Thanks so much for the mention. Happy reading with the Brookner, love her books!!

Will, it was great to read and discuss this book with you. I wouldn’t describe part 3 a hot mess, but I think we saw it differently. I look forward to reading something else with you in the future! 💛🧙

Funny that nowadays everybody is too busy to answer a phone call. But I’m old enough to remember when it was ubiquitous, the landlined phone. This is really a flashback to a bygone era. (Who is “alone and quiet and doing nothing” anymore? 😂)

Most people--but not all--would say to read past the line breaks when reading aloud, ignoring them. However, you could say that as the orator, you need to bring your own artistic choices to the reading of the poem. So you are participating in the poem after a fashion. When I'm visually reading a poem, I'll usually read past them and only go back, as you did here, to consider what, if any, nuance they add to the meaning of the poem. Sometimes it's not individual line breaks that are important but the overall shape of the poem they create that has some meaning. That said, I think dwelling too much on line breaks of free verse poetry can be an exercise in frustration.

I like the humor in this--at least I found it humorous. I like how you noted the significance of it being the dentist. This is the first Bukowski poem I've ever heard or read that I've even half way liked.

I love that you include a Dr. Seuss among your desert island books. Sounds like a wild dinner party you put together.

Being a long time observer of all sorts of animals, I want to argue with the stated premise of this poem. I'm pretty liberal (or so I think) in accepting various expressions as poetry but this is one where I'm inclined to be skeptical. It's a shame to even include it in an anthology when D.H. Lawrence can write so beautifully. It seems unrepresentative of him--at least from what I've read of his poetry, which is admittedly limited.

Did you make it up to the history of the abbey in Les Mis? God that was boring.

Thank you for reading this book so I don't have to. You and Pat have reinforced my suspicion that there's no reason for me to read it. I think academics like something that they can endlessly fiddle with and thus keep such books alive when non-academic but intelligent people would have let them pass into obscurity.

I really enjoyed your responses, Will. I knew your never-again author was V.E. Schwab!

Yay!! Another _Les Mis_ DNF!!! But you’re going to try again; I may not

this video made me realise i've been pronouncing hope mirrlees' name incorrectly each time i've mentioned it on our channel 🤦🏻‍♀ lovely video - loks like an interesting selection of books. hope you enjoyed your buddy read

Perfect book, perfect movie

I read it ‘cold’ when I read it many years ago. I don’t know that ‘guides’ existed then - maybe few but it had already reached its iconic status. (I recently tried _Finnegan’s Wake_ but failed.) I imagine that cribs and interpretations can help, but that begs the question, is it worth it? You can read _The Commedia_ without a jot of extra material and still get something out of every line. Pat had a good experience rereading the book, but I don’t think that I will. What did you call the voice, that of a contemptuous or condescending magician? Haha, I’ll retain that.

Will, I just sent you a Voxer message…thought you’d appreciate my grad school professor’s thoughts, especially on Ulysses and Mrs Dalloway. 😉

Bravo, Will!

Really thoughtful assessment of the reading experience, Will. I can really appreciate your reading this cold without all of the supplements. I wouldn’t have made it through this time without the group and the supplements.

Only Our Mutual Friend and Barnaby Rudge left to go. But I'm 49. I've read The Inheritors and The Double Tongue as well. Both great. And Mario Reading, most likely you've never heard of him, had only 8 books of fiction. 1.5 yet to be read.

Thank you for tagging me!

I have read all of Orwell, not including essays and letters. Homage to Catalonia and Down and Out are my favourites. I've read all of Austens novels and incomplete novels, but not all of her letters and juvenilia. I can't think of anyone else I've done it for who has written a lot of books. Robin Hobb, Patrick O'Brien, Agatha Christie, and Terry Pratchett I've read tons but have loads to go. I've only read The Rachel Papers by Amis, and Lucky Jim by his dad.

Terrific video, Will. I really like this topic. I may try to do one of these assessments in the future. I’d like to get there with Dickens, but I’m not even close…I’ll have to think about this. Nicely done!

It was great to hear you speaking French. I wish there were more emphasis in the U.S. education system on learning multiple languages.

Aww, thanks for the mention. I enjoyed your responses. They provided interesting perspectives on the questions. I've run into some Life lately and don't have my regular computer so I'm not sure I'll be able to do the tag but I'll see if I can finagle it with my tablet.

Nice job on the tag Will. Glad to have found your channel. I just this week got a tripod and its a big improvement

Thanks for the tag, Will. Hope you won't mind a little wait ... I seem to be building a backlog but I do like these questions so I will get there

I don't think I've lied about the bible but I did used to go to our local CoE church to get free cake, and I am not a member. I haven't seen any booktube drama in ages, maybe I'm oblivious to it. This is a fun one, thanks for the tag!

Hi there ! Thanks so much for doing our original tag! Great to learn more about you. Booktube has its very own strong man competitor. His name is Tom Orange. Check him out.

The tripod is totally worth it! Great minds think alike! 💛

Hi Will. Terrific approach to this tag. I really enjoyed hearing your responses! Thanks for doing the tag.

It's a good tag. I am impossibly behind with them but thanks for tagging me.

Tres bien! Merci d’avoir fait l’effort de la faire en Français!

Good answers. Well done.

What are your top 5 books from Angry Young Men?

Nice work. Probably the best book tuber imo.

Woah you are so much better at responding to tags than I am! Thanks for doing it. Great responses. I do like a good book tote bag. The key rings are lovely and definitely fun. Phill and I went to the finals of the British Strongest Man competition last year. Love strong man competitions 😂. I really agree with you on making your own mind up about things. I would also like to read Mein Kampf. Thanks for doing the tag 😊

Thanks for sharing your books through this shelf tour! I have just found you through the Ulysses group read with Greg, Allen, Debs, Pat and Roy. I’ve been enjoying all your commentary and discussion. I loved seeing all the older paperbacks. Great collection of Holmes books!

Thanks for the tag!

Would you believe Im just getting round to this? Good one, Will (I wonder if Ill ever read _Middlemarch,_ again, been decades.) Thanks for mentioning and tagging me. Appreciated ☘

Such an interesting tag! I love your answers. Grief is a Thing with Feathers was my first thought. I may be a bit late on this one, but I will get to it!

I love Bill Bryson's book, A Walk In The Woods. I laughed so hard my sides hurt.

What a fun tag. Thanks for pulling me into the game.

Thanks for the tag Will. I shall tackle this one later today. Grief Is The Thing With Feathers is so good 😊. Great answers from you 😊

Thank you. I found your comments very interesting especially where you speak of there being no Christ in that battlefield, war, …. That is the horror of it. Man against man, brother against brother, knowing Christ would not go for that.