Drowning in Books!

Wondering whether it might be as a result of coming of my anti-anxiety meds, but at the moment I seem to be starting a lot of books all at the same time, particularly quite long books and series. I also know I haven't updated for a while, but I currently feel like I want to write more and not be so bothered about monitoring my online presence. To this aim I'm separating Tumblr from Facebook so I can post as much shit about books, fan fiction and feminism as I want.

Anyway, as far as my big book list is concerned, I haven't touched Proust for a while. I keep trying to get back into it but no luck so far. I'm hoping to at least finish the first volume by the end of the year. Same thing with the dreaded Clarissa. Although I finally managed to finish the first volume of A Dance to The Music of Time, as this was mostly completed in a fog of baby and I didn't really start the second volume in time to keep up with the plot I am starting again from scratch. The good news is that I've finished the Barchester Chronicles, the bad news is that although I've read the first couple of chapters of Can You Forgive Her? I have not really paid attention enough and will probably need to start again. Prompted by the BBC series I have started War and Peace. So far, I am finding it a tad hard-going. The Vintage translation preserves the original French so I am continually reading translation footnotes and then the actually footnotes explaining things. The naming conventions and family links are also quite confusing. I'm plowing on, however.

Current other books oldest first:

1.  The Grass Crown. This has been on there forever, but as I've read it a couple of times and keep up with the plot, this can stay.
2. The Cornish Trilogy. Somehow, although I was really enjoying this I sort of got out of the habit of reading it and it's just waiting to be finished.
3. Queen Lucia. Started this last Christmas, difficulties getting into it and I've lost the plot.
4. The Black Moon. I've been ploughing through the Poldark series for a while and I'm coming up to halfway through. As the plots are not that difficult to follow, I'm tending to pick them up and put them down at will.
5.  The Reformation. Really interesting topic, quite a dense non-fiction book that I haven't really kept up with.
6. American Tabloid. Another reproach from my reading list I'm probably going to have to start from the beginning.
7. North and South. The classic Civil War Trilogy, not Elizabeth Gaskill. Finished book one and although it's not hard going, it's a bit of a mammoth undertaking.
8. A Little Life. A library book I ended up getting a Kindle copy of. So far, it's pretty good, I just don't seem to be in the mood for it right now.
9. The Astors. Short history I've borrowed from Kindle Unlimited. Not bad.
10. The Second Footman. Historical M/M romance. Again, not really in the mood.
11. The Name of the Rose. Started reading this after reading a couple of books set in monasteries. I am making copious notes.
12. The Quincunx. If I hadn't limited myself, this would have made the list as I've been meaning to read it for AGES. What a book though. A pastiche of Victorian Gothic melodramas, with a juicy mystery and a cast of thousands.
13. Revelation. After loving Dominion I started reading Sansom's Shardlake mysteries. I am currently on the fourth.
14. Shadow of the Wind. I've just picked up the sequel from the local library and the third book is on order. I started this ages ago but didn't finish it, so I'm hoping to get further this time.
15. Letters of Two Brides. As my attention span seems to be a little limited at the moment, I've started reading Balzac's novellas. This is my third and I'm really enjoying their resemblance to fairy tales. 
16. Havisham. Started reading this randomly last night, not very deep into it.
17. A Question of Upbringing. Sudden craving to start this again.

So that's pretty much the Goodreads list aside from the three mentioned in the part about the big book list and a great big book of short stories that kind of stays on there. There are some pretty chunky books on there and series that carry on for a while. I'm not really worried but I think I probably need to start finishing some stuff and make decisions about whether I want to give some of these books another try or put them on the dreaded abandoned list.   

A New Book

So, I guess it's time I stopped blogging DFW on Tumblr and got on with the next book. After a lot of deliberation I've decided to move away from the footnotes and the modernist/post-modernist literature and head back in time for some 19th Century French melodrama. Les Miserables [sic, cannot put accents into Blogger] is out in the cinema in December and I am awaiting it with baited breath having inevitably performed songs from the musical in 6th form choir. My knowledge of the plot is rudimentary, as per I've started it in the past and not got that far.I've also always meant to try and watch the musical, so I figure now's the time to read it.  

I'm planning on reading the Penguin Classics 1976 version translated by Norman Denny, in book form rather than ebook. 

The cover image shows a detail of the man on the right, from a painting called 'Le Repas des Pauvres' (link)

I've owned this book for a number of years and I wanted to read something in a 'classic' translation (it looks like Penguin are yet to update the translation), I'm not sure about the validity of the Kindle ebook, and after finishing Infinite Jest I am looking forward to scribbling all over a book again . 

Reading the introduction I see that Denny has abridged it slightly and moved some of Hugo's most confusing and irrelevant discussions into an appendix. I admit, he does not really excite you to read the book that much, but I understand why he's done what he's done. Although it is tempting to wish for a book with an entirely accurate translation, a sympathetic translation is probably better. True to the spirit if not the letter, especially as it seems that the French edition was loaded with more footnotes. 

I am intrigued by Hugo's political background, I hadn't realised that he was exiled for his political beliefs.

Having read the introduction I feel suitably fortified to begin the journey, admittedly not having done a great deal of research this time.  

The Book List

Okay, so I am starting off with 50 books, most of which I have never read or never finished. The one exception is Can you Forgive Her? which I am including because it is part of a series I've always wanted to finish. I am also slightly unsure about whether I've ever finished Wuthering Heights. All I know is I've always disliked it, but want to force myself to give it one last go in a doomed attempt to understand it now I'm older. This may be way too ambitious, but never mind. Here are the books, in no particular order (I will not be reading them in this order either):

1. Swann's Way Proust (Vol 1: ARDTP)
2. In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower Proust (Vol 2: ARDTP)
3. The Guermantes Way Proust (Vol 3: ARTDP)
4. Sodom and Gomorrah Proust (Vol 4: ARTDP)
5. The Prisoner Proust (Vol 5: ARTDP)
6. The Fugitive Proust (Vol 6: ARTDP)
7. Time Regained Proust (Vol 7: ARTDP)
8. The Warden Trollope (Barchester Vol 1)
9. Barchester Towers Trollope (Barchester Vol 2)
10. Doctor Thorne Trollope (Barchester Vol 3)
11. Framley Parsonage Trollope (Barchester Vol 4)
12. The Small House at Allington Trollope (Barchester Vol 5)
13. Last Chronicle of Barset Trollope (Barchester Vol 6)
14. Can You Forgive Her? Trollope (Palliser Vol 1)
15. Phineas Finn Trollope (Palliser Vol 2)
16. The Eustace Diomonds Trollope (Palliser Vol 3)
17. Phineas Redux Trollope (Palliser Vol 4)
18. The Prime Minister Trollope (Palliser Vol 5)
19. The Duke's Children Trollope (Palliser Vol 6)
20. Clarissa Richardson
21. War and Peace Tolstoy
22. A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth
23. Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace
24. Emma Austen
25. Manfield Park Austen
26. Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
27. Ulysses Joyce
28. The Jewel in the Crown Scott (Raj Vol 1)
29. The Day of the Scorpion Scott (Raj Vol 2)
30. The Towers of Silence Scott (Raj Vol 3)
31. A Division of the Spoils Scott (Raj Vol 4)
32. A Question of Upbringing, A Buyer's Market, The Acceptance World Powell (Vol 1 ADTTMOT)
33. At Lady Molly's, Casanova's Chinese Restaurant, The Kindly Ones Powell (Vol 2 ADTTMOT)
34. The Valley of Bones, The Soldier's Art, The Military Philosophers Powell (Vol 3 ADTTMOT)
35. Books Do Furnish a Room, Temporary Kings, Hearing Secret Harmonies Powell (Vol 4 ADTTMOT)
36. Les Miserables Hugo
37. The Hunchback of Notre Dame Hugo
38. Justine Durrel (Alexandria 1)
39. Balthazar Durrel (Alexandria 2)
40. Mount Olive Durrel (Alexandria 3)
41. Clea Durrell Alexandria 4)
42. 1Q84 Book 1 Murakami
43. 1Q84 Book 2 Murakami
44. 1Q84 Book 3 Murakami
45. Wolf Hall Mantel
46. Suspicions of Mr. Whicher Kate Summerscale
47. The Moonstone Wilkie Collins
48. The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne
49. Crime and Punishment Dostoevsky
50. Vanity Fair Thackery

Admittedly, a bit heavy on the Victorian's, particularly Trollope. What can I say? I suppose I am a bit of a book snob, and I do try to read the classics, although I do have wide ranging tastes and read several books on the go. Currently, the main ones are Fifty Shades of Filth (yes, I am on the bandwagon here), Rivals (can't beat Jilly Cooper for a bit of summer fun) and 11.22.63 by Stephen King, a novel about time travel and the Kennedy Assassination, a library book.

I will in all likelihood continue reading other stuff alongside this project, I would be kidding myself if I said I could cope with Clarissa (for example) without something lighter alongside! I will also post about how I'm reading the books, whether I'm using a Kindle or a physical book. Yes, I'm an ebooker. I find that ebooks can be a little less intimidating, but I won't be replacing physical copies of some of the books I'm reading and I fear the translations of some of the free books. So, lugging around War and Peace and Les Mis it is then, at least until I check the translation. I guess if you're going to spend time reading them, it may as well be the proper stuff as far as possible.

Anyway, better go. Happy reading.