SHIRLEY: Discussion Schedule January 2011

[Melissa_W Moderator]

By hook or by crook!  I still can't find the box with my copy of Shirley in it...but I do have a nook so I could read it anyway for our discussion.  Welcome to 2011 in Literature by Women!  Shirley is Charlotte Bronte's second published novel (the third written) and it has a decidedly different tone than the famous Jane Eyre.

Discussion Schedule January 2011:

January 3 - 9: Chapters 1 - 10

January 10 - 16: Chapters 11 - 20

January 17 - 23: Chapters 21 - 30

January 24 - 30: Chapters 31 - 37 and the Novel as a Whole

There are many editions of Shirley available; I'm using the Penguin ebook (and paperback, if I figure out which box all my Penguin Classics are in - things got a bit jumbled coming off the moving truck).

[dulcinea3]

I am reading from a book similar to this:

Charlotte & Emily Bronte .  It may really be the same thing, with a different cover.  Mine is dark blue and not as elaborate, but also that 'leather-look', with a ribbon for marking the place.  Unfortunately, it has no annotations, so if anybody comes across anything interesting, please share it!  I am doing the best I can with the dialect and the French so far when they have appeared.  Once I get through this novel, The Professor will be the only one I haven't read yet.  And I have both of Anne's novels separately, so that will be my last Bronte novel to read, overall.  Although I do also have a novel called Emma Brown that I haven't read yet, and that was an unfinished novel by Charlotte that someone else finally completed.  I have been recently interested to learn that it is possible that the story inspired A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, which in turn was the basis for my very favorite Shirley Temple movie!

[Valentini]

I'm reading the ebook on my NOOK.  I clicked to download the Penguin edition, but it didn't give me the Penguin edition.  Instead I received a Neeland Media e-edition.  I would have preferred the Penguin one but thought the e-book would be okay.  Unfortunately, though, I don't see any notes in it or any translations for the French passages.

Shirley

  

Needless to say, I'm a little disappointed in the ebook, but it was only $2.99.

--Valentini

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Valentini - that link should have been the Penguin edition.  I will PM Jeremy to have them check the product links.

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Valentini wrote:

I'm reading the ebook on my NOOK.  I clicked to download the Penguin edition, but it didn't give me the Penguin edition.  Instead I received a Neeland Media e-edition.  I would have preferred the Penguin one but thought the e-book would be okay.  Unfortunately, though, I don't see any notes in it or any translations for the French passages.

Shirley

  

Needless to say, I'm a little disappointed in the ebook, but it was only $2.99.

--Valentini

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[zaphiragirl]

I started this monday...shameful to say that I'm still in the first chapter! given to the reason I find myself looking up words in the dictionary every five minutes and also haven't had that much spare time to read lately...

I hope this helps me to enrich my english since the first chapter has just proved to me I'm lacking in that aspect!

I have a question...the disscussion about the chapters from 1-10 begins in Jan. 9 or during Jan 3-9 we will discuss those chapters? I'm new and I'm feeling a little lost here...sorry. =/

Thanks

[Valentini]

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zaphiragirl wrote:

I started this monday...shameful to say that I'm still in the first chapter! given to the reason I find myself looking up words in the dictionary every five minutes and also haven't had that much spare time to read lately...

I hope this helps me to enrich my english since the first chapter has just proved to me I'm lacking in that aspect!

I have a question...the disscussion about the chapters from 1-10 begins in Jan. 9 or during Jan 3-9 we will discuss those chapters? I'm new and I'm feeling a little lost here...sorry. =/

Thanks

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I am so glad you posted this!  I, too, find myself constantly looking up words.  The Nook makes it easier, though, as I just tap the word and then tap "Look Up."  I think I know the meaning of some of the words I look up, but I just want to be sure before I continue on with the reading.  It did get easier, the more I read. I'm currently looking for opportunities to use the word, sagacity.

--Valentini

[zaphiragirl]

Hahaha! Well thank you for that reply to know I'm not the only one is actually a little relief! Hey what's that about the 'look up' in the nook???  I have a nook I don't know how to do that! That'd save so much trouble...I have to find out how to do that!

[Peppermill]

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zaphiragirl wrote:

Hahaha! Well thank you for that reply to know I'm not the only one is actually a little relief! Hey what's that about the 'look up' in the nook???  I have a nook I don't know how to do that! That'd save so much trouble...I have to find out how to do that!

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At page 152, I have about 50 words in my look-up list.  I subscribe to Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online, so I do my look-ups online and stuff them into a template I have for taking book notes (sections like name and publishing details, characters, place, time, words, quotations, chapters, sources, other books by this author,..., not all of which I use for every book, but some of which often come in handy).  I used to use the free site, m-w.com, for most look-ups because the descriptions were a little simpler (less etymology, ....), but the advertisements have gotten so obnoxious the past year or so that I now rely almost entirely on the subscription site.  It is one of the indulgences to go with my reading, since I am still choosing not to be an early adopter of e-book technology, even though (or perhaps because) I once earned my living at the cutting edge of technology.

I will comment elsewhere on some of the Biblical references, which have particularly caught my attention with this reading of Bronte, given both her own background, the early introduction of the curates, and some of the Biblical studies that have been a part of my own life recently.  I think those are aspects of writing that were taken for granted until at least the mid-1800's, but which are less and less used by modern authors and whose meaning is frequently lost to young readers of Victorian and earlier literature.

It often seems to me a little intimidating among avid readers to admit to the words looked-up, but I did have a lot of fun doing so and sharing what I found when we read Daughters of the Witching Hill on the General Fiction board, so I will encourage us to do the same here. 

Pepper

[dulcinea3]

I came across a word the other night and in this case wondered why I did know it!  Where would I have come across "yclept" before?  And yet it was so familiar to me that I immediately knew that it means "named".

Oh, and since nobody has responded, this is the week that we are discussing chapters 1 - 10.  We would be discussing one section per week for the weeks of January.  But that doesn't mean that you have to adhere to this rigidly.  If you read ahead, feel free to start posting on that section's thread.  If you are behind, just continue on the thread for the section that you are still on.  Some people might finish a section and move on to the next thread, but I know that I still go back and read the earlier threads, and respond to them if I think of anything to say in response.  This is kind of a long book and some parts are not reading so quickly (for me, anyway, but I tend to be a slow reader in general), so if you fall behind, you will probably have company!  If you overlap into next month a bit, that's ok, too.

[Peppermill]

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zaphiragirl wrote (excerpt):

I have a question...the disscussion about the chapters from 1-10 begins in Jan. 9 or during Jan 3-9 we will discuss those chapters? I'm new and I'm feeling a little lost here...sorry. =/

Thanks

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Zaphira --  for these boards, any thread is fair game once it is posted.  The separation into threads representing sections of the books provides two major things:  first, it reduces the possibility of "spoilers" for someone else's enjoyment of the book, and, second, it provides at least a rough schedule for reading and discussing the book.  Normally Melissa's sections correspond to about one week of the month, since we discuss most books in the space of a month (some long ones, like Middlemarch, she has allotted more time to complete). 

You will find most of the discussions clustered by week, but sometimes some of us get behind, sometimes some of us race through a book and want to capture our thoughts as we go.  This format lends itself to supporting either mode.

One additional comment: some of us don't care very much about spoilers, especially if reading something where we basically know the plot line.  We will read whatever gets posted.  Others who do care can be more selective about the threads they read.  So, it is considered courtesy to be careful about "spoilers -- revealing the plot or key ideas too early," a concept that it was difficult for me to grasp in my early days on these boards.

Pepper

[dulcinea3]

Ha, and while I was editing my post, saying nobody had responded to the question yet, Pepper responded before I ended and posted my edit!

[Peppermill]

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dulcinea3 wrote:

Ha, and while I was editing my post, saying nobody had responded to the question yet, Pepper responded before I ended and posted my edit!

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Great minds...  When you speak of angels, hear their wings flap ....

[Peppermill]

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Valentini wrote (excerpt):

Unfortunately, though, I don't see any notes in it or any translations for the French passages.

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My Modern Library edition (a library copy) has only limited notes and no translations for the French passages, either.    Pepper

[zaphiragirl]

Thanks dulcinea and Peppermill I feel a little more on track now!! You angels saved me haha!

Well I guess I might be a little behind by jan. 9 but after the look-up advise from Pepper and Valentini I've seen some improvement, since now, I see the word I know what it means and ha! the dictionary stays in the shelf! >

I'm already on chap. 3 I'm not a super high speed reader but if I put a little effort on it I can read a little fast though I'm afraid I don't want to eat up the book and loose the taste of the details so I have to be careful on that.

About the Biblical references I'd be happy to read those although until now what has gotten  a little more of my attention is her way of talking directly to the reader 'it is time, reader...this or that.' maybe is a tiny little detail but it's the first time I read a book written that way.

Also I've been searching a little about her biography to get a little more familiarized with her way of writing...usually by reading the authors backgrounds I get to understand many things in the novels I read. 

At last, this is actually the first novel I read in...well a more 'ancient version of english' I think would be the right concept, since all the other classics I've enjoyed I've read them in modern english versions ( I see now it was not a good choice at all) but I'm enjoying this reading and though I have to fight a lot to understand many concepts and words I see is actually good since it'll help when reading other classics and it enriches my vocabulary (something I love).

I'm actually liking this experience a lot more than I expected...you may think this girl has lost it...but believe me with a family that doesn't quite gets why is there a book junkie in their house, friends that actually hate reading and no book clubs around this site has been heaven for me!!

[Peppermill]

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Valentini wrote (excerpt):

...  I, too, find myself constantly looking up words.  The Nook makes it easier, though, as I just tap the word and then tap "Look Up."  I think I know the meaning of some of the words I look up, but I just want to be sure before I continue on with the reading.  It did get easier, the more I read. I'm currently looking for opportunities to use the word, sagacity.

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Valentini, it sounds as if you offered your own sagacity to Zaphir by sharing how to use the Nook look-up feature.  (Will that do for a start?)

[Valentini]

Zaphiragirl,

The WiFi NOOK has a look up feature located in the screen below the reading pane.  When you are reading and come across a word for which you want to look up the definition, just activate the screen by touching the NOOK symbol; then scroll down through the varioius options until you see the "Look Up Word" option underneath the "Highlights and Notes" option.  Tap on it and another screen appears that allows you to move a cursor around the page.  Move the cursor in front of the word and tap "Look Up."  You can also tap "keyboard" when you get into the "Look Up" box and type in the word without having to scroll down to it.

The NOOKcolor is even easier.  Place your finger on the word you want to look up and when the pop-up ribbon appears, tap Look Up.  This feature is further enhanced by Google and Wikipedia options, so you can tap either of those options and read more about the word.

Hope this helps!

Valentini

[Valentini]

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Peppermill wrote:

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Valentini wrote (excerpt):

...  I, too, find myself constantly looking up words.  The Nook makes it easier, though, as I just tap the word and then tap "Look Up."  I think I know the meaning of some of the words I look up, but I just want to be sure before I continue on with the reading.  It did get easier, the more I read. I'm currently looking for opportunities to use the word, sagacity.

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Valentini, it sounds as if you offered your own sagacity to Zaphir by sharing how to use the Nook look-up feature.  (Will that do for a start?)

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Thank you, but I'm not sure my advice was very sagacious!   I need to continue to work on acquiring sagacity! 

[zaphiragirl]

Oh yes Valentini!! I asked a friend in the US that has a nook too and she told me just the same! xD As for your advice it was sagacious indeed! Now I don't have to go under the ironic situation of reading a digitalized book and going to a paper-back book to look up words!! So thanks again!!

[Melissa_W Moderator]

I still can't find my box of Penguins (it's probably in my parents' basement - I told my mom to look for a "box of penguins" and she thought I was nuts; I had to explain that it was a box of Penguin Classics books, labelled "Penguin") but it does warm my heart to log into BNBC and see 31 unread posts for this group.   Now to read/respond!

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Just an update:

Apparently, I do not own a paper copy of Shirley -  random.  I was so sure I did and kept opening boxes looking for it. 

I gave up and checked my spreadsheet...which shows that I don't own a paperback.  Good thing I bought the ebook