tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post7782708979432868059..comments2024-03-29T03:04:00.853-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: The Portuguese Literature Challenge signoff with many thank-yousAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-58809303806296869892012-05-17T21:42:06.739-05:002012-05-17T21:42:06.739-05:00Yes that book was a lucky findYes that book was a lucky findMel uhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08714473754458914681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-23752496331759364592012-05-16T23:04:36.957-05:002012-05-16T23:04:36.957-05:00I doubt I would have read those non-Machado storie...I doubt I would have read those non-Machado stories if you had not come across them.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-43999917197212163192012-05-16T17:33:10.638-05:002012-05-16T17:33:10.638-05:00Because of your event, I was lead to read some ver...Because of your event, I was lead to read some very good older Brazilian short storiesMel uhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08714473754458914681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-86121560934334538012012-05-15T08:08:53.821-05:002012-05-15T08:08:53.821-05:00I almost agree about Victor Hugo. Those Futurist ...I almost agree about Victor Hugo. Those Futurist Brutalist whatever they are barricades in <i>Les Mis</i>, or, I don't know, the poet who falls in love not with a beautiful gypsy girl but with her goat. The guy was a kook!<br /><br />With some of these movements, the hijinks and anecdotes overshadow whatever anyone actually wrote.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-11058057945024464212012-05-14T23:46:50.877-05:002012-05-14T23:46:50.877-05:00Ho, ho, the Surrealists were always delightfully s...Ho, ho, the Surrealists were always delightfully shameless. "Victor Hugo est surrealiste quand il n'est pas bete," try that on for size. And taking naps in cafes, to get access to the unconscious mind. I like their hijinks as well as their literature, most of the time.Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00251983804060081813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-4883465041993352182012-05-14T14:51:24.188-05:002012-05-14T14:51:24.188-05:00Well, Miguel, the beauty of a Scottish-rules Chall...Well, Miguel, the beauty of a Scottish-rules Challenge is that I am the only one who has to keep up the concentration. I read thirty books, everyone else reads one. This is a good idea because of some reason I do not remember.<br /><br />The advantage of an Italian Challenge is that, if I were crazy enough, I could extend it back to the Quattrocento, or earlier, to Dante. Who is up for Ariosto & <i>The Book of the Courtier</i>? Good, good, good books. <br /><br />The 19th & early 20th century is plenty interesting, though. Amanda, <a href="http://simplerpastimes.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/one-hundred-a-miscellany/" rel="nofollow">I see</a>: <i>Pinocchio</i>, Lampedusa, Calvino, Sciascia, Eco. I have read all of the Italian books on that list except for Eco. Good, good, good books.<br /><br />I am surprised, Jenny, that Carroll did not shame the Surrealists into silence. What could they do that had not been done? But they were shameless, as writers must be to get anything done. My pleasure regarding the Machado.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-66888160014542247762012-05-14T13:57:57.327-05:002012-05-14T13:57:57.327-05:00I wrote a whole article on the way the French surr...I wrote a whole article on the way the French surrealists re-appropriated Lewis Carroll. Louis Aragon translated The Hunting of the Snark into French. It's marvelous. Sylvie and Bruno, too, and of course, signally, Alice: all the rules to be obeyed, but mad rules. <br /><br />Thanks for the spur to read Machado de Assis!Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00251983804060081813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-74592569553281053002012-05-14T13:51:03.606-05:002012-05-14T13:51:03.606-05:00I've enjoyed following along with your Portugu...I've enjoyed following along with your Portuguese challenge, albeit in silence. I've even found some more books to read eventually (Eça de Quierós especially). Selfishly, I'm hoping you'll try Italian literature next, as I'm developing an interest in literature from Italy, but I'm sure whatever you decide upon will be interesting. And perhaps injurious to my TBR list!amanda @ simplerpastimeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14127945915013121105noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-78477270107420348252012-05-13T07:59:19.307-05:002012-05-13T07:59:19.307-05:00I'm sorry to see the challenge end. Although I...I'm sorry to see the challenge end. Although I never properly joined it, I enjoyed reading your thoughts on Portuguese books and writers. Thanks a lot for bringing some attention to my country's literature.<br /><br />I'd like to see you tackle Italian literature, but I'm not sure I'd have the concentration to join you: I'm terrible at reading with a purpose. I like dispersed readings and never knowing what I'll read next.LMRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08538873868140070018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-73367389728257825312012-05-12T15:12:53.778-05:002012-05-12T15:12:53.778-05:00Those are all good ideas. I am as bad as everyone...Those are all good ideas. I am as bad as everyone I am complaining about - I have never read the <i>Sylvie and Bruno</i> books either, despite carting <i>The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll</i> around for years.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-28365415893921746032012-05-12T08:10:24.709-05:002012-05-12T08:10:24.709-05:00Yes, thanks for the Portuguese info; I'll be h...Yes, thanks for the Portuguese info; I'll be heading for some of these soon...<br /><br />Alice is nice, but I'd rather see you tackle "Sylvie and Bruno."<br /><br />Other suggestions: Hasek's "Good Soldier Svejk" and Potocki's "Manuscript Found in Saragossa."<br /><br />I point to these three because they're all long, sprawling, uneven, brilliant, problematic, and full of surprises. In other words, there's a lot to say about them.<br /><br />Your Italian suggestion is intriguing,though; I haven't read much 19th century Italian.Doug Skinnerhttp://www.dougskinner.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-17761539071891520142012-05-11T23:13:39.701-05:002012-05-11T23:13:39.701-05:00Wonderful, Rise. I actually feel the same way - I...Wonderful, Rise. I actually feel the same way - I want to get to the Euclides some day, and that last Machado novel, and a new Eça translation should be headed my way this summer - but it is time for the pace and emphasis to shift.<br /><br />To France, for a while, I guess.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-24977961551059955322012-05-11T21:14:50.917-05:002012-05-11T21:14:50.917-05:00Will look forward to any theme you'll pursue. ...Will look forward to any theme you'll pursue. I'm not finished with this challenge (<i>Disquiet</i>, <i>Rebellion in the Backlands</i>) but I enjoyed participating in it.Risehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17446964640160585194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-1279038004222361222012-05-11T20:14:25.363-05:002012-05-11T20:14:25.363-05:00Scott, there's more to come? I am patient.
I...Scott, there's more to come? I am patient.<br /><br />Italy would be a lot of fun. Giovanni Verga would get a lor of my attention. A return visit to Leopardi, certainly. Grazia Deledda and Gabrielle d'Annunzio sound interesting. A lot of good poets.<br /><br />Austrian literature of the period has the advantage of being more neurotic and outright nuts. Hungarian literature is a marvel, but I am afraid I would have to move too far out of the 19th century; a literature for later. Gyula Krúdy is early enough. Hmm, hmm.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-20473913247361305492012-05-11T17:54:06.270-05:002012-05-11T17:54:06.270-05:00Tom, what can I say? "Thanks!" is what I...Tom, what can I say? "Thanks!" is what I can say. I've immensely enjoyed your posts, the resulting comments, and being able to participate to some small extent (I've saved your Machado posts for later, when I eventually get to him). I regret that I posted nothing on Eça, but I'm entirely indebted to you for my getting to re-read <i>The Maias</i> and would almost certainly not have made it around to <i>The City and the Mountains</i> for some time without your comments on it. Both were just terrific, and among my very favorites among everything I've read since this thing started (somewhere I have a draft 1700 word post about the bookishness of those two books, but it is an unholy and irredeemable mess). <br /><br />As for your next project, I've no recommendations. I'd probably, by a narrow margin, take Italy over Austria in my current mood, kids' books over plays, maybe Hungary over all. But regardless of what you choose, I will certainly be tuning in - and hopefully turning on as well.seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-57455960494677658952012-05-11T17:01:46.131-05:002012-05-11T17:01:46.131-05:00An Alice readalong would be an easy one, wouldn...An <i>Alice</i> readalong would be an easy one, wouldn't it? Popular. Except I never see anyone reading the <i>Alice</i> books, much less anything else of Carroll's. Hmmm.<br /><br />I think you would find some peers for Musil, Richard, somewhere in the Austrian canon. Stifter! No, sorry, Kafka, I mean Kafka! Or Rilke. Or Karl Kraus - he would make a great followup to Musil.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-39845239201938163102012-05-11T16:10:08.054-05:002012-05-11T16:10:08.054-05:00Thanks for the Portuguese challenge, Tom--loads of...Thanks for the Portuguese challenge, Tom--loads of fun even though I'm still behind on that disquieting Pessoa tome (as usual). An Austrian challenge sounds great although I think everything else will be a letdown after I finally finish Musil's <em>The Man Without Qualities</em> (almost there, almost there). Most of your other ideas interest me, too, and I can personally vouch for <em>The Worst Journey in the World</em> at least. One of the best non-fiction works I've ever read both for the story and for the way the story's told.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-61764144024631728692012-05-11T16:05:01.276-05:002012-05-11T16:05:01.276-05:00I would read you reading Alice. I might read along...I would read you reading <i>Alice</i>. I might read along; it's been years.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-31482497483521603562012-05-11T15:52:54.071-05:002012-05-11T15:52:54.071-05:00My concern with an adventure book project is that ...My concern with an adventure book project is that I would become sated much too quickly. The <i>structure</i> of the books would often be so similar, however different the content. Spread out - a couple a year - it does not matter so much.<br /><br />But the content would be awfully varied, even given my usual restriction (so <i>Annapurna</i> and Messner would be much too late). Alps, Arctic, Antarctic, Africa, Arabia. Burton, Bird, Bingham, Nansen, I dunno, Teddy Roosevelt. Mark Twain. <i>Worst Journey</i>, definitely. Lotta variety.<br /><br />What tempts me most about the kiddie lit is that in a certain mood I will pick a children's book as the greatest novel of the 19th century (<i>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland</i>).Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-81392089942185658162012-05-11T13:44:23.588-05:002012-05-11T13:44:23.588-05:00Adventure books! You can start with Cherry-Garrard...Adventure books! You can start with Cherry-Garrard's <i>The Worst Journey in the World</i>. I haven't read it yet, but it sits and stares balefully at me from the shelf. And there are all those volumes of Shipton and Muir and that cranky old Messner, and Herzog's hagiography of himself on Annapurna! It could be fun. Though 19th-century children's lit would be interesting and you could probably do it justice.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.com