Mabith's BFBs (Meredith)
Forum2018 BIG FAT BOOKS CHALLENGE
Melde dich bei LibraryThing an, um Nachrichten zu schreiben.
1mabith
I'm setting another goal of 12 books, but hoping to go a bit over. Here are some books I hope to get to:
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
The Reformation by Diarmaid MacCulloch
The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom by John Pomfret
2mabith
Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell RE-READ 766 ages
Gaskell is one of my very favorite authors, and this was her last novel. She actually died with about chapter or two left to write, but she had told people how it would end and one of them wrote a sort of concluding chapter (but in a way that acknowledges her death, not trying to mimic her style or write a fully literary chapter, it's done very sensitively).
Molly Gibson is an only child whose mother died when she was very young. Her father is the local doctor and they have a very close relationship. When one of his apprentices tries to secretly send Molly a love note he intercepts it and decides to send her to stay with the Hamleys for a short while. Mrs. Hamley is an invalid and Molly is so sweet and agreeable that she becomes like a daughter to the family. When their son Roger is home from college he interests her in natural history and they think of each other as siblings. She develops a mild crush on Osborne Hamley, the older brother (and golden child until he fails his exams). Her life changes suddenly when her father marries the former governess of the local aristocrats. Hyacinth Kirkpatrick is a shallow, vain, materialistic woman, which her father doesn't realize until it's too late. Molly clashes with her, but loves her step-sister Cynthia, who is a similar age, if a very different temperament.
As usual with Gaskell, every character has flaws and strengths, and Molly, sweet as she is, is no exception. The writing is beautiful, the psychology is extremely tight, and there is plenty of humor. This novel and North and South are my favorites by Gaskell. They're both just beautiful and I find Gaskell's characters so real. Also as usual with Gaskell, her novels feel incredibly, sometimes impossible, modern (even her fallen woman novel, Ruth, has moments like that).
Gaskell is one of my very favorite authors, and this was her last novel. She actually died with about chapter or two left to write, but she had told people how it would end and one of them wrote a sort of concluding chapter (but in a way that acknowledges her death, not trying to mimic her style or write a fully literary chapter, it's done very sensitively).
Molly Gibson is an only child whose mother died when she was very young. Her father is the local doctor and they have a very close relationship. When one of his apprentices tries to secretly send Molly a love note he intercepts it and decides to send her to stay with the Hamleys for a short while. Mrs. Hamley is an invalid and Molly is so sweet and agreeable that she becomes like a daughter to the family. When their son Roger is home from college he interests her in natural history and they think of each other as siblings. She develops a mild crush on Osborne Hamley, the older brother (and golden child until he fails his exams). Her life changes suddenly when her father marries the former governess of the local aristocrats. Hyacinth Kirkpatrick is a shallow, vain, materialistic woman, which her father doesn't realize until it's too late. Molly clashes with her, but loves her step-sister Cynthia, who is a similar age, if a very different temperament.
As usual with Gaskell, every character has flaws and strengths, and Molly, sweet as she is, is no exception. The writing is beautiful, the psychology is extremely tight, and there is plenty of humor. This novel and North and South are my favorites by Gaskell. They're both just beautiful and I find Gaskell's characters so real. Also as usual with Gaskell, her novels feel incredibly, sometimes impossible, modern (even her fallen woman novel, Ruth, has moments like that).
3CurrerBell
>2 mabith: I've read all of Gaskell's other novels, many of her novellas and short stories, and of course her Life of Charlotte Brontë, but Wives and Daughters is one I've started on more than one occasion and put down (probably intimidated by the length).
I think I'm going to get to it for this 1st quarter of the Reading Through Time group's time-period read, which is 19th century, and double it up for this BFB challenge (although I do have a particular 19th-century priority right now for Juliet Barker's Wordsworth biography).
And I do also want to get to Jenny Uglow's Elizabeth Gaskell: A Habit of Stories (also a BFB). That's another one I started but put down when I reached the point of Ruth because I wanted to read the novel first (which I've subsequently done).
ETA: But ugh as to Ruth's mawkishly sentimental ending. Gaskell should have taken Charlotte's advice andnot killed Ruth off .
I think I'm going to get to it for this 1st quarter of the Reading Through Time group's time-period read, which is 19th century, and double it up for this BFB challenge (although I do have a particular 19th-century priority right now for Juliet Barker's Wordsworth biography).
And I do also want to get to Jenny Uglow's Elizabeth Gaskell: A Habit of Stories (also a BFB). That's another one I started but put down when I reached the point of Ruth because I wanted to read the novel first (which I've subsequently done).
ETA: But ugh as to Ruth's mawkishly sentimental ending. Gaskell should have taken Charlotte's advice and
4mabith
I've found I really enjoy 19th century and especially Victorian novelists, something I didn't really expect. Wives and Daughters is a wonderful culmination to her novels. Just make sure you look for the last chapter written by her friend (and editor of the magazine it was serialized in). My copy doesn't have it, or any mention of it, which seems so strange (especially for a Penguin book). It's available on Project Gutenberg.
I didn't know about the biography! Definitely putting it on my list for when I finish Sylvia's Lovers.
There were so many caveats in writing a Fallen Women novel in that period, I can't blame her too much on Ruth's ending, especially since Gaskell took the middle way of not totally blaming or totally absolving Ruth.
I didn't know about the biography! Definitely putting it on my list for when I finish Sylvia's Lovers.
There were so many caveats in writing a Fallen Women novel in that period, I can't blame her too much on Ruth's ending, especially since Gaskell took the middle way of not totally blaming or totally absolving Ruth.
5MissWatson
I didn't know about the final chapter for Wives and daughters, thanks for that tip!
6johnsimpson
Hi Meredith, welcome to the group my dear and I look forward to what Chunksters you read in 2018.
8mabith
Forgetting to put my reviews here!
Roots by Alex Haley, 729 pages
I have been meaning to read this classic for a long time, and I'm glad I finally got to it. I was expecting a faster journey through the generations, but pleased enough that we stayed with Kunta Kinte, the character who is kidnapped by slavers as a young man, through over half of the book.
Are there issues with Haley? Yes. Did he actually trace his ancestry back to a specific African man? Probably not. Is it still an important book which should continue to be read? Absolutely!
And now I can watch the mini-series (the original and the new one!).
Roots by Alex Haley, 729 pages
I have been meaning to read this classic for a long time, and I'm glad I finally got to it. I was expecting a faster journey through the generations, but pleased enough that we stayed with Kunta Kinte, the character who is kidnapped by slavers as a young man, through over half of the book.
Are there issues with Haley? Yes. Did he actually trace his ancestry back to a specific African man? Probably not. Is it still an important book which should continue to be read? Absolutely!
And now I can watch the mini-series (the original and the new one!).
9mabith
The Crusades by Zoe Oldenbourg, 650 pages
A mid-century non-fiction classic, a type of book I'm always interested in, particularly those written by women. Women historians have a hard enough time today, let alone then. I don't know enough to know how accurate this book still is, but it was well written and interesting all the way through. Maybe a bit dry for people who don't read a lot of history or who stick to the more popular history format.
10mabith
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, 936 pages
This is epic fiction with autobiographical elements covering the years the author spent in India after escaping from prison in Australia. He is living there illegally, constantly afraid of being found out.
This book is almost 1000 pages long, and I don't think it needed to be. The plots are mostly isolated, random little bits. There's sort of a connecting thread through some things but for 1000 pages it should be more concrete, it should feel like it has some meaning or actually takes you somewhere.
There are good things about the book, there are philosophical snippets that I just loved, and the main character's learning process in regards to India, poverty, work, etc... That's not enough for a book of this length though. The author was captured in Germany and returned to prison in Australia, where the manuscript for this book was destroyed several times as he was writing it. Which, I feel like you can tell that as a reader. I also feel like you can tell a publisher went "the backstory of the real life escape, etc is enough to make this a bestseller, why bother with editors and feedback." That may be unfair, but it's how the book felt to me personally.
11mabith
Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest by Wade Davis
This has been on my to-read list for some time, but it's quite long and I was weary of Wade Davis due to having to read The Serpent and the Rainbow in high school for class. Also I think Everest-Climbing and similar ventures to be ridiculous. And Mallory, that man... You have a wife and child you purport to greatly love but you risk your life merely to get to the top of something? Merely to conquer a bit of nature? Over and Over! What a way to treat your family.
The connections between the men involved and the arrangements with various governments and the men's various WWI histories was very interesting and the book is well written.
This has been on my to-read list for some time, but it's quite long and I was weary of Wade Davis due to having to read The Serpent and the Rainbow in high school for class. Also I think Everest-Climbing and similar ventures to be ridiculous. And Mallory, that man... You have a wife and child you purport to greatly love but you risk your life merely to get to the top of something? Merely to conquer a bit of nature? Over and Over! What a way to treat your family.
The connections between the men involved and the arrangements with various governments and the men's various WWI histories was very interesting and the book is well written.
12mabith
Barkskins by Annie Proulx
This is a very long book focusing on the timber industry mostly in the US, going through two huge family trees and hundreds of years. Parts of very impactful and parts are not.
I think especially in the last quarter or third of the book Proulx tries to go too quickly. We're with characters so briefly that we don't care about them or their stories aren't explored fully. It needed to be a bare minimum of fifty pages longer.
I liked it, but I couldn't love it. Maybe my expectations were too high going in.
This is a very long book focusing on the timber industry mostly in the US, going through two huge family trees and hundreds of years. Parts of very impactful and parts are not.
I think especially in the last quarter or third of the book Proulx tries to go too quickly. We're with characters so briefly that we don't care about them or their stories aren't explored fully. It needed to be a bare minimum of fifty pages longer.
I liked it, but I couldn't love it. Maybe my expectations were too high going in.
13johnsimpson
>12 mabith: Hi Meredith, I have seen a bit about Barkskins and think I might enjoy it and it fits the BFB criteria and my reading criteria for this year. Hope you are enjoying your reading this year my dear.
15mabith
>14 frahealee: I hope you enjoy her books! I'm very devoted to her.
16mabith
I got so behind in all my threads, even just in copying and pasting reviews here.
Managed to finish one last BFB last night though, Don Quixote, so feeling pleased about that.
Managed to finish one last BFB last night though, Don Quixote, so feeling pleased about that.
