Reading Update, the latter 1800s

 

Portrait of John Keats, Joseph Severn, 1821-1823

What’s my reading plan, as it stands? It’s evolving, but it will be somewhat chronological: 

Notes From the Underground, Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1864).

Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1866). In progress.

Demons, Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1872).

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain (1876). A Reread.

Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy (1884).

The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1880).

The Portrait of a Lady, Henry James (1881). In progress.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain (1884). A reread.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche (1885).

She, H. Rider Haggard (1886). Completed.

Tay John, Howard O’Hagan (1939 – set in Alberta from 1880 to 1911). Completed.

Selected Stories, Anton Chekhov, (Stories published between 1883 and 1898).

The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain (1957).

A Study in Scarlet, Arthur Conan Doyle (1887). A reread.

The Five, The Untold Stories of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper, Hallie Rubenhold (events leading up to 1888). In progress.

From Hell, Alan Moore & Eddie Campell (a graphic novel about the Ripper case, set in 1888).

Maiwa’s Revenge, H. Rider Haggard (1888).

The Nether World, George Gissing (1889).

By Gaslight, Steven Price (set in 1890).

The Call of the Wild, Jack London (1902, set in the 1890s). A reread.

The Picture of Dorian Grey, Oscar Wilde (1890). A reread. 3rd time's a charm.

White Fang, Jack London (1906, set in the 1890s). A reread.

The Final Problem, Arthur Conan Doyle (1893). Another reread.

Murdoch Mysteries novels, by Maureen Jennings; beginning with “Except the Dying” (there are eight titles, I believe – I have the first seven – all set in the 1890s).

Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery (1908, set in late 1890s).

The Island of Doctor Moreau, H.G. Wells (1898). Yet another reread.

The River War, Winston Churchill (1899).

20th Century:

Stalin, Passage to Revolution, Ronald Suny (spanning birth 1874 to 1917). In progress.

Doctor Zhivago, Boris Pasternak (1957 – events from 1902 to sometime during WW2). In progress.

Ten Days that Shook the World, John Reed (1919 – set in 1917). Completed. 

Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William Shirer. Completed.

Montreal Stories, Mavis Gallant (set during WW2). In progress.

Paris Stories, Mavis Gallant (set post WW2). Completed.

Behind the Bar, John Henry Henshall, 1882

It’s an eclectic mix, to be sure. But one ought to tackle what’s on one’s shelves. There are plenty of videos on YouTube where contributors are challenged to “read what you own.” As I should. This will take quite a while, I imagine. As I’ve noted: I own a lot of books. Most of these early books are quite long, too. That’s to be expected. Novels of the 1800s tended to be long, for the most part – there was no radio or tv to distract one from the reading experience, then, and books tended to be rather introspective. Some might find that dull, certainly slow-going; but it allows one to truly empathise with the characters; and more to the point, it allows one to immerse oneself in the minds, and heart and soul of those who lived in times of yore. At any time, really. It’s been said that reading fosters empathy: One can never truly know what goes on in another’s mind – reading gives us insight into another “person” as is not possible in the real world. It also allows one to time travel. Authors contemporary to their times can give insight into the times they lived in, as no modern “historical” writer could ever hope to they not having experienced the era firsthand.

Toronto, 1880s

Which is kind of the point in this little exercise I’ve embarked on, not only to dive into the backlog of books I own, to thin the ranks of titles cluttering up my shelves, but to gain deep insight into the span of my Lost Generation ancestors’ lives (my great-grandparents Robert Patterson Murray, born 1878, and Susan, in 1880; and my grandparents Joseph MecLea Gauthier, in 1897; and Jules and Blanche, and Hilda, all born in the first decade of the “new” century), beginning with those culturally significant influences that might have had impact on their lives.

Regardless how successful I may be in that regard, this archeological dig into my bookshelves gives me an opportunity to finally tackle the Russians, something I’ve hitherto neglected.

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons