Toni Morrison, Beloved, Knopf, 1987. My blog doesn't have many readers. That's fine—I don't advertise it. But for this post one of those readers is going to be my best friend. That's awkward, because I didn't really like her favorite book. Sorry, dearo. It's not to say I thought it was objectively bad. There is … Continue reading Beloved

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Penguin Classics, 2000 I read the novel version. I heard from a friend who studies Wilde that there were two versions, one printed in a magazine and then the longer novel version expanded and revised, especially with much of the more homoerotic sections taken out. I have to … Continue reading The Picture of Dorian Gray

Aino Pervik, Kunksmoor ja Kapten Trumm, 1975. Rääkida õigesti eesti kirjandusest ikka ei oska, kuna väga palju lugenud ei ole. Samas väga kerge on olnud, armuda Aino Pervikusse ära. Esimene raamat, mida lugesin ma eesti keeles oli Paula Viiakse Haiglasse, millest ei saa rääkida liiga palju head. Pervik alati otsib seda, kuidas mahtuda miskit peenust … Continue reading Kunksmoor ja Kapten Trumm

F. R. Kreutzwald, Kalevipoeg, translated by Triinu Kartus, 2011. If you don't know, Kalevipoeg is the Estonian national epic poem. Kreutzwald started writing it around 1850, and it had a series of publications beginning in 1853 and ending with the Estonian-language book form publication in Tartu in 1875. It is the foundational text of Estonian … Continue reading Kalevipoeg

Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy, trans. V. E. Watts, Penguin Classics, 1969. I think I had read this several years ago and didn't really get it. I went through a pretty strong anti-theist phase in my late teens, and I think that's why I wanted to read it. (I was the kind of asshole who … Continue reading Consolation of Philosophy

History of the Peloponnesian War, translated by Rex Warner. There is a lot you could say about Thucydides. There's a reason people have been arguing about him for 2400 years. It was an interesting read, especially after Herodotus. He certainly has a very different style, famously zealously detailed and at the same time "austere," which … Continue reading Thucydides

I'm going to start putting the full info for each book at the beginning of each post. Deep in the Forest: One Hundred Estonian Fairy Tales About the Forest and its People, compiled by Risto Järv, translated by Adam Cullen, 2018. Again I thought these were pretty wonderful. They're actually more diverse than those of … Continue reading More Estonian Fairy Tales