The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

Hi folks,

I'll be leading the next Project. Dickens, Trollop, and the Musketeers have left big shoes to fill. The choices are:

Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle limited to his works that stay within the bounds of our timeline. I thought we might want to visit some of his other works and maybe read a biography as Doyle was an interesting fella.

The alternative will be a selection of "science fiction" read in publication order so that we can see how the eventual genre started.

Please comment below so I can get a feel for how many folks would like to participate and which project you'd like to do.

I have read all of the Holmes stories, but would definitely be happy to reread some and join the discussion!

The SF route sounds interesting, too!

I’m in for Holmes including biography

I'd be in for the Sherlock project. Two years ago I decided to read more mystery series and read the first 2 Holmes and The Blue Carbuncle before I turned my attention to a bunch of Poirots and Cadfaels. I could use a push to return to Holmes.

I might be in for the science fiction project . but I'm not sure if I can stomach THAT much Sci-fi so would likely not read them all, which means an Incomplete for the Project. It is a great concept and involves some creativity for the moderator who plans it out.

Perhaps you can plan to do both projects, one after the other. If Holmes is first and takes a few years, the Moderators can use the time to better determine the reading plan for the science fiction project.

I have read almost all of Sherlock Holmes but i am interested in reading other books by him like Sir Nigel.

I am undertaking two projects on my own , reading Balzac and Trollope. So if group reads them i will be in.

Do you think we can include Mrs. Oliphant here? I have never read her and this year i would like to start with one of her work.

I read all of Holmes as a child, but I'd be up for some rereads and discussions. And the science fictions sounds really interesting too. Basically, I'd be up for either.

I went on a binge and read all the Holmes/Watson stories & books. But it was several years ago now, so I’d be up for a reread. I enjoyed the heck out of them the first time!

As for a SciFi Project, that sounds truly intriguing. Do you have some examples? Would they all be within the time frame of the group? Off the top of my head, I can think of HG Wells Jules Verne, and, maybe, Edgar Rice Burroughs. (Possibly H. Rider Haggard, but I can’t remember the details of his fantasy worlds.) But then I’m stumped for others.

Renee wrote: "As for a SciFi Project, that sounds truly intriguing. Do you have some examples? Would they all be within the time frame of the group? Off the top of my head, I can think of HG Wells Jules Verne, and, maybe, Edgar Rice Burroughs. (Possibly H. Rider Haggard, but I can’t remember the details of his fantasy worlds.) But then I’m stumped for others"

There's the futuristic utopian novels like Erewhon by Samuel Butler and News from Nowhere by William Morris, a novel that has appeared in three of our polls since January of 2020.

I have read a lot of Sherlock Holmes over the years, but it would be fun to reread some of it. I am in for SH

I too am in for a read/reread of Sherlock Holmes.

Burroughs is a couple of years too late: “A Princess of Mars,” his first book, was serialised in 1912.

Haggard might squeeze in if you include Lost World stories as SF, but I would classify his most relevant output, which often includes reincarnation, as closer to fantasy.

Some of many British “Future Wars” stories during the buildup of (mostly) Anglo-German tensions before 1914 might fit, but offhand the science fictional ones I I can think of are Wells’ “The War in the Air,” and his short story “The Land Ironclads,” which would be included anyway. And maybe a minor Arthur Conan Doyle short story about a submarine blockade of Britain, (which seems to have been dismissed as ridiculous by the Royal Navy). But it is years since I read a study of the subject.

Nidhi wrote: "I have read almost all of Sherlock Holmes but i am interested in reading other books by him like Sir Nigel.

I am undertaking two projects on my own , reading Balzac and Trollope. So if group reads..."

Nidi you can go to books you’d like to read and nominate a book by her

Renee wrote: "I went on a binge and read all the Holmes/Watson stories & books. But it was several years ago now, so I’d be up for a reread. I enjoyed the heck out of them the first time!

As for a SciFi Projec..."

I'm researching that and making a rather long list. Most of what I'm finding are short stories prior to Verne & Wells. The stories we would now deem "Sci-Fi" actually started in the 1700s.

Here's a link to two of the lists I'm exploring:

https://www.lindseypogue.com/post/201...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timelin...

I just started putting together the list last night, many of the early works aren't available so I'm weeding through those.

I have a lot of reading to do for work now so am hesitant to make commitments . . . but would just like to add that both projects sound great! I would likely participate to some degree (probably not 100%) in either one. I’m leaning a wee bit toward the sci fi, as I do enjoy contemporary sci fi and wouldn’t mind seeing how it got started; but SH would also be interesting as I don’t believe I’ve read many of these at all. Maybe one story?

I would participate in either project. Sherlock is an old favorite, but as a fan of modern science fiction I would enjoy reading some early works to see how it all started.

Nidhi wrote: "Do you think we can include Mrs. Oliphant here? I have never read her and this year i would like to start with one of her work."

This group had a group read of her most popular book Miss Marjoribanks in 2021. It seemed that everyone enjoyed it to some extent, with some very much liking it. Here's the initial scheduling and background thread for it: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Miss Marjoribanks is #5 in Mrs. Oliphant 6-Volume Chronicles of Carlingford series and is about 500 pages. While it won't be a group read again anytime soon, consider reading it solo or consider reading the following:
Book #1 in the series, The Rector is only a 40 page short story and Book #2 The Doctor's Family is a novella sized 152 pages, so they are often printed together as The Rector and The Doctor's Family, a 192 page book. That might be a good place to start if you think you might want to read more than one Oliphant I read both books this past year and liked them both. (I also liked her un-counted 7th Carlingford book, the short story The Executor, which is referred to on GR as Carlingford #.5 so more of a prequal. It was very good.)

Mrs. Oliphant's second most popular novel on Goodeads, after Miss Marjoribanks, is a stand-alone, Hester, which gets good reviews. As Deborah suggests, if you want to read it in the group you should nominate it or any of the Carlingford books in the thread that Gem referred to: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I would also enjoy a Holmes read, not sure how much of a SF read I'd join.

Gem wrote: "I'm researching that and making a rather long list. Most of what I'm finding are short stories prior to Verne & Wells. The stories we would now deem "Sci-Fi" actually started in the 1700s. ..."

Those are great resources. Thanks for sharing!

I’m up to read the first round of Holmes novels.

I’ve never read any Holmes, and am wanting to get into SF a little more. I’d be happy with either choice and look forward to a new project!

Lots of interesting books under Sci-fi. I assume they are all in Gutenberg. Finding actual copies might be a challenge for some of them.

One to skip - We read The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley during the main covid period, since it deals partly with a plague. I admire Mary Shelley for Frankenstein and for her life, but The Last Man was written terribly in every aspect - style, characters, plot, etc.

Robin P wrote: "Lots of interesting books under Sci-fi. I assume they are all in Gutenberg. Finding actual copies might be a challenge for some of them.

One to skip - We read The Last Man by [autho..."

That was a horrible book!

Gem wrote: "Robin P wrote: "Lots of interesting books under Sci-fi. I assume they are all in Gutenberg. Finding actual copies might be a challenge for some of them.
One to skip - We read [book:The Last Man|9..."

Yes, it was! For what I remember, none of us liked it.

I never liked Sherlock, so my vote goes to the sci fi thing.