Crystal’s Comments (group member since Jan 04, 2013)

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

In thinking about why Jason's mother babied him and put up with him so much, I think it's a causal mixture of him being just as weak as her in person and the fact that he was somewhat a loner.

Caddy obviously has a very strong personality, and didn't really need her mom. Quentin loved Caddy, which left no room for Mrs. Compson. And Mrs. Compson didn't want to fuss at all with Benjy. But Jason was always on the outside of the three kids. Quentin and Caddy were always a pair, and he, like his mom, didn't care for Benjy.

And just like his mom, Jason was always crying, always complaining, always blaming. It's as if she saw herself in him, and chose to protect that instead of make him better than she was.

It seemed to me that the defining moment of Jason's life was not getting the job that Herbert promised him. It's as if all of being passed over (in his view) for his siblings was just compounded in that single betrayal, and it set in stone who he would be forever. That is, a bitter, dishonest, selfish, manipulative man who is obsessed with money and refuses to take responsibility for anything in his life.

I also found it interesting that, to him, Quentin is just "she." No identity. No name. Just "she" or "b****." He only cares for what she stands for, which is Caddy ruining his opportunity, and then adding to his burdens.

Benjy and Quentin are obsessed with Caddy as a figure of love. Jason, however, doesn't express any feelings of love for her. His obsession is driven by hatred and blame.

I agree that his mother's coddling almost arrested his development. Instead of becoming a man, he is basically a tall, angry child who blames all his siblings and lies to his mom to keep out of getting a spanking.

As I was reading through Benjy's chapter, I was mostly understanding what was happening in each section, but I had such a difficult time piecing a timeline together. So I would read quite a few sections, and then go to shmoop.com to look at how each section fit with all the others, and then mark them in my text. Then I went back and read them in chronological order just to really understand how everything happened.

Lindsey wrote: "Crystal: My big thought was how can you fall asleep in the the dark woods, when you're lost? Around Alec?! Oh my, but I guess Tess is supposed to be very natural/ nature driven..."

I know, I know. But she's quite young at this stage, only sixteen, right? And she is so naive that I doubt she thought anything could happen beyond Alec stealing a kiss.

S.K. wrote: "Crystal wrote: "I can't do James Joyce. Maybe one day...

I also remember having a really difficult time with John Steinbeck. I'm not sure how it would be now since that was ten years ago, but I ..."

I need to revisit his works. But at that point in my life, I felt no connection with his writing, which is what makes certain works the most difficult for me. I need to feel a string between the words and my heart. Even if the language is archaic and the syntax convoluted, if that tight rope is there, I will brave it. If not, I don't see the point.

Tess is controlled by her guilt and her sense of duty. I don't think that this makes her meek, though. Meekness is giving up the fight and letting yourself be walked over because of external pressure from others. Tess doesn't do this, though. Rather, because of her sense of morality, she goes against what she desires to do what she feels is right.

For example, you may argue that she goes to Trantridge because she gives into her mom. I think that the stronger motivator is the idea she forms that she is to blame for her family's position and now must find a way to provide a new horse for them. Had her siblings not teased her and her mother not nagged, I daresay that she would have ended up accepting the offer to work anyway if she hadn't found any other suitable work.

Moreover, I don't think that her getting onto the horse with Alec was because she was forced. She was fleeing a volatile situation and miscalculated as to which path was safer.

I agree that she is prideful, although I don't mean it in a negative way. Rather, she has a great amount of self-respect mixed with a heavy sense of guilt. When what she deems to be the greater good doesn't clash with her self-respect, she presents herself the most strongly.

She dismisses Alec instead of marrying him because, although it might have made her situation easier at first, it wouldn't have truly been right. Nor would it have been for the good in the long run. And her withdrawing from society was in reaction to the misplaced guilt she feels from what happened to her, as well as a sense of shame. She hid for the whole of her pregnancy. Even if people were sympathetic toward her, given the insight that she "wishe[d] the baby and her too were in the churchyard," you can hardly expect her to have proudly worn her pregnancy in public (chapter 14).

The scene that affected me the most was at the end of chapter 12, when she's speaking to her mother, and her mother chastises her for not being more careful if she "didn't mean to get him to make [her] his wife." And Tess passionately asks, "Why didn't you tell me there was danger in men folk," telling her that she "never had the chance [of] learning in that way, and [she] did not help [her]." And then her mother reveals that she feared that, had she warned her daughter, she would lose her chance of them marrying. How absolutely heartbreaking!

All through this phase, I had a heavy foreboding feeling, and I almost didn't want to keep going. Every time Alec would push her and then back off, I would think, "Please don't go where I think you're going."

That last scene in the Chase was so expertly written. Hardy didn't need to put in a lot of detail or explicitly say what happened, and it made it all the more powerful for me. The vague way the scene played out is also continued when all other characters allude to it.

Personally, I don't see Tess as meek at all. Rather, she is a very strong character who is reined by guilt and a sense of duty. She didn't want to go to Trantridge, but she went because she was guilty about the accident with the horse and felt it her duty to provide for her family.

She is also very naive in this first phase, desiring to believe that Alec is good even though moments of his true colouring have shown. For me, the scene where she's in the woman's bedroom and observes him behind the curtain would have been final confirmation that he is not to be trusted. However, that obviously didn't solidify in her mind or shine light on his motives or else she wouldn't have gotten onto the horse with him or let herself fall asleep. I'm not at all blaming her, absolutely not, but I think that a lot of her poor choices were guided by ignorance and innocence.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

I can't do James Joyce. Maybe one day...

I also remember having a really difficult time with John Steinbeck. I'm not sure how it would be now since that was ten years ago, but I was just bored to tears.

The Red Badge of Courage
Peter Pan
The Secret Garden
A Little Princess

To Kill a Mockingbird
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

The Phantom is a lot different to me in the broadway. He's not as crazy, and they change his back story. I actually like him more in the musical because you can't just write him off as insane. I find myself wanting Christine to be with him every time I watch it.

Across the board (between book, broadway, and movie), I do not like Raoul. He's a child, in my opinion, and his love doesn't seem the type that will really last. I can see him becoming disillusioned in ten years when he realizes that Christine isn't really a dream girl.

Has anyone ever seen Love Never Dies, which is the broadway sequel Andrew Lloyd Webber (who wrote the original Phantom musical) wrote? If so, any thoughts?

Nadja wrote: "Somewhere between bookshelf and library bag - I quite enjoyed it, but wouldn't go so far to say as "loved" it like it'll always be a favorite. I wish the end packed a little more punch."

I do agree with you about the end. I hate that he just resolves himself to die of a broken heart. He seemed so strong until the end.

LaLaLa Laura wrote: "has anyone seen the Broadway show?"

YES. I absolutely adore it. There's an excellent version of it on Netflix for anyone who hasn't seen it.

I love that it started out as though the author means it to be truth.

I'm going to bookshelf it. I've always loved the story of the Phantom. I admit that I like the little tweaks they make for the broadway, but I find Erik such a compelling character.

My favorite quote:

"Man has gone out to explore other worlds and other civilizations without having explored his own labyrinth of dark passages and secret chambers, and without finding what lies behind doorways that he himself has sealed."

A beautifully stated truth.

Library bag. Great for a one-time read, but I doubt I will pick it up again.

Siddhartha is really short. As are all of the Sherlock Holmes stories.