silvestria:

foooolintherain replied to your post: When I have finished my MLitt and am free to read what I like I’m going to binge read George Eliot and Henry James and it will be WONDERFUL

and write fic. FICCCCCC bahahahaha

That too! :D Ideally I’d like to have finished UC by September but I have a feeling it won’t happen. We’ll see though!

 youremakingitsnow replied to your post: When I have finished my MLitt and am free to read what I like I’m going to binge read George Eliot and Henry James and it will be WONDERFUL

You would love the new exhibit at the British Library! It’s all British lit and the landscapes that inspired the authors. Original manuscripts and that sort of thing I went today and it was awesome! Some Walter Scott novels were displayed!

Ooooh oooh ooh I really would! I wonder how long it’s on for… Must get to London and see it. I love the British Library. When I was at Cambridge I quite often ended up popping in there on the way home because it’s a good stopping off place between King’s Cross and Euston. Thanks for the heads up! :)

 thebelletristarchive replied to your post: When I have finished my MLitt and am free to read what I like I’m going to binge read George Eliot and Henry James and it will be WONDERFUL

Good plan! I am currently reading Middlemarch for the first time and I am completely enthralled by it. Also just read The Golden Bowl.

What’s The Golden Bowl like? It’s definitely on my reading list. Hope you continue to enjoy Middlemarch!

The Golden Bowl starts off quite slowly in my opinion. The reader learns about several characters during the first few chapters only through the conversations depicted by James between other characters. So there are many hints and second-hand or third-hand stories. Also, the characters may seem rather formulaic at first: the prince, the heiress, the eccentric & wealthy collector of antiques, the penniless friend, the matchmaking married couple, et al. Since you are a fan of Henry James, however, and also very familiar with C19th Literature, I think that you will enjoy reading The Golden Bowl.

I certainly found it interesting. It was the first James novel I read and as such I was always determind to finish reading it. The exploration of love is what I find the most compelling in it; unrequited love, being in love with someone as opposed to loving him or her, competing loves, love of money, love of chattels, love of independence. I suppose that’s about as much as I can say without giving away anything!

All in all, William James is still my favourite brother of the two and I prefer his (highly epistemological!) work to Henry’s.

Thank you Rose! Middlemarch just keeps getting more & more interesting, so I am sure I shall like it right up til the last page. Eliot got my attention with the prologue about Saint Theresas in the world.

And please let me know what you think of The Golden Bowl when you’ve read it; I’ve yet to discuss it with anyone else who has read it. :)