Tag: Medellia

Hi Medellia -

I keep wanting to return to LT and its intimate community of book lovers, but literary podcasts have been consuming my interest lately! Anyhow, it seemed to me that you're a Proust fan and this Entitled Opinions episode on the vocation of literature and Marcel Proust made me think of you: http://www.stanford.edu/dept/fren-ital/o...

Enjoy,
Saro

PS. Did you ever get to read Anja, the liar? :)

saroshig által bejegyzett 7:22 pm (EST) -kor a Dec 16, 2009

the question in re "The Goldbug Variations" was a sequela to the New Yorker critique of Powers, noted in the lit snobs thread, that maintained (evidently) that Powers was intellectually sloppy.* From what i know about his various themes in the Goldbug Variations, the intellectual backgrounds intrinsic to the book were dead on. But my strongest suit is coding in computer and information sciences world; much less so in re genetics and Bach. From my cursory genetics background (as well as Adam's) there was nothing obviously wrong and it all worked within the context of the novel. And, similarly, with the music, where Adam's pretty strong and I have a lay enthusiast's knowledge.

*i confess to not having read the article, and, probably won't, i don't need to get more irritated with the world at large than i already am!

bobmcconnaughey által bejegyzett 8:09 pm (EST) -kor a Dec 14, 2009

Whoa. *rereads several times* I might have to actually buy this rather than relying on the piecemeal availability on BookMooch and PaperBackSwap, I see. Or maybe I will check if my library has them first, before I purchase anything. I appreciate the detailed analysis! It will help me tremendously.

Wait, wait. Not I. My imaginary friend, I mean. :)

wisewoman által bejegyzett 12:33 pm (EST) -kor a Dec 14, 2009

So if someone were to be quietly nosing around looking for some copies of an author named Proust, having no previous knowledge of him or his works, and was boggled by the many different titles associated with his Lost Time epic (with several titles purporting to be volume 4, and things like that), how would you advise her? Is Swann's Way the first she ought to look out for? What comes after that?

:)

wisewoman által bejegyzett 10:57 am (EST) -kor a Dec 12, 2009

thanks! a friend pointed out that Riley and I share the same hairstyle.
Here in P'boro, we seem to be healthy for the nonce - the last bug must have been esp. intrusive, as Patty, who very, very rarely catches anything, from me, had an uncomfortable week with whatever virus it was.
Out of curiosity- from a composer's POV, was Richard Power's treatment of the Goldberg Variations done "reasonably"? for lack of a better word. I happened to like the Goldbug Variations a great deal - i'm pretty sure it was the first of his books that I read.

Which reminds me that my mp3 player has started going wonky on me - i have one set of the GVariations that is scored for string ensemble - i often use it as my "going to sleep" music at a v. low volume. And last night the playback sounded like one had taken a turntable and was applying varying degrees of pressure to the platter, changing pitch and tempi very oddly. How a solid state player w/ no moving parts can do that is beyond my ken.

bobmcconnaughey által bejegyzett 10:18 pm (EST) -kor a Dec 11, 2009

I stopped keeping up with my reading threads pretty early on because they take so much time and my work has been a bit overwhelming this year. I cant' really take time to post much that is thoughtful during the day and at night all I want to do is go home and read. I do spend a lot of time lurking and finding more books to read :-).

I am really liking reading Middlemarch and Les Miserables at the same time.I am only to about 1823 (in Cosette) in Les Miserables, but love the contrast between English country and French country. One might compare the perceptions of a country on whose soil war was recently fought with those of a country that has participated in war, but not on its soil.

Also comparing the characterizations--Eliot seemed to more fully develop the people in her book. Hugo is clearly developing one or two, but, so far, it seems that most are "caricatures" intended to convey or advance an idea.

I should finish both of these in the next week or so, and then I will be off on tangents, I am sure. I cannot decide whether to read more Hugo or read different French authors. Same with Eliot. Then there is the need to read some history to put it more in context . . . .

Anyway, just some rambling while I am stealing a few minutes.

LisaCurcio által bejegyzett 5:25 pm (EST) -kor a Dec 8, 2009

A Wilkie Collins flavor? Mm! You have given me hope :). Though the tagline on the front cover is the littlest bit worrying:

The wild wind blew across the lonely moors, whispering of her mystery and the darkness in her soul.

Uh-oh.

wisewoman által bejegyzett 11:33 am (EST) -kor a Dec 5, 2009

Hi! I don't know anything about the Emma fragment. I was breezing through a library booksale somewhat illegally last night (I'll explain that in my thread) and thought this was just another copy of Austen's Emma, when something in my editor's brain gave me pause and I did a double-take. Bronte and Austen are not the same! Why are they sharing titles? I snatched it up and added it to my pile. Tell me, did I do a good thing? Is this really a legitimate fragment with a halfway-worthy completion? Or should it be cast out by all respectable Bronte-lovers forever?

wisewoman által bejegyzett 10:46 am (EST) -kor a Dec 5, 2009

Medellia;
Thank you very much. I so enjoy all of your comments on the book threads. And your library is fascinating. I hope I live a long time so that I can read all of these good books that I have never been exposed to before.
belva

nannybebette által bejegyzett 7:21 pm (EST) -kor a Dec 2, 2009

Thank you. I am certainly happy that folks think I am contributing something because I am definitely not learned nor do I have the literary nor uni background that most of you have. So I am thrilled to feel included in a group that is allowing me to explore new heights, learn new authors and works (to me) and at the same time express some of my thoughts without making me feel like an ass.
I will see you over "thar".
belva

nannybebette által bejegyzett 2:30 pm (EST) -kor a Dec 2, 2009

I did stop reading your review to go back to reading Middlemarch! What a well-written and perceptive review it is, however.

I am afraid that I could keep myself occupied just following in your reading footsteps (Middlemarch and Les Miserables right now!). You are certainly way ahead of me despite the fact that I have almost 30 years on you. Fortunately, quite of few of the books you have listed above are already on the TBR pile, so I will just have to move them up, depending on your recommendations. Please keep them coming. ;-)

Lisa

LisaCurcio által bejegyzett 1:24 pm (EST) -kor a Dec 2, 2009

I just wanted to pop over and congratulate you for your HOT REVIEW on "Middlemarch". It was wonderful. Very well done.
Again, congrats.
belva

nannybebette által bejegyzett 1:00 pm (EST) -kor a Dec 2, 2009

Your review of Middlemarch is one of the best things I have read on LT for a very long time.

I knew you would enjoy it. And agree with you that the Garth's marriage is one of the finest things in it. Eliot's descriptions of their domesticity are some of the best writing she ever produced.

So what Eliot are you going to tackle next? Daniel Deronda?

tomcatMurr által bejegyzett 5:08 am (EST) -kor a Dec 2, 2009

Hi Medillia,

I just wanted to pass along the link for the NYT' story on the Jane Austen exhibit at the Morgan Library in case you missed it. I missed it (the article) but just happened to see an add. Hope you are feeling better.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/arts/d...

Teresa

theaelizabet által bejegyzett 11:02 pm (EST) -kor a Nov 25, 2009

Guess what? While I was at my church class last night, my husband bid on the books and I got the third set. :) Isn't he nice? Thanks so much for letting me know about them and giving me the links.
--BJ

billiejean által bejegyzett 7:16 am (EST) -kor a Nov 16, 2009

Actually, just Pekoe among my friends.

PekoeTheCat által bejegyzett 4:05 pm (EST) -kor a Nov 15, 2009

Thank you for your reply, but it is Ms. Pekoe.

PekoeTheCat által bejegyzett 4:03 pm (EST) -kor a Nov 15, 2009

Hi Medellia. Don't worry my claws are in. Your story was so great. I'm glad your dog came back to you. I have nothing against dogs. After all Dogs are human too.

PekoeTheCat által bejegyzett 4:02 pm (EST) -kor a Nov 15, 2009

Hi Medellia, happy Friday to you! Sorry it's taken me forever to respond. I did finish the 1973 JE and you are right, the second half was better than the first. The 1983 version is still my favorite.

I think what sets the 1973 adaptation apart from the others is the voiceover work by Sorcha Cusack, narrating her character's thoughts in the midst of the action. I really liked hearing the scene in Bronte's own words, but sometimes it was a bit awkward while the characters stood looking at each other, waiting for Jane's echo-y narration to finish. I'm not sure it worked well every time they did it.

It was fun to notice that the actress who plays Mrs. Reed in the 1973 version also plays in the 1983, as Mrs. Fairfax. I think her name is Jean Harvey. She did a nice job in both roles, I thought.

wisewoman által bejegyzett 2:31 pm (EST) -kor a Nov 13, 2009

Thanks so much for the heads up! :) I have slowed down some on my Folios but not entirely as I now have 2 kids in college. But I definitely want to check this out! Maybe I will get lucky and they won't be too expensive. I did recently get The Green Fairy Book and Meditations. I don't know why I forgot to list them in my library. Now I am thinking of the Nesbit collection. I just love all of the kids books. Have a great day and thanks again so much!!
--BJ

billiejean által bejegyzett 6:45 pm (EST) -kor a Nov 11, 2009

No worries. I definitely understand. School can be crazy at times; I actually have no idea how you're able to read tomes like Middlemarch and Les Mis so quickly during the semester. I've been plodding through The Lord of the Rings for months now.

I'm quite well now, there's a cough hanging over, but otherwise it's a complete recovery. :)

ncgraham által bejegyzett 6:31 pm (EST) -kor a Nov 11, 2009

Indeed I am. I've got one more on the way too. Plus....other secret sources. Elegant Complexity is eye-opening for IJ analysis. Please don't tell anyone about it.

EnriqueFreeque által bejegyzett 4:59 pm (EST) -kor a Nov 6, 2009

I fear your Pink Floyd references have gone over like a Lead Zeppelin...

Makifat által bejegyzett 9:43 am (EST) -kor a Nov 5, 2009

Hi Medellia, happy Tuesday! I watched the 1944 Jane Eyre and posted some thoughts here if you're interested: http://www.librarything.com/topic/72075#.... And I am a little more than halfway through the 1973 miniseries (probably finishing that up tonight). The 1983 version still has my heart! :)

wisewoman által bejegyzett 2:54 pm (EST) -kor a Oct 27, 2009

Hi Medellia! Not sure why we haven't officially become "friends" yet! I have remedied that oversight.

I wanted to let you know that my husband and I watched the 1983 JE last Sunday. It was splendid, thanks for the recommendation! I posted more about it here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/72075#.... Tonight or tomorrow we'll probably watch the Welles/Fontaine version (bless my local library). I also found the 1973 miniseries there, so if I can carve out time for that anytime soon we'll watch it as well.

I keep hearing good things about the 2006 version... maybe I should watch it just to be able to criticize it scathingly :)

wisewoman által bejegyzett 11:53 am (EST) -kor a Oct 22, 2009

Thanks for the comment on the Folio version of Proust with Atget Medellia, although I should really be calling you a rotter - as I have just purchased the first 3 volumes via abebooks. How many versions of a book can one really justify having? Oh well, such is life.

Regards

Zeno

zenomax által bejegyzett 1:54 pm (EST) -kor a Oct 11, 2009

Lol, I love FP Crawford. She's one of my many alter-egos.

fannyprice által bejegyzett 10:09 am (EST) -kor a Oct 8, 2009

Medellia - Notice that you are working your merry way through In Search of Lost Time. Your covers are the Penguin Classics Deluxe edition. Do you like that edition/recommend it? Thanks! -- FP

fannyprice által bejegyzett 9:48 am (EST) -kor a Oct 8, 2009

Nice collection.
We share 50 books and I see that you are already well

Macumbeira által bejegyzett 3:55 pm (EST) -kor a Sep 8, 2009

Hi Medellia,

Just saying hi! Hope you have a lovely Labor Day Weekend!

EnriqueFreeque által bejegyzett 12:31 am (EST) -kor a Sep 5, 2009

Erewhon: it's Nowhere spelled backwards! Clever cat, that Butler! Utopias are (where are they?)....Nowhere!

EnriqueFreeque által bejegyzett 3:14 pm (EST) -kor a Sep 2, 2009

I am très envious of your nieghbourhood with its various bookstores and proper library system. If I lived there I would have a very difficult actually getting work done!

Barton által bejegyzett 9:36 am (EST) -kor a Sep 2, 2009

And I'll supply the vodka and Herring! can we have a Kazzoo orchestra?

Hurrah!

tomcatMurr által bejegyzett 11:29 pm (EST) -kor a Aug 30, 2009

oh really?
haha I hadn't noticed! I think when I get to 1000 I will have to throw an enormous party. Will you come?

tomcatMurr által bejegyzett 11:18 pm (EST) -kor a Aug 30, 2009

777? is this code? do I need to look up some strange verse in the bible? I am confused. help.

tomcatMurr által bejegyzett 10:12 pm (EST) -kor a Aug 30, 2009

Top 3 on Hot Reviews as of 10:54pm PCT, w/out the benefit of being pimped in the salon. You're independent now, Girl, you don't need no pimp!

EnriqueFreeque által bejegyzett 1:55 am (EST) -kor a Aug 28, 2009

Oh well done! Excellent review! Do I sense a bit a of a Forster revival on LT?

tomcatMurr által bejegyzett 11:12 pm (EST) -kor a Aug 27, 2009

Wonderful review of Howards End. I keep rereading Forster, always discovering something new. I am listening to A Room with a View on audio right now, and I think I am due for a reread of Aspects of a Novel.

I really like your list of heroes and heroines, too.

polutropos által bejegyzett 10:17 pm (EST) -kor a Aug 27, 2009

AAAWW!!

{{{squuuueeeeeeze}}}

LolaWalser által bejegyzett 4:58 pm (EST) -kor a Aug 27, 2009

Wonderful review of the Forster novel, Maurice.

solla által bejegyzett 2:43 pm (EST) -kor a Aug 22, 2009

oh jolly good, I love Forster. and I agree with what you said your review about Aspects of the Novel: it's brilliant. It lays down the fundamental concerns of most contemporary criticism and theory. Should be required reading for all literature majors.

I still have not read The Longest Journey coz I don't want there to no more Forster books that I have not read, but everything else I have read several times. His books deepen with every rereading. as I said to The Freek, they are deceptively simple and easy on the surface but have great hidden depths. you were very astute about the use of vocabulary in the scene where Maurice and Alec meet for the first time. This is just the kind of thing that Forster borrowed from Flaubert and turned to his own brilliant use. in many ways he has been overshadowed by the other Modernists: Woolfe, Conrad and Ford, but imv he is not less great than them. He just made less of a song and dance about about his great gift.

Get ready. I am going to nominate you to lead the Proust group read next year.

BTW as a composer, I'd welcome your views on Butterworth. check out the Poetry threads.

tomcatMurr által bejegyzett 11:06 am (EST) -kor a Aug 22, 2009

Thank you for your appreciative and sensitive reading of Forster!

tomcatMurr által bejegyzett 8:06 pm (EST) -kor a Aug 21, 2009

Hi Medellia - You caught me!!

I have been very bad - spending too much time on the Folio devotee site getting green with envy, and then buying. Sprang for quite a few of the sale sets, and bought a second hand copy of the Trollope Barsetshire set and a letterpress Shakespeare on ebay for a very good price. Now I just have to deal with the credit cards!!

Nice to hear from you..

(I am eyeing the liber bestiary with very green eyes too, and want to win the lottery so I can get Night Thoughts - but not for me now.)

Cheers,

Karen

kiwidoc által bejegyzett 11:32 pm (EST) -kor a Aug 12, 2009

Hey Medellia,

Guess who has the #1 Hot Review right now as of 9:50 PCT, Aug. 11, 2009: None other than . . . MEDELLIA!!!

WOOHOO!

EnriqueFreeque által bejegyzett 12:50 am (EST) -kor a Aug 12, 2009

Brilliant, brilliant girl, that Medellia!

Thanks! (more later)

EnriqueFreeque által bejegyzett 10:48 am (EST) -kor a Aug 10, 2009

Oh nooooo, don't tell me you've only one Proust volume left!?

EnriqueFreeque által bejegyzett 9:40 pm (EST) -kor a Aug 9, 2009

You just had to say naughty didn't you? O Gawwwwwd, I miss her so much.

EnriqueFreeque által bejegyzett 7:42 pm (EST) -kor a Aug 7, 2009

Medellia!

OMG, they red-flagged my beautiful Twilight review too! Why do they hate me so? Are they jealous, because I'm hotter than they? I knew I never should have ammended that Twilight review with "Text Interpretation," but I just thought it was important that everybody, and not just youngsters, understood what I was communicating.

People are mean!

thenaughtyhottie által bejegyzett 12:22 pm (EST) -kor a Jul 17, 2009

Hi Medellia! I'm so glad my review helped you enjoy MP — that's the kind of thing that reminds me why I love writing reviews so much. I appreciate you dropping by to mention it! Isn't Austen brilliant?

I need to reread Agnes Grey as a physical book, not a DailyLit subscription. I imagine it would flow much better that way.

I have to laugh at your husband's feeling of books closing in on him. Mine's the same way! I'll have to tell him it's a literary hug. I can already see the look on his face... :-P

wisewoman által bejegyzett 8:24 am (EST) -kor a Jun 19, 2009

Thanks Medellia! You're too kind. XXXOOO

Yes, I thought my old pic was too revealing. And the rude comments I was getting! I'm so sure. And isn't botox amazing for those wrinkles! Woohoo!

Time for shopping! Have a nice day!

thenaughtyhottie által bejegyzett 12:16 pm (EST) -kor a Jun 12, 2009

the small beer sale WAS a great deal. It's so much fun to receive a box of books, all likely to be interesting, and have spent so little money! I was a little surprised (and pleased) to see just how large an offering Small Beer provided. Makes me think of our local Algonquin press - except Small Beer's books are much more likely to be to my tastes.

bobmcconnaughey által bejegyzett 11:35 am (EST) -kor a Jun 11, 2009

Brilliant minds...I tell you! I had Galatea 2.2, The Hierophant of some other street, and some ARC tripe I forget the name of, listed as "currently reading," and I immediately thought, egaaaddd, someone has stolen my password!, but, like you, remembered that way back when I too had pressed that obsolete button. And yes, I'm very scared at the moment, what I'm reading, though I must say that Lost Illusions (love the title), while not as horrific as the other two, is nevertheless sublime. I think you'd like Balzac. I hated him in college, forced to read Pere Goriot (couldn't stand how slow and descriptive it was) having feasted on Stephen King for so long, but now, I tend to like slow and descriptive and introspective and psychologically nuanced a whole lot. You might dig him. (Another message soon to follow)....

EnriqueFreeque által bejegyzett 11:22 pm (EST) -kor a Jun 10, 2009

I wish there was an edit function to comments, since I see that I wrote here instead of hear. :) It is early here in Tulsa!
--BJ

billiejean által bejegyzett 7:02 am (EST) -kor a May 30, 2009

Hey, Medellia!
Sorry that I took so long to get back to you! Have been out of town in Austin, Texas visiting my daughter and her boyfriend. I had a wonderful time. Well, I got most of my FS books. Possession was beautiful! The artwork is collages, but I liked them much better than the ones in Daughter of Time. Remains of the Day was also beautiful. The Wealth of Nations is nice, too, but kind of divided up in a funny way, I think. I am sure it was divided that way so the three volumes would all be the same length. I did not get my Screwtape Letters book. This is the second time that I have tried to order this book and did not receive it! I think that it sold out but that they will reprint it. I just read another C. S. Lewis book which was fabulous, so I really want to read this one now. I was thinking of ordering The Chronicles of the Dark Ages and three more books, but I am going on a book buying budget (two kids in college next year), so I think that I need to get Paradiso and finish The Alexandria Quartet so that those two sets are complete. I hope that they are still on sale. I have not been going to the website as much as in the past to kind of curb the temptation. I am glad to here that you like the Gogol. I have been wanting that book as well. I love the Russian authors and try to buy all of them -- except the Limited Editions, which I just can't go there! :) I love my tote bag, too. I have been wanting one of those since rumors erupted last August of their existence. I am scared to even see the Summer Sale and I saw there was an email for me from FS which came while I was gone with new titles! Have a great day!
--BJ

billiejean által bejegyzett 7:00 am (EST) -kor a May 30, 2009

Gee, I couldn't just said, "thanks for noticing."

Hey, I'm mainlining Proust at the moment myself, just picked up Swann's Way because I'm in desperate need of something rich, complex, and most importantly, good after several sucky reading experiences, including, yes, that blasted Ulysses.

EnriqueFreeque által bejegyzett 11:11 pm (EST) -kor a May 27, 2009

You know, Medellia, you actually hadn't mentioned that, come to think of it - how remiss of you! - but thank you nonetheless for rectifying what I'm sure was just the equivalent of a clerical oversight, just now.

I'm still waiting for like at least 60 other people to prop that lovely pic too - don't people understand (besides you, of course, I know you do) the great lengths one must go to and endure (oh how I suffer; how I suffer so for cheap laughs!) in order to find that right pic/that right phrase/that right word/that right anything which will, if the stars align & one is lucky, amuse? Do people think that humor just happens (is that possible?) that it can occur instantaneously, like magic, like lightning, out of thin air - a white rabbit - w/a snap of the fingers, w/out even trying? Someday these ungrateful folks will rue the day they dared neglect not only my pics, but red flags on profile pages too...won't they?

EnriqueFreeque által bejegyzett 5:57 pm (EST) -kor a May 27, 2009

5 stars for The Guermantes Way? Are you serious? What, you think Proust is a great writer or something?

Just had to drop by and bug for no good reason

;-)

EnriqueFreeque által bejegyzett 5:18 pm (EST) -kor a May 26, 2009

Hi Medellia dahling. I've been out of the country for awhile, visiting relatives in Greenland. I'm presently deeply involved in a close reading of Tori Spelling's masterpiece, Storitelling, have you read it? I highly recommend it.

Oh dear, the poodles are in desperate need of shampooing, I must be off. Scrub scrub. Later. Lunch. XXOO.

Best wishes,
Elaine

thenaughtyhottie által bejegyzett 1:02 am (EST) -kor a May 21, 2009

I haven't gotten any of my books from Folio yet. But I think that Tulsa, OK must be the end of the earth from Great Britain. I always wait forever. I have been wanting to also order Chronicles of the Dark Ages, but I can't recall all of the books that I ordered. I think I ordered The Screwtape Letters and I know that I ordered Possession, but I can't recall the third one. Oh, now I remember Remains of the Day. So I could safely order again if willing to spend the money. Plus, I ordered Justine way back last August and now want to complete the set, but I keep holding off thinking I shouldn't order anything. So I am in a quandary. But I feel myself weakening. I just read an old comic strip compilation from my college days that was written by a fellow student on our school paper and then later in the local paper. It was autographed. Memories, you know? But the whole thing was totally coming apart. (OK, I know that I am aging myself here!) I will have to keep it together with a rubber band, now. And do you know what I was thinking? This wouldn't have happened to a Folio Society book. So I guess they really are a value especially when shopping the sales. I will let you know when the books come. I'm glad that you got at least a partial shipment, and I am sorry that I always talk so much about those FS books! Have a great day!
--BJ

billiejean által bejegyzett 12:12 am (EST) -kor a May 12, 2009

I didn't see that you had recently added the Darc Cat! Well done, Medellia, well done!

EnriqueFreeque által bejegyzett 12:14 am (EST) -kor a May 2, 2009

I know you're crazy busy, but wanted to pass on the information that Small Beer Press is having a $1 warehouse sale http://www.lcrw.net/special.htm I would take advantage of the same but, it seems, we all ready own them all but one (the Stewart, but we have that in an older mass market).

Also, I heard a piece on the compositions/music of 17th century cloistered nuns yesterday on NPR's Here and Now program. Thought that might interest you being another female composer and all. http://www.hereandnow.org/

Work hard but not too hard! Missing you around LT...

Best, Lois

avaland által bejegyzett 7:21 am (EST) -kor a Apr 29, 2009

Hey, did you get your books from the Folio sale already? I saw that you had them listed in your added books. I ordered but always have to wait forever. I was wondering what you thought of the music books. That was a terrific deal. Have a wonderful day!
--BJ

billiejean által bejegyzett 8:05 pm (EST) -kor a Apr 27, 2009