Books I Did Not Read This Year

Bookslut points out this excellent post by Kieran Healy on books he didn't read this year.

NY Times Book Group is reading Eugene Onegin for December

NY Times' December reading group pick is Eugene Onegin. Anybody would like to share their expertise by discussing it online? Please check it out. Here is their site.

Update: NY Times requires registration in order to see their stuff. It's free. To post messages on their online discussion, merely update your account by clicking on the 'subscribe' button. No money out of your pocket needed for these procedures, fortunately, unlike the LA Times (grrrrrrr).

Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

...is our December selection.

Update: Found this Jared Diamond essay written 1987 "The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race" here.

Here are comments about Guns, Germs, and Steel in response to a review by Bradford Delong, an economist.

At Cornell, I found a page with links to comments about Diamond's book. The first, about Yali, is worth reading.

Here is a page with a bit of criticism.

The NY Times reviews this book.

My quick comment on this book: It seemed as though reading this amazing book was like peeling an onion, especially towads the end. I enjoyed reading this book about the 'big picture'. But, correct me if I'm wrong, it seemed as though he didn't cover a few areas about humans that I really think are important, such as the role of religion and the role of world view and how that affects conquest. The questions I pose are these: do you think he adequately answered Yali's question in his book? Why did he leave the areas of worldview and religion out of this book?

Don Quixote and Pushkin

The New York Times reviews two books relevant to our bookclub: one is a new Don Quixote translation and the second is a review of a new Pushkin biography.

wood s lot

This blog is a gem: wood s lot

Next book

We'll be tackling Eugene Onegin by Pushkin.
Update:
Following are a whole slew of Pushkin-related links, thanks to Marlo. Note: I only posted the links from the email to save space.

From the Penguin Classics edition of Alexander Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin, translated by Charles Johnston [which as copious notes on pages 203-262].

Footnote XXIX-XXX to Chapter 6 that Judy read to us at the meeting of Nov.13, 2003: "The conditions discussed by the seconds in XXVII (which ought properly to have been set in writing the previous day) are not made explicit; but the general rules according to which this duel is conducted are as follows. At the outset, the opponents face each other at a specified distance, agreed by the seconds. Each stands the same number of paces back from a barrier – a stretch of no man’s land marked out between them, typically ten or twelve paces in length, into which neither party may cross. On the seconds’ instruction to begin (Zaretsky’s ‘Now march’; XXX.r), both approach the barrier, and each may fire his one shot at will. If the first to shoot does not entirely disable his opponent, the latter returns fire: depending upon the severity of the prearranged conditions, either with both combatants remaining where they were when the first shot was fired, or after moving right up to the barrier, to which he may also ‘call’ his adversary. The fundamental tactical decision was therefore whether to risk shooting first, at a moving target from a greater relative distance, or to brave the opponent'’ shot and so have the chance to fire at a static target from the minimum distance. Experienced duellists almost invariably preferred the latter. This sometimes meant that both would reach the barrier before firing – the circumstance most liable to produce a double fatality.
Onegin and Lensky begin at a distance of thirty-two paces (measured out by Zaretsky). Each is therefore ten or eleven paces back from the barrier presumably set at twelve or ten paces – though the unspecified interval, determined by Zaretsky, could conceivably have been less, and more potentially lethal. After four paces each begins to aim, and five paces later (i.e. at a distance of thirty-two minus eighteen or fourteen paces, still moving, and probably a couple of paces from the barrier) Onegin fires first, apparently only marginally forestalling Lensky. Contrary to the opinion of some commentators, everything noted here suggests that this is not the action of a calm, cold-blooded murderer (XXX.I, 3). Onegin’s shot is more likely the result of a loss of self-control, whether from fear or anger at the sight of his opponent’s barrel, and seems indicative of an uncalculated haste, an unsteady hand to an absurd but dangerous situation.
The most noble course for Onegin would have been to allow Lensky, as the injured party, to take his shot, and not return fire. There was, however, not guarantee that Lensky and his second would deem honour satisfied without insisting that Onegin make a serious shot.

Puskin's final duel (This article claims that Pushkin's wife was faithful, a notion that is elsewhere controverted.)
For more data, go to http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/dueling/3.html
Poems by Pushkin are here.

A CONFESSION
To Alexandra Ivanovna Osipova
I love you - love you, even as I
Rage at myself for this obsession,
And as I make my shamed confession,
Despairing at your feet I lie.
I know, I know - it ill becomes
I am too old, time to be wise...
But how?.. This love - it overcomes me,
A sickness this in passion's guise.
When you are near I'm filled with sadness,
When far, I yawn, for life's a bore.
I must pour out this love, this madness,
There's nothing that I long for more!
When your skirts rustle, when, my angel,
Your girlish voice I hear, when your
Light step sounds in the parlor - strangely,
I turn confused, perturbed, unsure.
You frown - and I'm in pain, I languish;
You smile - and joy defeats distress;
My one reward for a day's anguish
Comes when your pale hand, love, I kiss.
When you sit bent over your sewing,
Your eyes cast down and fine curls blowing
About your face, with tenderness
I childlike watch, my heart o'erflowing
With love, in my gaze a caress.
Shall I my jealousy and yearning
Describe, my bitterness and woe
When by yourself on some bleak morning
Off on a distant walk you go,
Or with another spend the evening
And, with him near, the piano play,
Or for Opochka leave, or, grieving,
Weep and in silence pass the day?..
Alina! Pray relent, have mercy!
I dare not ask for love - with all
My many sins, both great and small,
I am perhaps of love unworthy!..
But if you feigned love, if you would
Pretend, you'd easily deceive me,
For happily would I, believe me,
Deceive myself if but I could!
1826

From Reviews of Alexander Pushkin

Pushkin is to Russian speakers what Shakespeare is to English speakers. His influence on the prose and poetry of the language is second to no one and writing influences Russian literature to this day. Amazingly Pushkin only lived until the age of 38. Even now you can visit his gravesite (as I did) and still see teenage girls weeping and putting flowers on his grave.

From http://www.cybcity.com/barkov/

New literary theory suggests the multi-plot inner structure of Pushkin's Eugene Onegin is identical to that of Shakespeare's Hamlet. In both, a hidden Narrator is the principal composition element.

Onwards, Yo, Bookclub!

We now have our very own battle cry...

What Is Your Battle Cry?

Stalking across the tundra, brandishing an oversized scalpel, cometh Yo Bookclub! And she gives a vengeful cry: "I'm going to pulverize you beyond mortal comprehension!!"

Find out! Enter username: Are you a girl, or a guy ?

created by beatings : powered by monkeys

For your very own, enter your name or anyone else's in the 'Enter username:' space.

Another quiz

This time it's: Which Dr. Seuss character are you?

The 100 greatest novels of all time: The list

From the Observer, we get their 100 greatest novels of all time. So what do you think?

Open Discussion Thread: Quarantine by Jim Crace

This month's book is Quarantine by Jim Crace. (We are finally catching up).Here's your chance to put in your questions and comments.

Open Discussion Thread: Confessions of Zeno by Italo Svevo

Confessions of Zeno was last month's book. Any second, third, fourth or fifth thoughts?

Comments

Comments are now up on a trial basis.

This Month's Book: Jim Crace's Quarantine

Here is Crace himself commenting on his book Quarantine.

And here is a book review. I'm sure there are more out there. Oh Marlo, what have you found?

Daedalus Children's Books

Daedalus Children's Books has an online sale site. Check it out if you're interested in amazingly low prices on new children's books. Sale ends 12/31/03.

Jim Crace Interview

From Bookslut, we hear about an interview with Jim Crace in the Independent(UK). He's got a new book out called Genesis.

On Confessions of Zeno, from Marlo

I didn't find much on the WWW in the way of reader's guides or discussion questions for Svevo's book. However, for those who have time, I found an interesting, although insidious, article at
http://www.vladivostok.com/Speaking_In_Tongues/glazova34eng.htm

Speaking In Tongues: Guided by Voices -- Joyce, Svevo and Weininger

by Anna Glazova.

She discusses two themes in Svevo's work: anti-Semitism and misogyny

From Marlo

Thinking of Mars recently having been so close to Earth, our rector included this poem in his weekly church letter. Love, M

"As If to Demonstrate an Eclipse" by Billy Collins

I pick an orange from a wicker basket
and place it on the table
to represent the sun.
Then down at the other end
a blue and white marble
becomes the earth
and nearby I lay the little moon of an aspirin.
I get a glass from a cabinet,
open a bottle of wine,
then I sit in a ladder-back chair,
a benevolent god presiding
over a miniature creation myth,
and I begin to sing
a homemade canticle of thanks
for this perfect little arrangement,
for not making the earth too hot or cold
not making it spin too fast or slow
so that the grove of orange trees
and the owl become possible,
not to mention the rolling wave,
the play of clouds, geese in flight,
and the Z of lightning on a dark lake.
Then I fill my glass again
and give thanks for the trout,
the oak, and the yellow feather,
singing the room full of shadows,
as sun and earth and moon
circle one another in their impeccable orbit
and I get more and more cockeyed with gratitude.

Update: Billy Collins is the US Poet Laureate. This poem can be found in his book called Nine Horses. Here is a review.

Something Silly

So, which Jane Austen character are you? Click here to find out.
Note: Think more along the lines of a Cosmopolitan quiz. The quizzes on this site are just for fun and have no validity whatsoever.

Don Quixote in One Minute

Thanks to Book Blog for this link.

Other Book Club Blogs

are hard to find. Here are two: BookBlog and Zuly's Reading Room. Email me if you find any.
Oops! Spoke too soon: found this link to other bookclub blogs at Book Blog.

Plagiarist.com

is an extremely large online poetry archive. Thanks to Booksurfer (a wonderful book blog--see our sidebar under Book Blogs) for this link.

The Guardian Reading Group Selection for July Is....

....guess what? The one and only The Leopard by di Lampedusa. Check it out here. Do we have any brave adventurers from our group to post on their forum?We did have a wonderful discussion the other night....

Addendum: Crime and Punishment, our last months book, was a September 2001 selection.

Woo hoo! Welcome, Judy! And your post was fine. We may one day have a comments section but at this point in time, HTML still looks like techno-Greek to me. I'm not up to speed on that yet.

REMINDER: I forgot to mention this. After you are finished writing your post, click on the "Post" or "Post and Publish" icons on the top bar. If you still see the yellow-orangish PUBLISH button on the right side of the middle toolbar, you will need to click on that to get the post officially published on the blog.

Later in the evening: A double woo hoo! Welcome, Jeannie!

For Woody Guthrie fans, here is a sweet tribute to Woody, written by Steve Earle.
Addendum: This is in reference to the September 2001 bookclub selection: Bound For Glory written by Woody Guthrie.

A Chaser From Marlo

THE BOOK: Confessions of Zeno, by Itelo Svevo

www.abebooks.com has about 70 copies. Yes, some are expensive; but you can sort them by "lowest price." Sally mentioned another website for books, which I didn't catch but which is listed on the BLOG site.

Sep.4 we will have a demonstration re BLOGGING. Oh, boy!

Here's a Russian poem that may serve as a "chaser" following our discussion this evening of CRIME AND PUNISHMENT:

"Forever You, the Unwashed Russia!"

by Mikhail Lermontov

Forever you, the unwashed Russia!

The land of slaves the land of lords:

And you, the blue-uniformed ushers,

And people who worship them as gods.

I hope, from your tyrannic hounds

To save me with Caucasian wall:

From their eye, that sees through ground,

From their ears, that hear all.

© Copyright, 1996 Translated from Russian by Yevgeny Bonver, 1990

Here is an interesting Dostoevsky lecture from the UC Davis Philosophy Department.

To get us in the mood for next week's meeting, visit the Crime and Punishment Museum.

Book Review: Sewing Circles of Herat by Christina Lamb

Here is an interesting book review in Alternet (a wonderful source of alternative progressive news, by the way). A memoir written by a foreign journalist in Afghanistan, this book chronicles her experiences through two wars.

Note: Other favorite progressive news sites online: Common Dreams and Tom Paine

Note on:The Laws of Evening. Here is a brief review in the NYTimes(registration but no subscription required).

A Book and Some Haikus: The Laws of Evening

From Linda:

The book is called: The Laws of Evening by Mary Yukari Waters. I ordered it on half.com and will read it before I recommend it. Following is the beginning of the review:

"The Japanese and Japanese American women who populate this remarkable poised story collection from May Yukari Waters have had their lives and families decimated by WWII. And yet they - and Waters - manage to extract almost crippling beauty from the defining tragedy of the 20th century and its ever-lingering aftermath. Each of Waters' stories is as exacting and bittersweet as a Hiroshige landscape, and there's a sense of loss and nostalgia becoming hopelessly blurred.

The war, after all, spelled the end of the courtly old Japan.... (reoccurring theme from last night)
Anyway, that Haiku reads:

Since my house burned down

I now own a better view

of the rising moon.

In preparation for our next book, and its theme of guilt:

A lovely nose ring

Excuse me while I put my head

In the oven.

Is one Nobel prize

So much to ask from a child

After all I've done?

From Marlo about The Leopard

If you are one of those who couldn't/didn't finish THE LEOPARD, try to pick it up toward the end. The "Death of a Prince" is very nicely done (or is it just me?), and the last chapter "Relics" gives you a sense of how deep Catholicism was in Sicily and Italy. I remember being overwhelmed in Rome, seeing Catholic art everywhere, even on the facade of buildings -- and churches in which statues of the reigning pope are many times larger than statues of the saints or Jesus himself. (!) Ah, we should have planned this meeting to be held in Sicily. When, oh when, will be develop into a book and travel group. Think about it. M

More From Marlo About Crime and Punishment...

There are tons, I mean tons, of websites for Crime and Punishment. I'm overwhelmed.

http://www.kiosek.com/dostoevsky/links.html

http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/crime/context.html

http://www.bookrags.com/notes/cri/SUM.htm PLOT SUMMARY, etc.

http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides2/crime_and_punishment.asp DISCUSSION QUESTIONS, etc.

http://www.novelguide.com/crimeandpunishment/index.html

http://www.classicnote.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/crimeandpunishment/links.html

You'll notice that most of these sites offer material (a few offer discussion questions) on other novels/literature, as well.

Heads up from Marlo!

The book we are currently reading is THE LEOPARD by LAMPEDUSA. But look what's up next!

Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Take steps to get your copy for reading in June.
NOTICE: A couple of translators are listed for this book:
Constance Garnett for Bantam Classics (amazon.com's BEST SELLER) and Dover Thrift editions.
Richard Pevear (Translator), Larissa Volokhonsky (Translator), for Everyman's Library/Knopf.
W.W. Norton's translator is someone else (amazon.com's 2nd BEST SELLER and my choice).

Oy vey!

PLEASE ADVISE if you know which might be the best translator/edition to get. It makes a big difference in the enjoyment of the book.

Meanwhile, the book is available everywhere -- including online and on audio cassettes. You can find reading guides via google.com or whatever you like.
This is a great book to BLOG! If I knew how to do it now, you could already consider yourself BLOGGED.
Meanwhile, ADVISE RE TRANSLATOR if you can and ENJOY READING!

REMEMBER: You can get good used copies of books via amazon.com, abebooks.com, etc.

what is a blog?

A few irreverent definitions are listed in the Urban Dictionary. Check it out.

We can also share recipes

Here is the recipe for the carrot quinoa I brought once.

We can even link to book reviews: The Leopard

For example, a brief review of The Leopard can be viewed here.

Jonathan Jones in UK's The Guardian provides a more historical perspective.

A biography of Guiseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa by David Gilmour, called The Last Leopard, was published by Pantheon Books in 1988. Although now out of print, this book may be available through public libraries. I haven't checked LAPL yet. Here is a brief review in Amazon.com.

Does anyone know anything about British politics? Julian Critchely who is a Conservative MP rates The Leopard as his number one best all time favorite book in this article in The Guardian.

It seems as though The Leopard is big in England, at least amongst the Guardian book editors. It's on their list of the first 50 essential books. This list might be worth looking at for future books. On their booktalk site, a reaction to their list by Guga provides more books.