pick5 Stars • Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol follows the cunning Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov as he travels through Russia, buying "dead souls"—serfs who are deceased but still listed in government records. His scheme aims to use these souls as collateral for a loan, exposing the corruption and moral decay of Russian society through his interactions with various landowners. Each character represents a satirical critique of societal flaws.
panI disliked this short story the first time I read it years ago and I forgot I‘d read it. I still don‘t like it. It‘s quite sad though because it could be quite good—about why an old woman gave up gambling. Then the ending falls so flat. Fortunately it‘s very short so there‘s that. #letterQ #halloweenatoz
#hauntedshelf #hexesandcrows @Catsandbooks @PuddleJumper
It‘s a Wordsworth Wednesday. Next three poems:“Anecdote for Fathers,” “We Are Seven,” and “Lines Written in Early Spring.” The first two are well-delivered anecdotes with gentle morals. The last, a short and not too deep reflection on human destructiveness. What I am enjoying most about Wordsworth is the simplicity factor which can catch you off guard with emotion. Idk- they sort of capture a coy childlike naivety perhaps, an innocence.
I‘m on a new medication and feeling a bit loopy this morning, so I‘m jumping ahead to some Coleridge, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” I‘m reading in fits and starts, shutting my eyes when I get too zonked out. Martin Scofield, in his introduction to this volume, notes that the poem looks forward to the work of Poe and others, and I agree. The use of archaic language, the way the meter shifts, and the imagery are all clear marks of lineage.
I‘ve been enjoying Wordsworth‘s poems (a lot more than his poetics thankfully). I got to three this morning: “Goody Blake and Harry Gill,” “Lines Written at a Small Distance from My House,” and “Simon Lee.” Of these, Goody Blake was my favorite, more a traditional ballad than any of the poems so far, a story with a moral, and a more overt or obvious rhyme scheme with repetition.
#catsoflitsy
Notes on “Lines Left upon a Seat in a Yew-Tree,” and “The Female Vagrant” :
I found “Yew-Tree” to be quite affecting. It spoke to the conflict between the solitary self and community and how we treat ourselves when we are at our lowest. Quite philosophical.
“Female Vagrant” was superb- lots of pathos. I love the lines about war- “Oh! dreadful price of being to resign/ All that is dear in being!”
Slow reading is helping me enjoy this volume so far!
Aside from scattered poems in various anthologies, I have never read Wordsworth or Coleridge with any focus, so I decided to slowly work my way through this volume, like I‘m doing with the 50 other books I‘m currently reading. 📚🙃I‘m grateful for the introductory chapter and the notes because if it wasn‘t for them I would be overwhelmed by the density of Wordsworth‘s Preface. ⬇️
so-soIn 2126 Edric Montague takes his tutor Dr Entwerfen to Egypt to test his galvanic battery by attempting to resuscitate the mummy of Cheops. Back in England, the country is gearing up to elect a new Queen, and elsewhere in Europe the new King of Ireland is invading Spain to restore the monarchy there.
I found it rather heavy going and overlong. The speculations from 1826 about life in 2126 were much more fun than the romantic melodramas.
