Litsy

I‘m posting one book a day from my massive collection. No description, no reason for why I want to read it (some I‘ve had so long I don‘t even remember why!). Feel free to join in!

#ABookADay2024

3 likes

sarahbarnes

Omensetter's Luck: A Novel | William H. Gass

pick

I‘d had this book on my shelf for years. I probably would‘ve enjoyed it more at another point in my life, when I was more into this type of writing. But, I appreciated the experimental nature of it nonetheless. Mostly I‘m glad that #TenBeforeTheEnd finally motivated me to get it off my shelf and read it. 😁

ChaoticMissAdventures

Suet624 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 3d

30 likes1 comment

BarbaraJean

The House of the Seven Gables: A Romance | Nathaniel Hawthorne

so-so

Another belated review: this was one of the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent picks in October—and it was the slowest burn ever. I‘d read that it was slow & wordy, but man… it was really slow and really wordy. It used lots of gothic tropes without actually feeling gothic, it talked about how creepy the house was but didn‘t feel creepy, and the sinister curse didn‘t feel all that sinister. Hawthorne‘s writing really is beautiful, ⤵️

BarbaraJean Cont‘d) …but I kept waiting for something to happen—and once it does, it‘s kind of anticlimactic. I did enjoy the backstory: the generational curse, the inherited guilt, the shadowy crimes that are hinted at…I wish Hawthorne had brought those stories into the foreground rather than sketching them as the backdrop. I have a feeling that in the end, what I wanted was this same story written by a different author. 😆 5d

38 likes1 comment

Bibliobear

The Collected Poems of Ted Berrigan | Ted Berrigan

“What am I saying?

Only this. My poems do contain
wilde beestes. I write for my Lady
of the Lake. My god is immense, and lonely
but uncowed. I trust my sanity, and I am proud. If
I sometimes grow weary, and seem still, nevertheless

my heart still loves, will break.“

Remembering Ted Berrigan on his birthday

8 likes

AroundTheBookWorld

The Last of the Mohicans | James Fenimore Cooper

bailed

Unfortunately I just couldn‘t get into it. ⭐️

#TheLastOfTheMohicans #JamesFenimoreCooper #book #books #bookjunkie #bookjunkies #bookjunky #bookjacket #bookjackets #bookjacketdesign #bookjacketdesigner #bookkeeper #bookkeeperlife #bookkeeping #booklist #booklust #bookloot #booklove #booklover #booklovers #bookloversunite #bookz #bookzesty #bookzilla #Classics #Fiction #HistoricalFiction #Adventure #Literature #Historical #American #Novels 🩷🩷🩷🩷

dabbe #allhailthebail! #betterbooksahead 🙌🏻 6d

20 likes1 comment

TheSpineView

Poems | William Carlos Williams

#PoetryMatters @TheSpineView
#Viola

dabbe 🤎🍁🧡 2w

TheSpineView @dabbe 🌞 1w

47 likes2 comments

Graywacke

The Gods Arrive | Edith Wharton

pick

Not sure exactly what Wharton was doing here as her artist wanders through all sorts of writing and social circumstances, and his one time muse, now lover, gets neglected, left behind, forgotten. I waited for her seek independence, but Wharton wasn‘t writing for me. I merely got a wink. Still, it‘s pleasant reading. #whartonbuddyread @Lcsmcat

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Lcsmcat

The Gods Arrive | Edith Wharton

Searching for analysis of our novel, this poem popped up. If you can‘t read it here it‘s available online here https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50464/give-all-to-love
Wow. Once again Wharton expects us to be well read, as well as well travelled, and it all makes so much more sense. I still don‘t like V and think Halo deserves better, but we all make stupid choices sometimes. 😂 #whartonbuddyread

Graywacke

Lcsmcat @KathyWheeler @kspenmoll @Leftcoastzen @LitStephanie @llwheeler @Louise @rubyslippersreads @SamAnne @sarahbellum @Suet624 @TheBookHippie @cindyash 3w

Lcsmcat @mdm139 @jewright @AllDebooks @amysisson @Ann_Reads @arubabookwoman @batsy @BookishTrish @CarolynM @catebutler @Catherine_Willoughby @Cathythoughts @Crazeedi @Currey @dabbe @emilyhaldi @IMASLOWREADER 3w

Lcsmcat Now the quotes “He had thought he loved her, and he had failed her; she had accepted the fact, and faced it with her usual ironic courage; and the one service his unstable heart could do her now was to leave her in peace and go his way.” (I almost liked Vance here.) 3w

See All 28 Comments

Lcsmcat ‘Some books fail slowly, imperceptibly, as though an insidious disease had undermined them; others plunge from the heights with a crash, and thus it was with “Colossus”‘ (The voice of experience?) 3w

Lcsmcat “Like most artistic coteries they preferred a poor work executed according to their own formula to a good one achieved without it;” (Definitely the voice of experience!) 3w

Lcsmcat “They were not used to death at the Westons‘, it did not seem to belong to the general plan of life at Euphoria, it had no language, no ritual, no softening conventions to envelop it.” 3w

Currey @Lcsmcat As usual great quotes. 3w

Currey @Graywacke @Lcsmcat It was an extraordinarily rich two books, clearly full of life experiences, deeper and more subtle understanding of the human heart, but Vance is still a selfish, childish man. Did Wharton hope to win me over just a touch? Or was this her way of crafting a damning portrait of a failed artist? Ah, yes. I wish Halo had some hope of better. 3w

Lcsmcat I think that Halo is one spoken to in the poem, so you have to flip the gender. But it‘s almost like Wharton followed the narrative arc of the poem across the two novels. My head‘s spinning a bit. 3w

Lcsmcat @Currey I wonder why I hoped for a less-flawed character in these 2 books. It‘s not like Wharton ever gave us one before. But I really wanted Vance to be better. 3w

Currey @Lcsmcat Yes, I certainly was not expecting a happy ending or a complete turn around of Vance‘s character. Have read too many Wharton‘s for that. 3w

jewright It‘s sort of a happy ending? I was honestly surprised by Lewis‘s offer at the end. 3w

Graywacke Halo was too good for Vance. Thanks for the poem. It explains things a bit. I was really puzzled by the title. 3w

Lcsmcat @jewright Me too. As a matter of fact I also marked this quote “He had been prepared—perhaps—to regret his offer; but not to have it refused. It had never occurred to him that such an extreme of magnanimity could defeat itself.” 3w

Lcsmcat @Graywacke The title puzzled me too. And none of the things I read addressed it, until the poem popped up. I find knowing the source of a title can be helpful, especially from an author as widely read as Wharton. 3w

Graywacke Two quotes from me. First the awkward departure from Lewis: "They stood by each other in silence, miles of distance already between them, while they waited for the preliminary rattle and rumble from below; then the mirror-lined box shot up, opened its door, and took her in.” 3w

Graywacke Halo‘s best line ?: “Did you really come all the way to Paul's Landing just to tell me that you were going away again?" (edited) 3w

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Halo sees right through him, doesn‘t she? The line about having 2 children to raise also rang true to me. 3w

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Re your first quote - Wharton is very good at describing the uncomfortable between people, isn‘t she? 3w

Graywacke I‘m puzzled on the purpose of this book. Vance‘s WI soul searching is brief at best. A seasonal vacation. (About as deep as Thor‘s in the Avengers movies?) Halo‘s affirmation to Tarrant doesn‘t hold up to Vance. Yes, she establishes control on the relationship - she‘s read her Age of Innocence. But, you know, why not be free? And this is just this last section. We have two books of V & H the lead to - ?? Hmm. 3w

Graywacke @Lcsmcat Tarrant as Hades returning Persephone? 3w

Lcsmcat @Graywacke I‘ve not seen any of the Avengers movies so I can‘t speak to that, but, Vance is being true to character. He hasn‘t stuck with anything long. I was hopeful when I read “these weeks outside of time gave him his first understanding of the magic power of continuity.” But he didn‘t stick with it. So bye-bye magic power? 3w

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Tarrant as Hades I can see (you‘re exposing my lopsided cultural knowledge here) but I can‘t decide quite that he acted. It was more like he knew he couldn‘t stop it, so he would let it happen with the least fuss possible. Hard on his pride, but true to character as far as his propensity to avoid exertion. 3w

Graywacke @Lcsmcat i think Halo just knew how to manage Tarrant. And she‘s the moment. Vance gone and can‘t undermine or stand for anything, she‘s pregnant. Cards were in her favor when she made that move. 3w

Graywacke @Lcsmcat in the Avengers movies Thor occasionally can‘t pick up his hammer. He‘s not pure enough - always this is plot friendly. But then the movie needs a snap-quick convincing purification scene so can finally pick it up. 🙂 3w

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Thanks. Now I won‘t look so stupid in front of my son-in-law. 😂🔨 3w

CarolynM Another abrupt ending that left me a bit puzzled. Thanks for the poem, I think it throws light on what EW was doing here. There‘s no doubt H deserves better than V, but for whatever reason she actually does love him, faults and all, so she‘ll accept whatever he offers. This is in stark contrast to V‘s “love” for F which collapsed as soon as he recognised her true character. Very interesting pair of books. Thanks for all your insights. 3w

Lcsmcat @CarolynM Good observation about the difference in V‘s infatuation with F and H‘s more mature love! 3w

22 likes28 comments

BC_Dittemore

The Yellow Wall-Paper and Other Writings | Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Came across Duck River Books in Columbia, TN. Found one book I had been looking for (Meditations) and one that was a total surprise: this CP Gilman collection.

*alternate photos from my Meditations post

7 likes

BarbaraJean

The House of the Seven Gables: A Romance | Nathaniel Hawthorne

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

One of the themes in the novel is the conflict between external appearance and internal consciousness. What examples of this conflict do you see—in the central characters, or even in the house itself? How do appearances and consciousness change over the course of the novel?

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

19 likes

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