PB’s Comments (group member since Jul 29, 2015)

PB’s comments from the 100 Classics and beyond... group.

Our fifth classic will be Austen's Pride and Prejudice (8 votes, 47.1%)

More likely, we will start reading it in the beginning of February.

I had the pleasure of reading A Christmas Carol for Christmas last year, and also for the first time, and I really enjoyed it.
It's really more of a novella because it's so short. Unfortunately, I didn't reread it again this year, but I probably will some time in the future.

Anyway, I'd just like to share my review of A Christmas Carol. I also watched the movie starring Patrick Stewart, and I highly recommend it :)

The book: https://booksandfilmmania.wordpress.c...

The movie:
https://booksandfilmmania.wordpress.c...

Bat-Cat wrote: "Another question Peachy,

How does one sign up for the 2016 Challenge?"

When you click the title of the challenge, I believe it will bring you to the main page of the challenge, at the bottom you can then put your goal which will be "6" and then the second blank asks you to create a special shelf on your bookshelf where you can shelf the books that satisfies the criteria of the challenge so it can count towards your goal.
It's important that you set the date you have read the book.
Please let me know if these instructions are still unclear.

Bat-Cat wrote: "Just a quick question. How long will the Jane Eyre read last? I am rather new to this group thing and maybe it says somewhere but I was not able to find where. :)"

We will start reading it in the beginning of January, and it will probably take us one to two months, based on the length of the novel, so the end of January to the end of February? I usually post the deadline after we start reading it, because it's hard to tell when it comes to classics. But thanks for asking.

Christina wrote: "I read it as a gothic novel, instead of a romance. There's really nothing romantic about this story (even the setting is bleak!), but it was an interesting read, and character study. Though I'm not..."

Same here. Can't argue with that. It's framed by so many as a romance novel, but I couldn't really find the romance (except in the end between Hareton and Cathy?). I thought that was a cute love-hate relationship inside a Gothic novel. Yeah, it's pretty interesting. It's not one of my favorites either, but at least it's memorable and different, and I'm still glad I finally read it.

Christina wrote: "I...haven't read The Great Gatsby yet.

*ducks*"

I see :) It was wrong of me to assume, and honestly, I've only read it a couple of years ago. I'm sure you've read many other books I have not read. Sorry about that.

But yeah,I highly recommend for you to read it, I think you'll enjoy it, since you're part of our classics group (and I'm sorry that I didn't get to include The Great Gatsby on our 100 Classics List).

Christina wrote: "A memorable quality of A Tale of Two Cities is the detailed descriptions of callousness and violence from both the bourgeois and the poor. I found myself rooting for the DeFarges until their bloodl..."

Absolutely. That is the recurring theme in classic novels. Just remember The Great Gatsby.
And yes, somehow, I didn't realize in the beginning that the DeFarges are actually the "villains" and I really liked both of them, until yes, what they did is simply to satisfy pure bloodlust.

See it under "General"

HAPPY POSTING!

HAPPY POSTING!

Cameron wrote: "I'd like to post a few thoughts (there are some spoilers).

This was my first time reading 1984, and I'm really glad to have finally tackled it. It must rank as one of the most important novels of ..."

All the points you made are excellent, and I just want to make a comment on a couple of them.
Like you, I also found the notion about a manipulable past very interesting.
"If the party could thrust its hand into the past and say of this or that event, it never happened - that, surely, was more terrifying than mere torture and death."
That holds true even today. Our past, in the early years, before it could be recorded through video/audio recordings, isn't really all that verifiable. When we read about early Rome, or about Napoleon, or about other people/events that only exist in history books, can we really trust that they are true?

Labor
I've never really thought of it that way, but what 1984 talks about "locking up people" through labor constructing massive warships might just be very apt to current events.

Wilson's character
I thought it was just me, but I'm glad that I'm not the only person who is unsatisfied with Wilson's character. He seems too empty and bare, and I don't really understand his character development. He was someone who insisted to blend in, and then chose not to blend in, and then he just fell back to the way he used to be, and even got worse.

Focus on socialism/communism
You are correct in thinking that there are several systems, such as the one we're in now, that can cause the kind of terrors told in 1984. For me, they are just politically correct terms; they don't mean anything because they are simply the means to an end. It doesn't matter what we label them as, if the results are the same, then it wouldn't matter anyway.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Cameron.

Cameron wrote: "I think we should focus on the listed books themselves first. But I will throw out the names of a few classics that could have been on the list and are worth reading (I've read them and loved them)..."

Thank you for the suggestions! I have added them all on our bookshelf.
I have also read To Kill a Mockingbird this year, for my other book club, which is probably why I somehow neglected to add it on the 100 list. I keep reading about Flowers for Algernon have never read it, so yes, that's definitely worth reading.

Christina wrote: "Reading it in a modern translation really helped for me: http://www.sparknotes.com/nofear/lit/...

Also, these summaries were succinct and amusing: http://www.shmoop.com/tale-of-t..."

Christina, thanks for the links you shared. I never would have thought there was a modern translation, since it's already in English. But yes, that's a great tool.

And I agree with you. I was a little disheartened in the beginning too, because there didn't seem anything interesting happening... the first half were just descriptions that I couldn't care less about, but when it got to the characters, it sure was quite a story!!
I am so proud of myself that I finally know what comes after.. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! And I'm glad you enjoyed it.

HAPPY POSTING!!!

I'd really love to read your responses. I also encourage all of you to post your own questions. I'd be happy to answer them too.

SPECIFIC QUESTIONS:

1. "You had to live - did live, from habit that became instinct - in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized."

Written all the way back in 1949, George Orwell's (or Eric Blair's) novel is still very much relevant in today's society, and maybe even more so now, when privacy concerns are even more prevalent with the continuous advancement in technology. How do you feel about this?
Why do you think privacy is so important to us?

2. "The thing that he was about to do was to open a diary. This was not illegal (nothing was illegal, since there were no longer any laws), but if detected it was reasonably certain that it would be punished by death, or at least by twenty-five years in a forced-labor camp."

Can you imagine a society without any laws? What would be the advantages/disadvantages to that? Would you really want to live in that kind of society? Do you believe that such a society can exist? How?

3. "If the party could thrust its hand into the past and say of this or that event, it never happened - that, surely, was more terrifying than mere torture and death."

In the podcast I shared above, they brought up one of the important themes in the novel which is the controlling of the past. They recalled a particular scene when Winston Smith was saying that the past exists externally and thus cannot be altered, while O'Brien argued that the past is not objective and only exists in the records, easily wiped out of existence.
It's a very good point. No one person knows what really happened in the past, besides for historical documents. Do you believe that these records are reliable? Or do you believe in the possibility that they are somewhat biased based on whose perspectives they are written in?

4. What kind of questions do you find yourself asking after reading 1984? What kind of thoughts are brought up in your mind?

EXTRAS: Here's a podcast about 1984. They touch on a few very relevant topics that are interesting, albeit in a very goofy manner.
Feel free to skip the first 20 minutes (they talked a lot about football and other random topics).

https://player.fm/series/overdue/epis...

Just thought I'd share. If you have any comments/thoughts regarding this podcast, feel free to share it on this thread too! :)

UPCOMING: Specific discussion questions.

:)

HAPPY POSTING!

It took me a while, but here it is...

GENERAL QUESTIONS:
1. Is this your first time reading 1984?

2. What was your impression of it?

3. If you've read it before, did your impressions change from when you first read it?

4. I never realized how 1984 has such a big impact on our culture: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Nineteen_...
What are your comments after reading this section?

5. Have you seen the movie? Is it worth watching? I posted it on our videos page: https://www.goodreads.com/videos/9443...
What are the main differences that you found, if you watched it?

Cameron wrote: "Will start to read this tomorrow. Looking forward to finally tackling this one, it's been on my "to read" list forever."

Great. I finished it tonight, so I will soon be posting on the discussion board. I'm glad I finally read it because of this book club.
Have fun!

Cameron wrote: "Hey Peachy, I just wanted to say, I know it's sometimes tough to stay motivated with a book club on Goodreads, especially in the first few months when there aren't a lot of members and discussion i..."

Thank you Cameron, and now you've motivated and encouraged me further. And you're right, it warms my heart just to think of the people who can get through their list by using this book club as an excuse (to give them the motivating deadlines and requirements).
I'm glad you will stay.
One or two responses is already enough to tell me that my effort is worth it. Sometimes, quality, not quantity, is what matters.

Cameron wrote: "I'm looking forward to reading these. of these books, I've read about 25, and of those I really enjoyed at least 20. But that leaves a whole bunch I have to get go!"

Great!