tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483877654474162845.post5398412920581918477..comments2023-07-10T01:17:13.383+10:00Comments on Brona's Books: My Favourite & Best ClassicsBronahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11110584237325026052noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483877654474162845.post-77824406451866847562020-07-14T17:20:42.039+10:002020-07-14T17:20:42.039+10:00Hi Carol lovely to hear from you again.
I underst...Hi Carol lovely to hear from you again.<br /><br />I understand perfectly about commenting issues, let alone keeping up with the blogging world atm. There are a lot of distractions and despite all the extra time spent at home of late, the time seems to get frittered away doing...other stuff! I don't even know what. <br /><br />My writing is so uninspired too - struggling to find words and motivation. The reading is doing better though...and I have the latest Rowly waiting for a rainy weekend. And, yes, I think no. 9 is the best to date as well. The stories are getting darker and our beloved friends more complex <a href="http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com/2019/02/all-tears-in-china-by-sulari-gentill.html" rel="nofollow">Rowland Sinclair</a>Bronahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11110584237325026052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483877654474162845.post-16354317961164143062020-07-13T16:54:48.177+10:002020-07-13T16:54:48.177+10:00Hi Brona, I read this post a while ago but I can o...Hi Brona, I read this post a while ago but I can only post blogger comments if I’m on my iPad, which I don't always have on hand. Im so behind with my blogging friends. I even have trouble commenting on wordpress these days. My comments always end up in spam.<br />Loved the way you documented yout lists here. I think Persuasion is also my favourite Austen. I haven’t read H.H Richardson at all but would like to read Richard Mahony at some stage.<br />I do enjoy John Wyndham - I’m not a hard core sci fi-er. More recently I read his book ‘Chocky.’ Definitely dated but enjoyable.<br />Are you still going with the Rowland Sinclair books? I’m on to No. 9. A friend loaned me the last two in the series so I could catch up. I thought Dangerous Language was her best so far.<br />Hope you & your family are well.Carolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06820925595506920754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483877654474162845.post-2728040059108578502020-07-02T08:22:27.274+10:002020-07-02T08:22:27.274+10:00The Pea Pickers was all the clue I needed :-)
Mult...The Pea Pickers was all the clue I needed :-)<br />Multiple devices is certainly one of the many issues for people trying to leave comments on Blogger. There used to be an app, but it got left behind with an Ios update years ago. Maybe it's one of the things they're working on again? Who knows. Communication is not one of their strong points. But I shouldn't complain; it's better than being bombarded with bright and breezy newsletters and daily updates.Bronahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11110584237325026052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483877654474162845.post-53490916760105001102020-07-01T23:38:56.394+10:002020-07-01T23:38:56.394+10:00Thanks for working out who the commenter was. I ha...Thanks for working out who the commenter was. I have more than one gmail account and both my laptop and my phone can never keep up with who I am at any given time. (At the moment Blogger is saying reply as BillHTrucking, but I bet I'm anon again). BillAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08782815680430450560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483877654474162845.post-74207625527085833532020-07-01T20:47:10.240+10:002020-07-01T20:47:10.240+10:00I've been thinking about the more modern books...I've been thinking about the more modern books too Lisbeth. I can feel a modern day classics post coming on :-)Bronahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11110584237325026052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483877654474162845.post-23068601673666326662020-07-01T20:45:28.557+10:002020-07-01T20:45:28.557+10:00Thanks for the tip about which Stead to start with...Thanks for the tip about which Stead to start with Bill. I tried her frame story, The Salzburg Tales and found them rather tedious by the end. I wasn't sure if I'd try again, but now you've given me two choices. And I'm adding the Vicar to my wishlist too :-)Bronahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11110584237325026052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483877654474162845.post-23087789394002660472020-06-30T03:44:03.715+10:002020-06-30T03:44:03.715+10:00Great post. I agree, I think that we discover new ...Great post. I agree, I think that we discover new classics as we read along. I don't agree about Moby Dick though. Can't really recommend it to anyone, although glad I did read it.<br />I have three favourites which have been with me for quite some time; Gone With The Wind, Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice. I could add Brideshead Revisited, wonderful book. For Thomas Hardy I would go for The Mayor of Casterbridge, although I enjoyed Tess as well. Although, like someone else here commentented, you read it with a certain kind of irritation. To Kill a Mockingbird, also very good. I have still to read the Forsyth Saga. I remember loving the TV-series when I was young. <br />If I should add a newer book it has to be A Gentleman in Moscow. I am sure this will be a classic in the future. Lisbeth https://www.blogger.com/profile/00466904375353041610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483877654474162845.post-54104221304948318922020-06-29T22:30:25.721+10:002020-06-29T22:30:25.721+10:00I would have to think hard about my favourite fore...I would have to think hard about my favourite foreign classic, let's say for the moment War and Peace. I agree with all your others, though I'm yet to read Hurston and only recently read Toni Morrison's Beloved, which I found amazing. I've been reading in the century before Jane Austen, perhaps my favourite so far would be The Vicar of Wakefield. And John Wyndham! He was my introduction to SF more than 50 years ago but still very good. I have too many favourite Australian classics, topped as I'm sure you know by The Pea Pickers, but let me suggest for your readers Christina Stead. For Love Alone is very good, but Letty Fox is probably my favourite - one of our finest writers, at the height of her powers.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08782815680430450560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483877654474162845.post-43806311908807612412020-06-29T09:17:42.878+10:002020-06-29T09:17:42.878+10:00I love Tess in an angry kind of way. It's a bo...I love Tess in an angry kind of way. It's a book that infuriates me so much...but then I love it when a book has the power to affect me so strongly, every time, even when I know what's going to happen.<br /><br />And I hope you do check out Wyndham, his sci-fi is genuinely creepy, but also very quaint and English and of it's time.Bronahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11110584237325026052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483877654474162845.post-37022055726847619082020-06-29T09:15:06.111+10:002020-06-29T09:15:06.111+10:00So true, although my love and affection for Persua...So true, although my love and affection for Persuasion and Jane Austen does seem to be particularly enduring, despite all the other temptations :-)Bronahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11110584237325026052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483877654474162845.post-22094523363456186502020-06-29T09:13:30.371+10:002020-06-29T09:13:30.371+10:00Sadly, I haven't read anywhere near enough Aus...Sadly, I haven't read anywhere near enough Australian classics - but I can recommend the Martin Boyd Cardboard Crown tetralogy, anything by Henry Handel Richardson, My Brilliant Career. Ada Cambridge is also pretty interesting.Bronahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11110584237325026052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483877654474162845.post-35120065328901444072020-06-29T09:09:22.879+10:002020-06-29T09:09:22.879+10:00I used to reread my Austens every few years, but s...I used to reread my Austens every few years, but since working in an Indie bookshop, that habit has had to go. There are too many new releases I need to have more than a passing knowledge of, to enjoy a good reread. Just as well I read them all so many times during my twenties and thirties!Bronahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11110584237325026052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483877654474162845.post-17694961517537672020-06-29T08:41:52.660+10:002020-06-29T08:41:52.660+10:00awesome list! I really loved Tess. And now I have ...awesome list! I really loved Tess. And now I have to go and check John Wyndham!!Emma at Words And Peace / France Book Tourshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09426924864218623976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483877654474162845.post-72796288139951615742020-06-29T08:35:24.657+10:002020-06-29T08:35:24.657+10:00Fabulous idea! (Seriously, how can we choose just ...Fabulous idea! (Seriously, how can we choose just one favorite when our needs and moods change so?) <br />Ditto to Germinal, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Testament of Youth, and of course, Persuasion. Ruth @ with freedom and bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15531827758868215023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483877654474162845.post-33785499925658371312020-06-29T01:21:40.529+10:002020-06-29T01:21:40.529+10:00Yours is a good list! I will jot some down for my...Yours is a good list! I will jot some down for myself. What other Australian classics would you suggest? Zola & the Pasternak would be good rereads ... and a Wharton book perhaps. I'm not as up on the classics as I should be. thecuecardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08870323589682197091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483877654474162845.post-1758859639469763142020-06-28T20:28:18.696+10:002020-06-28T20:28:18.696+10:00Great post! I should really look at my favorite cl...Great post! I should really look at my favorite classics list again -- I've been blogging more than 10 years, I'm sure I need to update it. I love your list, Germinal is brilliant and The Forsyte Saga doesn't get enough credit. <br /><br />I'm currently listening to an audio of Persuasion, this one beautifully narrated by actress Greta Scacchi (who played Mrs. Elton in the 1996 Emma and Cassandra Austen in Miss Austen Regrets). I've read and listened to it many, many times and I always get something new out of it, it's tied with P&P for my favorite Jane Austen novel. It's my third Jane Austen this calendar year and I'll probably read them all again. Karen K.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com