Where does book 1 end and book 2 begin?

Perhaps you shouldn't start with poetry...

Just try. It'll become easier I swear. I am argentinian and I went trough the same thing and it helped me learn lots of english. I try to write down the words I don't understand and I have a mini dictionary. You can start reading short books for example!

I read it more as what Russia lost during all the changes in the early 20th century. That and just a good story.

Ok, thank you for explaining. I don't think there's anything I can do about it so I guess if you need to delete the comment I understand ? In future I will avoid anything that could be considered a spoiler.

The thing about Quixote is that it's actually two books. The second one is the really brilliant one, but it builds upon the first (and also mocks the faux one in the middle by a different author)

Yea agree. I stopped Irving after Window for a Year. But thanks for the recommendation. I’ll pick up RoC 👍

Looks like I got them in the wrong order. They picked up on the previous person who wrote for the encyclopedia. Thanks for pointing that out. The show/show notes are much clearer.

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It’s the curation for me

I was slightly skeptical about American writing a book set in this time and era but the book was ok. I did not quite understand the hype around it as it was nothing special and I felt that the author did not utilize the era properly. There are flashes here and there of the atrocities of what the boshelviks were doing to people but I still missed a a bit depth relating to this story. For me it was nice read but definitely not a book I will be re-reading.

Finally someone who sees it like me :D I really can‘t understand why the book is being hyped so much, it‘s incredibly overrated in my opinion. Nora calling Libby „sissy“ is weird, I mean they are grown up women… and Charlie is so boring for me as well!! He is so shallow and his only purpose is to push Noras storyline further. For me, there was no chemistry between them.

Reading shouldn't be an obligation. Its OK, just go with it! I read a book every day and I don't enjoy it that much (I have a Insta about books so I kind of need to).

I loved Gentleman in Moscow. After avoiding it because of its popularity, I finally read it last month. (actually listened to it) I found it a near perfect book. Writing is excellent, story compelling and I loved the characters. I will read anything Amor Towles writes.

At the end of the "Fish" chapter in As I Lay Dying I literally threw the book across the room.

The reverse movie scene in Slaughterhouse Five made me cry as hard as I ever have over a book.

So let me nominate a few more:

The end of the first section of The Crossing, by Cormac McCarthy.

The first scene of Underworld, by Don Delillo. (Some of the clearest writing I've ever read.)

The next to last chapter of Ulysses (my favorite) and the last chapter of Ulysses (most critics favorite and my second.)

The first chapter of Beloved by Toni Morrison.

It is a known bug. It looks like it works for you but is plain text for others.

I’m thoroughly convinced at this point that Colleen Hoover has never, not once, been in a healthy romantic relationship where her partner was gentle and caring. Or she’s never been in an actual romantic relationship, at all. Either way, it’s sad AND concerning because what she finds “cute” is definitely….. not cute quirky silly mood material.

i think wattpad is too generous i’ve read better sex scenes from there than this crap of blowjobs every two seconds😭

RoC is similarly structured but set in NYC in the late 20s, 30s, with bits of the late 60s. It’s more intense, more compelling to a broader audience. More immediately tragic. Thought GiM took the core tragedy of Russians in that era too lightly and nobility’s losses too significantly. Rules of Civility is very satisfying literature. His best that I’ve read of his books. I can see Irving’s sweep in Towles’ novels. I’m having trouble with his latest, Lincoln Highway. I can’t find a way in, so I set it aside for now.

Yes, I think that is what it is: the sense of discovery. A good used bookstore may look random but it is not, it has an organization to it, and if you master it, you find discoveries scattered among more conventional offerings. I still recall the glee I experienced at Strand Bookstore in New York in 2000 when I fell upon a copy of an old mystery book that you could not find anywhere, online or on eBay or anywhere, and it was $4.00 to boot. The book is still next-to-impossible to find, but hey world, I've got a copy of it, so there! :)

Listening to an audio book of Les Miserables right now, and it’s definitely slapping my pronunciation back into shape a bit. Read it in English but that was in elementary school 20 years ago, so I can’t really compare the experiences

yea poor kid he is all messed up now he’s a a little psycho jr

It's an idea book, not an adventure story.

For me, the whole sleep walking thing felt hyper dramatic. I was waiting for some reason so suspect Lowen as a potentially unreliable narrator, and after that "reveal" I was left thinking, wait... that's it? I respect your overall opinion, but I think it faces criticism because the general consensus is that it's *not* a fun read that keeps you guessing. Most feel it's quite bland and predictable.

Don't think anyone cares