Welcome to Litsy!

“Freed from words and images, released from books which sleep, spellbound, on library shelves, artistic inspiration remains, in Mirbeau‘s novel, on the level of pain that cannot be voiced in words.“ ~Robert Ziegler

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One of my issues with 19th-century novels is how many of them began life as serialized publications. When you get paid by the word, you're going to use a lot of words, and while I don't begrudge anyone trying to make a living, even a writer of Balzac's level can't make me care about the topography of the Indre River valley for four whole pages. The first 50-75 pages of this were like literary Ambien, but there were enough compelling parts...

I knew, we knew, that what we were experiencing was anything but the grand historical event, the vain, colossal judicial spectacle that we all had good reason to fear at the beginning. No: this was something else: a unique experience of horror, pity, proximity and presence. It was only very late in the day that I realised that the white box resembles a modern church, and that something sacred had been taking place there.
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Image: BBC news site

"To explain society through a theory of individual happiness expressly sought at the expense of others is a lethal doctrine, the harsh connotations of which drive man to believe everything he secretly gains, without the legal system, society, or individuals perceiving the damage done, is properly and duly acquired."

This book may be a slog, but there are some great (and painfully relevant) quotes scattered throughout.

My December pick. #NF #12booksof2024

October was another low-volume reading month for me, so the competition was pretty thin. But Manon deserves it: a work I liked much more than I expected to do.

#12Booksof2024
@Andrew65

December 2024 stats. 16 books
Standouts: V13 Chronicle if a Trial( NF) The Dying Day (F)
Some Holiday reads, 4 #readyourkindle
#serieslove2024 #OutWithTheOld

Rather than quote the entire book, I chose certain excerpts as a snapshot. Paired with You Will Not Have My Hate by Antoine Leiris,( which I reviewed years ago here), this book is a vivid, heartfelt, disturbing, gut wrenching, & heartbreaking tale of the terrorists attack in 2015 in Paris. In light of the revolution dethroning Bashar al-Assad, this reporting of the trial, its victims & its perpetrators, is a relevant & necessary read.