noonlight reads: December 2014

'Lucia', Your First Best Worst Opera

Romeo and Juliet in Scotland. That is the easiest way to sum up Gaetano Donizetti's dramatic opera, Lucia di Lammermoor.

It is, perhaps, unfair to summarize this opera so succinctly, when it is so famous, so much a "classic" of the opera genre. Following the links on Wikipedia, I learned that Lucia was based on a Waverly novel by Sir Walter Scott - The Bride of Lammermoor - which in turn was apparently based on true events. That might explain why it is somewhat more credible, and more compelling, than Romeo and Juliet, even though the plot runs nearly parallel.

The Ashton family is archenemies with the Ravenswood family (what a splendid name!). As these things go, Lucia Ashton (Anna Netrebko) falls in love with Edgardo Ravenswood (Piotr Beczala). She happens to have a brother, Enrico (Mariusz Kwiecien), and because he is a baritone, we know whose side he's not on. Taking her love for Edgardo as a betrayal, Enrico schemes to force his sister into a marriage to Lord Arturo Bucklaw, a political ally. It does not get better from there.

The "Gloria Scott"

- but first, let me wish you all a (belated) Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

I'm sorry I haven't posted very much. It's been a strange year from start to finish and, very sadly, less bookish than I had planned. Pretty much the only challenge I completed (apart from Onegin) was o's Russian Literature 2014 challenge, and even there, I only read Dostoyevsky and Pushkin.

That said, for a slow year, I'm glad to have read The Brothers Karamazov and Lord Jim, which had seemed so inaccessible before. I hope to do better next year, but am not making any grand commitments...

There's one challenge I'm carrying over, and that's re-reading the Complete Sherlock Holmes. I haven't read it in its entirety in about ten years. It's a joy to come back to my favorite character in all literature, and I'm reading chronologically this time, following this list which looks pretty good. (There was a day I would have figured out the timeline on my own, but nowadays finding time is not so easy.)

I'm going to keep these commentaries short and sweet and hopefully frequent. I will try my best not to post mystery-related spoilers! Here's the first segment, "The Adventure of the 'Gloria Scott'" . . .

Holmes himself says that the "Gloria Scott" was the "first [case] in which I was ever engaged." It is instantly interesting that he has these feelings of nostalgia, and he, in fact, is insistent that Watson listens to the story of his first investigation.

He goes so far as to describe his "two years" at college in a couple of paragraphs, where we learn his interests and studies were so different than everyone else's that he had nothing in common with anyone. He made one friend, Victor Trevor, and that by accident (a most literal accident). Holmes inadvertently depicts his own listlessness by describing the opposite trait in Trevor, and through these bits and pieces we get a pretty clear understanding of Holmes before his meeting Watson. There is, in fact, a very telling parallel between his befriending Trevor and his befriending Watson - they were both someone Holmes could talk to.

The rest of this story is about the mystery of Trevor's father. It's not the most thrilling Doyle plot, but two things are interesting about it:

how Doyle writes a sea story, tapping into his experiences as a ship's surgeon
how Holmes interacts with acquaintances

// Spoilers in white

It's particularly depressing that Holmes ends up losing his friend through the very science of deduction that he makes his livelihood. By the end of telling the story, too, Holmes has come back to "real life," the cut and dry of the "facts of the case," and calling Watson "Doctor" with (what seems to me) audible stoicism.
// End spoilers

These brush strokes of word-painting are something I doubt Doyle thought twice about - he had a true gift for writing characters in few words. "The Gloria Scott" speaks a great deal about the character of Holmes, and that makes it worth a re-read.

The Liebster Award

This blog has been so quiet (too quiet) the past couple of months, as I've been transitioning into my new job and schedule. Thanks to Sara from Majoring in Literature, here is a fun tag to break the hiatus!

- Link and thank the blogger who nominated you
- Answer the 11 questions your nominator gives you
- Tag 11 other bloggers who have 200 followers or less
- Ask the 11 bloggers you nominated 11 questions and let them know you nominated them!

11 Questions:

1) What is the first book you remember reading?

The first books I remember reading were very vintage children's readers, like On Cherry Street. I also have a fairly vivid memory of reading a phonetics textbook, which I actually thought was fun. :)

2) Where do you like to read? Do you have a quiet little hideout where you can read undisturbed?

I like to read in bed, either with the lamp on or in the dark with my new reading light.

3) Starting at the very top of your bookcase, what are the first five books you have on your shelves?

The top is where I keep my "Mass Media" paperbacks:
1. The Thirteen Problems (Agatha Christie)
2. And Then There Were None (Christie)
3. The House of the Seven Gables (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
4. The Hobbit (J. R. R. Tolkien)
5. The Magician's Nephew (C. S. Lewis). Which reminds me - Narnia is due for a re-read!

If you could meet one author, living or dead, for coffee, whom would you meet?

Oh...this is a tough question! I thought about this one long and hard. I would love to meet Conrad or Kafka, for example, but I'm not sure a chat over coffee would go well with either of them.

In the end, I narrowed it down, and my honest answer is Lewis Carroll. I think it would be fascinating to meet an author whose legacy has become larger than life and changed drastically through the generations. Beyond that, his books are chock-full of wit and mathematical references, and it would be an interesting conversation, for sure.

How do you feel about seeing a movie adaptation before you’ve read the book?

Generally, I prefer not to. Even now, I'm holding off on watching The Great Gatsby until I've read the book, despite the fact everyone says it isn't a great adaptation. Old habits are hard to break! I did read North & South effectively after I saw the 2005 miniseries, and I read LOTR and skim-read Little Dorrit concurrently while watching the adaptations. Of all three, Little Dorrit was the best reading experience, while the others were a little anticlimactic compared to the (excellent) adaptations.

What is your favourite adaptation of a book?

I have so many, which is a good problem to have. :)

The Lord of the Rings is a no-brainer. It is possibly the truest adaptation I have ever seen of a book. Possibly (probably) my #1 favorite movie.

My next two all-time favorites are Disney's 20000 Leagues Under the Sea and Moby-Dick starring Gregory Peck. Neither of them are purist, but I grew up watching them, and they still leave me awestruck.

Finally, there's Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes. This series is close to purist-perfect - it's a magnificent adaptation.

Which character from fiction would you most like to be?

It would be exciting to be one of the heroes from Dracula - however, I wouldn't truly want to live that plot. So I'll go with one of the scientists from a Jules Verne novel, because those usually turn out well. :)

As for a character I would like to be like - off the top of my head, I'd have to go with Alyosha from The Brothers Karamazov. I would like to have his fearless sense of forgiveness and ability to be a peacemaker.

Which book do you recommend to others the most?

Most people I meet have very different tastes in reading, so I don't usually make recommendations!

Which book have you re-read the most?

Probably Narnia or Treasure Island. I know I've read Eugene Onegin four times and Heart of Darkness about three or four times. (I'm not much of a re-reader, so that's a lot for me.)

How do you feel about eBooks?

I have the original Nook Simple Touch, which I love. I've read many Project Gutenberg books on it, and it makes it very easy to read in bed, not having to struggle to keep pages open. Also, it lets me highlight and annotate to my heart's content without making it permanent.

Ebooks are not perfect replacements for hard copy, especially for textbooks and reference books where you need to be able to flip pages quickly. However, they're a great way to access and read classics instantly, and find obscure classics that are rarely published. Just a couple of years ago, I discovered my favorite translation of Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, which was a wonderful surprise and seems to be a Gutenberg exclusive. Also, it ties into Librivox, so there's a great community of literature fans who are making it more accessible to everyone.

I'm a fangirl, I guess. ;) I still love hard copies, too, but eBooks have been only a positive for me.

Where do you get most of your books from? Library, bookstore, online?

I used to check out stacks of books from the library, but now I don't read enough to warrant it. :( Nowadays, I buy books once a year from Powell's, Amazon, and (once in a while) Barnes & Noble. I also love library sales, garage sales, and thrift stores.

Alrighty, 11 blogs you should check out! Some of you may have already been recently nominated, so feel free to ignore or accept as is convenient. :)

11 Q's for you:

1) What was the most challenging book you ever read?
2) Who is your favorite romantic couple from literature?
3) What is your favorite friendship from literature?
4) Is there a book you used to like but don't like anymore?
5) What was a nonfiction book you were glad you read?
6) Name a book someone recommended to you (which you may or may not have read yet).
7) How do you order your books on the shelf?
8) Is there a character that you wish appeared in more books?
9) Which author's writings intimidate you?
10) Describe a memorable setting or scene (spoiler-free) from a book, and how it made you feel.
11) The age-old question: paperback or hardcover?