Wilde, Oscar "Only Dull People Are Brilliant at Breakfast"

Wilde, Oscar "Only Dull People Are Brilliant at Breakfast" - 1946

This is only a short book of 52 pages. Easy to take along on short trips.

And what a lovely title. I suppose Oscar Wilde considered himself a very boring person at breakfast.

While this sounds like another one of his not-so-well-known writings, it is really a collection of his aphorisms, quotes, anecdotes, witticisms. A delight to read. Again and again.

After reading this, I would have wished to be friends with him. I'm sure we would have really liked each other.

One of my favourite quotes, still as relevant today as it was a hundred years ago, especially with regard to certain politics:
"Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live."

From the back cover:

"Wilde's celebrated witticisms on the dangers of sincerity, duplicitous biographers, the stupidity of the English - and his own genius.

'It would be unfair to expect other people to be as remarkable as oneself'. Oscar Wilde"

This is a "Penguin Little Black Classics" edition and it looks like there are lots of other authors who 

There is even a box set with the following description:

"A stunning collection of all 80 exquisite Little Black Classics from Penguin

This spectacular box set of the 80 books in the Little Black Classics series showcases the many wonderful and varied writers in Penguin Black Classics. From India to Greece, Denmark to Iran, the United States to Britain, this assortment of books will transport readers back in time to the furthest corners of the globe. With a choice of fiction, poetry, essays and maxims, by the likes of Chekhov, Balzac, Ovid, Austen, Sappho and Dante, it won't be difficult to find a book to suit your mood. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of the Penguin Classics list - from drama to poetry, from fiction to history, with books taken from around the world and across numerous centuries."

It would be worth getting.

Martinson, Harry "Aniara"

Martinson, Harry "Aniara - A Review of Man in Time and Space" (Swedish: Aniara: en revy om människan i tid och rum) - 1956

I have not read this book as I'm really not into poetry or sci-fi (of which we have read too much lately). The book was available online but I'm not into reading anything from the computer, so it was a double (or even triple) no-no.

So, this post is about the discussion in our book club. The comments are by other members but I thought they might be interesting for some of my blog readers.

The story really surprised me. It had many layers, about human psychology, power-dynamics and coping mechanisms in dystopias, very current themes about the passengers thinking back on how they got to where they are, the devastation of nature and thoughts about the life and death of humanity, while trying to somehow keep from sinking into despair.

The story was meant to portray far into the future, with the main character saying "those to blame for the destruction of humanity are long gone", which made me think that those are us, we who live now.

It was especially surprising in its verses and few different types of poetry rhymes and patterns, really beautiful at parts.

I had expected it to be a lot of action and rushing around in space, but it was the opposite, quiet contemplation, more about the mentality of the last people.

And Martinson had this great sensitive way of not saying much out loud, so we had to read between the lines, for example there must have been a few dozen ways how he described someone dying without actually saying it, or quite beautiful descriptions of how the last of humanity was floating away into space in the sarcophagus named Aniara.

Some normal quotes about it: "it is great, despite it being science fiction" or "the only science fiction worth reading".

Though it definitely took a lot more thinking to follow the story and what was really said, and that it definitely was out of my comfort zone and at moments I was not quite sure if this epic poem was genius or just weird, I would recommend it, it was a reading experience that again widened my reading world.

This was discussed in our international online book club in April 2023.

From the back cover:

"The great Swedish writer Harry Martinson published his masterpiece, Aniara, during the height of the Cold War - right after the Soviet Union announced that it had exploded the hydrogen bomb. Aniara is the story of a luxurious space ship, loaded with 8,000 evacuees, fleeing an Earth made uninhabitable by Man's technological arrogance. A malfunction knocks the craft off course, taking these would-be Mars colonists on an irreversible journey into deep space. Aniara is a book of prophecy, a panoramic view of humanity's possible fate. It has been translated into seven languages and adapted into a popular avant-garde opera."

Harry Martinson received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1974 "for writings that catch the dewdrop and reflect the cosmos".

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.

Thomas, Dylan "Under Milk Wood"

Thomas, Dylan "Under Milk Wood" - 1954

I read this for the "1954 Club".

This book challenge takes place twice a year and concentrates on one year and one year only. I call it "Read theYear Club". This time, 1954 was picked. For more information, see Simon @ Stuck in a Book.

I had already read "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding and "I am Legend" by Richard Matheson but there are always books in every year that I still want to read.

There were a few books that would have interested me and I might pick up a few of them in future:
Amis, Kingsley "Lucky Jim"
Rose, Reginal "Twelve Angry Men"
Murdoch, Iris "Under the Net"
Mishima, Yukio "The Sound of Waves"
Remarque, Erich Maria "A Time to Love and a Time to Die" (GE: Zeit zu leben und Zeit zu sterben)
Wodehouse, P.B. "Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit"
Frisch, Max "I'm not Stiller" (GE: Stiller)

But I chose this one, "Under Milk Wood". Somehow, I always thought it was an adaptation from a novel and I thought the title sounded interesting. However, it is a play and it doesn't really have a plot. I mean, yes, the subject is "thoughts of people in a fictional village" but I couldn't follow them or make any sense of it let alone combine different thoughts from different people. Nor did I find any humour in this. Sometimes, a book is described as funny but I don't think it is but I can still like it (e.g. "Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian" by Marina Lewycka), sometimes I am just bored ("Cold Comfort Farm" by Stella Gibbons). This one belongs to the latter category. I mean, I love British humour, this has nothing to do with it. Thank goodness it wasn't that long.

From the back cover:

"Commissioned by the BBC, and described by Dylan Thomas as 'a play for voices', 'Under Milk Wood' takes the form of an emotive and hilarious account of a spring day in the fictional Welsh seaside village of Llareggub. We learn of the inhabitants' dreams and desires, their loves and regrets. The play introduces us to characters such as Captain Cat who dreams of his drowned former seafellows and Nogood Boyo who dreams of nothing at all. It is a unique and touching depiction of a village that has 'fallen head over bells in love'. The First Voice narration reveals the ordinary world of daily happenings and events, while the Second Voice conveys the intimate, innermost thoughts of the fascinating folk of Llareggub. There have been myriad productions of 'Under Milk Wood' over the years and Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, Elizabeth Taylor, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Tom Jones have all starred in radio, stage or film adaptations."

And here is Simon's list with all the books from 1954 other bloggers read.

Shakespeare, William "Much Ado About Nothing"

Shakespeare, William "Much Ado About Nothing" - 1598/99

As many of you might know, I am not the biggest fan of reading plays. I love seeing them in the theatre or even on TV and I always say that's what they were written for. However, from time to time, I really want to read a Shakespeare play, especially since it has been almost impossible for me to watch anything in the theatre since the beginning of Covid.

One of my favourite shows on TV is "Much Ado About Nothing" by and with the great Kenneth Brannagh as Benedick with his then-wife Emma Thompson (of whom I am also a huge fan) as Beatrice.

Some time ago, I found the "No Fear" reading version of the play and thought, that sounds interesting. The lovely thing with this is, you don't just get a modern version of the play, you get the original wording right next to it, on the left-hand side with the new one on the right. Plus explanations of old expressions etc. Brilliant. Especially for people who are not used to reading classics.

Of course, having seen the play helped a lot in understanding what was going on. But I might try to read some more of the Bard of Stratford-upon-Avon from this publisher.

Description:

"In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare includes two quite different stories of romantic love. Hero and Claudio fall in love almost at first sight, but an outsider, Don John, strikes out at their happiness. Beatrice and Benedick are kept apart by pride and mutual antagonism until others decide to play Cupid."

From the back cover:

"No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Much Ado About Nothing on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.
Each No Fear Shakespeare contains:
The complete text of the original play
A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language
A complete list of characters with descriptions
Plenty of helpful commentary"

Frost, Robert "A Boy’s Will" and "North of Boston"

Frost, Robert "A Boy’s Will" and "North of Boston" - 1913+1914

I've mentioned it a couple of times that poetry is not my thing. But this ended up on my TBR pile for some reason, probably the gift of someone moving who didn't want to take it along and so it was among my classic books that I listed on my classics club list. And then it was chosen for our latest classics spin  where a number is drawn (number six) and we read that book from our list that carries this number.

I had only recently read Pablo Neruda's "The Captain's Verses" for my book club and hadn't intended to read another poetry collection for a while but well, I thought it was meant to be and started reading. Since I really get bored with any poem after a while, I tried to read it in very small pieces but that didn't change anything.

The only "poem" I could relate to was almost a short story, "The Death of the Hired Man" which you can read here on the page of the Poetry Foundation.

To be honest, most of the other poems made no sense to me and no matter how hard I tried to understand what the author wanted to tell us by it, I didn't get it. I guess, let those who like poetry enjoy them and let me stay with my chunky books.

From the back cover:

"The publication of A Boy’s Will (1913) and North of Boston (1914) marked the debut of Robert Frost as a major talent and established him as the true poetic voice of New England. Four of his volumes would win the Pulitzer Prize before his death in 1963, and his body of work has since become an integral part of the American national heritage.

This is the only edition to present these two classics in their original form. A Boy’s Will introduced readers to Frost’s unmistakable poetic voice, and in North of Boston, we find two of his most famous poems, 'Mending Wall' and 'The Death of the Hired Man.' With an introduction by distinguished critic and Amherst College professor William H. Pritchard, and afterword by poet and critic Peter Davidson, and carefully selected bibliography, this edition stands as a complete and vital introduction to the work of the quintessential modern American poet."

Frost is the only poet to receive four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry (in 1924, 1931, 1937 and 1943).

Another well-known poem by him, probably the best known is "The Road Not Taken" which is here on the Poetry Foundation page.

Neruda, Pablo "The Captain's Verses"

Neruda, Pablo "The Captain's Verses" (Spanish: Los versos del capitán) - 1973

I mentioned it before, I'm not much into poetry, I don't enjoy it much. But my book club chose it, and I am always committed to read everything on the list.

The only plus is that my edition has both the Spanish as well as the English version, so I could practice my Spanish a little. And Pable Neruda is a Nobel Prize laureate that I hadn't read, yet. I probably won't read more by him.

If this book has taught me anything, I'm REALLY not into poetry.

Some comments from our members:

• Reading the book and widening my own experience was well worth the read anyway.
• What a heart! Neruda opens his heart to love again and again, bringing his readers' hearts along no matter what. Even across all these distances and all these years, Neruda loves the very essence of love in these poems. And I don't even like poetry.
  

We read this in our international online book club in July 2021.

Pablo Neruda received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971 "for a poetry that with the action of an elemental force brings alive a continent's destiny and dreams".

From the back cover:

"Pablo Neruda finished writing The Captain's Verses (Los versos del Capitán) in 1952 while in exile on the island of Capri - the paradisal setting for the blockbuster film Il Postino (The Postman), that centers around this period of Neruda's life. Surrounded by the sea, sun, and the natural splendor of a thousand vineyards, Neruda addressed these poems of love, ecstasy, devotion, and fury to his lover Matilde Urrutia, the one "with the fire/of an unchained meteor".

Later the same year, Neruda published The Captain's Verses anonymously in an edition of fifty copies, fourteen years before he and Matilde legally married. The first 'acknowleged' edition would not appear until 1963.

This complete,bilingual collection has become a classic for love-struck readers around the world - passionately sensuous, and exploding with all the erotic energy of a new love."

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.

Snider, Grant "I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf"

Snider, Grant "I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf" - 2020

Every once in a while, we all need a picture book. I often find cute little comics on the internet, more often than not, if they are about reading, Grant Snider is the originator. So, I was happy to find this book.

A couple of years ago, I already talked about this in my blogpost "Judge a reader by his books". So, I was happy to find a like-minded person here.

There are some wonderful pages here, like the "book fair" that gives us all the little booths you will find, just with a different title (fresh-squeezed romance, deep-fried memoir, ice-cold true crime or self-help on a stick for the food stalls, for example). Just cute. Or "The Portrait of Parent Reading". Or "Behind every great novelist is a …" And then there is a guide to the "National Department of Poetry". It's tough to find the best bits, these are just some short examples I found while flipping through the book.

But the best part of the book is: you can get it out again and again and have a wonderful time, it always makes you smile. It's funny, creative, a great way of showing us how we are. Readers of the world, unite. And read Grant Snider!

From the back cover:

"A look at the culture and fanaticism of book lovers, from beloved New York Times illustrator Grant Snider
 
It’s no secret, but we are judged by our bookshelves. We learn to read at an early age, and as we grow older we shed our beloved books for new ones. But some of us surround ourselves with books. We collect them, decorate with them, are inspired by them, and treat our books as sacred objects. In this lighthearted collection of one- and two-page comics, writer-artist Grant Snider explores bookishness in all its forms, and the love of writing and reading, building on the beloved literary comics featured on his website, Incidental Comics. With a striking package including a die-cut cover, I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf is the perfect gift for bookworms of all ages."

Hustvedt, Siri "The Summer without Men"

Hustvedt, Siri "The Summer without Men" - 2011

I don't know when and why I bought this book; I just know that I had a list with books with "summer in the title" and this one came up. Since I hadn't read it, and summer was on the doorstep, I decided this needed to be one of my next reads.

It didn't exactly bring any to storms of enthusiasm from my side. I wouldn't exactly call it a difficult read, just a jumbled up one. At times, she reminded me of Sylvia Plath or Virginia Wolf, and not in a good way. It was philosophical but you often couldn't follow her train of thoughts, she drifted off.

The story is easy enough, Mia is left by her husband, at least for the time-being, and she falls into a deep hole, has to go to a mental hospital for a while and then goes to see her mother for the summer. All her mother's friends seem to have problems, as well. She teaches young girls in literature in a summer course, there are problems, too, of course. Oh, oh, and then there's the neighbour who has problems with her husband. Is there any problem a woman could have that doesn't get dragged into this book? The biggest trouble is, I couldn't really feel it, the characters were not real. It just seemed like one problem written down after another without given it too much depth.

And then there was too much poetry in this novel for my liking.

I know Siri Hustvedt is a renowned author. Maybe this is one of her weaker novels. Or - she's just not my thing. I still have "The Sorrows of an American" on my TBR pile, don't know whether I'll tackle that any time soon.

I did like the cover of the book, though.

From the back cover:

"Out of the blue, your husband of thirty years asks you for a pause in your marriage to indulge his infatuation with a young Frenchwoman. Do you: a) assume it's a passing affair and play along b) angrily declare the marriage over c) crack up d) retreat to a safe haven and regroup? Mia Fredricksen cracks up first, then decamps for the summer to the prairie town of her childhood, where she rages, fumes, and bemoans her sorry fate as abandoned spouse. But little by little, she is drawn into the lives of those around her: her mother and her circle of feisty widows; her young neighbour, with two small children and a loud, angry husband; and the diabolical pubescent girls in her poetry class. By the end of the summer without men, wiser though definitely not sadder, Mia knows what she wants to fight for and on whose terms. Provocative, mordant, and fiercely intelligent, The Summer Without Men is a gloriously vivacious tragi-comedy about women and girls, love and marriage, and the age-old war between the sexes - a novel for our times by one of the most acclaimed American writers."

There is a lot of talks about books in this novel but only one is mentioned: "Persuasion" by Jane Austen which is read by the protaganist's mother and her book club "The Rolling Meadows".

Alighieri, Dante "The Divine Comedy"

Alighieri, Dante "The Divine Comedy" (Italian: Divina Commedia) - 1308-20

I love classics. I love chunky books. So, those should be two points for this book.
I don't like reading plays. I don't like reading poetry. Those are two points against this book.
Which side wins? Hard to say. If you don't enjoy reading something, it doesn't get better when it gets longer, so the chunkiness played against the read.

I also didn't think this was a very funny book, not that I have anything against that but if a title is "comedy", you should have to smile at least from time to time. Hmmm, didn't happen. Maybe not my kind of humour (though that is usually slapstick and this is certainly not that kind, either).

I know how often this work is praised as highly intelligent, greatest work of art, etc. but for me, it was not something I could relate to very well. Let me put it like this, if you are a classic lover, this is probably a must read and I am glad I finished it.

From the back cover:

"Long narrative poem originally titled Commedia (about 1555 printed as La divina commedia) written about 1310-14 by Dante. The work is divided into three major sections - Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso - which trace the journey of a man from darkness and error to the revelation of the divine light, culminating in the beatific vision of God. It is usually held to be one of the world's greatest works of literature. 

The plot of The Divine Comedy is simple: a man is miraculously enabled to visit the souls in Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. He has two guides: Virgil, who leads him through the Inferno and Purgatorio, and Beatrice, who introduces him to Paradiso. Through these fictional encounters taking place from Good Friday evening in 1300 through Easter Sunday and slightly beyond, Dante the character learns of the exile that is awaiting him (an actual exile that had already occurred at the time of writing). This device allowed Dante not only to create a story out of his exile but also to explain how he came to cope with personal calamity and to offer suggestions for the resolution of Italy's troubles as well."

LeSieg, Theo (=Dr. Seuss) "The Cat in the Hat"

LeSieg, Theo (=Dr. Seuss) "The Cat in the Hat" - 1957

An absolute classic. A children's book that is just as much enjoyed by the adult reading it to them as to the first reader who manages their way through the pages. It is not surprising that it still belongs to every kid's library after more than half a century. We can tell that nothing has changed, children still like to hear of mischief but love to learn from it to. An early "stranger danger" story but with a lot of fun.

So, whether you have little children or not, this is a cute book for the hidden child in all of us.

From the back cover:

"Join the Cat in the Hat as he makes learning to read a joy! It’s a rainy day and Dick and Sally can’t find anything to do . . . until the Cat in the Hat unexpectedly appears and turns their dreary afternoon into a fun-filled extravaganza! This beloved Beginner Book by Dr. Seuss, which also features timeless Dr. Seuss characters such as Fish and Thing 1 and Thing 2, is fun to read aloud and easy to read alone. Written using 236 different words that any first or second grader can read, it’s a fixture in home and school libraries and a favorite among parents, beginning readers, teachers, and librarians.
Originally created by Dr. Seuss, Beginner Books encourage children to read all by themselves, with simple words and illustrations that give clues to their meaning."

Theo LeSieg received the Pulitzer Prize for all his works in 1984.

Donaldson, Julia "The Gruffalo"

Donaldson, Julia "The Gruffalo" - 1999

A happy book. A funny book. A book about an animal that doesn't exist and therefore might have terrible claws and terrible jaws but can't scare you because after all ... it does not exist.

This was a huge favourite in our house when the boys were little. It reminds you of a fairy tale but is a modern storybook. Lots of beautiful illustrations, a funny but simple story, not as short as some other board books, already a "big kid" book but equally enjoyed by kids of any age. It rhymes, you can almost sing along to the rhythm, but you can definitely growl and hoot along, imitate all the animal sounds from the forest.

Charming.

From the back cover:

"A mouse is taking a stroll through the deep, dark wood when along comes a hungry fox, then an owl, and then a snake. The mouse is good enough to eat but smart enough to know this, so he invents . . . the gruffalo! As Mouse explains, the gruffalo is a creature with terrible claws, and terrible tusks in its terrible jaws, and knobbly knees and turned-out toes, and a poisonous wart at the end of its nose. But Mouse has no worry to show. After all, there’s no such thing as a gruffalo. . ."

I saw it's also available in a Scottish edition. That should be fun.

Ibsen, Henrik "Peer Gynt"

Ibsen, Henrik "Peer Gynt" (Norwegian: Peer Gynt) - 1867

I have always loved the music "Peer Gynt" by Edvard Grieg and therefore, the title of this play alone sounded both mysterious and enchanting to me at the same time.

I have mentioned it before, reading a play is only half the pleasure and I'd much rather watch a play but that's not always possible. So, after long deliberation, I finally tackled this one. I find it even harder to read when it its written - like here - in poems.

There are trolls in this play but also travels to North Africa (Morocco and Egypt), we witness a kidnapping and murder, love and betrayal, life and death, this story has it all. It is both satirical and mystical.

However, Peer Gynt is not the kind of character you would like him to be. Why even his mother is fond of him, nobody knows. He is not at all likeable, he is not nice to anyone, we all would be better off without him.

Certainly not my favourite book of the year but I am glad I finally read it.

From the back cover:

"Peer Gynt was Ibsen's last work to use poetry as a medium of dramatic expression, and the poetry is brilliantly appropriate to the imaginative swings between Scandinavian oral folk traditions, the Morrocan coast, the Sahara Desert, and the absurdist images of the Cairo madhouse. This translation is taken from the acclaimed Oxford Ibsen. John McFarlane is Emeritus Professor of European Literature at the University of East Anglia, and General Editor of the Oxford Ibsen."

Michaels, Anne "Fugitive Pieces"

Michaels, Anne "Fugitive Pieces" - 1996

I really wanted to like this book. It is absolutely my genre and it was praised a lot. However, I wouldn't call this a tough read but nevertheless, I didn't find a closeness to the characters. A lot of things happened, obviously, but there seemed to be no action and no continuance.

More fleeing fragmented thoughts, bits and pieces thrown together. Someone trying to bring their thoughts in order but not being very lucky with it. Such a shame. This could have been a great book, the story is very promising.

What annoyed me most was that you hardly know who is talking if you don't read the introduction. But if you do read the introduction, you are given spoilers that can ruin the whole story. I hardly ever read the introduction but noticed halfway through the lecture that it was necessary in order to understand what this was all about.

I think a lot of people like it for it's poetic writing but then it shouldn't be classified as a novel.

Definitely not my book.

There were a few quotes I did like, though, the final sentence under "Anne Michaels' favourite books":
"When I was young I felt there was a mystery contained in the fact that the word 'read' was two words - both past and present tenses. This time travel is one way we hold our life in our hands."
and a quote, a Hebrew saying:
"Hold a book in your hand and you're a pilgrim at the gates of a new city."

From the back cover:

"Jakob Beer is seven years old when he is rescued from the muddy ruins of a buried village in Nazi-occupied Poland. Of his family, he is the only one who has survived. Under the guidance of the Greek geologist Athos, Jakob must steel himself to excavate the horrors of his own history.

A novel of astounding beauty and wisdom, Fugitive Pieces is a profound meditation on the resilience of the human spirit and love's ability to restore even the most damaged of hearts."

Cao, Xueqin "Dream of the Red Chamber"

Xueqin, Cao (Cáo Xuěqín) "Dream of the Red Chamber" (Chinese: 红楼梦/Hung lou meng/aka The Story of the Stone) - ca. 1717-1763 (18th century)

Apparently, this novel is "one of the four pinnacles of classical Chinese literature. The other three are: The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, and Outlaws of the Marsh."

Also known as "The Story of the Stone", it is said to be the first Chinese novel of this kind and has created an entire field of study "Redology".

I found this on the list of "101 Best Selling Books of All Time" and thought it might be interesting to read.

It was highly interesting indeed. The novel has semi-autobiographical sides, it is said that it shows not just the rise and fall of the author's family but also that of the Qing Dynasty.

I found it hard to remember all the names that were homophones with another character and therefore meant something else. It also took me going back and forth to the glossary in the back and then to the story in order to know who was talking or talked about when someone referred to Big Sister or Second Son etc. Sometimes the Chinese word for that was used, then the translation, then the real name, quite confusing. I think it might have to do with the translation and that a more modern one would have taken care of that. My library's edition is from 1957 and, with "only" 574 pages, an abridged version.

Still, the novel teaches us a lot not just about everyday Chinese life in the 18th century, but also their culture, religion, science, art and literature. Really captivating. Certainly one of the most informative books I have read about Ancient China, and I have read quite a few.

From the back cover:

"The Dream of the Red Chamber is one of the 'Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature.' It is renowned for its huge scope, large cast of characters and telling observations on the life and social structures of 18th century China and is considered by many to be the pinnacle of the classical Chinese novel.

The "Red Chamber" is an expression used for the sheltered area where the daughters of wealthy Chinese families lived. Believed to be based on the author's own life and intended as a memorial to the women that he knew in his youth, The Dream of the Red Chamber is a multilayered story that offers up key insights into Chinese culture."

Munsch, Robert "Love You Forever"

Munsch, Robert "Love You Forever" - 1986

I remember reading this book to my children when they were little and they really loved it. Such a beautiful story. It almost reads like a song.

And even though my boys are in their twenties, I keep telling me that they will always be my babies. If your kids are grown up and you want to feel a little nostalgic for their baby years - as if anyone would need a book for that! - this is the right one.

A fabulous story for little children and a great gift to young parents.

From the back cover:
"A young woman holds her newborn son
And looks at him lovingly. Softly she sings to him:
"I'll love you forever
I'll like you for always
As long as I'm living
My baby you'll be."
So begins the story that has touched the hearts of millions worldwide. Since publication in l986, 'Love You Forever' has sold more than 15 million copies in paperback and the regular hardcover edition (as well as hundreds of thousands of copies in Spanish and French)."

BBC "The Nation's Favourite Poems"

BBC "The Nation's Favourite Poems" - 1995

I'm not the biggest reader of poetry. But there was a poetry book in one of my challenges this year, so I thought I ought to tackle one.

A couple of years ago, the BBC asked their viewers and listeners to name their favourite poems and then published this book.

This has been in our house for a while but I only read a poem or two before. So, I picked it up and read a poem now and then, didn't read it back to back, starting with the first and ending with the last but I think I read them all.

Here is a list of all the poems in the book. Check out a few of them, it's worth it.

1 If -, Rudyard Kipling; 1865-1936
2 The Lady of Shalott, Alfred, Lord Tennyson; 1809-92
3 The Listeners, Walter de la Mare; 1873-1956
4 Not Waving but Drowning, Stevie Smith; 1903-1971
5 The Daffodils, William Wordsworth; 1770-1850
6 To Autumn, John Keats; 1795-1821
7 The Lake Isle of Innisfree, W.B. Yeats; 1865-1939
8 Dulce et Decorum Est, Wilfred Owen; 1893-1918
9 Ode to a Nightingale, John Keats; 1795-1821
10 He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven, W.B. Yeats; 1865-1939
11 Remember, Christina Rossetti; 1830-94
12 Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, Thomas Gray; 1716-71
13 Fern Hill, Dylan Thomas; 1914-53
14 Leisure, William Henry Davies; 1871-1940
15 The Highwayman, Alfred Noyes; 1880-1959
16 To His Coy Mistress, Andrew Marvel; 1621-78
17 Dover Beach, Matthew Arnold; 1822-88
18 The Tyger, William Blake; 1757-1827
19 Twelve Songs IX, W.H. Auden; 1907-73
20 Adlestrop, Edward Thomas; 1878-1917
21 The Soldier, Rupert Brooke; 1887-1915
22 Warning, Jenny Joseph; 1932-
23 Sea-Fever, John Masefield; 1878-1967
24 Upon Westminster Bridge. William Wordsworth; 1770-1850
25 Sonnets from the Portuguese XLIII, Elizabeth Barrett Browning; 1806-61
26 The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot; 1885-1965
27 Cargoes, John Masefield; 1878-1967
28 Jabberwocky, Lewis Carroll; 1832-98
29 from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Part I, Samuel Taylor Coleridge; 1772-1834
30 Ozymandias of Egypt, Percy Bysshe Shelley; 1792-1822
31 Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Robert Frost; 1874-1963
32 Abou Ben Adhem, Leigh Hunt; 1784-1859
33 Everyone Sang, Siegfried Sassoon; 1886-1967
34 The Windhover, Gerard Manley Hopkins; 1844-89
35 Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night, Dylan Thomas; 1914-53
36 Sonnet; 18, William Shakespeare; 1564-1616
37 When You Are Old, W.B. Yeats; 1865-1939
38 Lessons of the War (To Alan Michell); 1. Naming of Parts, Henry Reed; 1914-86
39 The Darkling Thrush, Thomas Hardy; 1840-1928
40 Please Mrs Butler, Allan Ahlberg; 1938-
41 Kubla Khan, Samuel Taylor Coleridge; 1772-1834
42 Home-Thoughts, from Abroad, Robert Browning; 1812-89
43 High Flight (An Airman’s Ecstasy), John Gillespie Magee; 1922-41
44 Journey of the Magi, T.S. Eliot; 1885-1965
45 The Owl and the Pussy-Cat, Edward Lear; 1812-88
46 The Glory of the Garden, Rudyard Kipling; 1865-1936
47 The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost; 1874-1963
48 The Way through the Woods, Rudyard Kipling; 1865-1936
49 Anthem for Doomed Youth, Wilfred Owen; 1893-1918
50 Bloody Men, Wendy Cope; 1945-
51 Emmonsail’s Heath in Winter, John Clare; 1793-1864
52 La Figlia Che Piange, T.S. Eliot; 1885-1965
53 The Whitsun Weddings, Philip Larkin; 1922-80
54 from The Ballad of Reading Goal, Oscar Wilde; 1854-1900
55 I Remember, I Remember, Thomas Hood; 1799-1845
56 This Be the Verse, Philip Larkin; 1922-80
57 Snake, D.H. Lawrence; 1885-1930
58 The Great Lover, Rupert Brooke; 1887-1915
59 A Red, Red Rose, Robert Burns; 1759-1796
60 The Sunlight on the Garden, Louis MacNeice; 1907-63
61 The Old Vicarage, Grantchester, Rupert Brooke; 1887-1915
62 Diary of a Church Mouse, John Betjeman; 1906-84
63 Silver, Walter de la Mare; 1873-1956
64 Pied Beauty, Gerard Manley Hopkins; 1844-89
65 Prayer before Birth, Louis MacNeice; 1907-63
66 Macavity: The Mystery Cat, T.S. Eliot; 1885-1965
67 Afterwards, Thomas Hardy; 1840-1928
68 The Donkey, G.K. Chesterton; 1874-1936
69 My Last Duchess, Robert Browning; 1812-89
70 Christmas, John Betjeman; 1906-84
71 The Thought-Fox, Ted Hughes; 1930-98
72 Preludes, T.S. Eliot; 1885-1965
73 Love (III), George Herbert; 1593-1633
74 The Charge of the Light Brigade, Alfred, Lord Tennyson; 1809-92
75 I Am, John Clare; 1793-1864
76 The Hound of Heaven, Francis Thompson; 1859-1907
77 The Passionate Shepherd to his Love, Christopher Marlowe; 1564-93
78 The Song of Wandering Aengus, W.B. Yeats; 1865-1939
79 She Walks in Beauty, George Gordon, Lord Byron; 1788-1824
80 Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now, A.E. Housman; 1859-1936
81 The Flea, John Donne; 1572-1631
82 Ducks, F.W. Harvey; 1888-1957
83 An Arundel Tomb, Philip Larkin; 1922-80
84 Sonnet 116, William Shakespeare; 1564-1616
85 Ulysses, Alfred, Lord Tennyson; 1809-92
86 Snow, Louis MacNeice; 1907-63
87 Let Me Die a Youngman’s Death, Roger McGough; 1937-
88 The Ruined Maid, Thomas Hardy; 1840-1928
89 Toilet, Hugo Williams; 1942-
90 Futility, Wilfred Owen; 1893-1918
91 The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe; 1809-49
92 Tam o’ Shanter, Robert Burns; 1759-1796
93 Love’s Philosophy, Percy Bysshe Shelley; 1792-1822
94 from The Song of Hiawatha, H.W. Longfellow; 1807-82
95 God’s Grandeur, Gerard Manley Hopkins; 1844-89
96 Chocolate Cake, Michael Rosen; 1954-
97 Jenny Kissed Me, Leigh Hunt; 1784-1859
98 Blackberry-Picking, Seamus Heaney; 1939-2013
99 from The Prelude, William Wordsworth; 1770-1850
100 Warming Her Pearls, Carol Ann Duffy; 1955-

From the back cover:
"In a nationwide poll to discover Britain's favourite poem, Rudyard Kipling's 'If...' was voted number one. This unique anthology brings together the results of the poll in a collection of the nation's 100 best loved poems. Among the selection are popular classics such as Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shallott' and Wordsworth's 'The Daffodils' alongside contemporary poetry such as Allan Ahlberg's 'Please Mrs Butler' and Jenny Joseph's 'Warning'. Also included is the poignant 'Do not Stand at my Grave and Weep'."

Angelou, Maya "Mom & Me & Mom"

Angelou, Maya "Mom & Me & Mom" - 2013

I have read "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou quite a while ago and really liked it. So, I was happy that when one of her books was chosen as a new read for "Emma's Book Club - Our shared shelf".

And I was not disappointed. Maya Angelou's writing is still as gripping as it was in her previous novel. She writes in a way as if you sit there listening to her telling a story. A really good story.  Her mother must have been a remarkable woman, as she was remarkable herself, she can find something good in everything, even though she had a difficult life to lead.

I learnt a lot about Maya Angelou and her family but I also learnt a lot about myself and my relationship to my late mother. Everything good but still interesting.

I am certainly going to read more of her books.

From the back cover:

"The story of Maya Angelou’s extraordinary life has been chronicled in her multiple bestselling autobiographies. But now, at last, the legendary author shares the deepest personal story of her life: her relationship with her mother.

For the first time, Angelou reveals the triumphs and struggles of being the daughter of Vivian Baxter, an indomitable spirit whose petite size belied her larger-than-life presence - a presence absent during much of Angelou’s early life. When her marriage began to crumble, Vivian famously sent three-year-old Maya and her older brother away from their California home to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. The subsequent feelings of abandonment stayed with Angelou for years, but their reunion, a decade later, began a story that has never before been told. In Mom & Me & Mom, Angelou dramatizes her years reconciling with the mother she preferred to simply call 'Lady,' revealing the profound moments that shifted the balance of love and respect between them.

Delving into one of her life’s most rich, rewarding, and fraught relationships, Mom & Me & Mom explores the healing and love that evolved between the two women over the course of their lives, the love that fostered Maya Angelou’s rise from immeasurable depths to reach impossible heights."

Arnold, Catharine "Globe: Life in Shakespeare's London"

Arnold, Catharine "Globe: Life in Shakespeare's London" - 2014

I have read a few books of and about William Shakespeare and so far have enjoyed most of them a lot even though I always say a play is written to be played, not to be read.

My favourite of those books is still "Shakespeare: The World as a Stage" by Bill Bryson, one of my favourite authors.

However, this is a great non-fiction book about The Globe, how it first was built in Shakespeare's time and what it meant for the world of acting back then and how it influenced our world of the theatre today.
I love reading about historical times but the Tudor times belong to my favourites. There was just so much going on, the world was about to change. The world of great rulers was always the world of great art. And no matter what people say about Elizabeth I, she did a great job in a man's world and with her encouragement, the theatre flourished.

We learn a lot about the theatre here, about Shakespeare's plays, Shakespeare's life and life in Shakespearean times in general.

Informative, interesting, excellent book about interesting, adventurous times.

Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to visit the new Globe but I am determined that I will during my next visit to London.

From the back cover:
"The life of William Shakespeare, Britain's greatest dramatist, was inextricably linked with the history of London. Together, the great writer and the great city came of age and confronted triumph and tragedy. Globe takes its readers on a tour of London through Shakespeare's life and work as, in fascinating detail, Catharine Arnold tells how acting found it's place in the city. We learn about James Burbage, founder of the original Theatre in Shoreditch, who carried timbers across the Thames to build the Globe among the bear-gardens and brothels of Bankside in 1599, and of the terrible night in 1613 when the theatre caught fire during a performance of King Henry VIII. Rebuilt, the Globe continued to stand as a monument to Shakespeare's genius until 1642 when it was destroyed on the orders of Oliver Cromwell. And finally we learn how, 300 years later, Shakespeare's Globe opened once more upon the Bankside, to great acclaim, rising like a phoenix from the flames.

Arnold creates a vivid portrait of Shakespeare and his London from the bard's own plays and contemporary sources, combining a novelist's eye for detail with a historian's grasp of his unique contribution to the development of the English theatre. This is a portrait of Shakespeare, London, the man and the myth."

Maalouf, Amin "Samarcande"

Maalouf, Amin "Samarkand" (French: Samarcande) - 1988

I think a lot of words just sound like paradise, dream words that take me to a magic place like from 1001 Nights: Samarkand is one of them. Doesn't it just make you think of mosques and minarets, oriental markets and blue tiled places?

Samarkand is written by Lebanese-born French author Amin Maalouf whose works are written in French. But a lot of it has been translated into English.

This novel takes us from the life of poet, mathematician and astronomer Omar Khayyám and his poetry collection Rubaiyat in Samarkand of the 11th century to the voyage of the fictional character Benjamin O. Lesage on the Titanic in 1912. I had never heard of Omar Khayyám and was happy to learn not just about his poetry but especially about his life and that of his contemporaries in an area that is as unknown to me and most people in Europe in that time as it is today. I have learned quite a few things about Persian and Muslim history.

Very well written account of a highly interesting topic. I loved this book.

I also really appreciated the map they had in the back showing the reader all the names of those far away places.

From the back cover:

"Accused of mocking the inviolate codes of Islam, the Persian poet and sage Omar Khayyam fortuitously finds sympathy with the very man who is to judge his alleged crimes. Recognising genius, the judge decides to spare him and gives him instead a small, blank book, encouraging him to confine his thoughts to it alone. Thus begins the seamless blend of fact and fiction that is Samarkand. Vividly re-creating the history of the manuscript of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Amin Maalouf spans continents and centuries with breathtaking vision: the dusky exoticism of 11th-century Persia, with its poetesses and assassins; the same country's struggles nine hundred years later, seen through the eyes of an American academic obsessed with finding the original manuscript; and the fated maiden voyage of the Titanic, whose tragedy led to the Rubaiyat's final resting place - all are brought to life with keen assurance by this gifted and award-winning writer."

Shakespeare, William "Macbeth"

Shakespeare, William "Macbeth" aka "The Scottish Play" - 1599/1606

After reading "Romeo and Juliet" and "Hamlet", I thought I should tackle "The Scottish Play". It's one of those plays that always get mention and you know what it's about but since I had neither seen nor read it before, there is always something missing.

I still believe plays should be seen and not read but since I don't have the Globe around the corner, this will have to do for the time-being.

I enjoyed reading the book in the end, although "enjoy" isn't really the right thing when talking about murder and slaughter, am I right?

Having said that, the characters in this play are magnificent. There is a strong woman who influences her husband and thereby history. Interesting how this worked already half a millennium ago (probably even longer).

In any case, if you enjoy reading classics, this is a must. If you don't enjoy reading classics, you should still try to try this one, you might just change your mind.

From the back cover:

"Encouraged by his ambitious wife and the prophecy of three witches, Macbeth, a brave warrior, murders the rightful King of Scotland and seizes the throne for himself. However, in achieving his ambition, Macbeth has upset the natural order and soon discovers that power cannot suppress guilt.
Macbeth remains one of the most powerful plays about worldly power, greed and ambition - and all the resulting psychological consequences."