Glad to see I'm not the only "seasoned" reader... The Magic Mountain - Th. Mann Master and Margarita - Bulgakov Selected Letters 1940 - 1956 - J. Kerouac Collaborating With Kerouac - David Amram This isn't my Autumn list, but Mann & Bulgakov are on the list. Kerouac is sometimes on an Autumn thing, for me. Certain other Russians, namely Tolstoy, whom I am wanting to try soon, War & Peace ✌️...also Les Miserables.

Does anyone know if I should avoid subscribing to the top tier on Patreon? It says that the tier is currently sold out, but it looks like it would allow me to pay for it - wondering if that note about the tier being sold out is invalid?

Ithaca next please - we're off to Kafalonia at Easter for our holyers!

It took Hugo 17 years to write it. It will likely take me that long to read it.

I like how his background looks scary and dark

You should read Ashtavakra Gita it's much better then bhagvat geeta as in Ashtavakra Gita things are much more clear and you don't need to know about the characters in Mahabharata to understand the core teaching of Indian philosophy

Just finished the ebook. And I'm glad I went with the ebook format, as I kept searching the meaning of the words that I didn't understand. Also, the text explaining the geography was too hard to understand sometimes, so I referred to Chat GPT, also for the translation of the Spanish dialogues. Maybe I'm not smart enough to fully appreciate this book, but I did finish it and found the whole experience to be incredible. From now on, I'll try and watch Benjamin's 'How to Read' videos first, before I start a book like Blood Meridian again.

❤

I’ve got two books from this list now that may definitely go on my ‘2025 to read’ pile and for different reasons. 100 Years of Solitude - one of my friend’s from junior high and high school (sorry for non- US folks, it’s grades 7 and 8 in the states) has dubbed the character Jose Arcadio Buendia into English for the Netflix show, he’s a first generation American and bilingual. It was also apparently his late dad’s favorite book. The Odyssey - I’m a massive Chris Nolan fan, and now that he’s revealed his next project is an adaptation of The Odyssey, I want to read it before I see the movie in the summer of 2026.

This is why I recommended the 80s era TV miniseries of Easter of Eden, in which Jane Seymour plays Cathy Trask. The Hamiltons are definitely included in that one. It also includes the unpleasant events that led up to Cathy showing up on the Trask boys' doorstep.

I had heard that the Hamilton family was based on Steinbeck's own family, too. Unfortunately, the Hamiltons were basically written out of the 1955 movie, but they are in the TV miniseries from the 80s.

Now that Ive heard him talk about Satan, I dont feel so bad having Cathy Trask from East of Eden on my list.

I'll be joining the bookclub in January, can't wait 🙂

Bravo, Ben ! What a discussion of the highest order.. I have read the brothers three times now, it always occurs thus: standing in front of my bookshelves, I look up and my eye stops on the brothers.... into my line of sight, my hand travels and grasps the book. Then without any thought, I decide "I am going to read this" and now., I can say I have gone through this thrice. It is a magnificent book that is great to red again and again, alike Don Q, War and Peace, Les Miserables, and I think, a few others of course! Your talk on the brothers was fabulous, thank you so much, AL

This speaker is a wonderfully clever man,a high brow individual,a distinguished gentleman, I need a mentor like this

Thanks Benjamin for this run down for 2025. I'm not a member but I always enjoy your recommendations and one or two find their way on my tbr list. A reread of Emma is now one of them. Thank you very much for the group, it's one of my favorite escapes to sanity :)

Great channel I'm so grateful for all your video's - they are easy to follow, understand and contains lots of gems

came here just to tell the latest news of the upcoming Homer's Odyssey film adaptation by Sir Christopher Nolan. After hearing the news, I hope Benjamin can guide more people into reading Homer through this video as they're anticipating the film already!

Not the length so much as the beginning is hard. All the concerns of the aristocracy are so shallow, but I guess that’s part of what he is saying. I really didn’t care about so much of it. But later as the war impinged on everyone, I felt the chaos and reactions were more “real” in terms of mattering to people of all ages. Problem with the names, they have five or so names and they keep using different ones.

Not the length so much as the beginning is hard. All the concerns of the aristocracy are so shallow, but I guess that’s part of what he is saying. I really didn’t care about so much of it. But later as the war impinged on everyone, I felt the chaos and reactions were more “real” in terms of mattering to people of all ages. I appreciated the reflections on history, not the little lives of the aristocracy.

I haven't finished Moby Dick. I couldn't stand it when he kept calling a marine mammal a fish.

Babbitt is all right, but I would have put Lewis's dystopian novel It Can't Happen Here in place of it. Lots of Americans rediscovered it in 2015-16. I also liked Main Street better than Babbitt. I think that The Woman in White may be better than The Moonstone, and is probably about as popular, based on the number of each you find in used bookstores. I like An American Tragedy better than Sister Carrie. An American Tragedy is based on a true case.

I'll check out the documentary with my PBS Passport subscription. As a veteran who has known many other veterans who have had combat experience, I suspect that Hemingway also suffered from what we now call PTSD. I went on a Hemingway kick in my teens and read several of his novels and a number of his shorts stories. I remember liking some of his short stories better than his novels at the time. If memory serves, I especially liked 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro' and 'A Clean, Well-Lighted Place'. I'm sure my tastes will have changed quite a bit since then.

All the King's Men was based on real life Louisiana politician Huey Long. In recent years Americans have revisited the Long story to get insights into our current and recent events.

I loved The Adventures of Augie March. Unfortunately, I was never able to get into another Saul Bellow. I don't know why.

Pnin: A Remembrance by Nabokov is good. I loved Lolita, too, of course.

Finally read Underworld a couple of years ago, after hearing people rave about it. Not impressed. Only DeLillo I like so far is Americana, an early one.

I don't know. Somebody on a literary site(either Goodreads or bookcrossing, I forget which)got upset when I "spoiled" Anna Karenina. So be careful.

I for sure “furrowed my brow and abandoned the book” 😂. I had a visceral reaction to Faulkner. To be honest, my reactionary impulse was hatred. I hated him, but deep down I know it’s something I should return to and try to love

Parental example cant be emphasized too much. My father had an 8th grade education, not unusual for men in that time and place, but read the Daily Missoulian and other periodicals. My mother had more formal education, and read more things, including books. They also both read to me. My 5th and 6th grade teacher was a big children's literature buff, and read to us from a YA book--Laura Ingalls Wilder, etc every day after lunch. It was a one room country schoolhouse. The library in it wasn't much, so she sent for a box of loaned books from the state library in Helena every year.

HELP! The italicized prologue to The Passenger mentions a man finding a chain, a ring, and a key. In Stella Maris, Bobby is given a chain and a ring. What happened to the key? ANYBODY? HELLO? ANYBODY OUT THERE?

Lonesome Dove gave me a book hangover, even though I loved it. Those Miles City scenes. Even though I recommend it, I don't know if I'll ever read it again.

Milledgeville GA is where I would like to go on a literary pilgrimage. Or Salinas CA.

I read Don Quixote earlier this year with the Grossman translation, and am already contemplating rereading it, though with the Rutherford translation. I have never reread a book, but this one cannot leave my mind, and I must return.

No. And King said it is all YOUR fault in his book/film Misery.

I'm postponing Seven Pillars of Wisdom by TE Laurence, but since I'll be 69 in Feb., I shouldn't postpone any of these books too long.

err how come Adam and eve had bellie buttons err Shurley shum mishtake,,,,, seriously Ben yes it resonates you should be a uni lecturer thanks again well done

I think that there was a renewed interest in the Great Gatsby for Americans, because of the messages it has about some of our current events and crises.

I know that Moby Dick is good, but I couldn't handle them calling the whale a fish all the time.

I read The Brothers Karamazov because somebody who had worked in the security field said it helps you understand Russian Orthodox mysticism and its influence on Russian history and culture. I'm sorry to say it didn't help me.I wish I had read after I found out about this KZbin channel.

It turned out that Steinbeck faked large portions of his memoir Travels With Charley. That's one of the reasons he's controversial now, probably. But I also loved East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath.

It's a good idea to read Dubliners and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man before attempting Ulysses, IMO. Dubliners has some of the best short stories in English, IMO.

My War and Peace translation is Ann Dunnigan.

For pens and pencils, I prefer whatever they're giving out at Sound Transit opening celebrations.

Would love to see you guys cover Legend of the Obverse. It’s a fresh novel series that is very intricate with lots of world building. I talked to the author briefly and legit the guy is unique. Very cool author.

Thank you for your wonderful commentary! Lots of book KZbinrs don’t really elaborate much on their ranking choices, but your connections to the books are very tangible. New sub😋

Hi Benjamin. Your explanations are simply fantastic! Thank you for the elaborate videos. I have a question: do you offer extra reading material on your Patreon to go with your lectures there?

I'd say persevere anytime you meet Levin, I put the book down when he started talking nonsense about the poor workers. I don't understand how people like Levin so much, he's not that great, neither his rants.

I have registered for the hardcore literature book on Patreon. Club. Really looking forward to 2025 now.