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16
Mar

#Ireland Abbie Spallen (playwright)

 

Quickscan:

  1. In the political satire…Lally the Scut
  2. a mother struggles to save her little boy
  3. …after he falls into a bog hole.
  4. The play follows Lallys journey going to one towns-person
  5. …to the next trying to find anybody
  6. …who will help her in her crisis.
  7. This task proves difficult for many reasons.
  8. Her  neighbors’ fear that digging up the fields
  9. …will uncover secrets from the Troubles.

Cast: 9 male actors – 3 female actors

  1. Mother: Lally (mid 20s), 7 months pregnant
  2. Father:  Francis (…a bet, drink and a song…happy-go-lucky guy)
  3. Grandmothers: Rahab and Ellen
  4. Townsfolk, media persons, priest, politians
  5. Setting: outskirts of a Northern Irish border town
  6. Theme: conflict in Ireland  …is not over!
  7. The play’s recurrent image of the child lost down a hole
  8. is a allegory for  the island of Ireland’s uncertain future.

 

Conclusion:

  1. The child’s down a hole.
  2. The town’s up in arms.
  3. I would not have understood the allegory
  4. …without having done some research.
  5. This play had so much potential.

 

  1. Act 1 was just a chaotic mess. 
  2. Narratives from several characters do not intertwine
  3. …but clash. This reader was exasperated.
  4. Also I felt NO real urgency to save the child
  5. …only nonsensical histrionics  by local baker, builder and
  6. …man with a golf club.
  7. To make matters worst Spallen insists on including
  8. ..an expletive-laden narrative.
  9. I can understand this writing style  that is
  10. …dependant on the tone, genre and audience for the play.
  11. But…less is more.
  12. There must be another way to express rage.

 

  1. Act 2 did not improve.
  2. By the time we get to a mock-torture scene,
  3. shrugged off by a former terrorist
  4. …I had decided this is not for me.
  5. It is very political and somebody
  6. …more in tuned with the The Troubles
  7. the peace process in Northern Ireland
  8. may understand Abbie Spallen’s satire.
  9. I did not.
  10. I could not connect…and believe me I tried.
  11. I researched the play and playwright.
  12. My advice: read  the play and form your own opinion.
  13. #BraveDarkIrishPlay

20
Feb

#Short Story: 28 Tales by Edgar Allan Poe

 

 

Introduction:

  1. After a grueling fitness lesson  to increase my ‘mobility’
  2. that felt more like torture during the Inquisition
  3. I was very happy that I had audio book of  E.A. Poe’s tales.
  4. All I needed to do was lie down, relax and listen.
  5. I read 28 tales….and 1 poem.  I did not read all the letters!
  6. 50% of the 28 stories were good!

 

Conclusion:

  1. I only read 28 stories
  2. …and still have 43 to read to
  3. finish the complete list of Poe’s tales.
  4. I have the highest admiration for Poe’s genius.
  5. With his words  the demon was visible,
  6. insanity palpable and  the reader
  7. …is mesmerized by Poe’s bizarre mind.
  8. Baudelaire  became obsessed with Poe and
  9. who was both is idol and as he saw it his
  10. …American double.
  11. I enjoyed reading/listening to the stories but
  12. feel that some are overrated.
  13. I’m sure Poe got paid ‘by the word’ because at times
  14. he uses 4 adjectives….where one could suffice!
  15. Pit and the Pendulum:
  16. “…with a steady movement, cautious, sidelong, shrinking and slow.”
  17. I read 1 paragraph  summary of ‘The Spectacles’ and the
  18. audio version lasted 1 hour and 13 min!
  19. So you can imagine how
  20. …Poe goes on…and on….and on.

 

Last thoughts:

  1. Edgar Allan Poe was an oddity.
  2. His life was odd, his literature is odd.
  3. He sent a man to the moon 30 years before Jules Verne.
  4. He created the modern detective story.
  5. He destroyed our planet with a comet.
  6. He sent shivers down my spine with the horror stories.
  7. Poe was plagued with many personal issues.
  8. “Poe purchased a couple of ounces of laudanum
  9. …to cure him of the fever called living.”  (Poe-Land, J. W. Ocker)
  10. #Classic

 

  • “The Angel of The Odd” – GOOD
  • “Berenice” – GOOD
  • “The Black Cat” – GOOD
  • “The Cask of Amontillado”
  • “The Maelstrom”
  • “Eleanora” – GOOD
  • “The Facts in the Case Of M. Valdemar”
  • “The House of Usher”
  • “Hop Frog”
  • “Imp of the Perverse” – GOOD
  • “Island of the Fay”
  • “Ligiea” – GOOD
  • “Man of the Crowd”– GOOD
  • “Message in a Bottle”
  • “The Masque of the Red Death”
  • “Mesmeric Revelation”
  • “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” – GOOD…but the ending…far-fetched!
  • “Never Be the Devil Your Head”
  • “The Oval Portrait”
  • “The Pit and the Pendulum” – GOOD
  • “The Premature Burial”
  • “The Purloined Letter”
  • “Silence – A Fable”
  • “Some Words with a Mummy”
  • “The Spectacles” – GOOD
  • “The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Feather” – GOOD
  • “The Tell Tale Heart” – GOOD
  • “William Wilson” – GOOD
  • “The Raven” – GOOD
18
Feb

#Short Story: James Tiptree jr. (SF)

 

 

Conclusion:

  1. The Screwfly Solution (1977 )… the story’s tone was playful and threatening.
  2. POV: told alternately from the perspective of a devoted husband and wife.
  3. The ‘hook’ was the POV of Anne (the wife) in her letters
  4. bubbling with news and love….but later fear
  5. to Alan (husband) in Columbia doing scientific research.
  6. After reading Anne’s letter with the words:
  7. “The quietness is worse, though, it’s like
  8. …something terrible was going on just out of sight.”
  9. I could not put this short story down! 
  10. I even dreamed about it last night! 
  11. The Screwfly Solution is a quick read, and although
  12. …knowing the ending doesn’t remotely spoil it,
  13. …I’m hesitant to spell out too much.
  14. Here is the best description of aliens I’ve ever read:
  15. “…it was big and sparkly, like
  16. …a Christmas tree without the tree.”

 

Last thoughts:

  1. Truly, reading short stories is  most rewarding
  2. ….intense writing
  3. …and instant gratificaton  (reading time 30-45 min)
  4. I’ve included a  Wikipedia link about Alice Sheldon’s life
  5. It was unconventional….and ended in double suicide.
  6. #ReadShortStories

 

5
Feb

#Classic: A Tale of Two Cities

 

Introduction:

  1. This book needs NO introduction…but here goes!
  2. A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is a historical novel.
  3. The plot centers on the years leading up to the French Revolution
  4. and culminates in the Jacobin Reign of Terror.
  5. Set in London and Paris, it tells the story of two men
  6. Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton,
  7. …who look similar but are very different in traits.
  8. The book starts with the iconic paradox:
  9. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
  10. it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…. etc.”
  11. The book ends with the famous haunting words:
  12. “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done;
  13. it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”

 

Conclusion:

  1. You must put your “Dickens hat” on
  2. to get through…
  3. Part 1:
  4. cryptic beginning (Dover mail coach)
  5. “zoom out”   ch 5 ‘The Wine-Shop’
  6. to give you and idea of the chaos in Paris
  7. gaunt scarecrows = peasants
  8. broken casket spilling wine = blood
  9. approaching tempest = revolution.
  10. Best quote:
  11. “…every wind shook the rags of the scarecrows in vain,
  12. for the birds (aristocrats),
  13. …fine of song and feather, took no warning.”

 

  1. You will need some coffee
  2. to get through…
  3. Part 2:
  4. Tellson’s Bank controls its staff and customers
  5. Best quote:
  6. If the bank took on a young worker
  7. “…they kept him in a dark place, like a cheese,
  8. until he had the full Tellson flavor and blue-mould upon him.”
  9. Father and daughter bonding (Dr. Manette and Lucie)
  10. Emerging love entanglements
  11. French Revolution rages on

 

  1. Part 3:
  2. You will need kleenex
  3. to get through…
  4. the last ‘page-turning’ chapters
  5. …with the guillotine in the backround!

 

Dickens Template:  – (This book contains very few ‘Dickens’ comic  elements).

  1. Love triangle: Lucie Manette – Darnay – Carton
  2. Deaths : Marquis Evrémonde (assassinated) – Sydney Carton (guillotine, indifferent, and alcoholic attorney) – child killed under marquis’ carriage (Gaspard’s son)  – Foulon (hanged, unscrupulous financier ancien régime) – Mme Defarge (shot with her own gun!)
  3. Nicknames: Ladybird (Lucie) –  The resurrection man (Cruncher) grave robber.
  4. Star crossed lovers: Lucie Manette and Charles Darnay
  5. Little person (dwarf): None
  6. Little baby dies: None
  7. Prop:  (secret) document found in chimney in cell 105 North Tower Bastille
  8. Dr. Manette’s letter (which is read to the court) (Book 3, ch 10)
  9. Eccentric but loving character:  None
  10. Lawyer(s): Mr Stryver and Sydney Carton
  11. Banker: Mr. Jarvis Lorry
  12. Unrequited love: Sydney Carton for Lucie Manette
  13. Profesional money lender: None
  14. Villian: Mme T. Defarge
  15. Trusting and  naive girl:  None
  16. Young lower class gir who reached a good position:  none
  17. Marriage:  Charles Darnay and Lucie Manette
  18. Simpleton character….but very loving:  none
  19. Schoolmaster: none
  20. Fairy godmother:  none
  21. Maid/nurse: Miss Pross (reminds me nurse Peggoty in David Copperfield)
  22. Dickens likes to toss shoes in stories:  Dr. Manette is also a cobbler
  23. Quirky names: none
  24. Son caring for father:  none
  25. Daughter caring for father: Lucie Manette – Dr. Manette
  26. Theater: none
  27. Friends for life: none
  28. Pub: none
  29. Comic relief character: none
  30. Theme: revenge   Mme DeFarge:  always knitting
  31. “…with the steadfastness of fate” 
  32. Malapropism:  Dickens is famous for his witty malapropism:
  33. Cruncher  speaks of the year of our Lord as “Anna Dominoes”.
  34. Apparently under the impression that
  35. ..the Christian era dated from the invention of a popular game
  36. …by a lady named Anna.  (this book had very few comic moments…)
  37. Literary technique:  extended metaphor “buzzing blue-flies” (book 2, ch 3)
  38. Flies suggest that the way the spectators hovered
  39. ..around the trial is similar to flies that are attracted to a potential feast.
  40. Dickens creates a clear comparison between the two items.
  41. Foreshadowing most poignant quote:  book 2, ch 13 (Carton–> Lucie)
  42. “…think now and then that there is a man who would
  43. …give his life to keep a life you love beside you.”

 

Last Thoughts:

  1. After reading A Tale of Two Cites  I felt closure.
  2. I was mesmerized by the movie version (1935) seen
  3. on TV in the 60s’ with my mother.
  4. Nothing impresses a child more than  a guillotine!
  5. Then in high-school this was my first classic ‘study’.
  6. I remembered nothing about the book
  7. …except Mme Defarge and her knitting.
  8. Now it was time to re-read the book as an adult.
  9. #MustRead

 

Ronald Coleman as the classic Sydney Carton.

 

15
Jan

#AWW2019 Louise Mack

 

Quickscan:

  1. In 1914 when war broke out Louise Mack was in Belgium
  2. where she continued to work as the first woman
  3. war correspondent for the
  4. Evening News and the London Daily Mail.
  5. This book is her eye-witness
  6. …account of the German invasion of Antwerp.
  7. 28 September – 10 October 1914 (1 week and 5 days)

 

Conclusion:

  1. While I read to this book I had to think of
  2. …the difference between Marie Colvin (1956-2012)
  3. foreign affairs correspondent for the British newspaper
  4. The Sunday Times and Louise Mack (1870-1935).
  5. While the Zeppelin returns to attack Antwerp
  6. I read Louise Mack saying:
  7. “…I saw my powder puff. I saw my bag.”
  8. “…no slippers came under my fingers,
  9. and I wanted  slippers
  10. in case of going out into the streets.“
  11. I must just accept that this book
  12. …was written more than 100 years ago.

Last thoughts:

  1. Weak point: choppy writing style.
  2. Strong point: The chapters 46-47 were of special
  3. interest for me (I live in Netherlands)
  4. They describe Louise Mack’s impression
  5. of the Dutch welcoming
  6. …Belgium refugees after the fall of Antwerp.
  7. Good eye-witness reporting.
  8. …but very outmoded.
4
Jan

#Non-fiction: The Age of Eisenhower

 

Did you know?

  1. Eisenhower agreed to give 400 million dollar
  2. to France to keep them fighting in Indo-China 1956.

 

  1. Eisenhower did not trust Nixon. Ike tried to ‘push’ off the ticket election
  2. 1956 by dangling a cabinet post in front of ‘Tricky Dick’.
  3. Nixon did not take the bait.

 

  1. Eisenhower suffered from a blood clot in his heart September 1956.
  2. What did Nixon do? He slipped out of his house through the back door
  3. to avoid the press.
  4. Nixon was scared to death ….he might have to lead the country!

 

Conclusion:

  1. These are some of the items that I did not know.
  2. This book reflected a man who remained
  3. a social conservative who was anxious about
  4. …clashes b/t federal courts and local customs (civil rights movement).
  5. Eisenhower was not used to change
  6. ….wary of challenging hierarchy.
  7. Yet Eisenhower did manage
  8. to surpass his limitations  and supported
  9. The Civil Rights act 1957 and enforced court ordered
  10. …for desegragation in Little Rock Arkansas.
  11. which makes him a worthy president in my opinion.

 

Last thoughts:

  1. I thought America in the 1950’s would electrify me.
  2. Unfortunately, it was …to be the  fractious 1960’s
  3. with Nixon, Kennedy, LBJ  these were presidents that
  4. interested me more than  “I like IKE’.
  5. The book was interesting and informative.
  6. Eisenhower made many good calls in the White House
  7. …an ran a fundamentally honest administration.
  8. Ike was and remained a #GoodSoldier.
2
Jan

#Classic: George Eliot, Essays and Poems

 

Introduction:

  1. Why did I buy this book?
  2. That is what I kept asking myself as I struggled
  3. …reading Eliot’s essays.
  4. But I am determined in 2019 to read TBR books
  5. …and live under a book buying embargo
  6. …until further notice!

 

Essays:

  1. Prospectus of the Westiminister and Foreign Quarterl – terrible
  2. Woman In France: Mme de Sablé –  ONLY ESSAY I LIKED!
  3. Dr. Cumming – Eliot being the most prominent figure to criticize him for his anti-Catholicism.
  4. German Wit: Heinrich Heine – awful, not interested in Heine’s wit. 50% quotes of HH’s works.
  5. The Natural History of German Life – pointless
  6. Silly Novels by Lady Novelists –Eliot is critical of women who think they can write novels.
  7. Worldliness: the Poet Young – famous essay  by Eliot
  8. She discusses the “radical insincerity as a poetic artist Edward Young”.
  9. Young is famous for long poem Night Thoughts
  10. The poet muses  on death over a series of nine “nights”.
  11. Essay is too long ….just nothing I want to know.
  12. Eliot is clearly NOT a fan of Edward Young.
  13. The Ilfrcombe Journal:  personal notes, vacation with husband, nature walks – boring.
  14. Notes on  Form in Art:  – written in another time….for another audience, not me.
  15. Weak point: overstatement, too many details, should be edited

 

Letters:

  1. 6 letters discussing Positivism and
  2. …George Eliot’s dramatic poem The Spanish Gypsy
  3. …with Frederic Harrison.
  4. Harrison (1831-1923)  was a religious teacher, literary critic, historian and jurist.
  5. What is Positivism?
  6. It is a philosophical theory stating that certain knowledge
  7. is based on information derived from sensory experience
  8. …interpreted through reason and logic.
  9. Weak point: uninteresting topic for the general reader

 

Reviews:

  1. Little did I know that George Eliot was a book critic! 
  2. Eliot published her reviews in the Coventry Herald and Observer,
  3. …The Westminster Review (Eliot was assistant editor)
  4. …Leader  and The Fortnightly Review.
  5. George Eliot has a wonderful
  6. …way of dissing a book, really criticizing it with a smile:
  7. “…So we restrain our noble rage, and say good bye now
  8. …and for ever to Lord Brougham’s  Lives of Men of Letters…”
  9. 20 reviews have more to say to the modern reader.
  10. Strong point reviews:  Reviews were  at times too grand-eloquent
  11. …but I learned something from each review.
  12. When I lost track of Eliot’s core message….I looked up a
  13. condensed version about the book/author in Wikipedia.
  14. Then I could read (if needed…skim) Eliot’s reviews
  15. ..with an eye for the  issues of interest.
  16. Discovery:  A Lost Love (1854, 232 pg)  by Ashford Owen
  17. …pen name Anne Charlotte Ogle, (1832-1918).
  18. Her book is considered one of the best novella’s of it’s era
  19. .…but who has ever read it?
  20. Discovery: John Ruskin (1819 – 1900)
  21. ….was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era. 
  22. Unfortunately I enjoyed the Wikipedia page on Ruskin
  23. …more than Eliot’s review!
  24. Strong point:  Eliot’s elaborate writing style that characterized the essays
  25. …gave way in time to plainer language in her 20 reviews (pg 261-389).

 

Poem:     Armgart (1871)

  1. George Eliot is an important 19th C novelist
  2. …but her two volumes of poetry are often ignored.
  3. Poem: Armgart (dramatic poem with 7 scenes)
  4. Like Middlemarch…
  5. Armgart tells the story of the incompatibility
  6. of love and art for an artist who is a woman.
  7. Strange….this feels  more like a ‘mini play’…not a poem!

 

Poem:    The Spanish Gypsy (1868)

  1. Poem: The Spanish Gypsy
  2. Set 15th C Andalucía: Fedalma, a young woman
  3. born as a gypsy…she was snatched by marauding Spaniards.
  4. She was raised a Catholic by her fiancé Don Silva’s family.
  5. Weak point: this  is a long winded dramatic poem
  6. It has sunk out of sight under its own weight!
  7. Sorry, this is just not good.
  8. Eliot should stick to what she does best….write novels!

 

Poem:   Brother and Sister (1874)

  1. Just when I was giving up on Eliot’s poetry I found…
  2. Poem:  Brother and Sister
  3. Shakespearean sonnet:  ABAB-CDCD-EFEF-GG)
  4. This is a delightful poem drawing on the
  5. …relationship Eliot had with her brother  Isaac.
  6. This relationship is also the center of The Mill on the Floss (1860)
  7. Strong point:  You have to discover the world underneath the words.
  8. The shape and rhyme  of the poem is familiar.
  9. The voice of a little girl is innocent. She adores her brother.
  10. The rhythm is used to bring certain feelings of responses.
  11. You may even think about
  12. …your connection to an elder brother…or sister!

 

Fictional essay by G. Eliot:   –  From…Impressions of Theophrastus Such (1879)

  1. This was Eliot’s last published fiction writing
  2. …and her most experimental.
  3. Debasing the Moral Currency
  4. …is a essay by an imaginary minor scholar
  5. His eccentric character is revealed through his work.
  6. I read this essay twice
  7. ….and all Eliot is saying could
  8. …be summed up in 3 short  sentences!
  9. She regrets  that we are losing the art of of fine wit and humor
  10. We now turn to burlesque and parodies.
  11. We are at the mercy of poor jest…frivolous mood or manner.
  12. Weak point: too long, feels pointless and waste of my reading time!

 

Translations  (447-468 pg)

  1. I am NOT reading the very last section:
  2. Eliot’s translations of: 
  3. David Strauss’s Life of Jesus
  4. Ludwig Feuerbach’s The Essence of Christianity
  5. I have read enough!

 

Conclusion:

  1. How did I read this dense book?
  2. You have to be motivated.
  3. This was my first book 2019 and
  4. …I was not going to stumble and
  5. …fall with the first challenging book!
  6. #FirstBook 2019

 

 

1
Jan

2019 Monthly Planning + Reading Stats 2018

January 2019

READ:

  1. George Eliot: Selected Essays, Poems and Other Writings – READ  #ClassicMasterList

 

READING:

  1. Moby Dick – H. Melville – READING    ch 94/135  #ClassicMasterList
  2. How Does a Poem Read – J. Ciardi – READING  pg 205/399
  3. Two Moons – Jennifer Johnston – READING  #ReadIreland   pg 155/231

 

December 2018     Reading stats 2018

  1. 63 fiction
  2. 73 non-fiction
  3. 20 French books
  4. 18 plays
  5. 13 posts about poems/poet
  6. 105 short stories
  7. 105 essays

READ:

  1. The History of the Church – Eusebius – READ  #ClassicMasterList
  2. Satires – Horace – READ #ClassicMasterList
  3. Moby-Dick as Philosophy – M. Anderson – READ
  4. Axiomatic – M. Tumarkin – READ  Winner of the Melbourne Prize Best Writing Award 2018
  5. Alice in Space – G. Beer (literary criticism)  – READ
  6. Downstairs No Upstairs – Brian Friel (short story) New Yorker 24.08.1963 – funny! – READ
  7. Go, Went, Gone – J. Erpenbeck – READ
  8. Literary Brian Friel Companion – M. Snodgrass – READ    #ReadIreland
  9. Essay: From Monaghan to the Grand Canal ( Dublin) – S. Heaney  – READ #ReadIreland
  10. The Pull of the Moon – Julie Paul – READ  (12 short stories)  #CanBookChallenge
  11. The Hummingbird – K. Hiekkapelto – READ  #TBR since 2015!
  12. Speaking Up – G. Triggs #AWW2018 – DNF…not my kind or writer
  13. In Extremis: War Correspondent Marie Colvin – L. Hilsum – READ  #TBRnovember2018
  14. Philadelphia , Here I Come! – Brian Friel (play)- READ  #ReadIreland
  15. Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia – editor Anita Heiss (NF) – READ  #AWW2018
  16. Indonesia etc – E. Pisani – READ #WorldFromMyArmchair
  17. The Tall Man – Chloe Hooper – READ #AWW2018  2009 Queensland Premier’s Literary Prize
  18. The Christmas Carol – C. Dickens – READ  #ClassicMasterList
  19. Sisters In Law (S. Day ‘O Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg) – L. Hirshman – READ
  20. Infinity  – Hannah Moscovitch (play) – READ #CanBookChallenge
  21. American Poetry Review – editor E. Scanlon – READ  Vol 47 Nov/Dec no. 6
  22. Saints and Sinners – Edna O’Brien (short stories) – READ  only  4 /10  good  #ReadIreland
  23. The New Yorker    24-31 December 2018 – READ
  24. The Evening of the Holiday – S. Hazzard – READ
  25. The Rich Brew – S. Pinsker – (NF)  READ

 

November 2018

  1. The Aeneid – Vrigil – READ  #ClassicMasterList
  2. Mythos – Stephen Fry (audio book) – READ
  3. A Raisin in the Sun – L. Hansberry (play) – READ  Best Play 1959 NY Drama Critic’s Circle
  4. David Copperfield – C. Dickens – READ #ClassicMasterList (audio and paperback)
  5. Poets Corner – editor J. Lithgow – READ (audio book)
  6. Great Expectations – C. Dickens – READ  #ClassicMasterList
  7. Pulitzer – J. McGrath Morris ( biography) – READ
  8. Rosmersholm – Henk Ibsen (play) – READ   #ClassicMasterList
  9. The Lusiads – L. Vaz de Camões – READ (epic poem)  #ClassicMasterList
  10. Electra – Sophocles – READ #ClassicMasterList
  11. The Knights Tale – Chaucer – READ #ClassicMasterList
  12. Mrs. Dalloway – V. Woolf – READ #ClassicMasterList
  13. Evicted: Poverty and Profit – M. Desmond – READ  #NonFicNov
  14. Kilonova (poem) – A. Sometimes – READ  #AWW2018
  15. To Our Miscarried One, Age Fifty Now (poem) – S. Olds –  READ #PulitzerPrize 2013
  16. The Best Australian Science Writing 2018 – editor J. Pickrell – READ  #NonFicNov
  17. Death of a Salesman – A. Miller – READ- Pulitzer Prize Drama 1949 – #ClassicMasterList

 

October 2018

  1. Our Mutual Friend – C. Dickens – READ   #ClassicMasterList
  2. Je reste ici  – M. Balzano (longlist Prix Fémina 2018) – READ
  3. Mãn – K. Thuy – READ  #CanBookChallenge
  4. An Ordinary Day (NF) – Leigh Sales – READ  #AWW2018
  5. Christ Stopped at Eboli – Carlo Levi – READ  #ClassicMasterList
  6. The Keys of My Prison – F. Wees – READ  #CanBookChallenge
  7. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – Ann Brontë – READ  #ClassicMasterList
  8. Zolitude – Paige Cooper (14 short stories) – READ #CanBookChallenge
  9. An Ocean of Minutes – T. Lim – READ #CanBookChallenge
  10. French Exit – P. deWitt – READ #CanBookChallenge
  11. March Violets – P. Kerr (CF) – READ
  12. Looking for Lorraine – I. Perry – READ
  13. Nobel Streven  – F. van Oostrom – READ  #LibrisPrijs2018  shortlist Best Dutch History Book
  14. Thorbecke Wil Het – R. Aerts – READ – winner Prinsjesboekenprijs  (best political book)
  15. De Sigarenfabriek van Isay Rottenberg – H/S Rottenberg – READ 
  16. ….#LibrisPrijs2018  shortlist Best Dutch History Book
  17. Adieu Montaigne – J. Delacomptée – READ  ( 50%…gave up, read why!)
  18. Frankenstein – M. Shelley – READ   #RIPXIII   and #CCdare

 

September 2018

  1. The Raven – E.A. Poe – READ  #RIPXIII
  2. Dark Entries – R. Aickman (6 short stories) – READ #RIPXIII
  3. A Vindication of the Rights of Women – M. Wollstonecraft – READ
  4. Our Man in Charleston – C. Dickey (NF) – READ  #20BooksOfAutumn
  5. The Pillow Book – Sei Shonagon –  READ
  6. The Life of Johnson – J. Boswell – READ  #ClassicMasterList
  7. Hawthorne – Henry James – READ  #RIPXII
  8. A  Kim Jong-IL Production – Fischer, P. – READ  #20BooksOfAutumn
  9. The Bed-Making Competition – A. Jackson – READ #AWW2018
  10. Atomic Thunder – E. Tynan (Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2017 History) – READ #AWW2018
  11. The Enigmatic Mr. Deakin – J. Brett – READ #AWW2018  Nat Biography Award 2018
  12. Patrick Kavanagh – Irish poet poem  – READ
  13. Audition – S. Sayarfiezadeh – READ (short story) #DealMeIn2018
  14. The River in the Sky – Clive  James ( epic poem…reading it line for line) – READ
  15. Just Enough Liebling – J. Liebling (NF) – READ
  16. Washington Black – Esi  Edugyan – READ #CanBookChallenge (shortlist Man Booker)
  17. Don’t Call Us Dead – D. Smith – READ (collection of poems)
  18. Nooit Meer Slapen – W.F. Hermans- READ  Dutch – in translation Beyond Sleep
  19. James Wright: A Life in Poetry (NF) – J. Blunk – READ
  20. Pensées – B. Pascal – READ

 

August 2018

  1. Pride and Prejudice – J. Austen – Re-READ
  2. Letters From a Stoic – Seneca – READ
  3. The Angel of the Odd – E.A. Poe – READ  (short story)
  4. The Birthday of the Infanta – O. Wilde – READ (short story)
  5. The Masnavi Book vol 1 –  Rūmī (poet of Sufism Islamic mysticism) – READ
  6. Myths from Mesopotamia – (Anonymous)  trans. S. Dalley – READ
  7. Nation – T. Pratchett – READ
  8. Means of Ascent – R. Caro – READ (non-fiction)
  9. The Charterhouse of Parma – Stendhal – READ  (french edition)
  10. Chateaubriand – Jean-Claude Berchet – READ  (french edition)
  11. Trois femmes puissantes – M. NDiaye – READ (french edition) Prix Goncourt 2009
  12. Le Roman de la Rose – De Lorris, G. et De Meun, J. – READ (french edition)
  13. The Revolutionary Road – L. Pryce – READ (Iran)
  14. Une Vie – G. de Maupassant – READ  (french edition)
  15. Maupassant – F. Martinez – READ  (french edition) (biography)
  16. Darkness Visible – W. Styron – READ (essay/memoir)
  17. Between Riverside and Crazy – S. Guirgis – (Pulitzer Prize 2015) (play – READ
  18. The Outrun – A. Liptrot – READ
  19. L’Éspoir – A. Malraux – READ/ DNF …here’s why!

 

July 2018

  1. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich – W. Shirer – READ ….chunkster!
  2. Berthe Morisot  –  D. Bona – READ  (french editon)
  3. Women In Love – D.H. Lawrence – READ – …intense book!
  4. The Dispossessed – U. Le Guin – READ
  5. The Sun Also Rises – E. Hemingway – READ
  6. View From the Cheap Seats – N. Gaiman – READ (essays)
  7. The Deerslayer – James Fenimore Cooper – RE–READ – classic  Fini
  8. Like a House on Fire – C. Kennedy – READ (15 short stories)
  9. Victor Hugo: Romancier de l’abîme – editor J. Hiddleston – READ (11 essays)

 

June 2018

  1. Brit(ish) – A. Hirsch – READ
  2. Jenna’s Truth – N.L. King – READ
  3. A Spy Named Orphan – R. Philipps – READ
  4. The End of Seeing – C. Collins – READ
  5. Australian A. Kissane ‘Flannel Flowers’ – READ (poem)
  6. Essays: The Australian Face (editor C. Menzies-Pike) – READ (17 essays)
  7. Pipeline – D. Morisseau – READ (play)
  8. Americanah – C.N. Adichie – READ
  9. Saga Land – R. Fidler, K. Gislason – READ
  10. How to Get There – M. Mackellar – READ
  11. Very Expensive Poison – L. Harding – READ
  12. Deep South – P. Theroux – READ
  13. Islander: Journey Around Our Archipelago – P. Barkham – READ
  14. Why Horror Seduces – M. Clasen – READ
  15. Rice – Michele Lee – READ (play)
  16. From the Edge: Australia’s Lost Histories – M. McKenna (NF) – READ
  17. The Redemption of Galen Pike – C. Davies (short stories) – READ
  18. Flowers For Algernon – D. Keyes – READ
  19. The Serious Game – H. Söderberg – READ
  20. Judge and His Hangman – F. Dürrenmatt – READ
  21. Hunting the Wild Pineapple – T. Astley – READ (8 short stories)
  22. Down These Green Streets – D. Burke – READ

 

May 2018

  1. Her Father’s Daughter – A. Pung – READ
  2. Who’s Afraid? – M. Lewis – READ
  3. Cardinal – L. Milligan – READ (non-fiction)
  4. The Drover’s Wife – L. Purcell – READ (play)
  5. Broken – M.A. Butler – READ (play)
  6. Psynode – M.J. Ward – READ (YA)
  7. Do Not Go Gentle – P. Cornelius – READ (play)
  8. The Golden Bowl – H. James – READ (classic)
  9. Closing Down – S. Abbott – READ (SF)
  10. Too Easy – J.M. Green – READ (CF)
  11. This Mortal Coil – E. Suvada – READ (YA)
  12. Aletheia – J.S. Breukelaar – READ (Horror)
  13. Enormous Changes at the Last Minute:Stories – G. Paley – READ
  14. Wounds – F. Keane – READ  winner Best Irish Non-fiction 2017
  15. Kitchen Sink Realisms – D. Chansky – READ
  16. Memories of Youghal – W. Trevor – READ (short story)

 

April 2018 

  1. The Museum of Modern Love – H. Rose – READ – Stella Prize 2017
  2. Extinctions – J. Wilson – READ – Miles Franklin Award 2017
  3. Thea Astley’s Writing: Magnetic North – Kerryn Goldsworthy – READ
  4. Feeling the Heat – J. Chandler – READ  – Chandler Best Freelanc Journalist 2017
  5. The Acolyte  – T. Astley – READ – Miles Franklin Award 1972
  6. From the Wreck – J. Rawson – READ – Aurealis Award 2018 Best SF novel
  7. Girl Reporter – T. Roberts – READ – Aurealis Award 2018 Best SF novella
  8. The Green Road – A. Enright – READ
  9. Feel Free – Z. Smith (31 essays) – READ
  10. The Fifth Season – N.K. Jemisin – READ – Hugo Award 2016
  11. Autumn – A. Smith – READ
  12. Dying in the First Person – N. Sulway – READ
  13. The Third Policeman – F. O’ Brian – READ
  14. The Trauma Cleaner – S. Krasnostein – READ – Victorian Premier’s Award 2018
  15. Locking Up Our Own   –  J. Forman jr.  – READ Pulitzer Prize 2018
  16. Joan: The Remarkable Life of Joan Leigh Fermor –  S. Fenwick – READ
  17. Fahrenheit 451 – R. Bradbury – READ
  18. The Butchering Art – L. Fitzharris – READ
  19. 1984 – G. Orwell – READ
  20. Winesburg, Ohio – S. Anderson – READ
  21. The Hate Race – M. B. Clarke – READ
  22. Dark Lies the Island – K. Barry (13 short stories) – READ
  23. Rubik – E. Tan (15 short stories) – READ
  24. Ironweed – W. Kennedy – READ
  25. Soon – L. Murphy – READ

 

March 2018:

  1. Seamus Heaney – H. Vendler – READ
  2. Simon Leys: Navigator Between Worlds – P. Paquet – READ
  3. Without America  – Quarterly Essay, vol. 68;  White, H. 16.11.2017 – READ
  4. Short story: Deer Season – K. Barry – READ  (The New Yorker)
  5. Short story: You Know How It Is – A. Spargo-Ryan – READ
  6. Short story: The Island and the Calves – Dermot Healy – READ
  7. Midwinter  Break – B. MacLaverty – READ
  8. The Weir – C. McPherson – READ
  9. Mapping Irish Theatre – C. Morash and S. Richards – READ
  10. A Long Long Way – S. Barry – READ
  11. Tracker – A. Wright – READ  abandoned…read why!
  12. Poem: Inniskeen Road: July Evening – P. Kavanagh – READ
  13. Quicksilver – N. Rothwell – READ    (6 essays)
  14. Flame Tip – K. Thompson – READ (short fictions, Tasmania)
  15. The Divine Comedy – Dante – READ 
  16. The Nightingale – K. Hannah – READ  abandoned…read why!
  17. Best Words, Best Order: Essays of Poetry – S.  Dobyns – READ
  18. Play: Two Pints – Roddy Doyle – READ
  19. Play: Alice Trilogy – T. Murphy – READ
  20. Essay:  Aussie Albert – Julian Bull – READ
  21. Essay: Dancing Lessons for Writers – Z. Smith – READ
  22. A Writing Life: Helen Garner and Her Work – B. Brennan – READ
  23. Blood in the Water – H. Thompson – READ

 

February 2018:

  1. Tartuffe – Molière – READ
  2. Girls and Boys – D. Kelly – READ
  3. The Path to Power – R. Caro – READ
  4. River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze – P.  Hessler – READ
  5. Couleurs de l’incendie – P. Lemaître – READ
  6. La Prophétie de Langley – P. Pouchairet – READ
  7. Psychanalyse de Victor Hugo – C. Baudouin – READ
  8. Art Chrétien / Art Sacré – Isabelle Saint-Martin) – READ (difficult…score 1/5)
  9. Victor Hugo: 1802-1851 – J.M. Hovasse – READ – FINI !! (1159 pg) = 4 books!
  10. Border – K.  Kassabova – READ

 

January  2018:              

  1. Là-bas, août est un mois d’automne – B. Pellegrino – READ
  2. Wild Kingdom – S. Moss – READ
  3. St. Joan – G.B. Shaw (play) – READ
  4. Feather Your Nest – A. O’Brien (short story) – READ
  5. In With A Chance – K. Murray (short story) – READ
  6. Bottle Party – J. Collier (short story) – READ
  7. The New Yorker  dd 01.01.2018 – READ
  8. Enemy Within – Quarterly Essay, vol. 63;  Watson, Don,  16.09.2016 – READ
  9. The Hidden Life of Trees –  P. Wohlleben – READ
  10. The Left Hand of Darkness – U. Le Guin – READ
  11. The Rule of the Land: Walking Ireland’s Border – G. Carr – READ
  12. Towards Mellbreak – M. Bragg – READ
  13. The Glass Canoe – D. Ireland – READ
29
Dec

#AWW2018: Shirley Hazzard

 

  • Editor: Brigitta Olubas
  • Title: Essays on the works of Shirley Hazzard
  • Read essay:    Future Anterior: The Evening of the Holiday (2014)
  • Read story: The Evening of the Holiday
  • Pubished: 1966 (novel)
  • Monthly reading plan

 

First reading: essay by J. Frow   Prof. Literature University of Sydney

  1. The text was NOT educating despite this man’s stellar credentials!
  2. But that was my fault….I have to learn to read these scholarly works:
  3. I thought a literary professor would encourage me to read Shirley Hazzard’s
  4. book The Evening of the Holiday….he has done just the opposite!
  5. Frow  has made the book so confusing (theme of punctuality…huh?).
  6. I was not going to let this happen…I read the essay a second time.

 

Second reading:

  1. I have now learned to gather specific information that
  2. I feel enlightening and if the author wants to
  3. go off on a tangent (punctuality)…I let him go but did to follow him!
  4. I’ve also learned to make a plan: if the words are ‘too academic’
  5. for example, comedy of incommensuration I must  take the time to find
  6. …words in the dictionary that make the meaning clearer.
  7. Also in literary theory the words aesthetic and ethical are often used.
  8. As soon as I see these words my mind goes blank.
  9. Now I have learned the basic meanings of these words
  10. …so I can continue in the flow of reading without losing my mind!
  11. aesthetic – more concerned with the love of beauty, emotion and sensation…as opposed to
  12. ethical – more intellectualism ( accepted morals; principles of right and wrong)

 

Conclusion:

  1. Despite my rocky start reading J. Frow’s essay
  2. …I do want to read The Evening Holiday!
  3. The story which quietly allows people to change their
  4. …minds about one another
  5. …and fall in love without melodrama.
  6. Characters:
  7. Middle aged, married Tancredi
  8. young Sophia (British/Italian descent) in 1950’s Tuscany.
  9. I am curious how Shirley Hazzard
  10. …brings this all together in just 144 pages.

 

The Evening Holiday  (story)

  1. Published: 1962 ‘long short story’ in the New Yorker
  2. Published: 1966 novella
  3. Trivia: textures of Italian life and culture are bound up with the romance
  4. Structure:
  5. ch 1-6 courtship – ch 7 festival in village –  ch 8-14 affair – ch 15-16 au revoir.
  6. Characters:  are attracted to each other’s complications
  7. Weak point: Hazzard spends 50% book describing everything
  8. …fountains, gardens, piazza’s, villa’s countryside and even the post office.
  9. This sense of space gets ‘out of control’.
  10. Strong point: Hazzard uses inner dialogues to move the action along.
  11. We read what Sophia is thinking  VS
  12. …what Tancredi  THINKS she is thinking.

Last Thoughts:

  1. This book was very short and easy to read.
  2. There is a rhythm to the sentences.
  3. Personally I found the love affair too sugar spin sweet.
  4. There were no passionate outbursts, pledges of love
  5. …just a ho-hum fling that was reaching an inevitable ending.
  6. I will not let one book discourage me….
  7. ..and will try to read more of Shirley Hazzard!
  8. #NeverGiveUp

 

26
Dec

#DealMeIn2019 Challenge

#DealMeIn2019

  • Hosted by Jay sign up here:  @Bibliophilopols
  • What is the goal of the challenge?
  • To read 52 short stories in 2019 (that’s only one per week )
  • What do I need?
  • 1) fifty-two short stories
    2) A deck of cards
  • LIST:
  • Stories published in 2018  The New Yorker:

 

Hearts:

  1. Ace – Whoever is there, come on through – Colin Barett
  2. Foreign Returned – Sadia Shepard
  3. Texas – David Gates
  4. Writing Teacher – John E. Wideman
  5. The Boundary – J. Lahiri
  6. Bronze – Jeffrey Eugenides
  7. Stansville – Rachel Kushner
  8. Mrs. Crasthorpe – Willliam Trevor
  9. Seeing Ershadi – Nicole Kraus
  10. The Poltroon Husband – Joseph O’ Neill
  11. Jack – No More Maybe – Gish Jen
  12. Queen – The State – Tommy Orange
  13. King – The Intermediate Class – Sam Allingham

 

Clubs:

  1. Ace – The State of Nature – Camille Bordas
  2. How Did We Come to Know You – Keith Gressen
  3. A Flawless Silence – Yiyun Li
  4. Treatments – Robert Coover
  5. The Boarder – Isaac Bashevis Singer
  6. Without Inspection – Edwidge Danticat
  7. The Long Black Line – John L’Heureux
  8. Stay Down and Take It – Ben Marcus
  9. Silver Tiger – Lu Wang
  10. Orange World – Karen Russel
  11. Jack – Fungus – David Gilbert
  12. Queen – Omakase – Weike Wang
  13. King – The Luck of Kotura – Gary Shteyngart

 

Spades:

  1. Ace –The First World – Joseph O’ Neill
  2. Under the Wave – Lauren Groff
  3. The Dog – J.M. Coetzee (Dec 2017)
  4. No More Than Ever – Zadie Smith
  5. I Walk Between the Raindrops – T. Coraghessan Boyle
  6. Displaced – Richard Ford
  7. A Refugee Crisis – Callan Wink
  8. Ways and Means – Sana Krasikov
  9. The Wind Cave – Haruki Murakami
  10. Cecilia Awakened – Tessa Hadley
  11. Jack – Poor Girl – Ludmilla Petrushevssky
  12. Queen – When We Were Happy We Had Other Names – Yiyun Li
  13. King – The Rise and Rise of Annie Clark – John L’Heureux

 

Diamonds:

  1. Ace – The Coast of Leitrim – Kevin Barry (Ireland)
  2. Flaubert Again – Anne Carson
  3. Waugh – Bryan Washington
  4. Backpack – Tom Earley
  5. Cattle Praise Song – S. Mukasonga
  6. Show Recent Some Love – Sam Lipsyte
  7. The Frog King – Garth Greenwell
  8. Snowing in Greenwich Village – John Updike
  9. Children are Bored on Sunday – Jean Stafford
  10. Chaunt – Jay Williams
  11. Jack – Time for the Eyes to Adjust – Linn Ullmann
  12. Queen – Acceptance Journey – Mary Gaitskill
  13. King – The Lazy River – Zadie Smith (Dec 2017)

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