White Nights on the Neva: Imperial Russian Literature Tour in Retrospect

The White Nights on the Neva: Imperial Russian Literature Tour has been a great success! Did you miss any posts the first time around? Below are the participants and their posts.

Monday, June 21       Only Words To Play With Nikolai Gogol’s Dead Souls and it’s anit-hero Chichikov
Monday, June 21       So Many Books Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov

Tuesday, June 22      Sasha & The Silverfish Leo Tolstoy’s essay What is Art?
Tuesday, June 22      The Researcher’s Tale A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov

Wednesday, June 23 Time Enough At Last Dead Souls by Gogol
Wednesday, June 23 Notes from the North Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Thursday, June 24    Pining for the West Liza by Turgenev

Friday, June 25    A Literary Odyssey Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev

Saturday, June 26     Books and Chocolate A Night at the Cemetery and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov

Sunday, June 27        The Reading Life Diary of A Superflous Man by Ivan Turgenev
Sunday, June 27        November’s Autumn Rudin by Ivan Turgenev

Monday, June 28       Shelf Love The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov

Tuesday, June 29       Becky’s Book Reviews Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
Tuesday, June 29       Tell Me A Story The Steppe and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov

Wednesday, June 30 Wuthering Expectations A Russian Gentleman and A Russian Childhood by Sergei Aksakov

Thursday, July 1        Readthisbook.us Dream of a Ridiculous Man by Dostoevsky
Thursday, July 1        Life is a Patchwork Quilt The Russian poets of the Imperial Age (i.e. Pushkin, Lermertov)

Saturday, July 3         Stiletto Storytime The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Monday, July 5          BookNAround Eugene Onegin by Pushkin
Monday, July 5          Lizzy’s Literary Life The Eternal Husband by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Tuesday, July 6          A Common Reader Hadji Murad by Leo Tolstoy

Thursday, July 8       First Impressions: A Tale of Less Pride and Prejudice Ward No. 6 and Other Stories by Anton Checkhov
Thursday, July 8       Sparks’ Notes Anna Karenina (Part 1) by Tolstoy
Thursday, July 8      things mean a lot Short stories by Anton Chekhov

Friday, July 9            eclectic / eccentric House of the Dead by Dostoyevsky

Saturday, July 10    my books. my life. The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy

Sunday, July 11        Ardent Reader Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Monday, July 12      Bibliolatry Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin

Tuesday, July 13      Bookie Mee Ivan the Fool by Leo Tolstoy
Tuesday, July 13      In Spring it is the Dawn Short stories from The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol

Wednesday, July 14      Sophisticated Dorkiness Short stories by Anton Chekhov
Wednesday, July 14      Paperback Reader A Russian Affair by Anton Chekhov

Thursday, July 15 Adventures of an Intrepid Reader War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Thursday, July 15     The Blog Jar Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevksy

Friday, July 16       Rebecca Reads Selections from the Portable Nineteenth-Century Russian Reader
Friday, July 16       The Zen Leaf Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
Friday, July 16       A Book Lover The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Thanks for your eager participation! The Classics Circuit is on vacation for the next few weeks. Subscribe to the feed to make sure you don’t miss when we do plan the next tour.

In the mean time, I’ve started an experiment. To strengthen the community of those who read classics, I’ve started a “Web Ring” for classics readers. If the format doesn’t work, we’ll tweak it; for now, read more information about it here.

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Russian Imperial Literature Half-way Point

We are now halfway through the White Nights on the Neva: Russian Imperial Literature tour, and I’m sure enjoying all the posts about the classics Russians! I hope you keep following the tour for the next two weeks as well: there is much still to come!

One note: We’ve noticed that there have been a few “no shows’ in which people missed their scheduled day to post. We don’t want to miss your posts if you do post late, and we’d love to know ahead of time if you can’t make your scheduled day. Just send me an email at rebecca [at] rebeccareid [dot] com and I’ll reschedule you later in the tour. Thanks!

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Imperial Russian Literature Tour Begins Tomorrow

I thank all of you for your feedback. It looks like we’ll hold off on the Meiji-era Japanese tour until the fall so those who are tied up in August will still be able to participate.

In the meantime, however, we still have the White Nights on the Neva: Imperial Russian Literature tour beginning tomorrow! To try to simplify things, we will not be having weekly “This week in the tour” posts. I’ll make the main schedule for the Russian tour as a sticky post so if you you check this blog every day, you’ll be able to see the entire tour schedule and find the blogs that the tour is visiting. Also, see the button on the right side — that will also get you to the main schedule.

Happy Russian reading! I’m really looking forward to this great tour.

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Poll: August Japanese Classic Tour Participation

In the Northern Hemisphere, at least, it is summer and sunshine may be beckoning us away from the computer. Besides that, it seems many are becoming increasingly busy with Book Blogger Appreciation Week responsibilities and festivities and other online responsibilities. For these reasons, I’m pondering letting The Classics Circuit take a break until late September or October.

I had intended to open sign up this week for the Land of the Rising Sun: Meiji-era Japanese Literature tour. This tour leaves the West, where we have been, and gives us a glimpse of some classic Eastern literature, particularly that of 1868-1920 Japan. It include the classic and prolific novelist Natsume Soseki (of Kusamakura and I Am A Cat fame), poets like Masaoka Shiki, and short story writers like Naoya Shiga and Ryunosuke Akutagawa.

However, if this time of year is bad for you, then I’m happy to postpone the tour until a different time of the year, when more might be able to join in. Please take the one question survey below. If people seem interested, we’ll go ahead with the sign up later this week (probably Wednesday). If not, we’ll let The Classics Circuit have a little summer break.

(Note that after you answer the question, the survey asks for your name and email. This is a function of the survey plugin, and I do not know how to turn it off. Please do not fell any obligation to add your name to your answer; it does not matter to me!)

Survey ended

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The Golden Age of Detective Fiction in Retrospect

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in our Golden Age of Detective Fiction tour! Here’s a list of all the stops, so you can check out anything you missed:

May 17, 2010

Rebecca Reads Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie and Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers

May 18, 2010 

Reviews by Lola Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Joyfully Retired Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers

May 20, 2010

Staircase Wit The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham

Tales of a Capricious Reader Death in the Air by Agatha Christie

May 21, 2010

Tell Me A Story Ngaio Marsh – Her Life in Crime by Joanne Drayton and Vintage Murder by Ngaio Marsh

May 22, 2010

Bibliosue The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

May 23, 2010

A Few More Pages The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

May 24, 2010

BookLust A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh

piningforthewest Death at the President’s Lodging by Michael Innes

May 25, 2010

The Blog Jar Black Plumes by Margery Allingham

May 26, 2010

52 Annual Book Reviews Lament for a Maker by Michael Innes

Fleur Fisher Reads The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley

May 27, 2010

Brown Paper The Case of William Smith by Patricia Wentworth

May 28, 2010

A Work in Progress The Mystery of Hunting’s End by Mignon Eberhart

May 29, 2010

Life is a Patchwork Quilt Come Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie (autobiography)

May 30, 2010

book-a-rama Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie

May 31, 2010

Sparks’ Notes Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton

things mean a lot The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey

June 1, 2010

Notes from the North The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

an adventure in reading Vintage Murder by Ngaio Marsh

June 2, 2010

Reading Through Life Reflections on whether it’s appropriate to teach an Agatha Christie novel (And Then There Were None) to inner-city high school students

June 3, 2010

The Zen Leaf And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

June 4, 2010

So Many Books The Ampersand Papers by Michael Innes

Time Enough at Last Farewell My Lovely by Raymond Chandler

June 5, 2010

Lizzy’s Literary Life The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

Badgerish.net Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers

June 6, 2010

Musings A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey

June 7, 2010

Stiletto Storytime The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

In Spring it is the Dawn The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

June 8, 2010

Classic Mysteries Evidence of Things Seen by Elizabeth Daly

June 9, 2010

My Friend Amy The Innocence of Father Brown by GK Chesterton

Books and Chocolate Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout

June 10, 2010

Bibliolatry The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

Shelf Love Before the Fact by Francis Iles

June 11, 2010

justaddbooks Whose Body by Dorothy L. Sayers

Linus’s Blanket Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie

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This Week in the Circuit

It’s the last week of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction tour. Here are the final stops for the tour. Thanks to everyone who participated, and we hope you’ve all enjoyed following the tour!

June 7, 2010 Stiletto Storytime The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

June 7, 2010 In Spring it is the Dawn The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

June 8, 2010 A Book Lover Whose Body and/or The Whimsical Christian by Dorothy L. Sayers

June 8, 2010 Classic Mysteries Evidence of Things Seen by Elizabeth Daly

June 9, 2010 My Friend Amy The Innocence of Father Brown by GK Chesterton

June 9, 2010 Books and Chocolate The Hollow Man by John Dickson Carr

June 10, 2010 Bibliolatry The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

June 10, 2010 Shelf Love Before the Fact by Francis Iles

June 11, 2010 justaddbooks Whose Body by Dorothy L. Sayers

June 11, 2010 Linus’s Blanket Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie

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This Week in the Circuit

It’s the third week of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction tour. Check out these stops to learn more about the great mysteries of the 20s and 30s.

May 31, 2010 Sparks’ Notes Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton

May 31, 2010 things mean a lot The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey

June 1, 2010 Notes from the North The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

June 1, 2010 an adventure in reading Vintage Murder by Ngaio Marsh

June 2, 2010 Reading Through Life Reflections on teaching an Agatha Christie novel (And Then There Were None) to inner-city high school students

June 2, 2010 Good Books and Good Wine The Documents In The Case by Dorothy L. Sayers with Robert Eustace

June 3, 2010 The Zen Leaf And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

June 3, 2010 A Striped Armchair The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey

June 4, 2010 So Many Books The Ampersand Papers by Michael Innes

June 4, 2010 Time Enough at Last Farewell My Lovely by Raymond Chandler

June 5, 2010 Lizzy’s Literary Life The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

June 5, 2010 Badgerish.net Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers

June 6, 2010 Musings A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey

June 6, 2010 Literary Lolita And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

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Imperial Russian Literature on Tour

Beginning Monday, June 21, 2010, we’ll be celebrating White Nights on the Neva as Imperial Russian Literature goes on a virtual tour of the blogosphere. Check out these participating blogs where you’ll find reviews.

The button for this tour is a picture of St. Petersburg and the Neva River on a “white  night.” It was taken by Incandenzafied of Flickr and used under a Creative Common License. The caption for this image on Flickr? “Yep, real pretty there.” Feel free to use the button to promote your participation in the blog tour. Please download it to your computer first.

Monday, June 21        Only Words To Play With Thoughts on Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, and/or Tolstoy
Monday, June 21        So Many Books Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov

Tuesday, June 22       Sasha & The Silverfish The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy
Tuesday, June 22       The Researcher’s Tale A Hero of Our Time Tale by Mikhail Lermontov

Wednesday, June 23 Time Enough At Last Dead Souls by Gogol
Wednesday, June 23 Notes from the North Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Thursday, June 24     A Literary Odyssey Fathers and Sons by Turgenev
Thursday, June 24     Pining for the West Virgin Soil or Liza by Turgenev

Friday, June 25           Inside Books undecided
Friday, June 25           A Few of My Favourite Books First Love by Ivan Turgenev

Saturday, June 26      Books and Chocolate The Shooting Party or short story collection by Anton Chekhov

Sunday, June 27         The Reading Life Diary of A Superflous Man by Turgenev
Sunday, June 27         November’s Autumn Rudin by Turgenev

Monday, June 28        Shelf Love The Cherry Orchard by Chekhov

Tuesday, June 29        Becky’s Book Reviews War and Peace or Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
Tuesday, June 29        Tell Me A Story The Steppe and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov

Wednesday, June 30 Wuthering Expectations A Russian Gentleman and A Russian Childhood by Sergei Aksakov
Wednesday, June 30 Reading Through Life Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky

Thursday, July 1         Readthisbook.us Dream of a Ridiculous Man by Dostoevsky
Thursday, July 1         Life is a Patchwork Quilt The Russian poets of the Imperial Age (i.e. Pushkin, Lermertov

Friday, July 2               Rundpinne The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy and Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev
Friday, July 2               Radiant Light The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Saturday, July 3          Stiletto Storytime The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Sunday, July 4             things mean a lot Short stories by Anton Chekhov

Monday, July 5           BookNAround Eugene Onegin by Pushkin
Monday, July 5           Lizzy’s Literary Life The Eternal Husband by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Tuesday, July 6           The Blog Jar Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevksy
Tuesday, July 6           A Common Reader Hadji Murad by Leo Tolstoy

Wednesday, July 7    Fleur Fisher Reads Fathers and Sons by Turgenev

Thursday, July 8        First Impressions: A Tale of Less Pride and Prejudice Ward No. 6 and Other Stories by Anton Checkhov
Thursday, July 8        Sparks’ Notes Anna Karenina by Tolstoy

Friday, July 9              eclectic / eccentric House of the Dead by Dostoyevsky
Friday, July 9              Review, Rewrite, and Rewind Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Saturday, July 10      my books. my life. The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy

Sunday, July 11          Ardent Reader Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Sunday, July 11          Rob Around Books Chekhov’s characters

Monday, July 12        Bibliolatry Eugene Onegin by Pushkin
Monday, July 12        Reading, Writing, Working, Playing Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Tuesday, July 13        Bookie Mee Short story or stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky or LeoTolstoy
Tuesday, July 13        In Spring it is the Dawn Short stories from The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol

Wednesday, July 14        Sophisticated Dorkiness Short stories by Anton Chekhov
Wednesday, July 14        Paperback Reader A Russian Affair by Anton Chekhov

Thursday, July 15  Adventures of an Intrepid Reader War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Thursday, July 15  Bluestalking Diary of a Superfluous Man by Ivan Turgenev

Friday, July 16        Rebecca Reads Selections from the Portable Nineteenth-Century Russian Reader
Friday, July 16        The Zen Leaf Dead Souls by Gogol
Friday, July 16        A Book Lover The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky

Please note: If you are participating in this tour and the information above is incorrect or you need to make a change to your tour day, please let us know by leaving a comment or emailing classicscircuit [at] googlegroups [dot] com. Someone from the Committee will update the schedule.

If you missed sign up and you would like to be added to the schedule at this late point, we still have a few free slots and we can fit you in. Just e-mail us at classicscircuit [at] googlegroups [dot] com.

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This Week in the Circuit

This is the second week of our Golden Age of Detective Fiction tour. Check out these blogs during the week to learn about the great mysteries of the 20s and 30s.

May 24, 2010 BookLust A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh

May 24, 2010 piningforthewest Death at the President’s Lodging by Michael Innes

May 25, 2010 The Blog Jar Black Plumes by Margery Allingham

May 26, 2010 Review, Rewrite, and Rewind Lament for a Maker by Michael Innes

May 26, 2010 Fleur Fisher Reads The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley

May 27, 2010 Brown Paper The Case of William Smith by Patricia Wentworth

May 28, 2010 A Work in Progress The Mystery of Hunting’s End by Mignon Eberhart

May 29, 2010 Life is a Patchwork Quilt Come Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie (autobiography)

May 30, 2010 book-a-rama Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie

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This Week in the Circuit

Today marks the beginning of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction tour. Here are the tour stops for the week:

May 17, 2010  Rebecca Reads Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie and/or Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers

May 18, 2010  Reviews by Lola Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

May 18, 2010  Joyfully Retired Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers

May 20, 2010 Staircase Wit The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham

May 20, 2010 Tales of a Capricious Reader Review of an Agatha Christie novel

May 21, 2010 Tell Me A Story Ngaio Marsh – Her Life in Crime by Joanne Drayton and/or Vintage Murder by Ngaio Marsh

May 22, 2010 Bibliosue The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

May 22, 2010 Brimful Bookshelves The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

May 23, 2010 A Few More Pages The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

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