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Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum
A while ago, I finished reading Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum (1900). This engaging memoir was written shortly after Slocum returned from his more than three year journey over the briny seaways of the globe. Beginning in 1893, he worked for over a year rebuilding a sloop he named the Spray in…
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The Misanthrope by Moliere
From April 2022: I just finished reading The Misanthrope (1666), a play by Moliere, translated by John Wood and David Coward. It was an engaging and fast-paced read centered on the character of Alceste, who, presumptuously dismissive of every form of duplicity and hypocrisy, is determined to speak truthfully regardless of social circumstances. Even though…
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Virgin Soil by Ivan Turgenev
Another book jot from April, 2021: I just finished reading Virgin Soil (1877) by Ivan Turgenev, translated by Constance Garnett. It was the last novel he published. Right away, the characters feel almost like real people. It’s as if the reader is making new acquaintances and getting to know the kind of people they are.…
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The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
Book jot from April 2021: I just finished reading The Last of the Mohicans (1826) by James Fenimore Cooper. It’s one of his Leatherstocking Tales, and second in the internal chronology of the series, although it can be read as a stand-alone novel. A tale of adventure and action, it seems like a sort of…
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Radical Son: A Generational Odyssey by David Horowitz
I recently finished reading Radical Son: A Generational Odyssey by David Horowitz, an autobiography published in 1996. Horowitz was born into a passionately Communist family in the United States and followed in his parents’ footsteps as a young man. The narrative describes his childhood and young adult years in engaging and descriptive prose. As a…
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Love Letter to America by Yuri Bezmenov
I recently read Love Letter to America, a small booklet written by Yuri Bezmenov (published in 1984 under the name Tomas D. Schuman, an alias given to him after he defected from the Soviet Union). Bezmenov worked for the Soviet government with the Novosti Press Agency and, according to him, was closely affiliated with the…
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The Robbers by Friedrich Schiller
I finished reading The Robbers (translated by F. J. Lamport), a play by Friedrich Schiller originally published in 1781. It is Schiller’s first published play and part of the romantic Sturm und Drang literary movement. Everything is pretty much turned up to an 11! The dialogue is vivid, dramatic, and often philosophical. The plot follows…
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Pellucidar by Edgar Rice Burroughs
I recently finished reading Pellucidar (1915) by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the second novel in the Pellucidar series of seven books. As one would expect, it is a fast-paced story of action, adventure, and danger featuring characters defined by their sense of honor and allegiance to friendship. The main character, David Innes, returns to the world…
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The Well-Beloved by Thomas Hardy
I finished reading The Well-Beloved by Thomas Hardy. This novel was first serialized in 1892 and published in book-form in 1897. Although it was his second to last novel written, it felt fresh and somewhat experimental to me as the reader and as if it had come from earlier in his literary career. The novel…
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R.U.R. by Karel Čapek
I just finished reading R.U.R., a three-act play written by Karel Čapek and published in 1920. Originally written in Czech, it was quickly translated into many languages. I read the translation done by Claudia Novack in 1989 and published by Penguin. The first English translation omitted significant lines from the play; as such, I recommend…