Now, ordinarily I’d be doing this over at the BCReadalong blog (I see I haven’t actually utilised that venue in over a year!), but I’ve decided that I want to invite people from places other than just BookCrossing to join me (the discussion threads will still be on the Book Talk Forum over at Bookcrossing.com).

So what is this all about?
Well, Charles Darwin’s masterpiece, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. I thought this provided a perfect opportunity to read it, and what better way than to do it with company? So I’m setting up a “readalong” and inviting anyone who sees this to read On the Origin of Species along with me, and to come by BookCrossing to participate in (optional) weekly discussions. (I’ll be posting links to the appropriate threads on the BookCrossing Book Talk forum as soon as they’re created.) The schedule for the Readalong can be found below. I hope you’ll find it a reasonable pace (I’m finding it a bit hard to judge since my copy has a lot of pictures and materials from other sources). Don’t worry if you fall behind; previous threads will remain active. Remember: this is for fun, not for school.

The Book

From a publisher:
“’A grain in the balance will determine which individual shall live and which shall die…’. Darwin’s theory of natural selection issued a profound challenge to orthodox thought and belief: no being or species has been specifically created; all are locked into a pitiless struggle for existence, with extinction looming for those not fitted for the task. Yet The Origin of the Species (1859) is also a humane and inspirational vision of ecological interrelatedness, revealing the complex mutual interdependencies between animal and plant life, climate and physical environment, and - by implication - within the human world. Written for the general reader, in a style which combines the rigour of science with the subtlety of literature, The Origin of the Species remains one of the founding documents of the modern age.”

The Schedule
Week 1: October 4, Introduction, Chapter 1
Week 2: October 11, Chapters 2-3
Week 3: October 18, Chapter 4
Week 4: October 25, Chapters 5-6
Week 5: November 1, Chapter 7
Week 6: November 8, Chapters 8-9
**note: The reading for Week 7 was moved ahead one week, to allow participants to catch up**
Week 7: November 22, Chapters 10-11
Week 8: November 29, Chapter 12
Week 9: December 6, Chapter 13
Week 10: December 13, Chapter 14

The Participants
Ibis3
Vekiki
FeistyPom2Love
grooble
swan-scot
Dunzy
Londonlife
miketroll
AZquark
geishabird
Cee-Blue

The Resources
Please let me know if you’d like me to add something here!
Dialogues With Darwin exhibit
Intelligent Design on Trial (a PBS doc on the Kitzmiller v. Dover trial)

The Vid
If you rate it, it’s more likely to come up in searches.

Book 34, Life in the Clearings Versus the Bush (1853) - Susanna Moodie
From the back cover:
“In Life in the Clearings versus the Bush (1853), the sequel to Roughing It in the Bush (1852), Susanna Moodie turns from examination of pioneer life in the bush to a portrayal of the relatively sophisticated society springing up in the clearings along Lake Ontario. During a trip from Belleville to Niagara Falls, Moodie acts as a meticulous observer of the social customs and practices of the times.

Invaluable as social history and as a candid self-portrait of a remarkable woman, Life in the Clearings versus the Bush chronicles, with wit and wisdom, Canadian society in the mid-nineteenth century.”

Other useful links:
the Wikipedia entry for Susanna Moodie

My thoughts:
First off, I have to say that I didn’t enjoy this book as much as Roughing It in the Bush. She spent far less time observing people, places, and customs and a lot more time talking about (the Christian) God. When she did describe life in Canada it was interesting as usual and some parts were fascinating (her observations of the “Lunatic Asylum” for example). There are a couple of essays that were interesting too, especially looking back on things from a century and a half later, like the one about wearing mourning. I don’t know if she would be happy or horrified to see how far those customs have been abandoned. I was particularly intrigued by the story of Grace Marks because I know that Margaret Atwood based her book Alias Grace upon this account. I have yet to read Margaret Atwood’s book, but I will do so soon while the memories are still fresh.

From the publisher:
“First published in 1895, America’’s greatest novel of the Civil War was written before 21-year-old Stephen Crane had “smelled even the powder of a sham battle.” But this powerful psychological study of a young soldier’’s struggle with the horrors, both within and without, that war strikes the reader with its undeniable realism and with its masterful descriptions of the moment-by-moment riot of emotions felt by me under fire. Ernest Hemingway called the novel an American classic, and Crane’’s genius is as much apparent in his sharp, colourful prose as in his ironic portrayal of an episode of war so intense, so immediate, so real that the terror of battle becomes our own … in a masterpiece so unique that many believe modern American fiction began with Stephen Crane.

The Red Badge Of Courage has long been considered the first great ‘modern’ novel of war by an American–the first novel of literary distinction to present war without heroics and this in a spirit of total irony and skepticism.”

My thoughts:
I didn’t know what to expect when I started this book. I knew it was a nineteenth century American novel about a soldier, but aside from that I had no knowledge. The writing itself was very good, but the entire novel was really one long description, so it was more than a tad dull. On the other hand, the description was quite accurate, I could tell & I couldn’t help but compare Henry’s experience to those related in recent read, Fifteen Days. Also brought back memories of my time in basic training. I enjoyed the essay that ended the book, putting the events in their ironic context.

This book was sent to me as part of Penguin’s Blog a Classic programme.

From the back cover:
“Probably written by a student of Aristotle, The Athenian Constitution is both a history and an analysis of Athens’ political machinery between the seventh and fourth centuries BC, which stands as a model of democracy at a time when city-states operated under differing kinds of government. The writer recounts the major reforms of Solon, the rule of the tyrant Pisistratus and his sons, the emergence of the democracy in which power was shared by all free male citizens, and the leadership of Pericles and the demagogues who followed him. He goes on to examine the city’s administration in his own time — the council, the officials and judicial system. For its information on Athens’ development and how the democracy worked, The Athenian Constitution is an invaluable source of knowledge about this city-state.

P.J. Rhodes’s introduction discusses authorship and sources, and compares this work to those of Aristotle. This edition also includes notes, a chronology, a bibliography, indexes and maps.”

Other useful links:
the Wikipedia entry for Aristotle
the Wikipedia entry for The Athenian Constitution

My thoughts:
I just finished this book. It took quite a lot longer than I expected it too (probably because the notes were as long, if not longer than the original text). Rhodes did a fantastic job of analyzing, translating, and contexualizing the document.

This is what I wrote for Penguin:

I had to laugh when I received this as my selection. I’m currently in the midst of reading the entire works of Aristotle. I was kind of hoping for something completely outside of my normal fare, but I guess it’s a good thing that it was I who got this instead of someone who has no interest or background knowledge of classical Greece.

So anyway, the first thing is that this was not likely written by Aristotle himself, but rather by a student of his, perhaps as an assignment. The very good, very informative introduction by editor and translator P.J. Rhodes gives a great analysis of what led scholars to that conclusion. The intro also discusses the author’s sources, the interpolated Chapter 4, and the style of the original Greek.

Rhodes’ name doesn’t appear on the front cover but really I think it should because the book wouldn’t be half as interesting without his introduction, synopses, notes, and back matter (including sections on weights & measures, chronology, glossary, maps etc.).

He’s divided the original into sections according to periods in the history of Athens, giving each section an introduction summarizing the content and comparing it to what we know from other sources like Thucydides. Each chapter has a corresponding endnote which gives further details, evaluates the historical accuracy of the content, and, in a few instances, provides an illustration of something mentioned by the author.

I wouldn’t expect many people to run out to buy this book to read it for fun, but anyone who is reading this to gain knowledge about the history of Athens or political systems will be gratified with this edition of The Athenian Constitution. I have no way to evaluate the translation, but I expect even those who can read the original Greek would find in this Penguin a valuable resource.

Now that I’m actually finished, the only thing I really need to add is that it was very interesting to read both the historical evolution of the Athenian form of government as well as the mechanisms established to allot offices and juries. We call what we have a democracy, but compared to the democracy of ancient Athens (when they did have democracy), it doesn’t seem democratic at all (rather more like an oligarchy).