1001 Books You Must Read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
Arthur Dent is trying to stop his house being demolished to make way for a by-pass. But his friend, Ford Prefect (who hails not from Guildford, but somewhere near Betelgeuse), is more concerned about the imminent destruction of the Earth. Ford is a writer for the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, "the most successful book ever to have come out of the great publishing corporations of Ursa Minor" and he may just know how to avoid being evaporated by the Vogons…

The global multi-media success story that is "Hitchhiker's" started life as a Radio 4 series in March 1978. The original scripts by the late Douglas Adams then went on to spawn a series of novels, a feature film, at least three stage shows, a TV series, a computer game, a collection of comic books – and various towels.

The Guide helpfully informs us that the most obscene expletive in the galaxy is "Belgium".

Douglas Adams was born in Cambridge and died in 2001 aged 49, after a fatal heart attack in his gym in California.

The answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything is 42.

With Peter Jones, Simon Jones, Geoffrey McGivern and Jo Kendall. Produced by Simon Brett.

First heard on BBC Radio 4 in March 1978.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jlzj

The Temptation of St. Anthony by Gustave Flaubert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Title: The Temptation of St. Anthony

Author: Gustave Flaubert

Release Date: June 4, 2016 [eBook #52225]

Language: English

E-text prepared by Laura N.R. and Marc D'Hooghe (http://www.freeliterature.org) from page images generously made available by the Google Books Library Project (http://books.google.com)
and illustrations generously made available by Bibliothèque nationale de France (http://gallica.bnf.fr)

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.

Gustave Flaubert, best known for his masterpiece Madame Bovary, spent nearly thirty years working on a surreal and largely 'unreadable' retelling of the temptation of Saint Anthony. Colin Dickey explores how it was only in the dark and compelling illustrations of Odilon Redon, made years later, that Flaubert's strangest work finally came to life.

Read online at The Public Domain Review.

"Anthony: What Is the Point of All This? The Devil: There Is No Point!",

by Odilon Redon from his "The Temptation of Saint Anthony" series

I made the proofreading this book for Free Literature and it will be published by Project Gutenberg.

The original files are provided by Internet Archive.

And they are also available at HathiTrust.

Page 18:

It was in 1845 that an old picture by Breughel, seen at Genoa, first inspired Flaubert to attempt the story of St. Anthony. He sought out an engraving of this conception of Peter the Younger (surnamed "Hell-Breughel" for his fondness for such subjects), hung it on his walls at Croisset, and after three years of brooding upon it began, May 24, 1848, La Tentation de St. Antoine.

Page 19:

"In its primitive and legendary state the temptation of St. Anthony was nothing more than the story of a recluse tempted by the Devil through the flesh, by all the artifices at the Devil's disposal. In the definite thought of Flaubert the temptation of St. Anthony has become man's soul tempted by all the illusions of human thought and imagination. St. Anthony to the eyes of the first naive hagiologists is a second Adam, seduced by woman, who was inspired by Satan. St. Anthony conceived by Flaubert is a more thoughtful Faust; a Faust incapable of irony, not a Faust who could play with illusions and with himself–secretly persuaded that he could withdraw when he chose to give himself the trouble to do so–rather a Faust who approached, accosted, caressed all possible forms of universal illusions."

The Marble Faun: Or, the Romance of Monte Beni, Volume 1 by Nathaniel Hawthorne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.

Loving it and I've already started Vol II.

Loc 1554:

One of the chief causes that make Rome the favorite residence of artists – their ideal home which they sigh for in advance, and are so loath to migrate from, after once breathing its enchanted air – is, doubtless, that they there find themselves in force, and are numerous enough to create a congenial atmosphere. In every other clime they are isolated strangers; in this land of art, they are free citizens.

The Marble Faun V. 2 (Oxford World's Classics) The Marble Faun V. 2 by Nathaniel Hawthorne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.

An astonished masterpiece written on the eve of the American Civil War.

From Wiki:
This Romance focuses on four main characters: Miriam, Hilda, Kenyon, and Donatello.

Miriam is a beautiful painter with an unknown past. Throughout the novel, she is compared to many other women including Eve, Beatrice Cenci, Judith, and Cleopatra. Miriam is pursued by a mysterious, threatening man who is her "evil genius" through life. Hilda is an innocent copyist. She is compared to the Virgin Mary and the white dove. Her simple, unbendable moral principles can make her severe in spite of her tender heart. Miriam and Hilda are often contrasted.

Kenyon is a sculptor who represents rationalist humanism. He cherishes a romantic affection towards Hilda. Donatello, the Count of Monte Beni, is often compared to Adam and is in love with Miriam. Donatello amazingly resembles the marble Faun of Praxiteles, and the novel plays with the characters' belief that the Count may be a descendant of the antique Faun. Hawthorne, however, withholds a definite statement even in the novel's concluding chapters and postscript.

There are at least 7 versions of the statue "Resting Satyr":
Capitoline Museums;
Roman artwork sculpted in marble between 150 and 175 CE, in Prado Museum, Spain.
Resting Satyr. Roman copy after the mid-4th century B.C, marble, height 168 cm, in Hermitage Museum, Russia.
Resting Satyr (Satyrus anapauomenos). Roman copy of the 2nd century CE, in Hermitage Museum, Russia. Inv. No. Гр. 3058 / A.154.
Resting Satyr, 2nd century AD, Royal Castle, Warsaw, Poland.
Resting Satyr, Roman copy of the 2nd century, marble, height 180 cm, in Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Denmark. Inv. No. 474.
Resting Satyr, Roman copy, first half of the 2nd cent. Carrara marble, height (without pedestal) 1.78 m, width of the statue 0.76 m, height of the pedestal 0.08 m., Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Archaeological Museum of ancient Capua, Italy.

Capitoline Faun, exemplar from the Capitoline Museums, c. 130 AD (inv. 739)

5* The Scarlet Letter
4* Rappaccini's Daughter
3* Wakefield ; Ethan Brand
3* The Ambitious Guest
3* The Blithedale Romance
3* The House of the Seven Gables
3* Twice-Told Tales
3* Wakefield
4* The Marble Faun, Vol 1
4* The Marble Faun, Vol 2
TR The Wives of the dead
TR Fanshawe
TR Ethan Brand
TR Feathertop
TR The Haunted Mind

Camera Obscura by Nicolaas Beets
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Title: La chambre obscure

Author: Nicolaas Beets

Translator: Léon Wocquier

Release Date: October 14, 2015 [EBook #50211]

Language: French

Produced by Laura N.R. and Marc D'Hooghe at http://www.freeliterature.org (Images generously made
available by Gallica, Bibliothèque nationale de France.)

Free download in French available at Project Gutenberg.

Free download in Dutch available at Project Gutenberg

I made the proofread of the French version of this book for FreeLiterature. The final version will be posted by Project Gutenberg.

The original files are provided by Bibliothèque nationale de France.

About the title:
Some items are not directly about the camera obscura such as the Dutch literary classic Camera Obscura by Hildebrand shown below. This is a 1904 edition of the 1839 book. The connection seems to be an analogy of the camera obscura to the nostalgic "views" of everyday life. We love the graphic on the cover, a wonderful gold stamped box camera obscura sitting on a table. (Source: Images of Camera Obscuras in our Collection

Hildebrand Monument in Haarlemmerhout, Haarlem

Page 4:

"Les ombres et les apparences qu'évoquent la méditation, le souvenir et l'imagination, tombent dans l'âme comme dans une chambre obscure, et quelques-unes sont si frappantes, si séduisantes, qu'on trouve plaisir à les dessiner, et, en les ornant un peu, les coloriant et les groupant, à en faire de petits tableaux qui peuvent être envoyés aux grandes expositions, où un petit coin leur suffit. On ne doit cependant pas y chercher des portraits: car non-seulement il arrive cent fois qu'un nez de souvenir s'y adapte à un visage d'imagination, mais aussi l'expression de la physionomie est si peu déterminée, que souvent une même figure ressemble à cent personnes différentes."

Page 282:

Qui est Hildebrand? Tout le monde le sait; il y en a parfois qui l'ont deviné avec beaucoup de perspicacité. Aussi n'en fais-je pas un secret, ni ne m'efforcé-je pas de me faire passer pour avoir quarante ans de plus que je n'ai, ou pour quarante fois meilleur que je ne suis. Que le bon public ne s'inquiète pas du nom; qu'importe qu'on s'appelle Jaap ou Hildebrand?

Scènes De La Vie Hollandaise by Nicolaas Beets
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Title: Scènes de la vie hollandaise par Hildebrand

Author: Nicolaas Beets

Translator: Léon Wocquier

Release Date: September 21, 2015 [EBook #50024]

Language: French

Produced by Laura N.R. & Marc D'Hooghe at http://www.freeliterature.org (Images generously made available by Gallica, Bibliothèque nationale de France.)

I have proofreaded the French version of this book for FreeLiterature.

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.

The original files are provided by Bibliothèque nationale de France.

TABLE
LA FAMILLE KEGGE
I. Une triste introduction.
II. Où l'on fait connaissance avec des gens et des bêtes.
III. Où l'on voit paraître une demoiselle et un monsieur.
IV. Angoisses paternelles et amour filial.
V. Où il est prouvé que les plaisirs simples sont…
VI. La grand'mère.
VII. Un concert.
VIII. Visites le matin, promenade le soir.
IX. Chapitre où l'auteur est affreusement embarrassé…
X. L'hospice.—Retraite de Van der Hoogen.
XI. Un noble et puissant seigneur.—Conclusion.
GERRIT WITSE OU LES AMOURS D'UN CANDIDAT EN MÉDECINE.
I. Les angoisses de l'étudiant.
II. Joie des parents.
III. Ennuis de jeune fille.
IV. Une fête pleine de cordialité.
V. Amour et souffrance du docteur.
UNE VIEILLE CONNAISSANCE.
I. Combien il faisait chaud et combien c'était loin.
II. Combien c'était agréable.
III. Combien elle était charmante.
LA FAMILLE STASTOK.
I. L'arrivée.
II. La réception.
III. Hildebrand visite la ville, et Pierre…
IV. Le bonhomme de l'hospice raconte son histoire.
V. Il vient du monde pour prendre une tasse…
VI. Pierre est vraiment amoureux…

Scènes De La Vie Hollandaise by Nicolaas Beets
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Title: Scènes de la vie hollandaise par Hildebrand

Author: Nicolaas Beets

Translator: Léon Wocquier

Release Date: September 21, 2015 [EBook #50024]

Language: French

Produced by Laura N.R. & Marc D'Hooghe at http://www.freeliterature.org (Images generously made available by Gallica, Bibliothèque nationale de France.)

I have proofreaded the French version of this book for FreeLiterature.

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.

The original files are provided by Bibliothèque nationale de France.

The Master by Colm Tóibín
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My rating: 3.5 stars

This is the fictionalized story of Henry James life in the period of 1895 to 1899.

The author describes his turbulent family life, including the suicide of his father, the tragic and early death of his sister Alice, his cousin Minny Temple who suffered from tuberculosis.

Along the narrative, the author show the influence and/or friendship of some authors on Henry James during the referred period of time of this book: John Gray, Oscar Wilde among many others.

His strong friendship with Constance Fenimore Woolson – the great-niece of James Fenimore Cooper – played an important role in James's females characters.

His relationship with Hendrik Christian Andersen is also described in this book.

Another interesting book on the same subject is A Private Life Of Henry James – Two Women & His Art by Lyndall Gordon.

4* Nora Webster
3.5* The Master
TBR Brooklyn
TBR The Blackwater Lightship
TBR The Testament of Mary
TBR The Heather Blazing

Les Misérables v. 5-5 by Victor Hugo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Translator: Frederic Charles Lascelles Wraxall

Release Date: April 18, 2015 [EBook #48735]

Language: English

Produced by Laura Natal & Marc D'Hooghe at http://www.freeliterature.org (Images generously made available by the Hathi Trust.)

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.

I made the proofreading the 1st edition of this book in English through Free Literature, published by Little, Brown and Company, in 1887.

Vol 5: Jean Valjean

The original file was provided by Internet Arquive .

Page 87:

"From the Tuileries to the Luxembourg there is only the distance which separates the royalty from
the peerage; and that is not far. It is going to rain musketry."

Les Misérables v. 4-5 by Victor Hugo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Translator: Frederic Charles Lascelles Wraxall

Release Date: April 18, 2015 [EBook #48734]

Language: English

Produced by Laura Natal & Marc D'Hooghe at http://www.freeliterature.org (Images generously made available by the Hathi Trust.)

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.

I made the proofreading the 1st edition of this book in English for Free Literature, published by Little, Brown and Company, in 1887.

Vol 4: The Idyll and the Epic

The original file was provided by Internet Arquive.

Page 20:

In such a case, this is what occurs to political philosophers: at the same time as wearied men claim rest, accomplished facts demand guarantees, for guarantees for facts are the same thing as repose for men. It is this that England asked of the Stuart after the Protector, and what France asked of the Bourbons after the Empire. These guarantees are a necessity of the times, and they must be granted. The Princes concede them, but in reality it is the force of things that gives them. This is a profound truth and worth knowing, which the Stuarts did not suspect in 1662, and of which the Bourbons did not even gain a glimpse in 1814.

Page 25:

In this way they say peace is secured after the revolution, that is to say, the necessary time for repairing the house and dressing the wounds. A dynasty hides the scaffolding and covers the hospital. Now, it is not always easy to obtain a dynasty, although the first man of genius or the first adventurer met with is sufficient to make a king.

Page 261:

Slang is the language of the dark. Thought is affected in its gloomiest depths, and social philosophy is harassed in its most poignant undulations, in the presence of this enigmatical dialect, which is at once branded and in a state of revolt.

Les Misérables v. 3-5 by Victor Hugo