Lisa C. Hayden

Ha, yes, there's no good way! And I was definitely lucky to only need 3 stitches. (So much blood!) This happened Memorial Day 2024 and I'm still skittish about cutting cabbage. I ask for help...

That sounds like something I'd do!

My worst kitchen miscalculation was using a very sharp knife to slice cabbage and then slicing a fingertip so badly I needed stitches (3?). It was incredibly stupid to cut the cabbage the way I was cutting it.

I wish I could read lying down but I just can't! I have a lap desk that works pretty well for tomes... And now that I think about it, the tome would probably fit very nicely on one of the book stands I have in my office. I much prefer smaller books, though, and will order up that combo edition! 😊

Oh, thank you for this! Even a new copy is cheaper (and more space efficient, I'm sure!) than buying individual used copies of all three plays!

I did read part of one play in the giant tome and was surprised to find that it wasn't as onerous to read from as I'd expected. It is awkward though!

I buy almost everything secondhand and "uncertain outcomes" sums things up beautifully!

It's funny how a physical book can affect the reading like that! My Outline book is a floppy, somewhat yellowed, and slightly dusty paperback but Transit is a hardcover that looks and feels unread.

I already put it in the book cart! Oddly, I don't have any of the "problem" plays in single book versions lying around though I do have the gigundo tome with everything.

Thank you!

Thank you! I'm looking forward to starting Transit, particularly since I have a nice hardcover from the library book sale!

So true! We got only the faintest dusting but at least it was recognizable...

We're even getting flurries where I live! (Greater Portland)

Yes. The schedule is all.

I've read all too little Henry James despite having enjoyed everything I read.

Thank you, by the way, for the word "yonk."

I read it 20-25 years ago and enjoyed it.

I'm also not a fan of Trust, which ended up feeling underwhelming.

And I agree about The Brothers K, which I read in a philosophy in literature course. I think often about The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor and always seem to mean to reread the whole novel. Notes from Underground, too.

Thank you!

My Signet book, same cover, was $1.75. (Purchased in September 1981...)

(I meant ! and not @, oops!)

What a beautiful cat@

Oh, that's an Interesting idea! I have Augustus on the shelf, unread...

I hear you! My book cart (and the shelves on the other side of my chair, too) is constantly stuffed.

How funny that you chose those two books to illustrate your dislikes! I read almost exactly 1/2 of The Idiot because I just couldn't take it. (My FD "likes" are a v. short list...) But I loved Charterhouse of Parma. (Though that was, er, about 40 years ago so who knows what I'd think now...)

@literaturesc.bsky.social are you thinking ancient classic or a more recent classic? (There is still Balzac...)

And funny that @rpmoon.bsky.social mentions Clarissa. I thought I had that book but checked the shelf and found Pamela instead! 🤦‍♀️

This feels like some weird sign to read Herodotus: I've run into two mentions of him as I've been translating today! (One was about the former name of the Dnipro River, Borysthenes... I forget why he popped up the first time.)

What did you read by Herodotus?

Yes, Polina's a wonderful poet! I haven't read much (any?) of her prose so am looking forward to the NYRB book.

Yes on all counts!

I'm also very grateful to LiteratureSupporter! For many books, especially Proust and Powell, whom I'd postponed many times. The odd thing about this trilogy is that it fascinates me (I get that banal "train wreck" feel!) such that I have to figure out why I'm fascinated. I'm grateful for that, too!

We've only had light drizzle!

And I'm ready for the next book...

Thank you, @johnneeleman.bsky.social & @christina500.bsky.social's mom for expressing something I was feeling but hadn't quite formulated. What I find most interesting (& irritating!) is that the book is mundane & an outline but it kept me reading. Why? Universality? Understanding? I have no idea.