I’m mostly a monogamous reader, but generally during a novel, I’ll keep short stories, poems, and non-fiction as mistresses. They do the things to me my novel wife refuses.

This might sound ridiculous, but a British accent is motivating for an American like me to want to read more lol!!

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

Glad mine could help :)

"Suddenly, you find yourself COMPELLED to search out these books we've been talking about." Benjamin, your love of books is contagious, a pandemic of the human spirit, so to speak! Your channel tells me I am not alone on my reading journey. I have just re-read Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter! Magnificent! Thank you, Benjamin for your knowledge and especially thank you for your enthusiasm!

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

A pandemic of the human spirit! I like that :) Yes, you're definitely not alone, Thomas. I'm here reading with you, and there are so many more like you and me who deeply cherish these great books! 🙏

@WorldCitizen333

2 жыл бұрын

Reading / hearing about Herman Melville's letters to Hawthorne in Ben's introductory video to Moby Dick and and how their friendship apparently helped Melville persevere despite the lack of literary success makes me want to give Hawthorne the time of day.

@thomaslowry7079

2 жыл бұрын

@@WorldCitizen333 I really enjoyed Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and House of Seven Gables. I recommend those books as a starting point. I wasn't aware of the correspondence between Hawthorne and Melville. I can't wait to read their correspondence! Each Sunday in the New York Times there is an interview with an author or other noteworthy person regarding their favorite books. A while back, I enjoyed learning that Bruce Springsteen had just finished reading Moby Dick! His comments regarding Moby Dick were very intelligent and heartfelt. Somehow, learning this made me appreciate Springsteen's music even more than I already did!

It's no joke, when I'm not "deep" reading I feel like I'm letting Ben down somehow😂 so I take eons to get through anything but boy is it worth it!

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

You couldn't let me down :) Your reading approach sounds wonderful to me - and "eons" is such a charming word. I must use it more often!

@1siddynickhead

2 жыл бұрын

@@BenjaminMcEvoy 🤗

I love balancing multiple books. A perfect blend for me is a weighty novel, non-fiction/philosophy and a play. I then like to read poetry as I flake-out at night

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

That sounds like a lovely approach :)

@WorldCitizen333

2 жыл бұрын

Same here, except I replace the play with a collection of poetry :)

I hardly ever read just one book at a time, I'm almost always reading few books and I like to have both fact and fiction going on.

I've heard Ben speak positively about Steinbeck. I wanted to add that most people refer to his larger works, The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden, but his shorter works are masterpieces as well. I would recommend that you start with The Winter of Our Discontent, and add Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday (companion novels), and also The Moon Is Down and The Wayward Bus. You will find that not only was Steinbeck able to tackle large themes, he was also capable of the most incredible humor. If you find his larger works daunting, try these short novels. You will be richly rewarded.

@yahyabinilyas9917

5 ай бұрын

I read a short story of his titled "Breakfast" in my undergraduate. I think it packs so much beauty in so little prose.

@charlessomerset9754

5 ай бұрын

@@yahyabinilyas9917 "Breakfast" is actually a chapter from The Grapes of Wrath.

When I did my English lit A-level in 1985, we did Chaucer’s THE FRANKLIN’S TALE. My teacher insisted we learned the Chaucerian pronunciation: no translations were allowed. In 1991 I had an acting job performing untranslated Chaucer for hundreds of A-level students, doing uncut presentations of THE GENERAL PROLOGUE, THE FRANKLIN’S TALE and THE MERCHANT’S TALE. I and three other performers had to learn 800 lines each. I can still remember whole sections of it. Shame they don’t teach it any more at school...

I definitely enjoy reading multiple books at the same time. I read books for different reasons and at different levels, and the most rewarding books take the longest. One practice I have is this - when I come to a really meaningful passage that I enjoy, I will stop there and put the bookmark in, and ponder it, and I want to talk about it. Then, the next time I pick that book up, I will backtrack just a little and savor that portion once more before continuing on. And I love how when you start to see an idea take place in one book, other books will start speaking to you about the same thing.

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

That's such a beautiful practice. I've done something similar with my weekly journalling. I always read back over the passages I last wrote about before going on. You're right that you start to see connections come together. Thank you for sharing 🙏

@thomaslowry7079

2 жыл бұрын

Fantastic advice! One advantage of reading books on the Kindle App on your phone is that you can copy and paste especially meaningful passages into a word processing file for future reference. I keep "Notes" on each book I read. I am a writer and I find this practice to be indispensable.

Benjamin, your living room looks like a wonderful place to relax and read! I'm currently about 150 pages into Middlemarch. Thanks for sharing.

I usually have multiple books going at one time, but they are usually different genres. I am truly and throughly enjoying your Hardcover Literature club, and I am really enjoying the long slow read of Middlemarch. It has caused me to really think about the characters and mull them over. Why are they the way they are? What is their motivation? What is their role in and within society? Looking forward to Moby Dick. I just ordered the Master and Margarita 🍹 😁

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

I'm so happy you're enjoying Middlemarch. It's wonderful, isn't it? We have an audio going out today with some check-in questions in anticipation of the lecture on book two this month. I can't wait to hear what everyone is making of it. I do know that many members couldn't help reading on! :)

After twenty years I’ve returned to the Nineteenth century and the eighteenth century. I’m currently reading Trollope and almost finished reading a novella by Flaubert. Penguin has an excellent series The Art of the Novella-trying to read them all.

You’re channel is amazing. I’m going through all your content while working on some physics and it’s simply wonderful. Please don’t stop. Cheers from California

@BenjaminMcEvoy

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much, Cesar! I really appreciate that, my friend. Happy reading and good luck with your physics work over in beautiful California! :)

Hello, Ben. I must say that like you, the idea of surrounding myself with a whole shelf worth of books and raking up snippets from each in the evening had crossed my mind several times over the last few days, and only today I took my first step towards executing it, and man was it rewarding! It certainly helped me demolish the “Crystal Palace”, so to speak, that I had constructed with the sense of doing injustice to the major books I was reading by indulging in such polygamy. But I’m glad I’m rid of my deluded scruples. Phew! Anyhow! I’m afraid my central list is far from being as extensive as yours, but I’m halfway through Anna Karenina - my first foray into the masterpiece, one I intend to stretch for as long as it takes to finish it - can one ever really “finish” reading a book, especially one as great as this? Alongside, I’m reading To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, the modernistic inflections of which I feel nicely balance out and provide a strong challenge to the sweeping grandeur of Tolstoy. Also, on a whim that does its eccentricities a proud justice, I read the first half of Notes From the Underground by Dostoevsky today in a single sitting, and I say this with a conceited scowl, followed by a wicked, self-indulgent grin. :D I have also been reading a few essays at random by George Orwell, Waldo and Virginia Woolf, and readily swallowing short stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Alice Munro, Chekhov, Hemingway and Saki, as and when they fall in my way. :) If I had more time, I would certainly read more poetry (I recently purchased a beautiful hardcover of John Keats’ poems), more Shakespeare, more Hugo, more Steinbeck and Faulkner and Cervantes and Jane Austen and the whole British lot and then there are the rest of the Russians... and Newton and Evolutionary Biology and... oh and learn languages... and oh... art... oh... oh well!

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

That's amazing! It sounds like you had fun fully embracing your polygamous side :) I agree with you on never really finishing a book, particularly Anna Karenina. I think I will return to Tolstoy over and over again for years to come. You've got a wonderful selection - Woolf, Dostoyevsky, Orwell, Emerson, and tons of the greatest short story writers. Nice one - really impressive stuff!

@user-xf1we9lm1e

2 жыл бұрын

How gorgeous that edition of Blood Meridian looks! 😍

Do you ever read crime fiction, detective novels, thrillers, suspense? I would love to see a Top 20-50 or whatever ranking you would come up with.

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

I do :) I love all of that, particularly settling in with a good detective novel. I'll ponder over what my top 20-50 might be. Thanks for the great idea, Gene!

Thanks for permission, I have been trying to do this and never thought it was okay. It is now!!! Yay 😁

@BenjaminMcEvoy

Жыл бұрын

It's absolutely okay ;) Happy reading, Nicholas!

I have always read quite a few books all at once. My interests are varied, so I usually find myself reading non-fiction - either some interesting history or anatomy pursuit - a short story compilation, a poetry book, and a novel or two. Sometimes three or four. The novels are usually one fluff and one deeper reading, or one easy and one harder to read, or just a variety of styles because a couple of them ask a lot of me. Like you, I will add complimentary reading to a novel if I find it or it is mentioned or adds to my understanding of it. There are stacks of books on my desk, my bedside table, in the bathroom, on my Kindle and on my Audible. Some of them are to read, some of them I start and then put down with the intention of trying again later, others I am reading, and sometimes I switch the whole lot out. I use to hide the fact that I read so many novels at once as people can be so judgemental about it. Recently I found a lot of people giving various reasons why this is actually a good thing, and these have brought me out from underneath my blanket. There are definitely good things about our virtual world! I only recently found your channel, but I love it. As soon as I am in a more financially stable situation, I am definitely going to join your Patreon. The concept of Patreon is another wonderful development of the virtual world.

One of the thing that really inspired me in college was having unlimited access to so many books at one time even if it's a few pages

Hearing you talk about how you used to read through book after book hit home for me. Recently I caught myself anticipating how long it will take to read a novel, hungrily planning what volume will be next. After some contemplation, I blamed the above practice on accepting my personal mortality. There is no Borgesian library waiting for me to pick up where I left off after death, so I read as much as I can. I have come to see this is as a mistake and have been making myself slow down. Twenty years ago I read Lord Chesterfield's for school. My professor stated that the letters were interpreted as advising his son to "have the morals of a dance master" regarding women. What Chesterfield really advised, my teacher continued, was to appear to have the morals of a dance master and you'll go far. Mostly I can't read more than one book at a time. I have tried, but it doesn't work. Right now I am reading Auden along with Travels With Alice, because my poetry intake has slackened.

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

Ah, yes, I relate to that so much. I used to do mental arithmetic in my head, figuring out how long it would take to finish the book. If I was reading on Kindle, I would keep glancing down to the percentage that told me how long left in the book. I'm glad to hear you're slowing down now :) Also, very interesting to hear that Lord Chesterfield was on your syllabus!

@WorldCitizen333

2 жыл бұрын

There is nothing wrong with "monogamous reading," as Ben calls it. I've tried both approaches and I came to the conclusion that it has much to do with character and personality type. Some people can divide their attention among multiple projects. Others are more goal-oriented and and need some payoff to sustain motivation.

I’d love to see a video discussing the books/literature/authors that have helped you the most through difficult times

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

Such a great video idea. Thanks, Tyrone :) I'm sure we can do that at some point!

I cant read multiple stories in the same sitting but i will often have physical book and an audiobook going on the same time. If i find a book difficult i will sometimes put it down and turn to a short story collection or an essay collection and read a few stories to regain my focus. About five plus years ago had found myself unable to focus and i found short stories really helped my get back into the groove of reading. I found bouncing between different collections gave a variety to rekindle my enjoyment.

Great video!! I'm mostly reading multiple books at the same time, sometimes I even stop a book for a long time and revisit it to continue. I don't do the stop-and-revisit thing intentionally but I find that this way it's like I have left the characters out there, living their lives and I revisit to know what has happened in the meantime of my absence. It almost feels as if the plot is in real-time...!

I thoroughly enjoyed this video. After discovering your channel I've been sparked into shifting my reading direction towards more classics and old favorites. I've watched a 2005 docu from PBS on Willa Cather, who I plan to read this summer. One of the few books of hers I haven't read yet is 'Sapphira and the Slave Girl.' On my July reading list is a re-read of The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde, first read about thirty years ago. And I'm planning to return to and explore deeper works by Jorge Luis Borges. Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm with us.

Right now I am reading Crime and Punishment with the essays of Emerson. I paired these together seemingly at random, but I am now seeing how serendipitous this is. They lived at essentially the same time, but the lives of Dostoevsky and Emerson were so different. Dostoevsky lived under the fist of tyranny; Emerson lived in a country prided on liberty. Dostoevsky famously lived a life of utter destitution; Emerson lives affluently and even studied at Harvard. It will certainly be interesting to juxtapose their philosophies and see how their different lives affected this.

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

That's a beautiful pairing. I love that! It sounds like you could have a fascinating book on your hands with this. A chapter pairing Emerson and Dostoyevsky in a book of criticism would be a delight :)

I love this! I also read multiple books at the same time! Always :)

I am reading three books right now, human smoke which is non fictional, I read it on and off. The main book I am reading is miss Austin, but when I am too tired to hold a book in my hand, I put on an audiobook. The audiobook can be the same novel as my main book, or not. Right now my audiobook is Northanger Abby. You might think I am a die hard Austen fan, but it is pure coincidence.

Most of my current reads are set texts at university; ‘Silas Marner’ and ‘The Picture of Dorian Grey’ two finished recently (the HL podcast episode of Wilde’s classic was great listening). I’m about half way through Gaskell’s ‘North and South’ which I’m absolutely adoring and I read Ibsen’s ‘A Dolls House’ last week which was interesting. For a regional writers module I’ve been making my way through some of D.H Lawrence’s short stories (England, my England and Odour of Chrysanthemums really did move me), paired alongside Sillitoe’s ‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’. My copy of ‘Moby Dick’ arrived today (an almost pocket sized Oxford University Press edition) and I’m excited to begin my voyage this week. Great video as always Ben, and I really cannot wait till the ‘Blood Meridian’ series begins!

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

I can’t wait for Blood Meridian too :) Perhaps our most shocking book to date? Luckily it sounds like you have a wonderful syllabus. I would be thrilled with that line-up, particularly the regional writers module!

Just found your channel! I had some major surgery a year ago and that gave me time to think about my life goals and top most is reading more great literature. Your videos will help me along the way. Thank you so much!!

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for your kind words, Heather. I really appreciate that. I hope you're recovering from your major surgery, and I hope deep-reading these great books can help you through such a challenging time.

@bradleycarroll2024

Жыл бұрын

@@BenjaminMcEvoy ditto - recovering from broken arm got weeks off useless rather than bingeing tv I've taken on ulysses and stumbled here. might even hang around as massive McCarthy and loved Mary Anne Evans this year.

So glad to hear about your style of reading. I couldn’t agree more heartedly. I read 3 or 4 books at a time. Takes the pressure off the really difficult classics. Which of course I enjoy! Thanks for the tip about rereading. What a tremendous help in understanding .

@BenjaminMcEvoy

Жыл бұрын

It's so wonderful to hear you do this style of reading too, Susan! You're so right about it taking the pressure off :) I would struggle to read any other way!

Have you tried to dive into Nordic litterature? They have a lot of impressive litterature. You should try to read Kristin Lavransdatter if you haven't.

@thomaslowry7079

2 жыл бұрын

Kristin Lavransdatter is one of my favorite books of all time! No other book captures medieval life so well and the characters are indelible! I hope that Benjamin eventually discusses this wonderful book!

I love your reading technique, i'm doing a deep Anais Nin thing, i'll be including some sources she liked and was important to her like Proust, Lawrence and Dostoevsky, also the other lightning bolt in this fashion is my beloved liberator Nietzsche with secondary inclusions for Schopenhauer and Hegel. And of course books about these 2 amazing personages Nin and Nietzsche. Thank you Benjamin, you are the most inspirational Booktuber, that enflames the reader's love for reading, i may not be as devoted to classic literature as you are, but your esprit is undeniable and i appreciate it with my whole heart, have a wonderful 2022 full of good books.

Oh man… loving the backing track Mr Ben - Nujabes vibes vibing nicely with the bookish patter

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you, Mr Rory :) I fell in love with the music when I first found it. So chill!

Benjamin: This is a great post. I have always been a monogamous reader, but now I find it rather satisfying to "cheat" on my main novel with a short story before I go to sleep. It's amazing how many short stories I've added to my reading experience doing this.

I love switching books! I have 3 on the bedside table, 6 that I read in the morning and 4 books I read throughout the day. I feel like this method helps me to be connected with the books. I read and think about what I’m reading.

great video Benjamin, i always feel guilty from reading more than 1 book

Yeah...When I was in college I was forced to read lots of books which were due in a short span of time, and I was continually switching from one book to another, and I hated it! I am MUCH more comfortable reading one book at a time, from start to finish. I'm reading _War and Peace_ now, I'm half way through after two weeks, and I'll continue reading until it is finished. I can immerse myself into the characters much more easily this way. BUT ALSO - I'm doing a little side research into the Napoleonic Wars in Wikipedia at the same time, to get a little background into the battle scenes I'm reading about. I guess that's a "deep approach".

Love your videos 😊

I loved Lincoln in the Bardo. Well one thing is certain, it is not Buried Giants, yes, Never Let Me Go or Remains of the Day. Started the second volume of Clarissa. I wish I had never heard of Gravity's Rainbow. I have also read Iris Murdoch by "bits and bobs," same with Cormac McCarthy. Glad you liked Marguerita and the Master, I came away from it thinking everyone should just read Goethe's Faust, maybe it helps if you have lived under Stalin to appreciate it.

This is a very insightful topic, I have come to terms of quality over quantity through last few months( it was a frustrating process tbh, especially with today's trends and social medias) , but to be quite honest I still find it hard to read multiple books at the same time, let alone the same day. But this actually brought into my attention something similar that I had been doing with reading multiple books without realizing it, it's I don't read two books in the same day but rather in a corse of days or weeks or even months, I remember back in December I started reading 'the adventures of sherlock holmes ' and as you might be familiar with it it's a collection of short stories, what I have been doing is every time I finish an individual book, if I find that I am craving some sherlock mystery, I find myself reading a couple of short stories of it before moving on to the next book. And the delight I have every time I pick it up is unimaginable, because I remember speed reading the second book in the series, now I don't remember much from it. But with the short stories since I have been taking my sweet time I am enjoying it alot more. What I also realized is helping with doing this sorta of approach is I neither on my GR nor in my journal have been keeping track of the book, which really makes me feel carefree for whenever I pick it up. I am actually looking forward to do the same thing with some other books that I am planning to read, since they are some long big ones haha, and my plan is reading middle grade books alongside them since I really adore them and they are mostly light hearted fun books. And thank you for this awesome video & topic :)

I have just been notified that my copy of _Lincoln In the Bardo_ has arrived. I requested this book as a direct result of watching this video. I am looking forward to reading it.

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

That's so amazing! Let me know what you think of it :)

@DATo_DATonian

2 жыл бұрын

@@BenjaminMcEvoy I finished the book and posted something here the other day, but I thought my comment was a bit over-the-top so I am replacing it with this one. It was an amazing read. I loved it. I almost immediately fell into step with what Saunders was doing - the first mention of a "sick box" put me on the right path - and the rest was the magic of the slow reveals which brought to light the nature of the Bardo and its occupants. This was one of the best recommendations I have received in a long time and I heartily thank you for it. I am already in the process of reading it again and picking up some of the minor things I missed on the first reading. Once again, many many thanks.

I completely agree with you about binge reading. I too often find myself thinking more about all the books waiting to be read than the book I'm actually reading. But there are thousands of books out there that I'd like to read, and the more I read, the bigger the list gets - and I don't have hundreds of years to live.

I just bought "Underground by Marakami" from Booktopia from your author suggestion. I have about 8 books I'm reading at the moment, but I never thought to read a little of each every day. I will have a go.

I'm just finishing Pynchon's _Mason & Dixon_ and it's sensational. Someday soon I will give _Gravity's Rainbow_ another try - I gave up on that inside of 10 pages a couple of years ago.

If you created audio for the books you suggest, I would absolutely purchase/listen to them as I love your expression and how clearly you speak. It may, be at the cost of perhaps falling asleep due to the soothing nature of your melodious voice (I have listened to your videos, for just such a purpose, quite a number of times to bypass insomnia!) ... but I will battle by multitasking work or hobbies.

George Saunders! I adore him! Have you also read Tenth of December, a collection of his own short stories? If not, I can highly recommend them. Also, the audiobook version of Lincoln in the Bardo is wonderful, done with a full cast. I'm reading In Search of Lost Time with a couple of friends. We're also using the Scott Moncrieff-Kilmartin-Enright version, but I picked up the Lydia Davis version of Swann's Way (which is the title here in America, for some reason, instead of Davis's preferred title, The Way by Swann's). I also recently got the 2nd volume of her essays (Essays Two), in which she discusses her Proust translation at length and compares it with the M-K-E version, which she made a point of reading only after her own translation was finished. Very interesting. I think her Swann's Way may be preferable, but I've heard the same can't be said for the translation of the second volume.

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

I have indeed :) He is a wonderful short story writer. I also loved his A Swim in the Pond in the Rain, where he breaks down short stories from the great Russian writers. Interesting to know that Davis avoided the M-K-E before writing. That sounds like a wise decision. I recall that Edith Grossman did the same when she translated Don Quixote. Davis is such a wonderful writer in her own right - I really need to explore more of her!

@dorothysatterfield3699

2 жыл бұрын

@@BenjaminMcEvoy I just got A Swim in a Pond last week, but I've only had time to glance at it. I'm really looking forward to digging in. There's a good 2-part interview of Saunders, done shortly after the book was published, on Michael Silverblatt's Bookworm podcast. Agree about Lydia Davis. And thanks for mentioning that someone on KZread has the Canterbury Tales, or at least parts of it, being read in Middle English. I've started listening.

I'm currently reading four books, slowly, slowly but enjoying it so very much. The Song of Solomon by T. Morrison, Tostoy's War and Peace, Marques' One Hundred Years of Solitude in Spanish and Explotion in a Cathedral by Alejo Carpentier in Spanish. All these are amazing reads!!!

Cannot wait for the Pychon podcast. I'm reading Infinte Jest rn (also Ishiguro's When We Were Orphans) and have Gravity's Rainbow slated for when I'm done, mainly just to be able to say I've read Pynchon lmao

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

Ha, the Pynchon Badge of Honour :) You'll have earned it! Gravity's Rainbow is certainly not an easy read. You've reminded me to reread Infinite Jest - it's been a while, and I'd love to see what I make of it now.

I am currently reading (or should I say listening, because I am currently using Audiobooks) Nicholas Nickleby by Dickens and then, The Godfather by Mario Puzo. Thank you for this vlog and video, Ben! I appreciate it! Please keep the videos up and also, your voice is soothing. ~

@krinklely

Жыл бұрын

Hey, Im considering audio books. May I ask which app you prefer?

@nicholasschroeder3678

6 ай бұрын

Find Puzo's first novel. It's terrific

Currently reading Great Expectations (first read), short stories of Shirley Jackson (partially rereading), and dipping back into random sections of Don Quixote as one would with Sacred Scripture.

I try and have one big novel (500+ pages) to read over the long term, one shorter novel/novella to read over the short term, and some non-fiction as well. I'm 19 and I'm only just starting to get back into reading again since the beginning of secondary school, so I'm making my way through the classics that I've missed out on: I'm currently reading Anna Karenina, The Catcher in the Rye and The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein

Thank you for this wonderful video ...these videos are a great inspiration/motivation... I just finished reading The Republic of Imagination by Azar Nafisi... the writer is deep into books ... and she writes wonderful prose ...

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you, Shabir :) Very nice recommendation - I'm going to a bookstore tomorrow, so I'll see if I can get The Republic of Imagination!

I usually can only do 4-5 books at once because it balances variety and depth (for the time I have). I, like Gene below, wonder what's your top listing of science fiction and/or fantasy? One of my personal favorites is the Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell which I think you may like too.

Great video - I like to do non-fiction (history, sociology, politics) first thing in the morning, a novel in the evening, and an essay + story right before bed.

@knowledgelust

Жыл бұрын

*short story :)

There was a time when I've read just ONE book in a year. I hated reading before because of extremely annoying russian school approach. And then I've read Capitain Blood Odyssey by Rafael Sabatini. And to this day it's my favorite book of all time. I lived in this book - I've learnt all sea slang and so on. Fast reading is good for action scenes where I'm speeding up just naturally though.

Great video thank you! I am currently reading two books, L'éducation sentimentale de Flaubert and La confession d'un enfant du siècle d'Alfred Musset. I would like to soon start reading War and Peace but it's so big! and I would like to start reading wuthering heights also in english!

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you, Elizabeth! You're reading some tremendous books there. I greatly enjoyed Flaubert but, alas, not in the original French. War and Peace is huge, but, similar to Moby Dick, the chapters are quite short - so a chapter-a-day approach works well :) Ah, Wuthering Heights - beautiful book!

@WorldCitizen333

2 жыл бұрын

I read "L'éducation sentimentale" as a teenager, so technically it was part of my sentimental education :) I can't recommend War and Peace enough. It's long, but I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that most readers finish the book wishing it was even longer, not unlike Les Miserables by Hugo which is of similar length and was an inspiration to Tolstoy. Also 20% of War and Peace is made of chapters that are short essays about history. They explain Tolstoy's theory of history and read like a companion to the novel proper. They are also quite repetitive (in my opinion), so entirely skippable on first read.

@elizabethlorr7341

2 жыл бұрын

@@BenjaminMcEvoy Thank you for your advice! I am definitely going to start reading War and Peace soon! I have Wuthering Heights in french but I prefer to read it in english because I feel it’s better, I need to get myself a copy! I’m sure one day you will be able to read in French! Like that it will give you another reason to do a deep reread of all your favourite french classics ! Flaubert, Proust, Victor Hugo…!

@elizabethlorr7341

2 жыл бұрын

@@WorldCitizen333 Well I hope that the book has given you some useful teachings about ones own sentiments! ;) I am really enjoying the story, I am at the part where Mme Arnoux and Frédéric were about to see each other secretly but just as they were going to meet up , the child of Mme Arnoux suddenly found himself sick and close to dying, as the child “miraculously” recovers, Mme Arnoux in her way of saying thank you to god, she decides not to see Frederic ( her secret lover) since she thinks that it is sinful as she is already married. Frédéric is quite devastated as you can image. I am definitely going to start reading War and Peace. I think one chapter a day should do it. Thank you for your advice!

I’m a polyamorous reader. Though it usually turns into one difficult book at a time with some short stories, poetry, and a light novel before bed. And maybe a work-related book or three on the side. Currently…. This looks like: The Stand by Stephen King Dubliners by James Joyce (and the Cambridge companion on the side-I will be working towards Ulysses) The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb The Cave and the Light by Arthur Herman (the subtitle is Plato versus Aristotle and the struggle for the soul of western civilization - fantastic) Recently reread The Shadow over Innsmouth by Lovecraft and Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus And about halfway through The Birth of Tragedy by Nietzsche. Since I live in France and have been studying French the past 4 years, I also read in French and have a private class with my French professor and we are going through the great writers of French poetry: Baudelaire, Apollinaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine. I’ve taken a recent side trip to work through parts of Candide in French as well and more focus on the Symbolists is coming. Proust is a future endeavor. I also just finished The Dharma Bums by Kerouac which led me to dig into Gary Snyder and Philip Whalens poetry.

Well, I looked into some of these and ordered The Master and Margarita, The Buddha and the Terrorist, and Lincoln in the Bardo, so cheers for the rec's!

Try Murdock: The Sea, The Sea

I can't say I subscribe to Ben's method fully (I lack the patience), but I'm usually reading about between 2 and 4 books simultaneously. Most of the time, one of them draws me in and I finish it quickly as recently happened with Middlemarch for the book club. So much for serial reading! :) Right now I'm progressing slowly through Hamlet, Moby Dick, Les Fleurs du Mal by Baudelaire, and a religious book in Arabic ( Zaad Al Maad by Ibn Al Qayim).

@thomaslowry7079

2 жыл бұрын

Middlemarch really pulled me in! Once I fully enter the world of the novel I just can't stop reading! My head says that Benjamin is correct, read slowly, savoring every word. My heart says the opposite, "My God this is a love story...what is going to happen!" I can't wait to find out!

@WorldCitizen333

2 жыл бұрын

​@@thomaslowry7079 I can relate ,Thomas. Some books are just irresistible. It's not even the suspense or entertainment that is hard to resist, it's the intellectual pleasure (for lack of a better word). I ended Middlemarch with more than a hundred highlights, which for me are passages that made me think of other books or people I know or events that happened in my own life and made me want to stop and write about all of the above. It's going to be one of those books that I will have to re-read every couple years and which will grow on me with life experiences. But I think I will re-read it with the book club as well, so I can actually do that writing.

@thomaslowry7079

2 жыл бұрын

@@WorldCitizen333 Benjamin's Channel is so awesome! One is not likely to meet someone interested in Middlemarch in real life! I share your excitement! Middlemarch is set in a time of great change, the beginnings of industrialization. I was constantly reminded that we are also in a period of great change! The parallels were downright mind-boggling! George Elliot is amazing. Her novel Adam Bede is also fantastic!

@WorldCitizen333

2 жыл бұрын

​@@thomaslowry7079 I loved that aspect of the book as well. It forced me to learn about the social and political context to fully appreciate the book. This newly acquired knowledge unlocks many other books for me which in the past seemed uninteresting (Dickens for example, and Victorian literature as a whole). I'm very grateful for that. But the main gain remains George Eliot's psychological and political insights. I feel like I met an author whose worldview is close to mine, with much more intelligence and erudition. I look forward to reading her other novels soon. Adam Bede was her first novel and the next on my to-read list.

@WorldCitizen333

2 жыл бұрын

@@thomaslowry7079 "One is not likely to meet someone interested in Middlemarch in real life!" That's unfortunately true, although I joined Ben's book club recently and I do not despair of meeting someone there from my neck of the woods!

Yes Benjamin! Work on the Canterbury Tales project. 👏👏👏👏

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

I'm glad you're up for it, Patricia :)

I’m so surprised to hear you were in Toronto. I could have taken you around to all of the best bookstores. It would have been great to meet up.

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

That would have been awesome! There was a great little indie bookstore along Queen Street West where I picked up Lincoln in the Bardo the day it came out. And I used to go to different Indigos every few days. I know the mega-stores killed a lot of indie stores off, but I can't help but love wandering through the stacks.

@alanscheer2137

2 жыл бұрын

@@BenjaminMcEvoy bmv on bloor is four floors of the greatest bargains. Why were you here?

Book monogomy: Try ro read The Cemetary of Forgotten Books series by Carlos Ruiz Zafron and ANY other book!!!!! at the same time

Finished reading Heart of Darkness by Conrad. I had put off reading it because I was afraid there would be gruesome passages about elephants and slavery. I abhor things of that nature even though they are facts of history. The main character was not on a Carnival Cruise but more like a crisis cruise. I spent two weeks in the Peruvian Amazon sailing from Iquitos, Peru. Sleeping outdoors under mosquito netting, using machetes to cut paths through the jungle, riding in canoes at night for exploration and always being aware of snakes. At one camp where I stayed a man was bitten by a fer de lance, which is the most dangerous snake in Central and South America. Never heard what happened to him but it can take hours by boat to get medical attention. I came home with the knowledge that this place actually exists. The book spoke of realities that are hidden and fearsome. It was filled with tragedy and evil of a kind that is inherent in this world. Fortunately, I have a world view that gives me faith in divine justice.

Ben I know you get swamped w recommendations but I suggest Murakaml's "Kafka By The Shore". Hope to see an episode on Murakami soon. Keep up the good work.

I had Lincoln/Bardo in my possession for a while, and I read some of it but stopped and returned it to the library. I had a similar reaction to Bardo as was my reaction reading Ulysses nearly 30 years ago at 18 or 19 years old; at that time with but the most meager context of modern lit. I went into Ulysses with the assumption that I should be able to understand and that if I did not there was something wrong with me, that I was insufficient, inadequate to the task, and an incompetent reader. All this was inchoate, I gave it no expression, nor could I have done. With Bardo, ... a narrative from extracts augmenting Saunders' prose, extracts of documents of the time of the narrative, of Lincoln's time, so gimmicky, like just searching for anything to be new and noteworthy. It struck me as a collage, and isn't it one? hell, collage ain't new! I suppose I've given away that I didn't read very much of Bardo, maybe 60-80 pages.. I read 300 pages of Ulysses when I first took it up, and then again later I read the same 300 pages; a decade later again, I read the whole novel. I've gone back to it several times to read passages. Lately I've heard two rave reviews of Bardo, so I'm reevaluating my reaction. It seemed to me then, and after reflection that seeming is confirmed, that what saunders has done Joyce had done in Ulysses. Ulysses was published 100 years ago. I think it is the emotional attachment that... people have to...maybe... certain sympathetic character, Lincoln being one, and what young dead boy wouldn't elicit such a strong reaction. it seems to me that saunders is only giving us what is already easy to love. he gives us a very unlovable cage inputs very lovable, endearing, and indeed already fully ingratiated characters into the cage. Joyce gives us Bloom quite knowing forehand how unlovable he will present to his audience despite his being an earthy Myshkin as it were. I formed no attachment to Bardo; it did not imprint on me nor I on it. But neither did Ulysses when I first read it. I had to work hard to extract the pulp. But I would attempt Bardo again; then again, why not just skip it go back read Ulysses again.

Hey Benjamin, i have a question that's totally unrelated to your video😅. I Just started reading Dostojevski. My first was notes from the underground (which i Just finished) and was wondering what book you recommend next. Im from the Netherlands so not every book of his is translated yet. If appreciate multiple suggestions so at least one of Them is translated. Love the content!

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

Hello over in the Netherlands :) I've always wanted to visit your beautiful country! For Dostoyevsky, my next recommendation would 100% be Crime and Punishment :)

An evening dabbling through multiple books is heaven.

You're videos are so informative, Ben. I'm an actor and newbie theatre director and have only just started reading the classics. I cant even begin to describe how much its helped me as an actor and director. You're introduced to a wealth of characters that you can draw on. Incredible. You should do video on the great playwrights. Would love to see that! Just about to start Anna Karenina (Maude translation though) ..:(. Keep up the great content, sir!

Don't know if you have read "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" by Hunter Thompson. It is the LSD of American literature.

Lord Chesterfields letters to his son?! - you and Lydia Languish... me atm: Ghostland, Edward Parnell; Beautiful and damned and Tender is the night, F. Scott Fitzgerald; Letters to Camondo, Edmund de Waal; Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh; London a pilgrimage, Jerrold and Dore; Anglo Saxon Attitudes, Angus Wilson; Worlds in Collision, Immanuel Velikovsky (reread)...etc....they call out to be picked up as you wander around, and you find out are woven together when you read...they relate in ways that surprise...and bookshops...and online secondhand. I chase particular covers sometimes. I love the transience of paperbacks. Am still looking to recover the old cheap paperback of Jack Kerouac's Desolation Angels with a sculptural cherub wearing sunglasses on an American flag... good luck with Lord Chesterfield (I'm impressed) and the Master and Margherita. Awesome, have never read... subscribed because of your awesome reading habits.

If one reads anything too fast or too slowly one understands nothing.

Benjamin, if you did a reading of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales", I would snap it up in a hot second. I was an Accounting major at UPenn's Wharton School many moons ago. What was my favorite course there???? Why, my Chaucer class!!!! That tells you how I felt about my career as an accountant after graduation. 😂

Multiple. Plus I always have to have a photography or fashion book to ogle. I'm a photographer and love fashion. Annie Leibovitz Wonderland fits both those. Am enjoying that now. I have my Hardcore books for the expansion of the mind. Am still working on Brother's Karamozov and Don Quixote. The Lincoln book you mentioned is on my list. I have autographed copy, so will have to kindle. Am definitely interested in Klarna and the Sun. Am reading The Rose Code. I like all of Kate Quinn's books. I like to mix in fun easy books...on list are The Paris Apartment, by Foley, How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 days, The Christie Affair. The Ladies of the Secret Circus. History books always...next on list The Duchess Countess. Then, I have my religious books, prayer books.....You should definitely record The Canterbury Tales!!

Just finished Gravity's Rainbow and currently reading angela Carter's Nights At the Circus.

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

Very nice! How did you find Gravity's Rainbow?

@andrewglasson592

2 жыл бұрын

@@BenjaminMcEvoy I liked it. Its the 2nd time I have read it. It is a hard book to read through it being a dense read but enjoyable. I have read Against The Day, Crying of Lot 49 and Inherent Vice and have V, Viceland and Mason and Dixon to read sometime later this year. I thought I would start the year with three great books such as Middlemarch, Ulysses and Gravity's Rainbow.

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

@@andrewglasson592 That's awesome. I found listening to a narration of Gravity's Rainbow pulled out the humour. I'm also looking forward to Mason and Dixon. As you've read a ton of Pynchon, which work would you say is his best/your favourite?

@andrewglasson592

2 жыл бұрын

@@BenjaminMcEvoy I like Gravity's Rainbow, Crying of Lot 49 and Against The Day.

The Hero With a Thousand Faces is THE seminal read regarding mythology - even more than the somewhat dated The Golden Bough by Frazer or Graves' The White Goddess. George Lucas utilised The Hero for the mythical 'scaffolding' of his Star Wars films and I'll let you into a secret: if you understand The Hero With a Thousand Faces, you'll understand EVERYTHING The Beatles did...

I am a monogamous reader. I am currently reading the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. I struggle to follow multiple storylines and characters when I read, so polygamous reading isn’t satisfying. I recently fell in love with reading and started my journey through some of the more notable classics. I have found that I really like authors who spend time illustrating worlds in which the characters are living. When the authors don’t, I find myself drifting and giving them locations that don’t fit the narrative’s setting. I played lots of call of duty as a child, so I often place my characters in the virtual maps call of duty created.

My strategy is to read 1 long novel at a time, then mix in short stories and plays in between too.

@BenjaminMcEvoy

10 ай бұрын

You have a very powerful strategy there!

Your videos are so perfect for me...for all my confusions... One thing I want to ask...is it necessary to read and feel good the book that I hate to read for its complicated verbose though the book is widely acclaimed.... particularly stream of consciousness... They are great literature...but not great to my understanding..

@Benjamin McEvoy, Are you familiar with Martin Lings: The Sacred Art of Shakespeare: To Take Upon Us the Mysterious of Things? Is it worth the price? TIA!! Much appreciated!!

@Benjamin McEvoy have you read/heard of Martin Lings : To Take upon Us the Mystery of Things? Is it worth the price? TIA!!

You lived in Toronto? Wow. Hope you enjoyed it - it’s my hometown and where I work. 🇨🇦

@BenjaminMcEvoy

Жыл бұрын

Loved it! I lived on Queen St West for much of it. Wonderful city for a foodie like myself :)

@jallen418

6 ай бұрын

I did not care for Norwegian Wood or the plotline. The Wind Up Bird Chronicle was one of my favorite books of all time.

The porcelain/ceramic bowl centerpiece on your coffee table. Do you know the maker/artist/brand? Thank you.

@BenjaminMcEvoy

Жыл бұрын

That was a very kind gift from one of the members of the book club. I'll ask him who made it! I recall that it was an independent maker and that the chip and gold glue was specified :)

@artelc

Жыл бұрын

@@BenjaminMcEvoy lol. You have good members. I will look into the book club. I am new to your channel. I want to make a confession: the last time I read fiction was 20 years ago. I used to read French literature at school but have not read any literature since I graduated. I am a scientist and it is really shameful that I have only focused on research papers and books within my field of biochemistry. I have been feeling that something was missing, and that my ability to make sense of my world outside of the lab, even within the applications of my lab work on actual life, has diminished. I started looking into what made some of my colleagues seem happier, more fulfilled, and better at making their lives more cultured and relatable to complex thoughts and what happens socially and politically. I have become the typical and stereotypical tunnel vision person that doesn’t have enough depth of character to appreciate the complexities of life. I know this sounds judgmental but it is, perhaps, an understatement. I don’t know where to start. I just purchased EML book: the complete short novels of Anton Chekhov as I thought short novels might make sense for me at this stage. Also, I recall the incredible depth of analysis and intuition that I found in the mandatory readings at my French Catholic school in Beirut, which included Rousseau, Dostoevsky; for some reason, Flaubert, Hugo, Proust, de Beauvoir, and Baudelaire. I like Russian sensibilities in classical music, literature, philosophy and art. It is a misunderstood or hard-to-approach culture and my mother’s ancestors are Russians. I now live in Dallas, Texas. And I think my father has ancestors from Scotland: Hampden. That inability to relate to any specific place or culture has done a thing or two to my perspective on the world. I am sure reading can give anyone that perspective or more because I don’t feel I have a special access or deeper insight into any culture or society. Excuse my long comment. I do appreciate your response. Your KZread content is phenomenal. Thank you. I am David

Your audio would be great because we could ask you all our questions!

Nabokov wrote in a letter to Edmond Wilson that reading for him was rereading. He always read a book twice the first time. He didn't want to leave impressions ("thumbprints") created by his mind on the text. Do you agree?

@BenjaminMcEvoy

Жыл бұрын

Absolutely. I think the mark of a great book is how many rereadings it sustains and demands. The best of the best can be read endlessly. Two readings when encountering a great book for the first time is a great start, and wise advice from Nabokov!

When i read slow, i find myself picking up the call back references from earlier in the book and realize just how much ive forgotten and i become lost at points as well because of that 😂

I don’t get Chaucer, I’ve tried but failed miserably every time. Worth another shot or move on?

@BenjaminMcEvoy

Жыл бұрын

I'd say he's worth another shot. But he'll always be there, so there's no great rush. The language provides a significant obstacle, and I think Chaucer would really benefit from a guide/commentaries. Whilst I enjoyed some of The Canterbury Tales, I largely didn't take to his works until only fairly recently. What made you abandon him?

@AcidicDelusion

Жыл бұрын

@@BenjaminMcEvoy definitely the Middle English. Really taxing to get into a rhythm and stay on beat. Shakespeare is much easier in that regard. My loss I suppose as I’ll never truly appreciate him.

Currently going through Plato and soon going to dive into Aristotle. One question: What's the ideal way to start with Aristotle ? I do have Nicomachean Ethics, I just don't know if I should start with it.

@BenjaminMcEvoy

2 жыл бұрын

Very nice. My top recommendation would be to start with the Nicomachean Ethics, and go slow. Think on paper, journal, and apply the framework to your life today/supply examples that are most relevant to you. We have a couple of podcasts walking through the work generally, and then focusing on the virtues of courage, temperance, generosity, magnificence, pride, ambition, and good temper. You might find them to be useful. Or if you wanted to start with a different work, I would recommend following your interests. Aristotle has written about so many subjects, so there's plenty to choose from. His "Poetics" is great for writers and storytellers, and is quite a bit slimmer than the Ethics, so that might be a good place to start too. Let me know how you get on!

Do you think every books deserve a deep reading?

@WorldCitizen333

2 жыл бұрын

I recommend you watch his video about Stephen King.

Lydia Davies's translation is far superior. If I had read the Moncrieff version first, think I would have given up on volume 1. Didn't connect with it at all.

Im shocked to see that someone else reads like this. It has been my secret shame 😂

Portrait of a lady is not his best. Usually the book that makes an great writer famous might not be his best.

Love your volg, but I didn't know you were going to take over my KZread, back off!

Try Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy!!!!

@siamcharm7904

2 жыл бұрын

or the crossing.