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Hardcore Literature Book Discussion (October 2021) (Patreon)

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2021-10-03 08:00:04
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Dear Book Club Readers ---

You had another tremendous reading month in September.

The comments in the General Book Club Discussion threads are always so insightful and inspiring. They're a great companion to one's morning coffee.

So, now that autumn is here, tell us what your October 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.

Reading through the last few book discussion threads, one can 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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Comments

Nat Green

Hello everyone, my name is Nat from Cornwall, UK and I have only just joined up to the club, so I thought I would say hi! I am extremely shy, so please forgive me if I mainly just loiter without saying much, I find it really hard to talk to people, and to express my opinions. I am currently reading 'Nicholas Nickleby' by Charles Dickens which I am thoroughly enjoying, my plan is to work my way through all of his works - it will be fun! I am over half way through that book now, so once I have finished that, I plan on picking up 'Gothic Tales' by Elizabeth Gaskell - perfect for this time of year. It is a really gloomy, rainy morning here in Cornwall, so I plan on getting a cup of tea and reading my book, and looking through the huge amount of content, thankyou so much Benjamin, for all the work you have put in. I actually already have 'Siddhartha' on my kindle, so I may well start reading that today also, and checking out the lectures on that. I read 'Les Miserables' last autumn, so I will come back to those lectures when I feel ready to re-read it. I would like to hopefully get to the poetry lectures soon also. I will be joining in with the Halloween reads later this month, and Middlemarch is a book I have wanted to read for ages, so will be joining in with that too. I just feel very excited about this corner of the internet that I have discovered, I am looking forward to learning lots about some wonderful books. I hope everyone has a wonderful day, and I apologise for the very long comment!

Scott W

September saw me find a rhythm again with my reading once my son was back at school. It has been good to get into my chair at the usual time for some 'me' time. It was also the first month I've spent with this club, and it has been a very enriching experience to discuss our reading and other topics with you all. Thank you! In September I finished Dante's Inferno, and now I am finishing The Thebaid by Statius, which I decided to read as Statius is a guide to Dante in Purgatorio, which I will be reading in October. For those who haven't read it, The Thebaid (A Song of Thebes) describes the events leading up to the death of Antigone's brothers, Polynices and Eteocles, at the battle of Thebes. It is a gripping tale of fratricide and civil war, and was written in the 1st C. CE by Statius, a Greco-Roman poet. The dead are more present and active in Satius than in Homer. It is more graphic than The Iliad in some of its battles. There is a lot of mythology here, altered in some ways by it being a Roman text, and by Statius who seems to have been more willing to re-write and invent myth more than Virgil. I read Homer and Virgil and Sophocles' Antigone earlier this year, all for the first time, so this book continues that thread and also segues nicely into my reading of The Divine Comedy. I can't wait to see how Dante presents Statius. I read the chapters about authors I was familiar with in Blooms' Take Arms Against a Sea of Troubles. I enjoyed the Keats chapters especially as I was reading more of his poetry in September than I previously had. His Odes are of course very good, and I also enjoyed The Fall of Hyperion very much; I wish he had had time to finish it. Bloom's is a difficult book, as Ben said it was. It is not as 'entry level' in the way How to Read and Why could be considered, but I found it to be stretching and interesting and I am very glad to have it on the shelf as with any of Bloom's books. When I have read more Dante, I will return to those chapters. Same for Browning.. Keats inspired me to (re)learn more about the Romantics and so now I am reading Lyrical Ballads. I am really enjoying it. I read a couple of poems a couple of times each evening and sometimes one in the morning. I have recently set screen time limits on my phone so it is not the first and last thing I am doing each day and night, and the result is.. I am reading some wonderful poetry instead. I'd call that a win! I haven't read any Wordsworth before, really, and I am surprised how much I like him. I must have picked up some subtle biases about him somewhere because I do think I've avoided him, but these are wonderful, very interesting, all different in some way. Beautiful imagery, rhyme I do not find intrusive, and some wonderful tales of very real feeling people with real stories to tell. I am loving this book and have hopes to read more poetry now in these morning and late night slots where I have been looking at my phone before! I am reading Les Mis with you all. I have finished Part One: Fantine. I am really enjoying reading it and all the discussion with the group and watching Ben's videos. Thank you everyone, it is a more special reading this time than the first time I got halfway through. It is quite a different experience too, as a parent now. I am a different person to before, and so it is quite a different book. I don't think Hugo and I would have seen quite eye to eye were he with us today, but that's ok, and in fact it's part of what reading should bring to us, a challenge to change. Do we remain the same in light of experiencing each book, or does it change us in some way, and if so, how? I am loving this club and can't wait to see what you've all been reading. Thank you Ben and everyone! I won't be reading the halloween reads as I've read them both relatively recently, so I'll see you in the discussions. I am writing a ghost story for the end of month. I have some essays by Emerson and Hazlitt which I will read some of between other books this month. That will be the start of my approach to fit in more essays to my reading.

Scott W
>>69052868

Hi Nat and welcome! I'm also new. Don't worry about the length of your posts, we are all avid readers around here! :) Ah.. Middlemarch. I read it the same time last year, and after Les Mis, I think I might not want another read quite so big if I only read it last year. As with the halloween reads though, I will take part in the discussions and enjoy the videos, I am sure. Looking ahead I am really looking forward to 'The Shakespeare Project', whatever that might be. :) We had our rain yesterday here in Suffolk. It was a long grey day of drinking tea here too but today looks a little brighter. Have a nice day with whatever book you choose to pick up.

Caroline P

Hello everyone, I am currently reading Les Misérables and backing that up with lots of French history around that period, I don’t think it is necessary but I just got interested and am enjoying it a lot. I found the recommendation Ben gave for LucyWorsleys Fibs video very easy and enjoyable to begin to understand it all and UsefulCharts channel helpful too. To be honest I am enjoying the digressions almost more than the story but that maybe because I am having to research more about those and that is bringing me a lot of new thoughts and ideas. I am reading Proust. A slow reread of Combray in lovely new editions (the Everyman hard backs which were a gift in every sense of the word). Next week I have a little trip to London and thought my shoulder might not manage to support Les Misérables as I walk about for a day and a half, so I am going to take the Proust biography by Edmund White. I am going with a friend so I hope I can slip away at some point and have a quiet read. It is best to do trips with friends who understand the need to factor in a little solitary time. I have just ordered Paradise Lost and want to try and read that. Because book purchases never come in a solo fashion, I have ordered the King James Bible so I can read Genesis. This is a big thing for an atheist (at times, agnostic) but i am intrigued by the comments about it being lovely literature. I suppose I have a lot of questions about how to get the most from Paradise Lost if this is new to you. I had missed that there is an episode about it right here in this group. Is reading the King James Bible likely to be helpful? For poetry I am reading Alice Oswald and her book A Sleepwalk on the Seven. I love her poetry, but literally just starting so no comments yet. I am doing a short poetry course with the National Centre for Writing. I don’t know if it is really for me but I was interested enough to give it a try. It seems there are two schools of thought in poetry writing..one being that you need to understand metre and form etc before you branch off and the other being to just write and not worry about that. I think maybe the former is more valid..does anyone have thoughts on that? Lastly, life is pretty good…lots of creative thought coming in with the change in season. Something about changing seasons that invigorates life. Oh and just made a jumper, and it fits 😃

Caroline P
>>69053173

Hello again Scott, I am very interested in your post here. The second paragraph particularly. I am quite new to more ancient writing, I have only read The Odyssey and Edith Hamilton’s Myths. I am very keen to read more. How did you get started with these? Any thoughts for a new reader? Also interested to hear about your poetry reading. This book club has got me reading different poetry…I have been more interested in mid 20th century poetry but am starting to enjoy Keats, Wordsworth and others now. It is sometimes difficult to understand but I think the same is definitely true of Hughes, Plath, Thomas etc…just in a different way.

Dawn

I love this monthly topic! I get such inspiration in what others are doing and go down some great rabbit holes as a result. I found PBS documentaries for $3.99/mo through Amazon Prime. They have documentaries on Poe, Hemingway, Flannery O’Connor, Agatha Christie, Louisa May Alcott just at a quick glance. I also found Manufacturing Intellect on Youtube. It’s full of great interviews and lecture footage from influential people. There’s a playlist of over 580 authors and literary topics. Just at a quick glance I saw Kurt Vonnegut, Harold Bloom, Hunter S. Thompson, Ken Kesey, Elie Wiesel, Allen Ginsberg, Maya Angelou, and SO MANY more. These are obviously very American-heavy and I’m curious if anyone has similar recommendations for other countries and cultures. I finished Anna Karenina as part of this book club series and I’ve moved on to Crime and Punishment. I read it several years ago and really enjoyed it so I appreciate the deeper dive this time around. For people just getting into poetry, I highly recommend Perrine’s Sense and Sound. It’s a text often used in lecture courses and full of instruction on how to read poetry. It also includes full-length poems with analysis and prompting questions to get you thinking independently. This was recommended to me by a friend when I said I didn’t know HOW to read poetry. I noticed when I asked experienced people where to start, I was just receiving a list of poems. For my US presidential biographies I’m on Abraham Lincoln, 16th president. For my short stories, I started Ray Bradbury’s Illustrated Man. I’m loving all the What If scenarios. They’re easy to get lost in and very thought provoking.

Aniela

Hi all. I’ve just joined fairly recently so I thought I’d introduce myself properly, but I’ve also got a question for you all I’m curious about. I usually don’t engage much in online communities, but my city is about to take the record for most locked down city in the world (huzzah!) and I’ve been a little lacking in interesting conversation. I thought now might be a nice time to break out of that mould. However, I’m also an introvert who would much rather skip small talk to get into big ideas, so I’m also a little nervous to share. I used to work as an economist and I now teach it. I’m a passionate believer that economics is all about people (money is just a small part of that story) and I often draw on the economic framework to understand the world. When I started teaching, I realised I wanted to understand people better, especially people who weren’t like me. So I went deep into podcasts, listening to real people talk about their own stories and ideas. A tagline from one of these podcasts was that you can’t hate people once you’ve heard their story. I’ve incorporated that idea into my own philosophy. (The ‘understand’ refrain in AK really resonated.) More recently I’ve been turning to literature to add another facet to help make sense of the world. Reading stories crafted by incredible intellects is truly thrilling and mind expanding. The thought and humanity that goes into each great book is offering me something I can’t access from economics and podcasts. I’m still working out what that something is, but it’s a fun journey of discovery. I’m drawn to the idea in this HLBC about living the great books. I’m hoping to be a better person (whatever that looks like) because of these books. And have some fun along the way. So, that’s me! My question(s) for you all is, how do these great books help you to understand the world? What do they add to your personal philosophy? Do you have other frameworks (like economics for me) that are also important to how you see the world? How do these frameworks knit with your readings of the great books? Looking forward to sharing in your wisdom!

Dawn
>>69055592

That’s one thing I loved about Les Miserables. A lot of people I spoke to just skimmed over the history without thinking much about it, but I loved taking the time to research more. Literature can give you some of the best starting points to expand knowledge. What is LucyWorsleys Fibs? This must be in a video I haven’t watched yet. As an atheist myself, it can be difficult for me to reframe my thinking when reading bible verses. I’ve been very interested to read The Bible as Literature, Gable & Wheeler along with Shadow of a Great Rock: A Literary Appreciation of the King James Bible, Harold Bloom.

Scott W
>>69058098

Are you reading ALL the US President biographies? :) How interesting. What have been your favourite ones so far? If I wanted to try and include just one in my schedule some time soon, which would you recommend and why? Do you mean Perrine's Structure, Sound and Sense? I went to find a copy but Amazon is listing it at over £60.. is it out of print now? I quite enjoy Stephen Fry's The Ode Less Travelled for triply an introduction to reading poetry, to writing it, and a call to take arms against a sea of academics and read what you like how you like if it feels good! ..Ahem. :)

Scott W
>>69058616

I am not sure that reading the best literature to have been written helps me to understand the world, but I do think it helps me to navigate it. Taking Les Mis as a recent example. I don't think Hugo and I would see eye to eye today, politically, but then it's hard to say because he was of his time just as I am of mine and they are different times. Going into the book aware of its moral and social themes I, admittedly, thought I had nothing to learn from it. I thought, I am essentially a good person, I won't learn anything here I don't know or haven't already worked out, but it will be a good story and I'll enjoy discussing it with people. But 250 pages in and it has helped me navigate something in my everyday life at work. Living with Jean Valjean and Bishop Bienvenu these past two weeks has reminded me of what I do know, but that life has eroded for me once more, like waves to sand I had previously written in. We should focus on what people can be in the future, not what they have been in the past. This has helped me work through something difficult with someone at work recently, in a way that I think made a huge difference to that person. It could have been so different if I wasn't reading that book at the moment. So it helped me navigate something in my life, and indirectly helped someone else in my life. Poetry helps me to slow down and put something back on top, in focus, that is not what I spend most of my 21st C. day focusing on. It lingers. It reminds me this life is big and wonderful and mysterious and that the things that really matter are often not what we spend most of our days thinking about. This doesn't help me understand the world, or life, or solve any cosmic puzzles, but it does help me navigate my life as an individual, a husband, and a father. I'll leave it at that for my little 2p worth., I will enjoy reading the other replies I know will come here, and thank you for asking such thought provoking questions, Aniela.

Bill Freeman

Arlington, Virginia – USA Greetings all, I continue my chapter-a-day diet of DQ and Les Mis. I am near the end of Salinger’s “Nine Stories.” I am slowly reading “The Complete Works of Alberto Caeiro” by Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa. “Caeiro” was one of Pessoa’s many heteronyms. Proust had a hissy fit with me and has stormed off to his grandmother for comfort, pinning for his mother’s kiss. I finished reading Emily Wilson’s masterful translation of Homer’s “The Odyssey.” I LOVED it! Allow me this space to reflect on this amazing work. My only prior experience with The Odyssey was Latin class. Trying to “read” a book in a language class is like trying to read a book through a paper pinhole. Yet this translation makes the work so easily consumable. There is so much here; this is just one small sliver. When I shared last month that I had started the book Caroline replied with the following that summarizes, so very well, the tale of Odysseus: “Even great heroes aren’t heroes all the time.” The Odysseus is both a hero’s journey and a return home tale with lots of nuance and wisdom. Almost 3,000 years old and emerging from a long oral tradition, the story begins in an unexpected place, "in medias res" (in the middle of things). But doesn't all of life? Isn’t there a constant pulse that, like a continual dance, we slip into for an undetermined time and slip out? This is a tale (technically an epic poem) of Odysseus’ return after the ten-year Trojan War. Seven years of which he was the plaything of a powerful goddess who offered him the 'eternal now' of never aging IF he stayed with her. Yet, he wants to return home. Such is the story of a man whose grand adventure is simply to go back to his home where he wants to turn everything back to the way it was before he left. Through his many twists and turns, mere survival is the most impressive feat of all. This is the story of three principals: Odysseus, Penelope, his wife, and Telemachus, his son whose father left when he was a newborn. The movement is Telemachus leaving to find his father while his father tries to return home and Penelope waiting for his return while fending off numerous young suitors who are literarily eating her out of house and home. About midpoint in the book, Odysseus returns home faced with the challenge of reclaiming “home.” Yet even after reclaiming his home, another adventure calls to him. This is Odysseus’ tale with people, gods, and monsters. The opening sentence is such an apt summary: “Tell me about a complicated man, Muse.” Odysseus is all that and more: a migrant, pirate, carpenter, athlete, beggar, husband, lover, father, son, fighter, leader, and thief. Wilson uses the adjectives of “a trickster” and “a scalaway.” And a complicated man he is - a master of deceit, a compulsive liar, a brave heart. As he states himself, “I am disliked by many, all across the world, and I dislike them back.” Yet, he is capable of deep emotion and a longstanding loyalty. Indeed, a complicated man. For me, we often read the backstory of contemporary heroes and learn of their lesser behaviors (e.g., John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr.) with an expectation of moral binary: all good/no bad. Perhaps one of many takeaways is the complexity in us all and a welcomed acceptance of ourselves with that understanding. Following the above theme, there is a wonderful interplay of how Odysseus is recognized while in disguise by his father, his childhood nurse, his son, even his dog before his wife movingly recognizes him via their marital bed. A major theme – I would say the overarching theme – is that of hospitality and friendship, or better yet, “guest-friendship” (“xenia”). This was central to the ancient world and not a milquetoast “play nice.” This had both a safety and moral component. For ancients, it meant that unconnected people could connect as equals without having to fight for dominance. It suggests that it was the responsibility of male householders to offer hospitality to visitors, uninvited guests, strangers, and even homeless beggars. This is major to the story. The stranger is to be treated with dignity and kindness. The guest is not only to be welcomed but provided with lodging, gifts on their leaving, and even practical help for their forward journey (“pompe”). In fact, the suitors who took over Odysseus’ home are an extreme violation of hospitality. Xenia is particularly important to the Gods (there are many) with one of the titles of Zeus as “Xenios,” “God of Strangers.” The parallels to the moral imperative of the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth are obvious (cf. Matthew 25). The application to and for our times is abundant, painfully so for us in the U.S. I was struck by how Odysseus was unquestionably allowed his sexual dalliances while Penelope was expected to maintain a faithful 20-year wait. In fact, the story presents Penelope’s faithfulness as the sum of her moral worth. For me, a flashback to Anna Karenina’s opening scene of the casual discussion of Stiva’s fling with the English governess while Anna’s similar action was catastrophic (“you murdered me”). Some things never change. At face, this is a story of the meaning of “homecoming” and the challenges we all face through Homer’s tale of the dynamic of leaving, returning, and coming home, anew. This is a complicated tale, and my review is a tiny sliver: hail, complicated men, and women.

Scott W
>>69079873

An excellent review, Bill. Thanks for sharing. Some of my reading this year has got me thinking about the idea of a 'hero' is more relative than I previously thought. Firstly through time, by its changing definition, and secondly by our point of view. In The Iliad, Odysseus is undoubtedly a non-fatal hero, according to his own side and fellow men-at-war. The Odyssey shows you that while he was away being a 'hero', he was exactly that, 'away', away from his family that needed him for love, support, and protection, in those times. His son, Telemachus, is the real hero of The Odyssey, in my humble opinion. And then in The Aeneid, from the Trojan point of view, he is an absolute scoundrel no matter who you ask - and Dante has him burning away rather deep down in Hell for all his 'false counsel', no matter how much good it did his friends in battle at the time, or how it might have helped him get home to somewhere he should arguably never have left. Complicated indeed, worth many a re-read.

Florian Pesantes

Tomorrow we shall visit the graves of Shelley and Keats in Rome. I’m currently enjoying the company of my poet-friend Arthur and listening his own works out of his mouth.: John Keats from “Scarlet Land” published only weeks ago: What an awful end To die in February Without a hand to hold; In poets starched with sherry, Never a friend, Never a friend. So young and yet so true; Often have you heard, On the trellis Never a berry, In the sky Never a bird; But to die in February In distant Italy - It stirs up something ancient And vengeful In me: Often have you heard, On the trellis Never a berry, In the sky Never a bird.

Sharon xx

Hi everyone - hope you're all doing really well? I'm off work today with a coldy/fluey virus that is doing the rounds in our office. On the plus side it means I actually have time to catch up and comment on here. HCLB reads are as follow: - Instagram link to photo - https://www.instagram.com/p/CUmVOf5D-6Q/ Shakespeare's Sonnets - I have to admit I'm behind on these. Other things have taken precedence. I see #5 is out so I need to get busy. Proust, In Search of Lost Time Vol 1 - still got that ticking over and still loving it. Les Miserables by Hugo [Donougher translation] - oh my, oh my!! This is my Big Read and my favourite read to date, even more than Proust. I'd anticipated it with equal measures of excitment and dread but I don't have the words to say how much I'm enjoying it. I'm doing the Year-Long-Read-Along approach which suits me perfectly. Bite sized daily chunks with enough time to digest and ponder on each one throughout the day. Some days I struggle not to read on! Personal Reads: - Instagram link to photo - https://www.instagram.com/p/CUmWuahj5Fz/ Sharon Blackie, If Women Rose Rooted - this is a re-read. This book is the gift that keeps on giving and supports very nicely the online course I'm doing also by Sharon Blackie, This Mythic Life. Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights - nearly finished this. For those who remember, this was a purchase/souvenir from my visit to The Bronte Parsonage back in August. Dickens, Bleak House - my current comfort Dickens read which I've actually nearly finished. I was trying to stretch it out to Christmas so I could just slide nicely into the Christmas Dickens read Ben has planned but I may finish well before then. Katherine Arden, The Girl in the Tower. The second of a trilogy which indulges my love of fantasy realism and myth all rolled into one. I can thoroughly recommend this author. In other news - life is good. Work is doable at the moment, we're busy rolling out the Covid and Flu tandem booster jabs for the over 50's [mine is at the end of the month]. Ethan [my last child still at home] has started sixth form studying A Level English Literature [who knew lol] and a double award diploma in Sport and Sports Science. He seems to be living his best life which is perfect. I suppose my current literature struggles are just fitting it all in. Marcel and William have taken a bit of a back seat lately, and Emily has been positively ignored this month - hopefully she'll still be speaking to me when I finally get round to reading her again. It's been more about the novels and less about the poetry. It's been great to catch up. Take the very best of care. Sharon xx

Caroline P
>>69107586

Ohhh lovely Florian and very poignant. I am very jealous of you visiting Rome and those graves, can you report back and tell how it was. It would be wonderful to her about that

Nat Green
>>69112001

I hope you don't mind Sharon, I have just followed you on Instagram, I love having bookish people in my feed :) Sorry to hear you are under the weather, hope you are feeling better soon.

Michelle Chun LeRoy

Hello and happy October everyone! I just realized that I never introduced myself. How rude! I’m really not rude but am rather shy. I am having so much fun reading all the comments. I have to say though, that the comments are rather dangerous! I hate to admit to the number of books I have purchased since joining the club and reading the books referenced in the members and Benjamin's comments! Sigh. I am a retired English instructor, newspaper columnist, and grant writer. I feel blessed to have had many careers that were all based on writing and language. I even had a stint as a patent writer (the worst!) in a law firm. I live in Oakland, California, the artsier side of the tech-based Bay Area. Currently, aside from augmenting my already stuffed and overflowing bookshelves, I am finishing my first novel that has been taking such an embarrassingly long time to write. The process has given me a whole new layer of respect and awe for writers like Tolstoy and Hugo, Dickens, etc. This is holy work! My literary plans for October and the rest of the year: Finish Les Miserables—despite my reticence a few chapters ago, I’m enjoying it…the story is good, but the yummy bits (for me) are his digressions! Talk about falling down historical rabbit holes! They’re wonderful. I dug out a French copy I had from Grad school, I’m using this to brush up on my French. I am following Benjamin’s Sonnet project. I am (trying!) to memorize a sonnet a week—what a challenge, considering that 90% of the time, I don’t remember where my house keys are. It is so wonderful to spend the morning deep reading a sonnet. I don’t even think I did this in college. And finally, I am working my way through the Russian canon. I am currently reading Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin. I just finished Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov--what a great read! I think, after Onegin, I’m going to (finally) read Brother’s Karamazov. I'm looking at the book on the desk as I write this. I have a love-hate relationship with Dostoevsky…I find his work utterly irritating and compelling at the same time. And write! I am so happy I found this group. I'm constantly dumbfounded by how many people don't read the classics. What a thrill to find other bookish souls!

Michelle Chun LeRoy

Hello and happy October everyone! I just realized that I never introduced myself. How rude! I’m really not rude but am rather shy. I am having so much fun reading all the comments from the members. I have to say though, that the comments are rather dangerous! I hate to admit to the number of books I have purchased since joining the club! Sigh. I am a retired English instructor, newspaper columnist, and grant writer. I feel blessed to have had many careers that were based on writing and language. I even had a stint as a patent writer (the worst!) in a law firm. I live in Oakland, California (USA), the artsier side of the tech-based Bay Area. Currently, aside from augmenting my already stuffed and overflowing bookshelves, I am finishing my first novel that has been taking such an embarrassingly long time to write. The process has given me a whole new layer of respect and awe for writers like Tolstoy and Hugo, Dickens, etc. This is holy work! My literary plans for October and the rest of the year: 1. Finish Les Miserables—despite my reticence a few chapters ago, I’m really enjoying it…the story is good, but the yummy bits (for me) are his digressions! Talk about falling down historical rabbit holes! They’re wonderful. I dug out a French copy I had from Grad school, I’m using this to brush up on my French. 2. I’m doing Benjamin’s Sonnet project. I am (trying!) to memorize a sonnet a week—what a challenge, considering that 90% of the time I don’t remember where my house keys are. It is so wonderful to spend the morning deep reading a sonnet. I don’t even think I did this in college. 3. I am working my way through the Russian canon. I am reading Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin. I just finished Ivan Goncharov's Oblomov (a new favorite!) I think, after Onegin, I’m going to read Brother’s Karamazov. It’s on the desk as I write. I have a love-hate relationship with Dostoevsky…I find his work utterly irritating and compelling at the same time. 4. And write!

Michelle Chun LeRoy

Hello and happy October everyone! I just realized that I never introduced myself. How rude! I’m really not rude but am rather shy. I am having so much fun reading all the comments from the members. I have to say though, that the comments are rather dangerous! I hate to admit to the number of books I have purchased since joining the club! Sigh. I am a retired English instructor, newspaper columnist, and grant writer. I feel blessed to have had many careers that were based on writing and language. I even had a stint as a patent writer (the worst!) in a law firm. I live in Oakland, California (USA), the artsier side of the tech-based Bay Area. Currently, aside from augmenting my already stuffed and overflowing bookshelves, I am finishing my first novel that has been taking such an embarrassingly long time to write. The process has given me a whole new layer of respect and awe for writers like Tolstoy and Hugo, Dickens, etc. This is holy work! My literary plans for October and the rest of the year: 1. Finish Les Miserables—despite my reticence a few chapters ago, I’m really enjoying it…the story is good, but the yummy bits (for me) are his digressions! Talk about falling down historical rabbit holes! They’re wonderful. I dug out a French copy I had from Grad school, I’m using this to brush up on my French. 2. I’m doing Benjamin’s Sonnet project. I am (trying!) to memorize a sonnet a week—what a challenge, considering that 90% of the time I don’t remember where my house keys are. It is so wonderful to spend the morning deep reading a sonnet. I don’t even think I did this in college. 3. I am working my way through the Russian canon. I am reading Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin. I just finished Ivan Goncharov’s Oblomov (a new favorite!) I think, after Onegin, I’m going to read Brother’s Karamazov. It’s on the desk as I write. I have a love-hate relationship with Dostoevsky…I find his work utterly irritating and compelling at the same time. 4. And write!

Michelle Chun LeRoy

Hello and happy October everyone! I just realized that I never introduced myself. How rude! I’m really not rude but am rather shy. I am having so much fun reading all the comments from the members. I have to say though, that the comments are rather dangerous! I hate to admit to the number of books I have purchased since joining the club! Sigh. I am a retired English instructor, newspaper columnist, and grant writer. I feel blessed to have had many careers that were based on writing and language. I even had a stint as a patent writer (the worst!) in a law firm. I live in Oakland, California (USA), the artsier side of the tech-based Bay Area. Currently, aside from augmenting my already stuffed and overflowing book shelves, I am finishing my first novel that has been taking such an embarrassingly long time to write. The process has given me a whole new layer of respect and awe for writers like Tolstoy and Hugo, Dickens, etc. This is holy work! My literary plans for October and the rest of the year: *Finish Les Miserables—despite my reticence a few chapters ago, I’m really enjoying it…the story is good, but the yummy bits (for me) are his digressions! Talk about falling down historical rabbit holes! They’re wonderful. I dug out a French copy I had from Grad school, I’m using this to brush up on my French. *I’m doing Benjamin’s Sonnet project. I am (trying!) to memorize a sonnet a week—what a challenge, considering that 90% of the time I don’t remember where my house keys are. It is so wonderful to spend the morning deep reading a sonnet. I don’t even think I did this in college. *I am working my way through the Russian canon. I am reading Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin. I just finished Ivan Goncharov’s Oblomov (a new favorite!) I think, after Onegin, I’m going to read Brother’s Karamazov. It’s on the desk as I write. I have a love hate relationship with Dostoevsky…I find his work utterly irritating and compelling at the same time. *And write!

hardcoreliterature
>>69224451

Hello Michelle, and thank you for the amazing introduction! The comments here certainly can be dangerous - especially when one has Amazon opened in another tab. I find myself adding books from this chat each month! You have certainly had an exciting career, and I would love to know more about your novel. Having spent some time in the writing community, and experienced the pain of composition myself, I do know one must be careful asking a writer about their work-in-progress. Holy work indeed! Tolstoy and Hugo laboured for years over their works, and Dickens put so much of his soul into his that, along with the exhausting lectures he was giving, he ended up wearing his heart out. I'm thrilled to hear that you're reading Les Misérables in French - any insights you can bring about the language choice in translation would be fascinating. I read much of the second volume of Hugo's masterpiece in French, though my understanding of the language is incredibly rudimentary. Also great to hear you're doing the sonnet challenge! I have always had a very poor memory, and I found learning poetry by heart to help combat this in a big way. And Dostoyevsky! There are many lovers of his work here. Like you, I have a love-hate relationship with him, but find him difficult to exhaust so I will go on reading him :) Thank you for the amazing comment!

Michelle Chun LeRoy

Hi Paul! Before the pandemic, my husband and I visited Yosemite often. In fact, we lived not far, in Fresno (far too hot and far too conservative!) San Diego is lovely. Good luck with your short story! I just submitted mine (to save myself from overworking it to death).

Michelle Marcoux

Happy October everyone, and welcome to all of the other new members as well! I’m hoping to be more outgoing on here this month and look forward to getting to know all of you a bit more. I love hearing about the wonderful books that everyone has enjoyed this past month and the thoughtful insights that you share. You have piqued my interest with many books I hadn’t given thought to in quite a few years, I’m hoping that a reading journey that isn’t school-focused will have me seeing them in a different light. It is also such a great feeling when you see other people reading and enjoying some of your favorite books and authors too. In September, I finished The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy. Those books still have a firm hold on my mind and heart, I’m missing his writing already. I also read The Stand by Stephen King, definitely one of my favorites from King. For poetry, I read some works from John Keats and Robert Frost. I also just finished Ada, or Ardor by Vladimir Nabokov, the rereads with it took me a bit longer in effort to unlock that literary puzzle. I have a feeling that is one that I could reread a dozen times and still be finding new magic in it. I also listened to an audiobook version of Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders throughout the month during medical appointments. That story offered quite an incredible world to escape into. I am currently working on Hugo and Proust with the HLBC and am very excited for the Halloween project and autumn reads with all of you as well! My goals are to be a bit more confident and outgoing with responses to lecture questions and interacting with other people’s responses. I would also like to incorporate journaling more often with all of my reads and set a goal of attempting to do a written book review at the end of the journal. Even though I have only been a part of the group a short time, I have already noticed a rewarding change in my reading experiences. Not only do I find myself thinking about the characters from these stories during my daily activities, they seem to incorporate themselves into my life, but the rich conversation from all of you has also become my calming moment when life creates anxiety with the unknown lately. Thank you to everyone for making this group such a gem of a family!

Cindy
>>69309148

Hi Michelle, wonderful to get to know you as well! I have to consciously make the decision as well to keep adding comments, I tend to be a listener/reader and not add my own thoughts, but you are so right that it adds so much to get over that hurdle. Your goals are the same as mine - not just reading the books, but also journaling about them and trying to be more active here. I think a big part of my anxiety about it is because English is not my native language, and I'm also reading the books in Dutch most of the time, so it can be kind of difficult to find the words. Just have to keep in mind that everyone here is so nice, and it does help so much to order your thoughts and discuss them with other people who love literature just as much (no readers around me in real life). It's definitely what you are saying - a calming moment in all the anxiety lately - I just love to see people gathered here with nuanced thought, open-minded, it gives me hope in this world that seems to exist of more and more black&white thinkers. It feels like a hidden little refuge in this crazy online world.

Bill Freeman

HI Cindy - Welcome. So many of us identify as shy. I read an outstanding book about the great value of being an introvert" "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking" by Susan Cain. Wish I read it 30 years ago.

mickyjjj

Hi HLBC, I have just today finished the first part of Don Quixote and am forever grateful to Ben for getting me into the most enjoyable reading routine of my life. Alongside DQ, I have had some really wonderful company with: the little prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Chess - stefan zweig Dubliners - James Joyce Man's Search for meaning -Viktor Frankl I think after finishing part one of DQ I will take a break and have planed to read my first PYNCHON novel!! I currently have "the crying of lot 49” sitting on my bedside staring at me so if anyone has any words to help ease my entry it would be greatly appreciated.

Cindy
>>69565524

Oh, I know! I read it and loved it as well. It's been a while though, might be a nice time for a reread :)

hardcoreliterature
>>69600775

That's amazing! Congratulations on finishing the first part! Deep breath for part two ;) I love the books you're reading alongside. Beautiful choices. I've long thought of putting together a podcast on The Little Prince. Chess and The Dubliners are both great, and I reread Frankl's work every year. Pynchon's 'The Crying of Lot 49' is tremendous - I found it incredibly humorous, and I have 'Gravity's Rainbow' staring at me as we speak. As for easing anxiety, 'The Crying of Lot 49' doesn't have the difficulty that Pynchon has gained a reputation for, so I think after a few pages you'll be well into the story!

Nat Green

I have just finished re-reading the short story "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" and I am reminded how much I really love this story. I last read it for A-Level English Lit many years ago and it is as good as I remember :) I am reading it in the Penguin Classics edition, with a few of his other short stories that are completely new to me, which I am looking forward to reading. I figured now is the perfect time for this amazing tale!

hardcoreliterature
>>70150626

I have long been obsessed with this story - it's superb, isn't it? Makes for a great pairing with Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. I'm due a reread myself. I can't believe how close we were to never having the story!