Penguin Classics - Reading Guide discussion

Will do, thanks. Good news. With portable ebooks, no one else knows which book you are reading. Plus for privacy.

Shaun wrote: "May sound like excuses, but my reading has ground to a near halt these past few weeks. I'll be getting back into the fray very shortly, thank you all for sticking around.

Shaun"

We all face readers block - you are NOT alone! We would never abandon our leader :0)

Shaun wrote: "June was not a good reading month for me. One of my main focuses will always be classic literature, but as inevitably happens, focuses shift. A necessary and welcomed result of being exposed to the..."

Yes it's me again responding - take a break. Clear mind. Start with 10 pages if interruptions permit. Increase pages etc. If increasing is impossible, stick with original amount or decrease. Eventually you'll regain your rhythm.

We have all been in your shoes at some point. Even the most brutal voracious readers need to clear their mind - interruptions aren't helpful.

Patience grasshopper, you'll find your page in the book world again =)

Shaun wrote: "I'm pleased to report the reason has been uncovered. Always look within to start, the answers rarely reside further.

Introspection, you've done well for me."

Happy reading my friend :0)

Shaun wrote: "A new path must be chosen. A new cycle is about to begin, I need your input on what route to take.

Up until now, I've been hoarding knowledge on a variety of subjects..I find myself looking no fur..."

Maybe you should look back in time to source texts. I looked at your shelves and like most of us, they're dominated by the 19th and 20th century, which is the era of the modern novel, and so to be expected.

Some suggestions:

The Epic of Gilgamesh - Much to be found here that informs later Greek literature and stories in the Jewish Tanakh.

The Three Theban Plays - Sophocles' Oedipus cycle informs countless stories of fidelity, paternity and the inevitability of the young overtaking the old. A definite source for Shakespeare's Hamlet.

The Oresteia: Agamemnon / The Libation Bearers / The Eumenides - Aeschylus' cycle of plays that outlines The Doomed House of Atreus. Much to be found here and a good follow-up to Homer. All about infidelity and revenge.

The Golden Ass: Or Metamorphoses - A comic Roman novel that contains many of the tropes found in magic realism.


Reading these earlier works will give you an appreciation for their importance in the history of modern and contemporary literature. I think you'll find that we've been puzzling over the same problems and telling the same stories for a very long time...

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I will award a $15 Amazon gift certificate to any who find
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Good luck...and good reading!

Russell

Russell wrote: "TROMPE-l"OEIL (@ http://amzn.to/13dhh7Q) is now in promotional (i.e.
FREE) mode through Sunday (9/22) of this week.

I will award a $15 Amazon gift certificate to any who find
typographical errors ..."

Russell ..... Advertise this in Good Reviews!!!
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...

Thanks, Mal, for the suggestion. Silly me...I didn't even know about Good Reviews, but have now joined.

In any case, the give-away expired on Sunday :-(.

Russell

Thanks for the tip, Shaun. Maybe I'll give it another go once I've finished War and Peace.

Russell

Wrestle on, Shaun!

As for War and Peace, I'm slogging through -- much like the French on the way back from Moscow.

As for whether or not it's a "lovely work of art," I think we can agree to disagree. I should have my review up in a week or two.

Russell

Shaun,

As long as you're into "long-haul," why not try Cervantes' Don Quixote?

If so, look for the Samuel Putnam translation.

If not, how about Michael Cunningham's The Hours?

Russell

I need to check those out! I'm struggling with James Hogg's 'Confessions of a Justified Sinner'. Normally I am sucked into books from the first few pages, but so far the editorial note is making my brain feel bad things XD

Also reading more Zola and Nietzsche.

Shaun wrote: "Sy, brain feel bad things, like how you put that."

It really does. The structure is all over the place, but it is a good read, once you gather the remnants of narrative. Odd. I like reading it with the Scots dialect too, and call on my uncle to pronounce words for me.

As for Don Quixote, I'm pretty sure that was read to me as a child, so I don't remember it at all :/

Read this and thought it might be nice to share =] http://www.theguardian.com/books/2003...

Sy,

I couldn't agree more -- even if I know nothing about Edith Grossman's translation. For my money, Samuel Putnam's translation was the best -- at least until now.

Russell

:) I intend to study the text hard!

Do any of you watch videos from the BookTube community on YouTube? I'm considering reviewing adult fiction for YT again... Most people only read YA and I can't do YA because I love classics.

Sy,

Nope.

Russell

Russell,

Haha, thanks. :)

Pas de quoi, Sy.

Russell

Sy et alii,

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Russell