Greg's 2023 First Bingo Challenge

[Greg]

Work and life often get in the way of my goals, but I'm going to give it a try. Maybe not a blackout, but I can probably get one of the levels anyway.

THE TENTATIVE PLAN:

✔ B1: Book Published 1950 - 1999: Twelve Angry Men (Reginald Rose)
✔ B2: Classic written in your native language: A Shropshire Lad and Last Poems: For the Love of Moses (A.E. Housman)
✔ B3: Classic of Europe: The Inferno of Dante (Dante Alighieri)
✔ B4: Classic involving art: Colorful (Eto Mori)
B5: Classic from your bookshelf: Medea (Euripides) or Poems of Akhmatova or Still Another Day (Pablo Neruda)

I1: Book from the Group’s Bookshelf Prior to 2023: Flush (Virginia Woolf) or The Red Pony (John Steinbeck) or Chess Story (Stefan Zweig)
I2: Classic biography/autobiography or memoir:
✔ I3: Classic horror or gothic: The Haunted Hotel (Wilkie Collins)
I4: Classic comedy, satire, or humor: A Handful of Dust (Evelyn Waugh) or The Chronicles of Clovis (Saki)
I5: Book from the group’s Favorites of 2022:

N1: Classic of the Americas: Saint Judas (James Wright) or The Bridge (Hart Crane)
N2: Classic Western: Death Comes for the Archbishop (Willa Cather)
✔ N3: Reader’s Choice: Binti (Nnedi Okorafor)
N4: Classic mystery or thriller:
N5: Classic of Africa or Oceania: Disgrace (J.M. Coetzee) or The Sheltering Sky (Paul Bowles) or Ruined (Lynn Nottage)

G1: Classic from a group poll that did not win: A Pale View of Hills (Kazuo Ishiguro)
G2: Classic action or adventure:
G3: Classic history or historical fiction: The Crystal Cave (Mary Stewart) or Alias Grace (Margaret Atwood)
✔ G4: Classic fantasy or science fiction: Pawn of Prophecy (David Eddings)
G5: Book from the Group’s 2023 Bookshelf:

O1: Book Published before 1900: Eugene Onegin (Alexander Pushkin) or Everyman
O2: New-To-You Classic Author: The Way of the World (William Congreve)
O3: Classic of Asia:
O4: Classic in translation: The Conference of the Birds (Attar of Nishapur) or The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Milan Kundera) or Paul Celan: 70 Poems
O5: Book Published 1900 - 1949: The Heart of the Matter (Graham Greene) or The Trees (Conrad Richter) or Cane (Jean Toomer)

alternates I didn't end up reading as part of the Bingo Challenge that I want to remember for later:
Our Souls at Night (Kent Haruf)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Jean-Dominique Bauby)
Lila (Marilynne Robinson)
If Beale Street Could Talk (James Baldwin)
Strangers on a Train (Patricia Highsmith)
The Book of Nightmares (Galway Kinnell)
The Glimpses of the Moon (Edith Wharton)
The Sense of an Ending (Julian Barnes)
Bel Canto (Ann Patchett)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Arthur C. Clarke)
Parable of the Sower (Octavia E. Butler)

[Greg]

Reserving this next post to mark when I finish things here so I can keep everything straight.

[Lori]

Welcome to Bingo, Greg! It’s such a fun way to spend your time!! Looks like some fantastic choices so far! Bel Canto is great and The Crystal Cave is extraordinary! I wound up reading book 2 & 3!!
I have Parable of the Sower on my list and some of us were talking about a buddy read. Have a great year!!

[Greg]

Lori wrote: "Welcome to Bingo, Greg! It’s such a fun way to spend your time!! Looks like some fantastic choices so far! Bel Canto is great and The Crystal Cave is extraordinary! I wound up reading book 2 & 3!! ..."

Thanks so much Lori! Maybe I'll join that buddy read? I definitely feel like I retain and understand books better when I discuss them.

[Kathleen]

Welcome, Greg! So glad you'll be playing Bingo with us. Wonderful choices! I could mention a bunch, but I'm most curious to hear what you think of The Unbearable Lightness of Being. It's a favorite of mine, and I think you'll love it--hope you get to it.

I'll put in a request for a buddy read for Parable, and Greg and Lori, if you're still interested, please chime in on the best time for you!

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Nice to have you doing the challenge with us Greg. Any level is great. Hope you find some wonderful books to read.

[Milena]

Kathleen wrote: "Welcome, Greg! So glad you'll be playing Bingo with us. Wonderful choices! I could mention a bunch, but I'm most curious to hear what you think of The Unbearable Lightness of Being. It'..."

May I join your buddy read? It's not currently on my plan, but I will fit it in somewhere. I loved Kindred.

[Greg]

Thanks Katy and Kathleen!

And Milena, be sure to mention it over on the buddy read requests thread if you haven't already. :)

[Sara, New School Classics]

Glad to see you diving in, Greg. Always great to have your thoughts on your reads.

[Greg]

Thanks Sara and Matt!

[Janelle]

Nice to see you here, Greg!
The unbearable lightness of being is a favourite of mine as well. You have lots of great books on your list. I remember loving The sense of an ending too.

[Greg]

Janelle wrote: "Nice to see you here, Greg!
The unbearable lightness of being is a favourite of mine as well. You have lots of great books on your list. I remember loving The sense of an ending too."

Thanks Janelle! I've been looking forward to both of those for a while.

[Terry]

I think you will enjoy the Bingo experience, Greg! Have fun with it!

[Greg]

Terry wrote: "I think you will enjoy the Bingo experience, Greg! Have fun with it!"

Thanks Terry! :)

[Terris]

My, Greg, you have a list of wonderful books! I know you're going to enjoy your year of reading!

I see you have The Diving Bell and the Butterfly in your plans. I originally had it on my list for the I2 category but replaced it with another one that had been on my list for a long time. But now "Diving Bell" is stuck in my mind! I will watch for your review or star rating to see what you think. I'd love to add it into one of my reading challenges if it's "worthy!" ;)

Have fun reading in 2023! :)

[Greg]

Terris wrote: "My, Greg, you have a list of wonderful books! I know you're going to enjoy your year of reading!

I see you have The Diving Bell and the Butterfly in your plans. I originally had it o..."

Thanks Terris! Yes, my a childhood friend of my mom's recommended The Diving Bell and the Butterfly to me. I have been curious to read it ever since.

[Cynda]

Greg, glad you are joining us for bingo this year. Just be aware that it can become addictive--in the best literary sense of the word.

Good to see you may now read The Sense of an Ending. I hope you enjoy it and all of your bingo card reads in 2023.

[Greg]

Cynda wrote: "Greg, glad you are joining us for bingo this year. Just be aware that it can become addictive--in the best literary sense of the word.

Good to see you may now read The Sense of an Ending. I hope y..."

Thanks Cynda! I'm looking forward to it!

[Susie]

Saw the comments and had to check it out... The Diving Bell and the Butterfly now on my Bingo and Buffet card.
Have fun with Bingo Greg!

[Greg]

Susie wrote: "Saw the comments and had to check it out... The Diving Bell and the Butterfly now on my Bingo and Buffet card.
Have fun with Bingo Greg!"

Thanks Susie! :)

[Greg]

Completed a few items in the first half of January:

✔ B4: Classic involving art: Colorful (Eto Mori) ★★★★★ (4.5)
finished 1/6/23

I found this Japanese young adult classic delightful. What I most appreciated was the complex web of mutual human misunderstandings, the way that people who are very close to each other still misunderstand fundamental things about each other. Usually, I find this kind of realization in bleak or nihilistic books, but here, the difficulty just makes human connections all the more precious in the end.

✔ B1: Book Published 1950 - 1999: Twelve Angry Men (Reginald Rose) ★★★★ (4.0)
finished 1/8/23

I've already posted my thoughts on this one in the group read chat.

✔ N3: Reader’s Choice: Binti (Nnedi Okorafor) ★★★★ (3.5)
finished 1/9/23

I very much enjoyed this sci-fi novella, so unique and more than a little odd. I don't want to give anything away because I think it's better to not know where this book is going to go before reading it. But in the first pages, it's already clear this is a book about a "tribal" girl of an isolated community who defies her people to go out to the stars. As a novella, the development is not always deep, but I was highly engaged and will definitely read more by the author at some point.

✔ B3: Classic of Europe: The Inferno of Dante (Dante Alighieri) ★★★★ (4.0)
finished 1/14/23

An excellent translation that reads beautifully; both muscular and vivid, though given the content sometimes a little too vivid for me. 😃 As far as the source material, it's hard to dispute it as a poetic masterpiece, but I find Dante's need to imagine several contemporaries and near-contemporaries enduring the tortures of hell a bit disturbing. Is there a ring of hell for slanderers? One thing I did like is how Dante mixes Greek and Roman mythology with Christian cosmology. I found myself quite intrigued by his thoughts on various ancient fictional and mythological characters, as well as his take on ancient writers and philosophers. It was the more contemporaneous references that I sometimes had trouble with, striking me as quite political or even occasionally petty.

[Leni]

Doing great here! So much progress already. I'm another of the people who are up for a Parable of the Sower buddy read.

[Greg]

Leni wrote: "Doing great here! So much progress already. I'm another of the people who are up for a Parable of the Sower buddy read."

Thanks Leni! :)

[Terris]

Great job, Greg! You're getting right through those books!

I also read Binti recently. I thought it was interesting, and I'm thinking of reading the next book just to see what happens next.

Keep up the good work! :)

[Greg]

Terris wrote: "Great job, Greg! You're getting right through those books!

I also read Binti recently. I thought it was interesting, and I'm thinking of reading the next book just to see what happens next.

Keep ..."

Thanks Terris! If you end up reading more Okorafor, let me know - maybe we can do a buddy read.

[Terris]

Greg wrote: "Terris wrote: "Great job, Greg! You're getting right through those books!

I also read Binti recently. I thought it was interesting, and I'm thinking of reading the next book just to see what happe..."

Will do!

[Cynda]

Oh good Greg. I am glad we will read Parable if the Sower together. It has been years since we have read together. Looking forward to it!

[Cynda]

Let me know if you want buddy read of Everyman. It has been forever since I have read the play.

[Greg]

Cynda wrote: "Let me know if you want buddy read of Everyman. It has been forever since I have read the play."

Thanks Cynda, and yes! I'll set it up. I'm looking forward to Parable too!

[Cynda]

Thanks. Maybe some others will join in too :-)

[Sara, New School Classics]

Wow. You are rocking this already, Greg. Looks like The Parable of the Sower is going to be a mega-read. I'm already in.

[Greg]

Sara wrote: "Wow. You are rocking this already, Greg. Looks like The Parable of the Sower is going to be a mega-read. I'm already in."

Thanks Sara :)

[Veronique]

Great start! I really liked Binti and the sequel (still need to get to the 3rd part).

Tempted by The Parable of the Sower. I read Dawn last year and that was quite an experience.

[Greg]

Veronique wrote: "Great start! I really liked Binti and the sequel (still need to get to the 3rd part).

Tempted by The Parable of the Sower. I read Dawn last year and that was quite an experience."

Thanks Veronique! Yes, I was quite intrigued by Binti. I will probably continue the series, and I'm also curious to read something longer by her. One of my Goodreads friends said that the longer novels are much more fully developed.

[Veronique]

Greg wrote: "Yes, I was quite intrigued by Binti. I will probably continue the series, and I'm also curious to read something longer by her. One of my Goodreads friends said that the longer novels are much more fully developed..."

I’ve only read Remote Control which was a little longer and I really liked it too. It was a merging of the very old and the very new, mixing what looked like fantasy to scifi, and yet more akin to a fable perhaps. I do have Lagoon of hers, waiting.

[Greg]

Veronique wrote: "I’ve only read Remote Control which was a little longer and I really liked it too. It was a merging of the very old and the very new, mixing what looked like fantasy to scifi, and yet more akin to a fable perhaps. I do have Lagoon of hers, waiting ..."

Oh, that sounds very promising for me, as I generally like fables and myths!

[Greg]

✔ I3: Classic horror or gothic: The Haunted Hotel
finished 1/20/2023

An entertaining read though predictable and a bit melodramatic. I didn't find it boring or overlong as others in the group read did. Still, I'm glad it wasn't longer.

[Lynn, Old School Classics]

Greg wrote: "✔ I3: Classic horror or gothic: The Haunted Hotel
finished 1/20/2023

An entertaining read though predictable and a bit melodramatic. I didn't find it boring or overlong as others i..."

Glad it wasn't longer ...lol

[Greg]

Lynn wrote: "Greg wrote: "Glad it wasn't longer ...lol"

:)

[Greg]

A few more books to add:

✔ B2: Classic written in your native language: A Shropshire Lad and Last Poems: For the Love of Moses (A.E. Housman)
finished 1/21/23 ★★★ (3.5)

The best of these poems are quite beautifully done, but many others feel jingoistic or unsatistfying. There are poems in this book that deserve a much higher rating, but then again, there are others that deserve much less. Also, it's hard to read some of these poems without feeling sad about Housman's tortured state of mind; I wonder if his personality was just not suited to survive spiritually intact with his sexuality and his era's fierce pressure of judgement. It's painful to read the internal conflict implicit in lines like:

"And if your hand or foot offend you,
Cut it off, lad, and be whole;
But play the man, stand up and end you,
When your sickness is your soul."

There's no doubt that Housman had a wonderful talent. I just wish he had lived in a less hostile era where he could have come through more spiritually whole.

✔ G4: Classic fantasy or science fiction: Pawn of Prophecy (David Eddings) ★★★★ (3.5)
finished 1/25/23
This classic fantasy isn't full of momentous events, but it's a quick and entertaining read. I enjoyed the mythology of the various gods and peoples, and I will probably continue the series, even though the characterizations are a little lighter-weight than I usually like.

✔ No Bingo Category: City of Ash and Red (Hye-Young Pyun) ★★★ (3.0)
finished 1/16/23
This Korean novel is bizarre and almost impossible to describe. It's ferociously dark, and although at first I found it quite funny in a darkly satirical way, it gradually crossed over into something more disturbing. Even after finishing, I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I didn't dislike it and was never bored, but I'm not sure who I would recommend it to. The narrator was something else!

[Sara, New School Classics]

Some interesting entries for January, Greg. The Korean novel is one I will mark to miss. :o)

[Greg]

Sara wrote: "Some interesting entries for January, Greg. The Korean novel is one I will mark to miss. :o)"

Ha ha Sara, yes, I've read a few Korean novels lately that were very bizarre. I'm glad I read them, though I'm not sure I would use the word "enjoy" in conjunction with them. :)