Reading the 20th Century discussion

Do you want to read a forthcoming book, an old favourite or some poetry? Do you feel the book is too expensive/new to nominate as a monthly read, or would you like to tackle a whole series/author's work from the beginning and read it, all the way through, with some company? This is the place to be.

Suggest a book, poem, biography or pre-order, and see whether anyone would like to read along with you.

As the group is off to such a flying start, we thought it might be a nice idea to have a buddy read for next month. So, in November, if anyone would like to join in, we are planning to readThe Loved One

This novella length (127 page) read is a great introduction to the writing of Evelyn Waugh.

Synopsis: Following the death of a friend, British poet and pets' mortician Dennis Barlow finds himself entering the artificial Hollywood paradise of the Whispering Glades Memorial Park. Within its golden gates, death, American-style, is wrapped up and sold like a package holiday. There, Dennis enters the fragile and bizarre world of Aimée, the naïve Californian corpse beautician, and Mr Joyboy, the master of the embalmer's art...

A dark and savage satire on the Anglo-American cultural divide, The Loved One depicts a world where love, reputation and death cost a very great deal.

The thread for The Loved One will open in November. We hope lots of you join in and, even if you don't get the chance to read along, then come and join in the discussion anyway!

I'm in, but can't make any promises as my experiences with Waugh have been rather mixed. I should have managed to collect this one from the library for a timely start.

Fair enough, BrokenTune. I am a huge Waugh enthusiast, so will hope you enjoy this one.

There has been some discussion on the Elizabeth Bowen thread about having a buddy read by her after the Waugh novel. If you are interested, head over there and air your opinions!

We are thinking of a short buddy read in December - Rain, which was W. Somerset Maugham's most successful short story. It is available as a kindle single. If anyone would like to join in, you are very welcome.

I’ll join in- I just bought Rain.

I'm in. I'll buy the kindle version.

Excellent news - we also just announced our first Moderator's Choice book title, so there is lots to choose from, and to look forward to, already :)

Just to let you know that we have some very exciting Buddy Reads coming up.

November: The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh (our current read)
December: Rain by W. Somerset Maugham

From 2018, we will be starting our Buddy Reads mid-month, so we can all organise our reading a little better - otherwise all our reads start on the first of the month. I am excited to announce that our first Buddy Read for 2018 will start in mid-January and it will be:

A World of Love: Elizabeth Bowen

This was suggested by Roman Clodia and I will set up the discussion threads for both Rain and A World of Love nearer the time of the discussion.

Ok Susan. I think I will join. Didn't read anything by Elizabeth Bowen.

Good news, Marcus. I am just making sure we all have plenty of time to get the books we want to join in with :)

I would like to propose a possible Muriel Spark Buddy Read in February. If anyone is interested, then please head over to the Muriel Spark thread and let's throw some titles about...

It seems that Elizabeth Bowen book is not available as an ebook. I'll try to buy an used copy.

Sorry to hear that, Marcus. It is available in the UK in kindle, but I can't tell if it is available in other countries.

Just a quick note to say that we are trying to decide on a Muriel Spark novel to read as a Buddy Read in February. So far, nominations and votes are as follows:

A Far Cry from Kensington: 1 vote
Aiding and Abetting: 2 votes
The Abbess of Crewe: 0 votes
The Mandelbaum Gate: 1 vote

If you have a favourite from the above list, or would like to join the discussion, head over to the Muriel Spark thread.

I don’t know the Author, so I’ll stick with the group choice.

At the moment, A Far Cry From Kensington is the winner in the Muriel Spark mini vote. Please do have a look at the thread if you wish to say which book you want to read in February.

A Far Cry from Kensington has won our mini Muriel Spark vote for our next buddy read. Remember that, once we reach January, Buddy reads will open mid-month, so not all our discussions happen at once and to help us to plan our reading. Our growing list of books now looks like this:

December 2107

The People's Songs: The Story of Modern Britain in 50 Records by Stuart Maconie (Mod read)
Rain by W. Somerset Maugham (Buddy read)

January 2018

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (Group read)
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene (Mod read)
A World of Love by Elizabeth Bowen (Buddy read)

February 2018

A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Spark (Buddy read)
Thank you to Pamela for the suggestion.

Once it is December, I will be thinking ahead for our March Buddy Read. If anyone wants to set up a buddy read, or suggest a particular author, then this is the place to do so.

Stefan Zweig has been suggested as our next buddy read. If anyone is interested in joining the discussion over which book title we should choose, then head to the Stefan Zweig thread.

Would anyone be interested in a buddy read of Hermione Lee's biography Virginia Woolf?

That would be interesting, RC. I am a bit over whelmed at the moment, but would certainly join in if I could.

I read this some years back and remember it was good. I don't think I'd want to reread the same biography, but maybe I could read a different one and chip in?

It is 900 pages, so fairly long, even by my standards! Not that I don't enjoy a long book, but I would have to clear the decks a bit in order to tackle it and we'd need to work out some kind of reading schedule.

I have only read a book about Virginia and her sister, Vanessa. A kind of joint biography, but it wasn't that long - or not that I remember. I can see the Hermione Lee book has excellent reviews. Have you read it before, RC?

Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell was the title I read. Author, Jane Dunn, also did an interesting book ,so perhaps she has a sister thing going on...

Reviews of the Hermione Lee biography are very impressive, RC. I am happy to join in (I know I have too much to read already, but I am too tempted!). Let me know how/when you propose to start it.

A Stefan Zweig book has been suggested as a future buddy read and there is a little mini poll running at the moment to choose a title. If you are interested, do please vote.

Sorry for the delay... busy! Susan, no, I haven't read the Hermione Lee biog of Woolf but have had it sitting on my shelf for ages (years!) so a buddy read would give me the impetus to tackle it.

Judy, I like your idea of you reading a different biog and comparing notes as we go along - there are many!

Let's leave it till after we've read Mrs Dalloway - as you say, it's 900pp. and looks quite dense (lovely!) so we could maybe take it relatively slowly over two months? Feb-March, perhaps?

Sounds good to me. It will depend on how much other reading I have to do I expect - I normally have about 7 books per month just for reading groups, plus reviews.

Looking at the biography, there are 40 chapters, which are, presumably fairly long. We could read 4 chapters a week for ten weeks, which would be manageable. What do you think? Otherwise, it could be 5 chapters a week for 2 months. However, although I work part time, I do 2 full days a week, and on those days, my reading time is much less, so I would prefer the former option.

Yes, 4 chapters a week sounds good to me and we can always see how it goes and adjust if necessary - I don't want it to feel like hard work!

No, exactly. Long books are to be savoured, aren't they? I can already feel this will be my bedtime read!

Definitely savoured; I've got the massive paperback so bed-time reading will involve some juggling!

I saw the page count and opted for kindle :)

We should post this in the main discussion thread too, in case anyone else wants to join in.

Yes, for sure - oh, I see you just have... how efficient!

I try my best, RC :) Actually, I was thinking of another LONG book I would love to re-read and that is The Magic Mountain, which I read years and years ago.

I think you and I had also spoken of The World Broke in Two: Virginia Woolf, T. S. Eliot, D. H. Lawrence, E. M. Forster and the Year that Changed Literature as a possible future buddy read on BYT's.

The World Broke STILL not in any of my libraries... hopefully it will arrive soon but you might need to go ahead without me :((

Magic Mountain: I read this at uni, got nothing from it, but feel it might be a different experience now so yes, would be in for that one. And it's sitting ready on the bookshelf.

Oh, lovely long reads ahead! Good to hear, RC. Good company improves a book, I always feel :)

🌻😊

I did get World Broke but haven't really gotten into it yet.

Please post here the schedule of these buddy reads. I’m considering to read the Virginia Wolf biography. I’m pondering my somehow ambitious reading assignments in order to decide.

Can do, Marcus. So, so far we have:

November: The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh (our current read)

December: Rain by W. Somerset Maugham

From 2018, we will be starting our Buddy Reads mid-month, so we can all organise our reading a little better - otherwise all our reads start on the first of the month. I am excited to announce that our first Buddy Read for 2018 will start in mid-January and it will be:

A World of Love: Elizabeth Bowen A World of Love

In February we have a proposed Stefan Zweig Stefan Zweig read - the title to be decided upon.

Also, in February (this is a long book and so for anyone wishing to join in, this will start on the week beginning 29th January, with a proposed reading schedule of 4 chapters each week): Virginia Woolf

This reading schedule is ambitious, Marcus, but I'm looking forward to it.

This reading schedule is ambitious and well-founded, Susan.

Hope you can join in with some of the reads, Marcus.

I will. I finished Rain and will read Stefan Zweig.

Great, I will probably read Rain this weekend.

A lot of goodies coming up. I'll be reading Rain soon too, looking forward to it.

The Collected Novellas of Stefan Zweig will be our buddy read in March 2018 having won our mini-poll of the last few days to determine a selection...

The Collected Novellas of Stefan Zweig 4 votes, 44.4%
Beware of Pity 3 votes, 33.3%
The Post-Office Girl 2 votes, 22.2%
The World of Yesterday 0 votes, 0.0%

The Collected Novellas of Stefan Zweig includes Burning Secret, Chess Story, Fear, Confusion, and Journey into the Past

A casual introduction, a challenge to a simple game of chess, a lovers' reunion, a meaningless infidelity: from such small seeds Zweig brings forth five startlingly tense tales-meditations on the fragility of love, the limits of obsession, the combustibility of secrets and betrayal.

An eminently manageable 384 pages

Antonia Fraser in the New Statesman on her favourite books of 2017....

The Collected Novellas of Stefan Zweig (Pushkin Press), which I had never read despite a long and ardent admiration of Zweig, includes Burning Secret, about a boy and childish passion, which wrings the heart.

Thanks, Nigeyb. That makes our updated Buddy Read list:

November: The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh (our current read)

December: Rain by W. Somerset Maugham

From 2018, we will be starting our Buddy Reads mid-month, so we can all organise our reading a little better - otherwise all our reads start on the first of the month. I am excited to announce that our first Buddy Read for 2018 will start in mid-January and it will be:

A World of Love: Elizabeth Bowen A World of Love

In February we have The Collected Novellas of Stefan Zweig

Also, in February (this is a long book and so for anyone wishing to join in, this will start on the week beginning 29th January, with a proposed reading schedule of 4 chapters each week): Virginia Woolf Virginia Woolf by Hermione Lee