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Hardcore Literature Book Discussion (December 2021) (Patreon)

Published:
2021-12-01 17:51:52
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2026-06
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Dear Book Club Readers ---

You had such an amazing reading month in November, and are setting yourselves up for a strong year ahead.

The hundreds of comments across the General Book Club Discussion threads are testament to your passion, curiosity, and love for great literature. I personally love reading through them with my morning coffee.

So, tell us what your December 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 recent 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

Jeanne Morigeau

Having just joined, I'm working on Great Expectations and Turn of the Screw (one chapter a day to catch up but still keep it "serialized"), in addition to several other books for work (I'm a librarian). I did go through the shelves and pulled together the upcoming books for January-March, 2022.

Halcyon Distilled

Just finished Les Mis here. Woo Hoo! I am reading Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through theLooking Glass. Whoa. What a trip :) I love how he plays with language, the non linear everything in those stories, the use of animals as psychopomps, and so much more left field goodness. It has been a riot to read before bed. Also, embarking on Middlemarch today. Sizzle.

hardcoreliterature
>>72873387

Welcome to the club, Jeanne! I'm thrilled to hear you're working on Great Expectations and keeping the spirit of serialisation alive with The Turn of the Screw. It's also wonderful to hear we have another librarian here! I think with great fondness of the librarian who helped me at the start of my reading journey :)

hardcoreliterature
>>72873722

Congratulations on finishing Les Mis! What a great accomplishment :) We have a couple more videos coming out very soon! And lovely selections with Lewis Carroll. I've been planning a podcast on Alice for a while as it's really an extraordinary piece of literature. As for Middlemarch, it would have hit bookstores this very day 150 years ago!

Brandi K

I'm loving Great Expectations (about 80% through) and looking forward to reading everyone's insights. I think I'm having a much better go of it than I did in high school. I've never seen any of the film adaptations and the 1946 film is available for streaming. Hopefully, I'll be done reading soon and can watch this weekend :) Also started Middlemarch today! I loved watching your video 'Middlemarch' and the Rise of the Reading Public. Mirroring the original publication schedule was such a great idea for tackling this novel. It certainly helps alleviate the burden that 880 pages can feel like and makes the read much more exciting.

Jenny Housley

Lewis Carroll, what wonderful memories! Our neighbour who never had children gave me such beautiful editions of those books and would read to me every evening. I wonder what happened to them (and him)

AJ Manson

I am reading two Texan short story writers, both of who are really blowing me away. the first is 'Wait till you see me dance' by Deb Olin Unferth, and the other is 'death to the bullshit artist of south texas' by Fernando A. Flores. I would highly recommend them both if someone is looking for something exciting, unconventional, and blood-pumping.

Jenny Housley

I’m enjoying Great Expectations I started yesterday and already have a favourite chapter. My book had not arrived yesterday so I downloaded on my kindle, my phone and iPad. Then the courier appeared with my copy. No excuses now! The lighting is not good in the bedroom so swapping to the iPad which I don’t have to hold was comfortable with my sore wrist. Back to paper today with the start of Middlemarch.

Florian Pesantes

I could write an endless wish-list. The list of actual reading activities isn’t impressive I’m afraid. This time of the year is peak season in my full time job. Approximately 50 densely worked hrs per week and I have to read a bit of journals related to my profession. Still, the little I get to read I do enjoy. Getting up at around 4 am- I like these quiet hours-, trying to pin down some snippets of my last dream before it swiftly fades, brewing coffee for us, then a piece of music, mostly Bach from the fabulous Netherlands Bach Society. Thereafter with the Leuchtturm journal book and in a daily rotating order: Proust, Victor Hugo, C.G. Jung (the archetypes) at a tremendously slow pace. Alone for the Giotto artwork I got lost for almost all time designated for my reading of “Combray” past Monday. 6:30 to get ready for work after a short chat with my partner. Somewhere in between I’ll have ten minutes of guided meditation with the “Waking up” app or a Wim-Hof-breathing session ideally both, sometimes I’ll leave it for later. During lunch time I get usually to read a short story by Maupassant, an easy, pleasurable reading though utterly thought provoking. He really describes all our human charms and vices in such a colourful way, very useful for my Jungian shadow work. Also his way to describe landscape is stunning. With few words he creates a picture half photography half impressionist painting but with the scent of trees and herbs. A poem or at least a slice of one is my pudding after lunch. Yeats, Wood, Tennyson, Rilke mostly. After 8:30 pm I’m already craving for my bed, if I find yet a Iota of energy I’ll do a bit of Italian learning with my Memrise app (thanks, Ben). In bed a part of a podcast or video of Ben’s (first round without the journal at hand) or 15 min of an audiobook. Saturday is my day off. Strictly nothing work related. So time for the James’s governess and black mirror, half an hour for a painter with a book or online. I’ve purchased a precious huge book with all paintings of Caravaggio. Also a long walk in the woods nearby, a visit in one of our museums maybe. A bit of Shakespeare maybe, a sonnet or more, a little further in “The tragedy of Julius Cesar”, reading myself in trance with Rilke’s poems if I feel so. Some time with my partner, the weekly satire tv program, and several short naps hunting for dreams. Whatever pleases me, the merciless clock unthroned for a day. Another Book Club video with concentration and journaling for sure. Whoosh: the week is gone.

Joel Duthie
>>72877568

I'd love to know what your favourite chapter is so far? Like yourself I am fully locked into Great Expectations. I forgot what an emotional roller-coaster Dickens is. The hatred I feel for Pip's sister and that chump Pumblechook is off the charts. I've had 'Walter Mitty' moments where I've had Pumblechook in a rear naked choke! I went through the same emotional gauntlet when I read David Copperfield.

Jeff Zahn

Just joined – excited to be a part of the club! My reading tends to ebb and flow in terms of quantity and quality. I realized after stumbling upon Hardcore Literature that my problem was in book selection and my lack of deep reading. No more! From now on I will annotate and journal when I read! I usually have three to five books going at a time. Switching off helps me slow down and match the reading to my mood at the time. I am working through The Iliad, Dickens Christmas Stories, A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver (poetry), Travels in Siberia (non-fiction) and King Lear (Arden Edition). I am really excited about the Shakespeare plays in 2022 but worried I will be able to keep up. Thought I would get a jump on it. Persuasion and The Sun also Rises are on order to get some more prose in my reading diet. Really looking forward to 2022.

Pablo
>>72879642

👋🏻 Hi Florian - Sounds like you have a lot going on in your life, so nice to learn that your still finding time to schedule in so time for reading.

Nick Trapani

I am deep into reading Anna Karenina, the last two sections. Thoroughly enjoying this first read along with Ben’s videos. Tolstoy is such a master of character development, I will return to this novel often in the future. Also plodding along with the serial reading of Turn of the Screw. I read and reread Turgenev’s, The Living Relic, which I love and will reread often. Such masterful dialogue in this amazing story. Read Chekhov’s the kiss which I also loved in the first reading and will reread soon. Started Great Expectations as well and really love Pip, look forward to working through Dickens, although it is more fun than work. Excited at starting the New Year as a member. Doing early Christmas 🤶 shopping and bought Wuthering Heights and the three Arden editions for the first reading of the Bard.

Jennifer Vo

Hello Hardcore Literature! I have just joined the book club, and I am excited to get involved, read more, and discuss with you all! A short intro about me, I am a full time student at University studying physics and business, and I also work at a startup part time. I love reading all genres, but I've only gotten more serious about building a good reading foundation in the last year or so by committing a larger focus on the classics. Here are the books I am currently reading: Non-fiction/business books: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman: surprisingly refreshing book on accepting the finite nature of time, and how to make the most of it How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: has been filled with a lot of practical advice for those in business, and a classic when it comes to improving communication and relationships. Literature: The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens: started in late September and would like to finish this month. I am hoping to read around one paper (2-3 chapters) every day on my school break coming up soon. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - just started this yesterday as an audiobook. I'm not sure yet if I really can appreciate books in audio format as well as in physical format, I'm still getting the hang of it. This one is read by Jeremy Irons, so I really hope I can enjoy it. If I find that I'm losing focus too easily, I may stop and pick up the physical copy instead. Swann's Way by Marcel Proust - I've just started this in the last week, attempting to read very slowly along with a book buddy of mine.

Pablo
>>72882118

👋🏻 Hello and welcome Jeff and welcome to the HLBC, sounds like you have a lot of good irons in the literature fire there 🙂

Len Larsson

Welcome Jeff. I'm sure you will have fun, the schedule for 2022 is terrific.

Pablo
>>72884912

👋🏻 Jennifer 🙂 Welcome to the HLBC, sounds like you have a varied selection of works on the go there. I'll look forwards to your reflections on Swann's Way; The Search is probably my all time favourite.

Steve Horan

New to HLBC and have made just a few posts after jumping in with Turn of the Screw and trying to catch up with Les Miserables (half way through Volume 2 Cosette). Continuing with the HLBC reads, I’ve read the first serial installment of Middlemarch and working to complete chapters 1-19 of Great Expectations. The first volume of In Search of Lost Time is scheduled to be delivered to my doorstep later today so will be joining The Proust Project with just a bit of trepidation, I’m not going to lie. Beyond HLBC, I’m on a reading plan to complete James Clavell’s The Asian Saga consisting of seven novels by August 2022, presently in Book Five of Shogun, the first novel in the series. Intending to read more science fiction and fantasy, I have a goal of reading 1-2 books per month and am currently reading Robopocalypse by Daniel Wilson. I also have a goal of reading one non-fiction book per month, and am currently just starting Stalingrad by Antony Beevor, having just finished volume 1 of James Holland’s The War in the West, where he leaves off with Germany’s invasion of Russia. I am so looking forward to 2022 with Benjamin and the community of HLBC and hope I am able to make a few contributions. Thank you so much for having me.

Pablo

👋🏻 Hi Comrades 🙂 I’d love to say that I was organised and ready for the festive season; but that would be a bit of an exaggeration!! 😆😆 Short Stories: I’m focusing on Turn of the Screw by Henry James, but am still dipping into The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson, and (of course) The Sportsman’s Notebook by Turgenev Authors: Still enamoured with Hugo at this time. Exploring: Digging into the romantic movement led me down a rabbit hole, but I’ve gone fully ‘through the looking glass now’ [Hat tip to Bea!} with the decadent poets and picked up some collections from Paul Verlaine, Arthur Symons, and Arthur Rimbaud. To be blunt I need to get my literature acquisition disorder more in check and focus on the HLBC script. Big Read: I’ve reached book five of Les Miserables and it’s been a fabulous journey thus far. I need to slow down my pace a little bit as I feel that I’m going to regret not having savoured it more, but conversely, I guess that’s what re-reads are for. I’ve kicked off both Middlemarch and Great Expectations today, thus my reading platter feels rather like a delicious looking Christmas dinner, something that I’m looking forwards to enjoying and consuming with gusto, but that there is an awful lot on the plate, so also a faint apprehension that I might have to leave something on the side to come back to later on. Questions/Finding Difficult: [rhetorical] Can I keep abreast of this reading list??? Recommendation: I’m not reading Proust currently but following the lecture on the paintings of Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot I also treated myself to ‘Paintings in Proust: A Visual Companion to 'In Search of Lost Time’ for next time I dip into that. I’ve only skimmed the book to be fair, but it seems very good indeed; well worth a look if you’re loving the Proust Project. General: I have a little bit of time off of at Christmas, and we’re taking my partners family away to a staycation country cottage for a week or so. In between probably a lot of caring and cooking I’m looking forwards to building a stack of wood in the burner, maybe lighting some candles and curling up with ‘Pab’s precious books’ very much 😊. We’re going to be off to see The Nutcracker in December, which is a more recent festive tradition that I really enjoy (new-years resolution; do more theatre and ballet/opera). I have my friendly second-hand bookstore on the case seeking out a couple of volumes for next years reading list, so any monies kindly gifted over the festive season will be going into that avenue.

Michael Filippone
>>72877068

I’m a big Deb Olin Unferth fan! I first discovered her when she had a story published in McSweeney’s Quarterly in ~2006. The story was titled Deb Olin Unferth, so to see that name (and such a strikingly unique one, at that) printed twice at the top of a page just called out to me. It’s such a great short story, too, so from that day I’ve been a great fan of her work.

Michael Filippone

Hi everyone! I just joined the HLBC and I'm excited to be here! I saw the lineup preview video for 2022, and I already have most of the books, so it seemed like a serendipitous opportunity to read them deeply with a community. Right now I am reading the Connie Willis-edited anthology American Christmas Stories, which was just published by Library of America. Over the past few days I've read Storm by George R. Stewart and Generations by Lucille Clifton, both recently published by NYRB Classics (I'm trying to catch up on my backlogged titles from my NYRB subscription lol).

Michael Kwong

Just finished A Midsummer Night’s Dream! A great win to start the month :) This is my first Shakespeare play, and I would say it’s a great entry point to Shakespeare. It’s short, kind of hilarious, and could have some deep thoughts on love. Going to read the section from Harold Bloom’s Shakespeare. Also half way through Great Expectation, hope I can keep up with the pace of one chapter a day.

David Wisehart

Finished reading Anna Karenina and Great Expectations over Thanksgiving. Still working through Proust, a bit at a time. Also started Blood Meridian again, which I failed to finish about a decade ago. Really enjoying the language in that one. Last couple of days I've been working through a nonfiction book, Sondheim on Music: Minor Details and Major Decisions. It's one of my many Sondheim-related books, and his recent passing made me want to open the pages again and dive back into his creative thought process.

Jack Goodman

I am very new here, I just finished reading Kokoro by Natsume Soseki, and I'm on to part two of Anna Karenina. I'm really looking forward to 2022 especially reading Wuthering Heights in January, as I have always been looking for an excuse to read that book ever since I bought it.

mickyjjj

Unfortunately I've had covid for the past week so reading has been somewhat of a trippy, slow, disorientating healing process. Luckily I have been accompanied by- Salinger's 'Franny and Zooey' Hesse's 'Siddhartha and Dicken's 'Great Expectations' Since I cannot taste, I suppose it would be ever so poetic right now to say that these books are my real nourishment however, I must say, there is also a large amount of comfort in the numb glow of one's favourite crap TV programme. So I suppose a nice mixture of Hesse and 'Supersize vs Superskinny' is the real tonic for Covid.

Caroline P
>>72932548

Ohhh nooo I hope you feel better soon. I think the crappy Tv is like a warm duvet and the books are healing medication and some reassuring hand holding…a perfect combination I think!

hardcoreliterature
>>72876521

Wow! I am so happy to hear that :) I can’t wait to hear your thoughts Brandi :) we have three videos on Great Expectations coming out over the next few days. One being a historical overview, the next a deep dive into the first chapter, and the following covering chapters 1-19. The 1946 film is well worth watching. I was even considering doing a watch-along over the Christmas period. I’m also happy to hear you’re enjoying the approach to Middlemarch. George Eliot’s masterpiece, similar to Proust’s Search, in my opinion, really benefits from being serialised!

hardcoreliterature
>>72884719

This is so amazing to hear, Nick! Those last two sections are really so resonant, aren’t they? I find myself rereading the end of Anna Karenina regularly, and the characters remain vivid, like old friends, in my mind. Your short story reading sounds so rewarding - and nice one on getting the materials together for the year ahead! It’s going to be quite the experience :)

hardcoreliterature
>>72888166

Wow! You’ve been reading voraciously, Steve! Nice one :) And now Proust is about to turn up on your doorstep - that poor mailman! As for Clavell, I enjoyed his Shogun when I was living in Japan - good fun! Sci-fi and fantasy was one of my first literary loves. I really must read more! I recently enjoyed some of Ursula K. Le Guinn’s stuff (like The Left Hand of Darkness) and H. G. Wells, but I’m curious what’s happening on the contemporary scene. I’m exited for the 2022 schedule too - thank you so much for being here!

hardcoreliterature
>>72909080

Wonderful :) I have this one sitting on my bedside ready for another reread. Such a lovely play, and a beautiful part of his career. I would fully agree with AMND being a great entrance to Shakespeare. This one and 'Much Ado About Nothing' are perfect comedies for getting into the bard. Bloom's Shakespeare is a nice reward for reading the play :)

hardcoreliterature
>>72930718

Congratulations on finishing these two! At a very nice pace too. Blood Meridian took me a couple of attempts too, but it was the poetic language that helped me stomach the bloodshed. What a lovely way to commemorate Sondheim. I read about his passing in the Irish Times - they did a nice piece on the great man.

hardcoreliterature
>>72932228

It's so great to have you here, Jack :) Warm welcomes to the club! And very nice choice of reading with Natsume Soseki - I read his "I Am a Cat" the week I arrived in Japan. My remembrance of his work is tinged with the feeling of jet-lag. Great to hear you're looking forward to Wuthering Heights - powerful book. You'll love it!

Caroline P

Ohh I think Patreon just lost my post. I will try and remember what I said. It might be because we had a sudden power cut here I am re re rereading Great Expectations and it is living up to my expectations in a great way. However many times I have read this I still find it funny and comforting and tense and ALL the things a good story should be. And Turn of the screw, this is a reread too. I have remembered the end but forgotten what it was like to read this. I am really enjoying it and all the more so for taking my time. I am about to start Middlemarch and reading a little Proust everyday (which might be the thing forever) as to poetry I am reading Christina Rossetti this week. I bought a load of new books this week which will be a Christmas present from my dog, Freddie, to me. He has trouble in bookshops making himself understood…so he sent me in with the mission to choose and he will keep the books secreted away until the big day ( I have him a new fancy coat). The books are ones for the upcoming reading list in this group …I am very excited about it all. This past month I did something I thought would never happen again…I picked up Austen’s Persuasion and read along with the lectures here in HCLB. While it isn’t my favourite book ever I can say I appreciated the fantastic writing a whole lot more this time. As I have thought about the book since finishing it I have grown to like it more and more and am now partly rereading it and partly listening on audible. I still am not drawn to the setting of rather well to do families and society shenanigans and liked Mrs Smith and her more lowly story most, the tiny details of personal relationships is so cleverly and beautifully drawn. I have bought Emma to read over the Christmas break. Other things..I am nearly done with the poetry course I have been doing. It hasn’t been the most excellent thing I have done but I have now bought Stephen Fry’s Ode Less Travelled, as recommended on here, and am going to work through that. One good thing has been that I have been motivated to write a couple of poems a week. I spend a day or two thinking about them them write them. I have really enjoyed that process. I think I need the course to primarily help with structure and then to give feedback so I could see where I was failing. But oh well. Small steps! One small question would be…how do you make more room for more book shelves? Is there some magic way? That was all I think. I have so enjoyed HCLB this month.

Bill Freeman

Arlington, Virginia – USA Ben and Esteemed Colleagues, In November, I continued my chapter-a-day diet of “Don Quixote” and “Les Misérables.” I am reading “The Turn of the Screw” per the recommended 12-week schedule. For “The Proust Project,” I listen to an audio and read along, about ten pages per day. At this rate, I should be finished just before the Second Coming. As I shared previously, for my on-ramp book to Dickens, instead of “Great Expectations,” I am reading his “Christmas Stories,” five of his holiday tales over December. I will continue with “Great Expectations” in January. More hit than miss, I am reading “one short story, one poem, and one essay” per day (probably three days per week). On deck, I have Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein,” “The Iliad” by Homer, and Dostoevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov" and his "Notes from the Underground." Outside of the book club, I read Timothy Snyder’s “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century.” This book can be easily consumed in two sittings. I read it first, and I underlined heavily with comments for my second read. THEN, I immediately bought five copies and sent it to friends. This included sending an e-copy to my brother in Panama. This is a vitally important and timely work; in fact, it’s the most important book that I have read in 20 years. My recommendation to HLBC members is to stop what you are doing and read this book. Last month, I made a mega-recommendation of Michael Finkel's 2018 book, "The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last Hermit." Herein, I’d like to share a few reflections on this magnificent book that would make a wonderful holiday gift. In the year of Chernobyl, 1986, 20-year-old Christopher Knight walked into the woods in Rome, Maine, and disappeared, only returning to civilization 27 years later after being arrested for breaking into closed summer camps while stealing food. This is a story of disengaging and reconnecting, of silence and stillness. It’s a story for any of us who feel the want to move away, run away, disappear from the hardball of life. This is a tale of finding the transcendent amid the imminent. It is a reflection for discovering, as Knight reflected, the “somewhere in-between quiet and solitude . . . [a] stillness, a silence that does not translate into words.” But as Knight discovered, “solitude bestows an increase in something valuable. It increased my perception of myself; I lost my identity. There was no audience, no one to perform for. There was no need to define myself. I became irrelevant.” Knight simply existed, for the most part, in the perpetual now. I believe that Knight’s quest is the eternal quest that is hard to speak about but longing for more. For sure, it's not found in the drunkenness of contemporary toys – which are always more attractive in the longing than in the possessing. Perhaps our difficulty expressing it is because we have so infrequently even been in that space. Yet, we know it's there. I find it fascinating that at the end of the first paragraph of Augustine of Hippo’s “Confessions,” he speaks about this longing, “Our souls are restless, Oh Lord until they rest in you.” I think this speaks to the “divine” in us, the perpetual NOW. To quote the sage advice of my Sangha teacher, “the secret of happiness is to CHOOSE what you already have.” Now is enough, and perhaps a passageway the circles back into itself. For Christopher Knight, he found it, unexpectedly and haphazardly but truly. Read his story and follow his footsteps. Ben, I trust this was more “speculation than summary.”

Tony E.

Hi, another newbie here, drawn to HL by my desire to deep re-read Crime and Punishment and Anna Karenina. Now I am the typical child in a sweet shop who cannot choose between the sweets I came in for and all the other goodies on display. For the moment I think I will concentrate on Great Expectations and decide how to mix the 2022 schedule and the back catalogue after that. I'm currently just finishing Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (Pevear/Volokhonsky translation) and already thinking, as Ben suggested, on how recent reading impacts my reading of Great Expectations. Interestingly, both novels start in a graveyard with young Yuri Zhivago attending his mother's funeral and young Pip reflecting over his parents grave and meeting the convict. Both are orphans and both have an older male figure in their life (Nikolai/Joe). Their social backgrounds, though, are very different and the influence of their foster parent is also poles apart. I'm sure, with Yuri's story fresh in my memory, that I will continue to compare as I read GE.

Caroline P
>>72960428

Hello esteemed colleague, what interesting reading ..I love the advice of your Sangha teacher. What a perfect thought.

Caroline P

Ok patreon lost my post again. It was this Ohh I just remembered. I have a lovely illustrated copy of Don Quixote (as well as the Edith Grossman copy), Illustrated by Chris Riddell. The illustrations really capture DQ and SP for me. Anyway, I was invited to a local book event and Chris Riddell was there. I sneaked in my DQ and asked him to sign it for me. Then had a bit of a fan girl moment and couldn’t think of a word to say except ‘I love Don Quixote’ ..it was a bit embarrassing but even so it made my day. I am not usually fussed about signed copies but having said that, if it was one of the classics we have been reading it would be the best thing ever to get a signed Great Expectations or whatever wouldn’t it. Meeting authors also isn’t something I am normally interested in either but since joining HLBC I can think of authors I would give anything to meet. Hopefully if I met Shakespeare I would find something a little more intelligent to say. I will start planning for that time machine moment and think up one question for each of my favourite authors

Holly Puckette

The end of November brought to a close "The Hunter Gatherer's Guide to the 20th Century" by Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein. Unfortunately, it's promised science was more field anecdote, but I did copy some interesting passages into my journals on the anti-fragile nature of humans. That we are designed to grow stronger with exposure to risks and pushing boundaries. As the holiday season begins I also finished "Mozart: A Life" by Maynard Solomon, which could easily have sold under the title "Leopold Mozart was a Narcissist." I continue to plug away in the mornings on Courage by Ryan Holiday; The Life of Greece by Will Durant and Meditations from the Mat by Rolf Gates. Coming in fresh are Great Expectations and Middlemarch sharing time with Shakespeare's Sonnets and Whitman's Leaves of Grass. This morning I read from Whitman "Sea Drift: Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" and was hard pressed to get on with anything else today as it was so evocative of my own childhood by the shore and so beautifully, heartrendingly written with its themes of love, loss of innocence, and death drawn in both human and animal voices. With the new book club reading being mostly serialized I decided to take the leap into the Proust Project. Vol. 1 should come in soon. I'll likely look to get a head start on King Lear as well as the notes in the Arden edition have me just a touch intimidated. Then again, we humans are anti-fragile so the challenges just make us stronger!

Jo Ann Hinkle

I’m forging ahead in Great Expectations and definitely enjoying it more than I did in high school! I love Dickens’ use of language, and particularly his gothic imagery. And, Ben, since you mentioned Dickens’ use of food in the novel, I’ve been taking special note of the meaning he gives it and how it ties certain scenes together. And I just received my big box of books from Amazon with Middlemarch, The Turn of the Screw, Persuasion and half a dozen others. I hope to start Middlemarch soon…A most enjoyable December!

Holly Crowley

I am also starting in on Great Expectations and enjoying it way more than I remember feeling about it in high school. The language is engaging and the story and characters entertaining so far. I really think I’m going to end up loving it. I am also about 2/3 or so of the way through The Morning Star by Karl Ove Knausgaard. Wow. His writing is spectacular. I am really loving it and looking forward to reading his backlist books. In addition, I picked up Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl and it is such a compelling read. I am always torn between which book I really want to pick up, they are all incredible in different ways! Happy reading everyone!

Bill Freeman
>>72968946

Caroline - I want to follow up with Don's recommendation. This is what I wrote about problems posting. I had a lot of difficulty with my posts "disappearing" in the Spring. I ended up emailing the platform (Patreon) directly explaining the situation. One of their developers got back to me stating that somehow my email address ended up on their blocked list. They removed my address from that list and things have been fine since. Here is the like to that email: https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=360000465611 Good luck!

Mahmoud

Greetings, everyone. I'm pleased to be a new member of the book club! I'm from Toronto, Canada, coming from a science background, and practicing in healthcare. I happened to first stumble upon Ben online, which lead me here. Having thus far missed out on reading the classics and other great books, it will be my first crack at most of them. I am consoled by knowing I have the support of such wonderful kindred spirits, enthusiastic and dedicated readers, and lifelong learners. My current big read is Crime and Punishment. I also simply couldn't help my excitement of making my first Dickens experience a memorable one, by beginning Great Expectations in December along with the book club, even if I may end up going at a slower pace. Other works I'm digesting in smaller bite-sized pieces are: Don Quixote, Plutarch's Lives, Emerson's Self-Reliance, and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (for which I recently picked up the latest deluxe illustrated slipcase).  In the last year, I found myself inclining more toward poetry, which has been very comforting and grounding. The Ode Less Travelled, has been a wonderful primer on the art form. It has been a nice supplement to The Lives and Works of the English Romantic Poets, offered by The Great Courses, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Poetry collections on my current rotation include: The Poems of Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost: Collected Poems, Prose & Plays, Devotions by Mary Oliver, The Shepherd's Calendar by John Claire, and Basho: The Complete Haiku.  I'm especially looking forward to the Shakespeare Project in the new year. Aside from some unpleasant memories of reading him during high school, I consider this as my first real exposure that does justice to the Bard.  Looking forward to joining and accompanying you all on this literary journey. Very grateful to you, Ben, for your guidance and for inviting us to this community. It is an absolute treasure trove!

Charlotte Dunn

Hi all, Greetings from Edinburgh, Scotland! I've just joined the book club after being an avid consumer of Ben's YouTube and podcast (it was in my top five from Spotify Wrapped)! I'm planning to start Anna Karenina this evening as a knee injury has left me with extra free time - that's the silver lining at least! If anyone else is tackling this book, please give me a shout.

Caroline P
>>73005682

Hello Mahmoud, so glad to meet you here, I joined a couple of months ago and have found it to be a wonderful inspiring book club. I am especially looking forward to the Shakespeare project too. I love your poetry selection above. Anyway, hellooo

Caroline P
>>73009165

Hi Charlotte, I have a little bit of a sore knee too so I feel I ought to start Anna Karenina too ..what an excellent justification. (Tho in my case my knee is just an occasional tiny twinge). I think I will need to wait a week before I start tho. There are so many lectures here to watch about it…Anyway, hello 👋🏻

hardcoreliterature
>>72973098

Wonderful selection, Holly! Your alternative title for Solomon’s ‘Mozart’ made me smile, and makes me rather intrigued to pick it up myself. I enjoyed Will Durant’s slim ‘The Lessons of History’ a couple of years back, so I would personally be keen to read more of him. That’s a shame to hear Heying and Weinstein’s book was more anecdote than science. Your mention of the passages on the anti-fraile nature of humans does still make me curious however - I read through all of Taleb’s stuff last year, and found the experience quite informative. I’m due a reread (or a reread of my underlined sections) of his Antifragile and Skin in the Game. I also love the way you have described Whitman. I recently chanted his ‘When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d’ and found myself incredibly moved.

hardcoreliterature
>>72991443

That's great to hear, Jo! I love that you're focusing on Dickens' use of food. Entire books could be written on Dickens and food. I have to be careful not to read him too late at night because he often makes me hungry for some hearty grub!

hardcoreliterature
>>72992631

That's so great to hear you're enjoying it, Holly! As for Karl Ove Knausgaard, you might find his interview with The Paris Review interesting, with him speaking about 'My Struggle' in particular. An author I'm excited to explore more of too. Also wonderful to hear you've picked up Man's Search for Meaning. I'm due a reread of this one :)

Scott W

I've had a busy couple of weeks with hardly any reading but I think I may be back on the wagon! I've read 15 pages of Les Mis tonight and made a start on Jane Eyre for my course. It will be a slow and steady end to the year for me reading wise. I hope you all enjoy GE and MM! I'm very much looking forward to next year's schedule, there are some fantastic books on it!

Matt Gordon

I'm finishing out the year with the following titles: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport Selected Readings from Euripides: Hippolytus, Medea, The Children of Heracles, Alcestis (one per week - part of another reading program) The True Believer by Eric Hoffer (interesting book on cults and mass manipulation -- for work) The Life of Andrew Jackson by Robert Remini (#7 in my "Reading The Presidents" project) How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens Essentialism by Greg Mckeown Merry Christmas to you Ben and all of us here in HLBC!

hardcoreliterature
>>73153113

I sympathise with you, Scott! It sounds like you have some thoroughly well-deserved time to rest owed to you! And your reading is still going so well despite being busy. 15 pages of LM would require a hefty chunk of time for my own reading pace. I'm looking forward to next year too. Kicking off with Charlotte's sister, and a book published the same year as Jane Eyre - what a time for publishing!

Laura Davis

I thought I would never say this but I am currently reading the Bible :). My journey to it: I watched David Chang’s (Momofuku) LinkedIn interview on constant growth where he referenced an essay on lobsters by David Foster Wallace. I read Consider the Lobster by Wallace and his review of Joseph Frank’s biography of Dostoevsky. I asked my daughter for a Dostoevsky book for Christmas as I’ve never read him. She gifted me with Crime and Punishment. I read the first 30 pages and loved it but decided I didn’t want to read it alone. I luckily happened upon this bookclub and signed up. When I saw the recommended Bible verses and watched the video, I immediately felt resistance, but then started to feel curious about reading the Bible as foundational literature. So I bought the 1611 and here I am reading it and am looking forward to getting into the C&P bookclub dialogue you all had from last year!