Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion
Archived Chit Chat & All That
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What Are You Reading Now?
Brian wrote: "As I said in my review: "I also understand historical context, but this is not the use of a term for historical and social commentary and accuracy as with Huck Finn." I don't like sanitizing litera..."
Very fair point that Thank You, Jeeves could alienate a new Wodehouse reader. I've been reading Wodehouse since the 80s and he's so familiar to me now I don't think about how a new reader would react to this particular book today.
Very fair point that Thank You, Jeeves could alienate a new Wodehouse reader. I've been reading Wodehouse since the 80s and he's so familiar to me now I don't think about how a new reader would react to this particular book today.
Greg wrote: "Brian wrote: "As I said in my review: "I also understand historical context, but this is not the use of a term for historical and social commentary and accuracy as with Huck Finn." I don't like san..."
Wodehouse costume parties are always so crazy :D
Wodehouse costume parties are always so crazy :D
Cozy Pug, the talk about Jeeves novels had me thinking about which is the best of Wodehouse's Blandings series, which I also enjoy. I've read the first 8 Blandings novels but I read most of them at least 5 years ago, before I wrote reviews I rated them all at 4 stars. I remember really liking Pigs Have Wings from 1952, because I read it last year and reviewed it, but not if I liked it better than the 1930s ones.Cozy, I see you are reading Heavy Weather. Do you have a favorite of the Blandings Series or one you would recommend to a first-timer?
what am I reading now?well, for the first day since 5th January not The Faerie Queene!
Darren wrote: "what am I reading now?well, for the first day since 5th January not The Faerie Queene!"
Haha, congrats! That was me with Miss MacIntosh, My Darling back in February.
For the coming weeks, my weekends are devoted to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. “A Scandal In Bohemia” is next and hopefully followed also this weekend by “The Red-Headed League.”
Jayson wrote: "For the coming weeks, my weekends are devoted to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. “A Scandal In Bohemia” is next and hopefully followed also this weekend by “The Red-Headed League.”"Enjoy! I want to read A scandal in Bohemia soon as well as it is part of some short(ish) story list I found and now work on.
Aubrey wrote: "Darren wrote: "what am I reading now?well, for the first day since 5th January not The Faerie Queene!"
Haha, congrats! That was me with Miss MacIntosh, My Darling back in February."
although, having got out from under a 1248-pager
I am now reading Life And Fate (912 pages) and Imajica (1136 pages),
and am about to start 2666 (898 pages),
and have 1Q84 (925 pages) and The Betrothed (720 pages) lined up for May
(gulp!)
Brian wrote: "Cozy Pug, the talk about Jeeves novels had me thinking about which is the best of Wodehouse's Blandings series, which I also enjoy. I've read the first 8 Blandings novels but I read most of them at..."
I love them all! I read them in order, along with the short stories years ago, now I just grab whichever one when I want to read a Blandings book.
Two that stand out in my mind are Summer Lightning and Uncle Fred in the Springtime. Heavy Weather is so funny, but it takes place 10 days after the end of Summer Lightning. So I'd read SL before HW for sure.
I love them all! I read them in order, along with the short stories years ago, now I just grab whichever one when I want to read a Blandings book.
Two that stand out in my mind are Summer Lightning and Uncle Fred in the Springtime. Heavy Weather is so funny, but it takes place 10 days after the end of Summer Lightning. So I'd read SL before HW for sure.
Those 3 are a good sampling, CP. They were issued in a row in the 12 book Blandings series, during a period when Wodehouse did seem at his peak:#4 Summer Lightning 1929
#5 Heavy Weather 1933
#6 Uncle Fred in the Springtime 1939
I absolutely adore Jeeves and Wooster! They always make me happy. Jayson - I just reread all of the Sherlock Holmes series last year. I decided to read them in order, which I'd never done before. I loved it. Sherlock is always one of my faves. If you have Audible, Stephen Fry (which also makes me think of Jeeves!) reads the first 8 books. I listened to some read by him and others read by Derek Jacobi, who is also an excellent narrator.
Natalie wrote: "I absolutely adore Jeeves and Wooster! They always make me happy. Jayson - I just reread all of the Sherlock Holmes series last year. I decided to read them in order, which I'd never done before...."
I enjoy both of those Natalie! :)
Brian wrote: "Those 3 are a good sampling, CP. They were issued in a row in the 12 book Blandings series, during a period when Wodehouse did seem at his peak:
#4 Summer Lightning 1929
#5 [book:He..."
That's so funny they all fall during that time period, I think of that time as peak Wodehouse as well.
#4 Summer Lightning 1929
#5 [book:He..."
That's so funny they all fall during that time period, I think of that time as peak Wodehouse as well.
I finished the House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne and started
The Life of the Mind by Hannah Arendt.
Cozy_Pug wrote: "That's so funny they all fall during that time period, I think of that time as peak Wodehouse as well."As stated earlier, my favorite Jeeves were also published between 1929 and 1939:
Jeeves #4 - Very Good, Jeeves! 1930 (favorite short-story collection)
Jeeves #6 - Right Ho, Jeeves 1934
Jeeves #7 - The Code of the Woosters 1938
Jeeves #5 - Thank You, Jeeves 1933 - even this one comes during his peak, suffering only because a key humorous device became dated and now-inappropriate
Dave wrote: " I finished the House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne and started The Life of the Mind by Hannah Arendt."Interesting co-reads, but at least you shouldn't get confused about which book you're reading.
Brian wrote: "Dave wrote: " I finished the House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne and started The Life of the Mind by Hannah Arendt."Interesting co-reads, but at least you shouldn't get confused about which book ..."
Listening to multiple books and working on multiple challenges gives me the chance to see how inventively I can pair my reading.
Wreade1872 wrote: "@RJ I really enjoyed the Thin Man its a fun time, despite the noir not really being my genre...."I guess a few years ago a couple of Hammett's treatments for the Thin Man sequels were published as a sequel of sorts - Return of the Thin Man. Have you read it?
RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "of Hammett's treatments for the Thin Man sequels were published as a sequel of sorts - Return of the Thin Man. Have you read it?"I have not... in fact thinking, about it.. the Thin Man my literally be the only conventional noir i've read lol .
Just finished Michael Kohlhaas. I've been reading it in German, which is not my strongest language, so now I'm re-reading it in an abbreviated English translation I found on gutenberg.org. The original dry literary style and deadpan humour has been lost in this version, but some passages I struggled with have been sorted out. All in all an interesting read about one man's quest for justice.
Wreade1872 wrote: "I have not... in fact thinking, about it.. the Thin Man my literally be the only conventional noir i've read lol ."It's really not a conventional noir, at least not to me. I think it has "hard-boiled" elements, but it's more of a murder-mystery with a romantic tint, similar in many ways to Vera Caspary's "Laura." A true roman noir is probably more like something written by James M. Cain or Jim Thompson, stories about characters whose behaviors or actions lead to tragic and bleak results. But I'm glad you liked it. You might also like Hammett's The Maltese Falcon.
I finished Dashiell Hammett's final novel: 
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and I started reading, for non-Will Smith-related-reasons:
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
I am still on my short story high and right now indulge in a Ray Bradbury deep (relatively) dive. I love so many of his short stories, so many unique ones, funny enough I had read A Sound of Thunder after it had been mentioned in a(nother) time travel book. I remember it impressing me deeply, but I didn't make the connection that it was by Bradbury somehow. I guess it was before I had read Fahrenheit 451 so the author didn't mean anything to me. But ooooh... so much good stuff. The Rocket Man (which inspired Elton John to his hit) was moving me deeply. It is about a father and husband torn between family and duty/ passion (he is a space pilot).
I also love Vonnegut's absurd situations. It was strange, when reading his short stories I am fully back in Slaughterhouse-Five.
I am making my way through various lists of great short fiction. So much is online for free now as it is either old enough or the authors have the short bits on their websites etc.
The lists also included some fairy tales and I took the chance to reread them as an adult. Funny how differently one sees them now.
Authors standing out to me so far are
Edgar Allen Poe
O. Henry
Kurt Vonnegut
Oscar Wilde
Ray Bradbury
Roald Dahl
JD Salinger
RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "I finished Dashiell Hammett's final novel: The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/sho..."
Hope you enjoy I, Robot RJ! I enjoyed it very much on my recent read.
I picked up The Turn of the Screw and am enjoying it a lot. It was published in weekly installments originally which must have kept the first readers hooked and keen to find out what happens next as there are a lot of cliffhangers at the ends of the chapters. It went on for 12 weeks until it was fully published.Loving each line, it gives me strong Jane Eyre vibes so far (I am a quarter in by now).
I'm reading through two very different books: CASTLES OF STEEL by Robert K. Massie, which is primarily about naval warfare between the UK and Germany during World War One; and the much better-known THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London.
Greg wrote: "Hope you enjoy I, Robot RJ! I enjoyed it very much on my recent read."Thanks Greg. I'm enjoying it so far.
I finished the first Amelia Peabody Victorian-Era Egyptian Archeology mystery: 
Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and I started reading the first Dave Robicheaux novel, starring an alcoholic ex-cop who is obsessed over his dead wife, a character type that I'm not sure has ever been used before...
The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke
Allen - I hated Call of the Wild as a kid, but read it with the group last year and really enjoyed it. Right now I'm reading The Sea Wolf by London and I'm loving it. I really like his style of writing. I'm glad that group got me to try his books again. :)
Natalie wrote: "Allen - I hated Call of the Wild as a kid, but read it with the group last year and really enjoyed it. Right now I'm reading The Sea Wolf by London and I'm loving it. I really like his style of wri..."One of the many advantages of a book-discussion group!
I’m currently reading “The Secret History” and I love it! The dark vibe, the intriguing characters (especially Henry) and the plot with murders that take place around a group of elite students. I really feel like moving to an elite university and learning Greek while spending most of my time in a an old library from the 19th century :)
NF addict here: I've finished I REMEMBER IT WELL, Vicente Minnelli's 1974 autobiography, and have picked up LOST AT SEA, a tragedy about crab-boat accidents in the icy waters of the (very) North Atlantic. Surprisingly readable.
Mod
I really liked it too! It was a 5 star book for me.
just started rereading/listening to Hermann Wouk’s “The Winds of War.”
I am almost finished reading Pachinko by Min Jin Lee and yesterday I started listening to The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy.
I'm rereading Dumb Witness, by Agatha Christie. I gave on first asking, 2 stars to this novel, and from the first chapters I'm rereading, this rating is something of a mystery in itself. I'm thinking the quality will take a dive sooner.
I finished the science-fiction classic
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and I started reading my first Tolstoy
The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy
RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "I finished the science-fiction classicI, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
..."
I am listening to The Kreutzer Sonata and it's also my first Leo Tolstoy. :)
A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul. About 20th Century colonialism and its aftermath in East Africa. I have read a number of Naipaul’s novels and always enjoy them.
Among other novels, I am currently reading/listening to Dracula by Bram Stoker. At more than 600 pages, this epistemological novel goes into much greater detail of the capabilities of Count Dracula than I have ever known of through movies. It is the most terrifying reading experience I have ever encountered. Much of the terror is psychological. I am listening to my first audiobook that is dramatized with a full cast of readers
I am reading Mother's Day Murder
by Leslie Meier. It is a lovely read, and a real lesson in how to write a book. I am having fun while learning a lot. This is a reread.
I have finished the last of Trollope’s “The Chronicles of Barsetshire”, The Last Chronicle of Barset and will begin the first of Trollope’s Pallister novels, Can You Forgive Her?.
Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)
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Thank You Jeeves is so funny, one of my favorites! Are you listening..."
Maybe another Wodehouse will give you joy! For me, I laugh hysterically at all his books - not just the controversial Thank You, Jeeves.