Lisa’s Comments (group member since Sep 23, 2009)

Lisa’s comments from the Should have read classics group.

Hello and welcome to Jessica and Ale! It is nice of you to join us! It would be fun to have a round the world classic challenge to encompass all those authors from countries that seems to get overlooked! Might have to think about that for next year! If you would like to nominate some books for group read, please feel free to do so, that would be great!
Nancy, Jim and Miranda, would you like to do a Russian lit buddy read? I know Nancy would like to. If so, I will start a thread and then the nominations can begin!

I finished it yesterday as well. I would have to agree with you about the pace of the book, it was slow in the beginning but it really picked up after halfway through.
I had a hard time feeling sorry for Goriot's daughters. Maybe, I was tainted by the ending.

*Spoiler*
Rastignac was not the wonderful idea of a hero was he? He was very narrow focused and very self-centered. He did not focus at all on the murder or his supposed love for the murdered man's sister. Especially considering how the book ends, his lack of empathy for the murdered man is interesting.
In my book, I had explanatory notes in the back and it talked about the one quote about how Vautrin did not like women. Quote:"this remark, coming so soon after mention of the young Italian whose crime Vautrin took on himself, descreetly confirms his sexual orientation." I also wonder if him being a convict was an allusion also? I wonder if Balzac had sympathies toward that subject? Vautrin was a criminal, but the boarding house residents liked him and even stuck up for him after his betrayal, he became almost a cult hero for them.
That is another aspect of the story that was interesting. How the reactions to V's betrayal was so hateful toward M. Michonneau and Poirot. That whole dynamic was fun to read, since it made me think about informants and snitches.

Manike wrote: "Goodness.I'm about half way through and you get the feeling that nothing good can happen to Rastignac. This is going to be a tragedy, isn't it? If something else happens, I will be very surprised. ..."

Agreed! Why would they do that? I just despised him for taking advantage of their kindheartedness and goodwill. From the way things are shaping up I think you are right and it will be a tragedy for all involved.

In just beginning to read this story, I noticed that Shelley's' style is different from some of the other writers that I have read recently. Did anyone else notice this?

Welcome to the group Miranda! I hope that you enjoy it!

Hello and welcome to you, Nancy! We read War and Peace and I must say that I enjoyed it. Maybe, we could do another Russian novel as a buddy read or during the first part of next year.
I find it interesting how people assume many things about you by what they see you read. Plus, how some books seem to bring out the worst steriotypes in people!

I read them as a child, and also loved them.

Hello and welcome to you Joella! I hope that you find some wonderful new classics! Thanks for joining.

I feel the noose tightening around Rastignac.

Vicky, I was wondering if Balzac wrote as a general commentary about French life or was he motivated by certain aspects of it? I mean Collins created a heroine in The Woman in White because of how he perceived woman's treatment during his time, just wondering if you knew much about Balzac's politics or views?

Hello and welcome to all the new members from 10/11-10/12! I hope that you enjoy the group!

For those new members who are wondering why we have picked our group reads so far out. We started a book battle challenge in June and we are trying to intermingle those books in the group reads. So around December or January we will start to have nominations for future group reads! So keep thinking about what classics you would like to read for future group reads!

I have seen the Disney version and the movie with Johnny Depp, pretty sure I should read the book to get the true feel of the story. Although Johnny Depp does tend to stick in your head after he has portrayed a character!

Hello and welcome to the group Bronwyn and Jim! Sometimes it just seems like there is too many books and not enough time!

Hello and welcome to the group Tammy, Gayle and Breeze! I hope that you enjoy it!

My first Austen book was Pride and Prejudice and I really enjoyed it. Also read Persuasion which was good one also, but I liked P&P better. I don't think that you can go wrong with any of them though.

Hello and welcome to you Claire! I hope that you enjoy the group and have lots of fun reading new books!

Hello and Welcome Jules! I hope that you enjoy the group!

Nona wrote: "Hello All,
I am glad to become a member of this group because there are soo many books I should have read in the past. I have a tendency to read books from the same genre. In a lifetime, you can o..."

Welcome to the group Nona! I hope that you find some new books! I have really enjoyed finding new classics and have been pleasantly surprised by some! Many of them have become my new favorite books! I can't wait to talk to you about them!

Lisa wrote: "I just finished up In Cold Blood yesterday & I was NOT disappointed :)

PS. To the person with 6 cats, LOL, I can't even remember what it's like to have that FEW!!!!! I'm the President of a 501c3..."

Wow! I bet the cats just love that parrot!