edwinbcn's BFB in 2019

In 2017 I read eight books in the category BFB, and in 2018 three, so joining this group my target for 2019 will be to read 5 or more.

NB 1: On 27 March I already reached my target of 5 BFBs, so I have adjusted my target to 15 for this year.

As far as I can see, most books on my shelves in this category are either non-fiction, biographies, collections such as "Collected short stories of X" or omnibus editions collecting several or all novels of a particular author.

1. The Emperor Waltz by Philip Hensher 615 p.

2. Etty. De nagelaten geschriften van Etty Hillesum 1941-1943 by Etty Hillesum 893 p.

3. Muriel Spark. The biography by Martin Stannard 627 p.

4. The pike. Poet, seducer and preacher of war by Lucy Hughes-Hallett, 694 p.

5. Hundejahre by Günter Grass, 748 p.

6. Het beleg van Laken. Moorddroom by Walter Van den Broeck, 1084 p.

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Welcome, Edwin. Best of luck with your BFB's.

Welcome and happy reading. I liked your review, too!

Thanks. The main group where I post my reviews is Club Read.

I have definitely abandoned Nicola Barker's Darkmans (838 pages), Jonathan Littell's Les Bienveillantes (1405 pages) and Le Roy Ladurie's Montaillou, village occitan de 1294 a 1324 (640 pages).

#1. The Emperor Waltz by Philip Hensher, 615 pages.

#2. Etty. De nagelaten geschriften van Etty Hillesum 1941-1943 by Etty Hillesum 893 pages

This is the (original) Dutch edition of Etty: The Letters and Diaries of Etty Hillesum 1941-1943.

I read the fifth revised and completed edition, published in January 2008.

#3 Muriel Spark. The biography by Martin Stannard 627 p.

#4 The pike. Poet, seducer and preacher of war by Lucy Hughes-Hallett, 694 p.

>9 edwinbcn: I started with this, but it is "suspended" at least for now because I found D'Annunzio to be such a terminally loathsome creature. Brilliant writer perhaps, but ... !

D'Annunzio does appear as a loathsome figure. I bought this book in a whim, and I am glad I am done with it. I had no particular interest in D'Annunzio or even Italian literature. However, I do have an strong interest in fin-de-siecle European literature and dandyism, and D'Annunzio perfectly fits that profile. Onece again, I am not particularly interested in the Second World War, even less from the Italian perspective, but then again, the chapters about the post-Great War disintegration of the northern Balkans and the rise of Fascism were interesting to read. Another thing is that Lucy Hughes-Hallett's book is far from a traditional (chronological) biography, although a clear chronological thread is discernable throughout the chapters. On the whole, I found The pike. Poet, seducer and preacher of war a dazzlingly original and inspiring read.

#5 Hundejahre by Günter Grass, 748 p.

My target was to read five BFB in 2019, but I have already reached my target, so I am adjusting my target to 15 (chosen very randomly as I don't immediately see more BFBs on my shelves.

My BFBs come in five flavours: English, German, Dutch, French and Spanish

Welcome to the group Edwin and you are doing well with the BFB's.

Reaching your target so early in the year. Good job. And expanding it to 15 is courageous since you don't have them your shelves. So I would like to see what you come up with.

I think I have about 10 more BFBs, so in as far as I can manage, adding ten is no problem. I dare not set the target higher because I don't see more such big books, but they are probably somewhere.

#6 Het beleg van Laken. Moorddroom by Walter Van den Broeck, 1084 p.