I remember a William Gass essay where he wondered what it was like for Victorian novelists like Trollope and Thackeray who thought they were the shit when the translations of the Russian writers suddenly started popping up.
― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Friday, 15 May 2020 17:44 (three years ago) link
I doubt it made a dent into their superiority complex, except perhaps on an unavowable level.
― pomenitul, Friday, 15 May 2020 18:03 (three years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Saturday, 16 May 2020 00:01 (three years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Sunday, 17 May 2020 00:01 (three years ago) link
Haha who read the (not translated into English afaict) Bernardo Guimarães? Is it really good?
Really sad how we read like zero Brazilian lit in Portugal.
― Daniel_Rf, Sunday, 17 May 2020 17:27 (three years ago) link
Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of… the 1860's, pt.1 (1860-1864)
― Daniel_Rf, Tuesday, 19 May 2020 16:13 (three years ago) link
I've been working my way through 1859 recently. Here's how I'd rank:
1. Adam Bede2. A Tale of Two Cities3. On Liberty4. The Lifted Veil (Eliot)5. Family Happiness (Tolstoy)6. The Bertrams (Trollope)7. Home of the Gentry (Turgenev)8. The World of Ice (Ballantyne)9. Oblomov (Goncharov)10. Village of Stepanchikovo (Dostoevsky)11. The World of Ice (Ballantyne)12. Our ---: Sketches from the Life of a Free Black (Wilson)13. Popular Tales from the Norse14. The Ordeal of Richard Feverel (Meredith)
― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Thursday, 15 April 2021 14:02 (three years ago) link
Adam Bede is the only Eliot I haven't read.
How's Richard Feverel? I've started The Egoist three times, assuming Meredith and I are simpatico (otoh I like his poetry and wish it were more anthologized).
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 15 April 2021 14:24 (three years ago) link
why 1859? it's a big year for me as it's also the year of the earliest recorded sounds
― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Thursday, 15 April 2021 14:31 (three years ago) link
I’ve been reading through the 19th century year by year—1859 is where I’m at now
Fevered has an interesting concept—a father raising a son in an experimental system. Of course the son rebels. I lost some interest along the way though.
― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Thursday, 15 April 2021 14:47 (three years ago) link
Did you start at 1800? If so, holy moley that's impressive.
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 15 April 2021 14:48 (three years ago) link
Nice going! I've been curious to read a book by George Meredith for the somewhat silly reason that I have the book "The True History of Mrs. Meredith and Other Lesser Lives" by Diane Johnson on my bookshelf, but feel like I should read something by George Meredith first.
― o. nate, Thursday, 15 April 2021 14:56 (three years ago) link
xpost yeah, six years ago. It seemed like 90% of the novels published between 1810 and 1830 were written by Sir Walter Scott.
― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Thursday, 15 April 2021 15:43 (three years ago) link
In the mid twentieth century replace Scott with Simenon.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 15 April 2021 15:45 (three years ago) link
Do you read anything else, or do you go all 19th century all the time?
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 15 April 2021 15:48 (three years ago) link
I mostly just read children's books to my son now, and comic books
― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Thursday, 15 April 2021 15:50 (three years ago) link
But I used to read mainly new books, so this project is a bit of a corrective
― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Thursday, 15 April 2021 15:52 (three years ago) link