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Hardcore Literature Book Discussion (September 2021) (Patreon)

Published:
2021-09-01 18:47:47
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2026-06
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Dear Book Club Readers ---

You had a tremendous reading month in August.

The comments in the General Book Club Discussion threads are crammed with insights, and make for fun reading with a hot beverage in hand.

It is amazing to see just how much depth and variety there is on your bookshelves.

So, as summer slides into autumn, tell us what your September is looking like.

What are you reading at the moment? 

Let us know anything that's on your mind, your literary loves, and anything you wish to share or sharpen your thoughts about.

  • Short stories
  • Author details
  • Areas to explore
  • Your current Big Read
  • Questions about literature
  • Things you're finding difficult
  • Things you want to recommend
  • General life updates (we're interested)

This is the place to put anything bookish you like, and get other readers weighing in on your thoughts!

We've got such an amazing Book Club community that keeps growing thanks to your thoughtful meditations on the Great Books.

One only needs to read through the last few book discussion threads to see what a vibrant group of literature lovers we have here:

So thank you for being a part of the family, and I hope your month is filled with bookish adventures.

Happy reading!

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hardcoreliterature

Autumn is my favourite month. The leaves turn yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red (to quote Shelley). The air becomes crisp, tinged with melancholy and the musk of bonfires. Carnivals pop up, pumpkins grin from doorsteps, and fireworks paint the night sky. And, as I love to pair my reading with the season, I find myself revisiting the poetry of Keats and Hardy. I’m also reading a great history book - Stacy Schiff’s Cleopatra. I read this Pulitzer Prize winner’s ’The Witches’ many years ago (recommended), and have long looked forward to picking this one up. As I recently reread Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, I thought now would be a great time to dive in. I’ve also dipped into Dryden’s translation of Plutarch’s Lives, a great volume for lovers of History and Classics. The books currently taking up prime readerly real estate on my bedside table are: Richardson’s Clarissa, Melville’s Moby Dick, Dickens’ Pickwick Papers, and a graphic novelisation of Proust’s In Search of Lost Time (the illustrations are beautiful). In addition to rereading and relishing the books on the schedule, I find myself in the mood for dipping into two big coffee table hardback books with impressive visuals - a book of maps from fictional worlds, and a collection of Blake’s illuminated books.

Len Larsson

Hey everyone, it's the first day of Spring here in Australia. Aside from the book club reads, I am finishing off Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, and have started The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. As well as that I am investing in Keats and Hemingway following Ben's recommendations. I'm having so much fun. Hope everyone is keeping safe and well.

Bill Freeman

Arlington, Virginia - USA Ben et al., - I enjoy this monthly reporting. It crystalizes my reading, and I get great recommendations from others. Again, a profound bow to Michael Kwong for recommending “Rules For A Knight", by Ethan Hawke, which I read in July. August was a continuation of bookclub authors, some personal growth work, detours into great short stories, and the discovery of Cambodia-American author, Anthony Veasna So BOOKCLUB: Siddharta – In July, I read Marriott’s translation, but after hearing Ben’s reading from a podcast I bought and am slowly working through the Enriched Classic translation. This is a slow read underlining and reflecting. I see why Ben says this is a lifetime companion. I’m getting more out of this second read. Proust – In Search of Lost time is now lost on me. After being utterly bored listening to the book, I’ve stepped away. He’ll just have to long for his mother's affection without me for a while. Don Quixote – What a ride! With a daily fare of a chapter, I completed Part I and just began Part II. Delightfully delicious. PERSONAL GROWTH: The Breakthrough Experience by John Demartini – This continues work that I began in July with personal journaling. If anyone has a subscription to GAIA network, check out his two-part work. Falling Upward – This is by the renowned contemporary mystic Richard Rhor, an American Franciscan on the “two halves of life.” While I read it in 2011, this reread is a more meaningful dive. The Odyssey – Following Rohr's book (he repeatedly references Odysseus), I started a great translation of Homer’s “The Odyssey.” Amid six years of Latin, we read the book but all I remember was the anxiety of being called on to read and try to translate passages. The actual story escaped me. This is the 2018 translation by Emily Wilson, an Oxford-trained professor of classical studies at Univ. of Penn. She provides a contemporary translation yet remains faithful to the Greek without a "translation feel." I just finished Book 5 of 22 books. SHORT STORIES: Ben has introduced us to wonderful short stories, and they have become a Kindle before-sleep affair. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. Ben recommended, it’s great. “The Model Millionaire” by Oscar Wilde “The Fly” by Katherine Mansfield “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce – just masterful “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry “The Lottery Ticket” by Anton Chekov – be careful what you wish for; you might get it! Anthony Veasna So – “Afterparties: Stories.” For those who subscribe to Apple News (daily audio), a story about So was featured during the August 14th “Conversation.” Anthony was the son of Cambodian parents who escaped Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge genocide settling in California’s Central Valley. Anthony was an undergrad at Stanford switching out of computer science to study literature, earning an MFA from Syracuse University. He was an up-and-coming Gen Z voice with a freshness and authenticity. He died of a drug overdose last December. “Afterparties: Stories” was last month's posthumous publication of nine of his short stories. It is a glimpse into generational trauma, telescoped through daily life with the irrelevant humor of a young gay man who joins far too many who die before their time. Watch for this book to win awards. I highly recommend it. This is a great interview by his partner, "Before My Boyfriend Died Suddenly Last Year, We Were Two Writers In Love" : https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/alexgtorres/anthony-veasna-afterparties-boyfriend-alex-torres

Michael Kwong

I just posted this in the Emily Dickinson’s lecture but would like to repost it here :D Dickinson has been constantly in my head recently. Even though I do not understand any, it just feel so nice and soothing while reading her poems out loud. And I just wanted to share the feeling of cross-referencing different books and materials. Here I got Benjamin’s lecture, I am currently reading the chapter on Emily Dickinson from The Western Canon, I just finished the introduction of Dickinson from The Best Poems of the English Language (Bloom again!). I’m having the Everyman pocket poet edition of Dickinson’s poem on my bedside, and I just bought the Faber & Faber edition of The Complete Poem of Emily Dickinson :) I’m sounding like a crazy BUT IT JUST FEELS SO WONDERFUL!!! That’s the beauty of having all the great book surrounding you and you can pick up and read the relevant section whenever you want ❤️ Big read My current big read is Don Quixote and The Iliad. I’m a bit slow on Don Quixote, perhaps I am reading too many books at once. Just finished chapter 14, so am going to finish the first lecture very soon! The Iliad is very accessible! Even though I do not know some of the vocab, I can still understand the story. Just done book 1. Shakespeare I decided to start my Shakespeare journey, following Benjamin’s recommended order in his website with Hamlet being the first one :) Harold Bloom’s Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human just arrived at my door! I will follow Benjamin’s suggestion and read the relevant chapters before reading each play. I have also saved some plays on YouTube already to watch later :D Overall, I’m very happy with my reading now (my mom is definitely unhappy for my books keep piling up haha) Cheers!

Bill Freeman
>>67010273

Hi Michael - I have posted this a couple of times but wanted to make sure it saw it: "Again, a profound bow to Michael Kwong for recommending “Rules For A Knight", by Ethan Hawke, which I read in July." I am reading The Oddessy, translation by Emily Wilson. I see that you are reading the Illiad. I want to read that next. Could you please tell me the translation and year of publication? Take care - Bill

Caroline P
>>66989768

Hello Len, what did you think of Lincoln in the Bardo. I won’t say much since I see you are still finishing it..but do you like it? I totally love that book. It has a place in my favourites book shelf and I always have to go and just touch the spine when I see it in a book shop. I read it first time on a short break on my own to a Scottish castle hotel and sat in a gorgeous library in front of a fire reading it..so as well as loving the book, it brings back lovely memories too.

Caroline P

Hello book club friends. I am reading Don Quixote and loving it very much. As Michael also says, I am reading Shakespeare for the first time in 43 years. I sort of feel I have wasted 43 years of reading because I am being blown away by what I have read so far. I read Macbeth, persuaded my husband to read it and have just finished Hamlet yesterday. In my total ignorance I just didn’t realise how Shakespeare is at the root of our society today in so many ways..how we speak and how we make sense of things. I have the Harold Bloom Invention of the human and am finding that amazing. I was going to start King Lear next but I might try Much Ado first..but first I need a few days to let Hamlet settle. It takes me ages to slowly read and understand and then some time to think about the play when it is finished. I watched the Kenneth Branagh film version of Hamlet. How gloriously it is filmed! I heard the abundance of mirrors caused troubles for lighting and filming but found that very impactful. Kenneth does rather ignore the section (that he speaks very eloquently) about How to Act in Easy Steps in Act 3 scene 2 though. Especially at the end of the film. But I did love it and watched after reading the play. I can’t get the Much Ado film by Kenneth Branagh on iTunes so am looking at one by Joss Whedon..does anyone know if that is good? I am listening to the Odyssey (translated by Emily Wilson). I read this last year and it is lovely to hear it again. I love the first lines too ‘ Tell me about a complicated man. Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost….’etc As to other things..I never get to go to the theatre because I live in an area that doesn’t have too much of that going on..but I just booked to go and see the Mirror and the Light, the third book by Hilary Mantel, on the stage in October in London. Quite excited about that. And Macbeth at a theatre in the next county too. That’s it. Looking forward to my area being quieter next week when the children go back to school. It has been far too peopley at the coast where I live this year…tho I know everyone needed a nice holiday.

Caroline P
>>66991245

Hell Bill, isn’t Emily Wilson’s translation brilliant. I am enjoying a reread too, well I read it before and now am listening. I agree with your comments. I always fail to get round to short stories but I think I am going to try your time slot (before bed). I like your list above for this past month.

Caroline P

Ps just to add..I heard Emily Wilson is working on the Iliad. I haven’t read that and hope she gets it done soon, though translating it must be a daunting job. Talking of daunting… my copy of Les Miserable came yesterday…it is rather…ummmm enoooooormous. Does anyone else feel a bit nervous about it. It is sitting on the table beside me and if it wasn’t so huge, I would be able to ignore it

Bill Freeman
>>67035525

Caroline - I just saw that Emily Wilson is working on the Iliad. I was going to reach out to her through her publisher. I wonder when that will be ready. Where did you get the link for Wilson's audio? I have ordered Les Miserable. I had a lot of anxiety about "big books" and we started with Anna Karenina, a tome. One bite at a time.

Dawn

I’m still chugging away at my US presidential biographies. I’m on James Buchanan, 15th president. Honestly, it’s a snoozefest and I’m not sure if it’s the president or the biographer. I’m looking forward to Lincoln next. I have about ¼ left on Anna Karenina for this book club. It’s always been one of my top 3 favorites and I’m really getting a lot out of being able to listen, read, and take part in conversation this time around. I appreciate Ben keeping the back catalog up and conversation going. Great Courses are on sale for Audible subscribers for only $10 so I snagged a group of literary lectures. The Russian Literature one is decent. It’s probably about 75% just summarizing books and 25% actual context and analysis. What I’ve enjoyed most is hearing some of Pushkin’s work in the original Russian language. I don’t understand the words but the sound and structure is pretty magical. I’m enjoying my Bradbury-inspired one essay, one short story, one poem a day. I’m reading classic American short stories and American essays from colonial times because they compliment the time periods of the presidential biographies. And for poetry I’m ready Sylvia Plath. The Applicant has been my favorite so far. It’s short and worth a bit of analysis if anyone is interested.

hardcoreliterature

I'm popping in again because I've just returned from one of the best secondhand bookstores I've ever visited. The last time I visited was many, many years ago, and I was pleasantly surprised to see it still there. I could have left with a huge haul, but exercised some restraint. I took two volumes from the window display: early editions of Sylvia Plath's Ariel and Jack Kerouac's Tristessa. I also nabbed the old two volume Everyman set of Don Quixote, with knight errant, squire, and windmills on the cover of volume one, and Don Quixote chastising Sancho on the cover of volume two. Also a delightful volume of criticism on Charles Dickens by F.R. Leavis (for just £1.50). There were signed first editions of Kazuo Ishiguro with a special cover (blue instead of red), and signed editions of Murakami's latest short story collection. There were pristine Folio Society editions for £3 a volume. There were positively ANCIENT, but beautiful, volumes of Byron and George Eliot. And the Shakespeare - my goodness. I may have to return. In particular, a three volume, leather-bound, hardback, gilt edged set replete with illustrations every other page. Magical. I recorded my visit and hope to share it soon :)

Pablo

Ah yes... 😊 I’ll have to concur with Ben that likewise Autumn is my favourite season too: The last echoes of summer, clear skies, bright days, cooler temperatures and those great colours everywhere. Much better than sweltering in the heat to me – Probably somewhat sacrilegious to say that as a Britain, but hey, that’s my take on it! 😉 So, what am I reading? Well, I’ve had a bit of a renaissance with revisiting reading some philosophy and a bit of non-fiction this year. I have finished several seminal stoic texts over the course of the summer, I still have a ‘Daily Stoic’ reading curtesy of Ryan Holliday every day until the early part of 2022. This is a lovely bite sized piece of thought fertiliser to kick the days off and reflect upon for me. Short story wise I’m revisiting ‘Dubliners’ by James Joyce, I conclude that I must of rushed this one the fist time I read it as I’m getting a lot more out of this time around, although widely touted as the most accessible of Joyce’s books it is making be consider [finally} finishing Ulysses, but equally I might bottle out and schedule in ‘A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man’ as a bit of a stepping stone prior to that. My current big read is Moby-Dick, which I rested a bit over the summer season whilst reading the aforementioned philosophical ditties. I must admit that I do feel like it’s going to need a thorough re-reading already... I’m only around 2/5ths of the way through that, and there’s such a lot of details, references and other content to go at, a fantastically rich, deep, quirky text to be sure – Is it ‘The Great American Novel’ what do you guys think? If not, what would your call for that moniker be? I picked up Mortimer Adler’s “How to Read a Book” based upon the recommendation given here, with the idea of upping my reading game somewhat, and am planning to twin that development of skills with getting serious on marginalia, analogue note taking and journaling over the autumn and winter seasons. To my shame I don’t read nearly enough poetry (recommendations would be welcome!). However, I do keep dipping into a little vintage compendium that I picked up called a ‘Tramp's Anthology’ Stephen Graham. It’s a collection of different poetry from various sources compiled in the 1920’s. He’s a really interesting fellow to read in his own right, a turn of the century minimalist and wandering outdoorsman; [to me] a fascinating character all round. Another of his books that I have read describes his adventures during a pilgrimage with orthodox Christians thorough pre-revolutionary Russia to Jerusalem. A window into a very different world indeed, I recommend his stuff, very unique and quaint. Lifestyle update: I potentially have covid it seems, that’s a bit of a downer ☹ Still, I took those vaccinations like the government told me too so hopefully a short time with a bit of a bad cold rather that something more sinister and lingering for me please chef. Along with Caroline and Bill I have a copy ‘Les Misérables’ at the ready, excited about that, haven’t read any Hugo since I read ‘The Hunchback of Notre-dame’ which I borrowed from my grandparents’ bookshelf in my early teens – Viva la Revolution my hardcore literature comrades!

Dawn
>>67046546

Great haul. I'm reading Ariel right now. I read all of Kerouac's stuff and was pretty obsessed with the Beats for a while. Sadly, most of those books didn't survive my last shelf purge. I had to make room for other things.

Pablo

Ah yes... 😊 I’ll have to concur with Ben that likewise Autumn is my favourite season too: The last echoes of summer, clear skies, bright days, cooler temperatures and those great colours everywhere. Much better than sweltering in the heat to me – Probably somewhat sacrilegious to say that as a Britain, but hey, that’s my take on it! 😉 So, what am I reading? Well, I’ve had a bit of a renaissance with revisiting reading some philosophy and non-fiction this year. I have finished several seminal stoic texts over the course of the summer, I still have a ‘Daily Stoic’ reading curtesy of Ryan Holliday every day until the early part of 2022. This is a lovely bite sized piece of thought fertiliser to kick the days off and reflect upon for me. Short story wise I’m revisiting ‘Dubliners’ by James Joyce, I conclude that I must of rushed this one the fist time I read it as I’m getting a lot more out of this time around, although widely touted as the most accessible of Joyce’s books it is making be consider [finally} finishing Ulysses, but equally I might bottle out and schedule in ‘A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man’ as a bit of a stepping stone prior to that. My current big read is Moby-Dick, which I rested a bit over the summer season whilst reading the aforementioned philosophical ditties. I must admit that I do feel like it’s going to need a thorough re-reading already... I’m only around 2/5ths of the way through that, and there’s such a lot of details, references and other content to go at, a fantastically rich, deep, quirky text to be sure – Is it ‘The Great American Novel’ what do you guys think? If not, what would your call for that moniker be? I picked up Mortimer Adler’s “How to Read a Book” based upon the recommendation given here, with the idea of upping my reading game somewhat, and am planning to twin that development of skills with getting serious on marginalia, analogue note taking and journaling over the autumn and winter seasons. To my shame I don’t read nearly enough poetry (recommendations would be welcome!). However, I do keep dipping into a little vintage compendium that I picked up called a ‘Tramp's Anthology’ Stephen Graham. It’s a collection of different poetry from various sources compiled in the 1920’s. He’s a really interesting fellow to read in his own right, a turn of the century minimalist and wandering outdoorsman; [to me] a fascinating character all round. Another of his books that I have read describes his adventures during a pilgrimage with orthodox Christians thorough pre-revolutionary Russia to Jerusalem. A window into a very different world indeed, I recommend his stuff, very unique and quaint. Lifestyle update: I potentially have covid it seems, that’s a bit of a downer ☹ Still, I took those vaccinations like the government told me too so hopefully a short time with a bit of a bad cold rather that something more sinister and lingering for me please chef. Along with Caroline and Bill I have a copy ‘Les Miserables’ at the ready, excited about that, haven’t read any Hugo since I read ‘The Hunchback of Notre-dame’ which I borrowed from my grandparents’ bookshelf in my early teens – Viva la Revolution my hardcore literature comrades!

hardcoreliterature
>>67034660

I cannot express just how incredibly happy I am to hear so many readers coming to Shakespeare (and Homer and Cervantes too, of course). It was always a strong central aim of mine when starting the club to pique some curiosity about Shakespeare, and it seems to be going rather well! You'll all be so comfortable with his work by the time we start deep-diving! Much Ado has been my favourite ever since I first came to Shakespeare. It's a lot lighter than Hamlet and King Lear, but certainly has its tragic moments. I see it being comparable with Othello, and it could quite easily veer off into tragic territory at points in the story. The thing that holds the play together for me is the witty repartee between Beatrice and Benedict. Branagh's Much Ado is a good one, but Joss Whedon did an okay job with it too. I respect the modern cool aesthetic he was going for. I think some may really like this version, and some may not. The Mirror and the Light and Macbeth should be a good experience! It's been so long since I've visited the theatre. I was supposed to see Hamilton for my birthday, and the Les Misérables stage adaptation (never seen it, funnily enough), but lockdown cancelled them and I have yet to go back since then. I do hope the theatre scene manages to recover, as there are few places as magical - waiting in the foyer beforehand, flipping through the programme as the lights dim, talking about the play during intermission at the bar. Wonderful stuff :)

hardcoreliterature
>>67043211

Lincoln should make for a great read! It might be a little while off, but when you come to Theodore Roosevelt, you may like to check out Edmund Morris' works on him. I read The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt a few years back and found it fascinating. I'm so glad you're enjoying Anna Karenina and the ongoing conversation. I'm quite committed to keeping the conversation around the back catalogue going, as these are some of my personal favourite books of all time and our relationship with them continues to change across our lives and as we talk about them with other people! The Great Courses is superb. I'm subscribed to their "Plus" streaming service and have been using some lectures to learn Ancient Greek. I believe their Russian series has Irwin Weil at the helms? A man who speaks with great love about Dostoyevsky. Great to hear you're doing the Bradbury Trio too! As for Sylvia Plath, I regret not picking up several of her works the other day. I grabbed 'Ariel' but I'm considering returning to pick up 'The Colossus' :)

hardcoreliterature
>>67070797

Wow! Thank you for sharing your goldmine of a reading list, Pablo. I had the Daily Stoic journal a few years back and think Ryan did a great job to promote the Stoics. We just need someone getting Aristotle, ethics, and virtues back into fashion too! It's great to see you're deep-diving into Joyce. I would be keen to know if you have a favourite short story from Dubliners so far? I plan to do a video on 'Eveline' soon. Also - any plans to tackle Finnegans Wake? ;) Personally I think Moby Dick is the Great American Novel. Dickinson and Whitman are Mother and Father of American Poetry. Without Melville's epic prose poem, would we have the works of Faulkner or Cormac McCarthy? I find Moby Dick to be incredibly sumptuous, and I feel as though I know the characters intimately. There are many chapters that beg for obsessive and continuous rereads, and to be read aloud. I don't wish to give away next year's schedule just yet but... Moby Dick will be appearing early in the year, and I'm incredibly excited. I'm sorry to hear about you getting sick. Hopefully some of these big books can keep you company whilst you recover. I do hate getting sick, and it happens rarely, but when I do I try to relish the time (despite feeling crummy) as I can be horizontal with a stack of great books to wade through. I hope you feel better soon, Pablo!

Sharon xx

Hi everyone - Happy September :) So that was the summer huh? Perfect for a very blonde sun phobe like me but fairly rubbish for everyone else. So, in personal news, my son Ethan did well in his GCSE's [given the bizarre Covid experience that were his last two years at school] and is about to enter sixth form to study English Literature and a Diploma in Sport - this will equate to three A Levels as the Sport is a double award. He's also just had his Prom, six weeks late again due to Covid but at least it was postponed and not cancelled and he looked amazing and had a complete blast. Our trip to Oxford was wonderful - three hours in Blackwell's bookstore followed by an Anniversary meal at, The Folly by the banks of the river. The food was out of this world and the staff were so lovely to us. HLBC Reading: - I've just finished AK - oh yes [victory dance] and I've left a comment on the Part 8 lecture so I won't bore you with that again here but suffice to say it was totally worth the effort. I'm now left wanting to read, War & Peace and also the non-fiction Tolstoy, A Russian Life by Rosamund Bartlett to find out more about the man himself. Proust - I need to watch the latest lecture on The Goodnight Kiss [I've found his whole quest to spend time with his Mama really sad :( ] but I'm not much further forward with reading it as AK has taken precedence. I intend to watch the Keats' lecture next and I'm still 'doing' Sonnets but, other than that, I'm all caught up for book club titles, just in time to start Les Mis which was always my long-term plan. Personal reading:- I've just finished, Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. I love a bit of Fantasy Realism and if it has a bit of crime thrown in then even better. I'm halfway through, Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness - this is a reread. I'm also halfway through, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte - a souvenir from my trip to The Bronte Parsonage. Bleak House by Charles Dickens is moving along nicely - I'm still trying to time it so I finish it just as we start the Christmas Dickens [whatever that's going to be ;) ] I always need a Dickens on the go. So, that's it for this month. Short and sweet but I'm feeling quite acomplished given my limited free time. Wishing you all a wonderful September with lots of bookish content. Hugs - Sharon x

Michael Kwong

ahh, having all the smart and well-read members here, I should have asked this earlier: is there any good way to learn vocabularies? I'm from HK so I'm not a native speaker. With all the great books, poems, plays, and many other literary works, there are just too many new words I have never encountered before. Even though dictionary is handy, it is always great if I can know the words immediately! Would love to hear some thoughts from all of you! Cheers~

Florian Pesantes
>>67238584

Dear Michael. I had to live of a suitcase for years so I got quite used to my kindle app for reading. Recently I’ve rediscovered the joy of reading from printed books. But I still like to use kindle for languages I don’t know the vocabulary good enough to read through smoothly. It’s so comfortable to just press on a word and get the translation immediately. That’s a technique for reading. If you really want a word to stick in your memory, hard for me to say. Writing it. With a sentence or two for context. Looking up the etymology. Trying to pair a visual clip, something that comes to your mind. Benjamin will probably have some good advice for you in one of his YouTube videos or podcasts.

Bill Freeman
>>67229603

Sharon - Wasn't AK amazing? I joined the bookclub in February (2021) and it was my maiden-voyage read. I'd never read it before and truly was blown away. It is my all time favorite fiction book. I still pull it off the shelf and reread parts of it. Do you have any favorite parts? I particularly liked the ice rink and Levin and Kitty's church wedding scene. Yours? Hugs, back! - Bill

Caroline P

Just dropping in because, even though I never seem to see anything in the Womens Prize for fiction that I like, I am very happy indeed that Piranesi just won…Borges vibes (though clearly not in that order of magnitude for greatness)but I thought it was original and brave.

Scott W

Hi everyone.. some very interesting updates here, I'm excited to see so many of you reading Homer and Shakespeare. Looks like I found where I've been looking for! :) Now my son is back to school not only is (still) working from home much easier, but so is finding time to read. I've just finished reading Inferno by Dante (trans. Hollander), which I found to be a wonderful experience. There is so much packed into this poem, I am very, very impressed and excited to read Purgatorio at some point. I think the Hollander translation is both readable and satisfyingly poetic, and the explanatory notes are very interesting. I feel I could spend a year reading only The Divine Comedy and all the extra-curricular rabbit holes it throws up.. For the next couple of weeks I will be reading Harold Bloom's Take Arms Against a Sea of Troubles and some poetry by John Keats. I've also just dug out my used copy of Les Miserables ready to get started on that later this month. I am looking forward to meeting you all and discussing some great books together.

hardcoreliterature
>>67445416

Very nice! This one intrigues me and has great reviews. I must finish up my current book prize winner (Ishiguro), then I'll check this one out :) Borges-vibes sells it for me!

hardcoreliterature
>>67453718

I've been so thrilled to see just how many readers here are coming to Homer and Shakespeare in a huge way. There is a strong movement of readers discussing the best Odyssey translation (Bill even reached out to Emily Wilson and got a response!) and readers making their way through the tragedies. I couldn't be happier :) Dante seems to be getting a lot of love here too! Take Arms Against a Sea of Troubles is tremendous. This weighty Bloom came out posthumously during our last lockdown, and I have fond memories of reading it and exploring the poetry he discussed. His chapters on Browning and Keats were particular favourites of mine :)

Caroline P
>>67445416

Ben, do tell me when you finish Klara and the Sun. I have a burning question but it is a bit of a spoiler so I won’t ask yet.