Leo Tolstoy has been an interest of mine since 1967. Over the years I have read extensively about his life and works. I published an article in an early number of the Tolstoy Studies Journal related to the chronology of his life and work as compiled by N. N. Gusev; and from 1995 to 2009 (when Geocities ceased to exist) I maintained on online library of digital versions of some of Tolstoy's works, most of which I digitized myself.
Having recently discovered that all 90 volumes of the Jubilee edition of the Complete Works of Tolstoy (in Russian) are now available online, I have recently returned to my research into the life and work of this great author.
A Google Books search turned up a book called God and Man According to Tolstoy by Alexander Boot which states that Tolstoy is believed to have been an epileptic. This was a surprise to me, and I have begun researching this assertion. What I have learned so far is that there is some disagreement as to this diagnosis of Tolstoy being epileptic.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
The One Who Looked On
I have discovered another gem, a wonderful novella titled The One Who Looked On by Frances Frederica Montresor. The story begins in Ireland, moves to London, focusing on Susie who never married and never had children of her own, but who was filled with love to share with children who needed someone to love them. It's a wonderful story. Available at Google Books as a free pdf download.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Not All the King's Men
Not All the King's Men: A Novel of Washington Society
by Katherine Elwes Thomas
New York, The Cassell Publishing Co., 1896
Available for free download at Google Books.
Helen Oglethorp Lyman, a widow living in a beautiful home on Washington's Farragut Square, learns that her fortune has diminished to the point where she must make a dramatic retrenchment. She plots her strategy for avoiding this disaster.
This short novel is the best Washington society novel I have read to date. The descriptions of houses, fashions, and social setting are wonderful to read.
by Katherine Elwes Thomas
New York, The Cassell Publishing Co., 1896
Available for free download at Google Books.
Helen Oglethorp Lyman, a widow living in a beautiful home on Washington's Farragut Square, learns that her fortune has diminished to the point where she must make a dramatic retrenchment. She plots her strategy for avoiding this disaster.
This short novel is the best Washington society novel I have read to date. The descriptions of houses, fashions, and social setting are wonderful to read.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope
I have begun reading The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope, book five of the Palliser series. The series consists of the following:
Can You Forgive Her (1864)
Phineas Finn (1869)
The Eustace Diamonds (1873)
Phineas Redux (1874)
The Prime Minister (1876)
The Duke's Children (1879)
This is my second reading, although it has been so many years since I first read it that it is almost like reading it for the first time. I downloaded the epub version from Google Books (three separate volumes) and am reading it on my Sony PRS 505.
As an aside, I just bought a little clip on light to make reading on the Sony easier. It works like a charm and I am very glad I bought it.
Trollope is a master at getting the reader to care about his characters from the very first page of the novel, and he does that in The Prime Minister by introducing us to Emily Wharton, who has fallen in love with Ferdinand Lopez. Emily's father is a widower and has not a clue about how to parent his daughter. He has left much of her upbringing to his wife's sister, Mrs. Roby, who is half in love with Lopez herself. In fact, this plot line in the book reminds me very much of Washington Square by Henry James (first published in 1880, some four years after The Prime Minister). Mr. Wharton's stated objections to Lopez as a son-in-law are that he is not an Englishman (his father was Portuguese); and no one knows anything about his background. Mr. Wharton intuitively distrusts Lopez and is greatly distressed by Emily's obvious feelings for Lopez. Mr. Wharton even considers closing his law practice in London in order to take Emily abroad in an effort to break the hold Lopez seems to have on Emily. Unlike Dr. Sloper in Washington Square, Mr. Wharton esteems his daughter and considers letting her marry Lopez. The reader, privy to some insight into Lopez's motives, hopes Mr. Wharton holds out and prevents the marriage.
A great read!
Can You Forgive Her (1864)
Phineas Finn (1869)
The Eustace Diamonds (1873)
Phineas Redux (1874)
The Prime Minister (1876)
The Duke's Children (1879)
This is my second reading, although it has been so many years since I first read it that it is almost like reading it for the first time. I downloaded the epub version from Google Books (three separate volumes) and am reading it on my Sony PRS 505.
As an aside, I just bought a little clip on light to make reading on the Sony easier. It works like a charm and I am very glad I bought it.
Trollope is a master at getting the reader to care about his characters from the very first page of the novel, and he does that in The Prime Minister by introducing us to Emily Wharton, who has fallen in love with Ferdinand Lopez. Emily's father is a widower and has not a clue about how to parent his daughter. He has left much of her upbringing to his wife's sister, Mrs. Roby, who is half in love with Lopez herself. In fact, this plot line in the book reminds me very much of Washington Square by Henry James (first published in 1880, some four years after The Prime Minister). Mr. Wharton's stated objections to Lopez as a son-in-law are that he is not an Englishman (his father was Portuguese); and no one knows anything about his background. Mr. Wharton intuitively distrusts Lopez and is greatly distressed by Emily's obvious feelings for Lopez. Mr. Wharton even considers closing his law practice in London in order to take Emily abroad in an effort to break the hold Lopez seems to have on Emily. Unlike Dr. Sloper in Washington Square, Mr. Wharton esteems his daughter and considers letting her marry Lopez. The reader, privy to some insight into Lopez's motives, hopes Mr. Wharton holds out and prevents the marriage.
A great read!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Bookmark - Penguin
Penguin at the Richmond, Virginia Zoo
Penguins are fed at the Richmond Zoo at 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. daily. What a treat to watch these little guys.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
The world is a looking-glass . . .
From Vanity Fair
By William Makepeace Thackeray
The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face. Frown at it, and it will in turn look sourly upon you; laugh at it and with it, and it is a jolly kind companion; and so let all young persons take their choice.
By William Makepeace Thackeray
The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face. Frown at it, and it will in turn look sourly upon you; laugh at it and with it, and it is a jolly kind companion; and so let all young persons take their choice.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
