Reading the 20th Century discussion

Are you reading a good book at the moment - or a not-so-good one?


Or have you just finished a book you'd like to discuss with others?

This is a thread for 2021 to talk about our current reads - both 20th-century books and those which fall outside the period.

My last book completed in 2020 is A Great Man by Arnold Bennett

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I have begun A Woman's Life by Guy de Maupassant. It is his first novel and written by hinn when he was twenty-seven! I definitely am liking this! The prose is wonderful.

How many books did you read in 2020 Chrissie?


You and Joy both seem to almost manage a book a day.

One year Susan read 300 books which blew my mind. I suspect you might be more than that.

Nigeyb wrote: "How many books did you read in 2020 Chrissie?


You and Joy both seem to almost manage a book a day.

One year Susan read 300 books which blew my mind. I suspect you might be more than that."

214 books in 2020. No, not a book a day.

A book every 1.7 days - still absolutely incredible

I managed 275 - finishing one today, to meet my target. But some of them were pretty short - short stories, sold as 'books', and even something I'd call a pamphlet. But some were long, so it probably balances out.

I have to admit that they were nearly all easy reads, and 80 of them were re-reads - and I'm retired, with nothing much else to do this year!

Amazing Rosina 🥳🍻

These numbers are so impressive, and so nice for all of us who get to hear about the books! The most I can manage is 50-75/yr, and that includes short stories.

Over the holidays I've been reading a book about three of my favorite singer/songwriters, that has turned out to be very illuminating about 20th century culture and early feminism: Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon - and the Journey of a Generation. Some of the reviews are scathing, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

Tomorrow I start The House of Mirth. :-)

Kathleen wrote: "These numbers are so impressive, and so nice for all of us who get to hear about the books! The most I can manage is 50-75/yr, and that includes short stories.

Over the holidays I've been reading ..."

I got a new Kindle Fire this year - I was reading that on the old Fire - and I need to get back to it, and the other books I was reading on the old Fire.

Nigeby, you see, I am not the only one who reads all the time! It is basically because I don't do other things, like look at TV.

Indeed so. Keep it up everyone

I do think that not watching much TV helps :) I find that I can never concentrate while watching something, but like reading/listening much more. I got my Audible statistics yesterday and discovered that I had listened for the equivalent a whole month!!! That was a bit scary...

Yes, I'm another who watches very little TV - though we have been watching Mad Men from series 1 over the holidays as it's just so stylish.

I didn't know there were Audible statistics - must check mine. I thought I'd listened less in 2020 because of no commute but, looking back, I listened to some long non-fiction (At the Court of the Red Tsar, Black and British, A Promised Land) so mine might be higher than I think.

I also just started Mad Men. I agree about it being stylish. I feel like we’ve definitely lost something by going so casual nowadays.

I loved Mad Men and really enjoy good films and TV, although I haven't watched all that much recently apart from news! I have quite a few blu-rays and DVDs of classic films that I need to get round to.

I find it hard to concentrate on audiobooks and often get fed up with the slow speed, although I have got a bit more into them recently.

I'm just coming to the end of the first season of Mad Men - it's just jaw dropping seeing people drink and smoke their way through the working day, not to mention lighting up at the dinner table, in the car and on the train!

I watch tv but I am usually reading while doing so.

Here is a novel, not a short story, by Guy de Maupassant which I recommend--A Woman's Life. I guess it does sort of depend on personal
preferences though. My review explains more:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I will soon begin an old-fashioned mystery story, The Yellow Room by Mary Roberts Rinehart. I have previously read the author's The Amazing Interlude and liked it a lot. I figured I had to read more.

Jan C wrote: "I watch tv but I am usually reading while doing so."


How does that work Jan? Are you reading with TV in the background? Or watching TV, and then reading during ad breaks and dull bits?

Either way, I think I'd find that quite hard work. I like to give all my attention to whichever activity I'm doing.

I sometimes have a bit of music in the background but it has to be quiet and unintrusive

I've got more books on the go that I usually like to have at any one time, but I've committed to quite a few books in January. Later today I will start one of the buddy reads I'm reading with the group in January 2021....

V for Victory (2020)

by

Lissa Evans

Here's more information....

'At once funny and moving: the brisk kindness of the wardens will bring a lump to your throat. I could not have loved it more' Susie Steiner

It’s late 1944. Hitler’s rockets are slamming down on London with vicious regularity and it’s the coldest winter in living memory. Allied victory is on its way, but it’s bloody well dragging its feet.

In a large house next to Hampstead Heath, Vee Sedge is just about scraping by, with a herd of lodgers to feed, and her young charge Noel (almost 15 years old) to clothe and educate. When she witnesses a road accident and finds herself in court, the repercussions are both unexpectedly marvellous and potentially disastrous – disastrous because Vee is not actually the person she’s pretending to be, and neither is Noel.

The end of the war won’t just mean peace, but discovery...

With caustic wit and artful storytelling, Lissa Evans elegantly summons a time when the world could finally hope to emerge from the chaos of war. As sharply comic as Old Baggage and emotionally poignant as Crooked Heart, V For Victory once again shows Lissa Evans to be one of our most brilliant and subtle writers.
__________________________________

Lissa Evans' writing is:

Wise and witty - Sarah Hughes, Observer
Original and so timely. And it made me weep at the end. - JoJo Moyes
Bittersweet and comic. - Guardian
Inspiring, moving, warm and wry...wonderful! - Marian Keyes
Beautifully written. -Sunday Mirror
Thoughtful, funny...invigoratingly fresh. - Sunday Times

Our buddy reads discussion will open sometime in mid-January 2021

And of course, everyone is welcome to join in - hope to see you there

I have recently had a couple of reads which were 5* books for me.

One was the short novel Passing by Nella Larsen Harlem Renaissance author, which I thought was absolutely brilliant - the most beautiful prose style and very strong characterisation. The main character, Irene, finds her life disrupted by the return of her childhood friend Clare, who has been 'passing' for white and hiding her true identity.

I think this will be one to reread in future. I believe Joy and Alwynne both recommended it, so many thanks to them.

Sadly Larsen didn't publish very much, but I see there is another novella, Quicksand, and some short fiction, so I will be sure to read those.

My other 5* read was An Armenian Sketchbook by Vasily Grossman - this wasn't really what I expected, as it isn't so much a travel book as a personal memoir of his time staying in Armenia working as a translator, including many thoughts about the lives of the local community, the Soviet system and his own physical and emotional problems at that time. I preferred his 2 long novels that we read here, but this was a great book too.

I am TERRIBLE at doing more than one thing at a time. While I listen to audiobooks, I do nothing else. I have tried make dinner or take a walk while I listening--both were disasters. I burnt the food, got lost in the audiobook. When I walked, I fell and sprained my ankle. I also take notes as I listen. I cannot read my messy notes but they help me focus.

I've been meaning to get to Passing so thanks for the reminder, Judy. How lovely that your reading year is off to such a satisfying start!

Oh dear, disaster, Chrissie! I find walking ideal for listening to audio books, something about the rhythm helps me concentrate.

I agree with you, Judy, about Passing. RC, don't put it off!

RC--I have learned my lesson, I know my limitations, ONE thing at a time for ME.

Passing is one I've been meaning to get to for a while.

Yesterday I started Word Perfect: Etymological Entertainment For Every Day of the Year, designed to be read over a year and it looks excellent; I'm really looking forward to my daily dose.

I finished The Forgotten Smile by Margaret Kennedy which I loved, I'd only read The Constant Nymph which I also thought was very good, so I don't know why it took me so long to get to another of her books.

Judy wrote: "I have recently had a couple of reads which were 5* books for me.

One was the short novel Passing by Nella Larsen Harlem Renaissance author, which I thought was absolut..."

So glad you liked this one Judy, an all-time favourite of mine, think you'd like 'Quicksand' too, she writes so beautifully.

Chrissie wrote: "I am TERRIBLE at doing more than one thing at a time. While I listen to audiobooks, I do nothing else. I have tried make dinner or take a walk while I listening--both were disasters. I burnt the fo..."

I usualy listen to audiobooks on my walk to work which I find very enjoyable. But occasionally I get distracted and arrive realising that I haven't actually heard a word!

Ruth wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "I am TERRIBLE at doing more than one thing at a time. While I listen to audiobooks, I do nothing else. I have tried make dinner or take a walk while I listening--both were disaster..."

You make me feel better.

I am about to start reading The Queens Gambit, many have recommended it, but only after watching the TV version, I'm going old school and reading it. As a chess player, I think this year I shall read the books where chess figures. Well we all need a theme to follow.

Chrissie wrote: "I agree with you, Judy, about Passing. RC, don't put it off!"

I've just downloaded the audio-book - I need some fiction to balance out my reading of The Gulag Archipelago.

Michael wrote: "I am about to start reading The Queens Gambit, many have recommended it, but only after watching the TV version, I'm going old school and reading it"

I have read it (and not see the Netflix version) and can recommend it very highly. I want to read more Walter Tevis this year.

Roman Clodia wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "I agree with you, Judy, about Passing. RC, don't put it off!"

I've just downloaded the audio-book - I need some fiction to balance out my reading of The Gulag Archip..."

You know I would have joined in with the Gulag Archipelago but all that is available currently are abridged versions. An unabridged version is planned-which will be three volumes long.

I do think you will enjoy Passing!

Most of us are reading the abridged version which was approved by Solzhenitsyn - he didn't expect non-Russians to read 1800 pages.

I hope and think you will love Passing, RC.

Yes, abridged Solzhenitsyn at just over 500 pages will be enough for me.

Passing - wow! So much tenser than I expected, especially in the vexed relationship between Claire and Irene. I've just met the vile husband!

Michael wrote: "I think this year I shall read the books where chess figures. Well we all need a theme to follow."

I recommend Chess Story by Stefan Zweig if you haven't already read it.

Although the titles of the books are based on chess, you'll need to read to the fourth book of the Lymond Chronicles -- - to arrive at the most harrowing game of chess I've ever read about.

Hi Ang, yes I've already read it. I have The Death's Head Chess Club by John Donoghue and The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl's Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster by Tim Crothers on the 'to read' pile, along with some chess biographies and of course the whole issue summed in Kasparov Versus Deep Blue: Computer Chess Comes of Age by Monty Newborn.

Thanks Rosina, are the Lymond Chronicles stand alone novels or are they best enjoyed in order?

Rosina wrote: "Although the titles of the books are based on chess, you'll need to read to the fourth book of the Lymond Chronicles -- - to arrive at the most harrowing ga..."

Ooh, ditto, Rosina from a fellow Dunnett fan (well, obsessive!) I haven't seen that cover before :)

Michael wrote: "Thanks Rosina, are the Lymond Chronicles stand alone novels or are they best enjoyed in order?"

Definitely in order - another target to meet in 2021! But worth it.

For Roman Clodia - I think it was the cover when I first read it in 1969.

Rosina wrote: "Definitely in order - another target to meet in 2021! But worth it."

Sounds like a plan!

I've been reading The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse

Hugh and RC, yeah, I read that the author had approved the abridged version. You points are valid. I am just automatically against abridged versions.

How are you feeling about the text? I always worry about what I am missing. On the other hand, to read 1800 pages about the gulags I envision as being extremely depressing.

Hmmm, you two maybe have convinced me to rethink my earlier decision.

Rosina wrote: "I think it was the cover when I first read it in 1969"

Does that mean you were reading it in 'real time', as Dunnett was publishing them? If so, the suspense must have been desperate, especially between Knights and Pawn, and the end of Pawn to Castle?!

Chrissie wrote: "How are you feeling about the text?"

I've abandoned it - I read the first section of 182 pp. and feel it's not for me. It's immensely important, of course, as a historical document but it's both too granular in its details, and doesn't give enough context for me. I'd rather read Solzhenitsyn's fiction. Just my personal response, of course.

On the other hand, I found Passing wonderful (Judy, Chrissie, you know my tastes well!) I listened to the audio-book and couldn't stop till I'd finished.

The ending is a bit melodramatic but there's so much packed into such a short piece. Some of the encounters between Clare and Irene are like scenes from a play and just crackle with tension and the unsaid.

Roman Clodia wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "How are you feeling about the text?"

I've abandoned it - I read the first section of 182 pp. and feel it's not for me. It's immensely important, of course, as a historical documen..."

I don't know if I personally am up to reading Solzhenitsyn right now. I have read quite about the horrors of the gulags. I just don't have the energy to delve into these horrors again. IF I one day pick the book up it will be the abridgment approved by the author--you all have convinced me it would be the right choice.

I agree, fiction can teach too, and it is wonderful to observe creative imagination.

Roman Clodia wrote: "Rosina wrote: "I think it was the cover when I first read it in 1969"

Does that mean you were reading it in 'real time', as Dunnett was publishing them? If so, the suspense must have been desperat..."

Yes - I read the Game of Kings not long after it was published in 1961 - I was just 14, I think, and studying French and German, I didn't add Spanish until after O-Levels, but I think the languages meant that I wasn't daunted by the book! And then I made sure I was first on the library's reservations list for each book as it was published. I didn't get my own copies until quite a bit later.