07-07-2017, 04:12 PM | #16 | |
Just a Yellow Smiley.
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In a very independent study a couple of years ago or maybe more now, it was found that about 85% of self-published freebies were not worth the bytes. Oh wait, I forgot this very independent study was done two years in a row. Regrettably, the survey found that self-published freebies (well paid ones too) were getting worse not better. The person conducting the study has chosen not to torture herself farther and redo the study. The person was and is all for self publishing, she has found some very good authors that self publish. The flip side is she found more bad than good. On that one, she could probably write a book on the good, the bad and the ugly of the self publishing world. *But since she doubts it would sell very many copies, she doesn't want to make the investment. |
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07-07-2017, 05:04 PM | #17 | |
Wizard
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07-07-2017, 05:39 PM | #18 |
Resident Curmudgeon
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Give Finnegans Wake by James Joyce a go first. If you can actually finish it and understand what you've read, then you can read anything.
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07-07-2017, 05:58 PM | #19 |
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07-07-2017, 07:09 PM | #20 |
Grand Sorcerer
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07-07-2017, 07:12 PM | #21 |
Grand Sorcerer
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The OP might want to try some Balzac (in translation).
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07-07-2017, 11:15 PM | #22 | |
cacoethes scribendi
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I wonder if you might like to try: The Little White Bird by J.M. Barrie. (1902) (The edition I read was off Project Gutenberg, because I read it long before GrannyGrump's kind addition to the MR library.) Don't be put off (or otherwise) by its associations with Peter Pan, there is much more to it than that. It's probably not that challenging in the grammar or writing style sense (you probably have to go older than 1902 for much of that), but there are depths to the story and characters that I found wonderfully well portrayed. There is a particular charm, I thought, in the early chapters and again in the last. If you haven't already read any of Wilkie Collins (eg: The Woman in White, The Moonstone) then you may find interest the writing style of these and other novels of his. I enjoyed these very much. Again, there are good clean editions here on MR. |
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07-08-2017, 02:10 AM | #23 |
Enthusiast
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Anything by Henry James should be right up your alley, challenge-wise.
I also second the Wilkie Collins recommendation. (Fine editions of both authors available here on MR.) |
07-08-2017, 02:47 AM | #24 |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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I'm surprised you think "Kim" is long. The Penguin paperback is only 132 pages. (While the Penguin War and Peace is 1403 pages...)
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07-09-2017, 09:06 AM | #25 |
C L J
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Thank you for the recommendations.
The only Joyce I've read was Portrait of the Artist, more years ago than I care to remember. Finnegan's Wake sounds almost as intriguing as Ulysses, without the length. I'll give it a try. There are three novelists I get confused: Flaubert, Zola and Balzac. I think I've read something from Balzac, but can't remember - I thought he wrote Germinal, but it turns out that was by one of the others! So if he's available either free or very inexpensively in translation, I'll read him. I read A Woman in White and loved it, I've also read The Dead Secret, but I'm all too willing to try another Wilkie Collins. Thanks for reminding me about him. The only Henry James I've read is Turn of the Screw, and, so long ago that I can't remember what it was about, I read Portrait of a Lady. I was very young when I read the latter and unimpressed; but I'll try something else by him. You're right about Kim: I just checked the word count on manybooks: 110,567 which isn't too bad. Thanks for pointing this out. Some great recommendations. I'm making a list of them. More are always welcome. Thank you. |
07-09-2017, 11:53 AM | #26 | |
Grand Sorcerer
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audio books, challenging classics, recommendations |
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