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Hardcore Literature Book Discussion (March 2022) (Patreon)

Published:
2022-03-01 17:42:16
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2026-06
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Dear Book Club Readers ---

You had a tremendous reading month in February, and are setting yourselves up for another strong month with the great books.

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 March 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 so much for being a part of the family, and I hope your month is filled with exciting bookish adventures.

Happy reading!

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Comments

Michael Kwong

It has been awhile now since my last comment, would love to retreat from my work and share a bit of my reading life! Becoz of my crazy working hours, reading is difficult for me. But I'm happy to say that I have just finished Frankenstein few days ago. What a read! I love the overall plots of the book, felt really sorry for the creature (can't imagine how I can live if I'm truly that alone in the world and knowing that nothing can change the situation here), and kind of thinking that Frankenstein deserved his fate, given how he has abandoned the creature (which is ofcoz an understandable act). I picked up Wuthering Heights next, as it kinds of giving me a similar feeling to Frankenstein (romantic sublime (?)), and becoz it's rather short compared to other big reads so far so I think it would be easier for me to finish it. Just chapter 3 now. And inspired by the reading method mentioned by Ben earlier, I am surrounding myself with different books now and reading few pages this and few pages there. I started The Stand by Stephen King, The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer, How to Read and Why by Harold Bloom, The Completed Work of Montaigne, and some other more~ I think the varieties do keep me more interested every time I open my next book. Personal life, I finally passed my professional exam!!! It has been three years and it's finally done :D Time to burn all the text books! joking :) Should also celebrate it by buying new books~ And my new cat is becoming more adorable and always sticking to me now! Always stay with me while I'm working haha. Also thinking to buy and learn acoustic guitar next month :D Fingerstyle is soooo cool. COVID situation here in Hong Kong is crazy right now, fortunately my family is okay! Hope everyone stays healthy and have a wonderful life! Cheers~

Sharee Weigel

I want to start by saying I really enjoy this group! With everything that’s happening in the world and the negativity on other social platforms, this group is filled with people that have a desire to learn. I thoroughly enjoy listening to the Q&A episodes. The questions are amazing and so are Ben’s answers/commentary. I am reading Moby Dick. It’s my first time reading it and has more humor than I anticipated. Also reading The End of Men for another bookclub. In the past month I have got more serious about going back to school for a masters degree. I will try to keep up with this group while pursuing another degree. When I have a spare moment I feel more drawn to this group than watching Netflix. I consider every member of this group as my teacher. Ben has a soothing voice with a unique cadence. It would be interesting if he did videos or podcasts reading parts of the great works, that are not under copyright, to help someone fall asleep. Just a suggestion :)

Leslie Loving

I’ve made a few recent purchases for my permanent library. I was very excited to find a copy of the Norton Facsimile: The First Folio of Shakespeare (1968) in a local used book store (displayed in the window in recognition of current Vancouver Art Gallery exhibition of four 17th Century Shakespeare folios). This is a monster of a book, measuring 14” x 10”, and weighing in at 9 lbs! I’ve also bought the three volume Everyman’s Library slipcase edition of War and Peace and the Modern Library slipcase edition of In Search of Lost Time. I already had the newer Penguin Classics slipcase edition of Proust, but found that I got stalled out in the middle of John Sturrock’s translation of Sodom and Gomorrah. So the Moncrieff/Kilmartin translation is now on my current rotation and I’m reading 10-12 pages a day, picking up at the “Intermittencies of the Heart” section of Sodom and Gomorrah. In addition to the currently scheduled Hardcore Book Club reads I’ve also picked up Persuasion from the backlist and am reading (now about half way through) along with the lectures. I have been greatly moved by the themes of the pain of memory/regret/grief. The references in the lectures to Rilke were especially resonant and in my current quite isolated circumstances I keep going back to his words: “quiet friend who has come so far, feel how your breathing makes more space around you. Let this darkness be a bell tower and you the bell. As you ring, what batters you becomes your strength . . .” I’m reading in quite a new way, dipping in turn into quite a number of books at the same time and I’m really relishing this new approach for me. I’m also starting to make a bit of a breakthrough in daily tracking/journaling and have been at least making brief summations of each day’s reading. I am expecting that I will be called back from remote work only at some point in the near future and if so I’ll miss the extra reading and reflecting time I’ve had to “live the great books”.

Pierre Bolkonsky
>>78924057

Welcome back Michael! I've been in the club only for 2 months so I don't think we 'met' before, but nice to hear that you put that exam behind and can now dedicate some time to what really matters, literature! Just joking :) (or am I lol) I'm jealous of your sticky cat. I love cats and will be a frustrated human being until I get myself one, but they have a strict no-pet rule in my apartment building :| I'm planning to read Frankenstein in the fall season -following the tradition of this book club- but your comments on the book are tempting me to modify my reading schedule!

Pierre Bolkonsky
>>78929005

Hello Sharee. Good luck on your masters degree! I have the same "problem" as you: this book club is eating up at my other hobbies and interest, but I find it a good problem to have! :) I know you meant the last paragraph as a compliment to Ben, but if decides to start an audiobook, I think it wouldn't be just to help people fall asleep haha! But I agree wholeheartedly. I love the way he reads excerpts from books and poems. You can tell by his diction and his tone how much meaning and emotion he puts in those words.

Doug

I'm playing catch-up on Middlemarch right now and following along with the Hardcore Lit Club schedule. What a great ride it's been! I already had a reading plan for this year before I discovered this group. I pared it down some; but for this month I'm still planning to read Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander by Thomas Merton, Emerson Among the Eccentrics by Carlos Baker, and a bio of Thelonious Monk by Robin Kelley. I also added a re-read of the graphic novel, Maus by Art Spiegelman. I live in a county that recently made national news here in the U.S. when the school board removed this book from the curriculum, ostensibly for some curse words and a cartoon of a naked mouse. This made me angry. Although my daughter is grown, actually a 5th grade reading teacher in another state, I went to the next school board meeting to express my feelings. My view was discounted. I guess the board wants a kinder and gentler version of the horrors of the Holocaust. Of course, I'm being a bit facetious. Pardon me for that. This might be an interesting discussion in the upcoming read of The Republic. Loving this group - the lectures, the comments ... absolutely everything about about it.

Scott W
>>78929493

Persuasion is one I intend to read from the 'back catalogue' at some point too, Leslie. When I was working from home all the time I had a wonderful 45 minute slot every day to read and journal in. I thought when I returned to the office again it would all end, but it just changed shape. I'm in work 3-4 days a week now but I'm just spending time with my books in the evenings in a different slot I've carved out for myself. So please don't think an end to remote working must mean an end to your living with these great books, it didn't turn out that way for me. :)

Scott W

I am mostly reading Wuthering Heights and Moby Dick at the moment. I am really enjoying both of them. I am mindful of spoilers so don't want to say too much, but, Wuthering Heights is intense. I love the landscape and histories and connections between people that Emily has created in this novel. I am just over half way through and currently reading out of a sort of compulsive disbelief at how the characters are treating one another. I read two chapters of Moby Dick a day, usually late in the evening. It is funny, moving, poetic, dramatic, stylized, deep, fun, I just think it's fantastic. I've never read anything quite like it and I am surprised how easy it is to read, it has such a reputation.. maybe I haven't reached the hard parts yet. I'm sure there is lots of philosophy and many biblical references and so on I'm missing being ahead of Ben's lectures, but I am enjoying the book and it's making me think about my own big journey here on Earth.. I've also been dipping into Emily Bronte's poems. Many are very sad. Some are beautiful. Some very creative. I do enjoy reading them. The tragedy of her life, and near constant presence of death in her own family and that of Haworth, is writ loud and clear in her poems. Those more likely related to her imaginary Gondal are also interesting. I would like to read more about the Brontes' imaginary worlds and juvenilia some time. I've just finished reading Macbeth which was a quick and dynamic play compared to Lear and Hamlet. I'm going to watch the Michael Fassbender movie adaptation soon. I DNF'd Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. I got half way through but it just wasn't doing it for me. I read The Aeneid and The Thebaid recently and I think I just prefer the weight and feel of the original epics. I could be persuaded, maybe, but I don't think so. It felt like very good creative writing, not what I'm looking for in a novel at the moment. Achilles had no gravity to him. Thetis reminded me of X-Men's Raven.. Patroklus was so whining and annoying. Not for me, I guess.. The trouble is we read such great books in this group the bar is so very high! My hopes for March is to continue enjoying Moby Dick, finish Wuthering Heights, and I think I might then read something by Anne Bronte, having recently read Charlotte's Jane Eyre. I'd like to visit Haworth this Spring or early summer and visit the vicarage and do the hike across the tops, so reading more of the sisters' work beforehand would be wonderful. Also, Kate Tempest's 'Brand New Ancients' is in the post.. I'm intrigued after seeing her recite some of it on YouTube. Think epic poetry meets 21st Century urban culture! Yeah. I'm going to love it or hate it.. :D

Caroline P

Hello chums, I must admit I am not on land right now but sailing on the Pequod..deep into a voyage. I send this comment via seagull. I can’t really think about other novels right now so I have fallen a bit behind on Middlemarch. But that’s ok I think. I will carry on soon. I am enjoying Moby Dick very very much. I won’t say more except the book isn’t what I thought it was about from my previous read many years ago. I am so glad we have this in our schedule. I went to the Stonehenge exhibition at the British Museum yesterday (which was excellent by the way, the British Museum is my favourite place in London, my favourite exhibits being the Lewis Chessmen and the Netsuke) and managed to squeeze in a trip to Foyles bookshop on Charing Cross Road. I wanted poetry books but made myself pick up two poets I never would normally purchase. I am unsure still about my picks but I need longer with them. A modern one, Jack Underwood, Happiness and a more classic one that somehow has never cropped up for me, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. I also bought short stories by Melville. I have never read Bartleby the Scrivener and wanted to try that. The man at the till smiled a big smile when he saw that book, looked at me and said ‘you are going to love this, I promise you’. So that was encouraging…It seems Typee by Melville isn’t easy to get. I am knee deep in books but other than Macbeth, Dickinson and leafing through my new poetry books I am really only reading Moby Dick Other things: well, along with everyone, I am a bit traumatised about world events and so fearful for the future. But I am trying to do what I can and then letting the rest go because worrying never helped anyone. Easier words to say I know. Data, the android on Startrek has an emotion chip that he can switch off with a twitch of his head.. i share a quick clip below…I am avoiding the news. https://youtu.be/kthHrC88K7c

Leslie Loving
>>78933134

I’ve also been thinking this month about the growing school book ban efforts in the US and wondering whether folks here might have thoughts about efforts by libraries/schools/caregivers to constrain what you read as a young person or thoughts about what books you had access to. I was very fortunate in that even though my parents did not have extensive formal education they were very literate and always interested in books. They never questioned or censored what I read, we always had books in the house and we always had access to libraries. I remember reading all my dad’s “big books” by James Michener and Leon Uris at an early age, and I as a young teen “subscribed” to mail order collections by Charles Dickens and--unlikely as it seems--W. Somerset Maugham, along with poetry anthologies. I remember the look and feel and scent of these books and, vividly remember being greatly impacted by the obsessive and destructive affair described in Of Human Bondage. Books were literally my anchor in an otherwise peripatetic childhood and no doubt saved my life.

Scott W
>>78938353

Also.. at some point I need to make more of a commitment to write. I wrote every day before our son was born 7 years ago and have not been able to build a habit for it since. I always seem to equate in my mind that writing more would mean reading less. But I'm not sure that's true.. any suggestions more developed than 'Just Do It' are most welcome.. :)

Scott W
>>78938530

I smiled at the beginning, middle and end of this post. :) I love Foyles. I must return soon. It's been too long. I am always pleasantly surprised when someone working at a bookshop actually turns out to be well read - I don't think Bartleby the Scrivener is that well know, or is it? I am also loving Moby Dick and would like to read more Melville in the future. (I'm very lucky with my local, Toppings of Ely, amazing well-read book loving staff - and sometimes even free tea and coffee if you're hanging around!) Oh for an emotion chip! :D

Rob Hilliard

Whew! Been a crazy busy month in many ways: work, personal, travel, music, and yes... reading! I have possibly bitten off a little more than I can chew with my book choices, so I need to prioritize things. I do want to knock things off the list, but I am also learning to appreciate the slower, deeper read/reread idea (thanks, Ben!), so that will just have to factor its way into the mix too. Anyway, I am presently still in Wuthering Heights, King Lear, Welcome to the Monkey House (Vonnegut), and Shadow of the Torturer (Wolfe). The last being a HUGE undertaking, as part of another reading group, into the whole Book of the New Sun series, not too different from the deep reads here in this wonderful group. Oh, and I’m still employing (well, not perfectly, but most evenings) the Bradbury Idea of one short story, one poem, one essay each night before bed. It’s also opened my eyes and mind to new ideas and “metaphors!” (just as Ray intended) I’m learning more about reading than I ever have before and than I ever even thought possible. Thanks to you all for that, and special thanks for Ben’s fantastic knowledge, leadership, guidance on the great adventure together. Cheers!

Randy

Hey! I'm coming up on the halfway point of Middlemarch as well. I finished a re-read of 1984 and liked it even more this time around. If you haven't read that yet... put everything on hold and read it! I also just cracked open Moby Dick yesterday and have followed Ishmael into the Spouter-Inn where he just finished breakfast with a wild batch of sailors. I'm looking forward to making progress on both of these stories🤘

Pierre Bolkonsky

Hello fellow book lovers, I read 4 books in February: 1. Hamlet: this was the highlight of the month without a doubt. I started slowly (I’m intimidated by Shakespeare’s language) but little by little got sucked into the intellectual brilliance of the main character. I borrowed a NoFear edition from the public library to help me break the language barrier. I’m starting to develop a “feel” for Shakespeare’s English. Many passages made it into my file of highlights and notes. I will follow Ben’s advice and memorize one soliloquy. Guess which one? :) I must give major props to the website GradeSaver which provided me with immediate analysis following each act of Hamlet. I think I would have understood and liked the play much less if I didn’t use the website as a companion. I also read Harold Bloom’s Hamlet: Poem Unlimited which gave me further insight into the play and made me chuckle at the unabashed enthusiasm of such an experienced critic in face of literary genius. I thought literary criticism was reserved for dry academics who look down on too much sentimentality. Obviously, Bloom is from a different breed! This short book also made me want to read Henry V. Bloom mentions the main character of that play on every other page. I watched Ben’s video reaction to famous actors’ rendition of the most famous soliloquy in the play (in literature?). I haven’t watched the long lecture yet. I know I’m going to love it, but I want to make sure I have 3 consecutive free hours so I can take my time and do all googling / research which is inevitable with Ben’s long lectures. I will come back to Hamlet often and soon, so I bought both the NoFear edition and the Arden edition which, to my surprise, is 600+ page all. That will quench my thirst for a while. 2. Angry Nation: Turkey since 1989 by Kerem Oktem. Turkey fascinates me because of its location between West and East and its mixed identity between Islam and secularism. I’ve been thinking about visiting the country for a while. This book burst my bubble a little bit :/ But as Thoreau said, “rather than love (…) give me truth.” 3. Zaad Al Maad by Ibn Al Qayim: it’s an Islamic religious book, volume 1 of a series of 5 or 6. The other volumes will wait for now. 4. Tolstoy Therapy: A Fiction Prescription by Lucy Horner. It’s more of a long blog in kindle format than a full-fledged book. I found it while looking for information about English translations of Russian literature and the title immediately hooked me. I read Tolstoy as therapy myself, and it seems I’m not the only one who benefits from him in this way. She even cites the same passage where I had my first epiphany in literature, and which started some major changes in my life. Isn’t it amazing when you find out that someone, somewhere, experienced the same sudden insights as you, and in that instant had the same understanding of the universe? The book is about more than just Tolstoy, however. She shares advice and reading recommendations for therapy purposes. This is a useful read. Books started in February: - Moby Dick: only 3 chapters in but already a lot of pleasure and a lot of information from Ben’s videos. I watched all the Moby Dick content I could get my hands on. - Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire: disgustingly beautiful, or beautifully disgusting depending on the poem. - Addaa Wa Addawa, by Ibn Al Qayyim. The title translates as The Disease and the Cure. It’s basically psychological therapy through Islamic scripture, written in beguiling 13th Century Arabic prose. In March, I hope to: - catch up on the book club lecture videos (Hamlet, Lear, Middlemarch lecture 2) - read Solzhenitsyn’s Cancer Ward which I planned to read in February but was a victim of my unexpected obsession for Hamlet. - start Les Miserables. I finally received the 4-volume French edition which I bought from ebay.fr. I already indulged in a couple chapters just to hear me read some French again (Baudelaire was too decadent to read out loud lol). I will read this slowly and deliberately, while enjoying Ben’s lecture videos from last year. That’s my monthly report. I ended up talking only about books, but that’s ultimately why I’m here :) Happy reading everyone!

Pierre Bolkonsky
>>78948364

I read 1984 only one time, 4 or 5 years ago. Since then, that book keeps climbing up my favourite books of all time without even re-reading it. I don't know how it manages to do that. Maybe because I follow politics and so much of today's politics is Orwellian.

Raquel Peterson

Hi! I finished a re-read of Anna Karenina in February and discovered Benjamin McEvoy's YouTube page when I was searching all things related to what's become one of my favorite books. In the last 24 hours I've been watching so many good videos and listening to podcast episodes of his. Middlemarch has been a reading goal of mine for several years. I've been intimidated by it for some reason but when I saw this book club and the lectures, I knew it was time! So I started Middlemarch for March. And I've been doing the read Shakespeare in a Year too based on Ian Doescher's reading schedule!

Ellen M

Hello my kindred spirits! I have been relishing the books in our syllabus - and I have been mentally patting myself on the back for having gotten through my first reads of our Shakespeare plays. I am a Shakespeare scholar! Ben said we are, so it must be true 😂 I am feeling drawn to Hamlet, I can see this being a project for life: it can be studied and analyzed endlessly. Macbeth needs another read, and I’m very irritated by not being able to watch the Fassbender version here in the states (without a particular BBC subscription on Amazon?) If anyone can help me out with this, please share ! I am thoroughly enjoying Moby Dick and this is my main read for the month. I read my first book by Mrs Gaskell thanks to another post here but overall I am reading much less since I joined and trying to absorb/ think and ponder on what I’m reading for the club. I started Middlemarch and am forcing myself to stop at the end of book 2 so I can follow the original publishing schedule- it’s not easy, and I may go forward with this. A big realization for me is how my thoughts develop as I write about our books. Ben says we develop our thoughts as we write, and I can’t believe how my thinking on these books changes so much once I put pen to paper (or start to comment here). My goal is to take more time to journal since I haven’t been doing much at all. I speak Italian and am currently studying French so my other reads are in different languages. I’m loving the latest book by Domenico Starnone (Trust in English). I am attempting to read my first book ever in French, and am actually doing it with relative ease, which feels like a huge accomplishment after almost 2 years of Duolingo lessons ! Since joining this club I have cut down totally on social media and I mostly enjoy reading the amazing comments here, and reading my books or watching a related film. What a breath of fresh air, and nourishment for my mental sanity. Particularly in light of current world events. Vicky recommended The Act of Reading which I really enjoyed and highly recommend as well - so perfect for our Moby Dick read. I’m sending a huge thank you to my fellow members for contributing to this oasis of tranquility and books.

Raquel Peterson

Ellen I’m going to try to read Middlemarch with those recommended breaks based on publishing schedule. I would’ve never thought of that approach. But it makes so much sense! I think I might try to start journaling my thoughts on the books too. Never been good about writing my thoughts about books for my own pleasure. I’ll talk about it all day long but don’t usually put it in my journal. I guess I tend to associate that with note taking for school and I need to change that! Happy reading!!

Fiona Wang

I'm frustrated and embarrassed to report that I haven't read anything from the book club schedule or engaged with the discussions for 2-3 weeks now. I was quite excited at the start of the year to tackle the new year schedule, especially Shakespeare's plays and Moby Dick, but now I find myself distracted and disinterested with regard to these goals. The worst part is I'm not sure why. I finished Don Quixote in mid-February and started King Lear (currently on Act III), but I have a growing sense of apathy towards reading fictions. I feel that there are pressing life issues that need to be addressed and that reading fiction seems frivolous and unhelpful. In reality, I understand the idea of drawing strength and insights from fictional works, but have trouble doing so in response to concrete life problems. Instead, I've been reading Cal Newport's Deep Work and ordered a few other nonfiction self-help books. They provide some solace and direct tips on how to lead a more fulfilling life. As I implement these tips, I feel better and more in control of my life. However, I feel confused by and displeased with my sudden indifference towards fiction. Has anyone felt like this before?

Suz R

Fiona I tend to use reading as an escape so in a way I understand what you mean. You want something a little more concrete and hands on so that you feel you are making a difference somewhere, to where I want to escape my situation for a few hours and enjoy the release that it gives me. For me it allows me to return to reality so to speak refreshed. You should not be concerned about your reading changes. I think you are just in a stage where you need or desire personal development and that is okay. Personally I run the gambit from classics to self help to sci-fi to history etc etc. Enjoy the ride and take care of yourself that is the most important thing to do.

Rob Hilliard

Oh, one more thing... if you are an audible user, check for a big sale going on right now. I discovered it unexpectedly as I was just looking for the Archangel Shakespeare for Hamlet and Macbeth. (Listening to their version of King Lear - whilst reading along in the Pelican paperback - a very nice recording, in my opinion!) Anyway... what seems to be an unadvertised sale (at least I don’t recall any notification for it, nor do I see it in any of the website banners)... and many titles are 85% off for the next few days. Crazy! Not sure if it’s region specific, or if they just like me a lot and are giving me these crazy deals... hehe... but I loaded up my cart! More more more!!! Check it out and best wishes that you find some deals!

Halcyon Distilled

Hello everyone It was so good to read your posts. I am caught in a whirlwind of my day job, strength training, yoga practice and still wholly dedicated to my early morning reading of Middlemarch. Im Not following the serialized reading protocol but still not rushing through it. I need to carve out some time for a coherent comment on the latest lecture, Ben posted which I am dissecting as I am the book. There is so much rising to the surface of both my heart and mind with this one. I’m carried by its tide. “Speak” more soon!

Pierre Bolkonsky
>>78952912

Welcome to the club Raquel! Anna Karenina is one of my favorite books of all time. I read Middlemarch for the book club in January. If you liked the former, you'll love the latter!

Pierre Bolkonsky
>>78956142

Well done on studying French Ellen! I've been using DuoLingo on and off for years to learn German. But I don't think I'm anywhere near the level required to read a book in German :/ Did you study French elsewhere or just on DuoLingo? I find German easy but the grammar gives me headaches. Macbeth is on Netflix if you have it. I can also share a link but Patreon doesn't allow private messages.

Pierre Bolkonsky
>>78959790

If by fiction you mean great books of literature like the ones we read in this book club, I can definitely say that I find fiction much more helpful than nonfiction (I read both). The fictional part of the great books of literature -the characters and the plot- is just the external packaging. The real value of those books in the underlying lessons or philosophies we learn from the stories. The characters and the stories may not be "real", but if you read the books deeply and analyze them, you will garner much more wisdom and self-help than most works of nonfiction. Perhaps you've been reading the wrong books? I suggest you try shorter, realistic novels that focus on the same themes as the nonfiction books you've been reading.

Bill Freeman

Arlington, Virginia – USA Ben and Esteemed Members, March is the thirteenth month of my HLBC membership. What began as a Google search for more info on Wim Hof quickly made a turn into reading Anna Karenina and this incredible journey into great literature. But it has been much more. For someone who has a lifetime appetite for nonfiction, this has allowed me to dive into fiction and creative fiction. Moreover, 13 months later (as unbelievable to me as it would be to anyone who knows me), I have begun writing a memoir. I've identified 20 Proustian moments in my life that are determinative, both backward and forward. I have already written five of the 20. I am a university professor and have taken the next couple of months (at least) off to hone a daily wring habit. As I learned to listen to the voices in great literature, I just might have found my own. "Speak to what you know." Time will tell. Following Ben's recommendation, my reading day is framed by "one short story, one essay, and one poem; it's delicious. I've read many, far more than I can summarize right now. I have a healthy, varied collection of essays, short stories, and poetry that I dive into each day. What I am noticing from reading – and this is very, very new – is that I am developing an additional perspective. That's one that, as I read, is noticing structure, character development, and transitions made by authors irrespective of genre. <b>For HLBC:</b> I continue with DQ and Les Mis. I am playing around with Wuthering Heights but can't call it a beginning. I am reading The Great Whale. I know New Bedford and Nantucket from my childhood days. I continue a daily read for The Proust Project with ISOLT and additional rabbit hole adventures into the following: - Letters of Marcel Proust (Mina Curtis, trans.) (2006, Helen Marx Books) - Marcel Proust: Days of Reading (Jon Sturrock, trans.) (1998/2008, Penguin) Marcel has grown on me as if one gay man from a century ago is speaking to me in a different time and space but with hard-earned wisdom to share irrespective of both. Continuing with this theme, I am reading: - Outwrite: The Speeches That Shaped LBGTQ Liituratue Culture (Julie Enszer and Elena Gross, eds). - Eminent Outlaws: The Gay Writers Who Changed America, by Christopher Bram <b>Reading beyond HLBC:</b> - Micro-Fiction (Jerome Stern, ed.) - New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction (James Thomas and Robert Scotellaro, eds.) - Making Shapely Fiction, Jerome Stern - Palm-of-the-Hand Stories, Yasunari Kawabata - The Art of Memoir, Mary Karr - Collected Poems, Philip Larkin (author of the recently mentioned "Aubade") - 2021 Pushcart Prize XLV – Best of the Small Press (Bill Henderson, ed.) One mention but not a full-throttle recommendation. Pursuing through Amazon, I noticed nearly 52,000 positive recommendations for "Greenlights", Matthew McConaughey's memoir derived from 35-years of personal journals (age 15-50). It got better as I read it, but I'm not sure how the book earned such an endorsement. That's it for the month. The Whale awaits. Can you smell the salted sea?

Pierre Bolkonsky
>>78992725

It's wonderful to hear you're taking time off work for your memoir, Bill! Best of luck. Sorry I can't report on Cancer Ward like I said I would. In my defense, I got distracted by Shakespeare.

Libby Beesley

Oh Ben – what am I not reading is more to the point. Moby Dick, which I love with a passion, it’s depth/complexity/poeticism and beauty astounds me – you had challenged us to think about our own great voyages and I didn’t think I had one. The truth is mine is huge – I am taking early retirement next year, such a huge change in my life - as a senior manager in a large NHS hospital, life over the last 2 or so years both professionally and personally has been immensely challenging and traumatising, a battle in itself (heads up to all my NHS colleagues) – ‘We grow accustomed to the dark’ (Dickinson) resonated strongly here. I am ready for that challenge, that voyage for purpose, the foes of loneliness and ageing. I thought I had done with study but am enrolled to begin my Masters in Literature this year. I am also reading Paradise Lost and your podcast led me to Tennyson’s Ulysses, and as if by some alchemy these lines ‘And this gray spirit yearning in desire/To follow knowledge like a sinking star,/Beyond the utmost bound of human thought’. Wow.

Ellen M
>>78958240

Hi Raquel, When Ben explains in his lectures how people had to wait for the publications to be released, and anticipate what would happen- it really makes me realize how we as a society are all about instant gratification now. My children have never known what it is to miss their favorite show, or not repeatedly watch a favorite film. There is something to be said for not getting what we want when we want it. Like you I can chat about books all day so the journaling is not easy for me but I’ll keep trying too!

Leslie Loving
>>79000677

Thanks, Libby for pointing to Dickinson's " poem this morning. It's resonating with me, too, as I hope to count myself among those brave who "grope a little".

David Logghe

I'm a first-timer, discovered the YouTube channel while searching different creators' methods for annotating books and got hooked! I'm working on my MFA Thesis at the moment, so I'm going through Umberto Eco's How to Write a Thesis. For pleasure, I'm reading and annotating the odyssey as well as a book of poetry by Jericho Brown. Now I need to get in line with the book club pics. Looking forward to it!

Bill Freeman
>>79010412

David - Welcome. For The Odessey, I strongly recommend Emily Wilson's recent translation. Just wonderful.

Sarah Bell

Still getting used to the new job so not alot of time to read...but carrying Moby Dick around with me everywhere! I don't want it to end. Am excited to be going to see The Australian Ballets Anna Karenina in April, as well as taking my son Ruben to see The Bell Shakespeare Companies Hamlet at the end of March. Both at the Sydney Opera House!! We don't get out much so this is a huge deal. Also somehow managed to read the first book in Phillip Pullmans ' 'His Dark Materials' trilogy and loved it. It's on Rubens reading list this term. Oh and watched recommended atmospheric Fassbender film of 'Macbeth'. Brilliant.

Benjie Baladad

Hello everyone. Things are getting busy at work so I haven't had as much time to read. I'm moving roles so I plan to take at least a week off in between and just read. Can't wait for it. I read a chapter or two a day of Moby Dick and Don Quixote for the book club. Plan to pick up Great Expectations from the back catalog. Then start and catch up with Proust and Middlemarch (I feel like I'm missing out on the year of reading Eliot!) On other readings, I read Chekhov's 'Uncle Vanya' to prepare for a rewatch of Hamaguchi's 'Drive My Car' which just got released on HBO Max. Also reading 'Chilean Poet' by Alejandro Zambra, and Ursula Le Guin's short story collection 'The Wind's Twelve Quarters.'

Libby Beesley
>>79054272

Sarah I love 'His Dark Materials' trilogy - its my go to book when I feel overwhelmed and sad - now reading Paradise Lost and hope to match the two. Envying your outings - enjoy :)

Halcyon Distilled
>>79065402

Thank you so much about your mention of the Murakami story made into a movie. I had no idea. Just watched the trailer. On my list.

Steve Horan

Here’s what I’ve been reading beyond the HLBC: Inspired by our Dickens read in December, I’m reading the serialized Pickwick Papers, beginning with chapters 1-2 in March and continuing through October 2023. I’ve also embarked on a Dickens reading plan to traverse the Dickens canon in two years, whereby I read Oliver Twist in January, The Old Curiosity Shop in Feb-Mar (almost done), and A Tale of Two Cities in April. I’m also in other book clubs whereby we’re reading Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien with Sean Astin who played Sam Gamgee in the movies (we read The Fellowship of the Ring in Jan-Feb, and beginning The Two Towers now). This is interesting with the war in the Ukraine. Tolkien insisted Sauron didn’t necessarily portray Hitler and what he meant was it could be any tyrant in history as it is now with Putin. I’m also reading Roots by Alex Haley with LaVar Burton who played Kunta Kinte in the mini series back in 1977, now through May 12. I was in college when this played and would rush home after classes to see the new episodes, so it is fun to get LaVar’s perspective all these years later and reread the book for the first time since the 70’s. I’m in an Agatha Christie book club and we read Death on the Nile in February in anticipation of the movie that’s in theaters right now and I just finished Why Didn’t They Ask Evans in anticipation of the movie that’s coming out on BritBox in April. I’m also reading Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, writer of great fantasy. This was his first series and not the huge tomes that are the Stormlight Archive series. Sanderson is blowing up right now with the most funded kickstarter ever with over $20,000,000 pledged and over 82,000 backers to publish four books in 2023 that he wrote in secret during the pandemic. It shows how people still enjoy reading when the product is good.

hardcoreliterature
>>78945163

I know that feeling of biting off more than I can chew, Rob! We must take heed of Joe Gargery’s warning to Pip to be careful when we bolt down our food :) Your book selection is wonderful - I love seeing Vonnegut in there! I’m curious to know if you would recommend Shadow of the Torturer? I’ve just checked out the synopsis and it looks awesome. And wonderful to hear you’re enjoying the Bradbury Trio! I recently returned to the practice myself (as best I can) and love it. I’m thinking of putting another video together talking about it soon. And thank you for your kind words! It’s great having you here, Rob!