pickThe last few weeks have been chaotic with family issues, so I‘m trying to catch up on recent reads.
This is part of the Pushkin Collection of classics and other overlooked works. It was a quick and fun novel about a man who sees the Mona Lisa while it is being painted and believes the woman exists. What follows is a man utterly obsessed who destroys his life in the efforts of tracking her down. An odd book on the power of art.
Book mail
This fabulous edition of John Milton's epic poem came in the mail a few days ago.
The illustrations by Gustave Dore are spot on.
When I purchased this huge tome, I didn't realize the actual size of the book. A pocket book it's not... 🙄😆
But I'm glad I got it, all the same.
I probably won't start this baby for a few weeks until I finish up some of the multitude of books I've started.
#bookmail #poetry #epicpoems
Made it to Friday!
Alexander Pope (1688-1744) Vs. A.I.
In his "On Epic Poetry", Pope satirises the proliferation of bad epic poetry, written not by poets with "genius", but by hacks according to a "recipe" in which they take themes and episodes from the great works of literature, "stack them up" and pour out verbiage void of any true human meaning, moral or value. ???
My reading of this essay was enhanced by it sounding in my mind as narrated by Simon Callow ?
More Moby Dick and more book-related Mom memes here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DH0VIqSMKH5/?img_index=1&igsh=cHYydzFkdWVxazBm
I'm about ¼ through this essay collection, having just finished the selections by Joseph Addison (1672-1719), which I've really enjoyed.
He was co-founder of The Spectator magazine, the title of which was borrowed by a still-extant conservative periodical, which is ironic given that Addison's satirical essay, "The Tory Fox-Hunter" lampoons the Little Englander mentality that still prevails amongst current Spectator & Daily Mail reading folk. ⬇️
so-soI‘ve always been intimidated by Proust and was thrilled to read this one with a few others. Proust has a meandering way of exploring the world around him. He‘s not rushed and his sentences are long and indulgent. That can feel exhausting at times, but then you come across a line so beautiful and achingly relatable that it stops you in your tracks. I‘m not ready to tackle the rest of the series, but maybe one book a year would be the right speed.
A fair amount of reading was done in March. While many books are in the 3-star range, I did really enjoy The Odyssey (read over two months). I finished ny #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin, read a couple of books for #192025, read two books set in big cities for #FictionalTraveler, a couple of #1001Books, and I even got a Bingo.
I am starting this one today - in between #AudioReSet and my current audiobook. I got a Penguin Classic Edition of this one, and it is also free on Audible, so I downloaded it to switch between the two :) I am excited to start!!
#HashtagBrigade
@BarkingMadRead
