charlesgoodall’s blog

I was reading  the terrifying Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson and The Lost World Arthur Conan Doyle by Robert Louis Stevenson when I discovered the term "boys
adventure stories". I realized that they have been my biggest reading influences since the after colouring books and comic books into the printed word. The printed picture was left behind for awhile but the images and words connection stayed fast.
Now I like to read adventurous fiction with adult characters, and when reading a book such as The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins it is an instant gratifcation moment to slip into that colourful active space where the conflicts and resolutions occur inside the fantastic tale. LIkewise "The Secret Agent", original thriller by Joseph Conrad occurs for me in the same but more shadowy space. In the adventure story I follow themes of adversity. Strange communication in rooms and laneways in  Le Carre in Absolute Friends, the solider protagonist in Forsyths Fist of God, or the men in the catacombs of Rome in The Count of Monte Cristo give me a view. International settings and intriguing thick plotlines with vivid characters fill out the chilly space of my mid-winter night. Vivid characters stand or crouch near me inside their exotic worlds and intriguing thick plots to shade the chilly space of my mid-winter night. I recall reading Dostoevskys Crime and Punishment in the attic of an old house, on a winter night just like this one.

I have been reading Ernest Hemingway on Writing by Larry W. Phillips. Quotations and letters by the famous author have been inspiring me. He discusses his competitor authors, from the point of view of meeting or bettering them as in playing sports. I do like the approach as it is ambitious and challenging.

The references to books inspires me to read them all, and to reread the ones I know already. He describes, among dozens of books and authors that he admires or dismisses, the French writer Alexandre Dumas. I did have the good fortune of picking up a stack of books from the public library sale, and apparently acquired the small collection of an English literature student. Some of these titles are in the Hemingway list of must-reads. The Count of Monte Cristo was in the stack. Hard-cover edition in pristine condition until I unfolded it a couple of weeks ago.

My gosh I am taken with this story. Such fine writing and compelling characters and plotline. I awake in the middle of the night to settle into the sofa downstairs and read a chapter or two -- and there is still so much more to read yet. It is a European cultural odyssey filled with nearly-tactile scenes and thrilling adventure. How did I ever miss this book during my long years of reading the adventure fictions? No matter now as I have it in my hands.

The story takes place during the middle 19th century after the Napoleonic wars. Though it is a fictional account of events, it does help me to fill in some holes in European history that wanted. Meanwhile, in England, I am visiting the poor and tragic characters of The Curiosity Shop by Dickens. Dickens was busy writing his serialized stories at the same time that Dumas was penning his. The comparison of cultures is really providing a whole view of the days and I am the excited reader, waiting with little patience for the next gripping instalments from these two stories.

If you could choose any time period in which to have been born, which one would you pick?
Submitted by L33tchica.

I would enjoy living in the Victorian days. This was a time of tremendous social and technological change and was perhaps the first modern time. Using the new photography, archiving the culture in founding Canada, or writer or artist in Europe would be two agreable choices for me.