- The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison
- I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith
- Leviathan Wakes, by James S. A. Corey
- Cibola Burn, by James S. A. Corey
- The Snakes, by Sadie Jones
Self’s Favorite Books of 2020 (So Far) Have Been Novels
August 19, 2020 at 7:34 pm (Books, Lists, Personal Bookshelf, Recommended)
Tags: COVID Reading, novel, reading lists, summer
Who Was Colonel Chabert?
August 19, 2020 at 1:43 pm (Books, Recommended, Weather)
Tags: California, COVID Reading, historical novel, history, Napoleon, novellas, reading lists, summer, war novel
From Andrew Brown’s Introduction to Colonel Chabert
The Battle of Eylau, fought under a heavy fall of snow on February 1807 between two rows of frozen lakes, set 80,000 Russians against 60,000 French. The French infantry, subjected to heavy Russian cannonades, fell back in disarray . . . What saved the Grande Armée from complete defeat … were the French cavalry charges repeatedly launched straight at the centre of the Russian and Prussian lines. One of these charges was led by Colonel Chabert: the troops under his command broke through the Russian lines, but . . . Chabert himself was cut down from his horse by a Russian sabre, and disappeared under the hooves of the 1500-strong cavalry charge led by Murat.
Colonel Chabert is a fictional character. But — what a point of view!
(Fighting for the other side: Prince Andrei Bolkonsky of Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Literature is amazing.)
Today the skies are smoky from wildfires. Wind is blowing from the east. (California just can’t seem to catch a break) Governor declared a state of emergency.
Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.
A. N. Wilson: Foreword to COLONEL CHABERT
August 19, 2020 at 5:24 am (Places)
Tags: Balzac, COVID Reading, novellas, Paris, reading lists, summer
There are three categories of men in the Paris of the 1830s who habitually robed themselves in black: the Priest, the Doctor, and the Lawyer.
