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Hardcore Literature Book Discussion (May 2022) (Patreon)

Published:
2022-05-03 15:30:40
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2026-06
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Dear Book Club Readers ---

You had a great reading month in April, and it would be wonderful to hear about the great books you're reading this month.

Your comments in these Book Club Discussion threads continue to be testament to your passion and knowledge of great literature, and we would love to hear about how your reading is treating you at the moment.

So, tell us what your May 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 have such a wonderful Book Club community that keeps growing thanks to your thoughtful appreciations of 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

Emma Yap

This past month, I finished reading Persuasion, and also had a go at reading Tintern Abbey by Wordsworth and some poetry by Keats (my first experience of Keats!). Now I'm reading Wuthering Heights and have watched some of the Shakespeare videos in preparation for reading King Lear. In the background, I've been slowly making my way through St Augustine's Confessions and am up to Shakespeare's fifth sonnet. I did start The Iliad but abandoned it. I'm coming to the end of my contract at work which is why I've had more time recently to engage in the book club. In June I'll have a full month off and am looking forward to more reading!!

Nico Ribadeneyra

Hello all, my May seems like it will be a period of literary and physical transition. I have just finished my re-read of Blood Meridian. Despite my intention to read a chapter a day I could not help myself and finished the latter half in about two days. As always, it was wonderfully strange, lyrical, beautiful and horrifying. Now, I have begun The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, my fiance's favorite author, and it has grabbed with a longer tooth than other Murakami's I have tried to start, most of which left me cold. Hopefully this will be the one! As for Moby-Dick I have almost caught up with the current lecture and will likely finish it within this month. Middlemarch is will follow which will be my first deep reading! Finally, I have been reading two cantos from Dante's Inferno everyday and I am still undecided on what will come after. I think I may pick up another McCarthy in Suttree, which I read a few years ago but admittedly understood very little of, but that is not finalized so if there are any recommendations a to which book would pair nicely with Murakami and Eliot, a sort of bridge gapping style if you would, I would love to hear some suggestions! Best, Nico.

Marvin Beltre
>>83159011

Hello Nico, I have not read Blood Meridian, but I recently read Murakami’s “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running,” and absolutely love the short and lovely memoir. I do want to add that I tried reading “A Wild Sheep Chase,” but I just couldn’t live that work. However, I watched Ben’s video on Japanese literature and he recommended the memoir. Thus, I have just ordered “After Dark,” since I enjoyed the memoir and want to read more Murakami. Sorry for the tangent. My big read is “Anna Karenina,” and I’m taking it slowly (I’m in college so my reading time is reduce a bit, finals are coming up:) Hope you enjoy the chronicle and stay safe.

Lisa Doyle

I paired Moby Dick with Philbrick’s In the Heart of the Sea and very much enjoyed the fiction along with the non-fiction. I am currently reading McCarthy in publication order. The Orchard Keeper needed a read and then a deep read to fully grasp the story. I am surprised at the depth of his writing in this debut novel. It seems that his voice was born fully developed. I am now immersed in Outer Dark. For back catalog work, I am reading Anna Karenina and catching up with schedule for Middlemarch. Thank you, Ben, for this opportunity to enrich and grow our reading skills. Your content is superb and inspirational.

Sybil LeBer

After listening to your podcast on Virginia Woolf's Essay on Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, I began reading her first volume of The Common Reader. I haven't read anything else from her yet but, so far, I've been enjoying her essays in a where-have-you-been-all-my-life kind of way. I never realized an essay could be poetic. Her Pastons and Chaucer essay was a sort of love letter to Chaucer and it had some nice humor to it as well, my favorite so far. So thanks for introducing us. I finished my second read through of Wuthering Heights with a deeper appreciation for Emily Bronte and I'm slowly working my way through her poetry. Middlemarch has been a great read. I'm really loving George Eliot's voice and how she doesn't hide in her narrative. I dip into Proust here and there and love those meandering sentences. I'm trying to keep up with reading Moby Dick but Melville is tough for me. And I have to admit, I'm really struggling with Shakespeare. I got left behind and I'm still working on King Lear, very slowly. Even though Melville and Shakespeare have been a little difficult for me, I feel like something will unlock. I won't give up!

hardcoreliterature
>>83158575

Your reading has gone incredibly well, Emma! Congratulations on finishing Persuasion. I’m currently enjoying a reread of Pride and Prejudice, which will certainly lead me back to Austen’s autumnal novel. ‘Tintern Abbey’ is a wonderful poem to read over the long-term. I always found the alliteration of ‘dark sycamore,’ ‘plots of cottage ground,’ and ‘orchard tufts’ to be mesmerising. And the imagery of wreaths of smoke sent up from pastoral farms and ‘sportive wood run wild’ is intoxicating. And nice one on making your way through St. Augustine’s Confessions and Shakespeare’s sonnets and King Lear!

Nancy Cross

I have been slowly picking my way through Moby Dick. It's a re-read for me (read it in college) and this time I am enjoying a mixture of listening to it and reading it. It's hitting me differently obviously as I have more life experience to draw upon and I especially love that it's after reading King Lear. I can see King Lear on the decks of the Pequod quite easily delivering his stormy heath monologue.

Nancy Cross

On a different note, I have lost a loved one recently and I'm looking for some poetry for a balm to my broken heart. Thoughts, suggestions? Thanks.

Leslie Loving

Greetings all, This morning I come at last to the concluding chapters of "Moby-Dick" (after a three month voyage). I'll reserve the three days of 'The Chase' for tomorrow. The sense of doom is intense as we leave Ahab and Fedallah gazing together over the deck on the currently calm seas. I'm midway through "Blood Meridian", and will probably pick up on 'Middlemarch' later today with Book 4, after the cliffhanger ending about the terms of a will in Book 3. I have beautiful new leather-bound editions of "Moby-Dick" (Franklin Library, 1974), along with Walter Scott's "Waverley" (Franklin Library) and "Ivanhoe" (Easton Press, 1977). I think the two Scott volumes had never even been opened because the ribbon bookmarks had not even been unfurled and the gold page edgings crackled very satisfactorily. I'm not sure when I'll actually plunge into the Scott, but these volumes are waiting for me when the time comes. I also bought a magnificent ten pound, 12.5 x 8 inch new version of Joyce's "Ulysses" illustrated by Eduardo Arroyo (Other Press, NY, 2020). So, maybe not all that practical as a reading version, but beautiful! Also a very sweet used Penguin two-volume slip-boxed edition of Dickens' "The Christmas Books" - ready for the festive season. Otherwise, I'm trying to work through an annotation system that will work for me. It looks as though I'll settle on something with varied colours of highlighter and marginal codes - 'V' for new vocabulary, 'A' for striking aesthetic/stylistic passages, 'C' for characters first introduced, 'R' for references/allusions, and "I" for ideas/major themes. The 'A' and 'I' (I'd like to think!) I will record in a separate Commonplace book. Still refining and still struggling with the idea of marking up my books, although I now have four inexpensive copies of "Moby-Dick" to experiment with.

Pete Gardner

I’m reading Blood Meridian for the first time. I’m also working my way through CJ Sansom’s Dark Fire, the second book in the stupendous Shardlake mystery series. I’m reading The Wind in the Willows to my three kids - loving it!

hardcoreliterature
>>83160486

That’s a really nice pairing, Lisa. I would highly encourage Moby Dick fans to check out Philbrick’s ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ for the real-life story that inspired Melville’s masterpiece! And how wonderful that you’re reading McCarthy in publication order. You must be excited for those two new novels coming out later this year? I’ve already preordered :) And nice one on plunging into Anna Karenina and Middlemarch. Thank you for your really kind comments - I appreciate that so much!

hardcoreliterature
>>83161620

I am so sorry to hear that, Nancy. You're in my thoughts and prayers. For poetry, have you tried "The Poetry Pharmacy: Tried-and-True Prescriptions for the Heart, Mind and Soul" edited by William Sieghart? There are currently two volumes (one in red hardback, the other in blue), and they are both wonderful. The commentary that introduces each poem is often as therapeutic as the poem itself. There is a selection for mental and emotional wellbeing, and another for love and loss, which has some poignant, and hopefully comforting, meditations on grief.

hardcoreliterature
>>83161498

Nice one on making your way through Moby Dick, Nancy. It's wonderfully suited to audiobooks because Melville's prose is so melodic. I have fond memories of listening to the Moby Dick Big Read as it came out. Each chapter is read aloud by a different public figure. Tilda Swinton gets the project going with 'Loomings', Stephen Fry has a great chapter, and Simon Callow does a tremendous job with Father Mapple's sermon. And it's great that you can see the influence of King Lear - there wouldn't be an Ahab if it weren't for Shakespeare's tragedies!

Patricia M

I'm reading The Odyssey, translated by Emily Wilson. I am taking it at a slower pace. Pausing at the end of every page, covering the page, and examining what I have read. I can feel my retention and reasoning growing. (Thank you!) I'm also dipping into Samuel Richardson's Clarissa. (I will probably finish it sometime in early 2024.) I am enjoying it immensely, though! Regarding the Booker Prize, 2021 Damon Galgut's The Promise was a thoroughly enjoyable read. I found his changes in writing between the second and third person and his twisted characters worth the read. However, Hardcore Literature -- It's not.

hardcoreliterature
>>83160858

That's so awesome to hear, Sybil. I adore Virginia Woolf's 'Common Reader'. I would love to hear which one of her essays you like the most. She has a great one on the art of deep reading in the second volume, and the first volume has some really wonderful essays on Jane Austen and George Eliot, in addition to the one on the Brontë sisters. She's an extraordinary woman who was able to be an incredible artist and critic simultaneously. I go back to 'The Common Reader' frequently for companionship, like chatting about books with a friend. I recently enjoyed a trip to the inspiration for the setting of her 'Orlando', the Knole ancestral home where she used to spend much of her time. Congratulations on finishing your second reading of Wuthering Heights and immersing yourself in Middlemarch! And I really applaud your resolve to keep going with Melville and Shakespeare despite the difficulties. I wonder whether you may take to Shakespeare's comedies more than his tragedies? Readers often do have a strong favourite for one of the genres - comedy, tragedy, or history. For a very long time, I read the comedies exclusively, preferring the rapid-fire wit in plays like Much Ado About Nothing to the all-consuming gloom of works like King Lear.

hardcoreliterature
>>83162467

Congratulations on coming to the end of Moby Dick, Leslie! It’s my personal favourite ending in all of literature. Incredibly powerful stuff. And wonderful to hear you have Sir Walter Scott waiting for you. After our discussion here, I stocked up on some Oxford World’s Classics paperbacks of his - they’re staring at me now, imploring me to rip through them. That Ulysses edition illustrated by Eduardo Arroyo is brilliant. I’ll put a link down below for others to check it out. Gorgeous. I always end up ordering a bunch of books from these threads, and this one absolutely has to make the order for this month! And your marginal codes are great - I’ve found having a system like yours really takes the rereading experience at a later date to a new level! Illustrated Ulysses: https://lithub.com/eduardo-arroyos-dreamy-abstract-illustrations-of-ulysses/

hardcoreliterature
>>83162567

Very nice, Peter. I cannot wait to have children of my own so I can enjoy The Wind in the Willows, Alice in Wonderland, and Winnie the Poof all over again. The last few nights I've been going through the Narnia books. I should think it would be much more fun with a captive audience! I did recently read my friend's son some of his favourite book - the Percy Jackson series. He can't get enough of them!

Jude

I've had such a fun month trying to catch up a tiny bit so I'm currently two thirds into Blood Meridian, have just started the second book in Middlemarch and I'm starting Proust tonight. When I'm caught up with those I'm going to dive into Moby Dick. Outside of HLBC I'm attempting to write my first novel so I'm doing a little bit of reading related to that - some stand alone contemporary novels and some local history non fiction about Northumberland. It's all very embryonic at the moment but very exciting! Cheeky question but do you have any plans to share a video on your reading journals? I really want to take up your suggestion for journaling around the Proust project as it's something I've not really done before and would love some inspiration :) also another cheeky question... how are you getting on with setting up your library in your new home? I hope it's coming together nicely :)

Angela Montgomery

I just finished Wuthering Heights and have moved on to Agnes Grey, to further my Bronte repertoire. I am also reading King Lear, The Book of Job, The Five (a book about Jack the Ripper's victims) Bloom's Hamlet Poem Unlimited, Adler's How to Read a Book, and Dante's Inferno. Every month I use a random country generator to choose an international book. This month I got Djibouti, so I'm reading Passage of Tears by Waberi. As you can tell, I am not a monogamous reader!

hardcoreliterature
>>83165142

That's such a wonderful combination, Patricia - Homer's Odyssey and Richardson's Clarissa. Both incredible works of literature. One doesn't get much better than that :) And I'm thrilled to hear your retention and reasoning is growing. That page-covering technique is such a leveraged move. It pays off in a big way very quickly. I'll have to check out Damon Galgut's The Promise. I just looked at a description that said Galgut is writing in the tradition of William Faulkner, Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce - so that would make him a difficult writer!

Pete Gardner
>>83166581

I love your random country generator idea! There’s so much amazing literature in the world, what a great way to get to broaden your reading! How are you enjoying Passage of Tears? What’s one of your favorite international books from that project?

hardcoreliterature
>>83166495

Your reading is looking wonderful to me, Jude. George Eliot, Cormac McCarthy, and Melville on the horizon (looming like a leviathan). It’s great to hear you’re starting Proust tonight. I hope you enjoy that first page :) “For a long time I used to go to bed early…” And such exciting news about your novel. I would love to hear more about that, and be kept updated on your progress. I feel like the research stage must be one of the most fun parts of being a writer. I’ve been meaning to share some videos on my reading journals for the longest time now. I have one video that’s practically ready to go that has my journalling on a page of Proust. I’ll try to get that one out soon :) And the library is looking a little disorganised at the moment, but should be looking good after a shuffle around!

Scott W

I recently finished a re-read of Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49. I really enjoyed this short novel, the re-read more so than the strangely enthralling but confusing first read! Once I decided the story might be a metaphor for life in general with each chapter reflecting the different stages (or decades) of life I had to re-read it to see if the idea held up. I think it did, and I had so much fun, along with the main protagonist, trying to work out if The Trysteria were real or if I had just read too much into the narrative. A clever and enjoyable book. I also finished Moby Dick. What a fantastic novel, definitely one of the great works. As I said in the latest Moby Dick lecture thread, I enjoyed Melville’s writing so much, the atmosphere, the language, and the extent to which it spoke to me at this point in my life. I have every faith when I re-read it later it will speak to me in new ways. Truly, a book with depths as boundless as the ocean (thanks, Juliet!). I am so glad I read this great work and as usual, Ben, and everyone else, the lectures and discussion here at the club have made it all the more enjoyable. Thanks! Now I am reading V. by Thomas Pynchon and really enjoying it so far. It has me laughing more than TCoL49 and some of the characters and scenes just have me shaking my head, it seems so far out ahead of most contemporary novels I’ve read in terms of richness and creativity, Pynchon seems such an anomaly. I don’t know how or if I’ll ever get on with books like Gravity’s Rainbow or Mason & Dixon, but I’m certainly enjoying V. I also have Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library here to read this month. I don’t know much about it and my main motivation to read it is based on how well it’s sold and a goal I have to dip into the contemporary world of publishing and book sales a little more often as an input to my own writing journey and Creative Writing studies. I’ll let you know what I think to this one next month. As for bedtime stories with my son: we are reading a children's version of Moby Dick, a paperback of around 200 pages, and I'm enjoying this a re-read of sorts along with him! Also, we just started Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, a 'middle-grade' book just published that looks to be a commercially designed cross between Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. haha! Hardcore Literature it is not, but let's create a love of reading in our children shall we, then maybe he can read me Moby Dick in return when I'm old and ailing. :) (I am loving Skandar and the Unicorn Thief myself, btw!) Happy reading!

Chris Abram

Well, for me the problem is I probably have too many things going. I am following your Shakespeare order, now on with Hamlet. Following also the blood meridian and the republic lectures. Slowly reading Don Quijote. Halfway through how to read a book by Adler. Then an occasional short story by Maupassant and I picked up on the sonnet videos and started on the first of those. I have never been a poetry reader and I must admit I am concerned at how hard work it is for me to memorise them. I only committed the first two lines to memory 😂. Something else will surely come along as the month goes by…

Florian Pesantes

I have established a routine now, which suits me and leaves room for a tad of freedom and keeps the dragon asleep, the one with the words “you should” on each scale. I start my early morning by trying to note a few words about a dream I remember, which doesn’t happen regularly. Than some quiet minutes on the balcony listening to the sounds of the early hours that around 4 or 5 am are yet dark. This is followed by a first strong, black coffee for me and another kept hot for my partner who is so kind to leave the first hour or two to me alone. The coffee with about 20 minutes of music, often Bach, sometimes a shorter peace of a romantic or a bit of Swing, dancing with that followed by one paragraph of Marc Aurel’s “Meditations”, (currently chapter 4) with some discussion with him and myself about it’s meaning and relevance to my life. One stanza of Tennyson’s “In Memoriam” (from Canto XIII today) thereafter. Chanting, looking up words unknown to me, looking up the etymology of one, reading again. Marking my favourite word, phrase or line. Sometimes copying some of it in my journal that’s always with me. Then Dante’s inferno, Italian original, just three lines as it is yet hard work with the dictionary to even understand half of it. I sometimes get to listen to Vittorio Gassmann’s reading, partially reciting on YouTube. I can highly recommend that, even if one doesn’t understand a word it is music, a magic power in these words as I last felt when I first heard Shakespeare recited. Mesmerising! https://youtu.be/PwN8MP_O5S8 Then it’s the “big read” of the morning (which is with a bit of luck just over half an hour pending on the start of my clinic): Proust (book two at the beginning) or Victor Hugo’s “Les Misérables” alternating days, getting rarely to read more than a page or two as both are more perforated with rabbit holes than a Swiss Emmentaler cheese. At this pace I sometimes wonder if I ever shall reach to the last page before I die. If not, my last word will be the one of Cambronne at Waterloo. As I have swapped my Sundays for two afternoons of the week for admin. I have the Mondays p.m. for a special for philosophy or psychology, and attending a course at Migros school of basic Italian. Tuesday for a chapter of Gibran’s “Prophet” new and one for a reread. Thursday for some bits of drama (Goethe’s Faust ll). Recently I’ve purchased the “hollow crown” dvd’s and hope to get to them soon, especially as Ben had spoken so warmly about them. With a bit of luck I’ll get my poet friend Arthur to watch them together with me simultaneously across the channel. And some visual art. Revisiting my favourites in the three local art galleries. There’s a painting temporarily on display: Boecklin’s “Villa am Meer” where I recently stayed so long that the guard suspiciously lurked about. Saturday it’s one chapter of “Dorian Gray” matched with some film or tv series’ episode. Black mirror is finished and it was great. Right now it’s a chunk of “Il processo” (Italian crime story in original language with Italian subtitles). Sunday one more chapter of “Don Quixote” (Chapter X of the second book). Each day I try to squeeze in the eleven minutes of guided Wim Hof’s breathing (the German version is actually nicer than the English one) and a 10 minutes guided meditation by my “Waking up” app. A poem or two I can fit in (listening to a reading on YouTube) each day, because I really need that like others need their prayers. After our daily power walk at 8:30 pm, the only quality time with my partner Aldo apart from the highly ritualised dinner at seven sharp there’s not much left of my brain or energy. Just enough for a short story, currently one of Tchekov’s countless easy to read partly utterly hilarious ones. Apart from Benjamin’s wonderful and always inspirational and thought provoking lectures I sometimes give attention to a chap who gives 20 minute talks with stunning artwork on his YouTube channel https://youtube.com/c/Eternalised mostly about Jung and Nietzsche. I am looking forward to retiring in 5 years time from my energy consuming day job at the hour I shall complete my 63rd year. This September we’ll have our housewarming at the Brazilian River Amazon where we plan to spend half of our time thereafter (the other half somewhere in Europe). By then I hope to find the time to read all the fine books Ben’s recommended and shall hopefully present to us so far! Excuse my verbosity today. Rest assured I won’t be able to add all to much next month so I’ll keep my mouth shut.

Halcyon Distilled

I finished Middlemarch! (Fanfare sound) I’m still carrying its power w me though through your lectures that I watch and rewatch. I take notes still after having read it. I ventured into an audiobook of it specifically the BBC radio dramatization. I loved it! They did a super job in my opinion. I’m taking a ( really short) break from the classics and reading a novel by Katherine Howe who writes mainly historical fiction on the Salem witch trials etc. and wrote the “Penguin Book of Witches” which I am also going to read. As I am doing that I’m planning my next classic read that I missed as a group read. Dickens and Brontë are on my priority list. I’m also looking fwd to your next Middlemarch lecture of course. 😍☕️ oh P.S. what should my next GE read be? Adam Bead? I’m def reading more of her. Thank you

Halcyon Distilled

May is slowly bringing warmth in South Jersey and my native plants which attract pretty impressive butterflies and birds are coming back. Some I had planted from seeds collected in the wilderness. It is a project I am most proud of as they help the local fauna. And they require no watering from me (just the occasional rainstorm) since they are native plants. Any gardeners out there?

Chris Abram
>>83170607

And I thought I was busy…haha. Nice routine. I am also a fan of the waking up app.

Vicky

Hi all, as you know I have just finished Crime and Punishment and I’m literally sitting here about to read the final chapter of Blood Meridian; at which point I think I will go right back to the start and read a chapter a day along with the Sepich book which I’ve picked up on Kindle, to keep me up to speed with the lectures. I am about to start Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison and I’m also reading a book about agoraphobia, a personal experience by a chap called Graham Caveney. I have read the first two sections of Plato‘s Repiblic (I found a fantastic Audible version to listen along with which makes Socrates sound like a Monty Python character 😂) and will await the first lecture ! and I have been looking at various options for a copy of the Odyssey but really need to dig out my Simon Armitage version first! Am finding this all a different way of reading much more in-depth and also slower and more impulse to re read as I’m noticing how much I forget if I don’t and how much I miss. Particularly for the likes of Moby Dick and Blood Meridian - and I know from past experience with Ulysses that you just can’t pick up on it all!

Vicky

Also I had been working my way through a Sonnet a day and finished the Procreation ones (which scunnered me slightly I have to be honest!) so I’m picking my way through them a bit more slowly.

Tony E.

I thought I was ready to move on from Moby Dick, having read the book, listened to the audible, watched the John Houston film and followed Ben's enlightening lectures - but I'm not! I listened, on Ben's recommendation, to the Simon Callow reading of chapter 9 - Father Mapple's sermon (which was excellent) and now I am hooked to listening to the Moby Dick Big Read. The different narrators for each chapter keep it fresh and engaging, and the standard is high. Even the detailed chapters, Cetology, for example, come across as strong and informative. I am amazed by how much this novel has taken hold of me. On the other hand, I struggled for a while to get to grips with Hamlet. Maybe it was Hamlet's indecisive nature, but it needed re-reads and listens before I truly got to grips with it. Despite Hamlet's soliloquies, it was King Claudius that I enjoyed the most. Hamlet's descriptions of Claudius are not complimentary, but I felt Claudius must have had a level of charm and intelligence to win the Queen (even before the King's death) and to take the throne. Crazily, he made me think of Shere Khan with George Sanders doing the voice in the original Disney Jungle Book film - all charm and charisma on the surface, but devious and dangerous beneath. I still want to complete 12 Shakespeare plays this year, so a bit of catch up is needed in May, with Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet on my schedule. Through April, partly because of everything that is going on in the world right now, I escaped into some Victorian 'comfort' reading with Middlemarch, Oliver Twist and The Mayor of Casterbridge. Going forward though, I'm now keen to start Blood Meridian but intend to pace it alongside Ben's videos. As for rabbit holes - well, on the back of Moby Dick, the Book of Job has grabbed my interest. Hard to believe that I would be reading from the Old Testament but, with Ben's help, that is part of my plan. It has also led me to rewatch Leviathan, a film by Andrey Zvyagintsev (not about whales although symbolically a whale carcass is featured), that focuses on a level of corruption and a lack of justice that destroys a man's life. That, in turn, has led to Michael Kohlass, an 1810 novella by Heinrich Von Kleist that I admit I know nothing about, but it has captured my interest, and I've ordered a copy.

Aws Alaswadi

I have just started rereading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I am also reading Romeo and Juilliet. Every time I finish a play I go to Harold Bloom and read his essay on the work (in his book Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human). I am really loving Harold Bloom's work, even though I disagree with him on some stuff I think he is really valuable. When I read his work it almost like I can literally see his influence on Ben. This week my order of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare arrived so now I can finally catch up with the lectures. I am also waiting for my order on Blood Meridian, I'm so excited to get into it hopefully this weekend.

Eliane Oura
>>83180640

Please share this Audible you found on the Republic. It picked my interest

Ellen M

I just finished my first read of Moby Dick about 5 minutes ago, woohooo! What an accomplishment! I’m loving Blood Meridian and forcing myself to stick with the reading schedule. I finally finished Ackroyd’s biography of Shakespeare and love loved it so much. So I started another book about life in Shakespeare’s time called A Visitors Guide to Shakespeare’s London by David Thomas. I really find these historical narratives so helpful in understanding the times and connecting them to the Bard’s works. For various reasons I haven’t had as much time to read as much this month so I have yet to tackle Othello and The Republic but looking forward to some quiet time this week to catch up On a sillier note, I finished season 1 of Upstart Crow a while back, thank you Vicky! Hilarious the way they tie in actual facts from Shakespeare’s life and twist them into silly comedy. I never would have caught on to a tenth of the jokes if I hadn’t finished my Shakespeare biography. If anyone can recommend a good audio book of The Road, I d be interested. I read it a while back and think I’d love an audio version to compliment a reread. I noticed advertisements for Macbeth with Daniel Craig and another Hamlet production happening here in NYC this month, anyone in the area planning on going?? Happy May wonderful book club family!

Sean

I’ve joined the Book Club recently and started with Wuthering Heights. I’m nearly finished and I’m absolutely blown away. When you encounter writing that is so masterful and stunning, it really leaves a permanent mark. I feel like the scenes I’ve witnessed between Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange are as vibrant as any memory. I have to say as well, that following along with your lectures has been a great experience, Benjamin! Your insight and deep knowledge is the perfect companion to my first encounter with Brontë’s work. I love listening to your thoughts and marking up the book along the way. I also love science fiction and fantasy, and recently finished Fonda Lee’s Jade City, the first novel in her Green Bone Saga trilogy. It’s an incredible read, full of gripping characters that will break your heart. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s basically The Godfather with magic-fueled Kung Fu. I highly recommend it!

Pete Gardner
>>83168195

I really enjoyed reading The Midnight Library. Haig has another really fascinating book - The Humans - that was one of my favorite reads a few years ago.

Clare Shepherd

I finished some short stories by Isaac Asimov and Euripedes plays, "Hecuba" and "Andromache". I have been dipping into Wordsworth's poems and began Plato's "The Republic" in preparation for your lectures, if that us still on.I am loving the Everyman edition. I also started a long, slow read of the 11 volumes of Will Durant's "Story of Civilisation". I began with the volume on Babylonian, Egyptian and other "Oriental" civilisations, as it was then called. I am also reading Dante's "Decameron".

Caroline P

Hello Bookclub friends, outside is suddenly very dark and threatening ..I think rain is imminent, so I have a cup of tea, I have settled down and am going to read through this thread. I love this each month, tho I find it ends up being costly in book orders. (Not complaining) I am rereading Blood Meridian. I was dubious about reading it because of the dark themes when to world is in such turmoil. In some odd way though I found reading it helped. It is hard to explain, but it made me think that war is sadly a normal part of humanity and to think around all that. I am absolutely not saying it is ok, just that history continually repeats itself. I am reading Moby Dick again and enjoying it even more. I very much want to go on a long trip with just Moby Dick to indulge in. It is my favourite book now. I can see that Blood Meridian takes the themes one step further and McCarthys language is breathtaking.. but Moby Dick has that undefinable bit of magic for me. I am slowly reading Emily Dickinson poetry and love some and not others, but that’s ok. And am about to go back to Anna Karenina which I started in April and have put aside because Blood Meridian just roared Tolstoy out.. but my daily Proust survived and I have kept up with that. I read Othello and didn’t enjoy it so much. How to say why I found that more depressing than Blood Meridian? I have read such incredible books so far this year with the group I am finding it hard to move on from each one, the worlds in these books devour me. Each time I think…that book is the best ever. To be honest, before long I won’t be able to get into bed because my pile of books to read is mounting up on my bedside table. So move on I must. General life things… I was super interested to hear about your allotment Ben. My garden is fantastic fun right now. Other than good books, is there anything better than watching seeds come up. Beans and squash can almost be watched in action. There are some really fantastic YouTube channels about allotments and growing stuff. I much enjoy hearing about gardening journeys. (If you are interested I can direct you to some I have enjoyed). Right..off to read everyone’s comments.

Daniel

Hi everyone! I'm currently reading Anna Karenina from the back catalogue and Blood Meridian from our current reading list. At first I was a bit hesitant to pair Blood Meridian with Anna Karenina. It seemed to me that these two books couldn’t be further from each other in terms of style and themes. One involves the refined Petersburg aristocracy - where oysters are eaten so you don’t get full and can prolong the enjoyment of eating. The other involves a hellish world that is nasty, brutish and short - a world where you would risk your life for a swig of water from a stranger. Now that I am going through both, I’m finding it really interesting to compare the two. I think it was a comment that Ben made about getting to know the characters and asking them questions. It got me thinking, what would Levin think of the world that the kid is living in? Would it change some of his ideas and philosophies? And how would Stepan fair in McCarthy’s Wild West. I couldn’t imagine a bigger fish out of water than Stepan Arkadyevich in the American desert. I also have to admit that it's nice having both of these to read at the same time. Some days I'm not ready for the intensity of Blood Meridian and Anna Karenina is a nice 'palette cleanser', where there are so many poignant and beautiful scenes. I'm thinking about starting another book (or play) at the same time. I haven't gotten around to Othello yet, and I'm really hanging out for it. As a question to my fellow readers - how many books do you think are too many to read at one time? I don't want to dilute the experience of the great stories and characters that I'm reading now, but I'm also excited about reading Othello - to say nothing of "In search of lost time" that is sitting on my shelf and staring at me every day. Is this a lesson in patience, or is life too short to leave books unopened?

Caroline P
>>83216353

Ohhh Hello Daniel, you are pairing the same books as me.. I must admit Anna Karenina got a bit overwhelmed by Blood Meridian, but I love your plan of thinking what characters would think of each other in the books. And what each set of characters would think of the others world. Your comment about the oyster eating vs the hellish nasty brutish world really made me laugh. Brilliant! To answer your question from just my perspective, I have Proust and a poetry collection sitting by me for odd moments like reading during lunch or waiting for bread to cook (poetry is great to read while kneading bread..10 minutes of utter joy in my opinion) but mostly read one main book. And always have a short story book on the back seat of my car for unexpected moments of solitude.

Caroline P
>>83207262

Hello Sean, isn’t that a wonderful thing about reading good books , that the scenes and people in books become vivid memories, part of our own lives.

Caroline P
>>83191942

Hello Ellen, I have been looking for an audible of The Road too. The only one on audible sounds a bit fast and furious. I would like to slow it down and see how it is. It is read by Tom Stechschulte. I would be interested to find more so I can compare. And I join you in thanking Vicky for the Upstart Crow recommendation

Caroline P
>>83173773

Hello, yes me… I am a gardener and I love that you did that! I too scattered some native seeds in my nature bed today, only to look out at it to see all the neighbourhood birds tucking in! I am not sure if I can be annoyed about it tho. I would love to hear updates next month to see how the growing is going and what is coming up.

Cai Vail

I’m still focusing mainly on Middlemarch and Blood Meridian - though the two are obviously very different tonally, the writing is so rich in both that I’ve decided to forfeit the next month to those, in addition to the classics I’m reading aloud with my kids, poetry here and there, and the daily lectionary readings. I did however have the thought of inviting two of my neighbors - a single woman in her 60’s and another mother with two young kids like me, who’s married to a writer - to do an informal ladies book club each month. I haven’t approached them with the idea yet, so who knows if they’ll agree, but if they did, any suggestions from the group as to some good selections? We are all short on time, but wouldn’t want something too twaddly -I was thinking maybe in the vein of Herriot, or Byatt? Recommendations appreciated!

hardcoreliterature
>>83169980

I relate to that, Chris! You definitely have a full reading schedule - Shakespeare, Cervantes, McCarthy, Plato, Adler! Incredible stuff :) Guy de Maupassant is good fun, isn't he? I've had a podcast planned for the longest time on some of his short stories. I always loved how Colin Wilson described reading Maupassant - "like eating oysters". Shucking back multiple in a single sitting :) And well done on committing to memorising the sonnets! Memorisation is a bit of a lost art these days, but it's definitely a learnable skill, and a rewarding one. Your perseverance will pay off!

hardcoreliterature
>>83173173

Congratulations on finishing Middlemarch! I’m so happy you’re still making notes. Of all the different books, it’s my Penguin paperback edition of George Eliot’s novel that is the most striking reflection of my soul. Middlemarch, Don Quixote, and Moby Dick are three of the most ink-covered books I have ever possessed. Even after finishing the world, you simply want to go on living in it, don’t you? I’ll have to check out the BBC radio dramatisation. There’s a brilliant BBC miniseries from 1994 that is well worth checking out too! I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the latest lecture, which should be out soon :) As for your next George Eliot, my personal recommendation would be her second novel, The Mill on the Floss. I adore this one :) Although Adam Bede would be a great choice too - you could make your way through her oeuvre chronologically!

hardcoreliterature
>>83180781

I simply must express my love for that delightful Scottish word - "scunnered". I need to start using this :) And well done for getting through the procreation sequence. I've never personally been a huge fan of those first seventeen (although I do like a handful), but there are definitely some exciting masterpieces to come!

hardcoreliterature
>>83181836

That’s awesome to hear you’re hooked on the Moby Dick Big Read, Tony. I’ve been going through these audios each day myself. I love the variety of different voice actors too. They did something really special with this project. It would be wonderful to see this approach for other great books. Although MD does seem to lend itself to such a panoply of narrators. And it’s interesting to learn that you enjoyed King Claudius in Hamlet! I always thought he deserved much more love than he typically gets. He has some beautiful turns of phrase and there’s complexity of character there. I’d love to know about his boyhood, his family relationships, and how the wooing/affair with Gertrude would have played out. They certainly seem to have a genuine love for each other and, if it weren’t for Hamlet, would live out their lives quite happily. You’ll definitely be able to get those 12 plays of Shakespeare this year. Hamlet is an enormous one. I’ve spent weeks and weeks lingering on the play myself. It begs us to slow down. But Macbeth is super slim, digestible, and has a quick pace. And Romeo and Juliet hurtles along a great pace too. Nice to see you read The Mayor of Casterbridge! I’m on The Woodlanders at the moment :) And our Job lecture should be out soon, and I’ve found it interesting contemplating it up against Blood Meridian as well as Moby Dick. I’ve not read Michael Kohlass before - I’ll have to check that one out. Thank you for the recommendation!

Bib Giacobbe

I just can’t keep up anymore…. I have been on the road for a couple of weeks, so my reading time has been scarce but it’s also been compromised (in a good way!) with all the podcasts, videos and the subsequent comments. Hopefully, whatever I contribute here won’t be redundant since I’m still making my way through all the comments. Finished Moby Dick and fell in love with Melville’s writing. I’m up to 4 editions of Moby Dick and every time I think “ok…..that’s enough”, I see another that catches my eye or see a recommendation and think “ok….maybe one more” (thanks for the Melville and Joyce mentions, Leslie….I may bite against my better judgment…..or maybe it’s my better judgment speaking?). The last few chapters….what hasn’t been said? Chapter CXXXII – The Symphony…..which just precedes The Chase…..magical. I have listened to the Moby Dick Big Read of that chapter at least a dozen times….it’s poetry, theater, high art….sublime. And so I have gone ahead and picked up a few of his earlier novels…..was lucky enough to find some in a local bookstore at a ridiculously low price (4 for $20 CDN). Ellen and Caroline inquired about an audio version of the Road (my apologies if others have addressed this….haven’t gotten to all the comments yet). I have the 4 CD audio book (yes, CD lol…..when The Road came out, I bought it all, including hardcover, DVD, audio CD..) and it’s read by Rupert Degas. Not sure how readily available it is but it’s a worthy version. It’s been a long time since I have listened so I couldn’t give it a fair honest grade…..he’s done some Murakami as well. Done my share of book purchases but as far as reading goes, I’ve been more busy than usual so the reading has suffered. Still keeping up with the serial reading of Middlemarch, find myself far ahead in Blood Meridian (which includes Sepich’s Notes on Blood Meridian) and some George Orwell essays. Ben – sounds good…..as soon as I’m back home, I will join you in a read of Krasznahorkai’s “Chasing Homer”. I’m not sure if the audio accompaniment will work for me….but we’ll see. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on your first Laszlo read! He might be the only author where one can say….”I just read a sentence”….and that would mean he has read the whole book :) Wonderful comments….keep them coming….

Pierre Bolkonsky

I haven’t posted anything in April, so these are the books I read in the last 2 months: 1. ‘I Will Never See the World Again’, by Ahmet Altan - a memoir written from prison by a popular Turkish novelist who was jailed by Erdogan after the 2016 coup. Ahmet Altan was released from jail last year after much public pressure from all over the world. The writer’s aggressive atheism made me cringe at times, but I am sensitive to prison literature and this book is no exception. It was a worthwhile read, with some really interesting insights on writing and writers, including a passage about Tolstoy, my favourite writer. 2. 'The New Sultan' by Soner Çağaptay, a biography of Erdogan, Turkey’s president. 3. 'Lear: the Great Image of Authority' by Harold Bloom. I’m taking it slow with Shakespeare. I loved King Lear and Hamlet so much that I want to delve deeper into the plays and try to get more out of them. Thank God for Harold Bloom! I also bought the Arden editions. Right now I’m reading Macbeth (and loving it). 4. 'Cancer Ward' by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. I’ve been dying to read this novel for years, and I’m so happy I did. It’s every bit as moving and as beautiful as I expected it to be. It’s semi-autobiographical and I read it as such. I can never read enough by Solzhenitsyn or about him. He’s as close to a real-life hero as a writer can be and a great inspiration to me. So far, the only book I liked better this year is Middlemarch. While reading Cancer Ward, I found the website SolzhenitsynCenter dot org which is a goldmine for Solzhenitsyn readers. Content includes documentaries, TV series adapted from his novels, video lectures by his son and wife etc. Wonderful place that I will be revisiting soon as I plan to read The First Circle, another epic novel by the same writer, before summer. 5. 'Moby Dick' by Herman Melville. After slow-reading it for a month and a half, I went ahead and binged the second half. What can I say about this book that haven’t been said already? It’s not a novel. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever read. It awed me, scared me, made me laugh, and expanded my world. It made me read the bible and I’m not even Christian! In the end I’m just grateful to Ben and to the club for having put this ULO (Unidentified Literary Object) in my path. 6. 'Blood Meridian' by Cormac McCarthy. This is one of the books that pushed me to join the book club and I’m disappointed. I can’t say that I don’t like the book. Having just read and loved Moby Dick, this is very much a Melvillian epic. But I couldn’t abide the hopelessness of it. There’s the violence of course, but more than the gore it’s the bleakness of the plot and the landscape that got to me. The timing wasn’t right. In April, my uncle passed away. I’ve been trying unsuccessfully to rekindle family ties after years of estrangement, and my marriage is suffering. So I was depressed for most of April, and also hungry and thirsty most of the time because of Ramadan (no food or drink from 4 am to 9 pm). I’m better now, but I was in a mental fog while reading Blood Meridian and the book affected me very negatively. I hope to re-read it slowly with the video lectures and reassess. I loved The Road and No Country for Old Men so I’m not giving up on McCarty just yet. 7. 'The Gunslinger' by Stephen King. After the somewhat traumatizing experience of Blood Meridian, I wanted to read something lighter, switch off my brain a little. I listened to Ben’s podcast on Robert Browning’s narrative poem ‘Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came’ and it reminded me of Stephen King’s epic fantasy series – The Dark Tower, directly inspired by the poem. I read the first 4 or 5 books of the cycle 17 years ago in French (I barely knew any English then), so I thought: why not read the original now. Although it also takes place in the desert, it was a nice change of scenery. The relationship between the main character and his adopted young companion spoke to me, and reminded me of McCarthy’s The Road (all things considered). It also brought a bunch of good memories back. I wrote a review about it on GoodReads if anyone cares. In the end, this unassuming little book actually helped me ‘recover’ from Blood Meridian and put me back on track. I enjoyed it enough to start the 2nd tome of The Dark Tower, as well as continue another wonderful, uplifting fantasy series: Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin. More on that next month :)

Libby Beesley

Thank you Pierre - at times in our life we sometimes need something to cheer us up - Cormac McCarthy is not the man for that!

hardcoreliterature
>>83189207

Nice one, Aws. Dickens is always great to reread. And Harold Bloom is a brilliant companion to have whilst moving through Shakespeare. If you love his 'Invention of the Human', he has a series where he elaborates on Cleopatra, Macbeth, Iago, Falstaff, and Hamlet in their own books. Whenever I read Shakespeare, I find myself deep in conversation with the great man :)

hardcoreliterature
>>83215404

That's such a nice mix, Clare! I adore Asimov. I recently picked up the Everyman edition of his Foundation series, and am thoroughly looking forward to a reread. I can't wait to hear what you make of Plato's Republic. Our deep-dive into the first two books should be out within a day or two. And you're reading Dante, Euripides, Wordsworth, and Will Durant in addition to Plato and Asimov - impressive stuff :)

hardcoreliterature
>>83216014

The sky was definitely heavy and ominous yesterday, wasn’t it? I do love getting a little bit of rain though, especially when I’m inside with my books and a cup of tea in front of the fire. Plus my strawberries got a good watering! I know exactly what you mean, Caroline, about Blood Meridian actually helping, in an odd way, with the darkness of the world around us. It’s very difficult to put into words, but I get a sense of comfort from this book. Perhaps it’s partly perspective, partly reassurance of the natural state of things, part glimmer of hope. Blood Meridian is one of the best books for impressing upon us the fact that history repeats itself. “They rode on.” The disasters and injustices of today have always been and always were. As you point out, it’s not a value judgement, and I don’t believe McCarthy is making one, but a stating of facts. And Moby Dick is your favourite book! Amazing :) Snap! Mine too. And Cormac’s! Although I do find it difficult to choose an ultimate favourite sometimes. These books all give me something different, and when I’m reading one, but heart is completely with it. I would be very interested to know your recommendations for channels about gardening and allotments. The purple broccoli has already begun to sprout, and I believe the carrots are poking through. As this is the first time I’ve done this, I am incredibly excited!

Suz R

Hey Benjamin Praying this finds you happy and well. Was just curious since your love for Japan is evident if you would add a Japanese work of literature to the Hardcore Literature Book Club next year? I would be very interested in doing a deep drive into a work of literature from there. Also any suggestions would be nice. Thank you for your consideration

Pierre Bolkonsky
>>83300164

That's a great suggestion, Suz. I never read any Japanese literature, and I'm very curious about some of the Japanese authors Ben mentioned in some of his lectures.

Badbag

I finished “picnic at hanging rock” as a buddy read with my niece. The book is assigned by her teacher. It is probably the creepiest books I have ever read. I then watched the great Peter Weir’s film, adaptation of the book, and was creeped out by that as well. I am making my way through Crime and Punishment, Moby Dick, Blood Meridian, Shakespeare’s sonnets, up to Othello (that’s for Sunday - I have Shakespeare on Sunday reads)

Badbag

Darn return! I am also reading “the series of unfortunate events”. One book a day for 13 days. My niece gave the series a French kiss. So again, more books, my niece and I can discuss together. :) These are wonderful books for middle school, particularly for advanced readers. Very witty and funny. Count Olaf is particularly dastardly. I love him. He’s evil, ubiquitous and relentless. So think Blood Meridian’s “the judge” for kids. :) And I get a break from “adulting” which is something I rather enjoy.

Jen

Hi Ben and fellow literature lovers. New member here! I first came across Ben’s website at the end of last year as I was looking for some inspiration and guidance into reading the classics. I decided to follow the reading list (mostly chronologically) on the website and kicked off 2022 with The Iliad. However, my reading plan has now evolved to include this year’s book club and I alternate between the two lists. This month’s focus: The Bible. I am onto Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel. Chronicles I&II. And a couple of the minor prophets. Middlemarch, Book One. I am not sure how I am going to resist delving into the next book for a couple of months, as seventy pages in and I am already completely absorbed! It is also hard to read just a few pages a day as it goes against my preferred reading style. I do concede though, that I am seeing the benefit of the approach as there is SO much packed into each page and it is giving me plenty of time to reflect. I am journaling a lot around this book and have begun to follow up on the many references. The Three Theban Plays, Sophocles. I love the Greek playwrights and it turns out my teenage son loves Greek mythology as well! I am trying to convince him to read some of the books with me rather than watching YouTube videos, but at the very least it is lovely to have something to connect with him about. It has gotten harder as he has gotten older to find common ground. I also plan to spend some time listening to Ben’s lectures, in particular the Shakespeare ones. I have now done a couple of reads of each of the six plays, watched some productions and I feel the urge to zone in on the details. Perhaps write an in-depth character study or pull apart a soliloquy or two, just to really get into the language. Maybe even learn one by heart! This month, I have also got an open-air performance of Twelfth Night to look forward to. This will be the third live production of Shakespeare I have seen this year. In April, I watched Comedy of Errors and Henry V (part of the NT Live cinema season). A local theatre company are also putting on King Lear throughout summer, so I am just waiting for the tickets to be released for that. (Yes, I am falling in love with The Bard!) Ben, thank you for what you are creating here. It is such a joy to come across something like this and it is evident that you put your heart and soul into it. I feel truly blessed to have stumbled across the Book Club.

Badbag
>>83340666

Welcome to the book club, Jen. By the sounds of it, you’ll fit in well.

Steve Horan

Having just finished The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky with another book club and Fathers & Sons by Ivan Turgenev in a peripheral reading with The Road by Cormac McCarthy, I’ve decided to continue with Russian literature and dip into the back catalog and read Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. I just finished Part Two and must say, I don’t know what I was expecting, but this is not at all what I was thinking Tolstoy would be like. In one of the lectures Ben encouraged this should be an annual read, and I can see how the depths could be plumbed with each reread. Looking forward to finding out how it ends. Drawing a comparison between Tolstoy and McCarthy, both have passages in another language, and while Tolstoy gives the translations in footnotes, at least in my translation by Louise and Aylmer Maude, McCarthy does not. My peripheral read will be Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. After all, Ben posits this is what Anna is reading on the train. My peripheral reads with Moby Dick include two of Herman Melville’s other works, Billy Budd and Benito Cereno; as well as Captain Hatteras by Jules Verne, the tale of a British expedition to the North Pole led by a captain who is not revealed until part way into the journey (sound familiar?); The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway; and Jaws by Peter Benchley, the story of a great white shark that preys upon a small resort town. I have already completed a couple of peripheral reads with Blood Meridian including McCarthy’s own The Road and Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway, his tale of bullfighting for a different take on violence in literature. I have ordered several additional books recommended by Ben for peripheral reads with Blood Meridian including A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe (arriving today), A Nation Without Borders by Steven Hahn (arriving today), and As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. I will also be reading Alas Babylon as a peripheral read with The Road, a post apocalyptic novel I recall reading several years ago in my college years, that has stuck in my consciousness. I may also be tempted to reread The Stand by Stephen King, a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel about a deadly pandemic of weaponized influenza.

Steve Horan
>>83314707

I read Picnic at Hanging Rock last October and agree with your assessment as a creepy book. Perfect at Halloween.

Steve Horan
>>83364206

After reading through the comments, I’m adding In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick to my peripheral reading with Moby Dick. I also forgot to mention my peripheral reads with Middlemarch, other novels by George Eliot. I’ll start with Silas Marner and then in future months get to The Mill of the Floss and Adam Bede.

hardcoreliterature
>>83272067

Hi Pierre, I am so sorry to hear about your uncle passing. You are in my prayers, my friend. I know that experience of trying to rekindle family relations. When my aunt and godmother passed away, one of the most devastating losses for me and many family members, we found ourselves needing to tie together threads that still seem forever severed. Being starving hungry and thirsty throughout would have made an already traumatic time even more painful and disorienting. I’m not surprised that you would have negative feelings attached to Blood Meridian, a work that’s already brutal enough even when reading in the best of times. As it sounds like you’re not letting McCarthy go just yet, this could well prove to be an incredibly meaningful work for you. Pain, meaning, and morality are intricately connected. Nietzsche tells us that we remember that which we find incredibly painful. So whilst it’s unlikely to be a joyful reading experience for you (and it’s certainly not a joyful one for me), it could be an important one. Having said that, you have been through such an incredibly trying time so I hope you’re able to indulge some self-care and look after yourself. If it were me, I would gravitate to novels, short stories, and poetry that are on the lighter side of things. During a difficult time at the beginning of last year, I personally found Proust and Freud to be a comfort. When I’m grieving, my go-to works include the short stories of Turgenev, the early works of Charles Dickens, and the commentaries of Harold Bloom (who I’m happy to learn you are enjoying). I also return to my first loves - fantasy from the likes of Ursula K. Le Guinn, one of my favourite writers. Like you, I’m reading The Wizard of Earthsea at the moment. I have a beautiful illustrated edition. I like to return to Tolkien, and I also enjoy a rifle through Stephen King as well. King is a nostalgic reading experience for me. I’m currently on The Stand, which, despite the subject matter, takes me back to my younger days when my only care in the world was voraciously eating up stories. Stay strong, and God bless, Pierre.

Anne Hardin

Thanks everyone for all of your wonderful comments! I have added a few of your books to my ever growing list. I have never read Virginia Woolf and know I will enjoy her work. I have recently read half way through Clarissa by Samuel Richardson, finished Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, currently reading The Republic, finished Othello and currently ready Harold Blooms chap on Othello. I watched the Othello video with Kenneth Branagh as Iago and was so taken in by his performance. I completed Moby Dick and Blood Meridian. When I reread Blood Meridian, I read aloud many parts and found my understanding improved. I started reading Job, continued w Shakespeare’s Sonnets and selections of Wordsworth - much rereads. So great to combine so many authors within in a few months time. I finally made it to second part of Don Quixote and know this novel needs further study. Want to read again the crying of lot 49-as others have mentioned it and want to read the Road. So happy to hear about the love of gardening as I share the hobby. Note on Anna Karenina - my all time favorite.

Eggy
>>83434262

That's intense Anne, hoping to achieve similar to you

Eggy

Apologies for the horrible formatting but I find patreon comments really awkward and my phone doesn't like them. I read King Lear and at first really struggled with it but then it grew on me. I really fell in love with the fool character. From this I was inspired to be currently reading 'Trickster Makes the world' about fool and trickster figures in art and culture. I am also halfway through wuthering heights which started off great but I'm struggling with the pace of it, plus I dislike all the characters except Lockwood and nelly. Finally, I decided to read Harold Bloom's how to read and why after hearing Ben mention his name so much. It really helped me verbalise some of my own thoughts on literature. I can see where Ben has drawn inspiration from and it feels almost as if bloom passed the puck onto Ben. To paraphrase Bradbury, perhaps Ben is Harold bloom lecturing through a oujia board? As my first month in the club, it has gone beyond my wildest imagination in terms of personal development and exposure to material I probably wouldn't otherwise touch, so I can't thank Ben enough. My only question is are the YouTube vids available in audio format somehow? I listen on my dog walks but it's drains the battery and data really quickly.

Emma Yap
>>83484201

Hi Lou, welcome to the book club! I'm reading King Lear too, and I love the fool character. It feels like he is one of the only people (alongside Kent and Cordelia) who is brave enough to speak truth to Lear. I'm also reading Wuthering Heights - I really love the world that Emily Bronte has created, but like you, I dislike a lot of the characters, especially Cathy, and it's making me struggle a bit with it too. I think Emily Bronte intended them to be embodiments of different primal forces, rather than real people - Ben talks about the novel being an extension of her poetry - so I'm trying to continue reading the book with this in mind. Would love to hear how you find it when you get to the end

Eggy

@emma I have given up on wuthering heights for now. I just wasn't enjoying it in any way and didn't find it particularly interesting other than the lear references sadly. Instead I am close to finishing the Odyssey and have ploughed straight through Dante's Inferno and will probably do an immediate second reread to drill down on some bits that caught my interest

David Holmes

I am a new member and new to podcasts. Finding this podcast happened so fast, I can’t even backtrack and figure out how I found it. But it was love at first listen. I am a lifelong reader since age 8 when I got my first library card. I started on the Hardy Boys series. But it wasn’t until high school, where I had the most challenging teacher I ever had taught American literature in English literature, that my love for literature began. In college, first is undeclared and then in business school, I spent more time reading outside literature than I did studying for the courses that I was enrolled in. I joined the US Navy and made it a career. etween the Navy family, had very little time to read for decades. After my retirement, I continued to work in the defense industry and then had to retire for health reasons, which persisted for a number of years. Although I have never been interested in organized religion, I joined a mainline protestant church. When I have been there a few years they had a church project to read the Bible in 90 days. I signed up for the challenge but didn’t really expect to be able to get passed Leviticus. Audio Bibles were just coming onto the market at affordable prices. I bought one and listened on my Kindle while reading the same version. To my surprise, reading and listening at the same time I was astonishing and how much more I comprehended. I actually finished reading the Bible in about 70 days. With this experience under my belt, I thought about all the classic literature that I had attempted and put aside because I just didn’t “get it.” Reviewing my library I turn to Faulkner. I listened and read to “As I Lay Dying”, “The Sound and the Fury (twice)”, and “Absolom Absolom.” In for a penny in for a pound, I turned to Proust. I had owned all the paperback volumes of “Remembrance of Things Past” since college. I had started five different times. I never got past page 20. It took me five months to complete the entire series of novels. I was reading with a small group on Goodreads. I found it confusing but readable and, at times, laugh-out-loud hilarious. At the end I commented that, while I enjoy the book, I did not understand why I was always at the top of the list of best novels of the world. A woman who had been monitoring our progress and was well-stepped in Proust suggested that I go back and began to immediately read it again. I did so and I was hooked. I am now beginningmy third reading of “Remembrance of Things Past.” That was in 2014. Since then I have become almost exclusively an audiobook listener. But if it’s a serious book, I often buy the Kindle version so that I can highlight as I listen. I have “read“ most of the books that have been discussed so far. But as I have time, I certainly intend to go back and listen to the previous podcasts because I’m sure they can teach me new things. At 71 and good health, I am living the dream of a bookworm, being able to read 6 to 10 hours a day, seven days a week. I simultaneously listen to 12 books at a time. I am self-educated in literary theory and understand most of the concepts that I’ve heard discussed as I’ve looked around among various podcasts here. I read a book for approximately two hours, depending on chapter break, and then I switch to the next book. My reading plan is based on Goodreads challenges, personal planning, and serendipity. I don’t ever have a goal of reading a specific number of books, knowing well that I will never read them all. But in the amount of time that I have to read, I get a lot of reading done. Right now I am reading; “Wuthering Heights”, “Peter Pan”, “The Last Picture Show”, “The Mauritius Command” (working my way through the Patrick O’Brien series), “Swan’s Way” (third reading of “Remembrance of Things Past”), “The Two Towers” (third reading of “The Lord of the Rings”), “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, “I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings”, “The Bell Jar”, “Can You Forgive Her”, “Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead”, and “From Here to Eternity”.

hardcoreliterature
>>84514270

Hi David! Welcome to the book club :) It’s so wonderful to have you here reading with us. And thank you so much for sharing your reading history with us. Your descriptions of getting your library card when you were eight and starting with the Hardy Boys really brought back some of my own memories. I believe I got my first library card at the same age. The library became this magical place, filled with different worlds and adventures waiting to be had. I started with the Hardy Boys too, and also The Famous Five. As you made your career in the Navy, I’d be fascinated to learn what you make of different sea narratives - Melville’s Moby Dick, for example, or any of the works from Joseph Conrad. Both always left me with a longing to get myself to sea. I love how your immersive reading of the Bible led you back into literature. Faulkner is heavy with biblical allusions, so he must have been a very rewarding writer to binge through. And then you went onto Proust and got through everything in five months! Wow! That is seriously impressive. You truly are living the bookworm life! What you’ve described sounds like heaven to me. I was excited to see you’re working through Patrick O’Brien’s brilliant series. What a great blend of classics, prize winners, and rip-roaring reads!

Anonymous
>>84514270

Woah David, you inspire me! I'm planning on retiring in five year and can't wait to read 8 books at a time for 8 hours a day like you! (gardening the other 8 waking hours!).