Janet Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 I'm looking forward to Far From the Madding Crowd. I've really enjoyed the two Hardys I've read so far. I have bought a few books from the master list for this challenge. It's just fitting them in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Too many books, too little time I've read 11 off the list so far, and am reading a 12th in Nicholas Nickleby I read a few all at once at the start of the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 Too many books, too little time I've read 11 off the list so far, and am reading a 12th in Nicholas Nickleby I read a few all at once at the start of the year. Just finished my twelfth, Cider with Rosie, so tracking each other, at least roughly speaking! Agree about the lack of time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 I know we've officially got a couple of weeks left on the Nicholas Nickleby group read, but maybe we could have a think about doing another group read for the challenge after that. I was thinking of starting at the beginning of February? The books I'd like to suggest are: DORSET: Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy GREATER MANCHESTER: North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell HAMPSHIRE: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins LINCOLNSHIRE: The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot WEST MIDLANDS: Middlemarch by George Eliot WILTSHIRE: Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope I'm definitely daunted by Hardy and Eliot, so one of those would probably be top of my list, but I'd be happy with any of the others. I can't remember what everyone else has read, so some of these might already have been read by others, or perhaps someone else might have another they'd like to suggest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 I would prefer to read Hardy in one go (albeit that it will probably take me several weeks). My first two preferences would be North and South - I've done a little research and this was originally published in instalments - although Gaskell wasn't happy with the time constraints put upon her and the novel, and when it was published in book form she added bits to it. and The Woman in White. I've had this on my to read "radar" for many years, but for some reason find the idea of it a bit daunting. Middlemarch was published in just eight instalments, I believe, although as it's over 800 pages (Penguin edition) they must have been large magazines! I haven't researched the other Eliot but I did read Silas Marner a few years ago and really enjoyed it. It's not as long as Middlemarch. I don't know much about Barchester Towers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) I've read all of them bar Mill on the Floss. They are all fabulous - 5 or 6 star reads - and I hope whichever one you choose, you enjoy them as much as I did. Of those, the lightest read is probably Barchester Towers - indeed, I first read it at 14/15 as a set book at school pre-O-level, and raced through it. I think, once you get stuck in to The Woman in White, you won't want to hang around waiting to read the next 'episode' - it's pretty compulsive reading! I read Far From The Madding Crowd last year, and also found it a pretty easy read, one of Hardy's easier ones, which surprised me; loved every second of it! North and South is probably a mite more of a challenge than these, but I'm finding Gaskell one of the easier Victorian writers (Cranford being the most straightforward). Bar perhaps N&S, I'd say all the above were easier reads than Dickens, certainly no harder, mainly because he does tend to the wordy. The most challenging for me to read was comfortably Middlemarch, which I did for A-Level: it's humungous and Eliot isn't always the easiest writer. Silas Marner was much easier! I haven't read it since, but it's on my list for this year. Anyway, hope that helps, although you'll probably find them all completely different! Edited January 3, 2015 by willoyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virginia Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 What about Wives and Daughters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 What about Wives and Daughters? It's not part of the English Counties Challenge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 (edited) Thanks for your thoughts Willoyd, that's helped concentrate my mind. I've read Far From the Madding Crowd, but would be keen to do an Eliot - I find the thought of those rather intimidating! Edited January 4, 2015 by Alexi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 If Willoyd thinks North and South is the most challenging of those then maybe that should be the one? Are we going to try to read the same version as each other? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virginia Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I'll just step out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Sorry, Virginia, I didn't mean to exclude you but as Willoyd said, it's not a book that's been chosen for this particular challenge and I think that (certainly the three of us who did the last group read - the one of Nicholas Nickleby) would like to read something part of that challenge as there are lots of classics included. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virginia Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 (edited) If Willoyd thinks North and South is the most challenging of those then maybe that should be the one? Are we going to try to read the same version as each other? It's Middlemarch that I thought was the most challenging. I reckon N&S is probably the most challenging of those other than the Eliots (assuming Mill on the Floss is typical). Edited January 4, 2015 by willoyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Sorry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I'm up for North and South or Middlemarch to be honest! Do you have a preference J? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Not really. If Middlemarch is more challenging then that would probably be a slight preference for me, but I'm happy to go with either - or one of the others (apart from the Hardy which I'd prefer to read in one go). Claire - any thoughts/preferences? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 I would like to do Middlemarch as a group read, as I know I've started it before but it was in my pre-Kindle days and it's a really thick, heavy paperback, and I struggled carrying it around, so gave up after book I. I am still daunted by starting it again, but only because it's such a long book not because it was a difficult read. However, from what I remember, it is very densely written and looking at the eight books within it, I think they'd be difficult to read one per week, we might need to subdivide them again, or perhaps do one book per fortnight, or even one per month? EDIT: I'm also happy to do North and South too, if you would both prefer that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Nope, I'm happy to do Middlemarch. I didn't actually realise it was books within a book. I've found this about it online: The length of the novel actually forced Eliot's agent (and long-time lover), George Henry Lewes, to invent a new way to publish it. For most of the 19th-century, novels were published in one of two ways – either broken into installments of one or two chapters to be printed in a magazine (like Charles Dickens's novels), or published in 3-volume hardbacks (called triple deckers). But Middlemarch was too big to fit into three volumes, and publishing it a chapter or two at a time would take forever. So Lewes arranged to have it printed in eight installments over the course of sixteen months to get people hooked on the story, and then to print it altogether in four volumes. This was a great move by Lewes – Middlemarch sold like crazy, and confirmed Eliot's reputation as the greatest living English novelist.Sixteen months is a long time to read a novel in! Source: http://www.shmoop.com/middlemarch/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 Ok, well it looks like Middlemarch is next! I'm definitely going to buy myself a Kindle version (see my previous post ), so I've been having a look at the multitude of editions available, and I'm going to go for the Penguin Classics edition which is currently £1.89 - it's not the cheapest (although I couldn't find a free one), but it's a personal thing that I just trust their editions. Of course, we don't need to get the same version, but that's the one I'm going for. Looking at the table of contents, the eight books are split into between 9 and 12 chapters, so I was wondering how long you'd like to take to read it? I've already mentioned either one book per fortnight or per month, or maybe look at splitting each book up into two or three batches of chapters of four or five each week? We've got a few weeks to make up our minds, if we start at the beginning of February. Just wanted to say, in case anyone else is interested, this will be open to anyone to join in who wants to, whether or not you're doing the English Counties challenge … the more the merrier! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 That's the version I was looking at, Claire, although I was dithering because some of the reviews are less than favourable (it having American spelling being one) and it says it's 491 pages long, so I was concerned it was abridged - although it could be due to the print size in the paperback version? And yes, anyone can join in, and maybe others will this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 The reviews are misleading - if you click on any of the Kindle editions, you get the same reviews, so you can't guarantee which edition they're reviewing, other than it's a Kindle edition. I wondered about the page numbers as well, but looking at the equivalent paperback edition from Penguin Classics (with the same introduction) it's showing as 880 pages. It doesn't say it's abridged, and looking at the sample, it looks the same, so I wonder if it's an error? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I think we're just going to have to bite the bullet and go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Middlemarch would be my preference too I'm happy to go to the penguin edition. Does one book a fortnight make sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 Why don't we try for one book a fortnight and see how it goes? Some are definitely longer than others, so it might be that we find a fortnight isn't enough to be able to read other things as well, which I'm sure we'll all want to do. We can always adjust it if we need more time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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