Carl

https://www.goodreads.com/carlrosin

Carl’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (543)
currently-reading‎ (44)
read‎ (827)
did-not-finish‎ (4)
american‎ (587)
literature‎ (441)
nonfiction‎ (285)
female-author‎ (283)
21st-century-fiction‎ (275)
nonliterature‎ (260)

bipoc-american-author‎ (142)
british-irish‎ (123)
crime-and-spy‎ (86)
young-adult‎ (71)
science‎ (69)
memoir‎ (56)
nonwestern‎ (53)
historical-fiction‎ (51)
education‎ (43)
graphic-novel-and-nonfic‎ (43)

european-nonbritish‎ (42)
poetry‎ (34)
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satire‎ (28)
for-my-kids‎ (27)
drama‎ (26)
war‎ (26)
criticism‎ (25)
fantasy-or-sci-fi‎ (22)
short-stories‎ (22)

unfinished-and-unlikely-to-finish‎ (9)
re-read‎ (7)
philosophy‎ (6)
best-5-fic-1965-to-now‎ (5)
best-5-fic-before-1965‎ (5)
best-5-nonfic‎ (5)
best-5-science‎ (5)

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Carl is Currently Reading

Carl is currently reading

The Daughter of Time (Inspector Alan Grant #5)

by Josephine Tey

bookshelves: literature, female-author, british-irish, crime-and-spy, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in January 1990

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Carl said: " Not your typical mystery novel, not a ton of action, but extraordinarily erudite and thought-provoking. It really appealed to my love of history -- a classic of the genre in many ways. "

progress:

(page 175 of 207)
"The villains: “frightened,” “tame,” undeservedly-sainted historians" — 23 hours, 40 min ago

May 09, 2026 07:57PM · see review

Carl is currently reading

Bleak House

by Charles Dickens

bookshelves: british-irish, literature, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in August 2022

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Carl said:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

" At times it might seem to us, upon our having spent several weeks embedded in a Dickens novel like Bleak House, with its 881 pages, that it is too much. But when we earn our way to the end of a Dickens novel like Bleak House, we realize that what we At times it might seem to us, upon our having spent several weeks embedded in a Dickens novel like Bleak House, with its 881 pages, that it is too much. But when we earn our way to the end of a Dickens novel like Bleak House, we realize that what we have is “quite enough” (880). It is hard to imagine a writer who offers a more thorough mix of frustrating complexity and deep satisfaction. When it comes to the final accounting, however, it is satisfaction that prevails.

Key to the satisfaction is the richness of characterization that the author provides. It is not merely the inner ring of characters—Esther, John Jarndyce, Richard, Ada, and the Dedlocks—who provide such richness. Perhaps even more engaging, and certainly more quintessentially Dickensian, is the next ring of slightly more peripheral personages, who range colorfully from the Caddys, Georges, and Allan Woodcourts at one pole of the moral continuum to the Tulkinghorns, Mrs. Jellybys, Skimpoles, and Vholeses at the opposite pole. More Dickensian yet is the next outer orbit of characters: Krook, Miss Flite, Charley, Boythorn, the Bagnets, Chadband, the Snagsbys, and what seems like 200 others, each of whom has not only a role to play but a memorable characteristic to mark him/her/them.

The other element that marks Dickens for me is his supernatural patience. He trusts us, and we (eventually—not without some struggle) trust him, to partner in the delivery of answers and connections more than 800 pages after the questions have been hinted at. The novel emerges from the fog that marks its opening scene into Resolution upon resolution—sometimes drawn by needle through a fabric of unbelievable coincidence, I admit—but once we consent ourselves into Dickens’ world, the whole pattern always rewards us with beauty. We think about law, chance, religion, birds, weather, and money in ways that few things enliven as robustly as great literature does.

It does sadden me, as a reader and teacher, that so much stamina is required here that it seems less and less likely that Dickens will retain the hold on our canon as he once did. That is a shame. I only hope that those who are willing to submit themselves to a voyage through to Dickens’ world will continue to proselytize and keep him in circulation and conversation. In many ways, this book seems the opposite of the vampiric court that is perhaps the novel’s most insidious villain: Bleak House rewards, with interest, and in interest, over and over. ...more "

progress:

(page 120 of 896)
— Apr 29, 2026 07:21AM

Aug 06, 2022 09:54AM · see review

Carl is currently reading

Beloved

by Toni Morrison

bookshelves: literature, female-author, american, bipoc-american-author, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in January 1988

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Carl said: " I remember loving the language and the emotion of it but finding the disorientation appropriate (as opposed to feeling that it was contrived in some of her other novels). This is absolutely my favorite Morrison. "

progress:

(page 105 of 325)
— Mar 26, 2026 04:02AM

Jun 14, 2020 04:17PM · see review

See all 44 books that Carl is reading…

Carl’s Quotes

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
― Elizabeth Appell

7935 likes

“For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.”
― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

tags: cosmology, delusion, knowledge, religion, science, truth, understanding

1826 likes

“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.”
― Elie Wiesel

tags: activism, apathy, hate, indifference, inspirational, love, opposite, philosophy

42131 likes

“Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is.”
― Albert Camus

tags: human-nature, man, mankind, philosophy

10808 likes

“He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much;
Who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children;
Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;
Who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty or failed to express it;
Who has left the world better than he found it,
Whether an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul;
Who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had;
Whose life was an inspiration;
Whose memory a benediction.”
― Bessie Anderson Stanley, More Heart Throbs Volume Two in Prose and Verse Dear to the American People And by them contributed as a Supplement to the original $10,000 Prize Book HEART THROBS

tags: life, misattributed-to-emerson, success, widely-misattributed

18548 likes

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