Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

I love Elizabeth von Arnim! If you let me know when you want to read what, I could join you for some of them, Fed.

Carolien wrote: "I love Elizabeth von Arnim! If you let me know when you want to read what, I could join you for some of them, Fed."

Thank you, Carolien!

Given the short notice, I thought a general Elizabeth von Arnim (EvA) Group (August-September), where each participant chooses their own read, might possibly help, and give visibility to less known titles at the same time. And perhaps, members could post their reading schedule/intentions there, in case someone wants to buddy-read one novel in particular?

I already borrowed Vera (1921) and Mr Skeffington (1940), so I'll be reading these over the next week or so. After that, I have access to 24 of her novels (1898-1940) and will read them chronologically, like I did with Colette.

What do you think?

Chronologically sounds logical. I won't get to Vera and Mr Skeffington, but could join thereafter as there are a few of them that I would like to read.

Carolien wrote: "Chronologically sounds logical."

Great! Let's see if someone else joins in. Tomorrow I will let Sara know and open a dedicated thread, if that is OK.

That’s perfect!

Fed wrote: "The Man Without Qualities:
Would you prefer Oct-Dec or Jan-Mar?
You can vote for both.

Just checking whether postponing would help. Thank you all for your interest.

Sam: Jan-Mar
Klo..."

Can I assume we are on for Jan-Mar?

I have read, or am hoping to read, some books either simultaneously or in preparation that provide more flavor of the history and culture of the time.

Already read:
   Before the Deluge: A Portrait of Berlin in the 1920s
   All Quiet on the Western Front
   The World of Yesterday

Currently reading:
   The Magic Mountain

Will try to simultaneously read Jan-Mar 2023:
   The Radetzky March
   What I Saw: Reports from Berlin 1920-1933
   Zeno's Conscience

Maybe:
   Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family

Then in later 2023, I might dip more into some possibly related subjects if anyone wants to join:
   Grand Hotel Abyss: The Lives of the Frankfurt School
   The Arcades Project

And try to finish The Theory of the Leisure Class, which has a painful writing style but some interesting ideas.

_Most_ of these books are available free online in PDF or free audiobooks. If you are interested, I can tell you where to find them.

Klowey wrote: "The Man Without Qualities... Can I assume we are on for Jan-Mar?..."

Jan-Mar confirmed. That's great, Klowey – I see you already have a lot of material ready! Do you think you could copy-paste your list in the TMWQ dedicated discussion for reference? I'm opening it now.

Fed wrote: "Klowey wrote: "The Man Without Qualities... Can I assume we are on for Jan-Mar?..."

Jan-Mar confirmed. That's great, Klowey – I see you already have a lot of material ready! Do you t..."

Will do. And I hope others offer additional suggestions. I added yours: Zeno's Conscience.

Klowey wrote: "Fed wrote: "The Man Without Qualities:
Would you prefer Oct-Dec or Jan-Mar?
You can vote for both."

I make no plans when reading, but reading this book along with a group Jan-March sounds good - I feel a bit ashamed that I'm reading so many English classics and tend to neglect my own country's literature. I would read the German original, though.

sabagrey wrote: "The Man Without Qualities – ...reading this book along with a group Jan-March sounds good..."

Great to have you on board, Sabagrey!

AUG-SEP: Elizabeth von Arnim

Carolien wrote: "...If you let me know when you want to read what, I could join you for some of them..."

I will maintain an updated schedule here: August Reading Plans 2022, posting occasional new messages in the same discussion (later, in the September one).

Anyone interested in buddy reading/extending the reading of Sophocles to his next two plays after Oedipus Rex? A few of us that were discussing it in this group chat wanted to set up a buddy read. The next play is Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone. We would like to start next week (the week starting 9/29). Let me know if you are interested.

Wendy wrote: "Anyone interested in buddy reading/extending the reading of Sophocles to his next two plays after Oedipus Rex? A few of us that were discussing it in this group chat wanted to set up a buddy read. ... We would like to start next week (the week starting 9/29)"

I am. ... and I assume you mean the week starting 8/29

I have set up a thread for the discussion of Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone...you can find it HERE

Thank you so much Sara for setting up the buddy read. And yes, Sabagrey I meant 8/29. Thank you for catching that. So glad to see others are interested in these plays as well.

You are welcome, Wendy. Now that we are clear on the date, I will add it to the schedule as well. Happy reading.

Thank you

Sara (taking a break) wrote: "I have set up a thread for the discussion of Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone...you can find it HERE"

Thanks, Sara!

Thanks Wendy for organizing this with the mods. I'm excited to continue discussions with you, sabagrey, and anyone else who jumps in!

You are quite welcome, Cheryl. I'm glad to see there was an interest in reading the entire cycle.

Sara , may I please confirm with you whether we will be reading Lighthouse Island in October ? If so , I may start reading by the end of this month itself . Thanks !

Yes, Savita, it is listed on the schedule for October.

Thank you , Sara ! 😊

I know it is waaay too early to say, but it may be that we are going to read The Satanic Verses in November. (It is ahead in the November poll with ... ahem.... 18 votes... ;-) . If that is the case I will read the The Qur'an in October/November. I always wanted to read all the major religious texts and reading it before the The Satanic Verses seems to be a good idea. I don't think it is necessary, just if you are going to read both, it should be in that order.

Before you think "oh, no 500+ pages": The Quran is printed with the original side-by-side with the translation. (As far as I know, it is -or has been- a requirement that the original was printed too).

My copy is 909 pages in large letters with elaborate Arabic headlines “drawings” with one column Danish and one original. I would guess those 900 pages correspond to 300 normal pages.

I'm reading Quran now - the Kindle version I have is stated as 293 "pages", but the word count is more like 600 "normal" pages.

Darren wrote: " but the word count is more like 600 "normal" pages"

But is that including the Arabic original?

“According to one estimate the Quran consists of 77,430 words, 18,994 unique words, ….”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran

77,430 words/300 words/page = 258.1 "normal" pages

The 600 must be including a load of notes or introduction or the original.

Hello! Would anyone like to readThe Mysterious Island by Jules Verne?

Lydia, I’ve been wanting to reread that, but don’t think I can fit it in this year.

Sara, will you please put up a folder for The Confusions of Young Törless by Robert Musil to start November 15th. Thanks in advance.

Done, Sam. You can find it HERE

I have also set up the thread for A Cry of Angels, which begins on November 1st. On a personal note--this is a book you want to read if you possibly can.

Thanks Sara.

I am trying to read books I have on my actual bookshelf. Does anyone want to read Sula or The Glass Castle?

Sara, do we have Andersonville on the schedule for January?

No. Would you like a thread?

Was the The Ox-Bow Incident going to be scheduled for January or a later month? It was mentioned in one of the Jiles or Richner threads, but I can't remember which one.

Ah, no. I was confusing it with the Ox Bow Incident. Okay, we are fine as things stand.

I have the Ox-Bow Incident on the schedule for January. So, as Terry says, we are fine.

Thanks for checking, Terry and Sara.

ox-bow incident isn't appearing in the schedule thread atm as far as I can see though is it...?

Sara did add The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark to the schedule. There is an early start to the thread as well now.

Anyone interested in buddy reading The Conference of the Birds by the Sufi poet Attar of Nishapur?

It was referred to in To Keep the Sun Alive, and the one stanza of Attar's quoted in there was astonishingly lovely. Also, it talked a little of Attar's life, and that too was fascinating.

I'd seen Attar's name once or twice but knew next to nothing else about him before.

Nice to see you Greg! Yes i am interested in this book, I like ending the year with great poetry. Last year it was Metamorphoses with this group, this year it’s Inferno by Dante.

LOL! I was looking at a list with this on it literally yesterday and I ve-ry near-ly added it
so yes I'm interested, and... TBR-ed :oD

When you guys decide on a date, let me know.

I'm pretty choc-a for Dec/Jan,
but could do Conference of the Birds in Feb or later...

Thanks Nidhi, good to see you too! :) And glad to have you join as well Darren. When would you want to start Nidhi? I'm pretty open. I'm fine with delaying until next year if that's what works best for both of you.

Before you all plan your challenges for next year, I had a look over the nominations (not always mine, but books I´d like to read) of the last two years, so if anyone would like to join me in one or more of the following books or plans to read them anyway, please say so. :)

Old:
Arthurian Romances by Chrétien de Troyes
The Book of the City of Ladies by Christine de Pizan
Oroonoko by Aphra Behn

New:
The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig
The Price of Salt/ Carol by Patricia Highsmith
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog

Revisit:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

Long:
Sarum: The Novel of England by Edward Rutherfurd (or perhaps another one by him)
Le Morte d'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table by Thomas Malory
The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel

Short:
The Christmas Hirelings by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

Happy to do Conference of Birds in February. I read Bird Summons earlier this year and it has quite a bit of the Conference imagery, so I'd like to read the original.

@Michaela, The Book of the City of Ladies is on my TBR if there is more interest. I'd like to get to it.

Michaela wrote: "...if anyone would like to join me in one or more of the following books..."

Thank you for suggesting, Michaela! I'd be very happy to join you on the following (#pages):

• Arthurian Romances (XL+575)
• The Book of the City of Ladies (525)

Only, I can make plans for Jan-Mar only. For instance, I could read them all in February, possibly together with other early French literature; I think you previously suggested also:

• The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse (535, w. Latin text)

Also fitting:

• The Lais of Marie de France
• Francois Villon's The Legacy & The Testament

Page counts are higher than average because I tend to pick annotated and critical editions.

Fed, I can join you on The Letters of Abelard and Heloise. I read the collection 20 years ago after watching the movie. But I'll read in Russian, I don't know if I can find it in English. In Russian, all classical literature is available online for free. Pirates :)