February AuthorCAT - 19th Century Authors

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February AuthorCAT - 19th Century Authors

1thornton37814
Bewerkt: jan 17, 2022, 11:08 am

February's AuthorCAT Challenge features 19th century authors.

A few female options:

           

L-R: Louisa May Alcott, Elizabeth Gaskell, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Kate Chopin

           

L-R: Charlotte Brontë, Emily Dickinson, Harriet Martineau, Mary Shelley

           

L-R: Elizabeth Barrett Browning, George Sand, Emily Brontë, Maria Edgeworth

A few male options:

           

L-R: Charles Dickens, Robert Browning, Nathaniel Hawthorne, James Fenimore Cooper

           

L-R: Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Allan Poe, Frederick Douglass, Henry David Thoreau

           

L-R: Sheridan Le Fanu, Alexandre Dumas, Walt Whitman, Anton Chekhov

           

L-R: Leo Tolstoy, Charles Darwin, Herman Melville, Washington Irving

Of course, these authors are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to 19th century authors. I've only included authors whose main body of work was in the 19th century. You'll find some authors who spanned both the 19th and 20th centuries, so feel free to use some of their 19th century works too.

I'm still trying to decide which 19th century authors I'll read, but I expect I'll pick up a slim volume of Emily Dickinson's poems if I can find one and perhaps something by Poe.

Share what you intend to read! I'm sure many of you will share additional authors.

The wiki is here: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2022_AuthorCAT

2Jackie_K
jan 15, 2022, 1:09 pm

My plan is to finally tackle North and South. I'm going to allow the whole month for this, as the 'classics' tend to slow me down somewhat.

3Tanya-dogearedcopy
jan 15, 2022, 1:30 pm

My planned read for this month is Tess of the D'Urbervilles (by Thomas Hardy). I'm probably going to start within the next week as a cursory skim-through gives me the impression that it's going to take me a bit to get it completed by the end of a short month!

4DeltaQueen50
jan 15, 2022, 2:18 pm

I am planning on reading Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant.

5Robertgreaves
jan 15, 2022, 2:33 pm

I've been meaning to re-read Adam Bede by George Eliot, so this might be the month to do it.

6LibraryCin
Bewerkt: jan 15, 2022, 2:59 pm

"Classics" are not always my favourite. I do have David Copperfield on my tbr, but it's in a list waiting to be randomly drawn for when I read it. It's also very long and daunting, so we'll see!

So... I'm not sure I have anything else on my tbr. If I don't decide to tackle David Copperfield, after all, the only other author who I might just choose something by is Louisa May Alcott, I think. Or maybe I'll come across something else appealing.

ETA: I did find a Louisa May Alcott on my tbr: Rose in Bloom, so that is likely what I'll read.

7Tess_W
jan 15, 2022, 4:05 pm

Spoiled for choice, here. One of my personal cats is 19th century authors. I need to peruse the my shelves!

8rabbitprincess
jan 15, 2022, 6:11 pm

I'm in the middle of Oliver Twist and will probably finish it in February, so I think I'll count it for this challenge :)

9dudes22
jan 15, 2022, 6:21 pm

Not sure of the exact book, but I think I'll probably read something by Wilkie Collins.

10pamelad
jan 15, 2022, 7:01 pm

I'm thinking of Belinda by Maria Edgeworth, which could also count as a romantic comedy for the February Shakespeare CAT.

11MissBrangwen
jan 16, 2022, 5:06 am

I will read Ein Winter auf Mallorca (Un hiver à Majorque) by George Sand since it is my read for CATWoman in February. But I have lots of other books to choose from, too, so I might read more, although I couldn't choose one right now.

12Tess_W
jan 16, 2022, 7:57 am

I will probably read The Gold Bug by Poe as that will also fit into the ScaredyKit for February.

13thornton37814
jan 17, 2022, 11:09 am

I edited the top post to include a link to the wiki!

14kac522
Bewerkt: jan 21, 2022, 1:43 am


Don't forget Jane Austen!--early 19th century, although pre-Victoria.

Wilkie Collins is the featured author in February at the Monthly Author Read group:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/337419#

There's a group read of David Copperfield going on at Club Read's Victorian Tavern -- Jan through March: https://www.librarything.com/topic/338032#

and a general "Victorian Tavern" thread to get even more suggestions:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/337959#

I'll be reading Anthony Trollope's Linda Tressel.

15thornton37814
jan 21, 2022, 6:41 am

>14 kac522: I think the reason I didn't include Austen was that I only quickly glanced and saw she began writing in 1787. However, her "big 6" certainly didn't come until the 19th century. She's one of those that overlapped that I tried to avoid using in the topper. If I'd paid closer attention, I might have included her. I just saw that 1787 date.

16kac522
jan 21, 2022, 1:47 pm

>15 thornton37814: Yep, she was only 12 in 1787 ;)

17sallylou61
Bewerkt: jan 21, 2022, 2:12 pm

>15 thornton37814:, >16 kac522:. She was only 12 from Dec. 16 of 1787; most of that year she was 11. I took an adult education class on Jane Austen a number of years ago, and our instructor pointed out that Jane was born in December which many people did not take into account when figuring how old she when writing certain stories/books. She wrote a number of stories as a juvenile.

18lowelibrary
jan 23, 2022, 4:39 pm

I am going to read Tales of Suspense by Edgar Allan Poe which contains a short story The Gold Bug for ScaredyKIT.

19MissBrangwen
jan 24, 2022, 3:18 pm

>14 kac522: >15 thornton37814: I was pondering the question if it was ok to include Jane Austen in this, so thank you for clarifying! I am not at all sure if I can squeeze one of her novels into this short month, but I would certainly love to.

>17 sallylou61: Good point!

20thornton37814
jan 24, 2022, 4:00 pm

>19 MissBrangwen: Austen is perfectly fine. Her major novels all fit the time frame.

21JayneCM
feb 2, 2022, 4:00 am

I am doing a buddy read of Anna Karenina this month, so that's my pick.

22pamelad
feb 2, 2022, 4:24 pm

I'm going to finish Phoebe Junior and am thinking of reading Kidnapped, or another Victorian children's book, for the bingo square. Postponing Belinda. I've also downloaded The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins - will see.

23kac522
feb 2, 2022, 6:12 pm

>22 pamelad: I just finished Kidnapped and loved it.

24cbl_tn
feb 2, 2022, 6:31 pm

I'm getting a head start on the March group read of The Perpetual Curate by Margaret Oliphant by reading it this month.

25kac522
feb 2, 2022, 8:04 pm

>24 cbl_tn: Good plan. I may do that toward the end of the month.

26MissWatson
feb 3, 2022, 3:15 am

I have finished Jezebel's Daughter which was quite sensationalist and very enjoyable.

>24 cbl_tn: >25 kac522: Oh, thanks for reminding me of that!

27kac522
feb 3, 2022, 3:43 am

>24 cbl_tn:, >26 MissWatson: And it's fairly chunky: 540 pages.

28Kristelh
feb 3, 2022, 2:24 pm

I read The House by the Medlar Tree by Giovanni Verga, published in 1881.

29Tess_W
feb 4, 2022, 12:06 pm

I read The Gold Bug by Poe. It was published in 1843.

30clue
feb 4, 2022, 12:12 pm

I've read the children's classic Heidi by Johanna Spyri (1827 - 1901).

31MissBrangwen
feb 4, 2022, 12:50 pm

>30 clue: That's amazing! Heidi is such a classic and such a "common good" that I never reflected on how old the novel actually is or when it was written. What an eye-opener!

32thornton37814
feb 4, 2022, 3:15 pm

>29 Tess_W: I've got that one on my desk at work. I'll get to it next week!

33LibraryCin
feb 5, 2022, 9:55 pm

Rose in Bloom / Louisa May Alcott
2 stars

I don’t really have a summary because I wasn’t really interested/paying attention. It seems Rose (raised with a bunch of boy cousins – I know this from the previous book) was away and has returned. I think she might now be looking for a husband. If she isn’t, others are (Phoebe?), as there is lots of talk of “lovers”. Oh, I do remember Rose wanted to become a philanthropist.

I listened to the audio, but neither the narrator nor the story made this interesting enough to really listen to what was going on. I rarely paid attention. Oh, and cousins getting married kind of creeps me out.

34Kristelh
feb 6, 2022, 8:42 pm

Finished Michael Kohlhaas by Heinrich von Kleist, published in1810. This is a novella and a good one.

35pamelad
feb 8, 2022, 2:18 pm

I've finished Phoebe Junior by Margaret Oliphant, the last book in the Carlingford series, and am now reading Kidnapped. Thank you Kathy, >23 kac522:. I found it on your thread!

36susanna.fraser
feb 8, 2022, 3:37 pm

I read Little Fadette by George Sand to kill two birds with one stone for the AuthorCAT and CATwoman challenges this month.

37kac522
feb 8, 2022, 4:53 pm

>35 pamelad: We'll be doing a group read of The Perpetual Curate next month, but I hope to get a head-start at the end of this month. I have a book of her short stories from the library, but haven't looked at it yet. And I loved Kidnapped.

38Tess_W
feb 8, 2022, 5:47 pm

I read Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett published in 1886. Not as good as The Secret Garden.

39kac522
Bewerkt: feb 8, 2022, 8:51 pm

>38 Tess_W: I read that last year, and agree, not anywhere close to The Secret Garden.

40Tanya-dogearedcopy
feb 9, 2022, 11:52 am

In The Anarchy, a NF audiobook about the British East India Company, William Dalrymple mentions the Koh-i-Noor-- an enormous diamond that carries a curse with it-- and that would become the basis for Wilkie Collins' novel, The Mooonstone (set in 1848-1850; text published in 1868). I couldn't resist: I bought a 30-cent ebook version on AMZN and then bought the Naxos multi-voice recording for half-price on Audible. I'm not sure what I thought this was, but it's a mystery centered around the disappearance of the diamond from an English country estate. Told in epistolary fashion, the opening letter shows how the diamond left India... Anyway, I'm absolutely loving this! I've just started and it will probably take me through to the end of February to wrap up as I prioritize finishing Tess of the D'Urbervilles (by Thomas Hardy) :-)

41thornton37814
feb 9, 2022, 1:42 pm

I finished Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. I'll begin reading a work by Poe tomorrow.

42pamelad
feb 9, 2022, 2:52 pm

>37 kac522: I liked The Perpetual Curate, and the next book, Miss Marjoribanks even more. Enjoy! Kidnapped is going well, in a bloodthirsty way.

43MissBrangwen
feb 13, 2022, 7:05 am

I finished Aquis Submersus by Theodor Storm, a novella that was first published in 1876. Storm is my favourite German 19th century writer and this was the fourth novella I read by him. I do love his poetry as well.

44Crazymamie
feb 13, 2022, 9:03 am

I'm reading Bleak House by Charles Dickens.

45Tanya-dogearedcopy
Bewerkt: feb 14, 2022, 12:40 pm

Yesterday, I finally finished, Tess of the D'Urbervilles (by Thomas Hardy)! This Classic is the tragedy of a young country girl/woman in Wessex during the 1870s who tries to make her way through the world with love and a sense of dignity, even as her world is corrupted by outside influences. There is plenty of fodder for literary criticism and discussion, but what cannot be rendered equivocal is the richness of the text and the vivid, painterly portrayals of the settings and characters. This edition contains endnotes that compare other MSS of the text (Hardy made revisions/redactions to accommodate himself and various publications, most notably Graphic in the latter case, which were in equal measures tedious and enlightening.)

ETA: ICYMBI, This 2016 article from The Guardian, "Bones found at prison may belong to real-life Tess of the d'Urbervilles" (by Steven Morris):
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/19/thomas-hardy-tess-of-the-durbervil...

46clue
feb 14, 2022, 11:59 pm

47pamelad
feb 16, 2022, 12:50 am

I read The House of Ulloa by Emilia Pardo Bazan which was first published in Spanish in 1886. It's well worth reading.

48pamelad
feb 16, 2022, 3:55 pm

Still on the Iberian Peninsula, I'm starting The Crime of Father Amaro - Portugal, 1875.

49DeltaQueen50
feb 16, 2022, 7:37 pm

I have completed my read of Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant.

50Cora-R
feb 16, 2022, 7:40 pm

I finished Silas Marner by George Eliot.

51MissWatson
feb 17, 2022, 3:03 am

I have finished L'argent by Émile Zola which dragged a bit with the detailed descriptions of the financial shenanigans. It was based on a real "krach" and I was surprised to read in the afterword that this also influenced Bel Ami. Guess I need to move this up the pile while memory of the case is fresh.

52sallylou61
feb 17, 2022, 11:23 pm

I read the final (1892) edition of Walt Whitman's Song of Myself. I bought this volume containing both the first (1855) and final editions last summer thinking I might take a workshop on it, which I did not. I'm disappointed that this volume does not contain any commentary on the poem.

53MissBrangwen
feb 21, 2022, 2:25 pm

I finished Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, published in 1813.

54pamelad
feb 21, 2022, 6:54 pm

The Crime of Father Amaro by Jose Maria Eca de Queiros was first published in 1875, in Portugal. Recommended.

55Jackie_K
feb 22, 2022, 3:25 pm

After weeks of good intentions, I'm afraid I only started North and South yesterday, and whilst I'll carry on with it there's no way I'm going to get it finished for the end of the month. I think I'll just dip into it when I can and just finish it when I can (which seems to be my usual method of reading the long classics!).

56Tanya-dogearedcopy
feb 22, 2022, 7:10 pm

I finished The Moonstone (by Wilkie Collins; narrated by Ronald Pickup, Sean Barrett, David Timson, Jamie Parker, Jonathan Olive, Fenella Woolgar and, Joe Marsh). Published in 1868, this mystery is set in the country house belonging to the Verinder family. A rare and large diamond (à la the Koh-i-Noor) has passed into the hands of a young woman and, before the night is out, the gem is missing! Told in epistolary form from several POVs, this leaves you guessing up until the very end as to who, how and why. Though there is one "loose-ish" end (not really a spoiler, but marking it as such out of respect to those who may not want to know-- How is it that Dr. Candy recovers?), I found it entertaining and am looking forward to picking up The Woman in White in the future. My only quibble with the audio (which had so many amazing narrators, including the talented Ms Woolgar who turns in a truly fine and comic performance of Miss Drusilla Clack) is that there didn't seem to be any overall directorial guidance-- so sometimes the steward's daughter is Irish and sometimes not! Anyway, Edgar Allan Poe wrote one of the earliest mystery novels in the 19th century, The Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1841, but this represents the first full mystery novel and it serves as the prototype from which many mysteries still take their cues.

57MissWatson
feb 23, 2022, 4:44 am

I have finished Bel-Ami which makes an interesting comparison to Zola's L'argent. I liked this a lot, even if it told me more about running a French newspaper in the late 1880s than I need to know.

58DeltaQueen50
feb 23, 2022, 9:41 pm

>57 MissWatson: I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed Bel Ami as well! I will definitely be on the lookout for more Guy de Maupassant.

59thornton37814
feb 24, 2022, 8:12 am

I finished Poe's The Gold Bug. I read the Sullivan's Island edition illustrated by Elizabeth O'Neill Verner that also contained an introduction about Poe's time on Sullivan's Island by Frank Durham.

60Cora-R
feb 25, 2022, 10:30 pm

I also read The Gold-Bug by Edgar Allan Poe. It started out very interesting, but lost my interest about half way through.

61MissWatson
feb 27, 2022, 10:49 am

I have also finished The Queen of Hearts by Wilkie Collins where ten short stories are strung together by three old matchmaking men.

62Tanya-dogearedcopy
feb 28, 2022, 1:47 am

I finished the whole of Hard Times (by Charles Dickens; narrated by Anton Lesser) a bit early (was in my March stack). It's a satirical anti-industrialism work and the shortest Dickens novel in his oeuvre. One of the first characters we meet is Josiah Bounderby, a man who boasts of his origins in poverty. At this point, all I could think of was the absurdist sketch, "The Four Yorkshiremen" from "At Last the 1948 Show"; and from there, imagining all the characters in the novel as Monty Python comics. Anyway, from the ridiculous Mr. Bounderby to the Queen of Passive Aggressiveness, Mrs. Sparsit they were all vividly and evocatively drawn.

https://youtu.be/DT1mGoLDRbc

63kac522
Bewerkt: mrt 1, 2022, 9:33 am

I completed one 19th century book in February: Linda Tressel by Anthony Trollope. This was a very sad story, set in Nuremberg, that did not end well. One of my least favorite Trollopes.
I'm still working on an audiobook of David Copperfield and reading The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. Am enjoying both.

64MissWatson
mrt 1, 2022, 2:45 am

I squeezed in a last, short one: Ellernklipp, a tale of a true crime committed in the Harz mountains.