Thomas’s Comments (group member since Jan 14, 2013)

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

Indeed.

Chapter XLII:

"There was no denying that Dorothea was as virtuous and lovely a young lady as he could have obtained for a wife; but a young lady turned out to be something more troublesome than he had conceived."

Chapter XXIII:

"when a youthful nobleman steals jewellery we call the act kleptomania, speak of it with a philosophical smile, and never think of his being sent to the house of correction as if he were a ragged boy who had stolen turnips."

My Kindle has way too many highlighted favorite passages to post them all. But here are a couple of favorites.

From chapter IX:

"the mistakes that we male and female mortals make when we have our own way might fairly raise some wonder that we are so fond of it."

I'm near the end of book 5. I really love the characters and the insights into what makes them tick. I've also found myself looking up information about the politics of the time to better understand the Brooke-Ladislaw story line.

Finished Book 1 last night. I love Thomas Hardy so I'm happy for an excuse to read more of his contemporaries. So far I agree with some of the other comments. It's starting off a bit slow and it's not clear where it is going but there are lots of funny, quotable insights into human nature. To wit:

"The mistakes we male and female mortals make when we have our own way might fairly raise some wonder that we are so fond of it."

Thanks! I'll be sure to check this out as well.

Very much enjoying it so far. The only Lovecraft I've read before was The Shadow over Innsmouth. Mountain of Madness starts slower but is much creepier.

I didn't fate much better. I've read 19 of them. Nice diverse list, though. Several are already on my wish list. I may add some more. Thanks for sharing.

Finished this yesterday and absolutely loved it. I'd have probably never heard of it if it weren't for this group, so I'm glad it was chosen this month.

I was a bit thrown at first by the fact that the title characters aren't introduced until almost a third of the way through the novel. Even when they are introduced, they aren't the ones driving the plot forward. Although the story ultimately revolves around what happens to them, and why, they are more minor characters than protagonists; especially the unnamed Master.

The structure is also very non-typical. Part 1 seems a fairly typical farce, showing the reactions of characters placed in unusual, and highly uncomfortable, situations. Although very funny satire, I wasn't sure where the story was going. Part 2 changes to pure fantasy, as Margarita decides to take Woland up on his Faustian bargain in order to free the Master.

For me, the story was very much about perception and reality, and how people try to control other people's perceptions in order to create their own version of reality.

These are fantastic! I found the annotations at the back of the book useful but this website is far more detailed. Thanks!

Jean wrote: "Does setting a number of books to read each year cause stress or a hurried attitude for those of you that do it? I think it would for me. Instead, I set goals of the types of books to include to e..."

Jean, this sounds very similar to what I do. I completely respect those who can set a numeric goal and stick to it, for me, though, it puts reading into the category of "stressful things I have to do this year".

Instead of setting a numeric goal, I pick a type of book I want to focus on for the year and look for recommendations on Amazon, here on Goodreads, from award lists, from NPR, etc. I then add them in with other books I've put on my To-Read list here on Goodreads and prioritize them.

When I'm ready for a new book, I pick the next one from my To-Read list -- unless a book not on the list has caught my attention in the meantime. ;-)

Started reading the book late last night and only finished the first two chapters. So far I'm enjoying it!

As some others seemed to suggest, I don't think I would have heard of this book if it weren't for CWAtC, so I'm glad it was chosen this month.

Karena wrote: "Thomas, looks like CWAtC agreed with you about Cloud Atlas as we read it last November before we had cemented our current criteria of nothing after 2003. :)"

Oh, whoops, actually I remember now that's what got me to read the book. I had just found this group and hadn't introduced myself or joined in the discussion, but saw you were reading it and thought it looked interesting. Turns out it was! ;-)

Jessica wrote: "One book I have read and enjoyed isLooking for Alaska"

I've also been wanting to read some John Green so that sounds good to me too.

Here are a few I've enjoyed that I think fit the bill:



The last one has the advantage of containing a reference to this month's reading of Sherlock Holmes! ;-)

I'm Tom and live in the Washington DC suburbs of northern Virginia.

Way too many favorite books and authors to pick a favorite but I tend to prefer 19th and 20th century American and British literature. Recently I've been reading a lot of historical fiction (especially Bernard Cornwell!) but I like to mix it up with classics as well as science fiction and fantasy.

I joined Goodreads last year but only recently started exploring some of the groups, mostly as a way to get more book recommendations. I had been wanting to read Life of Pi sometime anyway so seeing that this group was reading it this month, decided to join in. I'm very glad I did. I finished the book last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Looking forward to reading more books with this group.

My favorite word is to blave.

Wow. The ending really made this book. I was enjoying the story but as Part 2 neared the end, I was becoming more incredulous and feeling my suspension of disbelief slipping away. Good story, I thought, but ultimately just a feel-good fantasy. I suppose, in one sense, I was right but having that illusion shattered by the author was very powerful.

Thanks so much for picking this book to read. I'm looking forward to reading more books with this group!

Martin wrote: "Loving this opening third. It's a re-read for me, and I'm getting a lot more out of it this time around."

I just finished reading the book for the first time last night. During the first part, I had thoughts very similar to what I see from many other posters here. It was interesting reading his thoughts on religion, zoos, and animals but it wasn't blowing me away.

Now that I'm done, I want to reread it. I'm sure Martin is right that I would get much more out of the second reading of Part 1 now that I know where the book is going.

Martin wrote: "When he's talking about animals he's actually talking about people"

Indeed. I also think now that Pi's thoughts on zoos being "better" than freedom in the wild is a metaphor for what we do to ourselves with religion. Are we better off allowing ourselves to be constrained by religion or being truly "free" and recognizing the frequently bleak reality of an existence without God? I suspect I would get a lot more out of rereading Part 1 with this in mind.