Book Reading

[Kitty]

It also sounds as if there's a good deal of humor in it. Was there intended to be, or am I just reacting that way?

It doesn't take itself too seriously, and is a bit cheeky sometimes, particularly when June is in the picture. I think she's in there to add a bit of lightheartedness when needed. Mandrake is very optimistic, whereas Barton is kind of the polar opposite of June.

And I'm curious what kind of gesture that is that Mandrake makes. Is it described?

Nope! He just "gestures hypnotically". I'm imagining it's an open fingered two handed alternating brushing of the air vertically in front of the hypnotizee's eyes. does this make sense?

Thanks for the summary.

Well, thank you for reading! This might be my longest review, so I wasn't expecting many people to read it, but so far I've gotten at least 2 readers!

[donnie]

I'm imagining it's an open fingered two handed alternating brushing of the air vertically in front of the hypnotizee's eyes. does this make sense?

Yes. That's the same way I imagined it, only with one hand instead of two.

This might be my longest review...

That's a heck of a lot of plot for that many pages. And it sounds as if it would tailor-made for a serial of some kind, appearing in different issues over a period of time.

[Kitty]

I'm imagining it's an open fingered two handed alternating brushing of the air vertically in front of the hypnotizee's eyes. does this make sense?

Yes. That's the same way I imagined it, only with one hand instead of two.

That's probably more like it.

This might be my longest review...

That's a heck of a lot of plot for that many pages. And it sounds as if it would tailor-made for a serial of some kind, appearing in different issues over a period of time.

I don't know, but it could have been many comic strips put together. Or it could have been written just for Better Little Books. I'm not sure.

[Kitty]

Book 57
https://blog.silentphotoplay.com/2024/0 ... d-and-sam/

[donnie]

Interesting review

I've never read anything of Tarkington, and I was kind of interested by the writing style in those excerpts, especially the paragraph starting, “Whisperings within them began to urge that for boys to undertake an enterprise...." He uses such elaborate vocabulary and such lengthy, convoluted sentences.

Is the whole book that way? If so, I wondered if the language isn't a little heavy for the subject matter. Do you think so?

That's an interesting bit about discarded books used to bind new ones. You mightn't think that would be economical, but apparently it was.

[Kitty]

Interesting review

I've never read anything of Tarkington, and I was kind of interested by the writing style in those excerpts, especially the paragraph starting, “Whisperings within them began to urge that for boys to undertake an enterprise...." He uses such elaborate vocabulary and such lengthy, convoluted sentences.

Is the whole book that way?

Just paragraphs here and there to describe situations such as these. I think he uses them mostly to convey the fact that every project a child undertakes is the most important thing in the world to them in that moment --- It's black and white with them. You're either going to be killed by your parents as punishment for any wrongdoing or they won't be bothered by it a bit --- and what they don't know won't hurt them. Does that make sense?

I would recommend you reading the first Penrod. It's an easy, lighthearted read and paints vivid pictures of Penrod and Sam's adventures. I guarantee you will like it.

https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/402

[donnie]

I would recommend you reading the first Penrod. It's an easy, lighthearted read and paints vivid pictures of Penrod and Sam's adventures. I guarantee you will like it.

Okay! Got it downloaded and will start reading tomorrow.

[Kitty]

I would recommend you reading the first Penrod. It's an easy, lighthearted read and paints vivid pictures of Penrod and Sam's adventures. I guarantee you will like it.

Okay! Got it downloaded and will start reading tomorrow.

Awesome! Can't wait to hear your thoughts. You can make a separate thread on it if you want to.

[donnie]

Progress on Penrod:
(I wasn't sure where to make a thread on this, so I'll just continue it here.) Though still fairly early in the book, I'm enjoying it very much. I was at first put off by Tarkington's drolly ornate writing style, but soon got to like it, as it fits the story and character very well—in fact, the book would not be nearly as entertaining in a more direct style.

My favorite part so far has been

► Show Spoiler

the overall-ed performance in the play. (That did sound like an insufferable costume to have to wear, and an insufferable play to be in.) And I hope he will write some more on that novel he's got going in the sawdust box.

Penrod is a hilarious and interesting character. In many ways I can identify with him, but in many ways I can't. For instance, the anguishing boredom he feels in the classroom, described in so much detail in chapter 7. I wasn't a good student, either, being every bit as lazy and irresponsible as Penrod, but I don't think I was ever bored in my life. I have always been able to find something of interest around me, even if it might seem the epitome of the mundane to someone else. And though irresponsible, I wasn't mischievous (I wouldn't have dipped poor Victorine's hair in the inkwell).

How about you? Were you ever bored? Mischievous?

I encountered one sentence in Chapter 7 that I have no earthly idea what it's talking about:

"In a Drug Emporium, near the church, he purchased a five-cent sack of candy consisting for the most part of the heavily flavoured hoofs of horned cattle, but undeniably substantial, and so generously capable of resisting solution that the purchaser must needs be avaricious beyond reason who did not realize his money's worth."

Apparently, judging from the passage a few sentences later, this is describing jaw breakers, though I can't see how.

And on a related note, I've never understood what the peculiar-sounding expression "must needs" means, as in "...the purchaser must needs be avaricious beyond reason...." I've encountered that so many times, and once tried to look it up, but didn't succeed. Would the phrase here mean the same as "the purchaser would need to be avaricious beyond reason..."? Or does it have a different shade of meaning ?

[Kitty]

Progress on Penrod:

I'm glad you're enjoying it. It always takes me a chapter or two to get into any book, as the voice of the book is always different from the previous one I'd gotten used to.

► Show Spoiler

How about you? Were you ever bored? Mischievous?

I don't remember ever not having something to do, but I had siblings that were close in age to hang out with, so it was hard to not find something to do.

I was the one in the group who was always saying, "Idk if we should do this, guys." I was a good kid lol

"In a Drug Emporium, near the church, he purchased a five-cent sack of candy consisting for the most part of the heavily flavoured hoofs of horned cattle, but undeniably substantial, and so generously capable of resisting solution that the purchaser must needs be avaricious beyond reason who did not realize his money's worth."

I don't know, but maybe hooves were used to make jawbreakers. I think what he's saying here is that he bought way too many, not realizing he would never be able to consume them all. One candy was more than enough, let alone a sack of them, and he spent the whole 5 cents. The purchaser would need a lot of commitment to one to finish it.

And on a related note, I've never understood what the peculiar-sounding expression "must needs" means, as in "...the purchaser must needs be avaricious beyond reason...."

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