorian, neo-Victorian, and non-fiction.
There seemed to be a lot of comments that the group reads are too short, and a lot of interest in moving away from so many neo-Victorians, partly because they are harder to acquire than the Victorian classics. We would like to take that into consideration, which is why we are both including all three types for the nominations, and why we aren't starting until March 15, so that in the event a neo-Victorian is chosen, we have 2 extra weeks to acquire the book.
For those who do not feel comfortable discussing, we hope you ultimately do, or at least enjoy reading other people's discussions. If you feel you don't have anything good to say, or that your idea has already been expressed, please still feel free to mention your idea. Even if it is to say that you agree with someone else; besides, more often than not the way you phrase the idea will spark something in another member that an earlier comment did not.
Lastly, I sincerely hope that we can continue to express ideas and interests in how we can continue to make this group an interesting an engaging one, where people of all literary levels feel comfortable meeting and talking. If it wasn't for all the members (that includes you!) then we wouldn't have this wonderful group, and then how would I procrastinate from work during the day? :)
Thank you, too, for everyone who voted in the polls, added comments, and sent along messages. Your input is very important to us!
Happy reading!
Paula and Boof
I'm glad you've decided on a March 15th start date for the next book! I've not been able to participate for a while but that will make it a lot easier. I also really want to read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and having the extra time to join in after my other group reads are over is fantastic! Thanks Paula and Boof!
Glad that suits, Lee. What does everyone else think?
We have another author interview down in the Author folder, everyone: Melanie Benjamin, author of Alice I Have Been.
Lee wrote: "I'm glad you've decided on a March 15th start date for the next book! I've not been able to participate for a while but that will make it a lot easier. I also really want to read [book:The Tenant..."That says it for me too :-)
I was just talking to my husband about goodreads. I let him know that I had joined the "Victorians'. His comment was, "That would be the 'Sad House Wife's Group'" lol. So harsh. This is what I have to put up with at home.
*gasp* He said that? Oh, no! I'm not sure if he said that in reference to the women in the books, or the women who read the books, but neither is true. Oh well - we can enlighten him :)
Paula. He spoke hastily with little information other than that I had joined the group. (Typical Aussie bloke). He is actually very good to me when it comes to books. While he doesn't do a lot of reading himself, he does listen to book reviews on the radio. He often surprises me with books he thinks will appeal to me.
I was just amused by his input, on the ‘Victorians’ group and had to share it with others.
I was just amused by his input, on the ‘Victorians’ group and had to share it with others.
Good to hear he is encouraging of books and your reading.
Funny - I have just realised that the "adventure" book I'm reading for another group is also Victorian era =- although American - The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper I'm quite enjoying it but was disappointed to realise I'm reading an abridged version which I hate doing! has made me look further at American authors - when I was studying at Uni I concentrated on English authors mostly.
Yes, Cathy, I think most of us tend to overlook the non-English authors and miss out on a lot of good American authors, as well as other non-English authors. Would love to hear some recommendations on a broader range of Victorian-era authors who don't hail from England, but admit I do love the England core authors and tend to think of them automatically.
I usually think of English authors as well. I read some american authors too, but those are usually alive today :P if you want any Norwegian recommendations: Knut Hamsun is a really great author! He's late Victorian I suppose you could say (from the 50's..)
I've read two of his most famous novels: Victoria, which is a love story, and Pan, which is about a man who seems a little bit crazy and there's a lot of nature-descriptions in it.
Other Norwegian writers are Henrik Ibsen, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Alexander Kielland, Amalie Skram, Camilla Collett, Asbjørnson, Henrik Werkland, Johan Welhaven, Jørgen Moe, Aasmund Olavson Vinje, Jonas Lie and Ivar Aasen :P
I've only read Henrik Ibsen of those and he's really quite good. and there are a lot of poets, and most of them are very different from English writers I think. and Ivar Aasen was more of a language guy.. but I think Amalie Skram and Camilla Collett write good novels about women, and Jonas Lie is really good I think, and probably Wergeland.. but my favourite is Hamsun so far ;)
If you're interested you should also try Ludvic Holberg (which was the century before the Victorian) and Sigrid Undset (which was the one after) ;)
:)
Some American lit of the period worth mentioning:Mark Twain (novels and shorter pieces - if you are reading Last of the Mohicans do read "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences")
Nathaniel Hawthorne (novels and short stories)
Herman Melville (principally novels)
Harriet Beecher Stowe (wrote a good bit, but hardly any of it is read these days except Uncle Tom's Cabin, which is not a great novel but a historically important one)
Ralph Waldo Emerson (poetry and essays)
Henry David Thoreau (essays)
Louisa May Alcott (principally YA, especially the YA classic Little Women)
Frances Hodgson Burnett (again, mostly YA - A Little Princess and The Secret Garden are both Edwardian, but Little Lord Fauntleroy is from the 1880s)
Paula wrote: "Yes, Cathy, I think most of us tend to overlook the non-English authors and miss out on a lot of good American authors, as well as other non-English authors. Would love to hear some recommendations..."Good point. I don't recall any American authors being even suggested for consideration in the polls.
We would have plenty to choose from. Just to mention a couple, Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Mark Twain, Longfellow (Hiawatha, anyone?), Poe, Melville (but not Moby Dick, Please!), much of Henry James, some early Edith Wharton, to mention just some of the major options. We might even want to tackle some Whitman.
I'd definitely be up for Ibsen, and I've long wanted to read The Bostonians by Henry James. There's also Balzac, Zola, Hugo, Dumas, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and lesser-known English writers, such as Disraeli. He wrote novels but was a politician, became Prime Minister, and the speeches I've read of his, I remember to be well-written and laced with humour.
I'm definitely up for reading other nationalities; I haven't really read any except for the French and the odd Russian. I'm all for people nominating the authors mentioned above.
I really want to get started on something Russian 'cause I've heard they are really fantastic and my parents love it :P I've tried to begin reading Anna Karenina several times but the beginning is so incredibly slow, so I never got any far.. has anyone read it?
as for french victorian readers: READ ALEXANDRE DUMAS!!! He's incredible! :D
I've only read The Count of Monte Christo so far, but I've began reading The Three Musquetaires.
I really loved The Count of Monte Christo! It's a wonderful story about love, misery and revenge and it's so incredibly cunning and very touching. It's a pretty long book so you'll have many good hours reading it ;)
The Three Musquetaires is also a really great story. I've seen the movie and I really really love it!
also Dumas is a really great writer when it comes to language and everything so I really recommend his novels ;)
I agree about The Count of Monte Cristo - I found it such an exciting read!
Sigrid wrote: "I really want to get started on something Russian 'cause I've heard they are really fantastic and my parents love it :P I've tried to begin reading Anna Karenina several times but the beginning is..."
The Classics & Western Canon group is currently reading AK http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...
I really like it, and it does pick up speed but is more of a relaxing book for me; I wouldn't call it riveting but others might. I'm reading the Constance Garnett translation, which I really like. I went to the library to read a few other versions, and like Garnett better.
Boof wrote: "I'm definitely up for reading other nationalities; I haven't really read any except for the French and the odd Russian. I'm all for people nominating the authors mentioned above."I second that! (except I haven't read much French or Russian lit).
Thanks, Sigrid and Susanne for all the great author and book recommendations!
Thanks Paula :) I will try to get through it but I don't know if I ever will.. at least not for some time iet :P
I'm really starting to love this group ^^
I can't believe that you all mentioned Scandinavian writers and no one brought up Par Lagerkvist. Barabbas and The Dwarf are two of the best novels ever written. If they are not on your read list, get them there. You won't be disappointed.And I hear someone mentioning Dumas, a great writer. A book of his was recently discoverd, The Last Cavaliar, a true page turner.
Who is Par Lagerkvist? I must admit I've never heard of him.. After I've finished The three musquetaires, I will read The Last Cavaliar I think ^^
Par Lagerkvist won the Nobel in Literature in 1951. None of his books are Victorian, though; he was first published in 1912.
He's swedish right? that's probably why I haven't heard of him.. I really just read norwegian literature out of the scandinavian.. but if you recommend it, I will try reading something by him some time ;)
Yes, he was Swedish.
Susanna wrote: "This list on Listopia should be right up our alley: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/39... ."What a fantastic list! It's just for British authors, though, correct? I may need to snoop around to see if there is one for a broader author base.
Thanks for posting this Susann! I just added the link as a favorite :)
Think that is just for the Brits. There's a 19th Century list that is for any book of the century, though. (If you try to add a book to it that you know is period, and can't because of "not published in century" just tell me - I can probably fix it.)There are a lot of lists. I find them fun.
I agree - I'm working on about 15 lists on listsofbests.com. I just keep finding lists and adding them faster than I read the books. Then I inevitably get sidetracked by books that aren't on any of the lists. It's a vicious cycle, really, but so much fun :)
Others may have realized this, but I just found that some of the Andrew Lang Fairy Books, starting with the Blue Fairy Book, were published within the Victorian era. So we could put those in a poll sometime in the future if we wanted to.
Everyman wrote: "Others may have realized this, but I just found that some of the Andrew Lang Fairy Books, starting with the Blue Fairy Book, were published within the Victorian era. So we could put those in a pol..."I've not heard of these; are they like fairy tales that might be read as a child, like the Brothers Grimm? It would be interesting to revisit some of these as an adult and see all the nuances that I missed as a child :)
Everyman wrote: "Others may have realized this, but I just found that some of the Andrew Lang Fairy Books, starting with the Blue Fairy Book, were published within the Victorian era. So we could put those in a pol..."I loved Andrew Lang's Fairy books as a child. I would love to re-read them all!
Different topic-There's a strong chance I'll be travelling to France in mid-April for work, but don't speak a word of French other than 'merci.' It's not a requirement that I know anything, but would love to learn some basics so I'm not a total monolinguist.
Does anyone have any suggestions about language learning books/CDs/materials that have worked well? Would appreciate any recommendations. Thanks!
Paula wrote: "Different topic-There's a strong chance I'll be travelling to France in mid-April for work, but don't speak a word of French other than 'merci.' It's not a requirement that I know anything, but w..."
I would highly recommend the Pimsleur course. It's all on CDs, and you might be able to get them at a library.
See It Say it in French by Margarita Madrigal and Colette Dulac is a fun way of building basic vocabulary and I liked the Pimsleur course also. I took French in high school and can read it but have difficulty with audio comprehension and pronunciation. Pimsleur has a good approach for conversational. I picked up French for Dummies and it looks fun, also.
Sheila wrote: " See It Say it in French by Margarita Madrigal and Colette Dulac is a fun way of building basic vocabulary and I liked the Pimsleur course also. I took French in high school and can read it but hav..."Is that a book with pictures, Sheila? I had a German one like that years ago and loved it.
Laurele wrote: "Sheila wrote: " See It Say it in French by Margarita Madrigal and Colette Dulac is a fun way of building basic vocabulary and I liked the Pimsleur course also. I took French in high school and can ..."OUI (yes) francais au lieu de allemand (French instead of German) la meme editeur (the same editor)
Paula wrote: "I've not heard of these [the Lang Fairy Books:]; are they like fairy tales that might be read as a child, like the Brothers Grimm? It would be interesting to revisit some of these as an adult and see all the nuances that I missed as a child :) "Most definitely! His first book was the Blue Fairy Book, followed by about a dozen other colors ending with the Lilac Fairy Book. My wife is a fairy tale addict, so of course we own the whole series.
Rather than go into any more detail here, I'll just refer you to the Wikipedia page on the books, which lists the contents of each volume. But to whet your appetite, among the tales in the Blue book are Beauty and the Beast, Puss and Boots, Rumpelstiltskin, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, ... 'nuff said?
Almost forgot to include the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_L...
Yep, I'm convinced we should read the colored fairy books. I don't think you're ever too old (or too young!) to enjoy such tales.
Not Victorian or Neo Victorian but I thought that on Valentine's Day readers might like to see what 'Lonely Hearts' advertisements said in 1695:-http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyl...
Margaret wrote: "Not Victorian or Neo Victorian but I thought that on Valentine's Day readers might like to see what 'Lonely Hearts' advertisements said in 1695:-"Probably just as effective in finding a good wife as most computer dating services today.
Picked up a copy of Anthony TrollopeThe Small House at Allington from second hand stall on the weekend - can I read it out of order do you think? Does anyone know what it is like on its own?
Everyman wrote: "Paula wrote: "I've not heard of these [the Lang Fairy Books:]; are they like fairy tales that might be read as a child, like the Brothers Grimm? It would be interesting to revisit some of these as ..."I purchased The Pink Fairy Book in the autumn, but haven't read any of it. I am familiar with his King Arthur, that is the main reason I bought the fairy book. Maybe we can get one of them as a group read sometime.
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Victorians!
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