The Vulgar Eclectic

Category: books

  • Journey to the Centre of the Earth

    I just finished reading Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864) by Jules Verne, translated by Frank Wynne. It was a great and entertaining adventure and brimmed with that boyish optimism, perhaps born out of the rapidly expanding world of science, shared by similar books of the era.  I was a bit surprised at…

  • The Brothers Karamazov

    I finished reading The Brothers Karamazov (1879) by Fyodor Dostoevsky, translated by David McDuff. One of the strengths of this novel was the distinctness of the characters, especially the three brothers of the title, dissimilar but bound together by family and fate. The reader grows to care for the brothers, even as faults and predilections…

  • The Lost World

    I just finished reading The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle (1912). I had a great time reading this adventure story, and felt like a child at times, basking in the wonder of exploration and discovery. It’s a fun adventure with some memorable characters (and great names; one character is Professor Challenger!). It’s also an…

  • Theodore the Poet

    As a boy, Theodore, you sat for long hoursOn the shore of the turbid SpoonWith deep-set eye staring at the door of the crawfish’s burrow,Waiting for him to appear, pushing ahead,First his waving antennae, like straws of hay,And soon his body, colored like soap-stone,Gemmed with eyes of jet.And you wondered in a trance of thoughtWhat…

  • My Own Two Feet: A Memoir by Beverly Cleary

    I read this memoir back in May of 2021. I just finished reading My Own Two Feet: A Memoir (1995) by Beverly Cleary. It was an absolutely wonderful reading experience! I felt immersed in her voice and in the unfolding of her life. She seems a lot like how I might have imagined her to…

  • Vestigia nulla retrorsum

    I’ve been reading The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle, and am greatly enjoying the adventure of it. It is kind of making me feel like a boy again, tramping along the banks of Apple Creek and dreaming of adventure.

  • An old book jot…Sappho

    This is a reaction I typed up after reading a collection of the poetry of Sappho. I finished reading this back in May of 2021. I’m going back and adding these sorts of reactions to the “book jots” section of the website. I thought I’d throw it up as a post, too, even though it’s…

  • A Conversation

    I read the chapter titled ‘Mutiny’ in The Brothers Karamazov yesterday morning. It reminded me greatly of the story The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin; so much so that it seems to be an answer, in the form of fiction, to the question posed by Ivan: “And are you…

  • The Ancient World

    I finished reading The Ancient World: A Beginning by T. R. Glover (1935). This is an overview of the history of the ancient world, focused on the Mediterranean region and primarily Greek, Jewish, and Roman culture. It touches lightly upon surrounding areas and peoples, including Asia Minor, Egypt, and Persia. There is a mention here…

  • Some short stories, a list

    I decided to make a list of some short stories I’ve either really enjoyed or found memorable. Some authors have multiple stories that come to mind but, for this particular list, I thought I’d include only one story per writer.