I came in late for this challenge so I did some scrambling to catch up. I copied down all the authors and spent several hours on Amazon to see what might interest me. The long list of books I compiled was narrowed down quite a bit when I took it to B & N this morning. They were not kidding when they said outmoded! With careful searching I managed to get a few from my list. They are:
"The Well of Loneliness" Radclyffe Hall
"The Country of Pointed Firs" Sarah Orne Jewett
"Of Human Bondage" W. Somerset Maugham
"A High Wind in Jamaica" Richard Hughes
I already have a book of essays by G.K. Chesterton called "What's Wrong With the World" with a picture of your typical curmudgeon (presumably Chesterton) on the cover.
The biggest disappointment was in not finding "Ice" by Anna Kavan. I had the nice man at the customer service desk look it up but when he told me the paperback was 23.95 I hesitated to order it. He suggested the library but I will wait to finish the others first.
For the most part, I know only what I researched on Amazon about these books. The Well of Loneliness will be my first gay/lesbian book so I am really looking forward to that. I saw Of Human Bondage on TCM and it was very disturbing. Bette Davis knows how to do evil, that is for sure! The other two, not much.
I think this challenge will move me out of my comfort zones and stretch me as a reader. I am enjoying reading what others have to say as well.
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4 comments:
I read Of Human Bondage a while back and really loved it. Hope you enjoy it!
I hope you have the opportunity to read Anna Kavan's book. I'm hoping to read another of hers during this challenge...possibly Ice or Julia And The Bazooka.
I saw Of Human Bondage on TCM too, but it was the 60s version starring Kim Novak. She made the film for me.
Somerset Maugham is one of my favorite authors. Of Human Bondage is good, but I love The Razor's Edge (which I read after seeing the extremely underrated Bill Murray movie), Christmas Holiday, and The Painted Veil (great! recent Edward Norton movie) more. It's definitely worth delving into WSM's body of work. And now I realize how outmoded I must be.
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