Persecuting myself to the full extent of the law

Or an update to the state of the blog.

So I think by announcing a November read-along it’s clear I plan on continuing the blog. I needed some time away (despite erratic posting) to think about what I wanted to do with the blog. There were many issues leading to the earlier post on continuing the blog. I realize some of these won’t go away, such as seeing the bulk of a post showing up on money-making sites without any attribution. That’s the nature of the game, I guess, like it or not. But I think the biggest pressure that led to my questioning whether or not to continue came from me and not knowing what I wanted from this blog. I’m not going to pretend I have a clear picture but it’s slowly coming into focus.

What I have enjoyed doing most with this blog has been “project based,” loosely defined. This can be tackling all the English translations of Benito Pérez Galdós (something I need to get back on track), doing a series of posts on classic works like Herodotus or Thucydides (expect one on Xenophon soon), or finding an author that deserves a wider English-speaking audience and posting about a few of their works. I will still post on individual books I read and I need to post more on the nonfiction. There will continue to be plenty of cross-media posts, especially movies made from novels or plays. The recent posts on pre-glasnost Hungarian plays have been remarkably satisfying despite having a limited audience.

There will be posts that look deeper into a work, too. One example I’m planning on soon is some posts on Jean-Paul Sartre’s play “Kean” along with his inspiration/basis, Alexandre Dumas’ play “Edmund Kean, Or, the Life of an Actor.” And if I can obtain a copy of the BBC production with Anthony Hopkins in the title role, I’ll post on that, too. The November read-along is another example. I’ll probably only read a few books from the (expanding) list of 19th-century U.S. women writers but I’m hoping others join in so we can create a nice resource beyond the usual, well-documented suspects.

So there it is. Posting will probably be more erratic depending on my free time. While there are many stellar book blogs out there, I’d like this blog to be a resource people enjoy visiting and getting ideas for something to read or view…whether it involves authors to explore, plays or movies to watch, or whatever I’m focusing on at the moment. As I said, it’s still coming into focus but I think a more relaxed posting schedule and focusing on projects I enjoy gets the blog closer to what I want to see. As always, comments are greatly appreciated. It's nice to know when something strikes a chord with readers.

By the way, my wife has imposed a $1 fine for every obscure reference I make. I usually protest that the reference isn't obscure...she just isn't familiar with it. I mention that because I realize I owe her a dollar for the title of this post.