Welcome to Litsy!

#poetrymatters
#view
@TheSpineView

I adored MIDDLEMARCH but know nothing about her poetry. Yet. 🤩

It‘s a great day for some Brontë research! I feel like I‘ve emerged from my chrysalis like a cicada— this past Spring Semester was the hardest so far.

I learned Yiddish, made two websites, did three digital humanities projects, read over a thousand pages, including three textbooks, and wrote over 50 pages.

It sounds weird but, after all that, focusing on just one paper feels almost luxurious.

Recent acquisitions:

📖 George Eliot by Marghanita Laski
📖 A History of the World in 100 Objects: From the Handaxe to the Credit Card by Neil MacGregor
📖 Irish Folk Music and Song by Donal O'Sullivan

#fREADom #UniteAgainstBookBans

Figured now might be a good time to finally read this one, with all things MM fresh in my mind.

I loved this novel! I did an immersive read and it took so long! And certainly there were parts that were meandering but I loved the story and I felt so much for all the characters! This is my first GE novel, and she is so good at making you feel drawn towards the humanity of her characters, even through their sins and foibles, the compassion of the narrator made for such a gentle and enjoyable read!

“The secret of our emotions never lies in the bare object, but in its subtle relations to our own past: no wonder the secret escapes the unsympathizing observer, who might as well put on his spectacles to discern odours.“

I was having a hard time in the audio format keeping track of the characters and storyline. The author‘s style can be a bit meandering, if I might take the liberty of a mild criticism so early in the book. So I‘m now switching to an immersive read, following the audio along with the print, and both formats are available to me through Amazon/Audible for no additional charges. I‘m enjoying it and I‘m glad I did this!

Ok well, I didn‘t know the main characters were sexy Scottish men, so I‘m much more optimistic on this book at the moment. 🍆🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

This book was recommended by Judith Shulevitz on Ezra Klein‘s pod. The discussion was about practicing the Sabbath (highly recommend btw if you aren‘t listening to Ezra Klein you are really missing out) which I subsequently became quite curious about. I will confess to both bailing on Middlemarch and being intimidated by the length of this book, but I am giving it a go as my weekend audio book while I master baking scones. 💜

Not me spending the next three days frantically returning to the books I stalled out on in '22! Today I finished off this one which I started with the #PemberLittens. I side-eyed the Austen chapters, adored the ones about Charlotte Bronte, yawned my way through Eliot/Stowe, and perked up again with Woolf and Mansfield. All in all, uneven reading with some unsubstantiated claims, but I appreciate the perspective on these legendary female authors.