New Leaf Vote for February 2018 • A Rainbow of Reading

[JSWolf]

I'll read Passing, but I'm not looking forward to it. It just doesn't sound all that interesting.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I'll read Passing,

Of course you'll read it, since the rule is that if you vote, you've committed to join the discussion no matter which book is selected.

We'd like to stay positive. You're welcome to talk at length about why you didn't like a book in the discussion thread once you've read it, but we discourage disparaging comments about selections. Since you're going to give it a try anyway, why not hope to be pleasantly surprised?

[fantasyfan]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

Thank you for the information on the Audible version, Charlie. Was that the version with Robin Miles? There is also one with Alice Johnson. In addition there is a LibriVox version read by Elizabeth Klett.

The book is available in the Overdrive catalog (but sadly not at any of my libraries). However I did just discover multiple editions are available to borrow through Hoopla. I also have a Scribd subscription, and both ebook and audiobook versions are available.

Furthermore I would like to highlight that Penguin and Modern Library both have annotated footnote versions with critical essay introductions available as ebooks. These are both priced at $9.99 in the Amazon US store. I might purchase one of these editions and then borrow the Robin Miles audiobook through Scribd.

i

The One I got is the version with narration by Robin Miles

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by fantasyfan

The One I got is the version with narration by Robin Miles

That should be the same one as the Audible and AudibleUK versions. I thought the narration was acceptable, if not inspired.

[June]

I picked up the book from Amazon already, but I’m going to hold off on reading it until closer to the discussion so I won’t forget details

[astrangerhere]

There is also a Librivox version recorded by Elizabeth Klett. I run hot and cold on her as a narrator, but she generally appears in a lot of "best of librivox readers" lists.

[spindlegirl]

I just spent my Canadian Loonie plus some change on Passing. I saw the thread earlier but forgot I had not voted, but I like the choice.

[JSWolf]

I have the Penguin Classics version of Passing. I read the introduction and I would say for anyone who wants to form their own opinions first, save the introduction until you finish the story. The introduction gives a lot spoilers and it forms a lot of opinions about the story that would be best left until after you've formed your own opinions. Then you can compare your opinions with those from the introduction.

So if you have the Penguin Classics version, save the introduction for last.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Thank you for the information, Jon.

[Bookpossum]

Yes I agree Jon - there are usually too many spoilers and such introductions are best left until after the book is read.

[astrangerhere]

Interesting tidbit (and of interest to those wanting to get Passing from the library like I did) - the book was featured in the New York Times 10 New Books We Recommend This Week post. I assume that Penguin is in the process of re-issuing the book.

[Bookpossum]

How up to date we are with our selection!

[Bookworm_Girl]

Thank you for the information, astrangerhere. A pleasant surprise to see that the Kindle version of the Penguin edition has dropped in price from $9.99 to $7.99 too.

I was able to find an article in the NY Times that specifically addresses the reissue of two books this month with a similar theme.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/b...la-larsen.html

Two influential, if woefully under-read, American classics — George S. Schuyler’s “Black No More” (1931) and Nella Larsen’s “Passing” (1929) — have been reissued in handsome new editions in time for Black History Month. This is excellent news for readers, but I imagine the authors, both famously ambivalent about causes of any kind, would have greeted the news with some exasperation.

They were contemporaries with little in common. Schuyler was prolific, pugnacious and very much in the public eye; Larsen was recessive, and vanished from literary life after publishing two novels and a few stories. Schuyler’s obituary appeared in the major newspapers; Larsen was buried in an unmarked grave in Brooklyn. But they were both deeply wary of allegiances, racial or otherwise.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

[...] I was able to find an article in the NY Times that specifically addresses the reissue of two books this month with a similar theme.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/b...la-larsen.html

Thanks for the link. A curious little article. I had to wonder at the use of "laparoscopic" to describe Larsen's approach; I don't know whether the sense that I would take from this word is entirely what the author meant ... or not. Whatever, I think I will add "Black No More" to my list.

Of that part you quoted:

but I imagine the authors, both famously ambivalent about causes of any kind, would have greeted the news with some exasperation.

It is one of the things that a writer must learn to accept: once something is published it is no longer about what the writer intended, it is about the readers' reaction.

[Bookpossum]

Thanks for the link, Bookworm_Girl.