Free Audio Classics!

My friend Jerry McBride let me know about some classics in mp3 / m4b (for iPod) audio!

There are three pages of classics that you can download in individual chapters or a zip file of the entire book. These are all read by a narrator (as opposed to a text-to-speech program).

Feel free to download and listen to the classics of your choice at:
http://freeclassicaudiobooks.com/

Thanks Jerry for the email and link!

Constance Garnett

Thank you Constance Garnett!

I say thank you because although it would have been inevitable for Russian literature to be translated to English, Constance Garnett did this for us. She was among the first to translate Russian to English. She translated a number of books that would be (if they weren't already) classics including: "all of Dostoyevsky’s novels; hundreds of Chekhov’s stories and two volumes of his plays; all of Turgenev’s principal works and nearly all of Tolstoy’s; and selected texts by Herzen, Goncharov, and Ostrovsky" (The New Yorker).

Wikipedia says that she translated "about 70 Russian literary works" (Wikipedia) which "introduced [nineteenth-century Russian literature] on a wide basis to the English and American public" (Wikipedia).

There have been other translators involved in Russian Literature but without doing research I have never heard of any of them. I had heard of Constance Garnett. On many of the Barnes & Noble classics involving Russian authors, she is the translator for that particular classic.

I know that I will be enjoying her translations for a very long time as I periodically am able to get to all of the Russian classics that I haven't had a chance to read. Her one translation that I have read though was Anna Karenina and I am appreciative that she devoted her time to it so that someone like me could read it.

The following link is a list of all works that she translated: http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/ac/jr/biblo.htm

Works Cited:
Remnick, David "The Translation Wars" The New Yorker. 7 Nov. 2005. 20 May 2008

Wikipedia "Constance Garnett" Wikipedia. 20 May 2008

Sales of Classic Novels

Five years ago, sales of classic novels were going strong. So strong that Slate Magazine ran the article Cents and Sensibility - The Surprising Truth About Sales of Classic Novels. It is a very interesting article and one I urge you to read.

I'm betting that sales of classics are still strong today. Even if all readers such as myself stopped buying classics those high school and college english classes requiring classic novel reading would take care of sales. I wonder how many forced high-school or college readers actually turn into readers who start buying classics?

The Penguin Classics Library Complete Collection

As far as book purchases go, if I could only purchase one single thing on the Internet, like say it was the last purchase I could ever make for books, I believe it would have to be The Penguin Classics Library Complete Collection: More than 1000 of the Greatest Classics (Paperback) from Amazon.com.

Coming in at $7,989.50 (40% off! $5,326.34 reduced) the set has 1082 titles. But hurry there's only 1 left! At least they offer free delivery!

Did I mention this blog takes donations?

You should read the 18 reviews if you get a chance. I like on the first review where the guy accurately describes that the collection is an "orgy for book lovers". The fact that it is 750 pounds of classic goodness just makes me drool.

Since offering this many titles as a bulk purchase is so unique there have been a number of stories on it, including by National Public Radio (NPR) and The New York Times.

You can also listen to the NPR audio from "All Things Considered" on August 24, 2005. I found it very interesting because they said they can't include all classics that they wanted to such as Faulkner or F. Scott Fitzgerald because of copyright issues.

Perhaps after I become rich or publish my first novel I'll make enough to purchase this and prominently display it in our library!

True Pocket Literature - Penguin 60's!

When I was reading Madame de Treyme by Edith Wharton last week it was very convenient to be able to put the book in my pocket. If I were on a train or in a cab or any other type of transportation that commuters use other than driving it would have been nice to be able to carry literature with you without having to hold onto it.

They are out of print it seems as I cannot find them on Penguin's website. Each book is different cover wise with only perhaps an orange spine (most of the time) as the one item they have in common.

So far each Penguin 60's that I've seen is under 100 pages.

Here's a glimpse of my collection so far:

One may think that there are "60" titles for the Penguin 60's as it is to celebrate their 60th year in publishing. I do not know how many there were. I can't find a source that has a definitive list. If anyone knows of one please let me know!

Have you come across any of these? Ever read one? Do you think it is worth about $1 each? I'd like to read your comments.

Also, here is a good article about this topic from 1995.

Classic Review - Madame de Treymes by Edith Wharton

Madame de Treymes is a short story written by Edith Wharton in 1907.

You can read it at Project Gutenberg (Text Only) or for HTML or PDF versions here.

It is available as a "Penguin 60's Classic" from Amazon.com. If you like Edith Wharton or short small editions of classics I would recommend this.

Penguin 60's Classics are smaller and can literally fit in your pocket. Here is Madame de Treymes next to "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair:



Do not read the rest of this post if you are interested in reading Madame de Treymes.

**** SPOILER ****
This short story is really good yet can be pretty dense to read. Edith Wharton seems to never have had a hard time to make a sentence last forever (or in some cases half of a page). However in my opinion this adds to the class that this title provides. It is a wonderful story filled with lots of words I had to look up - and add to my vocabulary - and was entrenching enough that I continuously wanted to pick it up even when I knew I had other things I had to get done rather than read.

The only issue I have with this story is that it is definitely "timed". What I mean by that (I can't think of the exact word this moment) is that it was written in a time when the situation that is presented was probably very plausible but now in our day and age would not really be capable of happening. I mean it is possible but it would be very remote and obtuse.

The main character of the story John Durham would like to marry Madame de Malrive. Madame de Treymes is Madame de Malrive's cousin. The main crux of the story hinges on Mr. Durham wanting to marry Fanny Frisbee (the pre-Madame de Malrive) and Madame de Malrive not yet having a divorce from Monsiour de Malrive. What completely provides the pivot of why they cannot be together is that Madame de Malrive has a son and that son has been raised (along with Madame de Malrive after her marriage) in the Catholic faith. She does not want to depart from her son or have him taken away and she is afraid that will happen if she is granted a divorce from Monsiour de Malrive and then run away with Mr. Durham.

Throughout the story we follow Mr. Durham as he pledges to try and win Madam de Treymes influence in order for her to sway the family to allow Madam de Malrive a divorce so that she can marry Mr. Durham. One is led to believe that Mr. Durham may just be able to have the situation turn out the way that he hopes. He works with Madam de Treymes to allow Madam de Malrive to divorce.

Just when he is about to return to Paris to be with Madame de Malrive - to the life they had hoped for, Madam de Treymes allows herself to speak candidly with Mr. Durham about what she wanted out of the bargain to help him get the divorce for Madam de Malrive. Unfortunately and tragically what she wants is for the son to be taken away from Madam de Malrive to live with the family, because the family is more important that any one individual. Madam de Treymes confesses that while they are losing one individual in Madam de Malrive they are preserving the family by taking custody of the son upon the divorce.

So why do I say that this isn't something that could happen in our time? I only say that because Madam de Treymes says that the French courts have precedents where the father would keep the son no matter what the Mother's situation is (ie a better parent, a fit parent, has an income and home, etc) simply because he is Catholic and would retain him as Catholic. It is apparent that the custody of the son would be given to the father simply because it would be known that she had wanted to initiate the divorce instead of him and that because divorce is strictly forbidden to Catholics that this would be a sin against the family. It would be viewed as her trying to break up the family to pursue her life of sin.

There is an interesting point brought up about how Madame de Malrive would view Mr. Durham as an extension of her family - a new family. However this is viewed the opposite way by Madam de Treymes and the Malrive family. The mis-communication and assuming by both Madam de Treymes and Mr. Durham that each has the other's interests at heart is what makes this story woven together so nicely. It is a tragic story but nonetheless a very good one.

Perhaps getting a divorce today and having the son go to the father simply because he is Catholic is true today but I doubt it. Even if it is true, my initial thought was, "Why can't they just leave the country?" Oh how the times have changed since 1907.

**** End of SPOILER ****

This was a very quick and satisfying read. It was also my first title by Edith Wharton. I have to say that I think she will be one of my favorite authors to read. She is very witty with the situations that she puts her characters in and obviously had a very good command of the English language.

Have you read this?
Have you even heard of it?

I'd like to hear what you think!

Also a quick shout out to my buddy Scott Hall who has started The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. I wanted to let you know that as of tonight I'm right there with you! Look for it in an upcoming Classic Book Review.