This was the very passage I planned to post. I love the image of all the seasons on one branch making a mockery of our concept of time.

Could be... mine has a gold circle with "The Nobel Prize 2025" in the upper right corner. Toward the end of the week, I found a two-page discrepancy. Very strange. Thanks for doing this!

Is this the edition you're using for page numbers? When I tried to put my Post-it notes in for the week, the page numbers didn't match (or I just missed seeing them).

I have my copy!

Reading
Swann's Way--Proust (again)
Armadale--Wilkie Collins
The Burglary--The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover's Secret FBI-- Betty Medsger
And the sci fi series Old Man's War--John Scalzi

Thank you for being the cruise director in these read alongs. I fell off the boat (completely my fault), but I look forward to the next book!

I loved this book! It was one of those that just sticks with you.

Yes it is. Today I am living in a shadow world of that time, thinking about the people, continuing the tale in my head.

I finished No Name this morning. And I stand firm in my conviction that Collins is a better writer than Dickens when it comes to depth of characters. I believe No Name is a better book than The Moonstone, and I'm looking forward to reading Armadale next. Thanks again for the recommendation!

I loved The Sheltering Sky years ago when I read it and have not been able to part with my copy. Still, I have yet to reread it, fearing it won't hold up. Your comments give me hope!

Now you've really given me a puzzle because, of course, I'm really fond of both. I read the Chronicles after spending a couple of years reading every tall ship book I could round up.
Thanks for the advice!

That is so interesting!

So I should read No Name before Armadale? Yesterday I read a passage in The Moonstone and laughed so hard the husband had to come in from the other room and investigate. I have about 50 pages left and then on to the next.

Bleak House is (I think) one of the best, but I have only read 4 or 5 Dickens novels. I really like his ability to capture characters and bring them to life, but Collins has a way of giving characters depth.
I read somewhere that even Dickens thought Collins was the better writer.

I remember thinking that The Woman in White was better than The Moonstone, but again, that was a few decades ago. Thinking of rereading that too.

I had finished rereading Bleak House and picked up The Moonstone because I remembered thinking that Collins was far superior to Dickens when I read both of them 30+ years ago.
And yeah, I still think so.

I have not read it. But I now have plans to do so. Thanks!

I am currently rereading The Moonstone and loving it.
You've made me want to pick up Armadale next. Thanks!

Yep. I totally agree.

I loved him at first, too. But I'm pretty sure I won't change my mind. I just didn't feel much reward for all his pyrotechnics. I really wanted to.

This is PERFECT!

Finished Bleak House and continued to live in Esther's world in my head for a while. I thought it was good the first time I read it some 30+ years ago. And I liked it this time as well.
Just picked up The Moonstone, and just like 30 years ago I find Wilkie Collins a superior writer on all counts.

"...a zone of infinite reverberation to human destiny..." #rachelcusktogether

It's difficult for me if there are no posts from people guilting me along. ☺️

It was exactly that! And funny you should mention The Golden Bowl It was the only one I didn't finish! I'd love to read it and actually finish it this time.

Clarissa, by Samuel Richardson. Told in letters--beginning in January and carrying on through December--a letter or two a day. So the page assignments are already sorted. There's a group at CUNY working its way through now. I started it w/them, but my eye surgery set me too far back to catch up.

😆

Henry James is definitely one I'd like to revisit. Did a semester of his novels (one a week) yonks ago. And I loved every single one of them.

AAAAAKKKK! Balzac! I have Balzac AND Clarissa waiting!

Clarissa gets my vote. ☺️

Yes, I did finish it. And now I'm grateful for another volume!