Mabith's Heavy Tomes (Meredith)

I feel like I need a bit of encouragement to get to some of the longer books on my to-read list, so here I am! I'm setting a low goal of 6 right now, though I'm hoping to do one a month.

These are some of the big books on my list:
Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest by Wade Davis
Vietnam: A History by Stanley Karnow Finished December 16
Jonathan Swift: The Reluctant Rebel by John Stubbs
Catherine The Great by Robert K. Massie Finished Jan 19
The Gulag Archipelago Vol 1 by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Finished in March
The Gulag Archipelago Vol 2 by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Finished in June
The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin Finished August 11

Middlemarch by George Eliot Finished Feb 5
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer Finished April 19
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry Finished May 17
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy Finished July 7
The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing Finished Nov 4
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt Finished Nov 5
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
Roots by Alex Haley
Barkskins by Annie Proulx

Welcome and good luck with these heavy tomes!

Hi Meredith and welcome to the merry band, I must say I love your cross stitch my dear, my daughter loves cross stitching.

Welcome Meredith, I'm sure you will enjoy Middlemarch and then her Daniel Deronda is also a Big Fat Book and a great read !

Thanks, folks!

>3 johnsimpson: Thank you! It's a great hobby, and can be quite meditative.

>4 bryanoz: One edition of her Adam Bede was 604 pages too, though I'm sure that's with all the notes and such. Since I mostly do audiobooks they're a huge time commitment (24 hours or more).

Much respect for completing those long audiobooks Meredith, your powers of concentration exceed mine decidedly !

I can only do it because my hand and hind-brain are busy with needlework while I listen (though also I was trained to oral storytelling and audiobooks quite young).

Good luck with your BFB's in 2017. I've read Middlemarch, and although Eliot is among my favorite writers, this books was just meh. However, I dearly love Doctor Zhivago which I've read twice.

Interesting about Eliot! I've really enjoyed the other books I've read by her, so we'll see I guess.

The only one on your list that I have read is Dr Zhivago. It has been a while, but it's one of those books that stay with you for a long time. It is worth the time investment. And I like our choice of non-fiction, they all look interesting. Good luck with your goal!

1. Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie 672 pages

I think I had too much hype surrounding this book from when it first came out. It was a good read, but not amazing, and really it should have been at least 100 pages longer.

2. Middlemarch by George Eliot

I absolutely loved this! Eliot's writing and grasp of psychology are so good, and frequently very humorous. The auction scene was a particular favorite. It's interesting how much she bucks the "bad people get their come-uppance" trend so common in older novels. Though I really could have done with less kind treatment of Fred Vincy who greatly annoyed me.

I kind of want to start re-reading this immediately.

#12 Great to hear Meredith ! You'll love Daniel Deronda, written after Middlemarch and her last novel, of course all her novels are great reads.

I'm certainly excited to read more of hers (I've read The Mill on the Floss and Silas Marner already). I'll probably go back to the beginning next and read Adam Bede, but not too soon.

March BFB - The Gulag Archipelago Vol 1, great read!

I did not like Middlemarch, but Eliot is probably my favorite author(ess). I loved The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Adam Bede, and Daniel Deronda. I have both Felix Holt and Romola on my TBR pile!

My 2nd BFB for this year is The Gulag Archipelago, although mine isn't divided into volumes, just one big tome!

Interesting that you love Eliot but disliked Middlemarch. Were you able to pinpoint why that was?

I mostly have to do audiobooks due to chronic pain, and the audio edition at my library is divided so that's how it goes.

April BFB - The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer, 758 pages

This was actually a reread as my online book group chose it for this month. Very bold to choose such a long book!

It's historical fiction following a family of Jewish Hungarians who are mostly studying abroad when the war begins. Andras Levi is studying architecture in Paris after being awarded a scholarship. As he and the other Jewish students attempt to understand what is going on in Germany and deal with rising anti-Semitism in Paris, Andras is also falling in love with an older woman.

I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy it on the re-read, but I still really liked it. I know some find it overly long, but it was the right length to me. Even basically knowing what happens I still found myself really sunk into this world. When I'd switch to my other book (giant Jonathan Swift biography) I found it very jarring and difficult (which is rarely the case).

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

This was Mistry's fairly long second novel which focuses on The Emergency period in India, 1975-1977 when a state of emergency was called allowing the Prime Minister (then Indira Gandhi) to rule by decree, and suspend civil liberties and elections.

The characters have a variety of backgrounds but are brought together in various ways. I really loved Dina and her unwillingness to simply appease her brother. It was a good read though I often felt I was just letting it wash over me than connecting with it. Word of warning, it's pretty dark with lots of death and maiming and such. I do think it's worth reading though.

Finished the second volume of The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzenitsyn. These are SO readable and are true classics. 752 pages.

Finished Anna Karenina. Liked it fine but didn't love it, and never really felt drawn in to the characters or situations the way I do with Elizabeth Gaskell or George Eliot.

>21 mabith: I've had much the same reaction, especially to Anna.

I usually don't get caught up in "classics have to be liked" nonsense but I am feeling like I was definitely supposed to like this one. I'm in a weird place with my reading right now, but I don't think I'd have loved this one even under perfect conditions.

I don't expect to like or love a classic, but I want the main characters to be interesting in some way, so that I care about what happens to them. To my mind Anna is just insipid.

Hello Meredith, I joined this group a bit late. But I'm happy I found it.

Hi Meredith, I'm also new to this group and just saying hello. Interesting discussion about George Elliot's work, she's on my TBR pile for this year so I may as well make it a chunkster, possibly Adam Bede if it makes the 600 mark!

Never to late to join in!

>26 floremolla: Some editions are a bit over the 600 mark, though maybe not all. I mostly need to read via audiobook, so I just have to look up page numbers.

I really need to read Gulag Archipelago. Glad to hear it's good!

>30 mabith: I have a story about The Bully Pulpit. My husband and I traveled from our home in Delaware to attend a wedding in Florida a few years ago and took this book, in audio format, along with us in the car as our traveling companion. We're both history buffs and this book held our interest there and back. I love the way Doris Kearns Goodwin writes!

It would certainly keep me occupied on a long drive! Definitely adding her to my list of favorite history writers.

My mother suddenly became ill and died, so the last four months have been strange for my reading.

I wasn't sure I get many more BFBs read this year but then two long library holds came in at once and I hate returning books without reading them.

The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing 688 pages
Interesting. Wonderfully written, neat structure. Doesn't go anywhere or resolve anything, and I couldn't just LOVE it, but I quite liked it.

The Children's Book by AS Byatt 896 pages
This kind of felt like it had a checklist of events to get through, which I often see in historical fiction and historical TV shows. Very well written, and I didn't dislike it, but I didn't particularly like it either.

So sorry for your loss, Meredith - it's remarkable to be able to read at all after sudden loss never mind big fat books. I can't focus on reading in times of stress. Hope you soon find some books you really love!

Thank you, Donna. If I only read in print it would be harder, both in focus and in time to sit. Audiobooks save me during all the difficult sorting and packing in her house (and I mostly read that way anyway, due to chronic pain.

My condolences for your loss. My own mother died in October, not unexpectedly, and yet it was strange how different life suddenly was. I hope you're not alone with the task of looking after her things and her house.

So sorry to hear about your mother, Meredith!

>36 mabith: No, I was not alone with taking care of the house totally, though the only one there who knew what was going to who and what was trash. It's all done, but so hard. Now it's back to my house to try to find room for what I took from my mom's house. Two aunts and uncles were here for a couple weeks helping, but now they're back to Texas.

>37 mabith: Thank you, Connie.

Got my last BFB read! Vietnam by Stanley Karnow, which is a classic for very good reasons. The war in Vietnam was such a fundamental part of my parents' lives, and I'm glad I finally got to this volume.