Donesville

Finally!  I have read The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle cover to cover, 1200 pages in all. 

A big book to say the least.  Some of the stories were very good, but then others were a real noggin scratcher.  When I found that I had read a noggin scratcher, I wondered if Sir Arthur had "phoned-in" some of the stories, because his passion (and the plot) wasn't really represented. 

I didn't see what the big deal was with The Hound of the Baskervilles.  I thought his first novel, A Study in Scarlet, was vastly better.  I am glad I read this book.  It was interesting reading for the most part, and by the latter stories I could figure out the important points before Sherlock Holmes solved the cases.

And now, on to the next book.   I have picked out two random numbers, and according to the Nashville Public Library's website, both books are available at the main branch. They are both shorter than the book I finished by half, so that's a bonus!  I'll talk about the chosen book in my next post.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle aka The Verbose One

Yes....I  am  still reading Sherlock Holmes.  I have about 300 more pages to go,  so  the end is in sight.

I would have been finished with it by now if I had been more devoted to my reading, but hey, life got in the way.

I managed to finish the first draft my novel (!), and  it is  now being proofread and edited.  I have also  been researching  publishing  houses, and creating a synopsis.  The synopsis is a real booger.  Basically,  I have to distill 70,000 words into two pages of text.  Of course, everything is important to me, so this is proving to be a big task.

And then,  for basically a week I took a self defense class, which was awesome and  empowering.  I never knew that I could wail on a heavily padded person with such force.  It was a great experience.

Directly after that, I went on a family vacation.  I managed to get sunburned, and the mosquitoes found me to be  delicious, but, I had a great time hanging out with the family, and decompressing.

So there it is.  I am still  reading, amongst other things.

On to The Complete Sherlock Holmes

So, I finished Charlotte Bronte.  Wonderful book, and it absolutely spoke to me, being a person going through the writing process.

My next book is the Complete Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Folks, this is by far the largest book I have read thus far.  I am reading 4 novels, and over 50 short stories.  The font is tiny y'all.  We're taking an 8 point font max here.  I almost feel like I need to go to the eye doctor for a new prescription - it is that small.

I've gone through the first two novels, and now I have a bunch of short stories before I get to the Hound of the Baskervilles.  I must say it is very enjoyable reading, but I was disappointed that Sherlock Holmes used  cocaine.  I didn't know that.  Okay, so you might say what rock have you been hiding under, and that would be the rock known as TV.  Most of my  knowledge of  Sherlock Holmes is from  Star Trek,  where Data was  Sherlock Holmes on the holodeck and that rad butler from The Nanny sitcom was  Moriarty.  Hey...I'm  trying to better myself here.

Anyhoo, the experience so far is very enjoyable.  It is extremely clever writing, and the endings are not completely predictable.  I continue to plow through.

Charlotte Bronte ..... kindred

So,  I am almost done reading the autobiography of Charlotte Bronte, as written by her friend and fellow author Elizabeth Gaskell.  She was a fascinating person...what a mind.

When she was 5, she could debate people in politics.  Politics people!  Most kids that age are trying to keep their crayolas in the lines.  She led a rather quiet life with her sisters and father, and very much preferred it that way.  Her life was certainly her own.

The thing I'm getting most out of this book is how she sees herself as an author, and her creative process.  As a person that is working on her first novel, I found this particularly fascinating.  She marveled at the people that she created out of her imagination, as I have done as well.  Also, she said that she might not write for weeks or days, but when her inspiration hits, she writes and writes until her thoughts are on paper.  Oh hi hello!

What a timely book to read.  I have about 100 pages to go,  and then I will be on to my next book in this project.

Thomas Paine - The Rights of Man

Yes - I read introduction to epilogue Thomas Paine's Rights of Man.

I know this was written during a time when the written word was the primary source for enlightenment, entertainment and edification.  I respect that, and indeed the book was beautifully written.  It encompasses the best principles for a beautiful governnment.

Thomas Paine was basically writing to counter the claims of a Mr. Burke, a Brit who found the French Revolution to be an awful endeavor, and waxed eloquent on the beauty that is financing an aristocracy.

If I had to address Mr. Burke in the present day, I would have done it more succinctly.

Mr. Burke......yo mama.  And thus ends my commentary...almost.

Of course, when Thomas Paine wrote, the weight of the pen, I believe, had more value, and whoa did he have the gift of gab.  It was beautiful to read, and I encourage anyone that enjoys freedom to read his work.

And now I am almost half done with my next assigned book.  I am reading The Life of Charlotte Bronte, written by Elizabeth Gaskell.  She was Bronte's friend, and an excellent writer in her own right.  I am thoroughly enjoying it, and will save my opinions for the next post.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Man....this book made me angry.  Tess gets raped, has a baby that subsequently dies.  Tries to live a quiet life, knowing that Victorian standards have made her an undesireable marriage partner.  Then, a dood totally crushes on her, she resists and resists, tries to tell him her terrible past, which he does not allow, and then after they are finally married, she has the opportunity to tell him, and does, and he shuns her.

So flipping angry at this  book.

I won't give away the ending, but it is not a happy one.  Granted, the prose was extremely pretty.  Thomas Hardy had his way around a sentence, and he did know lots of 50 cent words, but still, this book hacked me off.

But, I'm still glad I read it.  I am very happy with this project.  I feel like I am learning a lot, and that is exactly what I wanted to happen.

So, I picked yet another random number, and I am reading The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine.

"These are the times that try men's souls."  Powerful.  People just don't talk like that anymore.  We are losing creativity whilst delving deeper and deeper into social comfort and convenience.   And I am writing that sentence on a blog.  We have come full circle.

Babar - the author was a freak

So, my second book was The Story of Babar.  As it is a children's book,  this was the very first time I had to go into the children's department in the library.

All of the shelves were waist high, so I had to stoop to find the book.

I must have looked like a sight.  Anyhoo, I found the book, and read it.  I have come to the conclusion that there is a very good reason that this book was not in the adult section.  You need to possess a certain quality called suspension of disbelief, which children seem to have in abundance and adults, who are used to the cold, hard reality of things, have a hard time with.

My first problem with the book was in the very beginning, Babar's mom gets shot.  This is the reason that I only watched Bambi once y'all.  ONCE.  I do not dig seeing dead animals, especially in something geared towards children.  Strike one against the book.

Then, Babar decides to walk to France, from Africa no less, where he befriends an old lady, who proceeds to put him in a pair of pants.  What is so wrong with being an elephant.  It is lame and racist of the old biddy.  Strike two.

Further into the story, he marries his  cousin Celeste.  Um hello?  YOUR COUSIN?  Do they want babies with two tails or something.  Freaks.  Strike three.

So there you have it, I read a children's book that I should have just read as a child, but as a child I probably would have not liked it, since I do not dig dead animals in books.

Once I finished Babar,  I picked my next number, which was 39.  I am currently reading Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.