Category Archives: The Ideal Reader

The Ideal Reader book 17: Blindness by Jose Saramago

Posted on March 23, 2019 by bookbii

I suspect it’s a little bit of a cheat to have added a book by Saramago to my Ideal Reader mission; he’s a writer I have read before and loved and I know I enjoy his books which are challenging … Continue reading →

Posted in fiction, The Ideal Reader | 15 Comments

The Ideal Reader Book 14: The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard

Posted on January 1, 2019 by bookbii

The horror of the nineteen days it took us to travel from Cape Evans to Cape Crozier would have to be re-experienced to be appreciated: and any one would be a fool who went again: it is not possible to … Continue reading →

Posted in exploration, memoir, science, The Ideal Reader | 7 Comments

The Ideal Reader: a refrain

Posted on December 21, 2018 by bookbii

Several months ago I took the decision to start tackling my book habit by finally reading all those books I bought for idealistic reasons; the books that defined the smart version of me, the well-read one, the one who had … Continue reading →

Posted in The Ideal Reader | 13 Comments

The Ideal Reader Book 12: Germinal by Emile Zola (translated by Leonard Tancock)

Posted on November 18, 2018 by bookbii

“While Etienne lingered by the fire warming his poor raw hands, Le Voreux began to emerge as from a dream. He could now pick out each part of the works: the tarpaulin-covered screening shed, the headgear, the huge winding-house, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, The Ideal Reader | 9 Comments

The Ideal Reader book 9: The Story of the Stone by Cao Xuequin volumes IV and V (translated by John Minford)

Posted on September 30, 2018 by bookbii

“When grief for fiction’s idle words More real than human life appears, Reflect that life itself’s a dream And do not mock the reader’s tears.” One of the difficulties of reading the same book for 6 weeks is how it … Continue reading →

Posted in Chinese, Classics, The Ideal Reader | 5 Comments

The Ideal Reader book 9: The Story of the Stone by Cao Xuequin volumes 2 & 3 (translated by David Hawkes)

Posted on September 12, 2018 by bookbii

Yes, I’m still working my way through The Story of the Stone, though I’m beginning to feel like I’m on the home strait. I’ve been reading for nearly 5 weeks now, which is an age, and I’ve got through about … Continue reading →

Posted in Chinese, Classics, The Ideal Reader | 4 Comments

The Ideal Reader book 9: The Story of the Stone by Cao Xuequin volume 1 (translated by David Hawkes)

Posted on August 22, 2018 by bookbii

The Story of the Stone, perhaps more recognisably known as The Dream of the Red Chamber, is an epic work of Chinese fiction, my copy in five volumes weighing in at a massive 2480 pages long. I bought it ages ago … Continue reading →

Posted in Chinese, Classics, Epic, fiction, The Ideal Reader, translation | 3 Comments

The Ideal Reader Book 5: The Three-cornered World by Natsume Soseki (translated by Alan Turney)

Posted on August 7, 2018 by bookbii

“I wonder how it would be if, while I am on this short journey, I were to regard events as though they were part of the action of a Noh play, and the people I meet merely as if they … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, fiction, Japanese, The Ideal Reader | 11 Comments

The Ideal Reader book 3: The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen

Posted on July 23, 2018 by bookbii

“Amazingly,we take for granted that instinct for survival, fear of death, must separate us from the happiness of pure and uninterrupted experience, in which body, mind, and nature are the same. And this debasement of our vision, the retreat from … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy, religion, The Ideal Reader, travel | 8 Comments

The Ideal Reader

Posted on June 13, 2018 by bookbii

When I started out book blogging I was super-excited about the prospect of reading lots of books, reviewing lots of books, maybe getting my hands on some free review copies and adding, exponentially, to the groaning weight of paper on … Continue reading →

Posted in The Ideal Reader | 29 Comments