Book haul // Ancient classics, Victober picks, and biographies

[@GordonTyrrall]

Once you get started on Boswell's Life of Dr Johnson you will be glad you have the complete version. It is superb - and the pages will fly by! Regarded by those who know everything as the greatest biography ever written. Boswell was a better writer than Johnson. They both wrote accounts of their tour of the Hebrides - Boswell's is lively and entertaining whereas Johnson's is dreary. Of your Hardy books - two are delightful and powerful( The Woodlanders and Return Of The Native respectively), the others not his best, and the Mayor Of Casterbridge is good, but a bit depressing. Sir Walter Scott is often found going cheap in charity shops as he's unfashionable now. Yes,historical fiction and they're still good reads. He was very influential in his time but wrote anonymously at first, and reviewers just called him "the author of waverley". I often pick up books in charity shops - buy things just out of curiosity because they're cheap. I got Morrissey's Autobiography for 50p recently, although I had no interest in him or The Smiths - but he's a very good writer( a bitter man though) and I really enjoyed it!

[@marcsmirnoff936]

Agree 100% on Boswell's Life of Johnson-so lively, so absorbing, so clear, so intelligent, etc. And though I haven't read Johnson's take on the Hebrides, I've read a few other things by him & I also agree that Boswell was a better writer-but what a funny, surprising, charming, & totally engaging speaker the good Doctor was. He spoke better than most people write, including, possibly, Boswell.

[@noteworthyfiction]

Playing catch up on videos! I really enjoyed The Woodlanders and it's probably my favorite Thomas Hardy. Not sure I'd start there with him, but I adored the setting.

[@BobJacobs10]

As a teacher of Latin, always great to see someone learning the language. Good luck! And nice book haul.

[@TheEclecticLibrary]

Thank you! I think my own former Latin teacher would be very surprised to find out I picked it up again

[@katehowereads]

I am also very interested in daily life when it comes to history. I have loved watching the farm documentary series: Victorian Farm, Tudor Monastery Farm, Edwardian Farm, etc...They are so cozy! All on youtube.

[@TheEclecticLibrary]

I've been meaning to watch those, they sound excellent! Maybe something to watch over Christmas break

[@given2501]

9:20, omg they're available in my country as well but i went with the other maroon editions.

[@jamesduggan7200]

Yes, I do recall a strange excitement amongst my betters about that long biography of the man who wrote the dictionary and thought Shakespeare too racy. Much more exciting to me is Ken Kesey's classic novel, which as a film featured Jack Nicholson as Randall P. McMurphy. The co-star, Louise Fletcher, won an Oscar for her interpretation of head Nurse Ratched. Now you've read it do yourself a big favor and enjoy Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, which is a biography more or less of the author, including the time he spent mopping the floors of a mental institution where the doctors happened to be testing Lysergic Acid Dimethalate (sp?). btw, I confess to falling in love with those gorgeous leather bound Hardy novels - Enjoy!

[@TheEclecticLibrary]

Thanks James! I hadn't heard of Tom Wolfe's book, it sounds really interesting. I need to rewatch the movie of Cuckoo's Nest, it's been such a long time that I don't remember much of it, except some vivid images of Nicholson. I'll put it on the list for our next movie night

[@ksimpler]

Hi Celine! The Norton Anthology of Medieval Literature is excellent. The Beowulf included there should be the Seamus Heaney translation, which is wonderful. Also, I highly recommend the Anglo-Saxon poem, “Judith,” which should be in the collection. It’s a bit violent, but it’s great to see a female hero from that period. Also, there’s a wonderful translation of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” which is great! Really, the entire collection is full of good stuff! Hope you enjoy it!

[@TheEclecticLibrary]

"Judith" sounds fascinating! I'll mark it to read. It's directly after Beowulf so maybe I'll just keep reading when I finish it, ha. I really look forward to dipping into the collection!

[@novelideea]

I’ve heard great things about those translations of Homer! Yay! For Moby!! I think many people don’t enjoy the whaling facts in the story but I loved finding out the history and the danger. And Melville’s writing was fantastic! (I liked Bartleby also!) Beowulf was part of a class syllabus for me and I enjoyed the discussion, but I don’t think I would have read/ liked it otherwise! If you aren’t a “battles” in history lover you aren’t probably going to enjoy The Iliad. Though Homer, at least, isn’t as gory details oriented as Virgil in the Aeneid! Still, it’s almost all fighting.

[@TheEclecticLibrary]

I'm always really glad to hear from people who did enjoy Moby Dick, it seems to be one of the most disliked American classics! In terms of battles, I don't mind it too much in the books themselves as long as the writing is good, I think I'm just very bored by historical analyses of old timey battle tactics 😅

[@RSelcov]

I've found that when a used book I've ordered on line is of substandard quality, especially if it does not fit the description that was advertised, I can get a replacement if I write an email to the seller. They don't even ask for the original copy to be sent back.

[@TheEclecticLibrary]

Considering I bought it for £3 I struggle to motivate myself to contact customer service (I ordered them from World of Books). If they'd been more expensive, I would have

[@jennyyeh4730]

Omg so jealous of the Thomas hardy set ! If you want something more cosy/less tragic, then I’d start with the woodlanders ! If not then the mayor of casterbridge. Far from the madding crowd is my favorite !!!

[@TheEclecticLibrary]

Thank you, that's really good to know!

[@renee_angelica]

Gems in here! Love those Scott and Hardy editions 😍

[@josephcossey1811]

The cover of your copy of De Quincy's Opium Eater is in fact an image of the tragic romantic poet Thomas Chatterton who committed suicide by arsenic poisoning at the age of 17. The painting is by the Victorian artist Henry Wallis and - somewhat spookily - was modelled by the young George Meredith who went on to become an eminent poet and novelist in his own right.

[@josephcossey1811]

In 1966 Ken (Cuckoo's Nest) Kesey along with a group of cohorts called The Merry Pranksters took a trip across America in a converted school bus handing out samples of LSD along the way! One of the drivers of the bus was none other than Neal Cassady, close friend of Jack Kerouac and inspiration for the character of Dean Moriarty in Kerouac's classic novel On The Road.

[@TheEclecticLibrary]

That's fascinating! Oh, the sixties.

[@dqan7372]

Just saw an Oxford don on KZbin pronounce Martial as Marshall. And a tv interviewer addressed Kesey as Keezee. I've been pronouncing the latter incorrectly I guess. Fun haul!

[@TheEclecticLibrary]

It's usually only when I'm filming these videos that I realise I have only ever read these names, never heard them spoken!

[@davidmccalip5759]

Hello Celine! I hope you are doing well. Wow! Those Sir Walter Scott and Thomas Hardy books looked fantastic! And what a steal! That was a great purchase! I look forward to your next video. Have a great day!

[@TheEclecticLibrary]

Thanks David! I'm very pleased with my finds, ha. Hope you have a great day too!

[@crypsid]

You're going to love Fraser's Marie Antoinette book. I read it earlier this year and was in the same spot of knowing a little bit about Marie's death, and absolutely nothing else about her life; needless to say, I was not prepared for how exciting that book becomes, especially in the last third.

[@TheEclecticLibrary]

I can't wait!

[@josephcossey1811]

Ken (Cuckoo's Nest) Kesey once said that..."in a thousand years time when the rest of us have been long forgotten people will still be reading Richard Brautigan." A name that I find sadly neglected on booktube nowadays.

[@jamesduggan7200]

Brautigan is very good but I haven't read any of his work in generations. He did one on the Butterfly Effect with a title something like the Sombrero Hat Dance, I don't remember exactly, but the drop of a hat in Mexico led to chaos around the world.

[@josephcossey1811]

Sombrero Fallout! One of Brautigan's quirkiest with a special guest appearance from Norman Mailer!

[@michaelgarcia2973]

I love reading Classics...I watched the 2018 film Lizzie about Lizzie Borden and Chloe Sevigne played Lizzie Borden and Kristen Stewart played Bridget Sullivan great film.

[@Maryjane022]

Such a lovely books!!! Love it!📚💕😍😍😍

[@NeilBruder]

Oh I’m jealous, I’ve been looking for a copy of A Month in the Country for a while. If you’re interested there’s a great (UK based) lit podcast called Backlisted that has an episode about it. Worth a listen!

[@TheEclecticLibrary]

Thank for the rec Neil! I hope you'll stumble on a copy soon as well 🙂

[@GrimLordofOregon]

Awesome book haul!

[@TheEclecticLibrary]

Thank you!

[@josephcossey1811]

James Hogg's " Confessions Of A Justfied Sinner " was indeed hugely controversial at the time of publication and was later a big influence on Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde. A future comparison video perhaps?

[@markLLorens]

The castle of otranto the first Gothic horror novel written in 1794 Is pretty good and it's short.

[@TheEclecticLibrary]

I love Castle of Otranto! Such a fun book

[@judykovach6912]

Thomas hardy book… which one did do you read?

[@josephcossey1811]

Kesey pronounced Kee-zee. In my humble opinion the book is soooo much better than the film!

[@TheEclecticLibrary]

Thank you! I really need to reread the book and possibly even rewatch the movie, I haven't read/watched either in over eight years

[@Montie-Adkins]

I read Moby Dick for the first time this year and did not like it. It's interesting, and I liked the writing, but the big story point everyone has heard of and seen it made use of in various media is just a tiny portion of the book. But hell, this book has endured for a long time now, so perhaps it'll be for you.

[@TheEclecticLibrary]

I do really like Melville's style... hopefully I'll be one of the people who enjoys it! Sorry to hear it wasn't for you

[@theresas709]

I really like Tom. Hardy.

[@shaunholt]

I've read a bit of the ancient Greeks - Plato, Aristophanes, Aeschylus. Euripides and Herodotus are on my to-read list. My favorite has been Sophocles. I'm about 50% through the Iliad and like it even though most of it is just, "And Damentris was killed by Klaxius. And Findel was slain by Murion. Gadalacus killed Pintos and Raymeon, before being himself slain by Hetos of Crete. It's just like.... Okay... No clue who any of those guys are, but okay, sure. I tried Sons and Lovers by Hardy and couldn't get into it. I could see that maybe it had some value, but would've required far more patience and thought than it was worth. I'm unlikely to re-try it or anything else by him. Not my cuppa tea. And I greatly enjoyed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Pretty much everything by Kesey is on my to-read list because of it. I've got Sometimes a Great Notion, as well as a signed copy of Sailor Song. Haunting of Hill House I rage-quit after about 20 pages because of repetition of something. I forget what. Maybe it was "she thought". The second or third chapter had like four per page. Drove me crazy.

[@jamesduggan7200]

It's an interesting narrative structure: It begins with a conclave of literate people enjoying Christmas together that then shifts into the letter of a nanny who some years earlier had an experience at Hill House that made her uncomfortable to relate in full. I don't know why James felt so comfortable jumping into her head but most people seem to be satisfied with his interpretation of her as a young woman.... [edit] Oh I am so sorry, please forgive me for conflating Turn of the Screw with Haunting of HIll House. oops!

[@TheEclecticLibrary]

Glad to hear you've enjoyed Sophocles! He's high on my list. I have quite vivid memories of Euripides' Medea, which we read in our high school class. I read Cuckoo's Nest years ago but never ventured any deeper into Kesey's work, that'll have to be added to my to read list!

[@dougmoore5252]

Dante