Jennifer’s Comments (group member since Jan 15, 2014)

Jennifer’s comments from the Classics Without All the Class group.

For me, "Atonement" would stay on my bookshelf. I enjoyed it, and would re-read it in the future.

I finished this book last night. I purchased an e-book from Amazon. This is the first novel I have read by Ian McEwan, and, overall, I liked it. I totally didn't see it coming when Briony accused Robbie. I love a good love story, and I was sad for Robbie and Cee. But the ending almost had me throwing my Kindle across the room! Another "almost" happy ending.

I found the story to be enjoyable: I loved the descriptions of the house, grounds and people in the first part. Of course, I was surprised by how this part ended. The second part was exciting and gripping, and the end of the third part, well, had me on my feet in frustration. I did find it amusing that, after reading "The Sound and the Fury", we find ourselves involved with yet another dysfunctional family due to self absorbed parents.

Since I finished early, I am continuing to read "The Woodlanders" by Thomas Hardy. I loved "Tess of the D'Urbevilles", and wanted to try something else by Hardy. I am looking forward to next month's book.

Jason, Jason, Jason. I think that Jason had a serious inferiority complex. For me, his repeated thought pattern of, "I can stand on my own," while working at a hardware store confirmed this. He thought he was a big man...at least he wanted to be a big man. But he wasn't, and I think that deep down he knew it. Hence his bitterness. He probably felt that his family was once noble or important, or at least he thought it should be noble and/or important. However, in the end, it wasn't. Jason's mother considered herself a "lady", and I think that Jason desperately wanted her to be what she thought she was...but she wasn't. She wasn't strong. She wasn't noble. She was self serving and weak. Jason's life is full of these disappointing contradictions of what he thinks should be, and what really is.

One thing perplexed me: If Jason was really his mother's favorite, why did they "sell the farm" to send Quentin to school? I think that this added to Jason's inferiority complex and bitterness. Afterall, if he was the only "real" Bascomb, why not leave something (money, land, etc.) for him? And how did Quentin respond to such a gift? He wasted it.

Finally, I feel that Jason's bitterness toward Caddy stems from two issues. The first is Jason's love for Caddy. Yes, I think that he also had some unnatural feelings for Caddy. However, Benjy was Caddy's favorite. And the final straw came when Caddy's marriage crumbled causing Jason to lose the promised job. From then on, Jason was further embittered by the family's having to raise young Quentin. And how did young Quentin respond to such a gift??? Not as Jason had hoped. Of course, he saw Caddy in her which forced him to relive his bitter relationship with her (Caddy) on a daily basis. Living with young Quentin was a bitter reminder of his lack of desirability and lack on manliness (not to mention his lack of control regarding any event in his life). But that's just what I think.

My overall impression? It wasn't my favorite. Having said that, I did find parts of the book quite interesting. It was interesting to read the story from Benjy's perspective. I wouldn't have been able to even begin a story from such a perspective. How does someone like Benjy think? It was a fantastic insight/portrayal. But the overall theme was tragic. I felt that it had some insestuous undertones in the beginning, Jason is bitter and angry. I also felt that he had a serious inferiority complex. All he could do was feel sorry for himself. Dilsey tried to help, and succeeded in this effort, but she, too, felt bound by her circumstances...helpless to change the course of events.

I'm glad I finished this book. My goal in joining this book club was to push myself beyond my comfort zone and try new genres of books. This book did that for me.

Where to start? Of course, the Compton family is completely disfunctional. Caddy appears to really care about Maury/Benjy, however Maury/Benjy and Quentin (the elder) seem to have an insestuous attraction to Caddy. I found this disturbing. And I had the impression that Caddy not only was aware of this, but used it to her advantage at times.

Caddy became much more real to me when she was wanting to see her daughter. I felt that she was much more grounded as a person at this point in the novel. Unfortunately, she had to go through Jason in order to see Quentin.

I do think that Caddy's situation and decisions had a lot to do with the lack of involvement of her parents, and the complete disfunction of her family.

Thanks for the tip, Beth. I had just begun chapter one, and I had the impression that it was bouncing around from past to present to future, but I couldn't figure out why. Sparknotes and Shmoops have both been helpful. Thus far (still in the first chapter) I am finding this book to be more interesting than I originally thought I would.

Daisy wrote: "In these first two sections there seems to exist so much that is unsupportive or contrary to Tess’s natural inclinations.

As has been mentioned in much of the comment above, there exists her lack ..."

I couldn't have said it any better. This is how I have understood Tess.

I loved Tess...until the end, that is. And I loved this book. I was captivated by all of the twists and turns, ups and downs, as well as Hardy's poetic descriptions of daily events. His perspective on rural life was captivating.

Throughout the book I was rooting for Tess: The jilted and abused girl who was determined to make it on her own, I was disappointed in Angel: the hypocrite who realizes his mistake only when it is too late, and Alec (the coniving, selfish, inconsistent admirer) made my skin crawl.

I enjoyed following all of Tess's plights. At each stage she was determined to overcome her present situation and make the best of it. That is, until the end. I don't know that she had to kill Alec, and I am still struggling with this part of the story. This action doesn't, to me, seem to fit her character. Therefore, I was slightly, ever so slightly, disappointed with the ending. I will have to read this novel again sometime in the future.

Hello everyone! I am an Army wife, and we are currently living in Tel Aviv, Israel (my husband is posted at the US Embassy). I love classic literature: Jane Austen, Sherlock Holmes, Willa Cather, etc. I am no expert, but it is what I enjoy reading. I have young children, and don't have much time to read. I am hoping that this club will push me to read more, as well as introduce me to titles/authors that I am not yet familiar with. Basically, I am hoping to "expand my horizons" as far as reading goes. The last piece of "pop culture" I consumed one of my daughter's "Warrior" books. She reads from this series exclusively right now, and I wanted to know what she was reading. It's nice to meet all of you!