This is a very fly-by blog post, mainly because my last few posts have been "reviews" (of sorts" only and I always like to say hello! On a road trip today, a little unexpected, today was going to be catching up with paperwork, so I'm most pleased.
I've got quite a few posts pending: a summary of Book III of The Faerie Queene, which I've been writing as I read (although I am behind), one on An Autobiography by Anthony Trollope (loved it!), and finally one on Abbé Mouret's Transgression by Émile Zola, with a few notes on the translator (almost entirely written. Almost). But today we're out, and that means I get a lot of time to read. I've been thinking all morning of what to take, and I've finally decided today will be a sort of "catch up" / "duty read" day. So here's what's coming with me:
- A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft for my "Ought to have read by now".
- The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. (Penguin Greats)
- The Seducer's Diary by Søren Kierkegaard. (Penguin Greats)
- Of Mistresses, Tigresses and Other Conquests by Giacomo Casanova (Penguin Greats)
- Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (Penguin Greats)
- The Eaten Heart: Unlikely Tales of Love by Giovanni Boccaccio (Penguin Greats)
- Deviant Love by Sigmund Freud (Penguin Greats)
- His Excellency by Émile Zola (Rougon Macquart, but not a duty read obviously)
- The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spencer (Narrative Poems)
Obviously I won't read them all today, but I will manage a few. I'm most looking forward to Vindication, I think. But I'll see how it goes.
It's like a little "On the Road Readathon"!
Anyway, must dash. Hope everyone has a lovely day, and I shall post my Zola thoughts tomorrow!
This post reminded me of Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" film (not sure whether you are familiar with it), where this character, girl Suzy, decides to run away with a boy, and she takes a suitcase full of books with her. (And a cat, and scissors, but not much else.)
ReplyDeleteSometimes I feel like Suzy, and now you reminded me of her too :)
The only thing scarier than your list is the fact that you'll probably finish them all. Have a nice day! :)
ReplyDeleteHow fun! Enjoy yourself and the pile of books you've taken with you. (Wollstonecraft is also on my ought to have read by now, though n my case it should on the "just come the f%@# on and read this in its entirety because it's really rather embarrassing that you haven't" pile.)
ReplyDeleteP.S. I ditto Caro's comment. ;)
I totally did not finish them all! I'm not a machine :) Actually, I fell asleep at one point, plus I couldn't fit the Zola in my bag :)
ReplyDeleteRiv - love that! All *I* think you need on a road trip are books, budgies, a loo roll (because you never know), eyeliner, and a blanket :)
I wasn't a big fan of the Wollstonecraft book. I remember being frustrated by how passive it was, for being such a "feminist" staple. That was me not knowing much about the feminist movement, though, and not appreciating small steps of advancement that would reverberate through history. I am going to re-read it in the not-too-distant future, and I hope I appreciate it more next time around.
ReplyDeleteI loved Giovanni's Room. But E.M. Forster's Maurice is better. :P
I really didn't enjoy Wollstonecraft, I ended up storming it because it was, as you say, very passive.
ReplyDeleteAs for Giovanni's Room - by the time I picked it up I was pretty tired, so I decided to leave it - I do think I'll like it, and it would have been a shame to storm that one because I wasn't in the mood. So, yesterday were all duty reads :)