NancyElin.blog

#Zola ROME

Zola…he’s driving me to drink!

1. This book is so long (900 pages) 
2. I have to write a  2 part review.
3. Thoughts  about chapters 1-10
4. Read it and weep….

by Émile Zola

Finish date: 22 December 2022
Genre: novel  (900 pg)
Language: French
Rating: …not looking good
Review: Rome (ISBN: 9782072933752)

Good news: Thanks to Zola’s detailed research, readers of the 21st century are able today to “see” Rome through his eyes, according to his acute ability to observe. There are many paragraphs dedicated to monuments and works of art. For art lovers there are some great insights only Zola can write!

Good news: Write what you know! You cannot deny the “Rome” is partly inspired by Zola’s own experiences. Émile Zola went to Rome in the autumn of 1894 to reflect on the role of religion in modern society in the late 19th C. He stayed for several weeks without being able to have an audience with the pontiff Leo XIII. Zola wanted to understand why his book Lourdes published July 1894 had been condemned to the Index. This is exactly what our main character Fr. Pierre Froment is doing in this book!

Bad news: The book is too long! (900 pages). Zola interjects long-winded anecdotes about minor figures: Boccanera’s daughters (20 pg), Santobono (7 pg), Orlando (10 pg) and daydreams about cardinals of the past (3 pg). I’ve learned to discover the words: “Il évoqua cette historic de….” or Il tomba dans une rêverie…” (recalls the story of… daydreams ) and I just skip the pages. Must concentrate on Fr. Pierre and try to finish this epic before Christmas!

Personal: Having read all of Zola’s 20 novels in Rougon-Macquart series…I had to look for another series. I stared the 3 Cities trilogy with Lourdes a few years ago…meeting F. Pierre Froment who lost his faith and tried to find in again in Lourdes. Now Fr. Pierre is in Rome 2 years later. This is quite a epic novel….but I’m used to Zola’s style and know when and when not to “skim”.
To be honest, Lourdes was the better book…but not by much!  “Rome” is intertwined with amorous intrigues, full of passion and pathos, between Dario and Benedetta, describing at the same time the habits and customs of a changing society. But unfortunately this society did not interest me that much.

Notes: CH 1
Whew…chapter 1 is as long as a novella!
Hope to finish this 900 pages paperback in FRENCH …before Xmas.
Fingers crossed.
My summary in 3 short thoughts
Description of Rome – rant about Catholic Church and Pope – Fr. Pierre Froment is summoned to Rome to defend his new book in front of Pope Leo XIII. (Zola needed pg 47-92…just to say that!)

Notes: CH 2
Fr. Pierre is a guest in Palazzo Boccanera during his visit to Rome.
The chapter is 50 pages and you can skip 40 of them! Fr. Pierre is mentioned in the first and last 5 pages of the chapter. Skip the rest! Zola gets sidetracked in a a soap opera about “the family Boccanera’s” marriageable daughters.

Notes: CH 3
The reason this book is so long…Zola takes us on a walking tour of every room he enters. FR. Pierre meets cardinal Boccanera and he won’t even read Pierre’s book. ‘En colère’…the priest demands to see the manager! Now Fr. P. has to find a way to get an audience with Pope Leo XIII. Good luck!

Notes: CH 4
The book is so boring….but I continue to “skim”.
Fr. Pierre visits old friend Count Prada sr. and we have to suffer through another “historie” revealing his backstory. Love triangles…always fun: Benedetta is married to Count Prada jr. but she loves another…. Dario. As always Zola ends the chapter with a panoramic description of a part of Rome: Dôme St. Pierre…at sunset

Notes: CH 5
This chapter is a guide book of Rome and especially describing everything in Basilique Saint-Pierre. Zola’s conclusion: the Popes are the new Caesars…..protecting the spiritural but never renouncing the temporal…in which case is…”the good life”!

Notes: CH 6
I have to push myself to read a chapter a day. Another walking tour of Sistine Chapel, discussions about Botticelli, Bernini and Michel-Ange and walk in the Papal gardens. Best 10 pages (326-336)…Fr. Pierre listens to Benedetta pour her heart out about her lover Dario. Zola is good when it comes to the human side…that is great writing.

Notes: CH 8
Zola believed that ugly social problems could not be solved as long as they remained hidden. Fr. Pierre takes some rich friend on a tour of the poor part of Rome. We learn Pope Leo XIII was a gambling man with church’s $$ and end the chapter (pg 436-443) with Fr. Pierre daydreaming what the Pope sees from his Papal apartment window. Skimmed these last few pages…a lot of blah, blah.

Notes: CH 9
With the exception of 2 hours listening to the last January 6th hearing on TV…it took me 2 days of reading and 1 sniffer glass of Irish Whiskey to get me through 60 pg of Zola. Divorce proceedings continue for Benedetta, Fr. Pierre takes us on walking tours of Transtévère, Roman gardens, palaces, fountains and Tiber River. I read all this just to improve my vocabulary…b/c the narrative is beyond boring.

Notes: CH 10
This is best chapter so far with intrigues and explanations why Fr. Pierre’s book is being attacked! It took me 10 days to finally reach a point when I read every word. Fr. Pierre is being punished for this honesty! The Church wants to control what their congregation knows! Note to the wise…don’t mess with the Jesuits in Rome!

Notes: 10 (chapter is so long…an additional comment needed
Trivia: 60% of the Dutch 15 yrs and older are not religious. Compare that with USA…only 18% have no church affiliation. Zola is bashing the Catholic Church and especially the Jesuits… on almost every page. Loved his description of the church: an iron network under a soft velveted hand. (…reseau de fer sous le velours de main douce… pg 539).

Notes: CH 11
Buzz on the street: Pope Leo XIII not feeling well. This triggers discussion about Papal politics, possible successor of the papacy and history of strange poisonings in Italy!! This is all mixed in with a long carriage ride with Count Prada jr, Fr. Pierre and ‘shady” abbé Santobono. Skimmed pages about a chicken and a basket of figs…just another one of Zola’s useless anecdotes.

Notes: CH 12
Well, if you want to read the abridged version of this book go straight to pg 663. Fr. Pierre finally hears he will be granted an audience with Pope XIII. There’s a bit of intrigue building concerning that infamous basket of figs! This chapter was all about a very swanky engagement party for Atillo and Cecila. Oh, BTW…marriage b/t Count Prada jr and Benedetta is finally annulled….it took only 616 pages, a lot of tears and “…woe is me” scenes!

Notes: CH 14
This chapter was a challenge…it felt endless (intarisable, insondable). It is divided into 3 parts: Fr. Pierre’s arrival at the Papal meeting (descriptions of marble columns, stairs, hallways, lights, rooms, furniture etc.) The climax of the book…the discussion (rants) with Pope Leo XIII about Fr. P’s book. Then it is in reverse…exiting the rooms, hallways, stairs etc.

Notes: CH 15
After death of the tragic lovers (Benedetta/Dario) we read 20 pages about …the procession of grief. Everybody comes to the funeral. Fr. Pierre is told his book was “dead in the water” b/c his “Religion nouvelle” was going to replace the old religion. Top brass in the Vatican said that wasn’t going to happen! More rants about Papal politics (who is next Pope?) …and more Jesuits bashing. Last chapter tomorrow!

Notes: CH 16
Zola ends his book with a few more rants about Rome a city in decline, about the Catholic Church that should show less charity and more justice to all people (share Church’s riches with the poor…). Fr. Pierre takes us on a tour of city as he rides in fiacre to the train station. His book was banned….but he is already starting his next book in his mind! I took me 18 days to read the book…having missed 2 days at Xmas ….just took a rest and watched some movies.I Just ordered the last book “Paris” in this trilogy!

#BookBingo 2022 Challenge Wrap-up

1. I joined  Book Bingo at Unruly Reader.
2. After I posted my sign-up….I completely forgot about this challenge!
3. Now I look back on my monthly planning list of books
4. …some books stared in late 2021 are also allowed…
5. and discover I was unable to fill only 5 squares.

1. Native American Author
2. Main character is disabled of has cognitive impairment
3. Subculture 
4. Positive Psychology
5. Librarian Recommended (…I don’t have a librarian in NL!)

1. This was  the  basic bingo card
2. I tried for a “Bingo Blackout” and fill all the squares… but failed.
3. Better luck in 2023!
4. NOTE: I enjoyed this Bingo Card so much…
   …that I am going to use this one instead of the assigned card for 2023.
5. Explanations of the topics can help you select a book.

LIST OF BOOKS FOR BINGO

1. Timely Title – Last Day of a Condemned Man  (death penalty) – Victor Hugo – REVIEW
2. NYT Best Seller – John Adams – David McCullough – REVIEW
3. NEWS – Red Zone (affect a region: Asian-Pacific) – P. Hartcher – REVIEW
4. Fleeting fancy  – Empire of Pain (new subject to explore) – P. Keefe – REVIEW
5. Seasonal – African American Xmas Short Stories – editor B. Collier-Thomas – REVIEW
6. Native American Author ??
7. Positive Psychology –  ??
8. Subculture – ??
9. Librarian recommended – ?? 
10. Ability diverse – ??
11. Afro-futurism –  Binti  (fantasy/tech African experience) – N. Okorafor – REVIEW
12. I-syllable Author Surname:  The Art of Racing in the Rain – G. Stein – REVIEW
13. Coming of Age –  Say No to Death – D. Cusack – REVIEW
14. Play: On Blueberry Hill – S.  Barry – REVIEW
15. Period Piece  – Dawn of the Belle Epoque – M. McAuliffe – REVIEW
16. 1980s Classic –  The Colour of Magic – Terry Prachett – REVIEW 
17. Time Capsule –  The Time Machine – H.G. Wells – REVIEW
18. Fast/short book  – The Canterville Ghost – O. Wilde – REVIEW
19. Slow – The Periodic Table (…did not want book to end) – Primo Levi – REVIEW
20. Wanderlust – Walk in the Woods – B. Bryson – REVIEW
21. Free Time –  Poem “To Our Miscarried One, Age fifty Now” – Sharon Olds – REVIEW
22. One Hit Wonder –  Peter Abelard – Helen Waddell – REVIEW
23. Immersion – Little Devil in America (…book still lingers ) – H. Abdurraqib – REVIEW
24. Vintage – Mildred Pierce (read original Signet paperback copyright 1950) – REVIEW 
25. Biography – Patrick Kavanaugh (Irish Poet) Antoinette Quinn – REVIEW

#2026 “World From My Armchair” Challenge

1. Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 
2. The Wainwright
   

2026:  planning

1. The Great Railway Bazaar – P. Theroux – Asia
2. Impossible Country: Last Days of… – B. Hall – Yugoslavia 
3. In Search of Ireland – H. V. Morton – Ireland
4. A Spy in Rome – Peter Tompkins – Italy
5. Sovietistan: A Journey – E. Fatland – Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan 
6. Is a River Alive? – R. Macfarlane
7. Lone Wolf: Walking the Faultlines of Europe – A. Weymouth
8. Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton

2024:

1. The Biggest Estate on Earth – Bill Gammage – REVIEW

2023:

1. A Line in the World: A year by North Sea coast – D. Nors Denmark
2. 1930: Le juif errant est arrivé  – A. Londres  Poland
3. 1957: Hong Kong et Macao – Joseph Kessel –  China
4. 2019: La panthère des neiges – Sylvian Tesson Tibet – READ

2022: 

1. A Walk in the Woods – Bill Bryson USA 

2020:

1. Surrender – Joanna Pocock  USA
2. Wild Sea: a history of the southern ocean – Joy McCann  Southern Ocean
   
3. Hazelwood – Tom Doigt –  Australia
4. City On Fire: The Fight For Hong Kong – A. Dapiran  China

2019:

1. Indonesia ect. – E. Pisani  Indonesia
   
2. A Time of Gifts – Patrick Leigh Fermor  Bulgaria
   
3. A Poet’s Dublin – Eavan Boland  Ireland
4. Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia –  Pacific Ocean

2018:

1. Wild Kingdom – S. Moss – READ England
   
2. Towards Mellbreak – M. Bragg  – READ England
3. The Rule of the Land: Walking Ireland’s Borders – G. Carr – Ireland
   
4. River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze – P.  Hessler –  China
5. Border – K. Kassabova – READ  Bulgaria
   
6. Feeling the Heat – J. Chandler – Antarctica (continent)
7. Saga Land – R. Fidler and K. Gislason – Iceland
8. Wounds – F. Keane – Ireland 
9. Deep South – P. Theroux – USA
   
10. Islander: Journey Around Our Archipelago – P. Barkham  England
    
11. From the Edge: Australia’s Lost Histories – M. McKenna Australia
12. The Revolutionary Ride – L. Pryce – Iran
13. Christ Stopped at Ebloi – Carlo Levi – Italy

2017:

1. The Marches – R. Stewart England
   
2. Foxes Unearthed – L. Jones England
   
3. Village Christmas – L. Lee England
   
4. The Bush – D. Watson Australia
   
5. The Voices of Marrakesh – E. Canetti   Morocco
   
6. The Shepherd’s Life – J. Rebanks England
   
7. The Story of Ireland – N. Hegarty Ireland
   
8. Interstate – J. Sayarer  USA
   
9. The Story of Israel – D. Gordis  Israel
   
10. Walking the Nile – L. Wood start in Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda
    
11. The Running Hare – J. Lewis-Stempel England
    
12. Into the Heart of Tasmania – R. Taylor Australia
13. Congo – D. van Reysbrouck  Congo
14. Position Doubtful – Kim Mahood  Australia

#Classic The Bostonians

by Henry James

Finished: December 2022
Genre: fiction
Rating: F

Bad news: HJ pummels the reader with a firehose of words!
Really, while reading for hours I realised I could underline
4 sentences that summed up each page!

Bad news: PACE: The slow start always affects my overall opinion of a book. Don’t get me wrong — not all books will start with some big action sequence and that’s not what I’m asking either. But after book 1 (pg 35—190) I’m seriously considering DNF status.

Bad news: Where are the interesting characters and beautiful writing?

Good news: Theme is the classic “love triangle“ with a twist!
Verena (our ingénue) has many male suitors (Mr Burrage, Mr Ransom) and they are all competing with Verena’s ‘close relationship’ with Miss Olive Chancellor (one of Boston’s society). Olive succeeds in weaving a fine web of authority and dependence around Verena. The only thing that kept me reading was to see if Verena can escape Olive’s tentacles!

Personal: When I gritted my teeth every time I picked up this book
is all the proof I needed to give The Bostonians a low score.
Don’t waste your time reading this book.
I must note…the introduction to this Penguin edition was MORE interesting than the entire story!
There is little dialogue and too much detail wrapped in convoluted sentences. It may sound cliché but true: men who don’t really understand women should not write books about them.
Read Edith Wharton (House of Mirth and Age of Innocence)…now those are unforgettable classics!

#BookBingo 2023 Challenge Sign-up

#Classic Club Spin # 32

Claude Monet

What is the spin?

1. Compile list of 20 books by December 11 2022.
2. Try to challenge yourself!
3. The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number
4. on your Spin List by the 29th January, 2023.
5. Hashtag: #ccspin
6. I have chosen  the first 20 books from  my Classic club List (50 books)

My List:

1. 1970: 84, Charing Cross Road – Helene Hanff 
2. 1970: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee – Dee Brown
3. 1927: Death Comes for the Archbishop – W. Cather 
4. 1963: The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath 
5. 1963: Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut 
6. 1969: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou   –> READING !!
7. 1819: Ivanhoe – Walter Scott 
8. 1895: Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy 
9. 1905: The Jungle – Upton Sinclair 
10. 1854: North and South – Elizabeth Gaskell 
11. 1958: The Once and Future King – T.H. White 
12. 1924: A Passage to India – E.M. Forster 
13. 1961: Revolutionary Road – R. Yates 
14. 1942: The Stranger – Albert Camus 
15. 1887: A Study in Scarlet – Arthur Conan Doyle
16. 1958: Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe 
17. 1962: We Have Always Lived in the Castle – Shirley Jackson 
18. 1859: The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins 
19. 1943: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Betty Smith 
20. 1927: To the Lighthouse  – V. Woolf 

#2023 Classic Club Reading List

1. It is time for some  some classic reading starting  01.01.2023.
2. I hope to complete this list by 01.01.2026.
   
3. I have  selected 50 books for third classic list!
   

READ:   50/50 

1. The Quiet American – G. Greene – REVIEW
   
2. The Charterhouse of Parma – Stendahl – REVIEW
   
3. Salammbô – G. Flaubert – REVIEW
   
4. Tartuffe – Molière – REVIEW
   
5. Rue des Boutiques Obscures – P. Modiano – REVIEW
6. Max Havelaar –  Multatuli – REVIEW
   
7. Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand – REVIEW
   
8. Dossier Nr 113 – E. Gaboriau – REVIEW
   
9. Les Grandes Meaulnes – Fournier, Henri-Alban (aka Alain-Fournier) – REVIEW
   
10. The Chouans – H. de Balzac – REVIEW
    
11. Animal Farm – G. Orwell – REVIEW
    
12. Go Tell It On The Mountain – J. Baldwin – REVIEW
    
13. On Living and Dying Well – Cicero (179 pg) – REVIEW
14. Macbeth – Shakespeare – REVIEW
    
15. Barnaby Rudge – C. Dickens (752 pg) (novel) – REVIEW
    
16. Crito – Plato  NF (dialogue) – REVIEW
17. The Spy That Came In From the Cold – J. Le Carré – REVIEW
18. Call For the Dead – John Le Carré – REVIEW (#1 George Smiley)
19. A Murder of Quality – John Le Carré – (#2 George Smiley) – REVIEW
20. If Beale Street Could Talk  (novella) – J. Baldwin – REVIEW
21. Surfeit of Suspects (1974) – G. Bellairs (CF) – REVIEW
22. Elias Portolu (1903) –  Grazia Deledda – Nobel Prize 1926 – REVIEW
23. Hester – Mrs. Oliphant (518 pg)  (novel)  – REVIEW
24. Prometheus Bound (play) -Aeschylus – REVIEW
    
25. City of God – St. Augstine (1143 pg)  Books X-XXII – REVIEW
    
26. City of God – St. Augustine  (1143 pg) Books I-IX – REVIEW
27. The Iron Heel – Jack London – REVIEW
28. Lolly Willowes – S. T. Warner – REVIEW
29. Taming of the Shrew –  W. Shakespeare – REVIEW
30. The Moviegoer – Walker Percy  – REVIEW
31. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee – Dee Brown – REVIEW
    
32. Death Comes for the Archbishop – W. Cather  – REVIEW
33. The Jungle – Upton Sinclair  – REVIEW
34. A Passage to India – E.M. Forster – REVIEW
35. Revolutionary Road – R. Yates  – REVIEW
    
36. The Stranger – Albert Camus  – REVIEW
37. Things Fall Apart – C. Achebe – REVIEW
38. We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962) – Shirley Jackson – REVIEW
39. The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins  – REVIEW
40. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Betty Smith  – REVIEW
    
41. To the Lighthouse  – V. Woolf  – REVIEW
42. Darkness at Noon – Arthur Koestler – REVIEW
43. Tobacco Road – Erskine Caldwell  – REVIEW
44. A Study in Scarlet – Arthur Conan Doyle – REVIEW
45. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – Muriel Spark – REVIEW
46. The Caine Mutiny – Herman Wouk – REVIEW
47. The Lonely Londoners  S. Selvon (139 pg)  REVIEW
48. Giovanni’s Room – J. Baldwin – (178 pg) – REVIEW
    
49. Romola – G. Eliot 1863 (633 pg) – REVIEW
    
50. Cyrano de Bergerac – E. Rostand – REVIEW

#Biography Stefan Zweig

Autumn in Vienna

by George Prochnik

Finish date:December 2022
Genre: biography/memoir
Rating: A+++++
Review: The Impossible Exile (ISBN: 9781783781164)

Good news: Amazing introduction (pg 1-28)…just enthralling!
If this is any indication of what I am about to read (ch 1…) I’m in for
a great reading experience !
This book won the National Jewish Book Award for Biography/Memoir 2014.

Good news: The author is an excellent writer…the book reads like a novel.
Porchnik had a personal connection with Stefan Zweig. The author’s father and family had to flee Vienna during the Anschluss 1938. When Hitler made his triumphal march into Vienna…the Porchniks left their apartment with a handful of belongings they could conceal on their person. It felt like Porchnik by documenting Zweig’s blacklisting and exile…he was tracing ghosts of his own family.

Good news: Stefan Zweig was an at the height of his literary career in the 1920s and 1930s. Now I rarely if ever see his name reading lists despite the fact he as written many biographies (Napoleon, Erasmus, Marie Antoinette) short stories and novellas! I’m so glad I finally learned about this tormented but brilliant man.

Personal: Reading a massive biography is always a commitment…but I has discovered if you take the time to read about an author/playwright you gain so much insight into the masterpieces they have written. There is so much of the “personal” in everything they write. I’d like to recommend a few books that really made me appreciate the man/woman before exploring their books. These are excellent reading choices for #NonFicNov challenge!

Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell is This – M. Meade
Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life – R. Franklin
James Wright: A Life in Poetry – J. Blunk
Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh – J. Lahr

#Non-fiction The Long Game

DECEMBER

by Rush Doshi (no photo)

Finish date: 01 December 2022
Genre: non-fiction (audio 18 hr 24 min)
Rating: B
Review: The Long Game (ISBN: 97801975527917)

Good news: I had to sift the text (Doshi likes to use a waterfall of words…) and picked out the “core message” China’s grand strategy to displace American order. It is a pleasure to sweep through years of China-USA relations with such a special guide as Rush Doshi. He is USA’s go-to-guy about China. I saw him in the news sitting next to Biden during his meeting with Xi Jinping at the G20.

Bad news: Huge book and I found listening to the audio version helped me “push on” each day. I popped my air buds in after my shower…and had Xi Jinping with my smoothie, toast and coffee. That is all I could absorb. (1 hr listening)

Good news: Too much history to go into detail in this short review but let me say ch 1-3 is historical backdrop – ch 5-6 explains how China bided its time blunting USA at every turn (military, politics, economy). Now the book gets MORE interesting: ch 7 reveals that China is moving on to building (regional alliances and expanding naval forces). Ch 7-13 The words really sink in b/c I’m living in this timeline and the power behind it is NO stranger….it is Xi Jinping!

Personal: The guiding philosophy of China’s foreign policy was “keep a low profile” Well, those days are over and Xi is ready to fight (Taiwan)! Don’t be fooled when you see Xi who resembles Winnie-the-Pooh...he is flexing his muscles onder that suit jacket. He even dismissed Canada’s Justin Trudeau as a “boy” at the G20. This book is so interesting…but you have to WANT to read it. The book reads like a college text…..the three classifications of this, the four theories of that, the six components of the other thing, Doshi could have  woven a little bit of a story flow into this to make it  interesting. But I still can use all that I learned to decipher China’s “chess moves”. Believe me, Xi is playing The Long Game!