BACK<<<to the CLASSICS discussion

The July challenge gives you a lot of choice. Read at least one classic book or short story, choosing one that either you haven’t read before or that you last read many years ago.

Please tell us about the book or story you read - perhaps we will share some recommendations for future reads.

July template:

Books read: 0/2 (any number of books/stories, it’s your choice)

Book 1:
(Title, author, star rating, comment)

Book 2:
(Title, author, star rating, comment)

🌸Tr1sha’s July challenge:🌸

Books read: 2/2

🌸Book 1:
The Bottle Imp, Robert Louis Stevenson, 4*, a very clever short story.

🌸Book 2:
Poor Miss Finch, Wilkie Collins, 7/6/26, 2*, this was a huge disappointment & I wish I had chosen a different book. I hadn’t read it before but have liked other books by the author. It should have been interesting, but seemed endlessly repetitive & I was very bored.

Kathy’s July Challenge

Books read: 0/2 (any number of books/stories, it’s your choice)

Book 1:
(Title, author, star rating, comment)
✅The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton (1922); 5*; I just loved this book. I hadn't heard much about this book of Wharton's, not like House of Mirth or Age of Innocence. I was pleasantly surprised. It all felt very modern.

Book 2:
(Title, author, star rating, comment)
✅Celia Garth by Gwen Bristow (1959); 3.5*; I enjoyed this story set in Charleston, South Carolina during the American Revolution. It was interesting to read about the relationships between Tories and Rebels. Celia is a strong-willed woman making her way without family (except her Tory half-brother, whom she dislikes) during the 1700s. There's romance in this story too.

📚Books read: 2/2 (any number of books/stories, it’s your choice)📚

Book 1:
(Title, author, star rating, comment)
By the Shores of Silver Lakeby Laura Ingalls Wilder(1939)
🌟✔1/7/26★ ★ ★ ★ ★
A delightful re-read of a series of books I haven't read since I was a child.Now,with adult eyes,I look at this families hard work,sacrifice and what another author called "True Grit"as totally inspiring-and not a little scarey!


Book 2:
(Title, author, star rating, comment
A Man for All SeasonsbyRobert Bolt(1960)
⭐✔3/7/26★ ★ ★ ★ ★
With the new London-based production of this play which stars British actor Martin Shaw -which I would very much like to see-I've finally read the original script which it is based on rather than that associated with the popular feature film made in 1966.
The preface contains,amongst other things, a very readable summary of the political life of the period and a list of cast characters with descriptions which include a lot of detail.For example, Bolt sees William Roper,More's Son-in-Law,as in his "Early thirties; a stiff body and an immobile face. Little imagination, moderate brain, but an all con¬ suming rectitude which is his cross, his solace, and his hobby."
It is interesting to compare his Cromwell with Hilary Mantels character in Wolf Hall as being " Late thirties. Subtle and serious; the face expressing not inner tension but the tremendous out¬ going will of the renaissance. A self-conceit that can cradle gross crimes in the name of effective action. In short an intellectual bully."Actually,the two are more similar,on reflection,than I would have supposed.
I noticed that the actor,Paul Scofield,who won an Oscar for his film performance as More,was actually in the first stage performance at the Globe Theatre in London in,July,1960.
One difference In the London production of this play at the Globe Theatre the play ended as follows :

Instead of the Cromwell and chapuys entrance after the headsman's line ‘Behold - the head - of a traitor!’, the common man came to the centre stage , having taken off his mask as the executioner, and said;

‘I’m breathing. . . . Are you breathing too? . . . It’s nice isn’t it? It isn’t difficult to keep alive friends . . .just don’t make trouble - or if you must make trouble, make the sort of trouble that’s expected. Well, I don’t need to tell you that. Good night. If we should bump into one another, recognise me.’

This character keeps turning up throughout the play in various roles from Household Steward,Boatman,Jailor,Foreman of the jury and finally Executioner!He functions a little like a Shakespearean "Prologue" character-played brilliantly in a made-for-TV version of the play by the late Roy Kinnear.
All in all,I'm glad I read this version which I found on the Web for free,as it has made me aware of Bolts thinking about his characters and how he sees and communicates with his audience who cannot fail to identify with the "Common Man!"

July Challenge

Book 1: Casa Velha by Machado de Assis 1863 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I've owned this ebook for a number of years, in Portuguese, and decided it was time to read it, and another book by the same author, because they were my only remaining books in Portuguese that I hadn't read yet.

Book 2: With Fire and Sword by Henryk Sienkiewicz⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I've owned this massive historical fiction novel as an ebook for years and decided to read it last week since it was too hot here to do much else.
It's set in 17th century Ukraine and is full of battles, but also about friendship, courage and honour. Plus, there's a charming love story.
All in around 1000 pages!
I'm glad I read it but I'll pass on the sequels. (I don't own those.)

July Challenge

Books read: 4/2
Book 1: The Reckoning by Edith Wharton 5 stars
The best story by Wharton that i have read.


Book 2: Train to Pakistan/2 (any number of books/stories, by Khushwant Singh 5 stars
This was a reread ( after 25 years) It is based on partition of India.

Book 3 : Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg 4 stars
Bleak themes but brilliantly written.

Book 4 : Lili Is Crying by Hélène Bessette 4 stars

This was a surprise. A classic written in very modern style. Theme is toxic relations between mother and daughter. It had a feel of Greek tragedies.

An excerpt .....

'Some sorrows are so great that we forget we’re supposed to weep over them. Instead, we try to understand them, to make sense of them, to explain them, to analyse them, to probe them, to dissect them, and pull them apart, to know them from beginning to end, to turn them over, to flip them back, we recount them to discover their secrets, weighing them, weighting them, considering them, rehashing them, revising them, recomposing them, reviving them, righting them.'

July
A long month of short stories:
Joseph Conrad – The Secret Sharer 1910
Dino Buzzati – Catastrophe and Other Stories 1965
Robert Louis Stevenson – The Bottle Imp 1891
Maxim Gorky – Tales of Italy 1911

July template:

Books read: 1/2 (any number of books/stories, it’s your choice)

Book 1:
(Title, author, star rating, comment)


Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence

Book 2:
(Title, author, star rating, comment):

The Boarding House by James Joyce. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Vit wrote: "July
A long month of short stories:
Joseph Conrad – The Secret Sharer 1910
Dino Buzzati – Catastrophe and Other Stories 1965
[author:Robe..."

The Bottle Imp is a really good story. I read it last year ... or maybe the year before.

Thank you to Vit & Nike for recommending The Bottle Imp - a very clever short story that I hadn’t heard of before. It made a good start to my reading this month.

Hi there i'm very sorry i haven't been around lately. My eyesight has gotten worse and worse and i can hardly read at all. I thought new glasses would help, but was told I have cataracts, and am waiting to be contacted for the surgery. On the upside, everyone I know of who has had the surgery say it changed their life and they can SEE now! Well i am very anxious to be able to say the same.

Love and miss you all xx

Jazzy wrote: "Hi there i'm very sorry i haven't been around lately. My eyesight has gotten worse and worse and i can hardly read at all. I thought new glasses would help, but was told I have cataracts, and am wa..."

The surgery is very effective, Jazzy.
Just follow all of the instructions the doctors give you for a great outcome.
I miss you too!

Jazzy wrote: "Hi there i'm very sorry i haven't been around lately. My eyesight has gotten worse and worse and i can hardly read at all. I thought new glasses would help, but was told I have cataracts, and am wa..."

I hope you don’t have to wait too long for the surgery.

Thank you Rosemarie and Trisha! It may take up to 18 months but I can hope for sooner!

I'm listening to the audiobook of A People’s History of the United States: 1492 - Present (1980) by Howard Zinn

I think I will see if i can find The Bottle Imp on audio and listen to it for July x

Jazzy wrote: "Thank you Rosemarie and Trisha! It may take up to 18 months but I can hope for sooner!..."

If it wouldn’t cause problems for you, tell the hospital you would have treatment at short notice. You may be lucky & get a cancellation. A friend did this & got an appointment very quickly, 2 or 3 weeks ahead instead of months. It helps everyone as it saves wasting time.

Jazzy wrote: "Hi there i'm very sorry i haven't been around lately. My eyesight has gotten worse and worse and i can hardly read at all. I thought new glasses would help, but was told I have cataracts, and am wa..."

I wish you good luck with the surgery. I think we all miss you! 🌸💜🌹

Thank you all for the reviews - a great selection of books this month, probably including some recommendations for others to read in future. Just a few days left to finish this theme…

July
So many fantastic tales:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Joseph Conrad – The Secret Sharer 1910
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Dino Buzzati – Catastrophe and Other Stories 1965
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Robert Louis Stevenson – The Bottle Imp 1891
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Maxim Gorky – Tales of Italy 1911
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Julio Cortázar – Bestiario 1951
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Ray Bradbury – The October Country 1955
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Andrei Platonov – The Return and Other Stories 1948
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Oliver Onions – The Beckoning Fair One 1911
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐María Luisa Bombal – New Islands and Other Stories 1939
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa – The Professor and the Siren 1957

Due to brain fatigue I haven't read or even started Lady Chatterley’s Lover. I can't even concentrate on audio books for now.

But I did manage to read a short story by James Joyce so I've accomplished the reading task for July anyway.

Nike wrote: "Due to brain fatigue I haven't read or even started Lady Chatterley’s Lover. I can't even concentrate on audio books for now.

But I did manage to read a short story by James Joyce so I've accompl..."

Well done , Nike.

I hope things improve for you, Nike.

I don’t think you should read Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Nike. It is far from his best. But Odour of Chrysanthemums, which is in your wishlist, is a must.

Vit wrote: "I don’t think you should read Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Nike. It is far from his best. But Odour of Chrysanthemums, which is in your wishlist, is a must."

That’s interesting, Vit. I read Lady Chatterley’s Lover a long time ago & wondered why it was popular. I haven’t bothered to read anything else by the author. Perhaps I should after seeing your opinion.

Thank you 🌸