"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." - Oscar Wilde
Hi, I'm Anne. I'm a history graduate who loves living a cozy life, from reading classics to sewing to dreaming of owning my own small farmhouse. Join me on wherever my adventure leads me.
James Still’s marvelous “River of Earth”, set in E. Kentucky coal country c. 1915-20, features a moving sermon that, like the one in “Moby Dick” Ch. 9, lays out the book’s master theme. The one in “River”, based on Psalm 114, is a vision of ceaseless change, where even the mountains (seemingly the “standingest object[s] in the sight o’ God”) are seen as rising up and wearing down over the ages.
This movie was trash! I love this book and I've loved every movie version (1971 BBC series, 1995 Persuasion, 2004 Persuasion, 2007 Persuasion, and 2022 Persuasion). After the first 30 mins I turned it off. The character was shifted to condescending and honestly kinda mean. It was disappointing this the lead actors could have made this movie fabulous with a few teaks to make it new and fresh. But, instead they made changes to the character which did not enhance the story.
I also struggled with the beginning part. And my favorite Charles Dickens' book is also Little Dorrit. But Dickens is such a talented writer with so many of favorites that it's too hard to say which one can outrank the others. David Copperfield and his child wife are definitely everlasting companions of my life.
verne knew of mythical and literary vampires, since he was a good friend of both dumas, father and son. dumas the younger wrote vampire stories and a play about lord ruthven, one of many theatrical adaptations of polidori's story. there were also quite a few vampire stories in french before the year of this novel's publication, such as captain vampire by marie nizet, and the trilogy of novels by paul feval. black coat press translated many of them. however, there can be no doubt that stoker new of verne's works, even if he had to read them in french. there is an article in which this influence is explored in detail, apparently with an emphasis on the role of the narrator as a listener or "harker". the listening and recording devices are not only a means of granting immortality, but of dispelling the mystery by leaving a record of it for the future. the conan-doyle story "the japanned box"is a homage to both writers in this context.
I write short stories and my favorite tools are typewriters (Have six machines, one of them an electric Smith Corona Electra 210 and Parker rollerball pens.
Congratulations on reading all your physical books! Loved hearing about how you tackled the challenge. Currently trying to read over 300 books and documenting the journey 🫠 love getting inspiration from people who have achieved the goal and hearing different strategies. Also love that you’re writing!!! Something I want to share a bit more about too hehe
Hi Anne.. not to be pedantic but Johannesburg is pronounced with a J not a Y.. it would be wrong for me not to correct that as I live in the city.. nice review I'll subscribe
Antiquarian book collecting can become somewhat addictive. Your presentation suggests an aesthetic appreciation, as well as content (doesn't bode well ha!). A book can really be a thing of beauty, especially press printed books on linen laid paper. From a technological perspective, holding the page up to the sunlight, seeing the striations of the wire paper making form is a delight. A book like that is the laborious culmination of not only the writer, but of the printer and in particular the paper maker (approx. 1500 chancery pages per day for a team of three). A couple of notable books in my collection are, 1. The Holy State (Thomas Fuller) 2nd Ed. 1648 (1st Ed. 1642). Basically two books in one, the first concerning the correct behaviour of various stations and professions in life, servant, master, husband wife, soldier, labourer etc. Each having an exemplar to follow. The second entitled 'Profane State' (although only part of the main title in much later editions) concerns unvirtuous stations in life such as witch, harlot, and some male equivalents that I can't remember right now, also with examples. 2. A Restitution of Decayed Intelligence: in Antiquities. Concerning the most noble and renowned English Nation (Richard Verstegan) 2nd Ed. 1628 (1st Ed. 1605). A book concerning English Anglo-Saxon origins and related folklore etc. Two notable sections are the first English telling of the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin and the trial and execution of Peter Stumpp. Peter Stumpp, a farmer from Bedburg Germany, was accused and executed for Werewolfery. By this retelling Werewolves were sorcerers that used ointments and wore sashes of a diabolical nature in order to convert themselves in to the likeness of wolves ..... more of a continental thing rather than English I believe. Surprisingly I managed to get number one for a little under £300 and number two for a little over £300 at auction, including fees, although retail they seem to go for double that. If one is canny, the world of antiquarian book collecting is definitely achievable. I was also a poverty stricken student (well booze and cigarettes took precedence). Edit ... I've just discovered Fore Edged Painting ... Great I'm going to be broke!
I have made all my friends watch the French 2014, and it's so good! Cinderella-I wrote my college thesis on the differences between several adaptations from different cultures. It would be a big task to watch because there are so many-SO GOOD. A smaller video would be Swan Princess or The Princess and the Pea. Loved this video thanks!!
The Penguin classics deserve their good reputation on the whole. Their strengths include the sheer range of titles in the series and the readability of the translations. The introductions usually contextualise the text well for new readers and the notes (if present) are often helpful too. Penguin classics also publish some excellent anthologies. The cover artwork is usually well-chosen and attractive. There are some negatives though: many of the translations are getting quite old now and could do with updating; Penguin translations usually aim for readability over literal accuracy, so if it's accuracy you're looking for you may find a different edition suits you better; Penguin quite often abridges books when it doesn't seem necessary. When a text exists in both Penguin and Oxford versions, the Oxford version will normally have a more recent and literally accurate translation. The introduction and notes will tend to be more scholarly in the Oxford edition too. Norton critical editions will be even more scholarly still, with plenty of contextual material and critical essays, but the font size will typically be small. Most of my comments here are generalisations, and with translations you should always try them out and see which one suits you best (more recent doesn't always mean better), but in terms of making a wide variety of classic literature available to readers I can't think of any publishing house that does it better than Penguin classics.
Thanks for video and your "defense" of the book as you put it! I am an enormous fan of Moby Dick and indeed the work of Herman Melville generally. If you want the serious deep dive check out Hubert Dreyfus's collection of lectures here on RU-vid, I that they total about 8 hours. You can't always hear the students questions because of audio issues but the whole video is fascinating and a great look into the metaphysics of the book. Dreyfus compares Melville to Nietzsche but points out that Melville was an entire generation before him. I am quite familiar with the Thug Notes analysis of Moby Dick and in that he describes the encyclopedia parts as "about 500 pages of Ishmael going on about whaling BS" and I thought that it was heart warming how you gave Melville more time and patience on this issue. I am an autistic person and I wonder if Melville was too because the chapters about whales and whaling most definitely add up to something equating to a "special interest" bordering on obsession and I have heard people talk about struggling with the whale and whaling chapters and it reminds me of how I can see people struggle with me sometimes when I start talking on excessively about one of my special interests! I thought that most of the points you made were interesting but I am not sure about what you said about people of Melville's time understanding the book as actually it was an enormous flop! Melville had made his name with island and sea adventure books such as Typee, Omoo and Redburn. His writing in these books, as in Moby DIck was so vivid that people enjoyed the stories because it felt like you were there with him. At the time a lot of people would never be able to visit these places as going to sea was a risky business and there were no aeroplanes. I enjoy the island and sea adventure novels by Melville for these same reasons today. But Moby Dick was too dense and the style in which it was written was highly unusual for the time and many people were baffled by it and his career very much went downhill after that. He worked for much of his life as a customs official for the City of New York. By the time he died in 1891 Moby Dick was out of print in America. I saw another video that compared the style of Moby Dick to people like Virginia Woolf or James Joyce and it wasn't until the 20th century when Moby Dick was rediscovered and further read. These days it's far more popular than I think Melville could ever have imagined (he was a humble fellow), if you go to any bookshop or online bookseller you can find a plethora of editions. I think that people have their criticisms of the book because it is complex and hard to digest and not everybody has the time for that. I recommend reading Moby Dick multiple times to get the full experience. A once heard another commentator say "you can read it cover to cover OR you can read like people read the bible; you can mark your favourite passages and read them from time to time or you can just read a random chapter or you can even just read a random page and there is usually some interesting fact or nugget of wisdom to be had! I live in a city that is on a river near the mouth of the estuary and when I go to the waterfront I always think of Melville when I see "silent sentinels posted all around...fixed in ocean reveries...getting just as nigh the water as they possibly can without falling in!" He was a poet and philosopher that just happened to choose novels as the vehicle of his thoughts. Anyway! Thank you again for the video I found it interesting.
I love these books!! I've read them so many times. I love that although it's mostly fantasy it's very real it doesn't have a stupid Hollywood storyline its very much like i picture real life would be which is what i love about the book.
I read the first italian edition of this book when I was 16. 39 years ago alas. I've alway been noticing how the anglo-saxon readers are much like capturing only the fine details of the story, which is the first level of the book's structure. As Eco had just written an other Agatha Christies murder plot. There is an other rather subterranean level of the book which is synthesized in the word: "nominalism" I don't really hear a thing from you about it, not even a mention. An other world would open to you. Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus.
This is a great ranking, but one of my favourite things has to be how most of the entries are just called 'Beauty and the Beast'; They've got you going through the list like, "Beauty and the Beast is a pretty good retelling of beauty and the Beast, but I think I liked both The Beauty and The Beast and Beauty and the Beast better". Great video, thank you for posting <3
Reading 9 books in two weeks is incredible to me. For me even with page turners it takes me at least a week to read one book. I am lucky, because in my experience with Dollar Tree books, I've found so many really good books I've enjoyed immensely. This was interesting watching your choices and your opinions of the books you did read. 📚 I hope your next experience proves better books that you can say that were real good reads worth keeping on your book shelf.
I find a common , yet odd style of book review on RU-vid ; a review turns into a grade 8 book report. Why are you telling me about the story? When will you discuss the style, the literature, the ability to capture through words, metaphors and language? Well you hinted a little ; the non-use of quotations--and it bothered you. In fact that style alone offers a rapid read as its fast and sure. Read Frank McCourt "Angela's Ashes" . (an almost traditional Irish literary style referred to as 'stream of consciousness'--introduced by James Joyce--there are no quotation marks, indentations or new paragraphs--amazing!! Yet--it works! Why? Read, find out and tell me why. Tell me why Paton is a good writer-if somebody else had written this story would it have been as successful? Why was he successful in conveying the story--what tricks did he use, how did he hold your interest? I feel this is a very shallow review--I need more. Yes I lived in South Africa, so I am familiar with the pronunciations, and yes I read this book in High School (about 1969). Give your review some depth!
His name is pronounced Alan Paton with a long A sound on the a (Payton) ; state in South Africa is pronounced Na TAL with emphasis on the TAL; hope that helps.
I've never liked the darker stuff but I read 2 mary higgins clark books a long time ago that were sooo good! one is very outdated with technology but still good. Loves Music,Loves to Dance and the other Remember Me.. how the woman was pretty much on her own in a psychological nightmare and how she realized it and solved it
The Earth's Children series is one of my go-to comfort book series for exactly the reasons you dislike the Cave Bear! I find books with a single crescendo/decrescendo too predictable so I like the more staccato rhythm of the Clan of the Cabe Bear and the rest of the series. It's not a perfect series and the rest of the series is guilty of some serious repetition (Ayla's "accent", anyone?) but overall, it's a series I love. I fully agree with you about how despicable Broud is. Pronunciations as per series narrator, Rowena Cooper: Ayla = aye-la Broud = brow-d Mogur = mog-oor Iza = eets-za Durc = doo-urk There is another narrator but I prefer Cooper's narration. When I read the physical books now, I have her pronunciations in my head.
Ayla isn't pronounced Eyela...Auel (owl) even has Creb correct Iza in the book...right in the beginning. You should listen to the books on tape, so that you can get the pronunciations correct. Six books in the series (not ten). Book one is my fourth favorite out of the six books. My order is 2, 3, 4, 1, 5, 6. I agree with your assessment of the ending...but only because, as a mother (myself), I could NEVER leave my child. I love this series though...minus book six (which I pretty much loathed).
I love this book, despite my struggle following most characters' hyperbolic and meandering ways of communicating. That drove me crazy, lol. Also, it was hard to understand, Mr. Peggotty, as he was a simple fisherman who probably had an Irish accent. But overall, I see people did not change despite the time frame and geographical lication.
This movie was an abomination! If the writers actually read the book, they must have decided they could do a better job than Jane Austen herself. How else can you explain taking the main character and changing her until she is unrecognizable? Also, thank you for mentioning the color blind casting and how disconnected it is. Everyone seems afraid to say it, but you explained it perfectly
As someone who was damaged by being raised in a cult, getting my hands on Atlas Shrugged helped me find a foundation for deconstructing from their ideology. No, the writing isn't compelling, the middle ground is non-existent, all the characters are one dimensional and in singular purpose. However, I think the lack of complexity helped me find a more solid foundation to connect with reality in a way that removed intention from the equation and highlighted effects. It kind of served as a factory reset for my sense of self and direction. Rand never intended for the book to be published, writing it was more of a coping mechanism for herself to try and make sense of the world as she had experienced it. It was her husband who really took the lead in having it published. While the basics of objectivism are pretty useful for someone who had programming that skewed the perception of reality, for those who had their critical thinking skills nurtured in their upbringing, It may not be anything profound.
The first 100 pages are filled with misery but also great love. David’s love for his mother and for Pegotty her faithful servant and little Emily whom he kisses and hopes to marry. Dickens tries to keep a balance between hard knocks, humor and great heartfelt love and devotion. It is difficult to read page after page of misery and he sure can pour it on thick! But then David Copperfield is said to be auto-biographic so I think a good amount of the hardships described to have happened were what Dickens really went through in his youth. Not an easy life, but am sure one filled with the love and support of his parents. Wonder how he came up with Mr. Dick who sends historic messages throughout England via kites. He is the humor and Uriah Heep the horror!
I also like the 2014 French version, which as an adaptation is visual, charming, gorgeous and magical. Too bad that people say it's a knock-off copy of the Disney's 2017 remake and therefore refuse to watch it.
I'd like to read The Pillars of the Earth too but not for quite a while. You must be an extremely fast reader. It seems like the audio books would take more time to get through though.
I listen to audiobooks at work, so I might have a 6 to 8 hour shift multiple days a week where I listen to audiobooks. Thus why I'm able to get through books so quickly (I also listen to audiobooks 2x to 3x the speed). When reading physical books I'm pretty average in speed. And I didn't love Pillars of the Earth, but I know some people who love it, so I think it's a taste thing.
Exactly those thoughts come in my mind when I watched that movie. Even completing movie is biggest task of the year, I complete it because I want to see how much they do dirty to soulful anne.
I had never come across your channel until this morning but appreciated what you had to say. I just recently started watching book tube videos. I think your idea of combining your thoughts on books with sewing and cooking projects sounds very interesting. I myself could never do a booktube video and I wondered how the whole thing worked. Thank you for your video and all the best to you.
