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Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
I recently came across a collection of stories by Edgar Allan Poe with illustrations by Harry Clarke, originally published in 1923. I found the illustrations particularly striking, and thought I’d share a few here.
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Andromache by Euripides
I still have a few back-logged book jots I want to post. Here is one from December 2021: I just finished reading the play Andromache by Euripides (late 5th century BC), translated by Philip Vellacott. It is one of many tales from antiquity describing the rippling effects of the Trojan War and the lives of…
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Dream Tales and Prose Poems by Ivan Turgenev
I finished reading Dream Tales and Prose Poems (1879-1882) by Ivan Turgenev (translated by Constance Garnett). It contains the following short stories: “Clara Militch,” “Phantoms,” “The Song of Triumphant Love,” and “The Dream,” as well as a collection of numerous vignettes, titled “Poems in Prose.” This was a great read! I love Turgenev’s writing and,…
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Alexander the Great by Jean Racine
I finished reading Alexander the Great, a five-act tragedy written by Jean Racine and first produced in 1655. The version I read was a translation published in 1890 by Robert Bruce Boswell. I haven’t always enjoyed translations I’ve found in the public domain, but found this one to be excellent. The action of the play…
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My Life As an Indian by J. W. Schultz
I just finished reading My Life As an Indian (1907), a memoir written by J. W. Schultz. This was a fantastic and moving read. The story begins in the late 1870s, as a teenage Schultz leaves his family home in St. Louis on a steamship, bound for present-day Montana. He befriends a trader named Berry…
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The Collected Works of Billy the Kid: Left Handed Poems by Michael Ondaatje
I just finished reading The Collected Works of Billy the Kid: Left Handed Poems (1970) by Michael Ondaatje. It is a combination of poetry and prose poetry; it’s often referred to as a novel in verse. Most of it is written from the fictional perspective of Billy the Kid. Some sections are written from the…