Dostoevsky, Fyodor "A Little Hero"

Dostoevsky, Fyodor "A Little Hero" (Russian: Маленький герой/Malen'kiy geroy) - 1857

Novel in Nine Letters - 1847
A Gentle Creature - 1876
A Little Hero - 1849

This booklet consists of three short stories, but I liked the "Novel in Nine Letters" the best. It's the correspondence between two men who somehow always manage to miss each other. 

Dostoevsky said of this: "When I was penniless the other day, I visited Nekrasov. While I was sitting with him, the idea came to me to write a novel in nine letters. When I returned home, I finished the novel in one night. In the morning, I brought the manuscript to Nekrasov and received 125 rubles for it."

In this story, you can tell that Pyotr Ivanych wants something from Ivan Petrovich and vice versa. One excuse for why the meeting doesn't take place follows another. Very funny.

I had already read "The Gentle One" in another collection. (see here) Also an interesting story about the beginning and end of a relationship and how it all came about.

I found the actual story, or rather the one that adorns the title, rather boring. An eleven-year-old falls in love with his cousin, and the "gentlewomen" of society make this the subject of their amusement, making fun of him, and embarrassing him. Nevertheless, it's a Dostoyevsky story and therefore worth reading in its own right.

From the back cover:

"At that time I was nearly eleven, I had been sent in July to spend the holiday in a village near Moscow with a relation of mine called T., whose house was full of guests, fifty, or perhaps more.... I don't remember, I didn't count. The house was full of noise and gaiety. It seemed as though it were a continual holiday, which would never end. It seemed as though our host had taken a vow to squander all his vast fortune as rapidly as possible, and he did indeed succeed, not long ago, in justifying this surmise, that is, in making a clean sweep of it all to the last stick."

Wodehouse, P.G. "Leave it to Psmith"

Wodehouse, P.G. "Leave it to Psmith" - 1923

We already know P.G. Wodehouse from the Jeeves & Wooster novels, all of which are simply delightful.

So I thought a book about his other protagonist would certainly be quite good. And it was. P.G. Wodehouse is more of a mix of Jeeves & Wooster, and I think that's excellent.

Rupert Psmith (Ronald in this book, though) is a jack of all trades, trying to make ends meet through all sorts of odd jobs after leaving his uncle's fish business. He doesn't shy away from the occasional petty crime. But he's also a true gentleman and is concerned about the welfare of his people.

This was the last book in the Psmith series, but that didn't bother me at all. I want to read the others as well.

This book is truly delightful, hilarious and gripping at the same time.

From the back cover:

"Ronald Psmith ('the 'p' is silent, as in pshrimp') is always willing to help a damsel in distress. So when he sees Eve Halliday without an umbrella during a downpour, he nobly offers her an umbrella, even though it’s one he picks out of the Drone Club’s umbrella rack. Psmith is so besotted with Eve that, when Lord Emsworth, her new boss, mistakes him for Ralston McTodd, a poet, Psmith pretends to be him so he can make his way to Blandings Castle and woo her. And so the farce begins: criminals disguised as poets with a plan to steal a priceless diamond necklace, a secretary who throws flower pots through windows, and a nighttime heist that ends in gunplay. How will everything be sorted out? Leave it to Psmith!"

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.

Pamuk, Orhan "To Look Out the Window"

Pamuk, Orhan "To Look Out the Window" aka "Pieces from the View: Life, Streets, Literature" (Turkish: Manzaradan Parçalar: Hayat, Sokaklar, Edebiyat) - Der Blick aus meinem Fenster. Betrachtungen - 2008

An interesting book by Orhan Pamuk in which he discusses many topics. Whether it's his childhood in Istanbul, his family, politics or his job as a writer, literature, art, he simply has something interesting and worth knowing to say about everything.

That is certainly the main reason why this author is one of my favorites. I hope he writes a new novel soon.

Book description (translated from the German copy):

"Whether it's the crumbling plaster of Istanbul houses or the Turkish flag, whether it's his father or the terrifying nature of Dostoyevsky's demons - with Orhan Pamuk everything becomes a complex universe. Pamuk observes coolly and tells moving stories. Autobiographical, narrative, politics, art and literature: his essays are the sum of different and contradictory experiences - an incredible stroke of luck."

As you can see from my Wikipedia link, there is an English title, though I could not find the book. Still, I hope it has been translated into English.

Orhan Pamuk "who in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures" received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006.

Orhan Pamuk received the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade (Friedenspreis) in 2005.

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

Read my original review here. 

Poe, Edgar Allan "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"

Poe, Edgar Allan "The Murders in the Rue Morgue and other stories" - 1841

Our international online book club read in August 2023.

Dark, gruesome, abysmal, that's what I read somewhere about the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I know people who love this sort of writing but I don't. I was afraid I wouldn't like it but tried my best to discover something that might tempt me to read more by this author. Alas, that was not to be. This time, it was a good thing that the book wasn't that thick. Or maybe that added to my disenjoyment.

My biggest problem with stories like these, there is nothing to learn from them. Absolutely nothing. And that is my main reason for reading.

Our book club had chosen to read a collection of short stores. The trouble with this is always that there are different ones in different languages. These were the stories the Finnish members had:
The Tell-Tale Heart (1843)
The Imp of the Perverse (1845)
The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841)
The Mystery of Marie Rogêt (1843)
The Purloined Letter (1844)
'Thou Art the Man' (1844)

And these were the ones in the English edition:
The Oval Portrait
Ligeia
Eleonora
Morella
Berenice
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Masque of the Red Death
Hop-Frog
The Pit and the Pendulum
The Cask of Amontillado
The Gold-Bug
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
The Mystery of Marie Rogêt
The Purloined Letter

The group had some other opinions. There was a really good discussion about Poe's works and life. Some had read some of the gruesome and terrible works but most of us had read a selection of a few different kinds, some of which are really clever and intelligent, and you clearly can see how he was starting a genre to influence literature for hundreds of years to follow.

From the back cover:

"Between 1841 and 1844, Edgar Allan Poe invented the genre of detective fiction with three mesmerizing stories about a young and eccentric French private detective named C. Auguste Dupin.

Introducing to literature the concept of applying reason to solving crime, these tales brought Poe fame and fortune, although much less of the second during his lifetime. Decades later, Dorothy Sayers would describe 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' as 'almost a complete manual of detective theory and practice.' Indeed, Poe’s short Dupin mysteries inspired the creation of countless literary sleuths, among them Sherlock Holmes. Today, the unique Dupin stories still stand out as utterly engrossing page-turners."

Ruiz Zafón, Carlos "The City of Mist"

Ruiz Zafón, Carlos "The City of Mist" (Spanish: La Ciudad de Vapor) - 2020
(El cementerio de los libros olvidados #5)

Yes, we return to Barcelona, one last journey with a wonderful author who left a big hole in the literary world with his death. His fans can look forward to a last greeting. All stories that fit somewhere in his Cemetery of Forgotten Books. How it came about and what it has contributed to. One or the other story has already been read beforehand, e.g. "Gaudí in Manhattan" or "The Prince of Parnassus" (El Príncipe de Parnaso), but that doesn't detract from the joy of this book.

And if you haven't read the wonderful series yet, you should do so as soon as possible. These short stories are also good for getting in the mood. You can read all of his books in any order, they complement each other well.

From the back cover:

"Return to the mythical Barcelona library known as the Cemetery of Forgotten Books in this posthumous collection of stories from the New York Times bestselling author of The Shadow of the Wind and The Labyrinth of the Spirits.

Bestselling author Carlos Ruiz Zafón conceived of this collection of stories as an appreciation to the countless readers who joined him on the extraordinary journey that began with The Shadow of the Wind. Comprising eleven stories, most of them never before published in English, The City of Mist offers the reader compelling characters, unique situations, and a gothic atmosphere reminiscent of his beloved Cemetery of Forgotten Books quartet.

The stories are mysterious, imbued with a sense of menace, and told with the warmth, wit, and humor of Zafón's inimitable voice. A boy decides to become a writer when he discovers that his creative gifts capture the attentions of an aloof young beauty who has stolen his heart. A labyrinth maker flees Constantinople to a plague-ridden Barcelona, with plans for building a library impervious to the destruction of time. A strange gentleman tempts Cervantes to write a book like no other, each page of which could prolong the life of the woman he loves. And a brilliant Catalan architect named Antoni Gaudí reluctantly agrees to cross the ocean to New York, a voyage that will determine the fate of an unfinished masterpiece.

Imaginative and beguiling, these and other stories in The City of Mist summon up the mesmerizing magic of their brilliant creator and invite us to come dream along with him.

Blanca and the Departure
Nameless
A Young Lady from Barcelona
Rose of Fire
The Prince of Parnassus
A Christmas Tale
Alicia, at Dawn
Men in Grey
Kiss
Gaudí in Manhattan
Two-Minute Apocalypse"

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi "We Should All Be Feminists"

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi "We Should All Be Feminists" - 2014

A small book, a short book. But a very meaningful book. If you only read one non-fiction book this year, let it be this one.

The author has written a few very important books already, "Half of a Yellow Sun" probably being the most important one.

This booklet is short, yet very powerful, very important. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie tells us about her life as a woman, a story that can probably be told by many women all over the world. We have fewer chances to get anywhere in the world, we earn less money, our voices are not heard as well.

Therefore, we should all listen to this and try to be more assertive when it comes to our battle for more recognition.

From the back cover:

"A personal and powerful essay from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the bestselling author of 'Americanah' and 'Half of a Yellow Sun', based on her 2013 TEDx Talk of the same name.

What does 'feminism' mean today? That is the question at the heart of We Should All Be Feminists, a personal, eloquently-argued essay - adapted from her much-viewed Tedx talk of the same name - by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the award-winning author of 'Americanah' and 'Half of a Yellow Sun'. With humour and levity, here Adichie offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the twenty-first century  one rooted in inclusion and awareness. She shines a light not only on blatant discrimination, but also the more insidious, institutional behaviours that marginalise women around the world, in order to help readers of all walks of life better understand the often masked realities of sexual politics.

Throughout, she draws extensively on her own experiences - in the U.S., in her native Nigeria - offering an artfully nuanced explanation of why the gender divide is harmful for women and men, alike. Argued in the same observant, witty and clever prose that has made Adichie a best-selling novelist, here is one remarkable author’s exploration of what it means to be a woman today - and an of-the-moment rallying cry for why we should all be feminists."

Hermann, Judith "The Summerhouse, Later"

Hermann, Judith "The Summerhouse, Later" (German: Sommerhaus, später) - 1998

These short stories mainly take place in Germany. As the description says, there are nine different characters, each with a different life. There's a taxi driver. And a young woman who remembers her great-grandmother. People like you and me who live in Berlin. An interesting mix. But anyone who knows me will also know what I think of it. Nine individual books would have been better.

Book Description:

"'The little jewellery box also held the red coral bracelet from Nikolai Sergeyevich. Its six hundred and seventy-five little coral beads were strung onto a silken thread, and they glowed as red as rage. My great-grandmother put the hairbrush down in her lap. She closed her eyes for a long time. Then she opened her eyes again, took the red coral bracelet from the little box and fastened it around her left wrist. Her skin was very white. That evening, for the first time in three years, she shared a meal with my great-grandfather.'

Coral bracelets 'as red as rage' from Russian lovers; a sad old woman who nonetheless 'sometimes sang and winked with her left eye and laughed till the tears came’; country houses ‘away from Berlin, linden trees out front, chestnuts in the back, sky above': 'The Summer House, Later' is an elegant, measured, reflective collection of stories which captures beautifully the promise of bright colours lying just out of reach of our grey daily routines.

Set in and around Europe's fastest-growing, fastest-living city, these stories take as their starting point the monotony of modern urban life - the endless antennas and chimneys, the pigeons in the gutters - and looks beyond them to 'the narrow strip of sky over the rooftops'. The literary sensation of the year in her native Germany, Judith Hermann is a wonderfully talented young writer whose ability to find drama and beauty in the smallest, most trivial moments makes 'The Summer House, Later' a very special debut indeed."

"In nine luminous stories of love and loss, loneliness and hope, Judith Hermann's stunning debut collection paints a vivid and poignant picture of a generation ready and anxious to turn their back on the past, to risk uncertainty in search of a fresh, if fragile, equilibrium. An international bestseller and translated into twelve languages, 'The Summerhouse, Later' heralds the arrival of one of Germanys most arresting new literary talents."

Greywoode, Josephine "Why We Read"

Greywoode, Josephine (ed.) "Why We Read. 70 Writers on Non-Fiction" - 2022

It's Non-fiction November and if you haven't had a chance to participate, here is a short book that tells us a lot about non-fiction books and might instigate us to read some.

70 authors have written about the reason why we read, especially why we read non-fiction. A brilliant collection of thoughts by some great minds. I could repeat the whole book here - but I recommend you get it yourself and read what they have to say. You won't regret it.

And here are just some snippets that might entice you starting the read yourself:

"Poetry in translation is, like Guinness outside Dublin, just a shadow of the real thing." Ananyo Bhattacharya

"And whatever kind of book you are reading, you get to rest for a while in the author's mind and share their unique way of looking at things and putting them together. In a few hours you will learn, without effort, everything this other person has laboured for years to know and understand." Clare Carlisle

"The pictures are better. No fancy computer-enhanced video can compete with reading, and re-reading, the actual text. Imagination is the key to enjoying good literature." Paul Davies

"And sometimes I read as a way of keeping a grip on the world, a grip on myself in the world, a tiny speck, in the rushing darkness that I am. Hold fast. Reading for my life, I guess." Nicci Gerrard

"Education: This is not just the obvious help that reading gives to the formal process of learning at school or university. Reading is a wonderful gift for life-long learning. I read to learn more about more, to educate myself further, to extend my knowledge. That is something that never ends." Ian Kershaw

"Consider this: reading is a strange, modern behaviour that we never evolved to do. Of the 300,000 or so years in which our species has existed, humans started reading only about 5,000 years ago. That's barely 1 per cent of our existence. What is more, until the Industrial Revolution, just a handful of humans had to privilege of reading. From an evolutionary perspective, reading is nearly as novel and strange as driving cars or using credit cards." Daniel Lieberman

"Governments want to tell you that "science, technology, engineering, maths" (STEM) are the most important subjects. But reading is the real stem. Understanding what a fact means understanding how to read. A fact is an interpretation of date: a reading." Timothy Morton

"Studies of the effects of education confirm that educated people really are more enlightened. They are less racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic and authoritarian. They place a higher value on imagination, independence and free speech. They are more likely to vote, volunteer, express political views and belong to civic associations such as unions, political parties and religious and community organizations. They are also likelier to trust their fellow citizens - a prime ingredient of the precious elixir called social capital, which gives people the confidence to contract, invest, and obey the law without fearing that they are chumps who will be shafted by everyone else.
For all these reasons, literacy is an engine of human progress, material, moral, spiritual." Steven Pinker

"Non-fiction books matter because we are what we read." Daniel Susskind

And some book recommendations by Emma Jane Kirby:
Hamel, Christopher de "Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts"
MacGregor, Neil "A History of the World in 100 Objects" (I read "Germany. Memories of a Nation")
MacDonald, Helen "H is for Hawk"
Nicholson, Christopher "Amon the Summer Snow"
Winterson, Jeanette "Oranges are Not the Only Fruit"
Winterson, Jeanette "Why be Happy When You Can be Normal"
Wynn, Raynor "The Salt Path"

From the back cover:

"Why read non-fiction? Is it just to find things out? Or is it for pleasure, challenge, adventure, meaning? Here, in seventy new pieces, some of the most original writers and thinkers of our time give their answers.

From Hilton Als on reading as writing's dearest companion to Nicci Gerrard on reading for her life; from Malcolm Gladwell on entering the minds of others to Michael Lewis on books as secret discoveries; and from Lea Ypi on the search for freedom to Slavoj Žižek on violent readings, each offers their own surprising perspective on the simple act of turning a page. The result is a celebration of seeing the world in new ways - and of having our minds changed."

Engberding, Hans; Thöns, Bodo "Transsib Reader"

Engberding, Hans; Thöns, Bodo (Ed.) "Transsib-Lesebuch: Reiseerlebnisse auf der längsten Bahnstrecke der Welt" [Transsib Reader: Travel Experiences On The Longest Railway Line In The World] - 2002

Usually, I don't review books that have not been translated into English. But I promised to do so in this case. And some of the articles have been written in English. Whenever I found the original title (or the translation into English), I added it in bold.

I found this collection at an antiquarian bookstore. It contains articles, excerpts from books, short stories by well-known writers who have all at some point traveled the Trans-Siberian Railway and recorded their experiences in writing. The first description is from 1901, the last from 2001, i.e. a report that goes back over a hundred years in which a lot has happened.

The authors all have an interesting point of view, everyone experiences the trip differently, even if they travel around the same time. While some accept any inconvenience as if it were the most natural thing in the world and are happy to be able to gain this insight into a culture that is foreign to them, others get upset about small things that would probably have happened to them on other routes, as well. And then there are those who support communism (or rather Stalinism) a hundred percent that everything is glorified.

In any case, it is fascinating to see how the railway was built, how it has changed over time, especially when the political situation has changed.

John Foster Fraser, Sir, UK, 1868-1936
Das wahre Sibirien (1901)
The Real Siberia

Eugen Zabel, D, 1851-1925
Auf der sibirischen Bahn nach China (1903)

Karl Tanera, D, 1849-1904
Zur Kriegszeit auf der sibirischen Bahn und durch Rußland (1904)

O.T. Tuck, UK, 1876-?
Tagebuch (1909)

Marcus Lorenzo Taft, US,
Fremdes Sibirien (1909)

Fridtjof Nansen, N, 1861-1930 - Nobel Prize for Peace 1922
Sibirien ein Zukunftsland (1913)
Through Siberia the Land of the Future/Gjennem Sibirien

Otto Goebel, D, 1872-1955
Über Sibirien nach Ostasien (1914)

Sven Hedin, S, 1865-1952
Von Peking nach Moskau (1923)

Richard Tröger, D, 1879-1965
Tagebuch über eine Rußland-Japan-Reise (1929)

Kurt Faber, D, 1883-1929
Weltwanderers letzte Fahrten und Abenteuer (1930)

Peter Fleming, UK, 1907-74 (Ian Fleming's brother)
Mit mir allein. Eine Reise nach China (1933)
One's Company: A Journey to China in 1933

Erik Bergengren, S, 1900-1977
Gelbe Gesichter. Sibirische Nächte und japanische Tage (1936)

Mildred Widmer Marshall, US
Zwei Schullehrerinnen aus Oregon reisen um die Welt (1937)

Sławomir Rawicz, PL/BY, 1915-2004
Flucht durch Steppe und Wüste (1939)
The Long Walk?

Sigrid Undset, DK, 1882-1949 - Nobel Prize for Literature 1928
Wieder in die Zukunft (1940)
Back to the future/Tilbake til fremtiden

Ryszard Kapuscinski, PL/BY, 1932-2007
Imperium. Sowjetische Streifzüge (1958)
Imperium

Siegfried Meissgeier, D, 1924-1988 and Günter Linde, D, 1925-1992
Sibirien ohne Geheimnisse (1959)

Paul Theroux, USA, 1922-
Abenteuer Eisenbahn. Auf Schienen um die halbe Welt (1965)
The Great Railway Bazaar

Hugo Portisch, SLK, 1927-2021
So sah ich Sibirien (1966)

Vittorio Lojacono, I
Die Straße der Gefahr (1969)

Eric Newby, UK, 1919-2006
Auf der großen roten Bahn (1977)
The Big Red Train Ride

Hans-Otto Meissner, D/F, 1909-1992
Sibirien-Expreß (1979)

Wolfgang Seidl, D, 1933-
Ins rote Reich des gelben Drachens (1984)

Hardy Krüger, D, 1928-2022
Sibirienfahrt (1984)

Johanna Hornef-Blau
Unterwegs mit der Transsibirischen Eisenbahn (1994)

Colin Thubron, UK, 1939-
Sibirien. Schlafende Erde - Erwachendes Land (1998)
In Siberia

Kurt Drawert, D, 1956-
Nach Osten ans Ende der Welt (1999)

Mark Bauch, D 1971-
Transsibirisch Reisen (2001)
Das wahre Sibirien (1901)

Pictures by Claudia Mathea (D, 1969-) complement the stories.

Book Description (translation):

"The Trans-Siberian Railway has fascinated travelers from all over the world for a century now. This beautifully designed reader brings together prominent and less prominent Trans-Siberian travelers from all decades of the 20th century, who report on their journey on what is probably the world's most famous railway line.

Lively descriptions of the day-to-day organization of life on the Trans-Siberian Railway, the events on the train and the experiences with fellow travelers stand alongside historical observations from the checkered history of Russia, Mongolia and China. This creates a diverse picture of the countries traveled through.

Sven Hedin, Fridtjof Nansen, Hardy Krüger, Paul Theroux, Sigrid Undset, Peter Fleming and many others take the reader on an adventurous journey through the Siberian expanse. The Transsib Reader is the ideal complement to the Transsib Handbook."

Mandelstam, Ossip "The Noise of Time"

Mandelstam, Ossip "The Noise of Time" aka "The Din of Time (RUS: Шум времени/Shum vremeni) - 1925

A story of a childhood at the turn of the last century, the author was born in 1891. His memories of his father and mother, leather smell on the bookshelf, memories of poetry, memories of Jewish customs and festivities. The author gives us a good survey of life at the beginning of the 20th century, that of his contemporaries and of his own, the reflections of his sense of alienation in the Soviet system.

While this book is only a compilation of short stories, it still gives us insights into the life of a Jewish boy in a country that didn't want any criticism, and who gave his life for his beliefs: "Only in Russia is poetry respected, it gets people killed. Is there anywhere else where poetry is so common a motive for murder?"

He mentions the "propertyless intellectual who needs no memories. It should be enough for him to tell of the books he has read."

And then he mentions in the "Mensheviks in Georgia" (written 1922-1927): "Everyone, Georgians, Armenians, Greeks, Persians, Englishmen and Italians spoke Russian. A wild Volapük, a Russian Black Sea Esperanto buzzed in the air." Esperanto was created in 1887 and it seemed normal to Ossip Mandelstam that everyone should know what he was talking about.

"The Noise of Time" is an interesting collection of stories that will surely please not only fans of Russian literature.

From the back cover:

"Collected prose works by one of Russia's towering literary figures. Osip Mandelstam has in recent years come to be seen as a central figure in European modernism. Though known primarily as a poet, Mandelstam worked in many styles: autobiography, short story, travel writing, and polemic. Mandelstam's biographer, Clarence Brown, presents a collection of the poet's prose works that illuminates his far-ranging talent and places him within the canon of European modernism.

This volume includes Mandelstam's 'The Noise of Time,' a series of autobiographical sketches; 'The Egyptian Stamp,' a novella echoing Gogol and Dostoevsky; 'Fourth Prose,' and the famous travel memoirs 'Theodosia' and 'Journey to Armenia.'"

Meier, Peg/Wood, Dave "The Pie Lady of Winthrop"

Meier, Peg/Wood, Dave "The Pie Lady of Winthrop: And Other Minnesota Tales" - 1985

How did I come by this book, a collection of reports by two Minnesotan reporters about interesting and remarkable people in their area in the eighties? Well, a blog friend of mine talked about it, her great great grandmother was "The Pie Lady of Winthrop". The book sounded interesting and I ordered a used copy (it's out of print).

These stories take me back to the eighties, to a time when most situations were very different than they are today. I wouldn't say, people like Mina Peterson who work hard all their lives and still don't stop at a certain age don't exist anymore. Let's just agree that there are fewer of them.

So, we don't just get to know this lovely Swedish-born lady who, at the age of 94 gets up early in the morning so there are fresh pies in the café. And she's been doing it for forty years, beginning after the death of her husband.

There are lots of other tales about immigrants and other folks, former slaves who get together with a huge amount of family, Norwegian-born, Swedish-born, Jewish, any kind of person that doesn't just try to live a quiet life and think about their own family but people who are there for the community.

I decided, after reading a couple of stories, that I liked the ones written by Peg Meier best. They seem to come from the heart, Dave Wood's are also good but more the style of a reporter who will write about anything. You could tell before even turning to the index that lists all the stories with the respective author.

Nice book, even though I'm not very fond of short stories. But these talk about everyday people who make a difference.

From the back cover:

"As reporters for the Neighbors section of the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, Peg Meier and Dave Wood have written about fascinating people and places in all parts of Minnesota. In 'The Pie Lady of Winthrop' you'll meet some of their favorites, including the powder room attendant at Murray's restaurant in Minneapolis, Cedric Adams' old troupe, the sausage makers of New Prague and a 10-year-old kid in Rollingstone. You'll also visit such places as a funeral parlor in Kenyon, two saloons in Minneapolis and the old jail in Taylors Falls."

Christie, Agatha "Murder on the Orient Express"

Christie, Agatha "Murder on the Orient Express" (Hercule Poirot #10) - 1934

Who hasn't watched "Murder on the Orient Express"? I know I have watched it about a hundred times. First with Albert Finney as Monsieur Poirot, then Alfred Molina, then THE Hercule Poirot, David Suchet, and last but definitely not least, the great Kenneth Branagh.

So, I thought it was about time that I read the book. All those films I watched are all slightly different and I always wondered which one was closest to the book. Well, they all left something out or changed who said what or even who was who. But they are all close to the book. Agatha Christie had a huge imagination and this novel shows us again how wonderful her stories are.

From the back cover:

"Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Edward Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. One of his fellow passengers is the murderer.

Isolated by the storm and with a killer in their midst detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer among a dozen of the dead man's enemies, before the murderer decides to strike again …"

Hauff, Wilhelm "The Heart of Stone"

Hauff, Wilhelm "The Heart of Stone" aka The Cold Heart or the Marble Heart) (German: Das kalte Herz) - 1837

I was reminiscing about books from my youth and school years and noticed that I never reviewed one of my favourite novels we read in school.

This story is from the first half of the 19th century and even though we live in different times now, the message of the book still applies. We need empathy and feelings in our lives, otherwise it is completely meaningless.

Wilhelm Hauff's fairy tales cannot be compared to those by the Brothers Grimm, they have a very dark streak.

Peter Munk is a woodsman in the Black Forest. He lives with his mother and produces and charcoal. He falls in love with a village girl but since he is poor, he can't marry her. Because he was born on a Sunday, he can ask the forest spirits to help him. First, he turns the small "Glasmännlein" (little glass man). He first wishes for wealth but he loses all his money. Then he asks the dark forest spirit, "Holländer-Michel" (Dutch Michel). He also grants him wealth but wants his heart which he replaces with a stone as he has done with all the rich villagers before him.

From the back cover (translated):

"'The Cold Heart' is a Black Forest fairy tale in which the poet describes the fate of the Sunday child Peter Munk. After serious mistakes, Peter Munk's fate is finally brought to a happy end by the friendly elemental spirit of the little glass man. "

Remark by Goodreads:

"This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public."

Wodehouse, P.G. "The World of Jeeves"

Wodehouse, P.G. "The World of Jeeves" (Jeeves #2-4: The Inimitable Jeeves #2, Carry On, Jeeves #3, Very Good, Jeeves! #4) - 1923/1925/1930 

Wodehouse, P.G. "The Inimitable Jeeves" (Jeeves #2) - 1923
Wodehouse, P.G. "Carry On, Jeeves" (Jeeves #3) - 1925
Wodehouse, P.G. "Very Good, Jeeves!" (Jeeves #4) - 1930 

After reading "Right Ho, Jeeves", "Ring for Jeeves" and "The Code of the Woosters" last year, it was time for another book by P.G. Wodehouse about Bertram (Bertie) Wooster  and his trustful gentleman's gentleman Jeeves. I found an omnibus of three of the Jeeves books and I had a lot of fun reading it over several months, the two helped me through some awful Corona months.

There isn't much more to say about these books other than how wonderful they are. I mentioned before that they aren't just funny but that the language is superb. My final sentence to the first book I came across was:
"A truly delightful book. Whenever you feel gloomy, read a bit of Jeeves and Wooster!"
That's still true today.

I found it incredible, how much some of the covers have changed, so I made a little collage with the different books.

Here is a list of all the stories I found in this collection.

1.    Jeeves Takes Charge (COJ)
2.    Jeeves in the Springtime (VGJ)
3.    Scoring Off Jeeves (VGJ)
4.    Sir Roderick Comes to Lunch (VGJ)
5.    Aunt Agatha Takes the Count (VGJ)
6.    The Artistic Career of Corky (COJ)
7.    Jeeves and Chump Cyril (VGJ)
8.    Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest (COJ)
9.    Jeeves and the Hard-Boiled Egg (COJ)
10.  The Aunt and the Sluggard (COJ)
11.  Comrade Bingo (VGJ)
12.  The Great Sermon Handicap (VGJ)
13.  The Purity of the Turf (VGJ)
14.  The Metropolitan Touch (VGJ)
15.  The Delayed Exit of Claude and Eustace (VGJ)
16.  Bingo and the Little Woman (VGJ)
17.  The Rummy Affair of Old Biffy (COJ)
18.  Without the Option (COJ)
19.  Fixing it for Freddie (COJ)
20.  Clustering Round Young Bingo (COJ)
21.  Jeeves and the Impending Doom (VGJ)
22.  The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy (VGJ)
23.  Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit (VGJ)
24.  Jeeves and the Song of Songs (VGJ)
25.  Episode of the Dog Mcintosh (VGJ)
26.  The Spot of Art (VGJ)
27.  Jeeves and the Kid Clementina (VGJ)
28.  The Love That Purifies (VGJ)
29.  Jeeves and the Old School Chum (VGJ)
30.  Indian Summer of an Uncle (VGJ)
31.  The Ordeal of Young Tuppy (VGJ)
32.  Bertie Changes His Mind (COJ)
33.  Jeeves Makes an Omelette
34.  Jeeves and the Greasy Bird

IJ = The Inimitable Jeeves
COJ = Carry On, Jeeves
VGJ = Very Good, Jeeves!

From the back cover:

"A Jeeves and Wooster Omnibus

'Jeeves knows his place, and it is between the covers of a book.'

This is an omnibus of wonderful Jeeves and Wooster stories, specially selected and introduced by Wodehouse himself, who was struck by the size of his selection and described it as almost the ideal paperweight. As he wrote:

'I find it curious, now that I have written so much about him, to recall how softly and undramatically Jeeves first entered my little world. Characteristically, he did not thrust himself forward. On that occasion, he spoke just two lines.
The first was:
"Mrs Gregson to see you, sir."
The second:
"Very good, sir, which suit will you wear?"
It was only some time later that the man's qualities dawned upon me. I still blush to think of the off-hand way I treated him at our first encounter...'.

This omnibus contains Carry On, Jeeves, The Inimitable Jeeves, Very Good, Jeeves and the short stories 'Jeeves Makes an Omelette' and 'Jeeves and the Greasy Bird'.

A glorious collection of all the short stories featuring Jeeves, the perfect manservant, and Bertie Wooster, a 1920s bachelor on the run."

I was told the "Psmith" books are even better. Will have to check that.

Jackson, Shirley "The Lottery"

Jackson, Shirley "The Lottery" - 1948

Once a month, Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best invites us to participate in her challenge Six Degrees of Separation (see here my latest post).

Often, we have not read the book but still can start our chain with the information given. This time, since it is the first time she started with short story, she said there were no excuses for not reading the starting book, right? While I don't care much for short stories, I thought this was as good a reason as any to read it. And it is available online (here). I don't read books online but for a short story that I have to get quickly, I thought I could do it.

It is hard to review this story without telling the whole story. In any case, a lot of towns in the USA seem to hold this lottery once a year. (Don't forget, this is fiction!) Nobody wants to win in this case but someone has to. This story reminded me of "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. Mind you, since that novel was written in 2008 and this short story in 1948, we can only imagine who copied the idea from whom, if that was the case.

A very dark, sinister and shocking story that could have been made into a series and probably would have as "The Hunger Games" and "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood and several other stories demonstrate.

While looking for a picture for this post, I saw this "joke":
"I hope you win the Lottery soon. Not the state-run lotto, but the Shirley Jackson one."
I'm glad to say I don't know anyone to whom I would say that. I know that these kinds of things happen in other parts of the world and I don't wish it on anyone.

From the back cover:

"In a small American town, the local residents are abuzz with excitement and nervousness when they wake on the morning of the twenty-seventh of June. Everything has been prepared for the town’s annual tradition - a lottery in which every family must participate, and no one wants to win.

'The Lottery' stands out as one of the most famous short stories in American literary history. Originally published in The New Yorker, the author immediately began receiving letters from readers who demanded an explanation of the story’s meaning. 'The Lottery' has been adapted for stage, television, radio and film."

Another book that this reminded of is "The Wave" by Morton Rhue, it's a good addition to this short story.

Binchy, Maeve "The Maeve Binchy Writers' Club"

Binchy, Maeve "The Maeve Binchy Writers' Club" - 2010

The topic for this month's Xanadu read is: All Things Irish. I chose a book by an Irish author that had been on my TBR pile for a while. I picked it up on one of those book swap shelves where I left a lot of my books that I sorted out before our move. I thought this might be another book club type book but it was worth checking out.

Well, it was what it says, a book about a writers' club. With many hints for the budding author. And a short story at the end about a writers' class.

One thing I found quite interesting since I don't come across it very often, in week 11, The Writer as a Journalist, Maeve Binchy mentions Esperanto. Always worth a mention, I think.

I guess if you really want to write a book, there is quite some advice this one how to start and how to carry on. I had expected more a book about the club itself, something like a novel. However, it was an interesting read.

From the back cover:

"'The Maeve Binchy Writers' Club' gives an unique insight into how a No.1 bestselling author writes. Inspired by a course run by the National College of Ireland, it comprises 20 letters from Maeve, offering advice, tips and her own wonderfully witty take on the life of a writer, in addition to contributions from top writers, publishers and editors.

Whether you want to write a saga or a thriller, comedy or journalism, or write for the radio or stage, this also gives advice on the best way to get started, and what editors, publishers and agents are looking for.

'The Maeve Binchy Writers' Club' is a fascinating and informative guide to inspire all budding writers as well as entertaining Maeve Binchy fans the world over.

Includes expert advice from Marian Keyes, Alison Walsh, Norah Casey, Paula Campbell, Ivy Bannister, Seamus Hosey, Gerald Dave, Jim Culleton, Ferdia McAnna and Julie Parsons.

Includes a specially written brand new story by Maeve Binchy:
'The Writing Class'"

Gogol, Nikolai "The Overcoat. Stories from Russia"

Gogol, Nikolai (Никола́й Васи́льевич Го́голь, Nikolay Vasilyevich Gogol) "The Overcoat. Stories from Russia" (Russian: Шинел/Shinyeliь) (German collection: Gogols Mantel. Erzählungen aus Russland - 1842 et al.

This is a collection of Russian short stories, starting with "The Overcoat" by Nikolai Gogol. As with many of these anthologies, there isn't one with exactly the same stories. But, you can find all these in different other editions which I have tried to find for you.

I always love reading Russian novels. Even these short stories were fantastic. Funnily enough, my favourite was literally the most "fantastic" of them all, "Pkhenz" by Andrei Sinyavsky who wrote under the pseudonym Abram Tertz. Not that it helped him much, the KGB found out who was behind that name and sent him to a labour camp.

When I found the book, I thought it was a book with more than one story by Gogol. It wasn't, there's just "The Overcoat". But the others are all fantastic stories, as well. There was even a Nobel Prize winner among them, Ivan Bunin, who was the first Russian to received that prestigious award.

"The Overcoat" was discussed in our international online book club in October 2018. 

Gogol, Nikolai (Никола́й Васи́льевич Го́голь, Nikolay Vasilyevich Gogol) "The Overcoat" (RUS: Шинель/Shinel) - 1842
If you're not sure whether you like Russian literature, this is a perfect example. A simple story of a man who buys an overcoat yet there is so much in it about Russia and its soul. Unbelievable. A story I will probably read again and again.
Famous quote by Dostoevsky "We all come out of Gogol's 'Overcoat". Well said.
Blurb: "A sincere young clerk makes great sacrifices to attain an overcoat of untold value and power."

Dostoevsky, Fyodor "A Gentle Creature" (aka The Gentle Spirit) (RUS: Кроткая/Krotkaja) - 1876
Dostoevsky is one of my favourite Russian authors and this short story is just as great as some of his big novels. In this tale he explains the beginning and end of a relationship and how it all happened. Incredible how much you can put on so few pages.
Blurb: "In this compelling study of despair, based on a real-life incident, a pawnbroker mourns the loss of his wife, a quiet, gentle young girl. Why has she killed herself? Could he have prevented it? These are the questions the pawnbroker asks himself as he pieces together past events and minor incidents, changes of mood and passing glances, in his search for an answer that will relieve his torment.
In this short story, Dostoyevsky masterfully depicts desperation, greed, manipulation and suicide."

Tolstoy, Lew Nikolajewitsch (Толстой, Лев Николаевич) "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" (RUS: Смерть Ивана Ильича/Smert' Ivána Ilyichá) - 1886
I've read this before since it was in Tolstoy's "Collected Works". Again, a very Russian work. An observation about death and its impact not only on the person dying but also on those near to him. There are people who try to enjoy life as much as they can, live it to their fullest, others who give up and have nothing.
If you want to experience Russian literature at its best but don't like long stories, try this one. It's a great one by this brilliant author.
Blurb: "Tolstoy’s most famous novella is an intense and moving examination of death and the possibilities of redemption
Ivan Ilyich is a middle-aged man who has spent his life focused on his career as a bureaucrat and emotionally detached from his wife and children. After an accident he finds himself on the brink of an untimely death, which he sees as a terrible injustice. Face to face with his mortality, Ivan begins to question everything he has believed about the meaning of life. The Death of Ivan Ilyich is a masterpiece of psychological realism and philosophical profundity that has inspired generations of readers."

Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich (Антон Павлович Чехов) "The Lady with the Dog" (RUS: Дма с собачкой/Dama s sobachkoy) - 1899
Oh, the problems of the upper class (today we would say first world problems, I guess) who know nothing about the problems of the little man who has to work tremendously in order for his family not to starve. Often we read about the latter but this is a tale about the former. Great writing.
Again, I have read this story before in another collection "Summer Holidays".
Blurb: "This short story describes an adulterous affair between an unhappily married Moscow banker and a young married woman which begins while both are vacationing alone in Yalta. It is one of Chekhov's most famous pieces of short fiction, and Vladimir Nabokov considered it to be one of the greatest short stories ever written."

Babel, Isaac Emmanuilovich (Исаак Эммануилович Бабель) "Red Cavalry" (RUS: Конармия/Konarmiya) - 1926
"Nine prisoners of war are no longer alive."
A witness oft he civil war when Cossack cavalry invaded Poland after WWI, Isaac Babel describes the attack on a train and the subsequent killing of nine prisoners. This is only on of the stories from this collection which must all be great.
Blurb: "Based on Babel's own diaries that he wrote during the Russo-Polish war of 1920, Red Cavalry is a lyrical, unflinching and often startlingly ironic depiction of the violence and horrors of war. A classic of modern fiction, the short stories are as powerful today as they were when they burst onto the Russian literary landscape nearly a century ago. The narrator, a Russian-Jewish intellectual, struggles with the tensions of his dual identity: fact blends with fiction; the coarse language of soldiers combines with an elevated literary style; cultures, religions and different social classes collide. Shocking, moving and innovative, Red Cavalry is one of the masterpieces of Russian literature."

Kharms, Daniil (Дании́л Ива́нович Хармс) "Interruption" (RUS: помеха/Pomeha)
collection: Russian Absurd and Даниил Хармс. В двух томах. Том 1/Daniil Kharms. V dvukh tomakh. Tom 1
article: Three New Decrees (Авиация превращений/Aviacija prevrashhenij) (original: Собрание сочинений в 3 томах/Sobraniye sochineniy v 3 tomakh)
Another short story from a collection of stories. Very futuristic.
This is only a very small story, three pages long. I have found a few collections of short stories by Daniil Kharms and hope it is in one of them.
To my liking, this was far too short, I would have liked to read more.
Blurb: "A writer who defies categorization, Daniil Kharms has come to be regarded as an essential artist of the modernist avant-garde. His writing, which partakes of performance, narrative, poetry, and visual elements, was largely suppressed during his lifetime, which ended in a psychiatric ward where he starved to death during the siege of Leningrad. His work, which survived mostly in notebooks, can now be seen as one of the pillars of absurdist literature, most explicitly manifested in the 1920s and ’30s Soviet Union by the OBERIU group, which inherited the mantle of Russian futurism from such poets as Vladimir Mayakovsky and Velimir Khlebnikov. This selection of prose and poetry provides the most comprehensive portrait of the writer in English translation to date, revealing the arc of his career and including a particularly generous selection of his later work."

Bunin, Ivan Alekseyevich (Иван Алексеевич Бунин) "In Paris" (RUS: в Париже/v Parizhe) - 1943
collection: Dark Avenues (or Dark Alleys) (RUS: Тёмные аллеи/Tyomnyie alleyi)
Ivan Bunin was an emigrant, he saw a lot of Russian culture from the outside. "In Paris" is a story of Russian emigrants - exactly - in Paris, where he lived for a long time.
As someone who lived abroad myself for a long time, I could relate to many of his allusions. This short story is very interesting and I wouldn't mind reading more by this author.
You will find this story in his collection "Dark Avenues".
Blurb: "One of the great achievements of twentieth-century Russian émigré literature, Dark Avenues took Bunin's poetic mastery of language to new heights.
Written between 1938 and 1944 and set in the context of the Russian cultural and historical crises of the preceding decades, this collection of short fiction centres around dark, erotic liaisons. Love - in its many varied forms - is the unifying motif in a rich range of narratives, characterized by the evocative, elegiac, elegant prose for which Bunin is renowned."
Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1933 "for following through and developing with chastity and artfulness the traditions of Russian classic prose." He was the first Russian author to be awarded this prize.

Tertz, Abram (Абрам Терц), Abram/Sinyavsky, Andrei Donatovich (Андрей Донатович Синявский) "Pkhenz" (RUS: Пхенц/Pkhenz) - 1959
collection: Fantastic Stories 
A science fiction story. Not normally my thing though I have read a few that I really liked. As I did this one. Probably the story that will stay with anyone longest who reads this collection.
I can see the comparison with Kafka though I really prefer this one.
Blurb: "Abram Tertz is the pseudonym of Andrei Sinyavsky, the exile Soviet dissident writer whose works have been compared to fabulists like Kafka and Borges. Tertz's settings are exotic but familiar and as compelling as those of lunatics and mystics. This edition contains the nightmarish 'Pkhentz', a story missing from the first English edition."

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

Christie, Agatha "Hercule Poirot"

Christie, Agatha "Hercule Poirot. The Complete Short Stories" - 1923-61

Hercule Poirot. As soon as you hear that name you think, moustache, French accent, hat. I am not a huge fan of crime stories. Or short stories. But I love to watch Agatha Christie's stories on TV. For "the Monsieur Poirot", I liked the old ones with Sir Peter Ustinov, even any of the others with Albert Finney and Alfred Molina (who I really, really like) or the new one with Sir Kenneth Brannagh. But my favourite, sorry to all the others, is, of course, Sir David Suchet. He is the epitome of Hercule Poirot as Agatha Christie described him. I'm sure she would have loved him.

So, when I saw this book, I thought, why not? Give Agatha a try and read some of her stories. You can always stop halfway if you're bored since they are all short stories. Guess what? I read them all.

Not only are the stories funny which was to be expected from the films, her writing is just great. Her stories are easy reads and even someone who doesn't guess right away who the killer was (like me) finds fun in trying to guess whodunnit.

Of course, the book is not like the films. Some stories were thrown together to make one film, others were just merely mentioned in the series. That was also fun, trying to think in which episode had I seen that.

If you like crime stories and/or Agatha Christie, this is an absolutely great collection.

From the back cover:

"More than 50 Poirot short stories, including one unique to this volume!

Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective with the egg-shaped head and immaculate black moustache, has a passion for order, rational thought, and an overwhelming confidence in his deductive genius. He is, after all, the most famous detective in the world!

There is a spectacular diversity in the plots and themes of these cases. Violent murders, poisonings, kidnappings and thefts, all are solved or thwarted with Poirot's usual panache - and the characteristic application of his 'little grey cells'.

Includes Poirot And The Regatta Mystery, An early short story not published since 1936!"

These are the stories in the book:

Introduction: Enter Hercule Poirot

The Affair at the Victory Ball
The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan
The King of Clubs
The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim
The Plymouth Express
The Adventure of "The Western Star"
The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor
The Kidnapped Prime Minister
The Million Dollar Bond Robbery
The Adventure of the Cheap Flat
The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge
The Chocolate Box
The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb
The Veiled Lady
The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly
The Market Basing Mystery
The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman
The Case of the Missing Will
The Incredible Theft
The Adventure of the Clapham Cook
The Lost Mine
The Cornish Mystery
The Double Clue
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding
The Lemesurier Inheritance
The Under Dog
Double Sin
Wasps' Nest
The Third-Floor Flat
The Mystery of the Spanish Chest
Dead Man's Mirror
How Does Your Garden Grow?
Problem at Sea
Triangle at Rhodes
Murder in the Mews
Yellow Iris
The Dream
Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds
The Labours Of Hercules - Foreword
The Nemean Lion
The Learnean Hydra
The Arcadian Deer
The Erymanthian Boar
The Augean Stables
The Stymphalean Birds
The Cretan Bull
The Horses of Diomedes
The Girdle of Hyppolita
The Flock of Geryon
The Apples of the Hesperides
The Capture of Cerberus
Poirot and the Regatta Mystery

If you cannot find this edition, you can find the different stories in these books:

POIROT INVESTIGATES
The Adventure of "The Western Star"
The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor
The Adventure of the Cheap Flat
The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge
The Million Dollar Bond Robbery
The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb
The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan
The Kidnapped Prime Minister
The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim
The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman
The Case of the Missing Will
The Veiled Lady
The Lost Mine
The Chocolate Box

DEAD MAN'S MIRROR
(Goodreads)
Dead Man's Mirror
The Incredible Theft
Murder in the Mews
Triangle at Rhodes

THE REGATTA MYSTERY
(Goodreads)
The Mystery of the Bagdad Chest or The Mystery of the Spanish Chest
How Does Your Garden Grow?
Yellow Iris
The Dream
Problem at Sea

THE LABOURS OF HERCULES
(Goodreads)
The Nemean Lion
The Learnean Hydra
The Arcadian Deer
The Erymanthian Boar
The Augean Stables
The Stymphalean Birds
The Cretan Bull
The Horses of Diomedes
The Girdle of Hyppolita
The Flock of Geryon
The Apples of the Hesperides
The Capture of Cerberus

From THREE BLIND MICE
(Goodreads)
The Third-Floor Flat
The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly
Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds

From THE UNDER DOG
(Goodreads)
The Under Dog
The Plymouth Express
The Affair at the Victory Ball
The Market Basing Mystery
The Lemesurier Inheritance
The Cornish Mystery
The King of Clubs
The Adventure of the Clapham Cook

From DOUBLE SIN
(Goodreads)
Double Sin
Wasps' Nest
The Theft of the Royal Ruby or The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding
The Double Clue

Austen, Jane "Sanditon"

Austen, Jane "Sanditon" - 1817

I've had this fragment of a novel on my TBR pile for a while already. I never was sure whether I really wanted to read it. I have read "The Watsons" and "Lady Susan" and Andrew Davies have just made this into a mini-series. He has already made other great series and movies from Jane Austen's novels and several other classics, so I'm almost certain it's a good one.

But I wanted to read it first. It is a very promising beginning of another Austen novel, the characters well depicted, the scenes worked out beautifully, you can tell that there are going to be a few problems along the way that need solving. It is lovely to read how she made fun of certain traits in people and I'm sure there was more like that to come. What a shame she wasn't well enough to tell her sister what her plans were for the story.

Do I really want to hear the end from someone else? Oh, Jane, why couldn't you live longer? It would have been great to have a hundred of your stories.

From the back cover:

"Written in the last months of Austen's life, Sanditon features a glorious cast of hypochondriacs and speculators in a newly established seaside resort, and shows the author contemplating a changing society with scepticism and amusement. It tells the story of Charlotte Heywood, who is transported by a chance accident from her rural hometown to Sanditon, where she is exposed to the intrigues and dalliances of a small town determined to reinvent itself - and encounters the intriguingly handsome Sidney Parker."