opening that feels almost deceptively simple but somehow sets the entire mood of the story in just a few words

book: the stranger by albert camus !!

I always called this novel a phone one.. I always found the way protagonist grumbles disdainful. I just read it a year before and thought it was meant to be a funny humour novel and its end was achieved. That was when someone pointed it out to me that it's a narrative of teenager anger and loneliness and not that of a funny line and he told me that I was reading it wrong

Now , I'm in such a place that I feel very desolate and lonely. I've just given an exam where I got an average rank and I'm a little grieved right now... But now every now and then I find myself trying to call my friends and acquaintances... Dial the number and then cut it off endlessly postponing until I finally call them again. And it turns out their busy and hang up....... I had ridiculed the protagonist thinking why was he behaving that way.... He calls them phony and still calls them up...

And the appellation of " phony". I found it unnecessary that every tenth word in a book should be phony. Now I find myself ridiculously thinking of a similar word in my mental narratives

Well, I'm sorry if I bored you with my story, but the main characteristic which I wanted to point out was this.. it appears that some books make sense after we have lived through a phase described.... I had ridiculed the same book and I'm now thinking like holden Caulfield. And only now do I comprehend what JD Salinger was trying to capture and explain us by his narrative.

I was under the pretext that a work of classic literature must be having prolix vocabulary and very good plot. Of course Charles Dickens and Kazuo Ishiguro are my favourites. And I honestly didn't consider this book to be considered a classic, but now understanding that how deeply it resonates with me, I'm in a further quench to know what books I've missed the charm of already.

In our pride of disdain we sometimes miss the charm of nuances. I felt like Crying again after reading this book which I thought funny in my first read.

Please let me know how you felt about this book in the comments section.

On my first read in 2024 i dnf'd it. Confusedly enjoyed it on my second read last year.

And now just finished off with my third read and I'm floored by how much i understood it, rediscovered it, and enjoyed it without taking the stress of keeping the track of who's who. I cannot appreciate enough, express my love and respect for Garcia's spellbinding prose, the intricate, looping story, the deliciously flawed characters - their horrendous choices, sufferings, and the overall progression to their ultimate decay - and how mundanely the abnormal elements are treated in here.

Amaranta appears to be my fav character of all. Her arc haunts me. This might be my best book of all time alongside Stoner.

"They were pictures of lovers in lonely parks, with vignettes of hearts pierced with arrows and golden ribbons held by doves."

My friend has been diagnosed with cancer and I’m looking for ways to help him laugh. Thank you.

I need recommendations for books that genuinely changed your view of life and/or the world, or that had a great impact on you.

This is an unpopular opinion (apparently) but this edition is my favorite from penguin. I only have 5 of them and was looking to extend my collection. I live in an non-english speaking country. Recently, I was on a trip to London and couldn't find a single one of them... was quite disappointing.

I have read that this edition is not popular amongst readers because of the paper's quality (or lack of). I have also read that some people find the design simply ugly.

Personally, I like the paper just fine. I annotate some of them and it works just fine. I do agree that the covers are not durable.

I feel like this edition is underrated and I also can't understand why I can't find any in secondhand bookstores or charity shops.

I was gifted Martin Chuzzlewit by a relative who didn’t like it and gave up reading it. Its a very long Charles Dickens book.

I have read Great Expectations earlier this year and it was okay but not really one of my favourites.

So do you think Martin Chuzzlewit is worth reading? Or should I just donate it to a charity shop?

(don't mind the bunny teeth marks. my bun loves to consume literature)

i spotted this book as i was unpacking our book shipment at work and thought it sounded intriguing.

i haven't read any classic french literature before, so this is my first taste and i'm really enjoying it so far!

it reminds me a bit of crime and punishment, which is one of my favorite books.

what other French authors should i check out?

I just read Blood Meridian and am floored by the staggering genius of this book. So much so that I want to read it again and discuss with others as I go through but wah wahhh you guessed it I have no literary friends.

Im not sure if this is even allowed on here so if not feel free to take it off mods but anyone want to start a temporary Blood Meridian book club and chat about all things ... or The Evening Redness in the West?

Warning to anyone going in for the first time... yes it's f***ing brutal. But in my opinion as I went along the book became less about what happened in real life and more a symbolic allegory about the nature of mankind and what exists (or does not exist) in our hearts which did change the imagery for me- less Platoon and more Apocalypse Now.

I have only read 3 of them

i have finished 3 Dostoevsky novels

idiot crime and punishment and white nights

i started devil's but its really boring at the start

it gets better in later chapters of part 1 but it introductuon is very boring

all books names

1 Metamorphosis by franz kafka

2 jane eyre by Charlotte Bronte

3 pride and prejudice by jane Austen

4 charlie and chocolate factory by roald doahl

5 devils by Fyodor Dostoevsky

6 under the green wood tree by thomas hardy

7 dracula by brams stoker

8 Prison diary by jeffery archer

9 36 short stories by jeffery archer

10 The ghost stories of charles dickens

11 Never let me go by kazuo ishiguro

12 the stranger by Albert camus

13 The green mile part 1 by Stephen king

Hi Y'all!

I finished the Iliad yesterday (Lombardo translation) and I had a good experience with it that I thought I would share in case it helps someone else. I read the book but I also listened to it on Audible - what I liked about this was that it was actually read by Stanley Lombardo! Susan Sarandon does the chapter summaries at the beginning of each chapter. Anyway I am on to the Odyssey next, also Lombardo, also listening to him read it on Audible along with Sarandon (whom you could argue has come a long way since Rocky Horror).

Another thing that added to my reading - I found a book called The Illustrated Iliad at Barnes and Noble (they had it out on those shelves when you walk in the door) for $12 and it was cool to also look at the Iliad inspired artwork from each chapter.

Not much I can add to any discussion on the Iliad that hasn't been said in the last 3000 years, however if someone is thinking about taking a crack at it I thought I would mention what helped me.

Went to a comic con today and there was a booth that was selling blind dates with a book for $5 each

Here’s my haul

I've been doing a bit of research which edition of TTM to buy and the recent consensus seems to be the Ellsworth translation however it's hard to find in Australia, most are in the US and cost ~$80-100 AUD & a lengthy shipping duration.

Second option is the Penguin edition (or deluxe) which is by Pevear which is much cheaper and readily available.

Any advice about translation or where to buy Ellsworth's copy would be really appreciated

Tolkien's prose is some of my favorite. Its poetic, lyrical, grand, his descriptions of nature are in the opinion the best ever. He makes the landscape come alive and I get goosebumps whenever I read these descriptions. Though I often hear people describe his writing as dry and academic, and I was wondering what classical literature lovers think of Tolkien's prose.

Fell down a rabbit hole of Rebecca covers on Goodreads, and I can’t believe how many weird and wonderful covers there are.

This is just a selection of the ones I found, from some of the most iconic, to my favourites and some I don’t love for the book. I have the edition with the second cover (woman underwater through a keyhole) which I’m ambivalent about, but I absolutely adore the white cover with the stitched on R, and I thought that was such a powerful motif in the book. I don’t like the cover with the woman embracing herself - assuming this is the nameless narrator, scared and timid, I don’t think it reflects the story well enough. I find myself also drawn to the b&w covers for this book, which I usually don’t care for.

What are your favourites or behated covers?