What are you reading now?

[gurnemanz]

Just finished The Invention of Nature Andrea Wulf 's book about Alexander Humboldt, thoroughly recommendable as a compelling account of his pioneering adventures and achievements and also of the people he knew and influenced. For me it cast light on many areas about which I had only sketchy knowledge, eg Simon Bolivar and the liberation of S. America from Spanish rule. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Invention-N...=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Just starting Wagnerism by Alex Ross ....

[Pulcinella]

....I've read Little Dorrit 2 or 3 times....tremendous scope/canvas/reach....agree with what you both say. Just tried Barnaby Rudge and abandoned after about 50 pages (tedious unnecessary description of characters....didn't even get to the Gordon Riots....

Keep going with Barnaby, eighth.
It's hard not to have sympathy with the way he gets caught up in what's going on.
There's quite a lot of menace in the book too, which I found convincing.

But yes, Little Dorrit is in a different class, though I think Bleak House might just top the list for me.

[vinteuil]

But yes, Little Dorrit is in a different class, though I think Bleak House might just top the list for me.

... Bleak House might top the list for me too - were it not for the Esther Summerson narrations : I find her difficult to stomach.

Our Mutual Friend I like a lot - but many wd say it's his least Dickensian work - and perhaps ceci explique cela...

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[Pulcinella]

... Bleak House might top the list for me too - were it not for the Esther Summerson narrations : I find her difficult to stomach.

Our Mutual Friend I like a lot - but many wd say it's his least Dickensian work - and perhaps ceci explique cela...

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Yes: Esther is a little nauseating!

I enjoyed re-reading Our Mutual Friend too, though I thought that it dragged on a bit.
It's good when people get their rightful come-uppance!

[Don Basilio]

... Bleak House might top the list for me too - were it not for the Esther Summerson narrations : I find her difficult to stomach.

Our Mutual Friend I like a lot - but many wd say it's his least Dickensian work - and perhaps ceci explique cela...

.

No way. The least Dickensian two are Hard Times and The Tale of Two Cities. Having read Barnaby Rudge recently (its OK) I might try Two Cities again as both allowed Dickens to describe mob violence because they were not set in his own time. Dolly Varden is a good example of Dickens' gloating, soft porn approach to women. Emma, the formal heroine, hardly opens her mouth. Once Dickens had created Dora Spendlow he was much better with young women. Amy Dorrit (I can't stand calling her Little all the time) is in a similar situation as Little Nell or Florence Dombey.

The high point of Little Dorrit of me is Mrs Clenam, a prototype of Miss Havisham, someone who manipulates others by punishing herself.

[DracoM]

'A Perfect Spy' / Le Carre

[vinteuil]

No way. The least Dickensian two are Hard Times and The Tale of Two Cities.f.

... a fair point.

I shd have clarified that I meant 'among the Dickens works that matter'. By which I suppose I mean -

Dombey and Son, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Little Dorrit, Great Expectations, Our Mutual Friend.

with Pickwick as a special case.

Meanwhile I'm enjoying Mrs Lirriper in the attractive series of minor Dickensiana published by Hesperus (including A House to Let, The Lazy Tour of Two Apprentices, The Wreck of the Golden Mary, Dr Marigold's Prescription, The Haunted House, Mugby Junction, Somebody's Luggage, The Holly-Tree Inn, and The Seven Poor Travellers... )

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https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=hesperus+dickens&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss

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[Don Basilio]

I have a soft spot for Nicholas Nickelby.

Having finished with the Marshelsea I read in less than 48 hours Barbara Pym's The Sweet Dove Died and Evelyn Waugh's The Loved One. I had forgotten how good the Pym is - I am on a Pym Fan Club board and I am sorry to say a lot of people don't like it because they don't like the chief character. I found it funny but not as funny as the Waugh, which is the only Waugh I can't remember ever reading.

[vinteuil]

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... another Pym fan here. The last one we read was Quartet in Autumn. Just wonderful. The milk bottles...


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[LMcD]

Ben Macinytre: Agent Sonya

[Don Basilio]

Just finished Tale of Two Cities. It is a far, far better thing than Barnaby Rudge I admit. It does not have the usual Dickensian weaknesses, (over elaborate plot, blatant melodrama and sentimentality). Only Dickens could have written it but it does not seem a Dickensian novel. I admire rather than love it.

I also read recently John Mullan's recently published The Artful Dickens: The Tricks and Ploys of the Great Novelist which enthusiastically makes the case for Dickens greatness just because he doesn't write like other novelist.

[Pulcinella]

I've gone downmarket after my Dickens splurge, now that the local library is open again for browsing not just 'click and collect'.

Last week's haul was
Donna Leon: Earthly remains (certainly not one of her better Brunetti stories)
Karen Campbell: The sound of the hours (Tuscany in 1944)
Jennifer Rosna: The yellow bird sings (Poland, 1941)
I passed the Leon on to a couple of neighbours who were interested, but returned the other two yesterday and took out three more.
Philippa Gregory: Tidelands (England 1648)
and more substantial, I imagine,
Ian McEwan: Machines like me
Sebastian Barry: A thousand moons

[Bella Kemp]

I've gone downmarket after my Dickens splurge, now that the local library is open again for browsing not just 'click and collect'.

Last week's haul was
Donna Leon: Earthly remains (certainly not one of her better Brunetti stories)
Karen Campbell: The sound of the hours (Tuscany in 1944)
Jennifer Rosna: The yellow bird sings (Poland, 1941)
I passed the Leon on to a couple of neighbours who were interested, but returned the other two yesterday and took out three more.
Philippa Gregory: Tidelands (England 1648)
and more substantial, I imagine,
Ian McEwan: Machines like me
Sebastian Barry: A thousand moons

Splendid. Is there any greater delight than going to a library and bringing back a pile of books?
My latest read is Voss by Patrick White. I love so much of White's work - in particular his masterpiece Riders in the Chariot - but was there ever such an uneven writer? In Voss there are pages and pages that I find almost intolerably tedious and yet elsewhere in the book is surely some of the greatest writing of the last century.

[teamsaint]

Ben Macinytre: Agent Sonya

Keep your eyes peeled for another upcoming book featuring her........and other family members.......

[LMcD]

Keep your eyes peeled for another upcoming book featuring her........and other family members.......

Thanks - will do! I'm pleased to say that Mr Macintyre is still on top form.