The Vulgar Eclectic

Tag: classics

  • New Atlantis by Francis Bacon

    I finished reading New Atlantis written by Francis Bacon and published after his death in 1626. It is regarded as an early example of a utopian novel. In it, a ship of sailors, lost at sea, stumbles upon an island nation. The narrator, one of the sailors, introduces the reader to the land of Bensalem,…

  • The Life of a Simple Man by Émile Guillaumin

    Here is a book jot from February, 2021: I just finished reading The Life of a Simple Man, written by Émile Guillaumin and published in 1904 (translated by Margaret Holden; revised translation by Margaret Crosland). It is a fictional memoir about Tiennon, a peasant born in 1823 in rural France. He tells the story of…

  • The Pioneers by James Fenimore Cooper

    I just finished reading The Pioneers (1823) by James Fenimore Cooper. Although the fourth and penultimate volume in the narrative chronology of The Leatherstocking Tales, it was the first published. I had a wonderful time reading this chapter of the life of Natty Bumppo. The reader feels as if they are adventuring along with him…

  • La Princesse Lointaine (The Princess Far-Away) by Edmond Rostand

    I just finished reading La Princesse Lointaine (The Princess Far-Away) by Edmond Rostand (translated by Charles Renauld), first published in 1895, and I loved it. I stumbled across this play and went into it knowing practically nothing about the play or the author. It’s superbly crafted and I was drawn into it almost immediately. Rostand…

  • As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams, or Sarashina Nikki

    Here is a book jot from March, 2022: I just finished reading As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams, also known as Sarashina Nikki (11th century). It was written by an unnamed woman, known only as the “daughter of Takasue,” during the Heian period of Japan. This translation is by Ivan Morris. It is a…

  • Boris Godunov by Alexander Pushkin

    Here is a book jot from 2022 (I’m getting close, I think, to being caught up with posting these older book jots)… I just finished reading Boris Godunov (1831) by Alexander Pushkin, translated by James E. Falen. This has been described as a “tragicomedy of history,” and is a play of more than twenty scenes…

  • My Apprenticeship by Maxim Gorky

    I just finished reading My Apprenticeship (translated by Margaret Wettlin and Hellen Altschuler) and originally published in 1916. This is the second part of an autobiographical trilogy. The title is sometimes translated into English as Amid Attendants and In the World This book was a wonderful reading experience. Gorky puts you inside the head of a…

  • Hunger by Knut Hamsun

    A book jot from January 2022: I just finished reading Hunger (1890) by Knut Hamsun, translated by Robert Bly. This novel is narrated by an unnamed protagonist living in the city of Christiania (modern-day Oslo) near the end of the 19th century. He is extremely destitute, often homeless, and his penurious existence combined with a…

  • Bajazet by Jean Racine

    I recently read Bajazet, a tragedy in five acts written by Jean Racine (translated by Robert Bruce Boswell) and first staged in 1672. The setting is the Ottoman Empire in the early 17th century. The characters and plot are inspired by what was, at the time, recent history, which is unusual for Racine’s historical plays.…

  • Tartuffe by Moliere

    Book jot from January 2022: I just finished reading Tartuffe (1664) by Moliere, translated by John Wood and David Coward. It is the first thing I’ve read by him. I’m used to reading theatrical tragedies and a comedy was refreshingly unexpected. The play revolves around a religious hypocrite and his manipulative influence over a man…