book haul pt.ii // *your* recs + more plague literature

[@soph26050_]

I actually took many classes on existentialism and Camus was not miserable at all! He loved life, and '' The Plague'' is about human suffering as well as about human greatness. It is a book that is full of optimism and hope and that taught me so much!! Every time I open the book, I find myself in it and I could cry reading certain pages because there is so much beauty and truth to it. The Plague is a metaphor for the absurd and therefore a very modern novel. I hope you redefine your opinion about Camus and existentialism after having read the novel. Anyways, good luck! xx

[@Selenite11]

Apparently he was a charmer and a magnet for the ladies. Something Sartre envied. I suppose women wouldn’t be attracted to a miserable sod.

[@soph26050_]

@@Selenite11 he was lots of things and who really knew him? Maybe we shouldn't categorize people :) Many people have a complex personality, Camus had a relationship with more than one woman. However, he always loved with all his heart.

[@erikholmsten1451]

@@Selenite11 Well Simone De Beauvoir was attracted to him, and I'd say that's quite a feat. Frankly I don't think he was very miserable, having read some of his work and Sarah Bakewell's book it seems he did struggle from some lack of confidence due to his looks. But his confidence in intellectual matters far superseded most among their Paris existentialist-clique of the forties and fiftes, and it seems they were mutually envious of eachothers capabilities in these regards.

[@aisling8308]

I wish I could like this comment more than once. Existentialism is a beautiful, optimistic, and freeing philosophy.

[@erikholmsten1451]

I actually had an interesting experince with Virginia Woolf, that eternally cemented her place in the literary pantheon of my heart. I was in North Africa with a friend whose Maroccan family we were staying at in the city of Martil along the Mediterranean coast. I had only brought one book because we packed light, and it turned out to be awful so I barely picked it up. After about two weeks of our close to monthly stay I felt as in a limbo, being caught up in midnight walks along the hectic throng walking along the beach, drowning in smells of mint tea, cigarette and hashish, I felt detatched in a not so awful way, but still with my identity sort of hovering, as if it was held on pause. One day at random I took a stroll through the town on my own, knowing french I could get by quite well. Coming back I realised there was a what looked like an abandoned church just around the corner of the apartment building where we were staying, and by the wooden doors there were children playing. It found out it was the only place with free wi-fi in town, and they let me know how to connect. Passing by the other day planning to quickly profit from the free wi-fi I found the doors open instead, and already curious I found no reason not to go in. On the altar wall there was a large cloth painting of modern art, and along the walls there were bookshelves and desks. As I felt a common sense of home rising in me, I noticed in the middle of the room a small man in shorts inspecting something. Stepping inside he noticed me and came to greet me politely with a strict smile. He told me he was from japan and had come a few years ago to make this run down church into something more useful, and had made it into a library. After trying to say the fewest and nicest things I could in japanese I went to browse the shelves. Most of it was obviously in french and arabic, but in the end of the right ship of the church there was a shelf where it said "English". To my disappointment it was almost all obscure writers and non-fiction, but coming towards the end of the alphabetically ordered shelf I found Woolf, Virginia Woolf. They had only one of her books, Mrs Dalloway, in a simple, white, barely touched edition from the seventies. As I opened up the first page I felt an immense rush of emotion, and reading the lines of the first page I noticed the beauty in everything, the style, the characters and their feelings, the plot, even the typographical elegance of the font it was written in. I kept reading the book as in a state of revelation, not wanting to break the spell I stayed there for a couple of hours to finish the book. It was if I had refound my self, or perhaps found a new self that deserved chance, because I had never felt luckier in my life. Virginia Woolf's fiction has the ability to do this to you, more so than other writers, to grip you and take you on a roller coaster of thoughts and feelings as long as you keep reading. I almost hope noone reads this, I don't know why I didnt stop myself.

[@ArushiAggarwal]

I'm so excited for you to read the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo - it's so so good!!

[@CharlesJosepDelDotto]

Re: your comment on the notes/commentary in books, uff! I feel you. I recently re-read Voltaire's Candide for the first time since high school, and I bought the Penguin Classics edition, which was a new translation with scholarly commentary. The notes were were nearly 1/3 as long as the actual text. SO OPPRESSIVE! Also, speaking of French lit, if you've read Camus in the past and you're going to read The Plague, you also have to read The Stranger at some point. OMG, IT'S SO GOOD!! I think it was his first book, and it instantly launched him into the literary stratosphere. It's set in French Algeria, and you can tell from reading it that it's a really personal novel based on Camus' experience there. Interestingly, 8 years ago, a contemporary Algerian writer, Kamel Daoud, wrote a novel, The Meursault Investigation, meant to serve as a response to Camus, basically giving the Algerian perspective on the same story. I started it but never finished (womp womp). You could read both to decolonize your bookshelf. You'd be better off reading The Stranger than reading Mrs. Dalloway. It's important and all that, and if you've ever seen/read The Hours, well, obviously, it's a contemporary riff on the Woolf novel, but Orlando's better, To the Lighthouse is better, and her last novel, Between the Acts, is better.

[@nellsea8086]

I LOVE oxford classics not only pretty but also especially when it comes to Russian literature they always have a list of names so you don't get confused since the same names have different variations

[@pandoraelspeth]

This is an older, more niche recommendation for contemporary dark academia, but I would really recommend The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman! A sort of suicide mystery told from the perspective of a latin teacher at a boarding school. I read it years ago but really enjoyed it!

[@FlyingElectra]

Calus wasn’t miserable at all. I wonder where you got this information ! 😃 He died too soon. Chamaleon is caméléon in French and pronounced ka so it’s really funny how you mother pronounces it. Thanks for the information on the Orlando movie. I can’t read books about pandemics because I am living one ! But there’s one book you could read is by Giono : Le hussard sur le toit (the horseman on the roof) when cholera was spreading in France. There was a movie with Juliette Binoche. I have read Evelyn Hugo’s book it was okay. I have If we were the villains on my TBR.

[@gracedevilla6164]

i'd love to see your favourite 18th century books!! anything resembling roxana!

[@sophiapostma4057]

8:48 I've never heard of the Decameron before now! When my family was in Arkansas recently, my mom got me a gourgeous 70 yr old edition of The Canterbury Tales (don't worry, there are pictures). Now I have to buy and read The Decameron so I can read Canterbury and compare them! Thank you Emma!!!

[@josefineslot7937]

When you noticed the pictures I honestly fell in love with you

[@hannahmiley561]

I'm so happy Emma said about there being more drama happening off stage/screen than on. I'm a stage manager and I graduated drama school 2 years ago and there was definitely more drama off-stage than on.

[@EmmaSophieChannel]

speaking of women, sex and power: have you watched the handmaiden? [it's an adaptation of sarah water's fingersmith. some significant changes were made (not least of course the setting) and as someone who read the book first, i'm sort of glad i did bc i wouldn't have had the same experience with being surprised at how the story unravels, but i like the movie better.] i can imagine you /really/ liking it!

[@myrtolefk]

virginia woolf really is one of my favourite authors ever i especially love the waves and orlando and i just love everything about the way she writes!

[@zlzlzl2]

Orlando for me is like a love letter from Virginia Woolf to Vita Sackville-West, kind of photo (story) journal book as a gift. A playful project between the two person rather than for the general public readership. The idea of androgynous Orlando is echoed in the ideas discussed A Room of One's Own, androgynous mind on creativity.

[@danni.phantom8184]

Movie Rec relevant to Orlando: Vita and Virginia. It explores the making of Orlando and who the book is basically a love letter to :)

[@teateica9165]

yes.♥️ but tbh i think "the hours" represents virgnia's character much better!!

[@danni.phantom8184]

@@teateica9165 oooh! I need to check that one out next, thank you :)

[@yj6118]

not sure if you've done this yet, but I'd love a video on your fav book to movie/tv show adaptations. alternatively, a video on your fav tropes and book recommendations for each one

[@zoewilliamson4034]

Do a vid about your fav characters from books

[@sofiestorhus]

I loved the Decameron!! It's compulsory reading in Italian schools, and it's such a lovely read :)

[@emmaod5933]

The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo is brilliant!!!!!I couldn’t put it down it’s addicting

[@AnneleenRoesems]

How did I not think of reading the Decamerone during lockdown? It sounds like the perfect read during these trying times. 800 pages is a lot though lol

i love you just going on for more than a full minute about pictures in books

[@sanahs323]

So glad to see you got if we were villains, I hope you love it!! In my opinion, it’s not better than the secret history, but it’s very different, and definitely a staple in the dark academia genre. Can’t wait to see your thoughts on it.

[@piatejeda1568]

your videos make me so happy

[@giuliabalbi8034]

So excited to see you pick up the Decameron! Every "day" has a theme (happy love stories, sad love stories, tricks, etc...) so you can shuffle them to read the genre that feels right for your mood. I'm so curious about the english translation... I read the original, so I don't know, how did they translate it? Old sounding English? Did they use a certain dialect? Is it in modern English?

[@kamlaahmad3529]

1:43 I have the exact same copy of Mrs Dalloway and god!!! I couldn't finish the book! I stopped after 50 pages. It's the most linear dull book I've ever read! And it was Eid night, so my enthusiasm was at peak & still couldn't go through it.

[@kamlaahmad3529]

And yes! Your mom & I are slightly offended by your mockery of our copy 🤬!

[@abi_rose]

every time you say “comp lit” my brain autocorrects to “compulsory literature”. also excited for you to read evelyn hugo, i loved it!! (and sobbed at 3am lol)

[@BookTimeWithRyan]

I’ll read footnotes, but I refuse to go back and forth with endnotes. Check out Hot Zone. It’s on the bestsellers list every couple decades when Ebola pops up.

[@syntaxterror9479]

Kurosawa also adapted Macbeth. Throne of Blood. Recommend.

[@sarcastic_fish]

Oooooo thank you good shout!!!!

[@EllisGirlsFashion]

I'm reading the secret history in an older Dutch translation (thrifted) and this edition is absolutely massive haha, even though it has only 600 pages, it doesn't look like it at all haha, so big.

[@alinamostov1394]

There is a wonderful production of "King Lear" starring Ian Holm as Lear. Also, a fantastic "Hamlet" with Derek Jacobi. You might change your mind about Hamlet some day:)

[@lornatw]

Book Recommendation: The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith. " a profound meditation on love, marking a significant departure from stereotyped lesbian pulp fiction". I am currently reading this and am enjoying. Curious of your thoughts.

[@sarcastic_fish]

the movie adaptation is Carol!!! I've always meant to read and watch it but for some reason I've never got round to it? I've yet to hear something bad about it so I should bump it up my tbr and tbw

[@lornatw]

@@sarcastic_fish ah yes, I am meaning to watch Carol as soon as I've finished the book! Nice, I'll be with you on this one Haha, I've not heard bad things yet either so was naturally curious although I am also someone often late to the game of things :)

[@mattierosss]

Hi Emma, do you prefer the translated or original text version of The Canterbury Tales? I'm leaning towards the original text but not sure.

[@karakask5488]

You should read the love letters between Vita Sackville West and Virginia Woolf, they are fantastic! Also Vita Sackville West is a author in her own right, and you might like her. She wrote about high society with a critical eye and some cynicism that came from her own upbringing. She's humorous but not as overtly as Nancy Mitford. But I mean take my opinion with a grain of salt, because I think I'm the only person on earth that didn't care for The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

[@balint127]

Everyman's Library Classics always include the etchings in their editions

[@i.7566]

You should read Clarice Lispector!

[@VictorAugustus]

Book Channel: Better Than Food (it's really really good)

[@ciscl]

"intimate friend"??? Lmao I've never even read Virginia Woolf but even I know they were lovers

[@sarcastic_fish]

“”””””close personal friends”””””best friends””””love long companions who defo never kissed””””””””

[@Cyrano263]

Glad to know i'm not the only mysterious looking reader in the class 😄😆

[@sarcastic_fish]

💁🏻‍♀️💁🏻‍♀️

[@zlzlzl2]

I find Camus's book are great to think about after finishing reading it, though the stories themselves are a bit slow and silent to read. Only faced with the final existence threat, where you have passed the stage of praying to God, the emptiness of the universe is profound, you either become a nihilist or a cynic. (Shout out to Rick and Morty) Not standing there to offer a solution is pretty good call for the existentialism, unfortunately Camus died in the accident.

oh wow i'm early (and thank you for more recs !!)

[@douloureux.]

YAY IM SO EXCITED

[@douloureux.]

I read waiting for Godot yesterday and loved it

[@antha894]

Hello Emma! I rarely comment but I just want to let you know that I am really addicted to your content and started reading again because of you! You honestly sparked my interest in classics, and it was worth it. Thank you. Have you read "No Longer Human" by Dazai? It's kind of depressing but I really liked it!

[@axsmn8085]

You Stunning book tuber

[@gray_goat27]

Emma, love the channel. I recommend you read Bunny by Mona Awad. It's a novel of dark academia with influences of Alice in Wonderland and Grimm Fairy Tales by way of the movies Heathers and Mean Girls. It has some Murakami-esque images mixed with horror and it's about writers. I think you'd like the relationship between Samantha and Ava and the complex relationships between all the women involved, the Bunnies especially.

[@FranciscodOreySantiagoCNeves]

Great video as always, Emma. Have you thought about buying more second hand books? You seem to only buy new books, and buying second hand is cheaper and a more responsible choice!

[@sarcastic_fish]

I often do! It’s just been so much harder with everything being shut as long as it has (and tbh I have slipped into bad habits ahh)

[@axelrewis1320]

I’m curious whether You know any of H. P. Lovecraft writings. If so, I’d love to see Your opinion.

[@jamestennyson4197]

Do you annotate these kind of books?

[@jackiesliterarycorner]

How about this for a video: If you were teaching literature what would you have your students study?

[@lfior]

omg you need to read all about love and give us your views on relationships/toxic masculinity

[@amyamy1507]

I loved The Secret History but If We Were Villians really irritated me 😅 It should have been perfect for me (pretentious idiots, actors being chaotic, Shakespeare etc etc) but I dunno something about it just had me throwing the book across the room and not in an enjoyable way 😅

[@danielavaldes3301]

The Plague is the best thing I read in this fucking quarentine (except for 100 Years of Solitude)

[@erinsbooks]

What about your favorite movie adaptation?

[@marymermaid1313]

„Thanks corinna virus“

[@tamzinlittle5295]

Finally, someone who also doesn't like hamlet

[@loiswells3564]

I was equally disappointed when I realised books didn’t generally have pictures in them once you got past age 10 or thereabouts. Looking forward to hearing what you think of Evelyn Hugo. I liked the story but didn’t think it was all that well written. Also a little predictable. It seems very different from a lot of the stuff you read.

[@jefersonmariano9903]

Me hearing, dark academic book for the first time, hope that they aren't the Black magic books from pharaoh 🤣🤣✌️🌹

[@bexmcd2640]

Could you do a curly girl hair method video because I have tried and failed so many times, so, so many times.

[@sarcastic_fish]

I have a whole bunch of pins I saved about it on my hair Pinterest board!! They’re the ones that I’ve used to learn what I’m doing

[@douloureux.]

Camus = Absurdism but it’s all pretty much the same anyway 😂

[@troybringsbooksnnn]

this is not more. I want more

[@alexisabad197]

Hey Emma!

[@Nohame44pl]

Part 22222 yayayyayayyays

[@aisling8308]

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was the first book I read this year and I hate to say I didn't really enjoy it. The old school Hollywood glamour setting was so up my alley but Taylor Jenkins Reid's writing just isn't for me.

[@ryanng754]

Circle around the novel, later, talk real sense, avoid talk killing end up no other way.

[@ryanng754]

They want mistaken, then, talk clear to avoid talk exact in story have kill.

[@kristianmarchand8047]

*Still not a book channel.*

[@sarcastic_fish]

*still not a book channel intensifies*

[@kristianmarchand8047]

@@sarcastic_fish I guess that's a better tag line than 'a books, languages, plants and philosophy channel'😂