I loved Hard Times

I appreciate your honest thoughts. May I ask whether you are a Christian? My wife and I are, and while I haven't read DG she has and found it a good cautionary tale "for him who has ears to hear". But I agree that can be a fine line. I also take your point about seeking to be (and appear) smart making people just the opposite. "Professing to be wise, they became fools." (Romans 1:22)

This is a great review. I like reviews that intelligently take our revered classics down a peg. I have never read Picture of Dorian Gray myself, but nothing about the premise sounds interesting to me. I mean, wouldn't a life of endless hedonism get boring after a while? HAHA thank your honest opinions.

I enjoy listening to a female perspective that loved it like I did.

Great book. You should also read Jerome K. Jerome's "Three Men on the Bummel." Another good one set in the same era is "My Uncle Silas," by H.E. Bates. Wonderful Edwardian stories of idle, country life.

It was mostly filmed in Toronto and coubourg Ontario and pei

It’s the only version that matters. It is eternal and perfect

Hi dear Hope you are well. To become a professional KZbinr you need to provide your country, email and details about yourself. Then you will be recognized as a professional. I am always ready to help you.

Hi dear Hope you are well. To become a professional KZbinr you need to provide country, email and details about yourself. Then you will be recognized as a professional. I am always ready to help you.

Lucy Maud Montgomery was born 150 years ago today.

I also have not read all of Dickens books yet, having started in chronological order. It is interesting to find _Martin Chuzzlewit_ and _Dombey & Son_ missing from the list in this video. The latter is important from a female perspective. I have a review of _David Copperfield_ that I posted recently and which I think is the better of the ones I have read so far or perhaps more enjoyable - especially the second half. But _Nicholas Nickleby_ is the best story, surely?

Good video, thanks.

It’s pronounced “Woodhouse”. The plots, the characters, the names, all sublime.

Nice. I read this back in the mid 80's and loved the worldbuilding. A lot of people don't seem to like Herbert's prose for some reason, but they're typically younger folk... Nice to see you're an exception.

George Lucas raided the heck out of it.

I read Dune and at first I didn’t like it. It was for me hard to get in, because of the way is written. But now, I can appreciate its uniqueness and importance. In fact the movies had made me love it, because you can see what happens in the head of the characters and makes it so much powerful.

I feel as if my existence brings constant disgrace to Frank Herbert. Paul is my pookie... I love Paul so much T^T || MAN BRO I AM SORRY BUT PAUL IS SO ( The message of 'Dune,' was to give a warning to "charismatic leaders" and the "repercussions/effects of religion." ( And more )) ( I get it; I understand. Yet, I can't bring myself to see Paul as the study that he is, the irony of that makes me feel horrid and somewhat guilty for my love for his character. I'm faced with what I'm supposed to feel and think while reading this well-written story, yet I feel so strongly for him, so positively.)

Just bought it myself... and have meant to read it for some time - decades, in fact. I'll get there.... soon. ;\

Definitely go for Dune Messiah. It is much shorter than Dune and gets very mixed reviews but some love it. Me, for one. Way darker and very different atmosphere.

Watership Down is my absolute favourite! Often forgotten by Richard Adams is The Plague Dogs Both were fairly animated decades ago I thing The Plague Dogs is on yotube It is the anti-feel-good story masterpiece

Based on what I Have seen from you here in You Tube, your a really serious book reader aren't you. So as a retired optician I'm very surprised that your not a fulltime glasses wearer by now as a result of excessive book reading. Maybe i should be asking when you last had your eye checked to see if you might in fact need to be wearing glasses? Now I'm betting that you probably think that if and when you need to start wearing glasses it will be reading glasses you will need. Am I right? Actually your far more likely in becoming nearsighted from doing so much close reading and not farsighted like you might think. So here's a symptom to watch for. Next time your out driving at night, how well are you really seeing the signs along the road? Do you feel like you need to get closer to them then you used to need to? Besides reading from books how much time do you spend looking at screens? And by screens I mean not juts your computer screen but also your smart phone and even your TV. If the answer is more than 40 hours a week you really should be getting yearly eye exams just for that reason alone. Would it upset you if you were told you need to start wearing glasses or would you be okay with it? I have a feeling you wouldn't be all that upset if you were to need glasses. Glasses are no longer just considered as a medical device to help you see better. Glasses are now considered as a really nice fashion accessory as well as being beneficial to your eyesight. And a little PS, I think you would look quite attractive wearing glasses.

Arrghh!! The Count of Monte Cristo But no fault, you should check out Alfred Besters' weird version of it. Arguably started cyberpunk and won awards back in the 50s or 60s. The Stars My Destination.

Glad you’re doing better!

I love Three Men in a Boat! ^_^ I've read it twice already (once as a kid and then again earlier this year). It's a genuinely funny book and is written beautifully. I love the characters.

Nice, that's some good explanations to Dickens' work. Like the author, I'm also British, and while you did go into a lot of his stories, however, you missed a few. One good example that you missed from Dickens' collection is called "A Christmas Carol". This is short a ghost story where about three or four ghosts have been given exactly three hours to try to convince an old wealthy miser called Ebeneezer Scrouge to change his ways and be generous to all the people he is taxing and shunning out of his life, especially his employee Bob Crachet whose son, Tiny Tim, will soon die of an unspecified illness without his help. While it's a very short novel, the Victorian audience that Dickens wrote this for loved it so much that they used his descriptions of celebrating Christmas to help them find a better way of celebrating together with their families; anyone who refused to celebrate Christmas in this way was immediately nicknamed a Scrouge, a tradition which is still going strong in my country to this day. I hope that you find this description helpful and are able to one day add this to your collection.

Five 5️⃣ star ⭐️ Great Gatsby totally agree with you on it prayers and blessings for you and your family love your Aussie family friend John xxx glad you are feeling better as well xx

Nice to see you back, and you seem very happy too...there's a few books in your line up I'm dieing to hear your opinions on...😊

So glad you are not dead! When I am sick I don't feel like reading either. The Great Gasby is a great novel.

😊

Hi thanks for your review, I really enjoyed it. Love Lonesome Dove. Read it about 11 years ago and felt lost when I finished it and missed them all for ages lol. Currently re-reading. Great stuff!

Interesting ranking! One of his novels I rarely hear anybody talk about are his "American Notes." You can probably guess that's what I'm currently hunkered down with. 😉 It wasn't at all popular when he published it, and it's easy to see why! But reading it 100+ years later, and having visited (or lived in) the majority of places where he and his wife stopped, makes the book far more appealing. I live very near Niagara Falls so read that portion of the book sitting by the Falls, and seeing them through his eyes 182 years after he viewed them was actually fascinating. He also put into words the majesty of the Falls far better than I ever could (no duh!) ... what I'm trying to say is the emotion I feel when I'm there, Dickens expressed beautifully and perfectly. For readers today, if you enjoy history and seeing what things "looked" like back then, 👀 how people looked and acted, and get a feel for the way things were done, this would be a good read for you. For starters, we all know that traveling was far more difficult for people back in the 19th Century. This gave me a far better glimpse into the uncomfortable, cramped, days-on-end modes of transportation those people endured and suffered (yes ... suffered!) through. I really like your bun, btw. 🙆‍♀

nice video

Fourteen comments in and nobody's said anything about your wonderful literary t-shirt? I really enjoyed your perceptive book review. "Dandelion Wine" is my favorite Bradbury book, also. It's even better than Fahrenheit 451, which is great in its own right. Extra points to you for contrasting this with "Winesburg, Ohio," which I read in college and didn't like much despite its obvious merit.

The first two sections of Ulysses are possibly the easiest so…good luck.

Italo Calvino is my favorite writer! If you end up liking If On A Winters Night A Traveller, you might also like Invisible Cities and The Castle Of Crossed Destinies.

100% Agree on crappy movie book covers and stuff like Oprah Book club stickers or whatever, absolutely hate it.

Another great book, as are most all of his works! The Bride of Lammermoor by Walter Scott also deals with this theme of Fate, in a gothic sort of way.

very true. Limited time for bad books, especially the older I get. For sure you are not a snob, very balanced approach.

Not sure about the Mandolin book, but several years ago when they made a movie of it with Nicholas Cage his fake accent and acting was so bad we left. Love Ulysses, read it several times.

nice

I'll have to check that out, I seen it making rounds some time ago, and she also has one called Piranesi but I have not read either of them. Have you read: The Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake or the more recent Cities of Weft trilogy by Alex Pheby The third volume I have preordered (to be released Jan 2025) and when it finally comes out I plan to read this trilogy. Mordew Malarkoi Waterblack Since you seemed to enjoy fantasy type of stuff I was curious.

Great review...I once read pudden head Wilson by Mark Twain and it was very good...presently I'm reading November by The Belgian Georges Simenon and Lost by James Patterson but The Belgian Georges Simenon is far way superior than James Patterson...I enjoyed watching Johnny Depp in the 1999 film The Ninth Gate.

Great Expectations is often cited as the novel to start Dickens because it is written with a first person narrative, it is relatively short and has some great characters like Miss Havisham, Pip, Magwitch, Estella and Joe. My favorite Dickens is David Copperfield, again first person narrative and great characters but it is a lengthy tome.

nice

nice review

nice review!

Just stumbled upon your channel, and was intrigued to hear your thoughts on this book - which I have read twice and am not sure whether I care for it or not. Thanks, from a fellow book tuber [though still a newb] and subbed.

"There's always a limit as to how much you should admire these authors." So true, and the same applies with film directors, eminent scientists, and gifted musicians & entertainers. I hate when they are turned into gurus and admirers become worshipers. I see this all the time.

Agreed, an excellent novel. The first movie they made based on it between the world wars was also masterful and moving. There is also a nonfiction WWI book that I read called The Price of Glory, about the battle of Verdun which reads like a novel and is quite powerful.

Conrad was very influenced by Henry James and was himself a huge influence on Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hemingway and many other writers.