According to my modern English class freshman year at Gustavus, this was the most hated book people had ever read. Oh, this and Heart of Darkness. I t...moreAccording to my modern English class freshman year at Gustavus, this was the most hated book people had ever read. Oh, this and Heart of Darkness. I think I should try it again--I think the hatred might have stemmed from unsophisticated readership. But I do remember hating it.(less)
So I know it's a horrible story. But it's also a really good book. And I knew it was a really good book when I read it for 10th grade honors English....moreSo I know it's a horrible story. But it's also a really good book. And I knew it was a really good book when I read it for 10th grade honors English. I should read it again.
Plus, it, my friends, is the source of the ever-loved Ralph Simpson's quote: "tastes like...burning." If not for this book, we would not have one of our most beloved Ralphie quotes.(less)
This is a fantastic book. The heroine is very flawed, both physically and emotionally. But she really is a heroine.
I think this book should be conside...moreThis is a fantastic book. The heroine is very flawed, both physically and emotionally. But she really is a heroine.
I think this book should be considered a new classic--one which will stand the test of time and be truly great 200 years from now.(less)
You've probably seen the movie made from this book.
It was a fine movie. It won Oscars.
But it cannot begin to capture the truly spectacular parts of th...moreYou've probably seen the movie made from this book.
It was a fine movie. It won Oscars.
But it cannot begin to capture the truly spectacular parts of this story because they are not the surface level narratives that make it onto the big screen.
Before you can truly appreciate the quality of this book, you need to be familiar with at least Homer's Odyssey, Dante's Inferno, and parts of the Bible. You need to be on guard for a depth of symbolism and complexity of foreshadowing and allusion that will boggle your mind.
I always knew the movie didn't really get the book, but when my dad (who has not read the book) referred to it as "a chick flick" because he thought of it primarily as a love story (which it is, but not that kind), then I really realized what one misses when one has not read the book.(less)
I learned a lot about the old traveling circuses and life with them. That was really interesting.
But the...moreI read this book in one day. It pulls you in.
I learned a lot about the old traveling circuses and life with them. That was really interesting.
But the most important thing I got from this book was the narrative from the perspective of Jacob as an old man. I have a hard time truly making myself realize that elderly people were once like me. They were young, with lives just like mine (in the important ways). When talking to elderly people, I spend my energy being sympathetic about their problems and frustrations associated with old age. I completely lose sight of the fact that they were once every bit (and probably more so) as vibrant, active, ambitious, and forward-looking as I am now.
Some day, I will have a hard time walking. I will be in danger of falling and breaking a fragile bone. I will forget little, everyday things. And young people will treat me with that combination of sympathy, reverence, lack of understanding, and fear that I feel now. They will not really understand that I was once a whole, young, unfeeble person who could walk quickly and bend over without fear of falling. And as I am an arrogant person who wants everyone to know how smart, ambitious, and important I am, that will be hard to swallow.
When I next see him, I will ask Ed, the 80-something-year-old man at my church who fixes our computers to tell me some stories about his life as a young engineer inventing some of the world's first computers. And then I will actually listen to what he says.(less)
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