David’s Comments (group member since Aug 23, 2012)

David’s comments from the Read a Classic Challenge group.

Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe, 1958. 209 pages, print.

I read this back in twelfth grade and all I can remember from that reading was (1) the main character (Okonkwo) is a d&*k and (2) people eat lots and lots of yams. Upon second reading, these two point still hold up. I think the clash of cultures was probably the most interesting part of the book and it certainly challenges the reader to define civilization and barbarism.

X-Posted to Facebook

If you like reading nothing but SF (tempting sometimes!!), this is a cool site dedicated to the SF Masterworks series:

https://www.worldswithoutend.com/list...

The covers are beautiful, but I read 'em for the text!

A Separate Peace by John Knowles, 1959, print, 204 pages.

I think I need to run my first-ever poll about how people feel about this book. Even on mild-mannered Goodreads full scale flame wars are popping up over whether or not people need to read this book. It was required reading for me in high school (circa 1991-1992) even though there wasn't a whole lot I could relate to. Why should a student in a multicultural, co-ed public school on the West Coast have any interest in the problems of rich white boys attending an exclusive East Coast prep school? If a teacher assigns this book strictly under the premise "well it's a classic so you just have to read it" they will most likely fail. I would be curious to hear about what kind of teaching strategies would be employed to successfully incorporate this book into the curriculum. How does one apply the principles of omnipresent war and friendship across cultural lines? I don't fault Knowles for writing this book because he followed the true principle of "writing what you know". I feel the real challenge now falls on the reader to extract the commonalities between our own lives and that of the author.

(X-Posted to Facebook)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next by Ken Kesey, 1962, 281 pages, print/hardcover.

I think this is one of the few cases where the movie was better than the book. At least I think it was. It's been years since I've seen the movie. While I could easily see Jack Nicholson as McMurphy and Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched, everything else was a blank slate. While I think this book was an important step forward in exposing some of the more barbaric practices of the over-confident mental health establishment it just didn't engage me. Oddly enough much of the book was inspired by Kesey's own experiences at the Veteran's Hospital in Menlo Park, CA, just around the corner from where I work.

X-Posted to Facebook

My Antonia, by Willa Cather, 1918, print, 244 pages. It's the third part of a loose trilogy (of which I did not read the first two parts). I certainly appreciated the classic nature of the book as an adult, but I cannot say I would have enjoyed reading this at age 16. One needs an appreciation of the historical background of the 1880-1910 period on the plains as well as an understand of first-generation immigrants in a radically different living environment to really grasp the importance of the seemingly-mundane events of the novel.

x-posted to Facebook

Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954). Print, 208 pages.

Somehow I never got around to reading this book until now! I wasn't blown away. Overall the plot was solid, but sometimes there was a little bit too much meandering, at least for a 200 page book. I certainly won't forget the characters and what they represent: Ralph, Jack, Simon, Roger and of course Piggy.

X-Posted to Facebook

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, 1952, print, 572 pages.

I read part of this is college (freshman sociology!) and the prof decided it was too long for the course and we stopped about 1/3 of the way through. I was always intrigued by the underlying race relations metaphors that permeate the book and I'm glad I plunged back in and read the whole thing this time. (x-posted on FB)

Just in under the wire:
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925, 154 pages, print.
It seems like people either love or love to hate this book. I didn't feel as strong a reaction, though I did enjoy it. I never had to read this in high school, so I'm not sure how I would have reacted at age 16.
On to 2013 and another batch o' classics.

x-posted to facebook

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, 1959, 324 pages, print.
The plot is a classic (read the summary if you don't know what I mean) and the basis for the movie Charly. If you are short on time, track down the novella which captures the spirit of the story without the background detail. Sometimes the excess detail was a bit over the top and took away from the main plot, but only enough to get a 1-star (really 1/2 star if I could) deduction.