MASTER SLAVE HUSBAND WIFE: An Epic Journey From Slavery to Freedom - Ilyon Woo
Excellent true story of the escape of an enslaved couple (William and Ellen Craft) from Georgia in the 1840’s. Ellen dressed as a rich white man travelling with “his” slave (William) to effect the escape.
Very different from the Underground Railroad type escape stories.
Have started my re-read of The Brothers Karamazov. Probably 20+ hours of reading?
I had forgotten most of the plot and the details of the philosophical musings in the book so it is almost like reading it for the first time. However my reaction now to the theological discussions is very different from what they would have been 50 years ago and this is just one of the benefits of reading such a thoughtful book at different ages.
Listening to Golden Poppies by Laila Ibrahim, mostly bc it’s the third in a trilogy and narrated by one of my favorites. She just read the entirety of Swing Low Sweet Chariot in a not great way tho. Apparently having a good voice for reading novels doesn’t translate to poetry or songs.
About to start Winterland by Rae Meadows.
I hadn’t forgotten how much I love Razumikhin, but yeah, he’s a sweetie
Crime and punishment gave me anxiety at places (especially the conversations between Rodya and Porfiry Petrovitch). Karamzov is every bit as good so far, without making me feel like I’m losing it
Razumikhin was the best
Crime and Punishment is certainly very different from The Brothers Karamazov. I enjoyed both of them when I first read them 50+ years ago and again now.
Dostoevsky has very extensive musings on religious issues in The Brothers Karamazov. His support of Christ’s teachings but criticism of the actions of organized religion is a constant theme. His dissertations on one’s relationship with the rest of the human race are quite interesting.
The plots and characters in both books are fascinating.
Started The Darker Shade of Magic series
Reading some Gormenghast, at uh, Gormenghast’s suggestion.
Classic fantasy series. Not well known on this side of the Atlantic. Only heard of it because an English co-worker recommended the trilogy to me when I worked in the UK in the early 1990’s. It is on my list of books to re-read.
Yeah, I’m unsurprised it’s unpopular. Feels very Dickensian, speaking of authors I should read as an adult.
C&P is anxiety all the time.
Karamazov… I actually like most of the characters (except the dad who got murdered… and the murderer). But we all know – Alyosha is an angel.
Re: Karamazov. Before I read it, I knew the dad got murdered, but it takes a hell of a long time before it happens. And he is really frickin annoying. I was yelling GET KILLED ALREADY many times. Holy moley, I was kind of surprised nobody had killed him before that… or rather, that he hadn’t already killed himself via drinking himself to death.
That is quite a popular way to kill one’s self in Russia, after all.
Gormenghast books are old style fantasy. If you want much edgier fantasy, I would recommend anything by China Mieville. His genre is weird fiction.
Re: Gormenghast – there was a TV adaptation, and I remember seeing it via PBS at one point
I assume it was a BBC production
I’m surprised that it’s called “fantasy” with no magic or orcs. More like medieval fiction?
Anyway, it’s fine. It has some very good and unique prose and doesn’t try too hard to be exciting, unlike most fantasy.
Probably classified as fantasy more based on the lack of fantasy at the time written.
My kid will happily quote about 14 wizard of oz books to challenge you on that.
Fantasy as a genre covers a wide range of fiction. Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter series are clearly fantastic with classic good versus evil narratives.
Gormenghast Trilogy is less action-oriented but still fantastical. Having said that, I re-read the first book of the Gormenghast Trilogy last year and did not enjoy it as much as the first time some thirty years ago. I expect I would enjoy more a re-read of Lord of the Rings but that is a huge time investment. Easier to rewatch the excellent movie version!
Oh there is some to be sure and more depending how far you want expand the genera but it’s not extensive. Beyond Alice, Oz, Middle Earth, Narnia, Lovecraft (depending how you want to classify him), Neverland maybe, I’m not coming up with a ton of pre-1950s fantasy off the top of my head.
Gulliver’s Travels? Dracula? Frankenstein?
Also weird that we have a term “horror” that is its own thing, when it’s really just spooky-fantasy.
Oh well. I get your point.
verne, wells, poe