#Classic The Iliad
Finish date: 21.08.2025
Genre: Classics
Rating: A++++
ISBN: 978-1324001805
Translation: Emily Wilson (2023)
QUICK SCAN:
- This is the third time I read The Iliad….and it was the BEST translation.
- In the past I read the epic just to check it off my reading list.
- This time I took the trouble to read Wilson’s intro and translation notes carefully and before starting the book.
- In these times…it is so easy to Google “What happened in Book ? in The Iliad’? before reading a chapter.
- It is the “wonder” of AI …and the quick summary made the reading this time SO much more enjoyable.
- E. Wilson has also translated The Odyssey.
- The Iliad is about men and war but all major conflicts are triggered by women!
- As I say in the review I loved the gods’ politics and manipulations in the tragedy…comic relief!
- The Odyssey is about a romance and adventure.
- I want to read The Odyssey (also translated by Emily Wilson
- ….but am taking a small break from the Ancients now.
- It is good to get back to the Classics!
Background: How did the Trojan wars start?
- Eris, the Greek goddess of discord, was not invited to the wedding of
- …Peleus and Thetis…the parents of Achilles.
- In revenge for being snubbed, she crashed the party and threw
- …a golden apple into the crowd inscribed “For the most Beautiful”.
- This sparked a HUGE quarrel among the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite.
- Consequences of the apple:
- Trojan prince Paris must judge the goddesses…choose the most beautiful.
- Aphrodite promised Paris the hand of the beautiful Helen of Sparta (BRIBE)
- …if Aphrodite was chosen as the fairest.
- Paris’s abduction of Helen from her Greek husband Menelaus
- …(with the help of Aphrodite…) sparked the Trojan Wars.
BOOK 1 – 19.08.2025
- The Quarrel
- …Homer zooms in on the 10th year of fighting… the quarrel b/t Achilles/Agamemnon.
- Agamemnon and Achilles basically argue about a girl Briseis.
- She was Achilles’s “war prize”.
- Agamemnon has taken her as his own
- …and has insulted Achilles’s honor.
- Achilles refuses to fight, refuses to allow his men to fight, and asks his mother (Thetis) to speak to Zeus
- …so that the Greeks lose the war without him.
- There’s more going on but this is the core message.
BOOKS 2-5 – 20.08.25
- There are some glimpses of peace
- …it is not all violence and death.
- Catalogue of ships – Greek’s long who’s who list to show their strength! – (skim this is section!)
- Trojans admire Helen’s beauty.
- Helen describes the Greek warriors: Agamemnon/Achilles/Diomedes/Ajax.
- Conflict: Paris and Menelaus – meet in a single hand-to-hand combat.
- Suddenly the god Aphrodite intervenes and whisks Paris off to Helen’s bedroom!
BOOK 6 – 20.08.25
- Glaucus and Diomedes agree to not kill each other!
- It appears G/D’s grandfathers were friends!
- Very loving and tender scene between Hector, his wife and baby son.
- Hector knows (…as does his wife) that once he goes back to the battlefield
- ….he will never return to his family.
- His wife insists that the servant slaves start lamenting….even while Hector is still alive.
BOOK 7 – 21.08.2025 – …duel b/t Hector and Ajax
- Hector and Paris return to the battlefield.
- Apollo and Athena, then orchestrate a duel between Hector and a Greek champion Ajax
- to temporarily halt the bloodshed.
- The Trojans offer to return the treasures they stole from
- …the Greeks but refuse to return Helen.
- The Greeks reject the offer.
BOOK 8 – 21.08.2025 – …lots of things happening in this chapter!
This is a single pivotal day of battle
- Zeus’s Intervention
- Trojans Surge Forward
- Greek hero Nestor (old man…) is stranded on the battlefield, but the valiant Diomedes rescues him.
- Agamemnon’s Plea: tries to inspire his troops.
- Sign from Zeus: —an eagle carrying a fawn—which momentarily rallies the the Greek troops!
- The Trojan Campfire: Hector and the Trojans encamped in the plain,
- threatening to break down the Greek wall and burn their ships at dawn.
- Agamemnon asks Achilles to return to battle…he refuses.
- Odysseus has a message for Achilles.
- Agamemnon offers to give back his “war prize, Briseis” – land, money and even Aga’s daughter in marriage!!
- Here’s the rub: Achilles must admit that Agamemnon is the better warrior compared to Achilles!!
- Achilles rejects the offer.
- The speech is the longest in the epic!!
- Achilles does not want stuff…he wants an APOLOGY!
- Achilles wants recognition of WHO he is and WHAT he has suffered.
- Odysseus and Diomedes conduct a spy mission into Trojan camp
BOOK 11 – 21.08.2025 – SECOND plot point
- Hector leads the Trojans in a surge that pushes the Greeks back from the walls of Troy.
- Paris (Trojan) and Diomedes (Greek) are both wounded.
- Greeks are forced back to their ships.
- Patroclus sends for news: he wants to know which leaders are wounded.
- Warning…this is a VERY LONG chapter.
- It is filled with killings, rescues….men pleading to be taken alive for ransom.
- People are speared, skewered, splayed
- …heads are lopped off and spear points still in eye sockets!
- If you like this sort of narrative…read on but you can also “skim” this chapter.
- The sea-god Poseidon intervenes in the battle at the Greek ships after Zeus leaves the field of battle.
BOOK 14 – 21.08.2025 – I love when the Gods get involved….feels like “comic relief” from all the slaughter!
- The Girdle of Love:
- Hera seeks out Aphrodite to obtain her magical, love-inducing girdle
- …which she uses to make herself incredibly beautiful.
- (Where can I buy one of these?)
- While the goddess Hera seduces Zeus with the help of the god of Sleep
- …allowing the sea-god Poseidon to intervene and aid the Greeks in battle.
BOOK 15 – 21.08.2025 – the fighting continues…you need a scorecard to understand the gods!
Here is a breakdown of the gods helping the Trojans:
- Apollo (…son of Zeus) – Sent a plague into the Greek camp and, struck down Patroclus
- …making him vulnerable to Hector’s fatal blow.
- Aphrodite – Helped Paris abduct Helen and protected him from death on the battlefield.
- Ares – Instilled courage in the warriors (god of war).
- Artemis – Helped the Trojans b/c the Greek Agamemnon killed one of her sacred deer.
-
Hera: Distracted Zeus (…her husband) to permit the gods to interfere with the battle.
-
Athena: Provided strategic help and divine intervention to Odysseus and Achilles.
-
Poseidon: Aided the Greeks….just to spite Zeus! (god of the sea)
-
Hermes: (…son of Zeus)…he sided with the Greeks, but with no actual opinion on the war itself.
-
Hephaestus: God of fire (blacksmith) provides armor for the Greek heroes, particularly Achilles.
- Patroclus asks Achilles to return to the battle b/c
- …the Greeks are experiencing heavy losses.
- Achilles is tempted and almost yields but refuses to soften.
- Achilles agrees to send Patroclus in his own armor into battle.
- Achilles is concerned for his BF’s safety
- ….but deep down he is afraid P will win for HIMSELF the glory that Achilles deserves!!
- The Trojans are terrified thinking Achilles (P in Achilles’s armor)
- … has returned and Patroclus has great success.
- Patroclus goes too far…and GODS INTERVENE!!
- Apollo knocks off Patroclus‘s helmet…and Hector kills him.
- Patroclus’s death causes a fundamental shift in Achilles.
- His GRIEF is overwhelming.
- Achilles is now possessed by a single desire –> REVENGE…kill Hector.
Books 17-18-19-20-21
- Between books 17 – 21 Achilles is a “killing machine”.
- His victims are so many they are not even named.
- This is not heroic…it is butchery.
- Achilles killing is so prodigious that the number of corpses blocks the flow of a river!
- The river god, Scamander, attacks Achilles, attempts to drown him.
BOOK 22 – 21.08.2025 – CLIMAX!
- Hector and Achilles finally meet.
- Hector asks Achilles to join in a pact
- ….that who ever wins will NOT mutilate
- …the body of the other but return it is the parents and family.
- Achilles rejects the pact. Hector is NO match for Achilles.
- Achilles stabs Hector in the neck, but misses the vocal cords
- …so Hector once again can ask if Achilles will spare his body.
- Achilles says he will leave his body to the dogs and birds.
- Achilles even threatens to hack him in pieces and eat him raw (jick)…so is his rage.
- Hector is dead, Troy will certainly fall and Achilles will soon die.
BOOK 23 – 21.08.2025
- Achilles oversees the funeral games in honor of Patroclus.
BOOK 24 – 21.08.2025 – RESOLUTION
- The old king Priam goes to Achilles’s tent.
- He asks for his son’s body.
- Achilles has mutilated Hector’s body
- ….and Priam asks Achilles to think what YOUR FATHER MAY feel
- …what he has lost.
- Please show some sympathy.
- Achilles breaks down in tears.
- Priam cries for his son Hector and
- …Achilles cries for his own father and his BF Patroclus.
- Achilles brings Hector’s body to his grieving father Priam.
CONCLUSION:
- The epic begins with honor, glory, battle exploits….
- …ends on pity, tears the courage of an old man and the burial of Hector.
- Some see in this ending a sign that Achilles has returned to the norm of humanity.
- Homer has shown Achilles…struggling with his values.
- He is aware of his coming death and is trying to make
- …the most of the time he has been given.
- Achilles suffers from the curse of awareness
- ...the awareness of one’s own mortality.
#Art History Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh’s last painting “Wheatfield with Crows” (1890)
Finish date: 12.08.2025
Genre: Non-fiction
Rating: D
The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh – Penguin Classics (528 pg)
Bad news: As much as I like van Gogh’s paintings
his letters were 80% asking for supplies from his brother,
discussing technical aspects of drawing and color with other painters
and only 20 % describing his feelings. His decision to co-habit with Sien (former prostitute)
and her child shattered his relationship with his parents and Theo.
Good news: The letters do give the reader a timeline of his metamorphosis from a churchman to a painter.
He took art lessons in The Hague, Antwerp and finally in Paris with the $$ help of his brother Theo. But you can read about this in Wikipedia as well!
Good news: The most interesting letters were from St. Rémy when het felt most happy in Southern France with his new friends in the village. Van Gogh’s mental health continued to decline , with increased episodes of depression, anxiety, and erratic behavior. In the final years (1888-1890) Vincent was well aware of never recovering from his sickness. He would not be able to paint for much longer and so began a frenetic period during which he produced his most famous works. There is NO consensus about van Gogh’s health. Here is an interesting LINK in which you can read the many diagnoses concerning his health.
Bad news: The book ended quite abruptly. Vincent died in July 1890 and Theo died 6 months later in January 1891. The end. What I missed was any insight into van Gogh’s feelings about his last paintings.
I saw his LAST painting (Wheatfield with Crows) last month in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. It was painted hours before he shot himself in a field by Auvers-sur-Oise, a village north of Paris.
It is stunning to see “close-up”….filled with raw emotion, ominous symbols of black crows flying wildly around (death) …and the book says nothing about it…not even in the editor’s notes.
Personal: Would I recommend the book? Not really. Go to the library and find other books about Van Gogh and his art. Read articles on Wikipedia. Here is another interesting LINK about van Gogh’s last painting. This way you will learn more about Vincent and his genius than reading his letters.
Vincent does not disappoint
…only this book leaves much to be desired.
Monthly Reading List 2025
LEEUWARDEN AT SUNRISE
- If We Burn – V. Bevins (NF) – REVIEW
- Shielded – J. Schwartz (NF) – REVIEW
- Citizen – C. Rankin (prose poetry) – REVIEW
- Arthur Miller – John Lahr (NF) – REVIEW
- Counting Descent – Clint Smith (poetry) – REVIEW
- The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh – Penguin Classics – REVIEW
- The Dead Hand – D. Hoffman (NF) – REVIEW
- Fear and Misery in the Third Reich (play) – Bertolt Brecht – REVIEW
- Frans Hals – (2023) – National Gallery London (essays) – REVIEW
- Dallas Sweetman (play) – Sebastian Barry – REVIEW
- The Iliad – Homer – REVIEW
- Top 3 longest books I’ve ever read – 26.08.2025
- Il nous restera ça – Virginie Grimaldi #WIT (France) – REVIEW
- The Forty Days of Musa Dagh – F. Werfel (Austria) – REVIEW
- Rodolpho Walsh’s Last Case – Elsa Drucaroff #WIT (Argentina) – REVIEW
-
6 Weeks No Books!
- Well, for the first time in my life I was sick of reading books!
- So I abandoned the blog…threw my Kindle reader in the bookcase and
- …bought a 4 week (July) unlimited travel train pass for The Netherlands!
- It was the best thing I ever did to beat the “book blues”.
- It freed me from reading lists and book challenges.
- I walked at least 300 km sightseeing, to and from train stations.
- I travelled 2000 km (1243 miles) visiting:
- Groningen, Franeker, Workum, Amsterdam, Haarlem, Maastricht
- ...Velp, Zutphen, Zwolle, Utrecht and Arnhem. (see Google Maps)
- What did I learn? Travelling is a “full body workout”!
- I was so exhausted I could not travel during the last 2 days of the month.
- I had reached my sightseeing, going out to dinner and drinking coffee with lots of cake
- …saturation point.
- So here I sit…. “vermoeid maar voldaan” (tired but satisfied)
- … in my comfortable reading chair and getting ready for
- …the coming “reading ” months!
#2025 Goodreads Challenge “Cheers”
- NO long reviews for these books…
- .…I’m just going to enjoy the challenge and see how far I come!
- These challenges are personal.
- Create your own separate challenge thread to list the challenge/s
- …you wish to participate in.
- Goodreads Group: Catching Up on Classics
- The whole month of December is dedicated to planning your challenge.
- You can add your books and make edit adjustments till December 31st.
- I’m starting some reading in last week of December for 2025 challenges!
- No changes should be made to your list once challenge starts
Challenge #2 – Members Choice
Challenge #3 – New Authors
Challenge #4 – Short Story
Challenge #5 – Decade/Century/Millennium
Challenge #6 – Group Reads, Buddy Reads,
Challenge #7 – Series Books – Start, Continue, Complete
Challenge #11 – Future Classics
Challenge #12 – Fiction/Non-Fiction
Challenge #15 – Award Winners
Challenge. #1 Old & New Challenge
Pre-1914:
1 Julius Caesar – Shakespeare
2 Cyrano de Bergerac – E. Rostand
3 Romeo and Juliet – Shakespeare
Post 1914:
1 The Caine Mutiny – Herman Wouk
2 Revolutionary Road – R. Yates
3 Le jardin des Finzi-Contini – Giorgio Bassani
On My Shelf Waiting:
1 The Iliad – Emily Watson transation – Homer
2 Bouvard et Pécuchet – G. Flaubert
3 Shōgun – James Clavell
4 Avec les alcooliques anonymous – J. Kessel (NF)
5 The Cloister and the Hearth – C. Reade
6 The Princesse de Clèves by Madame de Lafayette
Alternates:
1 La Vie devant soi – Romain Gary
2 L’Amant – Marguerite Duras
3 Romola – G. Eliot
2. 20th Century – Wolf Among Wolves – Hans Fallada (1937)
3. 21st Century – The Lack of Light- Nino Haratischwili (2022)
4. Nonfiction – Woodrow Wilson – C. Cox (2024)
5. New to me author: Solenoid – M. Cartarescu (2015)
6. Diversity: Miles: The Autobiography – M. Davis (1989)
7. Genre: Essays – Kafka: Making of an Icon – R. Robertson (2024)
8. Genre: Hist Fic Darkroom of Damocles – W. F.Hermans (1958)
9. Genre: Memoir (WW II): Mémoires – S. Klarsfeld (2009)
10. Genre: SciFi Silver Ships – S.H. Jucha (2015)
1. Edward D. Hoch – Dr. Sam Hawthorne Series
2. Robert Barnard – The Habit of Widowhood
3. Susan Breen – Maggie Dove: A Mystery
4. S.J. Rozan – China Trade
5. Lore Segal – Ladies’ Lunch and other stories
6. Henning Mankell – Faceless Killers
I want to expand my horizons by reading more crime fiction in 2025.
- Some Buried Caesar – Rex Stout (1939)
- She Shall Have Murder – Delano Ames (1948)
- From Russia with Love – Ian Fleming (1957)
- The Labyrinth Makers – Anthony Price (1970)
- A Perfect Spy – John le Carré (1986)
- Pashazade – John Courtenay Grimwood (2001)
- Sleeping Dogs – Ed Gorman (2008)
- An American Spy – Olen Steinhauer (2012)
- A Deadly Thaw – Sarah Ward (2016)
- See Also Deception – Larry D. Sweazy (2016)
- Shot in Detroit – Patricia Abbott (2016)
1. January: Oblong – Edward D. Hoch (Collection “Leopold’s Way”)
2. January: The House by the Ferris – Edward D. Hoch (Collection “Leopold’s Way”)
3.
4.
.
.
18.
Challenge #5 – Century. dd. 21.12.2024 Read 10 books…1 book per decade.
1861: Silas Marner – George Eliot
1873: La Corde au cou – Émile Gaboriau
1887: A Study in Scarlet – Arthur Conan Doyle
1895: Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
1905: The Jungle – Upton Sinclair
1916: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man – James Joyce
1927: Death Comes for the Archbishop – W. Cather
1932: Tobacco Road – Erskine Caldwell
1945: A Bell for Adano – John Hersey
Challenge 6 – Group Reads. 0/12
1 Augustus – John Williams
2
3
4
5
6
Challenge #7- Series Books – Start, Continue, Complete
START: Dr. Sam Hawthorne Series – Edward D. Hoch
- There are 15 books in this series…my target is first 3 books.
- Diagnosis: Impossible: The Problems of Dr. Sam Hawthorne
- More Things Impossible: The Second Casebook of Dr. Sam Hawthorne
- Nothing is Impossible: Further Problems of Dr Sam Hawthorne
- Maggie Dove: A Mystery –
- Maggie Dove Detective Agency –
START: The Accursed Kings – Maurice Druon (historical fiction)
- There are 7 books in this series…my target is first 3 books.
- The Iron King
- The Strangled Queen
- The Poisoned Crown
Challenge #12– Fiction/Non-Fiction
- Shakespeare
Nonfiction: Shakespeare, The Man Who Pays the Rent – Judi Dench
Fiction: Much Ado About Nothing - French Resistance
Nonfiction: Resistance: Memoirs of Occupied France – A. Humbert (WW II)
Fiction: The Alice Network – Kate Quinn (WW I) - WW II Finland
Nonfiction: Finland’s War of Choice – H. Lunde
Fiction: Les Guerriers de l’Hiver – O. Norek
———————————————————————————————————-
Challenge #15 – Award Winners – Nobel Prize: 0/2
- Herman Hesse – Steppenwolf (1927)
- Halldór Laxness – Independent People: An Epic (1934)
- Heinrich Böll – The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (1974)
- Olga Tokarczuk – The Books of Jacob (2014)
- Nadine Gordimer – My Son’s Story (1990)
#Classic Taming of the Shrew
- Film: Taming of the Shrew (1967) – awful
- Film: The Dresser (1983) – brilliant
- RSC: production Taming of the Shrew (2019) – below average
- Ballet de Monte Carlo: Taming of the Shrew (2017) – very good…better than I expected!
- Shakespeare’s Globe: Taming of the Shrew (2012) – excellent!
- Reading and watching time: 1 week
Finish date: 17.12.2025
Genre: play
Rating: C. …depends on what you watch/read!
#Classic
Good News: Suprise!! I was already to watch the play…had an idea of the actors but RSC in 2019 has produced a gender-swapped production of Shakespeare’s fierce, energetic comedy! It is now Bianco …not Bianca!
Bad News: This gender-swapping was version by the Royal Shakespeare Company (2019) was not good for me as a first time reader of the play. I was so immersed in the narrative, had all the players in place and suddenly the old and wise Baptista (Kate/Bianca’s father) is a woman. Combined with the difficulty following WS’s words looking up notes for the meaning of the text and getting used to the people in their parts…it was confusing to say the least. I’ll watch another version by The Globe Theatre based on the original characters (no swapping) a WS intended.
Good News: Globe Theatre production (2012) is the hands down winner! There is more slapstick, physical acting, and the Kate’s wedding dress is beautiful. Impossible to see “male” Kate in RSC version as a stunning bride. The comic relief Grumio (Petruchio’s servant) is priceless!
Bad News: Shakespeare has done is best to confuse his readers/audience: role-play, change of costumes (to imply one is a nobleman) and witty “verbal sparrings” that make the first encounter between Kate and Petruchio feel like a boxing match. There are layers to discover: a play, in a play.
Good News: Best image in the play…that lingers falcon Act 4, 1: “My falcon now is sharp and passing empty, And till she stoop she must not be full-gorged…” A falcon won’t hunt unless it is hungry, implying that Kate won’t learn to obey Petruchio unless he withholds her food. Petruchio indicates that he sees her as if she were an animal with the sole purpose of obeying and serving him.
Personal: There are many ways to view the play: as psychological abuse of Kate, a farce or Kate as a cunning pragmatist. Kate is full of rage b/c her father treasures Bianca more than Kate. Act 2,1 “I’ll be revenged”. The eventual change in Kate leaves the reader still puzzled. Is it possibly with happiness or resignation. You’ll have to decide what you think.
Shakespeare in the media: I watched Elizabeth Taylor-Richard Burton film version from 1967. Unforunately it felt like a Cliff’s Notes version of the play. I love Burton’s thundering voice but rather in a serious classic like Hamlet. This film was a cringe-inducing experience!
I watched the Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo perform The Taming of the Shrew (2017). Act 1-2-3 was 45 min. Act 4-5- 30 min: Decor was minimalist with shades of blue. Bianca is dressed in white, Kate dark green. Kate is a very passive-agressive dancer. At times she is clenching her fists then looking secretly and lovingly at Petruchio. Petruhio enters in a coat of feathers and with lots of jumping and chest thumping! Both weddings (Kate and Bianca) were very nicely done! The story was easy to follow but you have to know what TShrew is about before watching the ballet. Boy, dancing is hard work!
Another film that will get you in the mood to read Shakespeare is The Dresser (1983, AppleTV) with Albert Finney and Tom Courtaney. Personal assistant Norman struggles to get deteriorating veteran actor through a difficult performance of King Lear. It’s not a “big” movie, and doesn’t try to make a big splash, but my goodness, the brilliance of the two leads leaves me just about speechless. Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay are nothing less than amazing in this movie.
Book: Taming of the Shrew Penguin Classics ISBN: 9780141396583
The book is very readable. (font)
27% -General introduction (very good)
40% -Induction + play
2% -Passages inserted by Pope in his edition of the play
4% -Account of text and some alterations
28% -Commnetary notes
There is also “The Pelican Shakespeare” with NO commentary notes….but I love the bookcover! (ISBN: 9780143128625)
#2025 Reading Challenge: Shakespeare
- As Sylvia Plath was described in Red Comet:
- “…she hears the muffled drip, drip, drip of time under her pillow.”
- That is how I feel now about Shakespeare!
- I would like to read all his plays…in the coming years.
- This is the first step in 2025:
- It will all feel like homework but I’m going to
- watch as many of the plays on GLOBE PLAYER
- …”streaming” (movies, ballets)
- …listen to podcasts, and research any book notes (Sparknotes, Cliffnotes etc)
- …and other books I have about Shakespeare.
- Making the challenge more “interactive” will be the fun part!
Sources:
- Penguin Classics Kindle version of individual plays
- Website: Shakespeare Online
- Podcast: University of Oxford “Approaching Shakespeare”
- Audible: The Great Couses “How to Read and Understand Shakespeare”
Reading Shakespeare: 2025
- Taming of the Shrew – REVIEW
- Romeo & Juliet
- Julius Caesar
- Much Ado About Nothing.
- King Lear –
- Merchant of Venice
Optional:
- Reading the histories:
- …if I still have enough energy.
- I’ll have to see how far I come.
- Source: Stephen Greenblatt’s “Histories”
- This is part of The Norton Shakespeare series.
- In chronological order of setting, these are:
- King John
- Richard II (re-read)
- Henry IV Parts I and II
- Henry V
- Henry VI Parts I, II and III
- Richard III
- Henry VIII.
Reviews:
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream – REVIEW
- Richard II – REVIEW
- Hamlet – REVIEW
- Othello – REVIEW
- Macbeth – REVIEW
#Nobel Prize 1926 Grazia Deledda
Finish date: 06.12.2024
Genre: novella (190 pg)
Rating: F
#Nobel Prize 1926
Good News: The narrative is clear.. Elias is trapped in a love triangle with his brother and his fiancée. I don’t have to reveal any spoilers…this will not turn out well.
Bad News: 53% of the book and we’ve reached the point of no return. Elias feels all is lost (brother marries Maddalena) and we have pages and pages of doom, gloom, sobbing, moaning and wanting to rip one’s heart out. To make matters worse…Elias is constantly overwhelmed with religious guilt.
Bad News: This book is about the emotional rollercoaster Elias Portolu is on filled with sudden impulsiveness; the pride and the shame; the soaring joys and the deep despairs.
I had the hope that the the best character in the book, Uncle Martinu would knock some sense to our lovesick protagonist. Elias seeks his good advice but fails to follow through on any of it.
Personal: Elias is a real drama queen. The drama was becoming so repetitious, I found myself getting a bit annoyed with and critical of the novel for its monotony. Elias is suffering from “Catholic guilt” and it dictates his day-to-day life.
Nobel Prize 1926? I’m not impressed with G. Deledda’s (1871-1936) writing.
- It was long-windedly and hairpullingly boring.
- Reading time: 3,5 hr
#CF British classic George Bellairs
Finish date: 05.12.2024
Genre: CF
Rating: A
Reading time: 5 hours
Bad News: None…I loved the book from cover to cover!
Good News: The writing is close to the bone, stuff that doesn’t flinch.
The narrative is complicated (financial schemes) and there were plenty of emotionally loaded scenes.
George Bellair’s strong point was his use of atmospheric detail and dialogues that sharpen the focus on one character then on another. I asked the question over and over: Whodunnit?
Personal: I’m not one for CF or mystery but this book was the exception! G. Bellairs is indeed a writer who has fallen off the radar but if you are looking for a great piece of sleuthing, Superintendent Littlejohn is the man to meet!
#CF British Classic Smallbone Desceased
Finish date: 02.12.2024
Genre: mystery (1950)
Rating: A+++
#Classic British Crime
Reading time: 8,5 hrs
Good News: I devoured The Name of the Rose, a murder mystery that takes place in a remote medieval abbey in Italy during the fourteenth century. Now, you know how long it has been since I really enjoyed a mystery!
Bad News: Since I’m not a avid reader of CF, I’ve had no where to look for a good solid ‘whodunit’. I just followed the most popular books on the market and have gotten stung once or twice. The popular scandinavian noir books often have blood dripping of every page I am hesitant to pick it up because just when you think it can’t possibly get worse, it does. That put me off this genre.
Good News: Michael Gilbert:…hidden gem for me all these years…has convincded me there is more to CF than meets my unexperienced eye. Smallbone Deceased is a nice legal mystery …in a some what cozy Golden age territory. But I’ve read M. Gilbert also wrote thrillers that are a bit darker, noirish crimes. I’m looking forward to these books.
Personal: Some die hard mystery/CF aficionados thought this book was overrated..I thought it was terrific. After reading 2 classic British murder mysteries this month which I find more satisfying than a lot of the drivel that is frankly a waste of my time…I’ve finally found my CF niche. This book had interesting characters,…the pacing was very good and the ending was satisfying. I did not know who the murder was until the last pages. I missed ALL the clues!
#ILikeCosyCrimeFiction
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