Victober 22 Group Read

[lunababymoonchild]

These are the proposed categories :

 

 

1 Read Victorian poetry.

 

2 Read something Victorian and Gothic.

 

3 Read several chapters from an academic paper about a Victorian novel or a book about Victorian novels .

 

4 Read a Victorian ghost story.

 

5 Read a Bronte novel.

 

6 Read a memoir or life story of a Victorian person, not necessarily famous...

 

7 Read a story relating to the clergy.

 

Participants choose whichever category suits them, the title of their choice and how many categories to take part in. Or you can make up your own category as long as it's related to Victorian.

[lunababymoonchild]

I'll start by stating that the first thing that I will read is some Victorian poetry.

 

I fancy a Victorian ghost story (category 4) and I'll choose later either a memoir of a Victorian person not necessarily famous (category 6) or a story relating to clergy (category 7. This screams Anthony Trollope to me and would be a good time for me to read him. I have the full set of The Chronicles of Barsetshire and still yet to read any)

  

Edited September 30, 2022 by lunababymoonchild

[Madeleine]

I'll go for number 2 and will read Shadowplay by Joseph O'Connor, which I had lined up for October anyway, and as I finished my current book last night it's perfect timing!  I've read all the Bronte novels so that covers number 5.

[KEV67]

I vote for 1, 2 & 7. 

[lunababymoonchild]

I have my ghost story picked out ...........................

[lunababymoonchild]

............................and my Victorian biography.

 

I will finish my current read today so I'm conveniently ready to go.

Edited September 30, 2022 by lunababymoonchild

[KEV67]

I was going to buy Uncle Silas by Sheridan Le Fanu, but it was not in the Birmingham branch of Waterstones, so I bought his In a Glass Darkly, which is a selection of ghost stories. I also got The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler.

[lunababymoonchild]

Uncle Silas By Sheridan Le Fanu is a great book but can be very long so perhaps not a read for a challenge but In a Glass Darkly would be just right and is a great read.

 

Not read The Way of All Flesh, so can't comment.

 

I've read quite a lot of Victorian poetry today and it's glorious! What I'll do, however, is intersperse it with my other Victorian reads

[lunababymoonchild]

Finished my Victorian ghost story : Flaxman Low in The Story of the Moor Road Kate and Hesketh Prichard.  When Flaxman Low was introduced to the public in “The Story of The Spaniards, Hammersmith” (Pearson’s Magazine, January 1898) readers met the prototype of the psychic detective. Marvellous!

 

Now for a Victorian biography

[KEV67]

I will have a go at memorising The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson. I will also post a link to a reading of The Lady of Shallot, which I thought was really well done. 

[lunababymoonchild]

I read The Lady of Shallot, for the first time, yesterday and I'll read The Charge of the Light Brigade too.

[Madeleine]

I love the Lady of Shallot.

[lunababymoonchild]

Just finished a very short biography of Isambard Kingdom Brunel in Fred Dibnah's (remember him?) Victorian Heroes. And very interesting it was too. 
 

Also The Charge of the Light Brigade, something by George Elliot and I can't remember the other poem.

 

This is going very well and it's only the second of October!

Edited October 3, 2022 by lunababymoonchild
Dodgy typing. Changing fixing if to of

[KEV67]

Lady of Shalott reading:

 

Edited October 2, 2022 by KEV67

[Madeleine]

Unfortunately I've fallen at the first hurdle!  Can't get on with Shadowplay at all, don't like the way it's written and when it started to into the format of being written as a play I ditched it - at page 60!  Normally I try to go to at least page 100, but couldn't , I did flip through to see if the format changes but it doesn't seem to.  A shame as the story is a great idea but I just don't like the writing style.

 

I will find another Vic Gothic book, I have a few, and the next Frey and McGray is waiting after that.

 

And I will also do challenge number 2, and read some Victorian poetry, starting with a re-read of The Lady of Shalott.  The Canadian singer songwriter Loreena McKennitt has also recorded this, should be on You Tube somewhere with some lovely accompanying images of the various paintings of the Lady.

[lunababymoonchild]

16 hours ago, KEV67 said:

Lady of Shalott reading:

 

That was lovely, thanks for posting

[Madeleine]

I'll try "The Doll Factory" by Elizabeth Macneal, which is set in 1850, and features a pre-Raphaelite artist.

[lunababymoonchild]

4 hours ago, Madeleine said:

I'll try "The Doll Factory" by Elizabeth Macneal, which is set in 1850, and features a pre-Raphaelite artist.

Looking forward to hearing what you think about that one.

 

I am going to start The Warden by Anthony Trollope

Edited October 3, 2022 by lunababymoonchild

[lunababymoonchild]

Started The Warden, Anthony Trollope

[Madeleine]

16 hours ago, lunababymoonchild said:

Looking forward to hearing what you think about that one.

 

I am going to start The Warden by Anthony Trollope

Started it last night, bit gruesome re depictions of taxidermy 😝 but readable, and the main characters seem good too.  

[lunababymoonchild]

I just could not settle on much in the way of Victorian poetry today so decided to just read one of my favourites, Lord Ullin's Daughter, by Thomas Campbell. Was pleasantly surprised to find out that this is a nineteenth century poem. I've nearly got it off by heart.

[Hayley]

On 10/1/2022 at 8:58 PM, lunababymoonchild said:

Finished my Victorian ghost story : Flaxman Low in The Story of the Moor Road Kate and Hesketh Prichard.  When Flaxman Low was introduced to the public in “The Story of The Spaniards, Hammersmith” (Pearson’s Magazine, January 1898) readers met the prototype of the psychic detective. Marvellous!

Oooooh this one sounds like a good choice, I might join you with it. 

 

As everyone is reading Tennyson, have you seen that there's a wax cylinder recording of him reading The Charge of the Light Brigade!? (I wish they hadn't animated his mouth on this youtube video - it's so creepy looking):

 

I want to read both The Doll Factory AND The Way of All Flesh! Still not fully decided which Gothic book I'm going for yet though, so I think I'll just start with the ghost stories.

 

I am also promising myself that I'll read the end of The Old Curiosity Shop as part of Victober. I've been avoiding it for quite a while (I know you understand why @lunababymoonchild !) but it's time to finish it at last. 

[lunababymoonchild]

It's a good ghost story, Flaxman Low

 

Thanks for the Tennyson, I will watch it

 

The Old Curiosity Shop: yes I do know, you can do it!

[lunababymoonchild]

13 hours ago, Hayley said:

As everyone is reading Tennyson, have you seen that there's a wax cylinder recording of him reading The Charge of the Light Brigade!? (I wish they hadn't animated his mouth on this youtube video - it's so creepy looking):

Far too creepy for me to stay with! But thanks for posting it

[Hayley]

41 minutes ago, lunababymoonchild said:

Far too creepy for me to stay with! But thanks for posting it

 it helps if you don't look at the video - that animated mouth is just... wrong.