theduckthief’s Comments (group member since Apr 10, 2008)

theduckthief’s comments from the The Classics group.

I've seen clips of the b&w movie starring Leslie Howard. The costumes are silly but I'm wondering if anyone else has seen it and how it holds up to the book.

What do you think of the first chapter?

How does this book compare to the other book we've read on the French Revolution?

Sorry I'm a little late with this one. September's been busier for me than usual.

The random number generator has chosen 46, 47, 18 & 38. To find out which books these numbers correspond to, click here for the poll.

I'm sure it also had something to do with providing entertainment for the readers. At the time there were no computers, tv or radio. People had to pass the time somehow and for the upper class I'm sure reading helped to break up the day.

I'm about a third through right now and I can see how detective novels evolved from this work.

The most frustrating thing for me is still the narration. It feels like authorial intrusion. It lengthens the book but doesn't further the plot in many respects.

What did you think? Does this book deserve to reside in the Pantheon of great Russian writers or does Feo overreach himself?

Is Myshkin right or what?

So what did you think of the beginning? Have you ever read Dostoyevsky before?

The info about the red hunter's cap came from someone far smarter than me. John Green is an American author who is made of awesome and vlogs with his brother on YouTube. He said that the hunter's cap is Holden's security blanket. It's red, like the colour of his brother's hair and he only really wears it in front of people he trusts, like his sister.

I have to say, I got so much more out of the book thanks to John. After my first read-through I just thought Holden was a whiny brat and couldn't understand why it was touted as this great coming of age book.

If you're interested in looking up John, just type in 'vlogbrothers' to YouTube and you'll find him talking about puppy-sized elephants.

That's an interesting point. I didn't find the family interesting so did Waugh? The most aggravating thing was that there was such opportunity here. Waugh had so many chances to make the book entertaining but instead he made everything dull.

It's not as bad as Lorna Doone but it comes awfully close.

Yup. The majority of the votes went for Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot". We start Sep 1. I can't wait as I've never read him before!

I figured that since our group has grown so large that we should have a place for new members to introduce themselves.

Hi, I'm theduckthief. I'm Canadian and obsessed with books. The Classics are a huge hole in my repertoire so I decided to do something about it. I joined goodreads with the hope of finding people with like interests when it came to books. I was already a member of LibraryThing but found the community to be somewhat lacking.

This group was left in my hands after the originator left goodreads and having never belonged to a book club let alone run one, I hobbled along as best I could.

If anyone has any suggestions about how to improve this group, just send me a message or post here.

I've just started the book but the narrator is such a rambler. He walks the plot around in circles!

Done! Thanks for the suggestions Melissa.

Selina don't worry about catching up on our earlier books. Right now I['m more worried about The Moonstone. That book is huge and I've only just started.

Thanks Everyman. I try to read 50 odd pages here and there when I get a chance. I'm convinced I'll finish the book sometime this year *crossed fingers*

Welcome to the group Lori!

I found this book difficult to get through only just having finished it. I think my problem came from the fact that there seemed to be no clear climax. There were a lot of little climaxes but I just found the story somewhat boring. Yes this family had problems and were really screwed up but even at the beginning I felt that all the action had occurred in events prior to the book.

Feel free to discuss the books for as long as want. The designated month is just a suggestion.

If you want to know the truth I'm still slogging through Les Miserables and I'm pretty sure that was our February book.

It's time to choose a book for September. I don't know about you but I'm getting behind on my reading. The random number generator has chosen 24, 3, 11 & 44. To see what books these numbers correspond to, you'll have to click here to go to the polls and vote.

Anyone familiar with mystery novels will know that there's a certain formula for detective stories. Does this book follow those cliches?