Friday Poetry: Lewis Carroll

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone has had a good week so far.

My chosen poem this week is by Lewis Carroll and I chose it because it made me laugh.

You Are Old, Father William

'You are old, Father William,' the young man said,
'And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head - 
Do you think, at your age, it is right?'

'In my youth,' Father William replied to his son, 
'I feared it might injure the brain;
But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again.'

'You are old,' said the youth, 'as I mentioned before,
And have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door -
Pray, what is the reason of that?'

'In my youth,' said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
'I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment-one shilling the box - 
Allow me to sell you a couple?'

'You are old,' said the youth, 'and your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak - 
Pray, how did you manage to do it?'

'In my youth,' said his father, 'I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,
Has lasted the rest of my life.'

'You are old,' said the youth, 'one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose - 
What made you so awfully clever?'

'I have answered three questions, and that is enough,'
Said his father. 'Don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you downstairs!'

Lewis Carroll

Happy Reading

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Roverandom by J. R. R. Tolkien (Review)

Roverandom by J. R. R. Tolkien

Blurb

J.R.R. Tolkien’s earliest children’s story.

While on holiday in 1925, four-year-old Michael Tolkien lost his beloved toy dog on the beach. To console him, his father J.R.R. Tolkien improvised a story about Rover, a real dog who is magically transformed into toy, and his quest to find the wizard who can return him to normal.

The adventures of Rover, or ‘Roverandom’ a he becomes known, include encounters with an ancient sand-sorcerer and a terrible dragon, by the king of wordplay, the story underwent a number of revisions and was originally considered for publication in January 1937, the same year as The Hobbit, was abandoned when the publishers asked instead for a sequel, which culminated in The Lord of the Rings. Roverandom was finally published in 1998.

Review

I love Tolkien and I have read The Lord of the Rings more times than I can count. So when I saw this in Waterstones I knew I had to get it and I was not disappointed.

Roverandom is all about a little dog who due to being a little bit rude and not minding his manners to a wizard he ends up as a small toy dog instead. Roverandom ends up being taken from his home and his beloved ball and goes on all kinds of adventures meeting wizards, dragons, mer people and much more.

This story is typical Tolkien but doesn’t flow with his usual style but I think this is because it wasn’t refined for publication by Tolkien. You can also clearly see that the wizards in this book were the starting points for Gandalf as Artaxerxes is a little bit similar to Gandalf.

This is a wonderful little story that you can just imagine Tolkien telling his distraught son to help with the loss of his beloved toy dog. The story also has a very clear moral about the consequences of not minding your manners and being polite. Roverandom goes on his adventures and learns to be a better dog, a dog with manners who is polite and kind and thinks of others. It really was a beautiful little read that I give 4 out of 5 Dragons.

🐲🐲🐲🐲

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About the author

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on the 3rd January 1892 in Bloemfontein. He moved to England when he was three years old and was home schooled with his younger brother and taught by his mother. Tolkien served in the First World War and after the war he established a distinguished academic career and was recognised as one of the finest philologists in the world. He is best known as the creator of Middle Earth and the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He was awarded a CBE and an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Oxford University in 1972. He died on 2nd September 1973 at the age of 81.

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Mid Week Quote: Pablo Picasso

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a good week so far.

My chosen quote this week is by the Spanish artist, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer Pablo Picasso (1881-1973).

“Everything you can imagine is real.”
Pablo Picasso

Happy Reading

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WWW Wednesday: 6/04/2022

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The rules are answer the questions below and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you will read next?

Hello!

It has been a while since I have done a WWW Wednesday because I haven’t been reading much but I seem to be getting back into it again.

What I am Currently Reading

I am thoroughly enjoying the Wilkie Collins so far. I can already see how the story is going but I am enjoying it none the less. The James Norbury is just beautiful.

What I have Recently Finished Reading

I thoroughly enjoyed both these books. Reviews will follow soon.

What I Think I will Read Next

There are so many good books I want to read and I just don’t know what to decide. I am loving The Wheel of Time and The Expanse series but I am finding it hard to decide which series to carry on with next.

Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

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The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan (Review)

The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan

Blurb

The Forsaken are loose, the Horn of Valere has been found and the Dead are rising from their dreamless sleep. The Prophecies are being fulfilled – but Rand al’ Thor, the shepherd the Aes Sedai have proclaimed as the Dragon Reborn, desperately seeks to escape his destiny.

Rand cannot run forever. With every passing day the Dark One grows in strength and strives to shatter his ancient prison, to break the Wheel, to bring an end to Time and sunder the weave of the Pattern.

And the Pattern demands the Dragon.

Review

I will be honest the first time I read this book in 2015 I did not find it as enjoyable as the the first book in the series but this time round that has changed and I enjoyed it a lot more maybe even more than the first book.

I found this book a lot faster paced than the first which I enjoyed more and found myself more likely to pick up the book and not put it down for ages.

This book introduces us to new enemies such as the Seanchan, who I really did not like but I’m not entirely sure they are the bad guys entirely. We also learn more about The White Cloaks, Padan Fain and The Forsaken. We also learn more about The Age of Legends which I really hope we learn more about in future books as I find it fascinating.

The characters from the previous book are further developed in this book. Rand gets more depth but I do still find him slightly annoying at times but not as much as Mat. I always feel frustrated with Mat. I know it is not entirely his fault but it is clear he does not have the goodness inside him like Perrin and Rand. Perrin is still my favourite character. He is loyal to his friends, caring and you can tell he is someone who is dependable and will always try to do the right thing.

We also get to know Min and Elayne more in this book which is good even though Elayne is another one of those annoying characters for me but I suspect she is being portrayed to be annoying in comparison to the other female characters such as Min and Egwene.

This book has so much going on it, it really is packed. Moiraine and Lan are dealing with their own adventures as well as trying to help Rand, Perrin and Mat. Egwene, Elayne, Min and Nynaeve have their own storyline but in the end they all converge together again.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and could not put it down and I look forward to reading the next book in the series because although I have read it before I can’t really remember much. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons.

Purchase Links

Book Depository | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery

About the author

James Oliver Rigney Jr. (1948-2007) was an American author of epic fantasy who wrote under the pen name Robert Jordan. Jordan also wrote historical fiction under the name of Reagan O’Neal, a western as Jackson O’Reilly, and dance criticism as Chang Lung.

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Goodreads Monday: 4/04/2022

Goodreads Monday is now hosted by Budget Tales Book Club. All you have to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re looking forward to reading.

Hello!

Happy Monday! I hope everyone has a had a good start to the week so far. This week I am featuring another book off my Classics Club List for Goodreads Monday.

With her final novel, Villette, Charlotte Brontë reached the height of her artistic power. First published in 1853, Villette is Brontë’s most accomplished and deeply felt work, eclipsing even Jane Eyre in critical acclaim. Her narrator, the autobiographical Lucy Snowe, flees England and a tragic past to become an instructor in a French boarding school in the town of Villette. There she unexpectedly confronts her feelings of love and longing as she witnesses the fitful romance between Dr. John, a handsome young Englishman, and Ginerva Fanshawe, a beautiful coquette. The first pain brings others, and with them comes the heartache Lucy has tried so long to escape. Yet in spite of adversity and disappointment, Lucy Snowe survives to recount the unstinting vision of a turbulent life’s journey – a journey that is one of the most insightful fictional studies of a woman’s consciousness in English literature.

Purchase Links

Book Depository | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery

I remember attempting to read this a few years ago but for one reason or another I did not finish it so fingers crossed I do when I read it this time around.

Please drop me a comment if you have taken part in Goodreads Monday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

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The Weekly Brief

Hello!

I hope everyone has had a good weekend so far. I have got back into blogging after a little break so there are not many posts for this week.

Posts this Week

Currently Reading

Really enjoying this so far. I had forgotten just how good Wilkie Collins was.

Happy Reading

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March 2022 Wrap Up

Hello!

Another disappointing month on the reading front sadly and even less pages than last month. I must admit I seem to be in a bit of a slump for some reason but hopefully I will be out of it soon.

Books

Pages: 57

Format Read: Hardback

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲

Review

Pages: 352

Format Read: Paperback

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲🐲

Review

Pages: 150

Format Read: Paperback

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲

Review to follow

Goodreads Challenge: 10/60

Happy Reading

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Friday Poetry: Philip Larkin

Hello!

Happy Friday! Apologies for being absent for so long but I decided to have a little break from the blog for a little while.

My chosen poem this week is by the poet Philip Larkin.

The Trees

The trees are coming into leaf
Like something almost being said;
The recent buds relax and spread, 
Their greenness is a kind of grief.

Is it that they are born again
And we grow old? No, they die too. 
Their yearly trick of looking new
Is written down in rings of grain.

Yet still the unresting castles thresh
In fullgrown thickness every May. 
Last year is dead, they seem to say,
Begin afresh. afresh, afresh.

Philip Larkin

Happy Reading

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The Classics Club: Spin #29 – Results

Hello!

Last week I decided to take part in the Classics Club Spin Event to decide my next read off my Classics Club List. The post can be found here.

Well the results are in and the chosen number was 11. This means my next read will be The New Magdalen by Wilkie Collins and I have to finish it by 30th April 2022.

I have only read one book by Wilkie Collins but I did love it so fingers crossed I will enjoy The New Magdalen just as much.

I am thoroughly enjoying my classics reading after so long without reading any.

Please drop me a comment if you are doing the Classics Club challenge or if you have taken part in the Spin Challenge.

Happy Reading

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