I'm heading out to Quebec City in just a couple of hours. I have to say some of the idiotic things Legault has been saying lately (that we have no choice but for continued and further economic integration with the USA -- and that dairy supply management and French language labeling are untouchable in any renegotiation of CUSMA) are really grinding my gears. But overall, the trip should be fine. I don't have all that much to do on Monday and Tues., though I should take a quick look at the program to see what is going on, and if I can slip away Tues. to get over to the museum.
Anyway, I had thought I might bring along a couple of mid-pile books, but I decided instead to see if I can wrap up or mostly wrap up Canetti's Auto-de-Fé, as it is kind of slow going. I was able to bring it along and read a few pages during the intermission at a TSO concert and before Waiting for Godot, but it just isn't really grabbing me. In addition, I have decided to see how much Virginia Woolf I can read in Oct., in advance of a couple of November events. One is a production of Sarah Ruhl's script for Orlando (probably broadly similar to the movie, but not sure) that George Brown is putting on in early Nov. The other is an event at TPL where they are unveiling a new edition of Mrs. Dalloway put out by NYRB. I understand that this is supposed to have a lot of Woolf's notes on the novel, but I don't think it is supposed to be a scholarly edition, so I don't really know how they are treating textual variants, and if I even want to read the ur-text. I think I will probably be fine just rereading Mrs. Dalloway and Mrs. Dalloway's Party and call it a day... But I am curious to hear more about it, so I will go to the event. Anyway, that means that Mrs. Dalloway is also on the list.
I'm making pretty good headway on Russo's Empire Falls, and I should be able to get through it a few days after I am back from this conference. It's quite good, reminding me a bit of Updike but generally funnier. The book club at work is sort of limping along at the moment, though the Nov. selection (China Miéville's The City & the City) seems to be generating some interest. Anyway, the Oct. selection is Kundera's last novel (or perhaps novella): The Festival of Insignificance. I did borrow it, as it is super short, but I don't care for it, and I don't think I would bother dropping in to talk about it.
As I was searching deep in the basement for Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss (because I am going to her talk at TIFA and wanted to get her to sign my copy), I managed to find Murdoch's Under the Net. I liked this a lot, though I don't plan on trying to reread it before late 2026 (at the soonest). I also brought up Midnight by Julien Green. I thought it had some parallels to Orlando, but I think that is not the case after all. Still, it looks like a book I can read quickly and get out of the house, which is a pretty big plus these days.
One slightly surprising addition to the reading list is Mitchell's relatively recent translation of The Epic of Gilgamesh. I'm not entirely sure where I picked this up, though perhaps at a library book sale. Anyway, I decided sort of at the last minute to go to the Sunday matinee of King Gilgamesh at Soulpepper. While this was the last performance and was mostly sold out, I did get a rush ticket in the end. Score! It was mostly the same as from the 2023 run, though they may have tweaked a few minor things. It's an energetic and engaging show, and I feel that I should try to read this new translation while the story is fresh in my head. I don't think Gilgamesh is actually that long, though the intro and the copious notes definitely add up!
The one other book that I mentioned is Austen's Persuasion, which I will try to get through in Nov., in advance of her 250th bday party in early Dec. at the TPL. After this, I will probably return to some of the books in the stacks that were calling out, like The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The Last Song of Manuel Sendero and The End of Mr. Y, and then, after that, back to the general list. William Maxwell has been waiting patiently for quite a while now...
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