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Graywacke

Graywacke

Joined June 2017

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On a Woman's Madness by Astrid Roemer
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The Mind-reader by Richard Wilbur
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A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy, Roger Cockrell
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Go Down, Moses by William Faulkner
review
Graywacke
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Mehso-so

I spent 5.5 months working in this. Piers is important historically, both linguistically and politically. When the peasants revolted in 1381, this work, with its commoner plowman religious hero, was cited. It was popular amongst the underclasses (even if they were largely illiterate). Intellectually it‘s interesting in that it‘s inconclusive. Our author never resolves his issues. But, artistically it‘s only ok. It was work. I‘m glad I‘m done.

Suet624 That‘s too bad. Sounds like a book I‘m be interested in but it sounds a bit too much for me right now. 3d
Leftcoastzen 😻👏 3d
Graywacke @Suet624 it‘s tough and droll. 🙂 Actually the beginning is better. The original version was 1/3 as long and had all the good parts. I think i would have been happier with that version. 3d
Graywacke @Leftcoastzen she‘s just waiting till i give her kitchen scraps. She scored a little ground beef later tonight. 3d
dabbe #doneisgood 🖤🐾🖤 3d
59 likes5 comments
review
Graywacke
Solenoide | Mircea C?rt?rescu
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Pickpick

Phew. My 5th book from the International #Booker longlist took some time, and some perseverance. It flows, it‘s just keep going. A schoolteacher learns of the layout of electrical solenoids connecting through Bucharest, becomes a mite messiah, floats two feet over his bed loses his way in every building, and turns into something like a sperm. Dear reader, you're left to decide what to make of this.
#IB2025

Suet624 Haha. Love this review. 3d
See All 10 Comments
BarbaraBB I am not sure I‘m going to read it… 3d
Tamra Got this one for my husband because it sounds like it‘s right up his alley. 3d
Graywacke @BarbaraBB it‘s a commitment. But you‘re my imagined fearless reader. You might love it. (Although Im finding the biggest fans grew up in Eastern Europe. Seems many feel they can relate) 3d
Graywacke @Tamra just don‘t let him blame me! 😇 3d
BarbaraBB Thank you, that‘s a huge compliment coming from you! Yet I do have some fear for such a chunkster! 3d
sarahbarnes Great review! I just started this one and I‘m already tied in mental knots. It feels like a Pynchon novel. But I‘m strangely attracted to the story so we‘ll see how far I get…. 2d
Graywacke @sarahbarnes you‘re just beginning the adventure. There are highs and lows. You have so much stuff ahead of you! 2d
51 likes1 stack add10 comments
review
Graywacke
Postscripts | Daryl Hine
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Pickpick

Another translator of that Horace collection I recently read. Hine was a Canadian poet and kept his homosexuality in the closet for most of his life. coming out in the late 1980's. As a poet, he was the epitome of form. He‘s always clean and striking linguistically. It wasn't always emotionally understandable to me, but when I got in tune, it was really interesting to see how he did things. A quick, entertaining later collection of his.

review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

I liked this book enough that it‘s tough to review here. There is just too much I want to talk about. Shakespeare, Richard II, king at 10, riding out amongst the mob of the Peasants Revolt in 1381, his disinterest in his country, and quest for absolute power. Henry IV, who usurped the throne, was his cousin, the same age, and loyal until he felt threatened. Also - Richard was never insane. An awesome book on the Women‘s Prize longlist.

Lcsmcat This is on my TBR. Maybe I‘ll get to it after I finish 3d
Graywacke @Lcsmcat that sounds fun! I could use some insight on who those various weirdos… er, kings… were. 3d
Lcsmcat @Graywacke It‘s hilarious. I keep making my husband listen to quotes but I can‘t exactly post them because the set-ups are so long. Highly recommended! 2d
Graywacke @Lcsmcat great to know. It‘s gets good ratings on audible 2d
55 likes3 stack adds4 comments
review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

This is part of an experiment for me. Kizer contributed to a translations of Horace's Odes that I recently read. This is a later collection of hers. The poetry is much more about story and its impact than form, which tends to be free. They‘re are narrative, meaningful, easy to read and satisfying. I enjoyed her quieter feminism. It was a nice introduction to Kizer.

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Graywacke
On a Woman's Madness | Astrid Roemer
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This book from a Suriname-Dutch author was originally published in Dutch in 1982. It was 1st translated to English in 2023, and this year made the 2025 International #Booker longlist. I just started. The language is rich.
#IB2025

sarahbarnes Will be interested in your review of this one. I didn‘t like it as much as I hoped to. 2d
Graywacke @sarahbarnes interesting. So far i‘m sold. I‘m enjoying the language and multiculturalism, and just being in Suriname and in the early 1980‘s literary world (she published this is 1982!) 2d
38 likes2 comments
review
Graywacke
Hunchback: A Novel | Saou Ichikawa
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Pickpick

I read this today. Took 2 hours. My 6th from the International #Booker longlist. It‘s highly regarded.

A heavily disabled woman, with a muscular disorder, dependent on helpers and a ventilator, writes pornographic romances under a pen-name. This is about her looking at her life, and ableist biases, even on book reading, and at her own desires. Unsettling and provoking.
#IB2025

BarbaraBB I was very impressed by this book and am sorry it didn‘t make the shortlist 3d
sarahbarnes I liked this one too and read it quickly. Agree with @BarbaraBB that I wish it had made the shortlist. 2d
Graywacke @BarbaraBB @sarahbarnes i try not to get too worked up on the shortlist and winner. 🙂 But this book was worthy of the shortlist. So was Solenoid. 2d
47 likes3 stack adds4 comments
blurb
Graywacke
The Mind-reader | Richard Wilbur
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This 1976 poetry collection packs some punch up front. I just started this morning.

blurb
Graywacke
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New audiobook, also my 3rd from the Women‘s Prize for Nonfiction longlist. I‘m enjoying it so far. A couple of these girls grew up on SW china in their rural villages with just their grandparents. Their parents were far from home trying to make a living. I saw villages like these in the mid 1990‘s - hordes of kids with some elderly farmers. No one of parent age.

Suet624 Oh boy. China has such a tough history in regards to children and families. 5d
Graywacke @Suet624 So far it‘s not exactly about the horrors. I mean there are serious things that happen. But this is after the cultural revolution and all the government created famines. These are the children of all that. Focus is more on issues related to education and poverty and absent parents. 5d
39 likes3 stack adds2 comments
blurb
Graywacke
Postscripts | Daryl Hine
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Trying a second of my new poetry books. Hine was a late 20th century poet of form. He wrote a long poem of being gay in the 1970‘s, and didn‘t publish it for two decades. This is a 1991 collection, apparently an important later collection of his.

review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

Tough one for Jewish me to review. The premise is that all the Arabs in Israel disappear. So we follow a Jewish reporter who breaks into his disappeared Palestinian friend‘s apartment, and finds and starts reading his diary about the Palestinian history in Jaffa. Reading a Palestinian diary through an uninvited Israeli reader echoes the colonialist theme brought up throughout the novel.

BarbaraBB That sounds tough indeed, especially when you‘re Jewish. I am looking forward to it. 3w
sarahbarnes I‘m just starting this one. Sounds like a tough read. 2w
Graywacke @sarahbarnes I‘m curious what you think. The reading itself was fast, but i was unable to say anything about it at first. There was a lot to process in my head. 2w
47 likes4 comments
review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

Lulu Miller, of NPR, is an excellent writer and reader. This book feels like a high energy NPR story. And I would like to tell you how wonderful it is, but it does have issues. It is entertaining throughout, and she touches on the meaning of life and the MAGA mentality, and her personal life, while providing a biography of pioneering American fish taxonomist and eugenicist (!) David Star Jordan. (Also, fish do exist)

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review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

Several contemporary (2002) poets translating Horace's Odes freely. All must have some knowledge of Latin. All were born from ~1920 to ~1965. So a bunch of older classically inclined poets. Each translation is a combination of Horace's and the poet's meanings. Overall it leaves an interesting impression, and I enjoyed that. I‘ve been working through this since Jan 13, a little bit each morning.

Suet624 Great job on your commitment to checking in on this every morning. I always end up petering out at some point 4w
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 4w
51 likes2 comments
blurb
Graywacke
Solenoide | Mircea C?rt?rescu
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Next international #booker book. I‘m about 20% in - it‘s long. #IB2025

review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

Dystopian feel, with pared down prose and a lot mystery. Eventually we figure out we're in some future with a much smaller population of humanity. And we're within an unnatural system where no one seems to understand the controls. [The Giver] was always on my mind. This is is a bit of a puzzle to put together.

I liked it. I liked the pared down prose and curiosity build-up.

#booker #IB2025 No. 3

51 likes2 comments
review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

I waited 14 years to read this not-difficult book. Sigh.

This tries to capture a transitional era in the sciences, ~1800, when science and the arts were closely linked and science was a wide-open field for adventure, but was also becoming formalized, and a far more stringent field. (The steampunk era? 🙂) But Holmes approach is pure biography (of people instead of ideas). I was entertained. This is an easy, wonderful listen.

review
Graywacke
Eurotrash: Roman | Christian Kracht
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Pickpick

My second from the 2025 #IB2025 longlist.

It's that funny-not-funny-but-still-funny serious-not-serious-very-serious sort of satire - here on the dark history of Europe from the heirs.

But it becomes a bonding road trip, and a series of conversations and a character study of senile mom. This not only works but was thoroughly entertaining, especially because of mom‘s occasional sharpness. Comically heartwarming? Maybe. I enjoyed it. #booker

Suet624 I'm about to sit down and explore all the catalogs of the libraries in my area to see how many of these Booker and Women's Prize lists I can find. Glad you liked this one. (edited) 1mo
AnneCecilie I‘m reading this one now. Hasn‘t gotten to the road trip yet 1mo
Graywacke @Suet624 yay! Either i‘ve hit the good ones 1st or it‘s just a good year. 1mo
Graywacke @AnneCecilie i found the beginning a little overwhelming. If you‘re finding that too, hang in there a bit. 1mo
49 likes5 comments
blurb
Graywacke
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My new audiobook - and my second from the 2025 Women‘s Prize for Nonfiction. Lots of Shakespeare in the introduction 🥰

merelybookish I just started this! 1mo
Graywacke @merelybookish I‘m 2.5 hours in (12%), and fascinated (edited) 1mo
merelybookish How's it going? I'm about halfway through. I am enjoying it and amazed I'm mostly keeping everyone straight. 3w
See All 6 Comments
Graywacke @merelybookish i‘m 6 hours in and constantly fascinated. The nature of power, the way everyone plays this game, it‘s crazy and so much looser than I realized. 3w
merelybookish @Graywacke Yeah, I was skeptical in her intro when she said there are parallels to today. But you can see how there can be very different visions of power and different avenues can be taken to secure it. I feel like that is playing out before our eyes. 3w
Graywacke @merelybookish I‘m still thinking about that. It‘s different. But the undermining of norms for power and with destructive intent are striking parallels. The indifference to human life is so strange. 3w
38 likes6 comments
blurb
Graywacke
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Starting a newly acquired poetry book. It‘s signed, and I‘m clumsy, so I‘m trying to keep it protected. But i do remove the plastic to read it. 🙂

GingerAntics Not going to lie, if you kept it on to read, I‘d like to see how you make that work. 🤣 1mo
Leftcoastzen 😁👏🐶 1mo
Graywacke @GingerAntics 😊 No clue @Leftcoastzen sleepy pup - clearly exited i‘m home today. 1mo
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 1mo
40 likes4 comments
blurb
Graywacke
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My next international booker read.
#booker #IB2025

review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

Tara Selter is stuck in November 18. That is every day when she wakes up its 11/18 (or 18/11 🇬🇧) , and everything repeats itself - the rainy weather near Lille, France, the sky, and people who wake fresh to their first 11/18, with no memory of the previous 11/18s.

It‘s a very curious book, with terrific atmosphere and yet many unanswered questions. It‘s the kind of book that makes me want to try writing.

#booker #IB2025

sarahbarnes Ooh, great review. I‘m on the hold list for this one and looking forward to it. 1mo
BarbaraBB Great review. I can‘t imagine it being a series! 1mo
See All 10 Comments
Graywacke @sarahbarnes 👍 I hope you get it soon. Also thanks 1mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB well, it leaves a lot to answer for. 🙂 I‘m wondering how it might evolve. Book 2 is available in English and I have a library copy. 1mo
AnneCecilie @BarbaraBB As you read on it makes perfect sense. I‘m sitting here waiting for the 6th volume to be released. I think it‘s supposed to be 7 volumes 1mo
Graywacke @AnneCecilie ooh! You‘ve read them in Danish? I think seven are planned. Five released in original language. 1mo
AnneCecilie @Graywacke No, translated into Norwegian, but the Scandinavian countries usually translate each other‘s bestsellers pretty fast 1mo
BarbaraBB @AnneCecilie I hope I‘ll enjoy it I‘d love a good Danish series to look forward to! (edited) 1mo
Graywacke @AnneCecilie that makes sense. And cool 1mo
51 likes1 stack add10 comments
review
Graywacke
The Beginning of Spring | Penelope Fitzgerald
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Pickpick

Frank Reid and 1913 Moscow. Penny has a way. Frank is a curious character, tolerant of everything. When his wife leaves the country without warning, taking the three kids and then sending them back, however much it was killing him inside, he continues along independent, making terrible decisions, while remaining tolerant of all collapsing Russia‘s foibles. A fantastic little novel.

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Graywacke
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New audiobook I started today (it‘s on the Women‘s Prize for Nonfiction longlist)

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Graywacke
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Working ok this one. #booker #IB2025

BarbaraBB Very excited about this one. I have heard such good things! 1mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB easy fast reading. And very curious. I‘m enjoying it. 1mo
sarahbarnes Glad to hear you‘re enjoying this one. It is a bit of a puzzle in places. 1mo
Graywacke @sarahbarnes yes! feels like it‘s all scattered puzzle pieces 1mo
sarahbarnes Yes! Great description. 1mo
47 likes5 comments
review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

I felt fascinated but confused the 1st time I read this. I had sympathy for narrator, but some serious doubts. I reread it to try to get some clarity, but found it equally opaque. Now i see a path of evil intent by our narrator. But i couldn‘t pin her down. She‘s hiding herself. In interviews the author says she wants readers to finish the book with questions, not answers. I have more questions upon rereading. The book is brilliant, by the way.

sarahbarnes I‘ve been put off my reviews of this one, but you‘re making me want to give it a go. 2mo
Graywacke @sarahbarnes goodness, I love it. It‘s unique in that it‘s so focused on sound. If you read, i hope you take to that aspect. But it‘s difficult in that it‘s all an unreliable narrator not enlightening the reader. So readers have to roll with it a bit. 2mo
52 likes2 stack adds2 comments
blurb
Graywacke
Eurotrash: Roman | Christian Kracht
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BookishTrish As many as I can get my hands on! 2mo
Suet624 I‘m not reading the longlist but once it‘s trimmed down I‘ll start reading them. 2mo
TheKidUpstairs I'm reading some, but not pressuring myself to read them all. I finished Reservoir Bitches, and am currently reading 2mo
See All 23 Comments
Graywacke @BookishTrish nice! This is my second. I just finished 2mo
Graywacke @Suet624 will you read the shortlist? 2mo
Graywacke @TheKidUpstairs definitely don‘t want pressure. How did you like RB? (I‘ll check for your review.) 2mo
BarbaraBB I am planning to. Eurotrash will be my next one and I already read and enjoyed (edited) 2mo
Suet624 Hoping to. 2mo
JenP I am not but I think my co-blogger will be. I will likely read a few of them and will follow along and see what people think. I look forward to your reviews! 2mo
squirrelbrain I‘m not - I‘m concentrating on both Women‘s Prize lists. 2mo
TheEllieMo I‘m reading this one at the moment; not sure what to make of it so far (edited) 2mo
Leniverse Not planning on reading all of them, but I have a library hold on a couple. One of them being Eurotrash. Unfortunately it looks like the library might have misplaced it, so I might not read it anyway 🤦🏻‍♀️ 2mo
AnneCecilie I have a couple of books out from the library and has bought two. I hope to get started soon 2mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB i‘ve been enjoying this one. Saw some positive reviews of Perfection. 1mo
Graywacke @Suet624 fantastic! 1mo
Graywacke @JenP thanks! 1mo
Graywacke @squirrelbrain both Women‘s prizes?! That‘s a lot. I have, for the second year, wantingly scanned the nonfiction longlist. Last year i got to two, both excellent. 1mo
Graywacke @TheEllieMo i had to start twice to get the right mindset. I‘m enjoying. His mother is hysterical 1mo
Graywacke @Leniverse i got three from the library, including Eurotrash. Then i‘ll have to buy, probably as ebooks… 1mo
Graywacke @AnneCecilie awesome! 1mo
Leniverse I've had Solenoid since last year's Dublin award, and I got the Kawakami as a kindle deal. Those two will probably take me until the shortlist announcement 😅 Especially since I'm also reading extensively from both women's prize lists (but unlike @squirrelbrain I won't read all of them). 1mo
Graywacke @Leniverse solenoid alone might take you to the shortlist! (I bought an e-copy) 1mo
sarahbarnes Yes! The list looks really interesting this year. I‘ll be reading this one soon as it‘s waiting for me at the library. 1mo
46 likes23 comments
review
Graywacke
The Buccaneers: A Novel | Edith Wharton
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Mehso-so

Wharton never finished this, and she never reached the really dramatic parts she sketched out in her synopsis. The title refers to rich American young girls who in the 1870's raided the English nobility for marriages like pirates. We follow 5 girls rejected by NY society. One, Nan, has a special governess who advises they go to England. They all do and we get to a darker part of the story before the manuscript stops.
#whartonbuddyread

CarolynM Great review. And thanks for the reminder that I need to post a review of this one too🙂 2mo
53 likes1 comment
review
Graywacke
To the Lighthouse | Virginia Woolf
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Pickpick

This was my first time reading Woolf's fiction. It's a famous one to start with. It was challenging, hard to maintain concentration because there is no plot drive, hard to make sense of. The prose is rhythmic, sometimes feels like a poem, and I read it best when I applied a rhythm to my reading. And, I've been thinking about it ever since I finished. She leaves a lot to think about.

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Graywacke
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Care of my library, I started this today (amongst everything else I‘m reading)

merelybookish Handsome reading companion! 😻 2mo
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 2mo
Graywacke @merelybookish she‘s a cutie. But, also a persnickety cat. @dabbe thanks! 2mo
See All 11 Comments
dabbe @Graywacke Looks like a lot is going on in the brain of hers! 🤩🐾🤩 2mo
BarbaraBB Interested in your thoughts, I have this one on my shelves too. 2mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB I‘m looking forward to reading through it. Terrific opening pages 2mo
BarbaraBB That sounds promising. It‘s first of a series right? 2mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB a planned septology. Five are published in Danish. Two are translated to English. 2mo
BarbaraBB So we have to be patient if we like them! 2mo
51 likes1 stack add11 comments
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Graywacke
The Beginning of Spring | Penelope Fitzgerald
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As the world collapses, I‘m getting my Penny fix. 1913 Moscow - so, not exactly a more hopeful time.

Lcsmcat Kitty approves. 😺 2mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat she tolerates 🙂 2mo
45 likes3 comments
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Graywacke
A Calendar of Wisdom | Leo Tolstoy, Roger Cockrell
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I don‘t know exactly why I‘m reading this. It‘s heavily religious (and anti-materialist). I‘m not religious in this kind of way at all. But it appeared. A selection of quotes for each day. So I‘ve been page through, trying to catch up to today.

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Graywacke
The Buccaneers: A Novel | Edith Wharton
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The Buccaneers - the unwritten conclusion
- #whartonbuddyread

Wharton never finished this. Her manuscript ends with Book 3. She had written a synopsis and others have filled in completions.

I found my copy‘s completion unreadable. I read 8 pages and quit.

I think the synopsis changes and reveals themes. The book is no longer about a playful clash of cultures, but about love struggles, sacrifice and loneliness. Themes Wharton lived. Thoughts?

Graywacke Sorry for the really late post guys, i wasn‘t reading anymore and forgot! 🙈🙁 2mo
CarolynM At the end of my book is a synopsis for the whole of the novel, with only 2 paragraphs for the unfinished part. It seems to me that the written part strayed from the synopsis, so the story could well have become something other than the original idea. 2mo
See All 12 Comments
Graywacke @CarolynM I noticed that too. Good point. Any thoughts on where it was going? 2mo
Lcsmcat I agree that you‘re right about the themes - the culture clash is part of what causes the misunderstandings that cause the misery of the marriages, but isn‘t the main point. It‘s classic Wharton unhappy marriage plot, but what shone out to me was how well she depicted female friendship. That part seemed new to me. 2mo
CarolynM If the synopsis is to be believed, Miss Testavalley was going to have a story of her own, as well as her involvement with Nan. I wonder if EW might have been planning to contrast a love story that ends happily because the lovers abandon respectability, with a love story that ends sadly because the lovers won‘t or can‘t do so. 2mo
Lcsmcat @CarolynM I wish we could read her ending! 2mo
TheBookHippie Sorry missed last week! I agree about female friendships, seemed more intimately connected and important? At any rate I‘m with @Graywacke I read a bit of the “ending” and bailed 😵‍💫🤪 I too wish we knew where she was going with it. And I like your idea @CarolynM 2mo
TheBookHippie I think loneliness seeps through the pages… 2mo
Graywacke @TheBookHippie I posted the relevant synopsis in last weeks comments (under spoiler skull thingy) 2mo
jewright I wish she would have finished this one. It‘s so hard to say exactly what would have happened. 2mo
49 likes12 comments
blurb
Graywacke
Go Down, Moses | William Faulkner
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Starting this 1942 novel. Opening 21 pages are terrific.

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Graywacke
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My new audiobook, selected to carry me far away from the daily catastrophic news. Three hours there is a whole lot on 18th-century botanist Joseph Banks.

kspenmoll This sounds fascinating- 2mo
Graywacke @kspenmoll It‘s a good place to be right now - distant and optimistic. 2mo
kspenmoll @Graywacke Essential! 2mo
50 likes2 stack adds3 comments
review
Graywacke
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Mehso-so

Hmm. Does it work? This novel is actually two separate stories in each in a kind of distinct contrast. Chapters alternate. One is a medical student who abandons his career to run off with a married woman. The other is a convict who gets lost during the 1927 Mississippi flood, and finds himself floating alone in a small boat with a woman in labor.

These stories are ok, but really only for Faulkner completists.

review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

I love Deborah Levy. She's always a little absurd and it's always entertaining. This is her first of several memoirs, covering mainly her time in South Africa while her father was imprisoned for about five years for speaking against Apartheid, and then some of her time in England.

I want to read her other memoirs, but this will be the only one I listen to (free on audible). I didn‘t like the reader.

sarahbarnes I love her fiction. I now want to read her memoirs, too. 2mo
youneverarrived Glad you liked it! I haven‘t read the 3rd of her memoirs yet but I liked the 2nd even more than this. 2mo
Graywacke @sarahbarnes she‘s a favorite living author for me. @youneverarrived ooh! Good good! I‘m excited to read all of them. But no more audio. Hated the reader. 2mo
sarahbarnes Same for me - she‘s definitely on my shortlist. 2mo
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review
Graywacke
Our Evenings: A Novel | Alan Hollinghurst
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Mehso-so

Hollinghurst, the gay author, is a beautiful, elegant, paced writer. And this audiobook is read perfectly. But, whoa, slow. David Winn has many layers of separation between his single mother home, half-Burmese appearance, gay sexuality, and those of wealthy, elite-school classmates. The book keeps going through his 1970‘s acting career, many relationships, and on to covid. A little too much too slowly for this listener. But I liked the style.

review
Graywacke
The Children's Book | A. S. Byatt
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Pickpick

This was my January book. It‘s a chunk and it‘s slow, and has a massive amount of research (which Byatt said was rewarding). The book takes English children of the 1870‘s, born into the liberal artistic intellectual world of the Fabian Society, and carries us with them through WWI, after which they are clearly no longer children. I adored this massive thing and its vast spread across 50 characters. I read it with a Booker group on fb.

56 likes1 stack add
blurb
Graywacke
The Buccaneers: A Novel | Edith Wharton
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The Buccaneers - Book 3
#whartonbuddyread

Ok, 1st of all, I didn‘t see that marriage happening. What a devastating way to open book 3.

2nd - that‘s the end of Wharton‘s draft.

3rd - but she also left a synopsis. So we know what is going to happen. But that‘s looking ahead.

4th - so, Book 3 - thoughts on Longlands, Ushant, Dowager, Thwarte, Conchita, Testvalley, Lizzy Robinson?

5th - completion plan next week. See comments.

Graywacke Completion plan: as Wharton left a synopsis, there are a couple completions. We can discuss them Saturday Feb 22 - synopsis, completion, and the overall themes they reveal. Sound ok? (edited) 2mo
Graywacke Note: My edition has a completion based on a 1990‘s television take - but doesn‘t follow the tv script, because that script changes the plot and makes Ushant openly gay (something possible but not openly suggested). It‘s a hundred pages. I admit I‘m not super enthused to read it, but willing to give it a try. Still I definitely want to discuss overarching themes. (edited) 2mo
See All 39 Comments
Currey @Graywacke I also was upset that Nan married as she did and that it further diminished her self confidence and quirky nature so much. I rather like the fact that Testvalley was given a romantic role. Having read so much Wharton now, it does not feel as if she intended everyone to live happily ever after. The best we can hope for is for Nan to gain some self confidence. 2mo
Currey @Graywacke - my book does not have the synopsis but an ending written by someone else. Can you share where to find synopsis? I do not want to read a TV ending. 2mo
Currey @Graywacke I read that Wharton based Lizzy on the mother of Winston Churchill. There are many paintings of her and she was quite beautiful (in the paintings) and known to be intelligent, and ambitious for her husband and son. 2mo
Graywacke @Currey Lizzy is Winston‘s mom?!! Wharton noticed Winston‘s mom in the 1930‘s? !! 2mo
Graywacke @Currey if i can find the synopsis online, i‘ll share a link. It‘s six pages, so tough to share here. I‘m happy to photograph the pages and email anyone interested. Email me at: dan iel . chaikin @ gmail . com (without spaces) 2mo
Graywacke @Currey she was gorgeous. Was she American? 2mo
Graywacke @Currey clearly yes. What a character. Premarital pregnancy, many lovers rumored. I‘m intrigued! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Randolph_Churchill 2mo
Graywacke Amongst his biographers, there are varied opinions on whether he was conceived before the marriage, or born two months prematurely after Lady Randolph "had a fall." When asked about the circumstances of his birth, Winston Churchill replied: "Although present on the occasion, I have no clear recollection of the events leading up to it." 2mo
Currey @Graywacke Yes, quite the beauty and quite the social manipulator for her own ends. Love the Winston quote. 2mo
Lcsmcat Once again I‘m behind. 🙄 But yeah, I saw that marriage coming the way you see an accident happening and can‘t stop it. 😀 2mo
Lcsmcat Wharton‘s negative view of marriage is on full display, but I‘m also getting conflicting emotions from her on the old vs. new we saw in Hudson River Bracketed. Quote below 2mo
Lcsmcat “At least life in England had a background, layers and layers of rich deep background, of history, poetry, old traditional observances, beautiful houses, beautiful landscapes, beautiful ancient buildings, palaces, churches, cathedrals.” 2mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat about the marriage… i kind of wanted a next step by Ushant. Clearly he did not listen to Laura Testvalley. 2mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat my introduction argues that Wharton appreciated the value of marriage. But she had a bad marriage. It also makes parallels between Nan and Wharton (unhappy marriage), and between Testvalley and Wharton (unmarried in middle age). (It also confirmed my Buccaneers explanation mentioned late in last week‘s post. Although I suspect you and others had already worked that out) 2mo
Lcsmcat @Graywacke And one wonders if she were offering an alternative to Henry James‘ The Ambassadors? 2mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat tell more! I haven‘t read James 2mo
Lcsmcat @Graywacke I don‘t remember a lot about it but it‘s also about the Europe is better than America and all cultured Americans are that way because they follow Europe‘s lead. It‘s more from the male point of view, and I don‘t remember it having the depth of feeling in the female characters that Buccaneers has. 2mo
CarolynM I found this last Book rather sad. In some ways Nan reminded me of Lily Bart, but here she gave in to the “need” for marriage and the consequences were tragic in their own way. The social and cultural misunderstandings also made me think of a modern American duchess… My ebook contains a brief synopsis at the end, only 2 paragraphs sketch out the intended ending. It would have been interesting to see how she would have developed it. 2mo
Lcsmcat @CarolynM I saw Nan as more like Halo. She went into the marriage thinking it was a live match, and then discovered her husband‘s true personality. 2mo
CarolynM @Lcsmcat I think Halo was much more sophisticated and equipped to carry out the wifely role both public and private. Neither Nan nor Lily seemed to me to have the desire for any of it. 2mo
Lcsmcat @CarolynM That‘s true. I was thinking more of the motivation to get married, than the ability to handle being married. 2mo
Graywacke @CarolynM @Lcsmcat interesting comparisons. Wharton certainly has several different takes on marriage, and they aren‘t particularly inspiring. ? @CarolynM - Nan‘s situation is really sad, especially as Testvalley gave the warning clearly. The Duke didn‘t listen. His take on a relationships (thinking 740 should get him sex) is remarkably unaware. He just doesn‘t see what‘s going on with Nan. He can‘t. 2mo
Graywacke I surrender. I read 8 pages of Mackworth-Young completion and it was awful. No more! 😳😁 2mo
Graywacke @Currey - last four paragraphs of the Synopsis
- But though she (Nan, upon marrying Tintagel) is dazzled for the moment, her heart is not satisfed. The Duke is kindly but dull and arrogant, and the man she really loves is young Guy Thwarte, a poor offcer in the Guards, the son of Sir Helmsley Thwarte, whose old and wonderfully beautiful place in Gloucestershire, Honourslove, is the scene of a part of the story.
2mo
Graywacke Sir Helmsley Thwarte, the widowed father of Guy, a clever, broken-down and bitter old worldling, is captivated by Miss Testvalley, and wants to marry her; but meanwhile the young Duchess of Tintagel has suddenly decided to leave her husband and go off with Guy, and it turns out that Laura Testvalley, moved by the youth and passion of the lovers, and disgusted by the mediocre Duke of Tintagel, … 2mo
Graywacke … has secretly lent a hand in the planning of the elopement, the scandal of which is to ring through England for years. 2mo
Graywacke - Sir Helmsley Thwarte discovers what is going on, and is so furious at his only son's being involved in such an adventure that, suspecting Miss Testvalley's complicity, he breaks with her, and the great old adventuress, seeing love, deep and abiding love, triumph for the first time in her career, helps Nan to join her lover, who has been ordered to South Africa, and then goes back alone to old age and poverty. 2mo
Graywacke - The Elmsworth and Closson adventures will be interwoven with Nan's, and the setting will be aristocratic London in the season, and life in the great English country-houses as they were sixty years ago. 2mo
jewright I finally caught up. I just feel sorry for Ushant and Nan. Both of them are unhappy and seem incapable of understanding the other. What a disaster. 2mo
Currey @Graywacke @jewright @Lcsmcat I broke down and read the Marion Mainwaring finish of my edition. It was awful. It got all the main points across but did it in such a way that it might as well have been: and then Nan and Ushant….and then Testvalley and…awful. I know if Wharton had finished the novel it would have been bittersweet, with some coming together of love while losing much of what they valued including his inheritance. 2mo
Currey @Grawywacke @jewright @Lcsmcat And Testvalley should have been heartbreaking 2mo
Lcsmcat @Currey I‘m glad I didn‘t rush out and buy a “finished” version! Mine ends with Wharton‘s outline, but very perfunctory, as an outline should be. And yes, lots of heartbreak to go around, but especially Testvalley who was heartbroken for herself and her Nan. 2mo
Graywacke @jewright it‘s really sad - the marriage. Hopeless. 2mo
Graywacke @Currey you‘re a masochist. One thing my 8 pages of completion reminded of, is that Wharton could write. She makes stuff look easy, but she has a sense of drama, and manages nuance expertly 2mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat that seems to be the best way to end it. 2mo
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blurb
Graywacke
The Buccaneers: A Novel | Edith Wharton
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The ruins of Tintagel castle in Cornwall

The Buccaneers - Book 2
#whartonbuddyread

Scene switch: We‘re in England, and new American wealth collides with English heirs. Nan has romantic interludes. Lady Churt confronts Seadown and Virginia. Then, Tintagle confronts Testvalley. What would you have liked Testvalley to say?

Where are you all with this, within your Wharton mindset?

Currey @Graywacke Well, I am having fun reading it. The themes of new money versus old money, and English class versus the class climbing Americans, is soap opera ish enjoyable. The book is a bit messy but maybe that is just the amount of characters one has to keep track of and who they are all being courted by. On the other hand, it doesn‘t really seem to have Wharton‘s core gravitas. A touch in Nan and Testvalley but everyone else are a bit thin. 2mo
TheBookHippie I‘m having fun reading it. I‘ve also been binging American Viscountess on YouTube and she mentions often how very young American brides saved castles. This is more soap opera and not as sophisticated maybe as other books. Can‘t put my finger on it. It is however fun. I do love Nan. 2mo
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Graywacke @Currey @TheBookHippie i agree with you both. Entertaining but light and soap opera-y. I ask myself, what is she trying to accomplish with this? And also, how much would she have kept if she had been able to finish and refine it. 2mo
Lcsmcat @Graywacke @Currey @TheBookHippie I wonder how much stronger this would have been if it were a finished work. I‘ve not studied Wharton‘s writing practices enough to know how much rewriting she did. But also, was it unfinished because she wasn‘t that thrilled with it herself,or because she ran out of time? Does anyone know? 2mo
Lcsmcat Love that you found a photo of the castle ruins! So cool. 2mo
Lcsmcat I only highlighted one quote this time. It‘s about Nan. “she never felt herself matched against things greater than herself, but softly merged in them;” I think it does so much in one sentence to define her character. 2mo
TheBookHippie @Lcsmcat I have no idea, I did wonder if she would have totally reworked it. Was it just notes? I guess should look all this up… Have you seen the Apple TV version 😳… talk about reworked. 2mo
Lcsmcat @TheBookHippie I haven‘t seen that one. I think the one I saw was the 1995 version. 2mo
Graywacke Nan is practically un-dislikable. Everyone with taste loves her. 2mo
Graywacke @TheBookHippie @Lcsmcat - i gave the series two episodes and abandoned it. This mixing of time period and contemporary was too much for me. The music had me completely out of touch. 2mo
TheBookHippie @Graywacke It was ......something. WOWOWOWOWOW. The young people adore it.... 2mo
Lcsmcat @Graywacke Is it like the DiCaprio Romeo & Juliet where they are saying the lines about swords while holding pistols? 2mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat it‘s more like show how contemporary American attitudes can take over Victorian England. Well, that‘s where i stopped. 2mo
Graywacke @TheBookHippie did it get better? 2mo
TheBookHippie @Lcsmcat it‘s like Bridgeton. (edited) 2mo
TheBookHippie @Graywacke NO. New season coming soon. I‘m curious how it ends. At this point it‘s a creepy Bridgeton with pretty colors and current music… 2mo
TheBookHippie @Lcsmcat 😵‍💫 2mo
Leftcoastzen I didn‘t finish book 2 as quickly as I would have liked. I agree , wondering if Wharton would have rewritten it, flushed some of the characters out more. Nan & Testvalley are the most interesting and have the usual Wharton depth..I do enjoy the Americans enjoying the really old houses & estates.The reactions of the English being appalled and then charmed by the difference in the American lifestyle. 2mo
Graywacke @AllDebooks @Currey @Leftcoastzen @TheBookHippie @Lcsmcat - my 🦥 brain had a realization last night. We tend to sympathize with our main characters. From the British perspective, these American girls are real buccaneers, pirates looting the British of their titled bachelors. Hence the title. Perhaps we are reading about the villains? (edited) 2mo
Graywacke @Leftcoastzen the cultural clashes are entertaining. And Testvalley‘s efforts to keep the girls oblivious, heightening the contrast, is entertaining in its own right. 2mo
Currey I just started Book 3. This is not what I wanted for Nan at all!! 2mo
Graywacke @Currey i had a shock moment too. It‘s sad. (That‘s also what led to my question. I started rethinking why. Then i thought of Nan as a reluctant pillager of England. The sentimental melancholic pirate. Well, it‘s a charming image, anyway) 2mo
Currey @Graywacke - Yes, I see it now. A pirate has to do what a pirate has to do…. 2mo
Leftcoastzen Late to the party. Doubt I can finish the “finished “ version judging by the comments. I liked the contrasts between American & English styles , and was sad about the marriage that was doomed from the onset. Not her best work but I wish for a finished Wharton version. 2mo
Leftcoastzen I never attempted the show ! 🙄😂 I‘m all for let Bridgerton be Bridgerton , but don‘t want Wharton mixed up in all that! 😏 2mo
41 likes27 comments
blurb
Graywacke
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I‘ve been working through this as i‘ve had time. I might have finally gotten to the point of enjoying it. The first 150 pages were not all that fun.

blurb
Graywacke
To the Lighthouse | Virginia Woolf
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Reading my first Woolf novel.

Here‘s an early quote:
Since he belonged, even at the age of six, to that great clan which cannot keep this feeling separate from that, but must let future prospects, with their joys and sorrows, cloud what is actually at hand, since to such people even in earliest childhood any turn in the wheel of sensation has the power to crystallise and transfix the moment upon which its gloom or radiance rests…

Scochrane26 I read/struggled through this one & decided Woolf is not for me. Hope you enjoy it more! 3mo
Graywacke @Scochrane26 thanks. I hope so too. I‘m adoring it so far. 3mo
Lcsmcat I read Mrs Dalloway first, after reading the tagged book, but liked Orlando the best. 3mo
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DrSabrinaMoldenReads This is actually autobiographical about her family which went to a beach house each summer. I‘m intrigued by Virginia. Read her Diaries. Such a sad life story. 3mo
DrSabrinaMoldenReads Actually, my favorite novel of hers is “Night and Day”, so different than the rest. 3mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat I want to read all these 3mo
Graywacke @DrSabrinaMoldenReads I didn‘t know it was autobiographical. Fascinating. And interesting about her diaries. 3mo
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Graywacke
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My new audio. This is the 1st of several memoirs - and it‘s free on audible. Writing is fun. (Reader is crappy - but not so bad that I can‘t tolerate her. I think Juliette Stephenson reads an edition. Maybe find that)

Deborah Levy writes about growing up in South Africa, her father imprisoned for speaking against Apartheid.

blurb
Graywacke
The Buccaneers: A Novel | Edith Wharton
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The Buccaneers - Book 1

Five girls in NY in a world largely developed for us by the adults - Mrs. St. George, satirized shallow housewife and mother, and Ms. Testvalley, an out-of-style English Governess with Italian parents. We see several other characters and one interesting scene with all five girls welcoming the governess. We are back in time again, Age of Innocence era - which doesn‘t excuse the casual racism that closes Book 1. Thoughts?

Currey @Graywacke Well I am enjoying the collection of girls, Nan and Virginia, in particular. They are not Age of Innocence backstabbers. Even our governess Miss Testvalley is quite grounded. 3mo
Currey @Graywacke My edition has been completed by Marion Mainwaring. That last name is so Wharton. 3mo
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TheBookHippie Whew the classism and racism. I too enjoy Nan and Virginia ! This hits differently reading in the year of 😵‍💫. The dress thing in the opening reminded me of when my aunt would see women without “hose” nylons and the scandal of it all and that must be a loose woman 😂🤯😝🤪. Aging myself I know… 3mo
TheBookHippie @Currey mine as well with Marion! 3mo
Graywacke @Currey oh! My edition too, completed “Angela Mackworth-Young‘s adaptation of Maggie Wadey‘s scripts” - whatever that means. Our group read currently stops after Book 3. Should we add a week and compare adaptations? Or damn all Wharton imitators? ☺️ 3mo
Graywacke @TheBookHippie that‘s funny. At least St. George is pure satire. Testvalley isn‘t… well, maybe a little 3mo
TheBookHippie @Graywacke I love the satire 🙃. It was a funny thing to remember while reading. We can keep reading it would be interesting to see what happens! 3mo
TheBookHippie @Graywacke so my edition has Apple TV on it 😝 think that means they are using the edition as well to the series? Many students are in love with the series and now looking for Wharton books. 3mo
Leftcoastzen I‘m enjoying it , those Wharton mothers are always looking for an edge , scandal, divorce,race, there is always that . Nan & Virginia are fun. My ebook from the library is the Mainewaring, it does seem like a Wharton like character name! 3mo
Currey @Graywacke I suspect I will finish the book if only to see what somebody else thinks should happen. Then, after reading, I will damn all imitators!!! 3mo
Graywacke @TheBookHippie @Currey i‘ll give a the completion a shot. But… i hope it‘s readable. 3mo
Graywacke @Leftcoastzen and smoking. George Sands was known for smoking cigars in bed. Perhaps she‘s a model of sorts for Mrs. Closson. 3mo
Leftcoastzen Oh yes ! I had forgotten about George & her cigars ! 😂 3mo
Lcsmcat Woefully behind and just got home from being out of town. I‘ll chime in later tonight or tomorrow. 3mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat no worries. Take your time. Hope the travel was for fun. 3mo
Lcsmcat @graywacke It was for fun - a baby shower for our newest granddaughter, due next month. 3mo
Lcsmcat @Currey My edition isn‘t completed. I may have to check the library for one that is. 3mo
Lcsmcat And of course I have quotes. ( So good to be back with Wharton‘s prose!) 3mo
Lcsmcat “He laid a hand on his wife‘s graying blond hair, and brushed her care-worn forehead with the tip of his moustache; a ritual gesture which convinced him that he had kissed her, and Mrs. St George that she had been kissed.” 3mo
Lcsmcat and “Mrs. Closson really could not see that there was much difference between one human being and another, except that some had been favoured with more leisure than others—and leisure was her idea of heaven.” 3mo
CarolynM The snobbery is hilarious. So pathetic that they are all so impressed by Lord Richard🤣 I‘m keen to find out exactly what went on between he and Miss Testvalley. I like her, but I‘m a bit unhappy about EW attaching her to the Rossettis. I wonder if Christina will rate a mention? 3mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat appreciate the quotes. Maybe you can create your own completion. 🙂 3mo
Graywacke @CarolynM you remind me, I meant to share The Blessed Damozel - https://englishverse.com/poems/the_blessed_damozel 3mo
Lcsmcat @Graywacke I imagine it will be running through my head, but I don‘t anticipate writing it down. 😂 3mo
Graywacke @CarolynM I have passing wonder on whether Wharton is undermining Testvalley. She seems are moral guide. But she‘s old fashion, with out-dated educational style, focused on money, had a nonmarital affair, and has a racist sense. Perhaps Wharton intends this all to be positive. ?? Anyway, she‘s the most grownup character. The NY-style snobbery is entertaining. 3mo
jewright I‘m late commenting, but I do find it interesting that for a while the family just lived in a hotel. I know people sometimes did that, but that would be so weird. I also think it‘s odd they waited until the girls are so old to get a governess. I‘m pretty sure Miss Testvalley thinks the girls‘ education has been completely neglected. 3mo
Graywacke @jewright nice to see you. Miss Testvalley is remarkably tolerant. As for living in a hotel - hmm. I would appreciate the daily cleaning. ☺️ 3mo
35 likes29 comments
blurb
Graywacke
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Something I found used in California and have been paging through

dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 3mo
Hanna-B Hello puppy dog 🐶🐶 3mo
50 likes2 comments
review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

Short listed for the #Booker in 1980, and something of a cult classic. The story of a wwi vet with PTSD from London who goes to York, hired to restore a whitewashed medieval mural in a tiny town. It‘s endearing and quietly wonderful.

Suet624 I agree… this was lovely. 3mo
Tamra It‘s a favorite. 3mo
Graywacke @Suet624 @Tamra i‘m glad i finally got myself to read it. 3mo
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blurb
Graywacke
Our Evenings: A Novel | Alan Hollinghurst
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I‘ve been picking away at this since Dec 27. I‘m sort of mostly done, but just wanted to share what I‘m actively listening to.

This is my first Hollinghurst, so I‘m just learning what an elegant prose writer he is. Everything is beautiful. It‘s also really long, patient and slow. The life a gay actor on an Oxford scholarship.

CarolynM Looking forward to this one. I really like his writing. 3mo
HardcoverHearts Exquisitely beautiful and the last chapters were much more emotional than I expected them to be. I found it a deeply moving life story. 2mo
Graywacke @HardcoverHearts i‘ve been afraid to respond because while I completely agree with everything in those 1st sentences, i didn‘t quite get the experience on the last one. 🙂 I mean, it‘s moving, but I went along too long for me. 2mo
HardcoverHearts @Graywacke Completely fair! For me, the poignancy of the ending colored earlier portions of the book. But I can see how it could be viewed as too long. 2mo
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blurb
Graywacke
The Buccaneers: A Novel | Edith Wharton
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Getting started. #whartonbuddyread

Leftcoastzen Gotta join in ! 3mo
Leftcoastzen 😻 3mo
Graywacke @Leftcoastzen yay! Please do! 3mo
50 likes3 comments
blurb
Graywacke
The Buccaneers: A Novel | Edith Wharton
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Reminder - two weeks till next #whartonbuddyread 😍

Lcsmcat Looking forward to it! 3mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat Wharton prose always settles my thinking. I‘m looking forward to that too. 3mo
See All 26 Comments
Graywacke By the way - i‘m only tagging anyone who has re-expressed interest. So we‘re at a group of 9 at the moment. 3mo
CatLass007 I‘ve never read any Edith Wharton before, but I do understand that she has written many books that are considered classics. Is there a master list for the books the group will be reading in 2025? Would you please add me to your tag list? Thank you. 3mo
TheBookHippie @Graywacke I‘m very happy to be reading this !!! 3mo
Graywacke @CatLass007 hi. There is a website called The Mount that has a lot of info. As for this group - we have read most of her works of fiction at this point. Buccaneers is actually her last novel, and also unfinished. We will read Fast & Loose, her first novel, published posthumously. And, i think, A Backward Glance, her memoir (that probably doesn‘t reveal anything). I‘m also hoping to read her biography by Hermione Lee. 3mo
Graywacke @CatLass007 You are certainly welcome to join us. By the way, the website is: https://www.edithwharton.org 3mo
CarolynM Looking forward to it.🙂 3mo
AllDebooks Thanks for the reminder. Looking forward to it. I loved the tv show. 3mo
CatLass007 Thank you. 3mo
Graywacke @CatLass007 you‘re welcome. Let me know if you decide to join in. 3mo
Lcsmcat @Graywacke @CatLass007 Weren‘t we also going to read the novella The Bunner Sisters, or am I misremembering? 3mo
CatLass007 @Graywacke @Lcsmcat I think that since you‘re wrapping up your Wharton buddy read, I won‘t be joining in, especially since The Buccaneers is not available in audio format from my library and and it‘s one of the few Wharton books that‘s not free on Audible. That‘s been my format of choice for the last few years. 3mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat I keep forgetting those poor sisters… no, you‘re not misremembering. 3mo
Graywacke @CatLass007 bummer about Buccaneer audio access. I‘m curious where you will begin your own Wharton journey. You have such wonderful reading ahead. I think each reader might have their own answer on where to start, but my own suggestion is to begin with House of Mirth. (Wonder who reads it) 3mo
CatLass007 There are seven renditions of The House of Mirth on Audible, two of which are free. One is narrated by Anna Fields and the other is narrated by Eleanor Bron. I am not familiar with either narrator so I probably will listen to a sample of each and then decide. Thank you for your advice. I think with seven different narratives from which to choose, your advice is sound. 3mo
CatLass007 And it seems the version narrated by Anna Fields is no longer free. So, decision made. 3mo
Graywacke @Leftcoastzen - i hadn‘t tagged you here 3mo
Leftcoastzen Yes , I was a Wharton world dropout for a couple of the titles ! 3mo
Graywacke @Leftcoastzen it‘s nice to have you back 🙂 3mo
Currey Yes, I am hanging in until we get to “those sisters”. I would also like to read a biography. 3mo
Graywacke @Currey maybe we should read them next? @Lcsmcat ? 3mo
Lcsmcat @Graywacke Sure. I‘m game. 3mo
44 likes26 comments
review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

A soft pick. A Native American history focused on the way the many different tribes responded to, and managed, European encroachment, each responding in their own way. The info is solid. The tone is strange. A lot to of pro-native bias - like way over the top.