1000 Books Project: Classic Fantasy 2022

Challenge Backstory:

I picked up a copy of James Mustich's amazing 1000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life Changing List and upon looking through it, I realized it really is a well-rounded reading recommendation book. I was pleased to discover I have read quite a few of the books he lists, and that many of them are on my personal reading lists (and they are books I own). So, to ever expand my reading horizons, and include others in the journey, I decided to create a read-along challenge, or project, if you will.

Note: 2021 was French Classics. I managed to finish The Count of Monte Cristo, but Les Miserables proved too daunting after finishing the Dumas book so I'm working on finishing it gradually. It happens. I'm sure you can relate.

Without further ado, the project for 2022 is Classic Fantasy. Particularly...

The Once and Future King by T.H. White: January - June 2022

Reading schedule for this portion of the read-along here

From 1000 Books to Read Before You Die...

King Arthur and his court have provided our literature with what may be its richest vein of story. A simple list of the names it encompasses--Arthur and Merlyn, Guenever and Lancelot, Avalon and Camelot--conjures a magical spell of adventure, intrigue, and nobility. No narrative enchanter has made more of its power than T.H. White. In the four novels--The Sword in the Stone (1938), The Queen of Air and Darkness (1939), The Ill-Made Knight (1940), and The Candle in the Wind (1958)--collected under the title The Once and Future King, White mined the ore of Arthurian tradition and infused it with both erudition and imagination to create a fresh treasury of humor, romance, fantasy, and tragedy.

and...

The Gormenghast Trilogy: Titus Groan/Gormenghast/Titus Alone by Mervyn Peake: July through December 2022

From 1000 Books to Read Before You Die...

The Other Side of Tolkien

Mervyn Peake lurks in the shadows of literature like a forgotten enchanter obscured by the main action of a fantasy sequence. In the royalty of the genre, one might even see him as J.R.R. Tolkien's dispossessed brother, ruling a realm wilder than the one the creator of The Lord of the Rings commanded. The difference is evident in their prose: Tolkien's writing is sturdy and occasionally poetic, but it pales next to Peake's idiosyncratic, virtuosic style. And where the former's heart lay with salt-of-the-earth types like Bilbo Baggins, the latter's allegiance was to eccentrics, artists, and rebels. Tolkien endorsed systems, hierarchies, and loyalties within both, while Peake railed against not only duties but against governance itself. But anyone of an expressive temperament or taste--admiring, say, the caricatural genius of Dickens and the inherent fatedness of Melville, or possessing a fondness for the Gothic or the baroque--will wander into Peake's imaginative realm with wonder, and likely to return to it again and again.

Watch for the reading schedule for our first read-along, The Once and Future King, which I will have posted on January 1st.

If you would like to join us, sign up below...and spread the word. Thanks!

 

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1000 Books Project: Les Miserables - Status Update

I'm having a dilemma and I'm hoping you will 1) understand and 2) work with me on this. I hope I'm not asking too much. 

I'm having a very difficult time with Les Miserables. Don't get me wrong...it is very good. I guess maybe I'm just not in the mindset for it right now. It's fall and Halloween month and all I want to do is read scary.

Plus, I'm traveling to Salem, Massachusetts in a week and I'm going to have even less time for reading. After October, I'll be shortly segueing into holiday reading. So...I'm thinking I'm going to make this a very less structured and long term read-along. I just know I cannot finish Les Miserables before the end of the year. I'm hoping you will still read-along, but I will understand if you decide not to. I'm going to keep reading, and will post discussions periodically so if you do continue to read-along, please feel free to share your thoughts.

Thanks for understanding! Sometimes a person has to step back from too much.

Next year, 1000 Books Project will be focusing on a bit less weighty reading material. We will be reading classic fantasy. The Once and Future King by T.H. White (Jan - June) and The Gormenghast Novels by Mervyn Peake (July - December). Stay tuned!

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1000 Books Project - Les Misérables Reading Schedule

Finally! Here is the reading schedule. Hopefully, you saw this post where I changed this read-along to the last five months of the year. We had an August start date, BUT I just finished The Count of Monte Cristo (final discussion here) so I'm starting it now. I'm really going to try to read a little each day so I stay caught up. Now, on to the details and reading schedule....

My edition: Hardcover, 908 pages, Published October 11th 2012 by Fall River Press

Discussions will be posted here on the blog on the dates indicated in the schedule. Feel free to stop by the discussions any time. Post your thoughts in the comments, or share a link to a blog post.

• August: Volume I - Fantine
  Discussion: September 1st
• September: Volume II - Cosette
  Discussion: October 1st
• October: - Volume III - Marius
  Discussion: November 1st
• November: Volume IV - Saint-Denis
  Discussion: December 1st
  
• December: Volume V - Jean Valjean
  Discussion: January 1st (2022)

The original challenge post with info and sign-up is here.

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1000 Books Project: The Count of Monte Cristo Discussion - Final Thoughts...finally!

Dumas really was an author who liked to create an atmosphere along with his story. There are moments where the story lags, but never once was I tempted to abandon the story. It's just too good a story for that. 

What's the price of revenge? Does a person who is wronged in a horrible way, his whole life taken away, have the right to seek revenge on those who wronged him, and still find happiness? This is what Dumas explores in this book. It's actually an excellent example of karma...what goes around comes around. In the end I feel (and apparently so did Dumas) that Monte Cristo (or Edmond Dantes) performed enough good deeds amidst his revenge to warrant him happiness in the end. Although I was a little weirded out that he ended up with Haidee. I guess my only cinematic viewing of the story, the 2002 version of the same name, had me liking that ending better...for Dantes anyway. I'm due for a rewatch since I've now read the book.

I'm not going to go into more detail with this discussion. Frankly, I'm exhausted, yet feeling accomplished that I finally finished. Now have to save my energy for Les Miserables.

So, what did you think? Any thoughts on what I said above, or further insight beyond what I mentioned? Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments. 

The official start of the Les Miserables read-along was the beginning of this month, but I had not got around to posting the schedule yet. It is now live and you will find the post here. 

Hope you will join us for another French classic. Les Mis is really one of my favorite stories.

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1000 Books Project: French Classics - Some read-along news

I have an update of sorts for our read-alongs. First, an explanation regarding my getting so behind on The Count of Monte Cristo. I've had a lot of health and personal issues in the past few months. In early April, and then again in May, I had two bouts of cellulitis. I was pretty sick. I also lost my grandmother in April which was another blow, and I couldn't go to the funeral because of my illness. Then, two weeks ago, I had to make the difficult decision to have my beautiful cat, Alice put to sleep. She was 14 years old. I'm still having a hard time. It has been a lot.

So, what does that mean for the 1000 Books Project? Well, I've decided to extend the Count of Monte Cristo read-along until the end of July. Then we will start Les Miserables in August and read it through December. There are five "volumes" in Les Miserables so one for each month. That's roughly 200 pages per month. I think we can manage it. I hope so. 

Stay tuned for the official reading schedule post for Les Miserables. I will have the final discussion post for The Count of Monte Cristo posted at the end of July.

Thank you for bearing with me. I really appreciate your understanding, and if you're still with me, I appreciate that too. 

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An update for the Gather Together and Read community

You may have heard that Feedburner's follow by email function is going to be discontinued next month. At first I was in panic mode, but soon found there were easy solutions to the problem. Thankfully! So, I decided to switch over to follow.it which is a free email subscription service. If you were already subscribed via Feedburner's service, you won't have to worry about missing any email updates from this blog. New visitors can now subscribe via email at any time so you won't miss any of my future posts. You can subscribe now by filling out the form below, or on the form in its regular home in the sidebar.

 

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1000 Books Project: The Count of Monte Cristo - Update

Yes, grossly behind at this point. I was sick earlier in April and then my grandmother passed. A lot going on, to say the least. I am finished with the March reading section, but it's the end of April so still haven't finished the April section. Will try to have the March and April discussion (combined) posted by mid May. 

So, discussion by mid May will be the following:

March: Read through page 457, through the end of Chapter LV
April: Read through page 603, through the end of Chapter LXXVI

Will try my hardest to have May's discussion up by end of May/the earliest of June. That section is:

May: Read through page 725, through the end of Chapter XCIII

Thank you for bearing with me.