Classics Considered

This will be my first year participating in Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon !  It's been on my radar for a while, but I'm usually too busy (or think I'm too busy).  This year, the timing is right, as I've already got a ton of "currently reading" books on the shelf.  I'll be posting updates on my Instagram and perhaps some reviews to follow afterwards.  Let me know if you're also participating! And now, the lineup: We (e-book) / Yevgeny Zamyatin Right Ho, Jeeves (e-book) / P. G. Wodehouse Sherlock Holmes Challenge catch-up / A. C. Doyle Out of the Silent Planet / C. S. Lewis  Spiritual Writings / Soren Kierkegaard The Paper Door and Other Stories / Naoya Shiga Stretch goals: Journey Through the Impossible / Jules Verne The Screwtape Letters / C. S. Lewis Lord of the Flies (re-read) / William Golding Not aiming too high, but I hope to finish some of these. 

  My first attempt to read this book was on a plane, four years ago.  I had been going through some tough times, and as I plodded through the first fifty pages, my mind kept wandering.  I grew tired of the apparently carefree protagonist - who had the romantic name of Amory Blaine - and ultimately tossed this to the Not Finishing stack with a single comment: "Weird book so far." Having finished the book now, I would word it a bit differently: "Weird book, but oddly rewarding." If you are a reader who can love a book for the sake of its writing, This Side of Paradise is just your sort of book.  It is written in a series of vignettes and takes place over the course of Amory's childhood, youth, college years, and early adulthood.  Much like the crisp narrative of The Great Gatsby , each scene has its own particular mood and brilliancy, and the effect is a chocolate box of impressions, some bitter and some sweet.  Youth is like having a big plate of candy. Sen...

For those following along on my Sherlock Holmes challenge - and for any who still wish to join! - I've decided to change things up a bit.  Instead of weekly link-ups, I'll be posting monthly check-ins, open to any and all Sherlock Holmes stories you have read in the month .  This will help me manage the posts better and also remove the dependency on the link-up widgets (which, while useful, can cause extra load time on the blog). April's stories include the following: March (Carry-over) Week 13 (Mar 26-Apr 1):  "The Naval Treaty" April Week 14 (Apr 2-8):  "The Crooked Man" Week 15:   "The Five Orange Pips" Week 16:   "The Noble Bachelor" Week 17:   The Valley of Fear Week 18 (Apr 30-May 6):   The Valley of Fear (continued) Please comment with any thoughts or reviews you'd like to share!  This post has no expiration date, so if you want to come back and add your reviews at the end of the month, that's perfectly fine.  And...

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic is: ten books to read this spring. I am so excited for spring this year, so hopefully that translates to reading more books.  I'm also participating in the April edition of Camp Nanowrimo , however - planning to finish my novel-in-progress! - so we'll see how it goes.  :) 1. Shackleton , by Roland Huntford: I've been wading through this enormous book since November.  Ideally I'll finish it this spring, but it's one of my own books so no rush. *** 2.  Eugene Onegin, by Alexander Pushkin (transl. Roger Clarke) *** 3.  Out of the Silent Planet, by C. S. Lewis *** 4.  The Divine Comedy, by Dante: This is such a hard one to read (comprehension-wise), but I'm trying. *** 5.  The Complete Short Stories, by Franz Kafka: Another to-finish! *** 6.  Peter-Pan, by J. M. Barrie *** 7.  Cancer Ward, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn:   Maybe... *** 8. - 10.  Not sure yet.  ;)

I rarely read Kafka straight through.  Even in the middle of a story, I'll take a sudden hiatus and return to it later, not the worse for a break.  The world through his eyes is weird, menacing, and illogical, yet too close to reality to make it entirely escapism.  This collection of his complete short stories is no different; I've owned it for several years, and returned to it just now after an extended break. "Wedding Preparations in the Country" is less fanciful than his more famous work, The Metamorphosis , yet it is no less Kafkaesque.  Raban, a city dweller, is setting out on a rainy night to journey to the country, where his fiancee awaits him.  Along the way, he encounters his friend, Lement, as well as a host of strangers who leave their own influences on him and his already tenuous nerves.  Raban alternates between soaking in his surroundings and musing over the trip before him, finding little to comfort his anxieties and much to increase his sens...

Week 11: "The Reigate Squires" I've always thought "The Reigate Squires" was an interesting yet quirky story from Watson's recollections.  It's "quirky" not just because it has three names , but also for the fact that it seems fairly humdrum in its plot, except for sporadic moments of alarming behavior, by Holmes himself.  In some ways, this story is more like a comedy than a mystery, but Doyle still manages to inject it with enough macabre to keep up the impression of unease connected with the mystery.  Add to that the fact we see Holmes has finally gained international acclaim, and "The Reigate Squires" could easily be the first tale (in this chronological ordering) with an almost cinematic Holmesian quality to it. It's been a long time since I last read this, but I enjoyed it this time around, too, so it's aged well.