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“It was salutory to remember, I told myself, that writers and other creative artists do not relish other people’s ideas. They usually have more than enough of their own, and well-meant suggestions only add to the burden of their already over-stocked minds.” Miss Read, Farewell to Fairacre (1993)
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Category Archives: Classic
A well-governed shark
It’s time for another progress report on my reading-the-sea project. For this post, I had planned to include notes on Melville’s Billy Budd, but I’ve been busy having fun instead — fun reading other books, that is, so BB will … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Classic, History, Seafaring
Tagged Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, Nathaniel Philbrick, Robert Kraske
24 Comments
The voyage so far
As promised, here’s the first of what may be several updates on my tour of books set on water in honor of Herman Melville’s 200th birthday. Initially I had planned to make these reviews brief, but, well, you know … … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Classic, Fan fiction, History, Seafaring, Travel
Tagged Holling Clancy Holling, Sena Jeter Naslund
19 Comments
Sea Fever
Matching my current reading focus is John Masefield’s “Sea Fever” (quoted here, in full, from The Poetry Foundation’s website): I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Classic, Fiction, Seafaring
10 Comments
Sea cruise, baby!
No need to get excited. I plan to travel virtually, in honor of Herman Melville’s 200th birthday. Over the next few months I’ll be aboard stories set on ships (with perhaps a rowboat or two) that will take me up … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Classic, Fiction, History, Seafaring
Tagged Herman Melville
8 Comments
“The chosen of All-Muggleton”
Packing for a lengthy trip that includes a great deal of moving on and off trains, buses, boats and trams (not to mention walking) presents a particular challenge for a reader who hopes to travel light: How many books should … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Classic, Fiction, Humorous, Travel, Travel book
Tagged Charles Dickens
8 Comments
When you run out of Jane Austen and the Brontës, try Mrs. Gaskell
Three more books to discuss for the 2015 Reading Challenge. I have to start with three quotes: [Mrs. Forrester explained] … in her day the only use people made of four-syllabled words was to teach how they should be spelt. … Continue reading
Posted in 2015 Reading Challenge, Classic, Historical fiction, Romance
Tagged Elizabeth Gaskell
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