Classics update
Since March, I've gone on to read and/or listen to Dracula, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the Great Gatsby, the Old Man and the Sea, and the Tempest in their entirety, plus started and abandoned Walden and Beyond Good and Evil.
Dracula was amazing, for the first four chapters. Then the book suffers from a distinct dearth of Dracula. The hunt for Dracula feels more like a series of board meetings. Do we really need scenes where the characters transcribe notes from one medium to another for easier reference? There's staking to do, and we're yammering on about shorthand.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea had a similar imbalance. Interesting start, but the end just circles the drain, literally. I admit, it's pretty ballsy to end a novel with "I escaped the whirlpool, but don't remember how." Sheesh.
The Tempest: Meh. The problem was that Prospero is essentially omnipotent. Every other character in the book is essentially a puppet doing what he's manipulating them into doing. I really wound up feeling sorry for Kaliban.
Walden: I gave up four chapters in. For a book about living in harmony with nature, there sure are a lot of words devoted to accounting. Instead of being a celebration of living simply, it turned into a lot of boasting about how cheaply he can build a house and scolding the rest of mankind as being suckers for wanting frivolous stuff like a second pair of pants.
Beyond Good and Evil: Possibly over my head. The first chapters was mainly devoted to refuting other philosophies, and I wasn't sure where it was going, so I gave up.
The Great Gatsby: Believe it or not, I decided to listen to this completely unaware there was a movie in the works. I had a free credit on Audible and the book came up as a suggestion, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Very glad I gave it a shot. Beautiful language, complex characters, a plot that unfolds at just the right pace to keep me interested.
The Old Man and the Sea: Another audible suggestion. I'd read this book ages ago, either in High School or early in college. What a waste to read this book when you're young! It was my favorite of the most recent batch, the one that most resonated with me. The way you fight and fight for a what you think will be a big prize only to have sharks nibble it away to skeletons... yep. That's life, exactly.
Next up: I have no idea. Still contemplating War and Peace. But, I kind of enjoyed some of the shorter novels and plays, so I'm hesitant to make such a big commitment to one book when I might squeeze in three or four. Hopefully I'll decide by next week.
Dracula was amazing, for the first four chapters. Then the book suffers from a distinct dearth of Dracula. The hunt for Dracula feels more like a series of board meetings. Do we really need scenes where the characters transcribe notes from one medium to another for easier reference? There's staking to do, and we're yammering on about shorthand.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea had a similar imbalance. Interesting start, but the end just circles the drain, literally. I admit, it's pretty ballsy to end a novel with "I escaped the whirlpool, but don't remember how." Sheesh.
The Tempest: Meh. The problem was that Prospero is essentially omnipotent. Every other character in the book is essentially a puppet doing what he's manipulating them into doing. I really wound up feeling sorry for Kaliban.
Walden: I gave up four chapters in. For a book about living in harmony with nature, there sure are a lot of words devoted to accounting. Instead of being a celebration of living simply, it turned into a lot of boasting about how cheaply he can build a house and scolding the rest of mankind as being suckers for wanting frivolous stuff like a second pair of pants.
Beyond Good and Evil: Possibly over my head. The first chapters was mainly devoted to refuting other philosophies, and I wasn't sure where it was going, so I gave up.
The Great Gatsby: Believe it or not, I decided to listen to this completely unaware there was a movie in the works. I had a free credit on Audible and the book came up as a suggestion, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Very glad I gave it a shot. Beautiful language, complex characters, a plot that unfolds at just the right pace to keep me interested.
The Old Man and the Sea: Another audible suggestion. I'd read this book ages ago, either in High School or early in college. What a waste to read this book when you're young! It was my favorite of the most recent batch, the one that most resonated with me. The way you fight and fight for a what you think will be a big prize only to have sharks nibble it away to skeletons... yep. That's life, exactly.
Next up: I have no idea. Still contemplating War and Peace. But, I kind of enjoyed some of the shorter novels and plays, so I'm hesitant to make such a big commitment to one book when I might squeeze in three or four. Hopefully I'll decide by next week.
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Samantha
(new)
May 27, 2013 12:48PM
Pride & prejudice is my suggestion. You need some female authors in your canon.
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Pride and Prejudice was the third or fourth book I read in this years march through the classics. I've also read Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein this year, so I'm not completely devoid of female authors so far. That said, I don't have a lot of other females authors from the public domain era lined up on my possible reading list. Oh, and I have decided on my next book; I'm three chapters into Brave New World.
I'll be curious to hear what you think of it. I used to teach that one back when I taught sophomore English.
I thought it was an excellent novel for voice, clarity, and humor, with well developed characters and an amazing depth of setting. Of all the 100+ year old novels I've read this year, I'd say it felt the most "modern," in that I could see it in the template for every romantic comedy ever filmed. That said, ultimately I had a hard time really falling in love with the novel. If you think about it, it's a story in which powerful young men of considerable wealth get to marry the women they wish to marry with remarkably few obstacles of consequence in their way, aside from class issues that have little resonance today. (In this book, it's considered shameful that Elizabeth's uncle works (shudder) for a living.) I was also kind of bugged that a lot of the novel's biggest events take place off stage, and we only learn about them second hand. So, while it was a good novel that I'm glad I read, it's nowhere near ending up on my current top ten list of favorite novels.
I remember being very interested in the world, but not the characters. I thought the whole concept fascinating, but it was like Huxley built a world and forgot to put anybody in it that mattered. As an angry young woman (as I was in my young teaching career), I was offended by the lack of any admirable female characters (not that the males were admirable either). It would be interesting to read again and see how the years have changed my view. Maybe this summer. BTW, I meant to ask how you liked Pride and Prejudice. It's a longstanding favorite of mine, and I don't know many men who have read it. Did you read P&P&Z, too? I have a theory that Seth Graeme-Smith's novel is not nearly as good if you didn't already know and love P&P.
Just to be clear, my previous comments were about Pride and Prejudice, not Brave New World. I haven't read the zombie version of the former. I'll probably read more Jane Austin later on, but right now I'm trying for as many different authors as possible.
Ah! That mskes your comments make much more sense!
