Another Christmas season and it’s time to pull out my Everyman’s Pocket Classics with 20 Christmas stories, each written by a well-known classic author. This year we start with Anton Chekhov’s short story Vanka. which is the sixth story in the compilation and one that will pull at your heartstrings. So let’s meet Vanka …
My, it’s been a long time since I posted on an essay/talk from this project. Even though I was so excited to get to the next section on love, this series on Darwin finally stalled me. It was interesting but after 4 essays delving into Darwin and evolution, I was approaching a stupor. So with some time passed, I’m determined to get through this last essay!
Quo Vadis: “It was close to noon before Petronius came awake, feeling as drained and listless and detached as always.”
Quo Vadis was part of the read-along hosted by Nick at One Catholic Life and, thanks to him, I’ve finally finished this book that I’ve long been meaning to read. It was truly fascinating to be completely immersed in the Roman Empire under Nero, and Sienkiewicz did an outstanding job of describing it’s grandeur and excesses, it’s beauty and cruelty, in a way that remains with the reader long after he is finished the novel. Perhaps it’s not surprising that Quo Vadis helped Sienkiewicz win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1905.
Another day, another spin and I’m in! I haven’t finished my last spin ….. yet. I’m still reading through The Merchant of Venice but at least I started and do plan to finish so it’s not a complete fail. And I’ve discovered a new energy to read some of the books on my Classics Club list. So a spin is just the thing. Let’s see what comes up …..
Greenmantle: “I had just finished eating breakfast and was filling my pipe when I got Bullivant’s telegram.”
After his harrowing and unexpected adventures in The Thirty-Nine Steps, we find Richard Hannay with his friend, Sandy, convalescing at home from the Battle of Loos, a battle that made up part of the battles of the First World War. But there are rumblings of a war in the East, a Holy War orchestrated by the Germans and their Turkish allies, that would bring about great unrest and tragedy. Britain cannot afford distractions and therefore Hannay must penetrate the Eastern regions and discover the truth about the secret rumblings.
I’ve been reading at a very, very moderate pace but haven’t had time to post reviews. I’ve finished The Enchanted April, am almost finished Quo Vadis, am halfway through Nicholas Nickleby and have just begun Notre-Dame de Paris. Lots of books on the go but nevertheless, I’m going to participate in the Classics Club Spin #27.
The Pine Trees of Louvciennes (1870) Camille Pissaro
~ source Wikiart
The next choice in my Deal Me In Challenge is The Pine Tree by Hans Christian Andersen, drawn from the queen of clubs under short stories. It was a perfect choice to fit in with my goal to read as many fairy tales as I can this year, albeit at a moderate pace. I was looking forward to an Andersen story, as I expected it would be a little lighter than a story from The Brothers Grimm. I was wrong.
