Phil’s Comments (group member since Apr 15, 2016)

Phil’s comments from the Classics for Beginners group.

"Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

The movie is great and the play is even better.

Oops not old enough. Sorry!

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Hardcore Verne fans suggest that the translation makes a huge difference. I think the more recent translations get more praise. Some of his earlier translators prioritized anglicising the text (and even character names) or marketing to a younger audience.

Many years ago, I read a translation that was probably not the best. I found it very dull. The protagonist is an ichthyologist, and he spend an inordinate amount of time listing and describing fish.

There is an ongoing debate over who the first modern sci fi writer was. For many years, Verne was the consensus pick. Recently, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley has gotten more traction. I have always favored H.G. Wells. Even though he came later than the other two, I think he better embodied the style and emphasis of modern science fiction.

And don't you dare bring up Edward Bulwer-Lytton.

Here's my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I linked it wrong the first time.

Emily, I read your review, and I my opinion is pretty similar to yours. I was more forgiving of the religious coincidences, though. Greene was making a point about the way that a receptive person will find cause for faith, and a skeptical person will remain skeptical. I thought he piled them on a little too high, but at least he was more restrained than Waugh in Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder.

This is the most overtly Catholic Greene book I have read. My all time favorite by him, The Power and the Glory, has a priest as a protagonist, but is more generally concerned with how you determine your value to society.

I was mostly okay with the unlikable main character, although he got a bit whiny at times. He epitomizes self-loathing, and most of his actions are driven by a desire to avoid thinking about himself. In a religious sense, he represents the sinful nature of people and the need for redemption.

As I mention in my review, the religious element was a little too pat for me. I enjoyed the human relationships more.

Finished. My review:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

I have mixed feelings about it. I loved the beginning and the end. I'm wondering if it would appeal very much to non-Christians.

I took this book with me to see my dad in hospice over the weekend. The later portions of it were well timed. When a loved one dies, it's like they're taking part of you with them. I alternated between it and Psalms. I'm in the last 20 pages or so.

"A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead."

A first sentence that Dickens would be proud of, and a feeling familiar to anyone who has tried to tell a story.

I am about 60 pages in. Life intervened. Specifically, my 1 year-old smashed my reading lamp.

The emotions in Greene's writing connect to me on a deep level. This is one of those times that I feel like someone has been able to put my emotional states into words.

This is the thread for when you're done reading.

I am technically the discussion leader, but I haven't even started the book yet. I am wrapping up an obscure Danish takeoff of Gulliver's Travels travels, and I aim to begin End of the Affair tomorrow.

End of the Affair is divided into five "books" (which seems a bit vainglorious for 160 pages). I aim to finish one per day, ending on Friday.

The End of the Affair:

160 pages long!
Brit classic by a great writer!

Who's in?
Who's already a Graham Greene fan?
Who's never heard of him?

Heather L wrote: "Mary Lou, you are correct that not many would appreciate the Christian themes of this book, and it is frequently challenged."

A few thoughts on this:

*I have seen other threads on GR in which the religious overtones went entirely over the heads of literate adults. They seem obvious to me, but apparently not to everybody.

*I do not assign this book to my students because of the religious symbolism. I do put it on the suggested reading list, however.

*Madeleine L'Engle is a liberal Episcopalian. This book has been challenged both by people who thought it was too Christian and by people who thought it was just the wrong kind of Christian.

Am I remembering this wrong? I have the impression that vera did not try all that hard to rescue the kid. She could've saved him if she really felt like it.

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene. Can lead.

One of the most copied plots of all time. Here's something I noticed:

The judge murders people because they deserve it and puzzles are fun.

Agatha Christie murders characters because they deserve it and puzzles are fun.

So I think the judge is the dark side of AC.

Nina wrote: "These days to me this seems almost impossible for people to do."

It definitely still happens. People foster and adopt all the time. My brother and his wife already had two children when they adopted their nephew.

Myst wrote: "'m not fond of the girl playing Anne"

Megan Follows is unbeatable!

Is there going to be a spoilers thread? Because I have some opinions about Davey and Dora.

Nina wrote: "For who is interested: there is a very good free audio version of this book (and the other Anne books) on LibriVox."

Karen Savage is an excellent reader, and I sometimes choose books just because she's reading them.

Nina wrote: "☯Emily wrote: " it also makes me sad to know that LM Montgomery had such a tragic life"

I haven't read the whole series, but I've read that the books got more bitter as Montgomery's marriage worsened.