Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Resolutions for the New Year

Well, this is that time of the year again, so I thought I would post my few resolutions.  Making them public might encourage me to work more diligently in keeping them.



I will avoid bringing in politics as much as possible. In the past it's been difficult, but I think I succeeded.  However, this year I may find it harder.  I doubt that keeping politics out of my posts will deprive anybody for I'm sure that it will be almost impossible to escape political discussions, reports, haranguings, and tirades.  So, I hope to provide an oasis here.  For those curious about my position, check out my post BALANCE at        http://freds-ramblings.blogspot.com/2016/11/balance.html




My second resolution is to reduce Mount TBR to a molehill, or at least start on it.  That means reducing book purchases and relying more on the library.  I hope this doesn't cause a recession in the publishing industry, but it must be done.  I also need to redouble my efforts in encouraging the various discussion groups I'm a member of to select more books that I have at home.  This, of course, will reduce the number of books to purchase and help reduce Mount TBR.




Last year was the Year of Austen in which I read everything I had by Jane Austen, which includes all of her novels, her juvenalia, and uncompleted works.  It was one of the high points of the 2016 reading year.  I also saw an excellent film adaption of her short work "Lady Susan."  For some obscure reason the powers-that-be called it Love and Friendship.   I thought it one of the best adaptations of her works that I've seen and highly recommend it. 

 Since that worked out so well, I have decided that 2017 will be the Year of Lawrence Durrell, during which I will reread everything I have by him, which is close to his complete output--novels, travelogues, and poetry (that will be THE problem).  In addition,  I have just learned that an unfinished novel of his has been published, so I will have the pleasure of not only rereading him, but of reading something by him for the first time (even if it is unfinished).

I will begin with what has to be the obligatory starting point, The Alexandria Quartet.   After that, I may then revert to reading them in their publishing order,  or perhaps continue on to The Avignon Quintet or The Quincunx.

You are all welcome to join me.   

18 comments:

  1. I will follow with much interest your Durrell excursion. I do not know if I have the means and energies to travel with you, but I will investigate the possibility; as I can no longer read with ease printed texts, I must rely upon Kindle versions, and those can become expensive. So, I will proceed with caution.

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  2. Ms. M studied Lawrence for her masters; i'll have to see if she'll give me some pointers; otherwise, i've read a lot more Gerald than Larry... i'll give it a shot and see what happens...

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    1. Mudpuddle,

      I've done just the opposite: read more Larry than Gerald. Think I've only read one by Gerald, but I can't think of the title right now.

      Glad to have you come along for the ride. As I told R.T., I will start with _Justine_ in a week or so.

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  3. R.T.,

    I'm going to start with _Justine_, probably in a week or two. I'm buried in two huge works right now: Dicken's _Dombey and Son_ (900+ pages) for a discussion group and Murasaki's _Tale of Genji_ (1100+ pages).

    Glad to have you along for the ride whenever you can join me.

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    1. FYI, the Poe posting is up:
      http://shortstoryreadersdigest.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-cask-of-amontillado-contemplating.html

      Note: I'm looking for a readable copy of Justine; my local library has nothing by Durrell! I'll try the university library.

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    2. R.T.,

      Did the university library have a copy?

      I hope you can join me.

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  4. I've never heard of Mr. Durrell, so I look forward to hearing about him here. Happy reading!

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    1. Stephen,

      Thank you. Perhaps something I write may inspire you to dip into Lawrence Durrell's writings.

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  5. I do not usually make New Years resolutions but this year I also have a few bookish ones.

    In the past, I have tried to only talks politics when the politics affected big global issues. Thus I did so occasionally.

    As I suspect American Politics will do so more and more, I may talk about them a little more.

    Happy reading in 2017!

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    1. Brian Joseph,

      I try to avoid politics now, actually for the past decade or so because the discussions inevitably turn nasty.

      And Happy Reading in the coming year for you.

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  6. I've been doing the same thing with reading groups for a couple of years and trying to nominate books from my TBR!

    I'd going to pull Justine from the shelves and hope I can get to it around the same time as your reread. Thanks for the nudge.

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    1. madamevauquer,

      I've had a little success in the past and hope to increase it this year.

      I will start Justine in a couple of weeks, as I have a number of commitments for discussion groups. I will move Justine to the Currently Reading Section in the sidebar when I start.

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    2. That works well for me, Fred. Today I am starting The Leopard with Lisa and Jonathan, so I'll have time to finish it.

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    3. madamevauquer,

      I've often thought of reading The Leopard myself but have never gotten around to it.

      I'm now about 2/3 through Dombey and Son, so I should be done fairly soon. The group meets to discuss D&S Wednesday, and I've put Justine next in line.

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  7. I'm glad that you've watched Love and Friendship. Didn't I say it's excellent? It's 1 of the best Jane Austen adaptations. He got her spirit and everything.
    Are you by any chance interested in a Life and Fate read-along? I intend to start it in summer.

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    1. Di,

      It is excellent and the best adaptation of any of Austen's works.

      Give me a couple of month's warning as the local library has only an ebook copy. (sigh) I'll have to get a used copy either locally or from abebooks.

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    2. Okay. Well I'll start in summer.

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    3. Di,

      It's on my search list.

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