Dostoewsky, Fyodor "The Gambler"

Dostoevsky, Fyodor "The Gambler" (Russian: Igrok - Игрок) - 1866

Apparently, Dostoevsky wrote this book simultaneously with "Crime and Punishment" as he was suffering from gambling compulsion.

After reading "The Adolescent" with my book club, I definitely had to read another Dostoevsky. This won't be my last. I enjoyed his story, the characters, the description of the characters, everything. A lively story, yet a lot of musings, as well. I like the style of the Russian authors. If you do, too, and haven't tried Dostoevsky, you should definitely give him a chance.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"Its story of passion and despair is based on Dostoevsky's own experience as a compulsive gambler—but Dostoevsky was able to break away, whereas Alexei vows to quit as soon as he breaks even—an event, it is clear, that will never happen.
Like so many other characters in Dostoeveky's novels, Alexei is trying to break through the wall of the established order and the human condition itself. But instead he is drawn into the roulette wheel's vortex."

Salinger, J. D. "The Catcher in the Rye"

Salinger, J. D. "The Catcher in the Rye" - 1951

I read this classic when I was still in school. The perfect age to read about a rebellious teenager, one would think.

I didn't have a lot of books when I was little, so I had to borrow from our small village church library and our equally small school library (compared to today), so I wasn't very choosy, I would read whatever I got.

I didn't have much sympathy with Holden Caulfield, maybe because I went to a school with a lot of guys, was surrounded by a lot of guys at home, as well, maybe. I loved school and couldn't imagine anyone not to. So many factors.

All in all, you might have guessed it, I didn't like this one.

Comments from our book club members:

• First read it almost 60 years ago and accepted Holden's angry negativity but envied his freedom and his opportunities. Rereading it for the discussion, I studied it carefully to try to pick up clues as to what he didn't say and to glean insights into the origins of his seemingly reckless and self-sabotaging behaviour. My impression is that Holden represents Salinger's mood and outlook after being thwarted by his father from pursuing a creative career followed by the overwhelming horror of what he witnessed during WWII. Holden's preoccupation with fitting in probably arose from Salinger's experience as the son of a Jewish immigrant at a posh private school and how such snobbish institutions did not value intellectual ability over birth, money, influence and sporting prowess. His need for control stemmed from Salinger's struggle to realise his talent while others tried to mould him into something he was not. In his later stories about the Glass family, Salinger rails against the unthinking, materialistic culture of post-war America, its failure to appreciate intellectualism and spirituality or to take sober heed of the grim lessons of WWII.
• We had a very good discussion about the main character, his mental health and maturity level. I felt sorry for him as he clearly was depressed, anxious and had a trauma because of loosing his brother. I did not much like the way the story was written or the messy happenings, but I was glad to have read it and especially discussing it with the group was very interesting.
• I had read this book many times before, but a long time ago. Reading it again, with some of the insights I have gained in the meantime, particularly after spending 10 years as a school teacher, I found it very sad - I felt very sorry for him. Also, the whole part of the story from leaving Pencey to telling Phoebe he is going to live in a cabin seems to me to be highly characteristic of a bipolar manic episode, which wasn't so clear to me on an earlier reading. I was particularly moved by the part where he was calling out to his dead brother to save him every time he stepped off the pavement. I always empathised with Holden (despite not being male, American or rich), but life experiences in the meantime have given me a greater understanding of his situation, especially in terms of bereavement.
• I have read this book a few times over several decades and never liked it. When I was young I could not relate at all to Holden's privilege or foolishness. Through the years I have come to know people with elements of Holden in them who were mentally ill and so, I thought, still much different from me. When I looked at it again for this group, I found myself more able to respect Holden's views as valid perspectives on the difficulties of being young in a confusing society. I still don't like the book but it won't fade away.
  

Those are some great insights. Maybe one of the reasons for not liking the book was that he had all the possibilities I didn't have as a girl from a poor family who couldn't get much of a higher education for so many reasons.

This was also our international online book club read in May 2021.

From the back cover: 

 

"Since his debut in 1951 as The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield has been synonymous with "cynical adolescent." Holden narrates the story of a couple of days in his sixteen-year-old life, just after he's been expelled from prep school, in a slang that sounds edgy even today and keeps this novel on banned book lists. It begins,
 

'If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them.'

 
His constant wry observations about what he encounters, from teachers to phonies (the two of course are not mutually exclusive) capture the essence of the eternal teenage experience of alienation."

Lippi, Rosina "Homestead"

Lippi, Rosina "Homestead" - 1998

What a wonderful book. The story of the women of a small village in the Austrian mountains. The story of several generations of women trying to live their lives. Especially after many of them are left alone with the men not returning from war.

I have read this book years ago but it is one of those stories that will never leave you.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"Each life has its place, and every variation ripples the surface of the tiny alpine village called Rosenau. Be it a mysteriously misaddressed love letter or a girl's careless delivery of two helpless relatives into Nazi hands, the town's balance is ever tested, and ever tender. Here is a novel spanning eighty years -- years that bring factories and wars, store-bought cheese and city-trained teachers -- weaving the fates of the wives, mothers, and daughters in this remote corner of Austria. To quote Rosellen Brown, 'the women in this haunting book are deeply and uniquely of their place, yet they speak (often wordlessly) of women's longings and satisfactions everywhere.'"

Lamb, Wally "I know this much is true"

Lamb, Wally "I know this much is true" - 1998

My second Wally Lamb, after "She's Come Undone".

This is a very moving book, wonderful and awful at the same time. It's incredible how much a person can bear if they have to. Dominick has to deal with so many issues and there is no-one who can help him here but himself. The author has a very talented way of describing people in any kind of despair. His accounts are very emphatic, you really can understand the characters. I loved this.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024 here and here.

From the back cover:

"Born in the waning moments of 1949 and the opening minutes of 1950, the twins Dominick and Thomas are physical mirror images who grow into separate yet connected entities. From childhood, Dominick fights for both separation and wholeness - and ultimately self-protection - in a house of fear and mystery. To save himself, Dominick must confront not only the pain of his past but the dark secrets he has locked deep within himself and the sins of his ancestors - a quest that will lead him beyond the confines of his blue-collar New England town to the volcanic foothills of Sicily's Mount Etna."

I have since also read "The Hour I First Believed" and his next books, find the reviews here.

Tolkien, J.R.R. "The Hobbit"

Tolkien, J.R.R. "The Hobbit" - 1937

I tried to read "The Hobbit" ages ago because so many people said I should read it. Not my thing. I'm not into fantasy which is weird because I loved fairy tales, still do. Might have been Tolkien and his Hobbits who messed it up but I doubt it. I think his writing isn't too bad but I'd rather read about real people with real life problems.

Needless to say, after this, I never even attempted "The Lord of the Rings".

By the way, my "men" are big fans of Middle Earth and all its inhabitants and stories.

From the back cover:

"Whisked away from his comfortable, unambitious life in his hobbit-hole in Bag End by Gandalf the wizard and a company of dwarves, Bilbo Baggins finds himself caught up in a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Although quite reluctant to take part in this quest, Bilbo surprises even himself by his resourcefulness and his skill as a burglar! Written for J.R.R. Tolkien's own children, The Hobbit met with instant success when published in 1937."

Collins, Wilkie "The Woman in White"

Collins, Wilkie "The Woman in White" - 1859

After having read "The Moonstone" (which I really liked), I just had to read this one. I wouldn't be able to tell which one I enjoyed more, they are both marvellous.

First, I enjoy Wilkie Collins telling the story in so many voices, having it told in an "I" version throughout and still giving us the best view of every scene. I like that about his stories. Definitely have to read another one.

Then, I also loved the story itself, the characters, they really came to life. I could just imagine the way they looked like. The description of both the characters as well as the countryside etc. was just great.

What a fabulous author!

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"'In one moment, every drop of blood in my body was brought to a stop... There, as if it had that moment sprung out of the earth, stood the figure of a solitary Woman, dressed from head to foot in white'
'The Woman in White' famously opens with Walter Hartright's eerie encounter on a moonlit London road. Engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie, Walter becomes embroiled in the sinister intrigues of Sir Percival Glyde and his 'charming' friend Count Fosco, who has a taste for white mice, vanilla bonbons, and poison. Pursuing questions of identity and insanity along the paths and corridors of English country houses and the madhouse, 'The Woman in White' is the first and most influential of the Victorian genre that combined Gothic horror with pyschological realism."

I have also read "Armadale" in the meantime and thoroughly enjoyed that one, as well.

Collins, Wilkie "The Moonstone"

Collins, Wilkie "The Moonstone" - 1868

"The Moonstone" is said to be the first detective language in English. I'm not a huge fan of detective novels, however, I love English classic epistolary novels, and this is an outstanding one. His "multi-narration" method, the way all the different characters tell their part of the story, just fascinating. This way he can tell you every aspect of the story without revealing it all. Great style, captivating way to keep your eye on the ball, uhm, the diamond.

I couldn't put this down.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"A fabulous yellow diamond becomes the dangerous inheritance of Rachel Verinder. Outside her Yorkshire country house watch the Hindu priests who have waited for many years to reclaim their ancient talisman, looted from the holy city of Somnauth. When the Moonstone disappears the case looks simple, but in mid-Victorian England no one is what they seem, and nothing can be taken for granted. Witnesses, suspects, and detectives take up the story in turn. The bemused butler, the love-stricken housemaid, the enigmatic detective Sergeant Cuff, the drug-addicted scientist, each speculate on the mystery as Collins weaves their narratives into a masterpiece of construction and suspense."

I also read “The Woman in White” and "Armadale", they are just as great.