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July 15
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Catherine
took the never-ending book quiz.
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Catherine
is currently reading:
Sense and Sensibility (Paperback)
by Jane Austen
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Catherine
gave
to:
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (Paperback)
by David Sedaris
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Catherine
gave
to:
Summer (Thrift Edition)
by Edith Wharton
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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May 29
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Catherine
read and liked
atthesametime's
review of One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School:
"
Before I started law school, I was repeatedly told to buy best selling author Turow’s version of his first year at Harvard “if for no other reason than everyone else there will have read it”.
Well, I’m one week into law school, and no on...more
Before I started law school, I was repeatedly told to buy best selling author Turow’s version of his first year at Harvard “if for no other reason than everyone else there will have read it”.
Well, I’m one week into law school, and no one has mentioned it, thanks. Still, it wasn’t a totally waste of time. Reading how horrific Turow’s professors were to him steeled me for my first day of class. I was totally ready for someone to cry. No one did. I was almost disappointed at how nice all my professors are, then I came to my senses and was just fucking relieved.
Turow’s writing is punchy and enjoyable, and shit, the thing took no time at all to read. Though when I had drinks with a group of “older students” (by which the law school means anyone over 28) the book didn't come up....less
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June 25
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Catherine
gave
to:
The Portrait of a Lady (Penguin Classics)
by Henry James
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in June, 2008
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May 22
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Catherine
gave
to:
The House of Mirth (Paperback)
by Edith Wharton
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Catherine said:
"Although I did not get as much out of this as I did The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth was a satisfactory portrayal of the upper class feminine realities of this time period. Lily's character is much like Ellen Olenska's in The Age of Innocence...more
Although I did not get as much out of this as I did The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth was a satisfactory portrayal of the upper class feminine realities of this time period. Lily's character is much like Ellen Olenska's in The Age of Innocence. She is beautiful, charming, and quick witted. Like Ellen, she is aware of her effect on men, and she derives happiness from her flirtatious exploits. The novel begins when she is 29. She is not married, and would be judged at a late age not to be married by anyone in the late 19th century, despite their social statisphere. In the beginning, however, Lily is only partly concerned about her unmarried status. The attention that she receives from both sexes and her busy social calendar serve to remedy the outside pressures to marry and render her temporarily content. But the lifestyle that she has been brought up to live is expensive, and Lily has little income of her own. She acknowledges that a husband would be the only way for her to continue to live as she does, and that she could not be happy living any other way. She has several marriage opportunities throughout the novel but turns down each one because the thought of living with the suitor is not worth the economic advantages that it entails. Lily's situation reveals much about female society at this period and the tensions that they endure. Lily's options are such that she would not be happy to marry the available men that can give her the elegant lifestyle, of which she feels entitled, but she cannot be happy without this lifestyle. To choose freedom, she sacrifices the upper class advantages that she treasures, and arrives at all that she loathes, dinginess and commonness. In short, Lily's pursuit is hopeless, and her end is her final, yet perhaps best, option. ...less
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April 16
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Catherine
gave
to:
The Age of Innocence (Paperback)
by Edith Wharton
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Catherine said:
"A tale about the social constraints of high society in late 19th century New York. I came into this looking for an interesting and light read to pass the time, but delightedly concluded that it was so much more. As someone who is fascinated by this e...more
A tale about the social constraints of high society in late 19th century New York. I came into this looking for an interesting and light read to pass the time, but delightedly concluded that it was so much more. As someone who is fascinated by this era in American history, I enjoyed both the historical context and the vividly engaging plot. To sum up this plot, it is about a conforming (or so he thinks) high society young man, Newland Archer, and his tension between the traditionally acceptable foundation that holds his social milieu together and his own desires. On the progression of his journey he quickly falls into a detest of the only world he's ever known, that is furthered by the quiet and delicate conspiracies of his contemporaries to keep him bound to this world, in order to maintain the collective comforts and securities that it brings. The catalyst that tips the balance of Newland Archer's contentment in his life (he is engaged to the kind hearted May Welland who is pleasant to look at, easy to read, comes from an equally esteemed family as Newland, and brings about no surprises or difficulties) is the arrival of May's cousin, the Countess Ellen Olenska who has returned from a long duration in Europe where she has fled from her husband, the Count. Ellen is a free spirit who is aware, though not completely, of the rules and restrictions of Old New York, but on many occasions, chooses not to follow them. Ellen gives Newland a glimpse of life without these restrictions and he is, needless to say, infatuated with Ellen and what she represents, thus becoming more and more hateful of his own shackled way of life. The tragedy of this love story is, for me, the most fulfilling component of the book. Much can be learned, both about the time period itself and human nature as a whole, from the tragic unravellings of this great American love story. ...less
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April 14
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Catherine
gave
to:
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia (Paperback)
by Elizabeth Gilbert
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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April 10
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Catherine
gave
to:
The Grapes of Wrath (Centennial Edition)
by John Steinbeck
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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