What are you reading (January 2016)?

I start this thread with the hope of sharing thoughts on the pleasure of reading.

Recently I realized that I buy too many books with the idea of reading but in the future. Since the future is most uncertain I made up my mind to make an effort and read more. I like literature and being in the right mood since August I started and finished (listed in the order of reading):

1. The Golden Ass
2. Crime and Punishment
3. The Vicar of Wakefield
4. The Betrothed
5. The Leopard
6. Diary of a Country Priest
7. The Black Tulip

2 & 3 HP editions and the rest LECs. All wonderfully designed and great readings. The least interesting was Goldsmith and the most challenging was Bernanos. Setting aside Duma's (a nice tale but not on the same footing as the rest) it is hard to pick up just one as a favorite. May be The Leopard but a week from today my opinion might change.

>1 BuzzBuzzard:

Quite a nice variety! Indeed it would be hard to choose a favorite, but as I always considered myself a classicist, I would select Apuleius as a fun read, and the LEC production one of my very favorite--I love everything about it! The most provocative, from the standpoint of emotional reaction, would have to be a tie between Lampedusa and Bernanos.

As for my own reading, I finally got around to Graham Greene's Brighton Rock, in a Folio Society edition brilliantly illustrated by a master at illustrating 20th century suspense--Geoff Grandfield. I had never read the novel, but saw Ray Boulting's film version at least a half-century ago. The novel is far better, but Richard Attenborough's portrayal of Pinky seems impossible to improve upon. I may next read Greene's The Power and the Glory, which was made into a wonderful film by John Ford; it will be interesting to see if my opinion of the film diminishes after reading the novel.

>2 Django6924: I revisited The Comedians last week and thoroughly enjoyed it once again. Following the festive season I have radically cut back on my internet time and have indulged in a veritable reading splurge. Currently I'm mid-way through The Picture of Dorian Gray and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and am just starting Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee. Since the beginning of the month and despite being a slow reader who has to read every word and not skim, I've read:

Chain of Command - Seymour Hersh

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - JK Rowling

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - JK Rowling

The History of the World in 100 Objects - Neil MacGregor

Shackleton's Boat Journey - Frank Worsley

The Comedians - Graham Greene

Life, the universe and Everything - Douglas Adams

Landscape into Art - Kenneth Clark

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

>3 HuxleyTheCat:

A "slow reader"?? I haven't read that many books all last year! (Maybe I spend too much time on this site?)

I made myself a promise not to delve into the Harry Potter books, as reading them would take too much time away from books which I have, but haven't yet read, and reading books which I read a long time ago, but felt the need to re-read with the perspective of maturity (the most recent being Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, which I read last month and appreciated more than I did when I was assigned to read it in secondary school, but this later revisiting did not revise my original feeling that I'm glad I didn't live in those repressed times, and that the book's title might have paraphrased Shakespeare--Much Ado About {a Trifle}). This concentration of effort is also the reason I have never read any of His Dark Materials, the Tolkien trilogy, or the Narnia books (of course I am somewhat indifferent to the speculative fiction genres, anyway). It's also the reason why I dropped the Patrick O'Brien books after the first 4 volumes, though I find the subject matter more compelling.

But my recent reading of Greene, and your report on the book, has determined me to find a FS edition of The Comedians. The movie I saw was somewhat of a mess, but I'm convinced now that Greene's works are almost always superior to their cinema adaptations. I couldn't find a copy on the Folio site, but lured by a $20 voucher and the Winter Sale, succumbed to ordering Finnegan's Wake (full of misgivings about that one), and The Dam Busters. As for some of my as yet unread LECs and Heritage Press books--they will have to wait.

>4 Django6924: I think I read about 16 books in total last year, so I'm making up a bit; a fairly lengthy commute by public transport, and a tendency towards insomnia allow plenty of time, so it's just been a matter of switching activity. I do like the fantasy genre (also historical fiction) as I have too much of the real world in real life and need at least some of my reading to be pure escapism. I enjoy going back to a familiar place with familiar characters and to the elements of honesty and loyalty which are so often a large component of the protagonists in these books, and something which I find to be rather lacking in the here and now. If the O'Brian books stuck to the ocean wave rather than venturing into Jane Austen territory then I would have lapped them up, but I don't think I got beyond number three.

http://www.foliosociety.com/book/TCM/comedians

>5 HuxleyTheCat: I thought too you must be kidding about being a slow reader!

I forgot to mention that I also read Of Mice and Men.

Next to real life i have about time to read 1 book every month.

now im reading the lec vanity fair. The illustrations are very appropiate to the book in my opinion. And so far a lovely story.

Also as huxley mentioned i too need some escapism in my live now and then.

>6 BuzzBuzzard: Nope I'm definitely not fast. Every time I do one of those group exercises where one has to read through a particular text I'm always one of the last to finish. I've just remembered one time I was on a course with a member of the military intelligence community, and we were given a sheet of A4 to read through: by the time I'd finished reading, she had read, fully assimilated and produced a diagramatic representation of the content. It made me feel rather inadequate.

>8 HuxleyTheCat:

A4? Sounds like riveting stuff; what slowed you down? Plot intricacies? extensive use of metaphors? difficult dialect in the dialog?

>9 Django6924: What slowed me down is that I'm a slow reader.

Finished The Picture of Dorian Gray last evening and will start The Prisoner of Zenda this. It will be my first LEC vol of the year.

>10 HuxleyTheCat:

Well, I have no idea of what A4 is, but I know that reading anything written by bureaucracies, especially government bureaucracies, is for me the equivalent of swimming in a pool of molasses.

Now The Prisoner of Zenda only took me a day and a half!

>11 Django6924: Ah, my apologies: A4 is the most common size of a sheet of paper used in the UK (I admit I'd thought it was universal). My sentence should have read "...we were given an A4 sheet of text to read...". The subject matter isn't at all relevant and, given that it was produced by HMG, was likely pointless and tedious in the extreme.

>8 HuxleyTheCat:
Huxley, I had a similar sobering experience on a civil emergencies planning course at Easingwold years ago.
After that I never laughed at the old 'military intelligence - a contradiction in terms' joke again....

I am not reading anything. Well, sometimes I am revisiting old friends in my library and read a few lines here and there, but most of the time, I am just flipping through a few books, looking at the illustratinons, feeling and smelling the hand made paper, letter press printing and engravings or etchings. Too much work and feeling too tired to read, I am happy just to be able to snatch half an hour or so in my library when my wife and kid have just fallen asleep, just sitting there with a favourite edition in my hand, feeling blessed to live in a period of time when I actually have been able to obtain what I consider the best of the best even with my limited financial means, meditating and relaxing before going to sleep.

Of course, I have periods when I read, and then I read a lot. It was perfect bliss to read through War and Peace and Joseph and his Brothers again recently.

There used to be a time when I thought that I would need to read through what is considered to be "the western canon". No more so. My library is just for enjoyment and relaxation. I do not need any additional stress, and it would be foolish, indeed, to impose that extra stress upon myself. Oh, how nice it felt when I recently sold my Proust at top dollar and waved farewell to it at the post office.

Yes, there are many "must reads" that I have never read, and never will read, but I do not care. I'd rather be ignorant and enjoying life than a literary or intellectual snob who knows the entire western canon, whatever that is. If I'm recycled without having read Ulysses, who gives a f**k?

This evening, I feel like I am going to spend a couple of hours with my old friends Robert Burton and Anatole France's Abbé Coignard…

>14 .parchment: My first Anatole France book was Crainquebille. This past year I read Revolt of the Angels. Does France have a bibliophile with a library in most of his works?

I am currently reading Hugo's Toilers of The Sea. I like his style and the story, but man - he has an agenda to name every single rock in the sea as well as every living or deceased person from these islands. At times it feels too much.

>15 BuzzBuzzard: wrote: Does France have a bibliophile with a library in most of his works?

Maybe in most, but not in all. One very readable exception is Thais (one of my favourites).

>15 BuzzBuzzard: also wrote: he has an agenda to name every single rock in the sea as well as every living or deceased person from these islands. At times it feels too much.

If you ever try to read Proust, I think that you will change your mind and find Hugo easygoing.

>7 Virion: How is Vanity Fair going? I was reading various monthly letters for the second series and VF was described very enthusiastically. Hence I could not resit a copy in fine condition.

Sometime ago I got lucky to find a like new copy of An Iceland Fisherman. While I did not think much of the LEC at the time, after having read the story I think it is lovely. The conservative design reflects the beautiful and simple prose perfectly. When the club members were asked to rank the books from the second series Iceland Fisherman was ranked third (perhaps surprisingly), closely followed by The Little Flowers then Odyssey then Illiad and so forth. 748 votes were cast, which is a good sample size. Number two was The English Opium-Eater - one of my personal all time favorites. Number one, with a huge advantage was Vanity Fair. Now I can't wait to receive my copy of Vanity Fair.

>17buzzbuzzard
I'm enjoying the book very much. About half way now. The illustrations by austin are really apropos to the story and enhance the vanity fair, the main characters are living.
The fact that there is no real main character hero is also refreshing.

I just finished reading One Hundred Years of Solitude. A really nice touch would have been had the LEC provided a family tree chart. Something in the spirit of the bookmark that came with War and Peace, which I have never seen. Too many Jose Arcadios and Aurelianos to keep track of. For those who have not read this work I highly recommend it. A nicely done LEC too, although I could not worm up to the illustrations.

About half way through Erewhon. After Don Quixote and Anna Karenina this is a quick read.

Erewhon is printed admirably well by the Pynson Printers and I think is Kent's sole commission for the LEC. Kind of strange considering his popularity at the time. I have a feeling he might have been a socialist and therefore not much loved by Macy. Anyhow Erewhon is one beautifully designed and printed book. However the story was a bit of a head scratcher to me. Couldn't say I got much out of it.

>22 BuzzBuzzard: The story is certainly strange to me so far. It started out being interesting and the further I read the more boring it becomes. Maybe it will get better in the last half of the book.

I read William Morris' News From Nowhere in close proximity to Erewhon and I much preferred Morris' take on a similar theme.

Erewhon is a beautiful book in every regard and I especially like the title on the spine appearing to float above the surface.

.

>22 BuzzBuzzard:
"I have a feeling he [Rockwell Kent]might have been a socialist and therefore not much loved by Macy."

I'm not sure about that. One of his favourite artists was Lynd Ward (13 LECs), a man with a strong social conscience whose political views were influenced by those of his father (a Methodist minister, trades union supporter, and the first national chairman of the ACLU, a post he resigned only when the organisation barred communists from holding any of its offices). Lynd and his wife May McNeer were founder-members of the Equinox Cooperative Press (1932-37), a socialist/Communist-leaning group; Lynd also sympathised with and/or worked for other such organisations, including the Socialist Party of America. A favourable Chicago Tribune review (31 December 1932) of Wild Pilgrimage praised his graphic novels as a dramatic and effective method of conveying the tragedies of individuals caught up in modern industrial life.

Then there was Sir Francis Meynell, one of Macy's best friends: a pacifist, progressive socialist, and erstwhile editor of 'The Communist', a London political weekly.

And, of course, Kent's political views had not prevented Macy's employing him to illustrate books: the 1927 Macy-Masius anthology Americana Esoterica and the 1936 Heritage Press Leaves of Grass. Kent was also one of the first artists he invited to partake in the LEC Shakespeare.

Perhaps Kent was just too expensive to commission as an LEC regular?

Edited to take account of BuzzBuzzard's correction at 28!

>27 featherwate: Or maybe his increasing involvement in politics from the late 1930's onward didn't leave him enough time to illustrate.

Is there a 1928 Macy-Masius edition of the Confessions? I know of the 1928 Ballad of Reading Gaol illustrated by Lynd Ward.

>28 BuzzBuzzard:
No, of course there isn't a Macy-Masius Opium Eater! ...thanks for the correction, God knows what put the idea into my head. Certainly not wishful thinking - I'm not a great fan of Rockwell Kent. In fact his Candide and Decameron are the only books of his that I have.
Yes, I can see that his commercial/fine press work might have had to give way to his increasing political involvement (and his love of globe-trotting - he makes even Miguel Covarrubias look like a timid stay-at-home). It might explain why he turned down the LEC Shakespeare commission having initially agreed to do Hamlet.
Perhaps it was not Macy's own political opinions that led him to distance himself from Kent but his usual and understandable nervousness about how his subscribers might react - in the dire days of the late 30s and the 1940s he could not afford to alienate any of them...

.

>30 parchmenths: I love Marquez and the book was a must for me. Not my favorite Shiff book primarily because of the illustrations but still quite nice. It is aniline leather indeed. Nice and soft but I suppose prone to fading as well as staining. There seem to be no scarcity of info on Rafael Ferrer online. I have not looked because he is not my cup of tea.

So what is the story with the Macy-Masius publications? I have Americana Esoterica and had been meaning to ask this group about it.

>32 SteveJohnson: I have two Macy-Masius books, American Esoterica and Doug and Mary and Others with woodcut portraits by Bertrand Zadig. I think Macy probably learned a lot with this endeavor but really stepped up his game with the LEC and HP. I'm not a big fan of the Macy-Masius editions I've seen.

>32 SteveJohnson:

Macy-Masius was an early publishing adventure of George Macy's about which I know almost nothing (I'm hoping if Santa brings me Ms. Grossman's recent book on the LEC, I might learn more).

What I do know about it is that it published a much more diverse range of titles than either the LEC or HP, including books about popular movie stars of the day such as Rudolph Valentino and Douglas Fairbanks, political figures such as failed Presidential candidate Al Smith, soft-core erotica such as The Songs of Bilitis, illustrated in a Beardsley-esque style by Willy Pogany (who despite his prominence among book illustrators, never made an appearance for the LEC or HP), and classic literature such as The Ballad of Reading Gaol, wonderfully illustrated by Lynd Ward. Most notoriously, it published Alger: A Biography without a Hero, an almost entirely fictitious "biography" which was supposedly done as a parody of the current rage for biographies of celebrities, with Macy's blessings. When it was highly praised by many of Macy's friends on publication and taken for gospel, the story is that Macy was afraid of embarrassing those friends and never owned up to the fake. It was the equivalent in its day to the Clifford Irving "biography" of Howard Hughes (though that book was more trustworthy and less lurid than the Alger book).

The publishing house of Macy-Masius was merged into the far-left Vanguard Press in 1928. In 1929, Vanguard Press steadily moved away from radical political publications and toward more mainstream literary titles at the same time George Macy moved away from the more commercial side of publishing to form the companies that are his legacy today.

>34 Django6924:
Robert, I don't want to perpetrate any major spoilers in case you do get Carol Grossman's book for Christmas, but I will say she destroys my cherished theory that Masius was just a hyphenate Macy invented to make the company sound more important....

>35 featherwate:

You're kidding, Jack! There really was a Masius? (Not even AutoCorrect believes it, as it keeps wanting to change it to that other epicure, Marius (Pater's, not Pagnol's).

>36 Django6924:
Robert, he was Leonard Masius, whom Ms Grossman refers to as a college friend. Their collaboration was short, but amicably dissolved. Masius had a genius for publicity and with George's full approval accepted a job offer from a major advertising agency. He rose rapidly in his new occupation, ending up as a very big cheese indeed.

Quite rightly, Ms Grossman doesn't follow him beyond his involvement with Macy-Masius. But her references to his being a college friend of Macy's and 'doing extremely well' in his chosen career are enough to suggest he may have been Leonard Max Masius, born in New York on April 10 1898 to store cashier Max L Masius and his wife Rhoda, the children of German immigrants. He was drafted into the Marine Corps a month before the end of World War I (he had a longer war the next time round, ending up as a Lieutenant-Colonel). He read law at Cornell University, where he was known as 'Len'.

George Macy wasn't, of course, at Cornell which made me wonder how they could have been college friends. They had both been 'prepared' at the DeWitt Clinton High School, though Masius would have been two years ahead of George. At a guess, they got to know each other (or know each other better) through a shared fraternity: Masius was in the Kappa Chapter of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity at Cornell and Macy in the ZBT's Delta Chapter at Columbia. Furthermore, George had a public profile through his work for the fraternity's headquarters.

For the greater part of his advertising career Masius was based in England (where he was a prominent member of the American community and known as 'Mike'). It was there that he died of a heart attack in the early hours of Sunday January 8 1961, having spent the previous day playing bridge and golf (the weather had been exceptionally fine for January).

>37 featherwate:

Great information, Jack (as always). Thanks!

Started reading the HP Return of the Native the other day and I am not able to put it down. Stylistically it is very different than Jude. Here Hardy is loquacious with an air of mysticism lurking everywhere. I love the descriptions of the heath and how it plays a role on the character formation. I am not an expert on Victorian literature and wonder if the themes of love, marriage, etc. touched by Hardy were not a bit of a novelty at the time. Judging by the public outrage Hardy's handling of these themes must have been original at least.

>39 BuzzBuzzard:
Glad you are enjoying it! The ROTN did, as yoú say, have its critics. They ranged from the morally upset to the sneering literati. The latter compared Hardy unfavourably with Mark Twain; criticised him for his 'usual verbosity'; grudgingly accepted that he had written a book above the average novels of the day but only because most novels were now very bad, and that back in the age of Dickens, Thackeray and the Brontes "it would have been condemned for its glaring defects and paucity of genuine merit". Hardy's style was criticised for palpably straining after effect. On the basis of the first four chapters of its serialisation one critic wrote the book off as "not particularly interesting to general readers". Another said that in parts "it is difficult to believe we are not reading a fiction by some fifth-rate lady novelist" (ouch!).

But these critics did not have it all their own way. The novel was said by others to "surprise and enchain [sic] by its sheer freshness"; was hailed as being of exceptional force and interest and far above the average contemporary novel; and credited with having súfficiently rare merits of genuine dramatic force, photographic accuracy and psychological discernment to offset some grotesque mistakes of construction and language on the part of its author.

Does anyone read Theodore Dreiser? I read the two published by George Macy and also Jennie Gerhardt and A Gallery of Women published by Liveright. I am now reading another Liveright titled The Financier. I find his books to be hard to put down and wonder if anyone else enjoys his writing! It appears he was a prolific writer and extremely well thought of in his time. I wish Macy had included more of his books as HP or LEC editions.

I used to like Dreiser very much, and I read his complete Financier trilogy, American Tragedy, and more books - every one of his novels that I could find. It was quite a long time ago. I remember that the last book of Dreiser I read was the last book in the Financier trilogy -- I think that it is titled Titan - I can't remember for sure, and I cannot verify at the moment, and I remember that a lot of text of the volume was dedicated to phylosophical believes of the author. At the time, I was also very much interested in the subject; however, I thought that it took away from the flow of the story. I was dissapointed with the novel and took a very long break from Dreiser's output. :)
I do think that Dreiser's work is unjustly falling into obscurity.

>42 booksforreading: I agree that his work should not fall into obscurity. The Stoic was the third book in the trilogy. I hope to read all I can find and hope I continue to think highly of his writings.

>41 Jan7Smith:

I have read both of the novels Macy published, An American Tragedy when I was in high school and was profoundly affected by it; the Kansas City I grew up in the 1950s was not that different from the Kansas City the young Clyde Griffiths wanted to escape. My mother had never read the novel, but had seen the movie version in the 1930s. She remembered very well the Chester Gillette case on which the novel had been based--which had been the tabloid sensation of her adolescent years--and told me about how the case was avidly followed by all the girls of her age who were both repelled by Gillette's callousness, yet strongly attracted by his appearance ("we all thought he was very handsome").

Many critics have praised Dreiser's books--especially An American Tragedy--for their power while lamenting Dreiser's prose style as "clumsy" and "leaden." While Dreiser is definitely not a stylist in the F. Scott Fitzgerald mold, one wonders whether, given his aims and his subject matter, Dreiser's style isn't exactly right.

> 44 I am hoping to read most of Dreiser's books and have already read his three most famous novels and his nonfiction two-volume set A Gallery of Women. Robert, I thought after reading An American Tragedy that it was the best novel I could remember reading in many years of reading.
I have the three volumes of his Trilogy of Desire on hand to read. I have ordered Chains, Twelve Men and The Genius, all, with the exception of The Stoic (Doubleday) in the old Liveright editions. I will be consumed by Theodore Dreiser for quite some time if I read all of these. Would like to know what others think of his books.

I'm currently reading Two Years Before the Mast. I'm reading from the Westvaco Edition, though I also own the gorgeous Illinois Gear and Machine Co. rebinding of the Heritage Press text.

I am reading the Nonesuch edition of The Princess of Clèves. I read it back in college, but recent discussions of the Nonesuch/HP Ten Great French Romances series made me decide to pick it up when I needed a quick read.

It's a beautifully produced book: typographical layout, letterpress, paper and the series binding are all superb. The illustrations are charming, beautifully hand colored, but neither insightful nor very illustrative of character or action. I had forgotten how when I first read it, the difficult time I had slogging through the first book with the confusing panoply of 16th century French aristocracy, and I think this is still the biggest obstacle for the general reader; but once the story actually gets down to the the dilemma the characters find themselves in, it is hard to put down.

I was going to start reading Vanity Fair in LEC edition, but, unfortunately, the book arrived with a mildew smell, and I am sensitive to this. Other than that, it is in almost perfect condition without any sunning/discolorations on the dust jackets, slipcase, and covers, with everything almost as new.
Instead of returning the books, I placed them in a sealed container with a lot of baking soda (the books don't touch soda), and I am going to check if there is any difference in odors in about 2 months.
I have just finished reading LEC The Comedy of Errors by Shakespeare, and, before it, the LEC Christmas Carol by Dickens - both works for the first time. I am now reading Cicero's "On Moral Duties" (my first work by Cicero) from the 1972 LEC, and I am amazed at how contemporary and timeless this essay seems to me!

I reread Sir Gawain and the Green Knight from the very brown LEC edition over Christmas and the days immediately leading up to it and also recently finished Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore which I found entrancing. I'm nearing the end of the Nonesuch Mademoiselle de Maupin which has proved pretty enjoyable although d'Albert's long self absorbed monologues have made me turn elsewhere from time to time (but then I suppose this is Gautier being very effective at showcasing just how shallow and self absorbed the man really is). I'm midway through Folio's Tale of Genji which I'm enjoying immensely, sometimes lifting my head to find far too many hours have passed! The edition has helpful annotations and reproductions of beautiful medieval illustrations for each chapter. I've been trying to get together a list of classical Japanese and Chinese lit to read as my undergraduate education left me woefully unversed in the classics of either nations literary traditions. To my dismay I find that the LEC's All Men Are Brothers (otherwise known as Water Margin or Outlaws of the Marsh) is not a complete translation; perhaps this is a blessing as the bark paper binding makes me somewhat fearful I'd damage it in the process of reading.

And I just swallowed my third Hardy pill - The Return of the Native. In my chart it ranks along The Mayor of Casterbridge with additional points for original characters and masterful scenery descriptions. Jude is still on top. Onto Tess next.

.

>50 BuzzBuzzard: Tess was always my favorite. Then again, I never loved Casterbridge, so perhaps we have different tastes (I did have to read it freshman year, so perhaps that poisoned the well for me). Still, hope you love Tess like I do.

I'm reading the LEC edition of Aristotle's "Politics and Poetics". And writing in pencil in the margins! As I get older, I think I am aspiring to be what Anne Fadiman called "a carnal lover" of books (vs. courtly lover).

I continue to work my way through Theodore Dreiser's books. I am about half way through The Titan now, then, on to The Stoic.

>51 parchmenths: The Folio Society Genji I have translated by Royall Tyler seems to be complete in that it contains all 55 chapters that it are known to exist from extant manuscripts, but perhaps either we are thinking of two different folio editions or you are aware of omissions I am not (which is certainly possible). I would not say I refuse to read the LEC All Men Are Brothers, but from what I have picked up from looking about online the Pearl Buck translation is not without some inaccuracies and is only of a shorter version of the work (of which it appears there are various versions of various lengths in which various authors have variously added embellishments through the centuries). Since more recent/better regarded translations of longer or combined versions are available, I'm of a mind to forgo the experience of reading from an attractive copy of a book to perhaps have a better/more complete experience of the work. Of course, who knows when I may actually buy and read one of these other translations!

.

>56 parchmenths:
Penguin published both abridged and unabridged versions of Tyler's Genji. Folio's version is unabridged.
FS is the best English edition of Genji I'm aware of, very happy I got it before it sold out.

>58 EclecticIndulgence:
Good to see you, Eclectic!
I did some research and a bit of comparison of the available translations a year or so ago, and I thought Tyler's and Seidenstricker's were both clearly better than the extremely wordy, ugly, and too direct Washburn's, and Waley apparently omitted whole chapters, let alone random passages. I settled on the Tyler over Seidenstricker mainly because he has extensive notes on cultural and political matters of Heian Japan. So Folio edition was a no-brainer for me, especially considering numerous great illustrations and a beautiful binding (and a half-price sale).
Nevertheless, I do agree that Everyman's Seidenstricker is a not a bad choice either, particularly as an economy option.

>58 EclecticIndulgence:, >59 elladan0891:

Hi, Eclectic!

Seidensticker's translation, the reading of it, imprinted on me almost thirty years ago and that's probably the reason I didn't get on with Tyler's, although I would like to read it through some day (I also have Waley's version, not to mention a lovely French edition). But so far the sentimental entanglement with memories of that "Genji year" has made me acquire other versions, all the while keeping me away from reading them!

By the way, I can't recommend too highly Seidensticker's own memoir of translating the book, Genji days to any fans, as well as his other books on Japan.

>48 booksforreading:
You might be interested to know that keeping the books (Vanity Fair volumes) for two months in a sealed container with baking soda did remove the meldew odor!
I cannot detect any of it right now, so it seems that soda works this way! (Hopefully, not temporarily.)

I just finished Tess. One more LEC/HP Hardy to go - Far from the Madding Crowd. Tess definitely ranks high up along with Jude (@ >52 Edmund_Fitzgerald:). They are so similar in themes and composition.

>63 EclecticIndulgence: I mostly agree but would swap your #3 and #4.

Edited: Excuse my mistake! I have not read Far From the Madding Crowd. My #3 is Return of the Native and #4 is Mayor of Casterbridge.

I have been reading James Salter and am about to finish every book he wrote that I am aware of being available. His style has really captivated me. Wish he had written more. Anyone else reading his books?

>66 Jan7Smith:

I've only read The Hunters, many, many years ago. I was very interested in my 20s in the air combat during the Korean War and found the novel to have much memorable characterization, due in part, apparently, to being a thinly veiled portrait of the author's fellow pilots . Although I understand his later novels were of a very different order, and highly regarded by critics, as I wrote elsewhere, I haven't paid much attention to modern fiction for some time.

Currently reading The House of the Seven Gables. After an action packed (and promising) introduction the story developed melancholy and uneventful. I am halfway through and hoping for something to happen. The potential is there with Phoebe, Judge Pyncheon, Clifford and the young artist in the house. The prose is enjoyable but I can see how Hawthorne is not everyone's cup of tea.

>68 BuzzBuzzard:

Thankfully, it picks up at the end, but unaccustomed as most of us are to leisurely exposition these days, not many everyone can stick it through. I started it 40 years ago and put it down a third of the way through and had to start all over again 4 or 5 years ago.

>69 Django6924:

The story does pick up towards the end. I am glad I finished it. Do you find the end consistent with the preceding story? Without giving too much I was hoping for something less conventional and perhaps in the Hardy spirit.

Non sequitur - Guys I straightened and reloaded the group picture. I just couldn't stand to look at that sideways bookcase any more out of fear all the books were going to fall out. Carry on.

>71 varielle:
:) great job! Thank you!!

>"Do you find the end consistent with the preceding story?"

Not really. Too many things coming to light at the same time, too many happy coincidences, some characterizations that don't entirely ring true. I much prefer the Hawthorne of the short stories such as "Young Goodman Brown," and would have preferred something more along those lines.

Recently I endorsed the HP (original) Penguin Island and after reading it I can reaffirm my support. It is a wonderfully produced book. If there is one aspect that is lacking for me it is surprisingly the illustrations. I like Sauvage but did not find his pictures all that good. May be they could have been reproduced a little bit better too. Regardless the HP is a great reading copy and a nice one to keep. The story is quite entertaining but of all A. France stories that were issued by the LEC the best one is Queen Pedauque hands down. Now I am off to Dana's Two Years Before The Mast. I finally found a copy with minimal fading to the spine, which happened regardless of the still present glassine. I am surprised how much more I like the HP form factor compared to the Lakeside edition.