9 posts tagged “classics”
I never had to read this book in high school or college. In fact, I didn't have to read anything by Hemingway in my academic career. I might be the only one...
I picked this one up because pretty much everyone who reads it says they hate it and if I haven't read an author I like to start out with the one people seem to anecdotally hate the most.
Although I have no interest in fishing, I did enjoy this book. I came away learning some things about fishing as well as a few tidbits of wisdom.
And the book was either not as over-the-top macho as I was expecting, or I've become impervious and need to find more girlfriends.
I picked this one up because pretty much everyone who reads it says they hate it and if I haven't read an author I like to start out with the one people seem to anecdotally hate the most.
Although I have no interest in fishing, I did enjoy this book. I came away learning some things about fishing as well as a few tidbits of wisdom.
And the book was either not as over-the-top macho as I was expecting, or I've become impervious and need to find more girlfriends.
What can be said about this book that hasn't been already?
Chilling. The most disturbing thing to me personally was the idea that the way to kill humanity is to attack the structure and vocabulary of language.
Orwell's novel is the most complete vision of dystopia that I've ever read. It's a masterpiece.
Everyone should read it...preferably after high school.
Chilling. The most disturbing thing to me personally was the idea that the way to kill humanity is to attack the structure and vocabulary of language.
Orwell's novel is the most complete vision of dystopia that I've ever read. It's a masterpiece.
Everyone should read it...preferably after high school.
As with the last few classic books I have read, I am surprised by the dissimilarity between this book and the ideas of the book in pop culture.
Neither Frankenstein nor his creature are anything alike between film and novel. Frankenstein comes across as shallow and cowardly--at least until it is too late. The scientist reminded me of all those bad horror movies where the female lead is running without thought. Frankenstein needed a plan and he needed to protect his family. Instead, he ran around until he twisted his ankle and fell to the ground.
The "monster" is less like a monster than an exile and an outcast. He is erudite, articulate, and athletic. It took a while to adjust to this "new" image of the creature.
The pop culture images of the creature are actually just the image that the character fights against through the book. It seems Shelley failed to get the point across. Or, we really are more like the humanity Shelley represented in her novel than we would like to believe.
Neither Frankenstein nor his creature are anything alike between film and novel. Frankenstein comes across as shallow and cowardly--at least until it is too late. The scientist reminded me of all those bad horror movies where the female lead is running without thought. Frankenstein needed a plan and he needed to protect his family. Instead, he ran around until he twisted his ankle and fell to the ground.
The "monster" is less like a monster than an exile and an outcast. He is erudite, articulate, and athletic. It took a while to adjust to this "new" image of the creature.
The pop culture images of the creature are actually just the image that the character fights against through the book. It seems Shelley failed to get the point across. Or, we really are more like the humanity Shelley represented in her novel than we would like to believe.
Wuthering Heights was not at all what I expected again. It happened earlier this year when I read Madame Bovary, but I think I am even more surprised at this one. Just as I walked around after seeing Last Tango in Paris saying, "how messed up are we collectively to begin to think that was a love story?" I can't help but feel similarly. While Wuthering Heights is not as messed up as Last Tango, there is no romance in this book. None. And whatever love is between Catherine and Heathcliff, it's dangerous and unhealthy--apparently not so much for themselves as for everyone else they encounter, however.
No, this book is a revenge tale. And the most disturbing one I have ever read.
And reading it alongside Of Mice and Men only solidifies the notion of "the best laid plans." If only Earnshaw Senior had not picked Heathcliff up from the side of the road...how different the lives of the characters would have been.
No, this book is a revenge tale. And the most disturbing one I have ever read.
And reading it alongside Of Mice and Men only solidifies the notion of "the best laid plans." If only Earnshaw Senior had not picked Heathcliff up from the side of the road...how different the lives of the characters would have been.
Of Mice and Men is about poverty and loneliness. And people have written a lot about both themes. But there is another theme as well. Two guys with nothing in common form a friendship and stick together. Other characters find it suspect because guys usually travel alone from one ranch to another without forming any authentic relationships or bonds.
But George and Lenny, the main characters they know life, even a life of extreme poverty, is a little bit better with a friend. Or, at least, George knows that. The reader is never sure how much Lenny really understands.
As a testament to friendship this book is more than just tragic. It's heartbreaking yet beautiful.
As as aside, this is another book that really should not be taught in high school. It's too complicated for kids to understand. They just haven't lived long enough.
And I wonder how many other Lost fans read this book and image George as Sawyer from Lost. I just couldn't stop doing that. Really, I wonder if his character wasn't at least partially inspired by George's tough guy exterior but heart of gold interior.
But George and Lenny, the main characters they know life, even a life of extreme poverty, is a little bit better with a friend. Or, at least, George knows that. The reader is never sure how much Lenny really understands.
As a testament to friendship this book is more than just tragic. It's heartbreaking yet beautiful.
As as aside, this is another book that really should not be taught in high school. It's too complicated for kids to understand. They just haven't lived long enough.
And I wonder how many other Lost fans read this book and image George as Sawyer from Lost. I just couldn't stop doing that. Really, I wonder if his character wasn't at least partially inspired by George's tough guy exterior but heart of gold interior.
The fascinating thing about Madame Bovary is, well, Madame Bovary. Is she a sympathetic but flawed character, or is she a cruel and selfish woman?
Emma Bovary's main problem is that she believes money will end all her problems. But then most people today hold that same false belief.
I think how a person relates to this character says a lot about who he/she is.
It's sort of a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't kind of question though.
On one hand, if you sympathize with her you have to admit that you understand such a heightened level of egoism and self-delusion.
But if you don't sympathize with her it feels a bit sexist since it was a repressive, patriarchal class structure that undoubtedly created women similar to this fictional woman.
I'm still trying to figure out what I think of the character of Madame Bovary, but what I found particularly engaging about this book was its narrative form. I bet one could take a whole class on what Flaubert did with the narrative in just this one book.
One thing I can say with certainty is that my heart has never broken so much for a character as it did for the equally flawed Charles Bovary. I wonder what that says about me?
Emma Bovary's main problem is that she believes money will end all her problems. But then most people today hold that same false belief.
I think how a person relates to this character says a lot about who he/she is.
It's sort of a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't kind of question though.
On one hand, if you sympathize with her you have to admit that you understand such a heightened level of egoism and self-delusion.
But if you don't sympathize with her it feels a bit sexist since it was a repressive, patriarchal class structure that undoubtedly created women similar to this fictional woman.
I'm still trying to figure out what I think of the character of Madame Bovary, but what I found particularly engaging about this book was its narrative form. I bet one could take a whole class on what Flaubert did with the narrative in just this one book.
One thing I can say with certainty is that my heart has never broken so much for a character as it did for the equally flawed Charles Bovary. I wonder what that says about me?
It seems most people read this book in high school. After I finished it, I could not decide if it would have been better to read it fifteen years ago or not.
Part of me would have gotten more out of it at the age of eighteen. Now, it's hard to believe that there is a place where children play outdoors, listen to their parents, and everyone is wise.
Except on the topics of race and class, that is--
which is one reason this book is so poignant.
Telling the story through the eyes of a child is a powerful tool. It reminds the reader that everyone was young once. Everyone saw the world without the contemptuous of adulthood at one time.
Living in a very jaded place for the last eight years, I can really relate to the message. I fight to keep the cynicism and animosity at bay. But I know some of it has crept in over the years. In some ways it seems like the South has made more progress in the last hundred years than many places in the North. Where I am living the class struggle might as well be given a name that holds the same weight as racist does. Because it's no less ugly and no less harmful.
In high school I would not have known any of this. I was living in the rural Midwest, perhaps one of the most sheltered places in the U.S. I would have just thought this was a nice story about how kindness will win out in the end and if you get to know people you'll find they're basically good. Now I know it's a lot more complicated than that.
Part of me would have gotten more out of it at the age of eighteen. Now, it's hard to believe that there is a place where children play outdoors, listen to their parents, and everyone is wise.
Except on the topics of race and class, that is--
which is one reason this book is so poignant.
Telling the story through the eyes of a child is a powerful tool. It reminds the reader that everyone was young once. Everyone saw the world without the contemptuous of adulthood at one time.
Living in a very jaded place for the last eight years, I can really relate to the message. I fight to keep the cynicism and animosity at bay. But I know some of it has crept in over the years. In some ways it seems like the South has made more progress in the last hundred years than many places in the North. Where I am living the class struggle might as well be given a name that holds the same weight as racist does. Because it's no less ugly and no less harmful.
In high school I would not have known any of this. I was living in the rural Midwest, perhaps one of the most sheltered places in the U.S. I would have just thought this was a nice story about how kindness will win out in the end and if you get to know people you'll find they're basically good. Now I know it's a lot more complicated than that.
Ethan Frome is often described as bleak, depressing, and even unbelievable.
It's definitely a tragedy.
Maybe it's because I moved to New England eight years ago, but I could really relate to the desolate feeling winter backdrop of this story. The weather frames the sadness perfectly.
Everyone in this book loses out. Life, hope, happiness it all goes away. But in spite of that, the book is somehow not as depressing as I had expected.
It is also filled with suspense. And it perfectly describes what it's like to want someone you can't have.
I would say it is the most touching, "sad book" I've ever read.
It's definitely a tragedy.
Maybe it's because I moved to New England eight years ago, but I could really relate to the desolate feeling winter backdrop of this story. The weather frames the sadness perfectly.
Everyone in this book loses out. Life, hope, happiness it all goes away. But in spite of that, the book is somehow not as depressing as I had expected.
It is also filled with suspense. And it perfectly describes what it's like to want someone you can't have.
I would say it is the most touching, "sad book" I've ever read.
There is so much that can be said about Middlemarch it is hard to know where to begin. I could start by saying that I finally get this genre thanks to George Eliot. Here are a few other observations:
On the surface the novel is about Victorian provincial life. Middlemarch, the name of the town where the characters reside, is also a character in the book.
The mastery of this novel is that Eliot creates a horde of characters, gets inside all their heads, makes them all seem real and sympathetic.
She masterly describes what made life at this time challenging and even terrifying. Marriage, culture, the economy, politics, family can all be seen with clarity. Reading this book it is impossible to say marriage was what held women back. Or that men liked being in a position of authority over women. It was just way more complicated than that.
Not to mention that there are about a dozen main characters, at least as many supporting characters, and a host of townspeople. Somehow it didn't get confusing and it stayed interesting. That is a feat in itself. This novel is one of the closest things to perfection that I've ever read.
Victorian times were in many ways like being at a high school where no one ever graduates. So there is a bit of comedy, a bit of horror, and a whole lot of gossip--all rolled into one.
On the surface the novel is about Victorian provincial life. Middlemarch, the name of the town where the characters reside, is also a character in the book.
The mastery of this novel is that Eliot creates a horde of characters, gets inside all their heads, makes them all seem real and sympathetic.
She masterly describes what made life at this time challenging and even terrifying. Marriage, culture, the economy, politics, family can all be seen with clarity. Reading this book it is impossible to say marriage was what held women back. Or that men liked being in a position of authority over women. It was just way more complicated than that.
Not to mention that there are about a dozen main characters, at least as many supporting characters, and a host of townspeople. Somehow it didn't get confusing and it stayed interesting. That is a feat in itself. This novel is one of the closest things to perfection that I've ever read.
Victorian times were in many ways like being at a high school where no one ever graduates. So there is a bit of comedy, a bit of horror, and a whole lot of gossip--all rolled into one.
