cresswga
Male 34 from USA
Interested in Classic Fiction
About Me:
I was disappointed with much of the modern fiction I read so I drew up a list of every book I had ever heard of but never read and started to work my way though it. I am now 5 years into that list.
I was disappointed with much of the modern fiction I read so I drew up a list of every book I had ever heard of but never read and started to work my way though it. I am now 5 years into that list.
DailyLit Reading:
The Last of the Mohicans active
2BRO2B finished
Robinson Crusoe finished
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz finished
The Call of the Wild finished
Moby Dick finished
On the Decay of the Art of Lying finished
A Modest Proposal finished
The Last of the Mohicans active
2BRO2B finished
Robinson Crusoe finished
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz finished
The Call of the Wild finished
Moby Dick finished
On the Decay of the Art of Lying finished
A Modest Proposal finished
BookLists
| Books Read | 0 | This is a compilation of some of the books I have read that are available on this site. |
| Books Still to Read | 2 | This is a list of the books I plan on reading with Daily Lit in the future. |
| Favorites | 0 |
Posts and Reviews:
Classics - Split this category? - posted last week
lat62:You might also want to check out Bullfinch's Mythology (also available on this site)
http://www.dailylit.com/books/bulfinchs-mythology
It covers all of the major Greek myths. (The Romans did not really have any mythology of their own. For the most part they just renamed the Greek gods)
In addition to Greek mythology is also covers Norse, Eastern and Arthurian myths.
The only thing it does not seem to cover is the early myths about the origin of the Universe and the rise of the Olympian gods over the Titans.
Famous Modern Ghost Stories - hellohellohello - posted last month
Specifically in the Ghost Stories forum or the forums in general?I have had a few posts that got plenty of replies but I think that part of the problem is that with so many books on offer it is not often that you encounter someone who is reading the same book as you and as a result are unable to join in the discussion.
Oedipus Rex - Oedipus Complex - posted last month
In all Greek tragedy there is a common theme whereby people will always fulfill a prophecy even though they are acting under free will.But all tragic heroes have a fatal flaw which is usually partly to blame and, as you mentioned, Oedipus' was his pride.
It was his pride that made him refuse to yield to Laius at the crossroads and ultimately kill him.
However, in my opinion his parents were equally to blame for his fate. The prophecy foretold their fate and they tried to avoid it by killing him. If they had instead ignored the prophecy and raised Oedipus as their son then he would have known who his parents were and avoided his fate.
If you enjoyed this then I would also recommend Antigone which was another part of Sophocles' Theban trilogy.
Book Requests - The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft - posted last month
There was a post about this in the Horror forum a few months ago that I replied to.http://www.dailylit.com/forums/tag/horror/2007/07/02/how-about-some-hp-lovecraft
There is some contention as to whether the stuff is public domain or not in the States. However, it is public domain in Australia and so the full text of his work can be found on a different site:
http://www.gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600031h.html
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom - where in the future are we? - posted 3 months ago
Nice catch on the date reference there!As to how much of the author placed himself in the story I know Doctorow is an unabashed Haunted Mansion fan so it certainly would not surprise me if he imagined himself as the protagonist.
Ideas - This might be of interest - posted 3 months ago
I read about this on Boing Boing yesterday and tried using it to look up copyright on a few books (like Beau Geste which just missed out on the 1928 deadline and H.P.Lovecraft which has an unknown/dubious copyright status) but it wasn't easy as the search was pulling up all sorts of books that just mentioned it.Hopefully someone will take that huge XML file and make it searchable. I wish I had the time to take a crack at it.
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom - where in the future are we? - posted 3 months ago
I personally always took it to be much further into the future than that. People have been alive long enough to take multiple degrees and create numerous works of art. I took that to mean that people had been alive several hundreds of years.Etc. - First birthday? - posted 4 months ago
I received your note about Daily Lit's first birthday earlier today (and already filled out the survey) but I was wondering about what you called your launch date.I started on my first book in September 2006, well over a year ago. Did I happen to join before the official start date?
Anyway, happy birthday and thanks again for everything.
The Iliad - What's the deal with the Roman names? - posted 4 months ago
This is the same problem as with Bulfinch's Mythology. In the introduction to that book there is a passage that says:"...as our object is to make familiar the stores of general English literature which refer to such subjects, we shall retain, in general, the Latin names"
I grew up with E.V. Rieu's excellent translation of the Iliad and Odyssey so I share your frustration at the Romanised names.
One you missed off your list is:
Mars = Ares
and one that stays the same is Apollo who was called Apollo by the Greeks and Romans.
Book Requests - Beau Geste - posted 5 months ago
I had been interested in this too but I couldn't find any concrete evidence as to its copyright status.I remember seeing a BBC mini series based upon the book (a long time ago) that I enjoyed a lot.
For future reference Maggie, what are the rules for public domain? Is it published works pre-1923?
2BRO2B - the story in general - posted 5 months ago
I was not aware there was any Vonnegut on the site. I haven't read this before so I shall take a short respite from my current book to read this. Thanks.Notes from the Underground - Incorrect Title - posted 6 months ago
I think it is most likely that whomever translated the title went for something less literal as I have heard it referred to both ways.(I just checked Project Gutenberg and their title has the 'the' in it so I suspect that was the translation used)
The Last of the Mohicans - Amusing quote from this book - posted 6 months ago
That is possible but the thought of a beaver skin hat makes me think more of the American mountain men of the 19th century than the women of the 18th.Perhaps it was the addition of the green veil that made it more ladylike.
The Last of the Mohicans - Amusing quote from this book - posted 6 months ago
Part of the enjoyment of reading old stories like this is the discovery of words that are no longer in use or whose meanings have changed over the years.However, I did a double take when reading this passage from part 7:
"...she artlessly suffered the morning air to blow aside the green veil which descended low from her beaver."
I looked up some alternate meanings of the word beaver and the best match I could find was related to a type of fabric used for over garments but that does not seem to fit the context.
Does anyone else know what this could refer to?
Short Stories - H. P. Lovecraft - posted 7 months ago
There was a post about Lovecraft in the horror forum a while ago.http://www.dailylit.com/forums/tag/133/181
There appears to be a question mark over whether the books are actually in the public domain at the moment but a lot (if not all) of his short stories can actually be found here:
http://www.gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600031h.html
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Is this story a true one? - posted 7 months ago
I was not aware that it was even a legend before Irving wrote the story.I thought it was just a fictional story that has some characters and locations based upon real people and places.
Etc. - DailyLit mentioned in The Guardian - posted 7 months ago
It is nice for the site to get some recognition but it is a shame that the author was not as happy with the site as we obviously are.For me, this site has not replaced reading but I have used it as a means to get through some novels that I had not or could not get through before whilst still reading books in the evenings.
(Moby Dick was the first book I read here and is a testament to how good the site is for doing that)
Perhaps part of what I like is that my Inbox is not cluttered with lots of jokes and junk email so all I have is personal email, work email and Daily Lit.
It will be interesting to see if more people do sign up as a result of the article though. Fingers crossed.
Robinson Crusoe - Strange discrepancy in chapter titles - posted 8 months ago
That's very interesting. I did not realise that. Thank you Maggie.Robinson Crusoe - Strange discrepancy in chapter titles - posted 8 months ago
I am about two thirds of the way through this book and whilst tidying up one of my bookcases yesterday I found I owned an old second hand copy of it.As I am enjoying it I thought I might as well finish reading the dead tree version rather than through email. However, when I tried to find where I was up to I was not initially able to.
The chapter names (and in some cases the chapter stops) are completely different between the 1965 printing I own and the copy on this site. I checked Project Guttenberg and compared their copy and their chapters match those of this site (indeed that might be where the Daily Lit copy came from).
Does anyone know why there might be a difference and which copy might be the original?
The interesting thing about my book copy is that the chapters are all written in the first person; I Go To Sea, I Build My Fortress, which makes sense given the context of the story.
Walden - what is the meaning of "cimenter" - posted 9 months ago
I haven't read that book but a quick search shows that Cimeter is an alternate spelling of Scimiter.http://dictionary.die.net/cimeter
Brown Wolf and Other Jack London Stories - Readers? - posted 9 months ago
I too finished Call of the Wild recently but I am so spoiled for choice with this site I think it might be some time before I return to Jack London.Please let us know if you enjoy the book.
Book Requests - Bulfinch's Mythology - posted 9 months ago
mlybrand - can you tell me more about this book?I studied Classics at University and have always been a huge fan of Greek myths so I have a thorough knowledge of the stories that make up much of the first part of this book. However I would love to learn more about the Arthurian legends (I was never able to get into Mallory's Morte d'Arthur).
Is this a straight retelling of the tales?
Etc. - question - posted 10 months ago
Thanks Albert - I had not seen that option before.How do the 'longer' and 'longest' subscriptions work. Are they 2x and 3x the length of a usual one?
Moby Dick - Differences between book & film *book spoilers within* - posted 10 months ago
I was able to catch the Patrick Stewart version on cable this weekend. I really enjoyed it.It seemed a strange amalgam of the book, the original film and some new material but I was very pleased with the characterisations and found the relationship between Ahab and Starbuck was especially faithful.
Thank you for the recommendation.
Etc. - question - posted 10 months ago
Whereabouts are the Advanced Settings? I do not see anything in my Profile.Anna Karenina - French - posted 10 months ago
Well that clears up that!Thank you for the extra information.
Anna Karenina - French - posted 10 months ago
It has been many years since I learned French but I was taught that 'vous' was formal and 'tu' informal. As such I wonder if using 'tu' allowed the characters a middle ground between the 2 Russian extremes.The Call of the Wild - Chapter 3 - posted 11 months ago
Yeah I know what you mean. It was inevitable if still a little brutal.The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Has any read any of the other Oz books? - posted 11 months ago
I too was surprised at how dark they were. Baum was not joking when he said he wanted it to be a modern fairy story. It easily matched some of the 'classic' fairy tales in tone. I was especially surprised and saddened by the Tin Man's tale.The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Has any read any of the other Oz books? - posted last year
Thank you. I will try reading another one after my current book and see how it compares.The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Has any read any of the other Oz books? - posted last year
I just finished reading the Wonderful Wizard of Oz as I was interested in seeing how it compared to the movie but I know nothing of the other books.Can anyone tell me about them? Would you recommend them?
War and Peace - Finally Reading War and Peace - posted last year
I am interested in reading it in the future but I am partly put off by its reputation of being such an difficult novel to read.Please let me know how you find it as you progress.
Book Requests - Confederacy of Dunces - posted last year
I agree that it is an amazing book. Definitely worth checking out.Ideas - Community help in adding books - posted last year
I had actually started designing a program to try and do the work of splitting up the pages but I just haven't had the time recently to pursue it.Perhaps when Albert opens things up I will be devote some more time to it.
Don Quijote I - Not an easy book to tackle. - posted last year
I completely agree. I have tried to read this book twice and failed both times.I am determined to try again one day and maybe this will be the site that will make it happen. But having just taken 9 months to read Moby Dick I am looking to read some shorter stories first.
A Voyage to the South Sea - Accuracy - posted last year
It is certainly historical but it is from one persons point of view so you have to take that into consideration when reading it.Book Requests - Hugh Laurie - The Gun Seller - posted last year
My version (1997 - paperback first edition) goes up to and including chapter 26.And it does include a chapter 19.
If you have any other questions about the book let me know.
As an aside, for anyone who is not familiar with this book I highly recommend it. It is very funny.
Moby Dick - Differences between book & film *book spoilers within* - posted last year
It was the old version with Gregory Peck as Ahab.I haven't seen the Patrick Stewart version but I am very interested in seeing what he did with the role.
Book Requests - Hugh Laurie - The Gun Seller - posted last year
I own this book. I will try to remember to check for you. If you do not hear back post again and nag me :)The Time Machine - Anyone else reading The Time Machine? - posted last year
I actually found the 1960 movie very accurate to the book with the exception of an addition referencing World War II.This story was the first of Wells' that I read and I enjoyed it enough to read more.
Moby Dick - Differences between book & film *book spoilers within* - posted last year
I finished the book on Friday and then watched the movie last night. I had always thought the movie was held in high regard and considered faithful and so I was very surprised at how much they changed the text.Ahab became obsessed with Moby Dick to the point where he did not care about hunting other whales. Starbuck tried to talk the other officers into mutiny. Queequeg requested the coffin be built after foreseeing his death.
The biggest change that surprised me was Ahab's death. The ending was one of the few things I remembered from seeing the movie as a child with Ahab's body lashed to the side of Moby Dick. By contrast the ending of the book seemed almost rushed and anti-climactic.
I appreciate that the book was very hard to adapt and the film did capture a lot of the tone but it just made me wonder if all of the people who thought the film was a good adaptation had ever read the book...
Moby Dick - Is anyone else struggling with this? - posted last year
I am now only a few episodes from the end and looking back it has been an exceedingly informative book. But I agree with what you have both said above.Moby Dick is half novel and half treatise on whaling and that is what makes it so fascinating and frustrating at the same time.
But I am glad I am going to finish it. It might have taken me 9 months with the daily chunks but if I were reading this as a physical book I would have put it down several times.
Horror - how about some hp lovecraft - posted last year
According to wikipedia there is some on going contention as to when the copyright expires on his work so it is unknown whether anything published after 1923 is in the public domain yet.However I did find this page:
http://www.gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600031h.html
which contains a lot of his short stories if you were interested.
There is also a book he wrote called "Supernatural Horror in Literature" here:
http://www.gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0601181h.html
Moby Dick - Ahab's Wife - posted last year
Yes! Less than 40 installments to go now.The film was on tv a few weeks ago and I recorded it but I am determined not to watch it until I am finished with the book because whilst I want to watch the film again, I do not want it to colour my perception of the characters in the book.
Thanks for the recommendation. I will see if I can find the book.
Help - Any SPAM? - posted last year
I am on part 209 of Moby Dick and I can happily say I have been spam free. They really have a great site here. I hope you enjoy it.The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Dr Jekill and Mr Hyde story - posted last year
I only read the book a few years ago so by that time I had been tainted by many film and tv variations of the story.I enjoyed the book but was initially surprised at how short it was.
I personally viewed it as a study of the two sides of a persons nature and the capability for good and evil within them.
What seems amusing now is that whilst it is never explicitly told what Mr Hyde got up to some of it would probably seem tame by todays standards (I am thinking drinking and sex rather than the murder) so it now also serves as an interesting look at Victorian society.
Adventure - Don't know the title - posted last year
There were only published in the 1960's so they won't be available for this site any time soon.I remember the tv show when I was young and it was cancelled at the end of the second series. It took me a long time to be able to find the 3rd book to finish reading.
I really enjoyed the tv show.
I just looked up the series on wikipedia and it appears there was a 4th book written in 1988 that served as a prequel. More information can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tripods
Moby Dick - Is anyone else struggling with this? - posted last year
...but Ishmael is narrating the story himself which makes me think he survives to tell his tale.I'm up to part 189 now and it has gotten easier to read. Maybe I have just become inured to the the language.
The Time Machine - Anyone else reading The Time Machine? - posted last year
I read it some time ago so I do not remember the pacing. The problem I had was that the original film was vivid in my mind when reading it so it was very hard to imagine anything outside of the movie.Moby Dick - Ahab's Wife - posted last year
I am not familiar with the book but I am reading Moby Dick at the moment (up to part 175). Does it directly relate to Moby Dick and so should I wait until I have finished it before reading this?Book Requests - Orwell, Salinger - posted last year
I would say that all of those books became classics a long time ago. Unfortunately Salinger is still alive so Catcher is definitely still under copyright.I want to say Orwell died in 1950 so I am not sure what the status is of his books as to whether they are in the public domain.
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom - want more? - posted last year
awesome! I am going to bookmark this to read after work today. Thanks for the link.Book Requests - Edgar Rice Burroughs - posted last year
I would enjoy that too. I have Tarzan and Princess of Mars on my list to try for Burroughs.The Lost World - word meaning "van" - posted last year
I thought it might amuse you to know that in part 127 of Moby Dick that I read today was the sentence:"Meanwhile, Stubb retaining his place in the van, still encouraged his men to the onset, all the while puffing the smoke from his mouth."
It seems perhaps that this was common word that has since fallen out of favour.
The Lost World - word meaning "van" - posted last year
I only know Doyle from Sherlock Holmes so I might have to add this to my list of books to check out.The Lost World - word meaning "van" - posted last year
I would think it meant van as in Vanguard or front. It makes sense because the person at the front of the party would be the person to notice something first.Ideas - book description - posted last year
Another possibility would to have a very short critical essay on the novel. Something to say how the book fitted into the society of the time and its impact - kind of like the introductions Robert Osbourne does on Turner Classic Movies.Sometimes knowing why a book was influential is as interesting as knowing what it is about and can make it more attractive to readers.
Moby Dick - Is anyone else struggling with this? - posted last year
Yes, that was one thing I was starting to notice the further I got into the book. I must admit I skimmed the Whale chapter although I think that might be common as I have heard several other people admit the same thing.I do find myself often clicking to receive the next fragment whenever the story is about Ishmael or the Pequod and waiting for the next day whenever the fragment has not advanced the plot.
In terms of age this is one of the oldest novels I have read (outside of the Greek plays and poems I read at University) and I look forward to seeing as I read more on this site whether this style is symptomatic of novels of the time.
Bugs - Send next fragment immediately? - posted last year
I was going to assume that the link changed with each fragment but it doesn't. I just tried clicking next fragment in my part 115 and got 116 and then 117. So I am not sure what the problem might be. Does this happen to anyone else? I am using gmail if it makes any difference.Ideas - Display list of novels read outside of Daily Lit in profile? - posted last year
I was only thinking of keeping it within the realm of the Daily Lit library but I hadn't heard of that site before. Thanks for the link.Beyond Good and Evil - Sick of asking why and having no answer - posted last year
I think there is always value in debate because it everyone to confront why they hold their belief even if you both believe the same thing. Do you accept something because you were told it or have you come to this conclusion by your own research?The problem as I see it is that belief is not about looking at the evidence. Belief ends the debate in your own head about something.
So when there is no certainty in either direction I think the value of having someone explain their beliefs is less important than having them explain what led them to that conclusion.
If they can do that they must have considered both sides of the argument which should mean they are aware of the lack of certainty. So the question not longer becomes WHAT they believe but WHY they believe it.
And if someone is unable to explain that then that is where the value of the teaching comes in.
Ideas - Display list of novels read outside of Daily Lit in profile? - posted last year
I know that after time my profile will grow with a list of books that I have finished. But there are lots of books in the list that I have read already that I will never receive through Daily Lit.It would be nice if I could select these to show in my profile so that you could more easily see what other people have read outside of their current and past subscriptions.
It would also be nice for my profile to show what books I would like to read next.
Not sure how easy any of that would be for you though :)
Bugs - Gmail is acting up - posted last year
I have not personally encountered any problems with gmail. Sorry.The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Gregory House with 2 good legs? - posted last year
I think it is hard to really get a grasp on how tortured Holmes might have been because the stories are narrated by Watson as an observer.He seems more interested in the deductive reasoning than any inner demons and always writes his accounts from the standpoint of an admirer.
I always found Holmes bachelor lifestyle lonely and his pursuits insular but it is hard to know what was considered acceptable at that time.
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom - WDITOT? - posted last year
I really enjoyed this book and it gave me some added enjoyment when I went back to Disney late last year. I hadn't really enjoyed the Haunted Mansion or Hall of Presidents when I had visited the park as a child but got a lot more out of them having read the book.If you enjoy the book I can recommend everything else Cory has written.
Moby Dick - Is anyone else struggling with this? - posted last year
Thank you for the encouragement!The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Gregory House with 2 good legs? - posted last year
No I have been leaving those until last because I am so familiar of the story from the movie versions. I was thinking of Don Quixote and James Joyce's Ulysses next and I can only hope they are easier to read than Moby Dick is!The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Gregory House with 2 good legs? - posted last year
haha indeed I am. I recognised your user id too :)The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Gregory House with 2 good legs? - posted last year
The Holmes/House is not a coincidence.Did you not notice that House also lives at the address 221B?
Moby Dick - Is anyone else struggling with this? - posted last year
I am nearly half way through this book and it seems to veer between quite gripping and exceedingly frustrating. Some of the passages are so florid as to be almost unreadable.As much as I am ashamed to admit it I am glad I have seen the movie (many years ago) as it is helping me through.
What does everyone else think?