I deliberately try to read widely, and I do take recommendations. Last year I finally finished ‘War and Peace’; I adored ‘H is for Hawk’, ‘A Shepherd’s Life’, and Naomi Novik’s ‘Spinning Silver’ & ‘Uprooted’. I read other things, too, but those are books I really enjoyed. I tend to shy away from most modern bestselling authors; not sure why they just don’t spark my interest.
Here are the books I end up rereading every year:
Gaudy Night (Dorothy Sayers)
Persuasion (Jane Austen)
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (Susanna Clarke)
Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Sunshine (Robin McKinley)
Gawain and the Green Knight (Anonymous)
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë)
None of the books I love are perfect. I know. Fight me. I like books in which there are rich inner lives of dynamic characters, a well-told story even if I see what’s coming next, a good eye for the description of landscape/place, and, where possible, dragons.
I’m usually somewhere in a translation of the Bible (Leviticus), the Greek epics and plays (talk to me about Anne Carson and Emily Wilson!), Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’, something by Dickens (‘Hard Times’), and one of Shakespeare’s plays (‘Antony & Cleopatra’). There’s a lot to sort through as to reasons why I read what I do, but I’ve always been a reader.
I like that you have books you re-read every year! While I have been taking my classes, I have a few series that I have done that with. Something comforting about your favorite characters waiting for you to peek in on them, even though you know what they are doing! My re-reads are very fluffy :) But... as long I love them and I am entertained, that is what matters!
ReplyDeleteWhere are you at in your degree progression?
Hi, Shannon! I just like the way they flow over me; sort of like sitting in the same park every day while the seasons change. Fluffy sounds delightful; do please pass on anything you think I'd like! Is there a really good representative title you could recommend? What kind of fluffy?
DeleteIn my degree progression I'd say I'm probably 2nd or 3rd semester--I'm in 5 classes deep before I started this term. It's been a rough road starting back to school, but I'm glad my situation is not exceptional:)
I am so excited someone else has read Sunshine by Robin McKinley. 11-year old Katie was obsessed with her (and that book was had the first "sex" scene I ever read). We must have very similar tastes in books; I have a lot of love for Novik, Tolstoy, and Greco-Roman plays and epics. Have you read Emily Wilson's translation of The Iliad yet? I'm really curious as to how it compares with Fagles'.
ReplyDeleteI am grateful to find someone with similar tastes! 'Sunshine' is such an incomparably odd vampire novel, and Novik is a modern treasure. I'm working on Emily Wilson's translation of 'The Odyssey', because I pre-ordered the audiobook and it is ready by Claire Danes, but there is a good deal of prefatory material that I feel requires a different set of ears than the story, if that makes any sense. From what I gather, having read bits and pieces, she humanizes the slaves and the women more than Fagles, etc. have in the past. Plus, it's in iambic pentameter and will go down like a spoonful of sugar. Or did you mean Caroline Alexander's translation of the Iliad? I don't know much about it yet, I'm afraid:( But soon!!
DeleteHi Rivkah,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Uprooted by Naomi Novik, and I was planning to read Spinning Silver for this class as my fantasy pick! I appreciate your comment about reading books with rich, dynamic characters because I am the same way. I can't get into a book unless I understand and care about the character, so I need to know their motivations, or at least be curious about them.
Quite! 'Spinning Silver' has several different narrators--most of them women, and I found them to be very different voices, and sympathetic even when they disagree (to the great benefit of the plot). I can't wait to hear what you think about it.
DeleteRivkah,
ReplyDeleteI have been inadvertently drawn in to my husband's listening to Maggie Gyllenhaal's reading performance of Anna Karenina (on audible). If you are ever stuck with about 36 hours to kill, it's well worth the time! I have also read Sunshine, have you read Hero and the Crown/Blue Sword or the Outlaws of Sherwood Forest by McKinley? Some of my favorites growing up.
That version of 'Anna Karenina' sounds delightful, I shall put it on my list. Thank you:) I have read all (or almost all) of Robin McKinley's bibliography and adore 'The Hero and the Crown' and 'The Blue Sword'. 'Outlaws' to me was more disappointing, probably because there were no dragons. I should reread it.
DeleteRivkah, I am very impressed by your selections from just the last year. I have tried to read War and Peace on three different occasions and I have not been successful yet. It is on my reading bucket list though! I have successfully read Tolstoy's Anna Karenina! That was a task but I can honestly say it was one of the best books I think I have ever read. I also enjoy writing with characters that have rich inner lives. As you said, if it is a well written story, I don't really mind if the plot is predictable.
ReplyDeleteIt took me more than three tries for 'War and Peace'! I find Dostoeveskii much easier to read! My secret was that I just kept getting mixed up with the characters, so I watched the mini-series as I finished the bits of the novel; it worked as a refresher for the things I missed since I didn't have anyone to talk about it with. The newest mini-series (Lily James, James Norton, Paul Dano, etc.) is incredibly well-cast and beautiful, and the music is so moving. I'm glad to hear another recommendation for 'Anna Karenina', too. Thanks:)
DeleteGreat reading profile! Full points! Naomi Novik is also one of my favorites!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I finished the first Temeraire book a few weeks ago and am shocked I hadn't picked them up before.
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