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Currently reading anything by a British writer?
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Werner
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Oct 01, 2021 03:52PM
This month, I'm taking part in another group's common read of
The Castle of Otranto (1764) by British author Horace Walpole, which is a novel I've long considered a must-read. Since it's only 110 pages long, at least in the 1964 Oxford Univ. Press printing that I'm actually reading (the one in the link here has a much more attractive cover!), I'm expecting it to be a pretty quick read.
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I am rereading everything by George Orwell. I have just finished Burmese Days and started Down and Out in Paris and London.
Oksana, I don't know how busy you are, but I recently joined a group dedicated to reading the works of Orwell, but I don't know if I can share it here.It's listed in the groups I belong to and the name is obvious.
Thank you, Rosemarie! I checked your groups, and I want to join them all. If only I had more time to participate. I saw that in the Orwell Matters! Group there were two discussions going on about his essays. I might chime in later.
It's been reinvigorated by Bionic Jean. She and Werner are moderators in another group I'm in. I'm sure Werner will agree with me that she's fabulous.I know what you mean by not enough time. Every year I say I'm going to not join any new groups, and I do anyway.
Rosemarie wrote: "I'm sure Werner will agree with me that she's fabulous."Yes, I'll second that statement 100%!
Rosemarie wrote: "I'm rereading The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson and Village School by Miss Read.I'm reading [book:The Picts & the Martyrs or Not..."
I read all the Arthur Ransome Swallows and Amazons stories when I was young, and thought them wonderful stories. Later, I read his autobiography, which was fascinating, and saw where some of the themes came from - especially sailing. He was once nearly shot by the Bolsheviks on entering Russia illegally, but managed to talk his way out of it and get to speak to Lenin, to whom he was carrying a message. A remarkable life.
He sounds like a fascinating man, who also understood children.
Indeed. I remember a dedication in one of his books (can't remember which one) which was along the lines of "To the five for whom it was written, in exchange for a pair of slippers". Cheap at the price!
He obviously had a good sense of fun as well.
All of the authors represented in the short-story anthology I've begun dipping into (it's on my "being read intermittently" shelf),
English Country House Murders, are British. While editor Thomas Godfrey notes that some American or Canadian writers have attempted to write mystery stories in that vein, he feels that only native British writers are immersed in the culture enough to truly bring it to life. :-)
I've just finished "Any Human Heart", by William Boyd. Took a while to get into it, but in the end I couldn't put it down. It purports to be the diary of a not-very-successful writer through most of the 20th century.It becomes a device for looking at many real-life characters - writers, politicians, and other "celebrities" - and suggesting a new slant on them. Repeatedly shows that life isn't always what it seems to be. Highly recommended.
This month, a multi-person buddy read of
Dead Man's Folly by Agatha Christie is going on in another of my group's, and I've recently joined in. Even though I'm late to the party, I'm confident I can finish the book well before Dec. 31, since it's only 178 pages long. This is actually a reread for me; but my previous read was as a pre-teen kid, and my memories of the book are only vestigial.
I finished that last week, Werner. It's a good one.
Rosemarie wrote: "I finished that last week, Werner. It's a good one."I'm definitely liking it so far! (I count Christie as a favorite writer.)
Ravenwood by J.K. Ellem
Damian Boyd is a new author to me. I'm currently reading "Dying Inside" and thoroughly enjoying it.Seasons Greetings to everyone and wishes for a safe, healthy and enjoyable 2022.
Thank you, Melanie.Season's Greetings to you and all our members.
And happy reading in 2022!
Melanie wrote: "Seasons Greetings to everyone and wishes for a safe, healthy and enjoyable 2022."Rosemarie wrote: "And happy reading in 2022!"
Well said, both, and I heartily echo your thoughts!
One of my other groups started a common read of Charles Dickens' Bleak House yesterday, and I'm joining in. Dickens is one of my favorite authors, but I still haven't read the majority of his novels, including this one (I hope to read them all eventually!); so I'm enthusiastic about this read!
Bleak House is one of my favourites, Werner. Happy reading!I'm reading the poetry of John Clare, who wrote about and appreciated nature and the creatures of the countryside.
Rosemarie wrote: "Bleak House is one of my favourites, Werner. Happy reading!Thanks, Rosemarie!
Enjoy, Werner, I would not mind rereading it one day. I just finished Stephen Fry's "Myths."
Oksana wrote: "Enjoy, Werner, I would not mind rereading it one day. I just finished Stephen Fry's "Myths.""Will do, Oksana! Hope you enjoyed your read, too.
Werner wrote: "Oksana wrote: "Enjoy, Werner, I would not mind rereading it one day. I just finished Stephen Fry's "Myths.""Will do, Oksana! Hope you enjoyed your read, too."
I am reading Myths too, and while I love Stephen F and like his style , I do wish he didn't have to be so resolutely jokey . I guess he has to cater for readers who are not at all conversant with the original myths though, and thinks this wll be a good in for them .
Barbara, I know Greek and Roman mythology very well. So when Stephen Fry came up with the new mythology book, I was hesitant to buy it. How many time can one retell the same stories again and again? But I thoroughly enjoyed it because of his light humor. I also enjoyed the way he peppered the book with etymological origins of some English words that were borrowed from Ancient Greek.
Oksana and Rosemarie, mine too! It's time for a reread of that! JKJ did a Christmas ghost story we used to read every year when I was younger. And should be taken up again which we might do this year.
I need to find that ghost story, Sarah. Hopefully it's in the ebook collected works that I own.
I'm taking part in our group's current common read of The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes --though from tomorrow through Friday, I'll have to put it on hold, because I'll be out of town on vacation. (I'll also be offline during that time, so not able to contribute to the discussion until later.)
I am taking the book with me on vacation. I am not sure whether I will have access to Internet, but I will be reading it!
While passing time last week in Harrisonburg, Virginia's public library, I started reading
Lord Peter: A Collection of All the Lord Peter Wimsey Stories by Dorothy Sayers. Normally, this would go on my "being read intermittently" shelf, to be carried over until next summer. But the BU library also has a copy, so I plan to finish reading the collection later this month.Also, I'm taking part in another group's just-starting group read of
Esther (1950) by Nora Lofts, a historical novella retelling and fleshing out the Old Testament book of Esther. I'd suggested it to the group myself, since it's short (with just 141 pages of actual text), and I figured it could easily be squeezed in between other books. (Goodreads will soon delete its official "favorite authors" list feature; but Lofts is also a long-time "unofficial" favorite. :-) )
Werner wrote: "One of my other groups started a common read of Charles Dickens' Bleak House yesterday, and I'm joining in. Dickens is one of my favorite authors, but I still haven't read the majority..."I loved Bleak House.
Carol wrote: "I loved Bleak House."As it turned out (and no surprise there!), I did too, Carol! It got five stars from me.
This month, I'm taking part in another group's common read of
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill; but I was delayed until I could finish my previous book, so only started this morning. There was a 2012 movie adaptation of the book starring Daniel Radcliffe (which I haven't seen), so I had initially assumed this novel about a ghostly haunting was written around that time. Actually, though, it turns out it was published in 1983 (and it's clearly set in the Edwardian era).
I loved Bleak House. I feel it is high time to reread it.
I am reading for the second time, Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey, published in 2014 by Harper Collins. I was inspired to read it for the first time when I watched a dramatization of the book on BBC television in 2019, starring Glenda Jackson as the main character, Maud. Her performance as Maud won her a BAFTA, and I think she deserved it. On Monday, 3rd, October, 2022, Elizabeth Is Missing was shown again on television on BBC Four. Watching it again, I was inspired to read the book for a second time. The book is 301 pages long, and I am only on page 76 at the moment. I am enjoying reading it just as much as I did when I read it for the first time. It is a finely written, clever, moving, intriguing story. Emma Healey set herself the difficult task of having Maud, her main character, who is an old woman who suffers from dementia, be the narrator of her tale. Reading her book, I think she achieved what she set out to do convincingly. Of course, reading the book for a second time, I know what happens in the end, how Maud, despite her great age and her dementia, finally solves the mystery of what happened to her elder sister, who vanished from her life when she herself was only a teenager, but I continue to be impressed by how well the book is written and how original and cleverly constructed the plot is.Elizabeth Is Missing
Needing a book to read on short notice (long story!), I pulled one out of my many TBR piles:
Precious Bane (1926) by British author Mary Webb. It's something of a now-neglected classic, a historical novel set in Shropshire, on the border between England and Wales, around the turn of the 19th century (one of my favorite eras for historical fiction). It's been on my radar since the early 80s, so I'm really glad for this chance to work it in.
I'm reading
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins as a participant in a common read in another group. Though I didn't anticipate this one in my reading plans at the start of the year, it's been on my to-read shelf for forever, so I'm very glad to have the motivation for reading it now!
I love The Moonstone! I've read it three times, so far.
Rosemarie wrote: "I love The Moonstone! I've read it three times, so far."It will be my first experience with Collins' long fiction. Up to now, I've only read a couple of his short stories (one of them co-written with his friend Charles Dickens).
Collins has written a lot of novels, so you have lots to choose from after The Moonstone, Werner.
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