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Web Weekly is a new Neocities website that aims to interview Neocities Webmasters each week. They approached the Reading Project for their first interview. Read the interview here!
The Reading Project is independently run to provide reviews of books from a variety of genres, as well as engage in long-term projects of personal interest, including a reading of The Federalist Papers, the works of Homer, Marcus Aurelius's Meditations and all the Booker Prize winning novels since 1969. Contributions are welcome. More information can be found in our About/Blog page.
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The setting of Inquest is that most fabled of locales in Golden Age mystery fiction: a house party at an English country mansion. Hebble Chace is the residence of Marie Hoe-Luss, widow of a wealthy English businessman. The latter is said to have expired during a house party in France, from the accidental consumption of deadly mushrooms, though some believe a more sinister explanation.
Now Marie has reassembled all the original guests from that house party, with the addition of Dr. Soame, narrator of the tale. When one of their number falls to his death from a high window, is it misadventure—or foul play? And come to that, was William Hoe-Luss even murdered anyway?
Reading Progress
The greed of his family has led wealthy old Martin Chuzzlewit to become suspicious and misanthropic, leaving his grandson and namesake to make his own way in the world. And so young Martin sets out from the Wiltshire home of his supposed champion, the scheming architect Pecksniff, to seek his fortune in America. Martin's journey is an experience that teaches him to question his inherited self-interest and egotism.
Reading Progress
The Booker Prize winner for 2022 is The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Jarunatilaka. Shehan Karunatilka is the second Sri Lankan author to win the Booker Prize. Michael Ondaatje was the first with The English Patient in 1992.
‘Any one of the six shortlisted books would have been a worthy winner. What the judges particularly admired and enjoyed in The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida was the ambition of its scope, and the hilarious audacity of its narrative techniques. This is a metaphysical thriller, an afterlife noir that dissolves the boundaries not just of different genres, but of life and death, body and spirit, east and west. It is an entirely serious philosophical romp that takes the reader to ’the world’s dark heart’ — the murderous horrors of civil war Sri Lanka. And once there, the reader also discovers the tenderness and beauty, the love and loyalty, and the pursuit of an ideal that justify every human life.’
The 2022 Shortlist for the Booker Prize also included:
- Glory, NoViolet Bulawayo (Zimbabwean)
- The Trees, Percival Everett (American)
- Treacle Walker, Alan Garner (British)
- Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan (Irish)
- Oh William!, Elizabeth Strout (American)
The International Booker Prize winner for 2022 is Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree. It is the first book originally written in any Indian language to win the International Booker Prize, and the first novel translated from Hindi to be recognised by the award.
‘Set in northern India, the novel follows the adventures of an 80-year-old woman who unexpectedly gains a new, and highly unconventional, lease of life. The result is a book that is engaging, funny and utterly original, at the same time as being an urgent and timely protest against the destructive impact of borders and boundaries - whether between religions, countries or genders.’
The 2022 Shortlist for the International Booker Prize also included:
- Heaven by Mieko Kawakami, translated by Samuel Bett and David Boyd from Japanese
- Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro, translated by Frances Riddle from Spanish
- A New Name by Jon Fosse, translated by Damion Searls from Norwegian
- The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft from Polish
- Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur from Korean
View the list of all Booker Prize Winners and those we have so far reviewed by clicking here.
In the long term, we hope to review all the Booker Prize winners.
Progress
Long regarded as one of the pinnacles of Western literature, The Iliad tells the story of the Trojan War in its final days, as Achilles, the supreme Grecian warrior, withdraws from the conflict over a disagreement with Agamemnon.
The ancient Greeks regarded this epic poem as a representation of real history, and in the 19th century the Homer enthusiast and amateur archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann, excavated what is now believed to be the site of the ancient conflict.
For this special reading project I plan to eventually provide summaries of each of the twenty four books of The Iliad, notes on characters and the Greek Gods, a character map and a general discussion at the end.
Click here to visit the main page for this special reading project.
(Please Note: This is an ongoing project and not all pages are complete)
Progress
Marcus Aurelius was the emperor of Rome from 161 to 180 AD. His reign oversaw a period of relative peace in the empire, and he was the last of what was considered five good emperors.
Marcus Aurelius was also a stoic whose notebooks, written for his own benefit, have become a key text to understand stoic philosophy.
For this special reading project I provide the complete text of Marcus Aurelius notebooks, known to modern readers as Meditations, taken from a public domain edition hosted on Project Gutenberg. I hope to provide historical context and notes about the text as I read.
Click here to visit the main page for this special reading project.
(Please Note: The pages for this project are still under construction)
Progress
The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an era of classic murder mystery novels, predominantly from the 1920s and 1930s. Well known writers of the Golden Age include Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, Margery Allingham, Ronald Knox, Anthony Berkeley and G. K. Chesterton.
But these books have roots in earlier works of detective fiction, and there are still mysteries being written today that would fit in with the ‘feel’ of the Golden Age (Anthony Horowitz is an excellent example of a modern day writer of contemporary ‘Golden Age’ mysteries).
For this special reading project I am reading as widely as possible from this era, but especially books by authors suggested by Martin Edwards' study of the period, The Golden Age of Murder.
Click here to visit the main page for this special reading project.
Progress
The Federalist Papers were written in 1787 to 1788 to defend the new American Constitution against its critics. They explained the Constitution and have provided future generations guidance as to how the Founding Fathers intended the Constitution to be interpreted.
The Federalist Papers, written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and America's fourth president, James Madison, cover issues of America's independence, including the need to ensure against foreign influence, as well as how the new Federal Government would operate. The Federalist Papers also deal with the separation of the powers of each branch of government, as well as government oversight, which includes the power of Congress to impeach. For these reasons, The Federalist Papers are still important documents which have been referred to in debates about the presidency of Donald Trump.
You can now read summaries and commentaries of all 85 Federalist papers here on the Reading Project.
Make commerce one huge lie and mighty theft. Deface the banner of the nation for an idle rag; pollute it star by star; and cut out stripe by stripe as from the arm of a degraded soldier. Do anything for dollars! What is a flag to them!
Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit (1844), London, Penguin Books, 2004, Chapter 17, page 266
The pictures below represent places we have travelled or enjoy. In each picture there is someone who is reading. The photos represent the portability of books and the idea that they might be enjoyed almost anywhere. Click on the Google Earth Symbol to view where each photgraph was taken.
Old Government House, ParramattaResidence of ten early governors of New South Wales between 1800 and 1847
Archibald Fountain, Hyde Park, SydneyCentred in Hyde Park, this Art Deco fountain features scenes from Greek Mythology
Everglades, Leura, Blue Mountains, AustraliaA former residence, art gallery, cafe and garden which hosts outdoor theatrical performances
Rookwood CemeteryRookwood Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the Southern Hemisphere and was used in the 19th Century as a place of recreation
Rookwood CemeteryThis structure was originally built as a rest house in the 19th Century. It is now known as the Elephant House because it resembles the Elephant House at Taronga Zoo, Sydney
New Parliament House, CanberraNew Parliament House is built into Capital Hill and was opened in 1988 in time for the Bicentennial Celebrations
High Court of Australia, CanberraThe High Court of Australia is Australia's highest court and is located near Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra
Queen Elizabeth Terrace, CanberraQueen Elizabeth Terrace, located near the International Flag Display overlooks Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra
Royal Botanic Gardens, SydneyThe Royal Botanic Gardens are the site of the first European farming attempts in Australia
Berkelouw Book Barn, BerrimaSet in the rural landscape, the Berkelouw Book Barn has been trading since 1812
Other recommended websites on Neocities!
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