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#Kindredspiritsbuddyread
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LitsyEvents
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Repost for @BarbaraJean

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead: This week we‘re reading an #LMMAdjacent book—The Haunted & the Haunters by Edward Bulwer-Lytton—with a discussion on Saturday, Nov. 2nd. This is a shorter one: my Kindle edition is 68 pages. All are welcome—let me know if you‘re not tagged and you‘d like to be!

BarbaraJean Thank you for re-posting! 5d
32 likes1 comment
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BarbaraJean
The Haunted and the Haunters | Edward Bulwer-Lytton
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#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead: This week we‘re reading an #LMMAdjacent book—The Haunted & the Haunters by Edward Bulwer-Lytton—with a discussion on Saturday, Nov. 2nd. This is a shorter one: my Kindle edition is 68 pages. All are welcome—let me know if you‘re not tagged and you‘d like to be!

In the comments I‘ll add LMM‘s thoughts about this story⤵️

BarbaraJean “After I got home for keeps I read a perfectly harrowing ghost story. It was the most gruesome thing. I read it in bed and after I had finished it do you suppose I could get out of bed to put the light out? No!! …The story was Lytton‘s ‘The Haunters and the Haunted‘ and I can conscientiously recommend it.”
—LMM Complete Journals, Vol. 2 - June 2, 1902

I‘m planning to read it during daylight just to be safe. 😆
5d
TheAromaofBooks I don't usually read scary stories, so I'm a little terrified 😂 Also I'm only on chapter 12 of Seven Gables, but I am still plugging away! My word, NOTHING IS HAPPENING!!!! 😆 5d
BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Haha—yeah, I‘m not much of a scary-story person either, and in re-reading LMM‘s comment I said: what was I thinking?! I‘m NOT reading it at night 🤣 And I think Seven Gables is the slowest burn ever. He even describes what happens in a very nothing-is-happening way 😏 4d
TheAromaofBooks I marked a sentence the other day where Hawthorne used SEVEN adjectives to describe someone in ONE SENTENCE 😂 4d
20 likes4 comments
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BarbaraJean
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#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?

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BarbaraJean
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#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

Let‘s talk genre. Hawthorne is said to have considered this a romance—in literary terms: “a narrative, allegorical treatment of heroic fantastic or supernatural events.” I picked it for October because of the gothic elements: witchcraft/family curse/murder/creepy house. Other than “classic,” how would you classify this book, and why? “Romance” in a literary sense, gothic fiction, something else?

lauraisntwilder As it is, I can't really classify it, but I could see it being rewritten as a modern day thriller. 4d
BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder I have a hard time classifying it, too! There are enough elements of gothic fiction that I want to call it that, but it doesn't feel gothic in tone. And the “heroic fantastic or supernatural“ was also very slight. I would be very interested in a modern retelling that amps up those gothic elements. 21h
15 likes2 comments
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BarbaraJean
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#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent
“…it is a weird, melancholy creation, and every few paragraphs I would stumble over a sentence that brought stinging, painful tears to my eyes… Once, tears over a book-woe were something sweetly, sadly pleasant…Still, I love the book and found pleasure in reading it…” (Journals Vol 2, p. 67)
Do you enjoy stories that prompt “tears over a book-woe”? Are there books that give you “sweetly, sadly pleasant” tears?

lauraisntwilder Sometimes, yes. I enjoy feeling connected to other people (even if they're fictional) through shared experiences, which is one of the best parts of reading fiction. Little Women comes to mind. Oh, Beth. ❤️ 4d
BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder I agree with you and LMM, I enjoy the emotional connection with characters--but I rarely shed tears over a book. And I don't dislike sad stories, but I don't usually seek out a book just because it's sad. I also tend to find hope in stories that others find depressing, so maybe that's part of it, too! 21h
14 likes2 comments
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BarbaraJean
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#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

In Vol. 2 of LMM‘s journals, she comments: “The ‘Seven Gables‘ has the indefinable charm of all Hawthorne‘s books—that airy, fantastic, elusive fancy of his permeates every line of it” (pp. 67-8). However, many readers have criticized this book for being far too wordy & thin on plot. Did you enjoy Hawthorne‘s writing style? Did the slow pace, drawn-out descriptions, and slow-burn plot work for you in the end?

JenlovesJT47 I‘m sorry, I got behind again! 😳 Going to start this today or tomorrow. 😬 5d
BarbaraJean @JenlovesJT47 Haha—I get it! Take the time you need. You can always come back to the discussion posts later! 5d
lauraisntwilder I have been so busy at work this month that I've had trouble focusing to read -- or I just fall asleep. I got through this in audio form. I do like the writing, but in the end, the payoff seemed anticlimactic somehow. I appreciated the atmospheric writing, but I tend to agree that the plot was thin. 4d
BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder I'm glad the audio worked for you! I didn't mind the writing in spite of how wordy it was. There are some beautiful images and I felt like I could picture the scenes and characters vividly. But I was annoyed by how long Hawthorne took to get around to the plot! I agree, the payoff seemed anticlimactic. I feel like this would have been better trimmed down to a short story... or fleshing out the plot as an intergenerational drama. 21h
14 likes4 comments
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BarbaraJean
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“I doubt whether even our public edifices—our capitols, state-houses, court-houses, city-halls, and churches—ought to be built of such permanent materials as stone or brick. It were better that they should crumble to ruin once in twenty years, or thereabouts, as a hint to the people to examine into and reform the institutions which they symbolize.”

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

Texreader Very thought-provoking 1w
DogMomIrene That‘s a perspective I‘ll be mulling over today and the next 12 days. 1w
BarbaraJean @DogMomIrene I know, right? It's kind of a throwaway comment in the book, but so pertinent right now! 21h
27 likes3 comments
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BarbaraJean
Starling House | Alix E. Harrow
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I‘m so pleased with all the reading I did over the weekend for the #BirthdayBashReadathon! I finished three in-progress books (one of which was my October #BookSpin), kept up/caught up on #FellowshipofTolkien and #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead, and got about halfway through my #DoubleSpin! Happy Birthday, Sarah—and I hope you had a lovely weekend reading and celebrating! 🥳🎉📚🎂

BarbaraJean The other reading I got done this weekend: researching the—count them—13 ballot measures I get to vote on in this election: one district measure, two county measures, and TEN statewide measures 😵‍💫 Today I‘m researching superior court judges 🎉 1w
TheAromaofBooks Yay!! Fantastic weekend!! That is a LOT of issues to research! And it can be sooo hard to find non-partisan information, even from supposedly non-partisan sources 😒 1w
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JenlovesJT47
Elizabeth and Her German Garden | Elizabeth Von Arnim
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Pickpick

I see that the rest of my group who read this for the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead had mixed feelings about this one & I totally understand where you all are coming from. I didn‘t love this book but found it oddly enjoyable. Elizabeth & her friend Irais were pretty funny imo & I love how she calls her husband the Man of Wrath 😆 & we don‘t even know his name (he was an ass lol). I can totally see why LMM loved it because she was absolutely crazy ⬇️

JenlovesJT47 About flowers and her garden & I‘m sure she could relate to Elizabeth as a kindred spirit. Does she talk about this book in her journals? I haven‘t gotten around to reading them yet. So like I said, I enjoyed this more than I thought I would but can understand everyone‘s complaints about it. 🤓 4⭐️ #HauntedShelf #FrightClub #TBRread #LMM @Jadams89 (edited) 2w
BarbaraJean Yes, LMM does talk about it in her journals! (That's the main reason I added it to our buddy read) She loved it and said Elizabeth was her “twin soul“ when it came to gardening 😊 1w
JenlovesJT47 @BarbaraJean awesome, I had a feeling! I‘ve read a bunch of books about LMM and she was obsessed with flowers & gardening & was an amateur photographer as well. If you haven‘t read this one I‘d highly recommend it 1w
BarbaraJean I've had that one on my list!! I think I've seen it on Hoopla. Maybe we'll have to add it into the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead sometime in 2025! 1w
JenlovesJT47 @BarbaraJean awesome! They have a bunch of LMM‘s photographs in this book, the ones she took of her gardens. 1w
38 likes5 comments