tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post4957577465359992999..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: Book reading indeed requires good intentions - Wuthering Expectations in 2017Amateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-61933224907240463442017-01-09T10:08:25.547-06:002017-01-09T10:08:25.547-06:00The advice to skim is anti-literature, anti-art, a...The advice to skim is anti-literature, anti-art, anti-Tolstoy, anti-etc. Not that important! First learn how to read military history - some time with John Keegan's <i>The Face of Battle</i> - maybe that would go on my "how to."<br /><br />Maybe the loose, baggy monster aspect of <i>War and Peace</i> makes it more bloggable, but I am not convinced that it is actually so loose and baggy. Whatever that means.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-5860221456525502602017-01-09T09:49:00.305-06:002017-01-09T09:49:00.305-06:00I'm planning a War and Peace readalong for the...I'm planning a War and Peace readalong for the summer. It'll be my first time, so hopefully the blogability won't be too bad! So far I'm reading a few "how to read W&P" articles, which alternately advise me to skim the "war" parts, because they aren't that important, or, don't skim the war parts. I'm not a skimmer so I know which side I'll fall on here :)Laurahttp://reading-in-bed.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-2016885249154587072017-01-08T17:15:31.571-06:002017-01-08T17:15:31.571-06:00I am already eager.I am already eager.Bellezza https://www.blogger.com/profile/18073864187188953633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-34461606437175884692017-01-08T15:24:35.786-06:002017-01-08T15:24:35.786-06:00Sure! Spring, summer, around then, let's say....Sure! Spring, summer, around then, let's say. Toothache time!Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-40204876894446796062017-01-08T13:08:36.323-06:002017-01-08T13:08:36.323-06:00Should you reread Anna Karenina again, may I join ...Should you reread Anna Karenina again, may I join you? I have read it four or five times, but I never tire of it. In fact, I yearn for Tolstoy fairly regularly.Bellezza https://www.blogger.com/profile/18073864187188953633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-20514186259836002902017-01-07T13:11:03.386-06:002017-01-07T13:11:03.386-06:00There is a line in Princess Casamassima, basically...There is a line in <i>Princess Casamassima</i>, basically a list of names, that is so funny I will be sure to use it when I write about that book. What galls me is that James <i>complains</i> about Trollope's joke names, but I take that as some kind of deflection.<br /><br />Emma, thanks. Sometime my posts are too difficult for me to follow, too. And then look we all see what happens. But I walk away from the crash and try again.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-11433727112700962292017-01-07T12:47:25.538-06:002017-01-07T12:47:25.538-06:00I wish you a great reading year.
I try to read y...I wish you a great reading year. <br /><br />I try to read your posts but it's often too difficult for me to follow entirely so I rarely comment. <br /><br />I'll still follow your reading adventures in 2017. <br /><br />Emmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09716351799835873036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-46381619911947612952017-01-07T11:49:08.788-06:002017-01-07T11:49:08.788-06:00Late James seems to have loved playing games of th...Late James seems to have loved playing games of the "did he or didn't he intend for this name to be allusive" kind with his readers, and not just the more crass ones like Fanny and Bob Assingham. For example, according to ancient astrology, the zodiac signs “de feu et d’air sont Stant et malefiques, et les signes de terre et d’eau sont Iacent et benefiques." Now this is suggestive because Adam, of course, means red earth, and as for Margaret (Maggie), it means pearl. Cleanthesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15363416290397892659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-73546884130712052017-01-06T23:57:26.520-06:002017-01-06T23:57:26.520-06:00"Range" is purely the result of temperam..."Range" is purely the result of temperament. I'm out towards the edge of extensive reading, I've learned that. That's all.<br /><br />Those James novels - three in a year - I dunno. But I'll try.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-1543264328481387882017-01-06T17:28:29.033-06:002017-01-06T17:28:29.033-06:00The range of your reading makes mine seem rather i...The range of your reading makes mine seem rather impoverished in comparison. <br /><br />I very much look forward to what you make of "Conrad, Wharton, James; Lawrence, Kafka, Proust". And, of course, those two big Tolstoys. I am due another re-read of W&P myself: it has been too long since the last one. And yes, do please write about the art: there are ideas in the novels, certainly, but they are by no mean philosophical treatises dressed up as novels.<br /><br />I'd be particularly interested in what you make of The Golden Bowl. I think I have a reasonable understanding of The Ambassadors and the Wings of the Dove, but The Golden Bowl continues to elude me. Perhaps it's meant to - I really don't know.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-77164735442681986582017-01-06T09:12:49.225-06:002017-01-06T09:12:49.225-06:00Thanks. That sounds like an inspirational pile of...Thanks. That sounds like an inspirational pile of books.<br /><br />I will bet I do not get to Proust or Kafka this year, but who knows how they will tempt me. Old friends.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-74915122890535803702017-01-06T03:30:49.691-06:002017-01-06T03:30:49.691-06:00From someone who genuinely has forgotten how to wr...From someone who genuinely has forgotten how to write (or at least the art of finishing blog posts) you remain a beacon. I have a Crime and Punishment reread lined up as part of a classic book group I have joined at my local library. It has me reading 19th century fiction Jane Eyre/Silas Marner/Christmas Carol. C&P is the most ambitious so far but it may lead me to feel the need to read a bit more deeply into the 19th C. However, I am far more drawn to chaos than order and may just react by reading a pile of recent fiction to balance the 'classics'. Whatever happens with my own reading I look forward as ever to reading Wuthering Expectations, particularly on Kafka and Proust (& Lorca and Eliot and Yeats...) I think I'll try to read a couple of James' novels as well. He intrigues me rather than inspiring love but I did really enjoy Washington Square. It's a long time since I read one of his later novels.Séamus Dugganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00574186409184247059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-90365881202128723272017-01-05T20:13:37.721-06:002017-01-05T20:13:37.721-06:00Incredibly bored! Boy oh boy, that is not me. Pe...Incredibly bored! Boy oh boy, that is not me. Perhaps it is relevant that I don't know what to do with the ethical or philosophical arguments of any of these books.<br /><br />When I write about <i>Anna Karenina</i>, I predict it's going to be nothing but art, art, art, like when I write about Flaubert.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-18376638455098828292017-01-05T18:56:59.030-06:002017-01-05T18:56:59.030-06:00Interesting that that guy came to War and Peace th...Interesting that that guy came to War and Peace through Tolstoy's political/religious writings, rather than the other way around!<br /><br />I instinctively cringe at comparing Daniel Deronda and Anna Karenina, as I love the first and was incredibly bored by the second. But one similarity between them is that the characters who do the opposite of what the novelist considers best are the most vivid- Anna and not just Gwendolen but the Princess Halm-Eberstein/Daniel's mom, who sums up everything that can be said against Eliot's focus on roots and place and the need for specificity (as exemplified in the novel by Judaism). I found Daniel a lot more interesting than Levin, though.<br /><br />Note that in both W & P and Anna Karenina, life-changing wisdom is transmitted by a peasant called Platon. Not terribly subtle.<br /><br />Personally I find W & P a lot more interesting than AK--it's a bildungsroman at three different ages at once.mayareadsbookshttp://mayareadsbooks.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-13154081121593104422017-01-05T11:37:12.798-06:002017-01-05T11:37:12.798-06:00W&P as a devotional! Although I think it only...<i>W&P</i> as a devotional! Although I think it only works for someone who has read the book several times. For some of us, it is still a page-turner - the limit of a chapter a day would chafe.<br /><br />Thanks for the pointer.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-4091949005602489402017-01-05T11:01:28.410-06:002017-01-05T11:01:28.410-06:00(About W&P, that is!)(About W&P, that is!)Languagehathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285708503881129380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-65220334672969152642017-01-05T08:25:02.041-06:002017-01-05T08:25:02.041-06:00It's nice to have a fellow chronological slogg...It's nice to have a fellow chronological slogger/blogger! As for W&P, you might find <a href="http://blog.oup.com/2017/01/reading-war-and-peace/" rel="nofollow">this</a> of interest. Like kaggsy, I look forward to your posts about it.Languagehathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285708503881129380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-16490056012562624122017-01-04T21:18:39.458-06:002017-01-04T21:18:39.458-06:00I'll give it a shot - if only I were a better ...I'll give it a shot - if only I were a better reader of Eliot. In most moods, I take <i>Anna Karenina</i> as the high point of the art of the novel.<br /><br />Those three late James novels are the big goals of the year. At least two of them. Maybe all three.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-77223740871405224352017-01-04T17:25:14.022-06:002017-01-04T17:25:14.022-06:00As you prepare for Anna Karenina, consider at leas...As you prepare for Anna Karenina, consider at least revisiting your thoughts about Daniel Deronda, a book with a similar construction, and similar brilliance and structural problems, two novels barely able to carry the weight of their philosophical arguments, yet both among the towering achievements of the late 19th century. And, well--are any novels more fraught with problems--and greatness--than the three towering novels of the late James's grand style?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00014242874264804584noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-88710765078014083082017-01-04T15:04:53.427-06:002017-01-04T15:04:53.427-06:00Thanks, happy New Year.
Reading more Saki is a go...Thanks, happy New Year.<br /><br />Reading more Saki is a good idea, but I will sometimes feel that I will never have as good an idea as Mummified Cat Week, or Golem Week, or a number of other pieces form the increasingly distant past.<br /><br />Munro's death - what a blow. What a shock.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-39228634595832307792017-01-04T13:20:30.257-06:002017-01-04T13:20:30.257-06:00Happy new year!
If there are no more mummified c...Happy new year! <br /><br />If there are no more mummified cats left, there's always that magnificent un-mum-mified cat, Tobermory. Tobermory's creator, Saki, died a hundred years ago, give or take a month or two.Cleanthesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15363416290397892659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-60848689606920060362017-01-04T11:37:28.923-06:002017-01-04T11:37:28.923-06:00I wish I knew how to loosen up the commenting. I ...I wish I knew how to loosen up the commenting. I make it as friendly as the software allows, I think. Maybe I should create a shell Wordpress account and see what the obstacle is.<br /><br />Maybe I will treat <i>War and Peace</i> like a series of four separate novels. Or even better, fifteen novellas. That doesn't sound so daunting. I don't believe that <i>W&P</i> is as complexly made as <i>Anna Karenina</i>, but I fear that, unable to handle the mass of the thing, I will never really know.<br /><br />How I wish I <i>had</i> more mummified cat content.<br /><br />Chronology is not the only to organize books, not at all, but I would urge anyone with the temperament to do it to carve out some favorite chunk of literary history and give it a try, like 1streading says. See what happens.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-36966035120787985632017-01-04T11:09:34.801-06:002017-01-04T11:09:34.801-06:00Happy New Year to you, Tom. I don't mean to c...Happy New Year to you, Tom. I don't mean to complain, but it's been an <em>awfully</em> long time since you added any new mummified cats content. Your new plans sound as interesting as usual, though, so I'll thank you in advance for your action-packed entertainment & edification hijinks with or without any new mummified cats action. Loved your quip about "the dreaded, beloved Late James," by the way. Nicely played.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-21833914237147286462017-01-04T10:10:28.088-06:002017-01-04T10:10:28.088-06:00Always love reading your posts even if I don't...Always love reading your posts even if I don't always comment (it's not easy cross-platform). Look forward to your thoughts on War and Peace!<br /><br />kaggsysbookishramblingsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-16941490722484959422017-01-04T09:58:59.858-06:002017-01-04T09:58:59.858-06:00I once did a similar, though far less thorough, re...I once did a similar, though far less thorough, read through English literature chronologically (no literature in translation or poetry). I notice I stopped at 1864, not quite making it to the end of Dickens. My plans at the time only made it as far as The Turn of the Screw so I'll be very interested to see what you read of the 20th century.1streadinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17546473277895842785noreply@blogger.com