Alana’s Comments (group member since Apr 19, 2013)

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

Bookshelf for sure! I added some additional comments in the margins and some underlines in my already-years-old copy on my re-read this time, so it will be interesting to see how my thoughts progress my next time through in a few years!

I just finished re-reading it (I first read it in high school) and I remember liking it when I read it then, but reading it now, in current political climate... wow! It's astounding! I think what Atwood does best is to make Offred just average....as most of us would be. We like the stories about the Moiras and the Ofglens and the Nicks of the world, those that fight back... but what about the majority, that doesn't fight, that just tries to get along? Seeing from that perspective is haunting.

deleted user wrote: "That's my problem with most dystopian books today. They are so bleak and horrible that as a reader I can't help questioning how it happened and why the people allow it to continue."

Oddly enough, the older I get, the more plausible I find it. How many things do we see today that we just kind of let go and ignore, while more and more freedoms quietly slip away? It's not out of the question for it to happen (it's happened within the last 100 years in other countries, after all!) and that's why it's so scary. I find this scarier reading than any Stephen King novel.

Christine wrote: "One line that really stuck out for me in the beginning of the book was when Aunt Lydia said "There is more than one kind of freedom, Freedom to and freedom from" p. 24. I guess I had never really thought about how freedom could be defined so differently."

I think it's interesting that Atwood has one of the Aunts say this, because it really IS a true statement...but told from one of these hypocritical ladies it comes across as so perverted. You CAN have "freedom from" but that doesn't mean that's accurate in the way she's using the statement. A child has freedom from harm when their parent holds their hand to keep them from running into the street... and while the Aunts treat them like children, they hardly have their best interests at heart.

Donation for sure. Wasn't my cup of tea.

I agree with the spoilers, I found that bit to be a bit ridiculous. Would have been more realistic if they'd had a much bigger supply of film and had more hours to look through all of the murals and to photograph them all, then kind of piece all of that together long after they'd returned from the expedition. Still, though, I appreciate that Lovecraft didn't make the story even LONGER and more detailed by adding all of that more realistic info!

Was it just me, or every time they ventured into a new hallway or room, did you want to yell at them (like I yell at the TV screen during scary movies) "Don't do it! Don't go through that door!" And yet they always do...

How did I not know this existed? That was awful and hysterical! I gotta check out more!

I listened to it on audio, so the vast overusage of "decadent" was very audibly obnoxious after awhile, but I agree, he was using it as a term of art and science jargon, rather than not being able to think of a suitable synonym. Mostly I found the descriptions interesting, except in some passages where he droned on a bit long (especially for such a short story).

I did like the way he built up the suspense and horror of what they found though, and kept alluding to things long before he actually described them.

I wonder if James Rollins' Subterranean wasn't partially inspired by this.... previously undiscovered beings in the depths of Antartica, etc.

Maricarmen wrote: "Throughout this book it was really interesting to read about Esther's impressions on everything she was experiencing. The other characters are peripheral and it was interesting to see how she dealt..."

Very true, it is very inward-focused. But maybe that's the point, in dealing with depression? Or exactly the opposite, that maybe one remedy is getting outside oneself? And her mother seemed like a very caring person to me, but Esther just seemed determined not to see that.

Sounds like it's a combination of all of those things! She feels every single one of those things, so the bell jar seems to encompass a physical representation of all of that for her.

What I find most compelling about this novel, is that every time I read it (usually with a few year's gap in between) I find that more and more of it is coming true. The technology we have now for spying on our citizens, the groupthink that seems so prevalent, etc.... it's very scary. It makes me want to shake everyone in government (and everyone voting for them) and go "Don't you see what we're doing?!"

Paul wrote: ""Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable d..."

Agreed, his writing is full of deep-thinking sentiments like this!

I have read a couple of other Dickens, but this has been the most enjoyable (thus far...I have a ways to go!). The character development is wonderful, I think Pip especially gives a very good representation of what often happens when someone of lesser means suddenly finds he has nearly (to him) unlimited resources. Suddenly the who attitude changes, and the humble beginnings are not only forgotten, but something to be hidden away from the new, "more enlightened" crowd. Those that have the truest hearts sometimes find their way back, though....

Boy, though, I want to shake some sense into him sometimes!

I think it can still work even while we find it overly dramatic. That's part of the appeal when we live in an era of 140 characters and "text" speak. The flowery drama draws us back to another time and we can completely understand the frame of mind the characters are in, even while we find the circumstances/coincidences so ridiculous as to be laughable. The power of words at its best!

Beth wrote: "I'd say that was one thing I didn't care for. Overall, I really enjoyed the book but the teasers were excessive. At first they built some tension but after awhile it lost the effect for me. The rev..."

I love your description, makes me think of internet "click bait." :)

I don't recall feeling a negative reaction to them, more just a curiosity about what would happen next and just assuming he would get us there eventually.

I liked it overall, I thought it was actually a fairly reasonable account of what society is like when we accept something as "normal" when from the outside, it really and truly shouldn't be, should in fact shock and horrify us. The complacence with "the way things are" speaks a lot to our society (or any society, really).

I tried to read this with another group four years ago, both on audio and DTB, and the farthest I got was about 30 pages in before abandoning it. It was just so tedious. But, I'd heard what a great story it was, so decided to watch the movie. I was frustrated with that because it took FOREVER to get to the action of it; while by the end I understood the importance of all that lead-up, while watching, it felt monotonous and pointless. The second half was great, however, and I loved the ending, with Briony admitting that she WANTED to make things right, but either didn't take her chance, or never got one. It's heartbreaking.

When I read the book this time, I settled in for a tedious beginning but my mindset was different, since I knew where the story was headed. As the story went along and I saw the pieces from the "God perspective" already knowing the outcome, they were much more intriguing to me, but I couldn't help but wonder if I would be getting any enjoyment out of it if I didn't already know? I didn't remember all the details of the second half, so that was more interesting to read. I finally came to the conclusion that I was glad I'd seen the movie first, but I did actually decide I liked the book after reading through it later. There are levels and depths of layers to the story that are brilliant.

I was actually amazed by McEwan's grasp of the flightiness of a young girl's imagination. I was nearly that bad as a child (short of completely turning someone into a sex addict in my mind without having facts!) I remember daydreams that were extremely detailed, and I LOVED the sections of Briony's pondering that everyone around her has just as detailed a life and thoughts of her own. Those young adult years are the first stages of that realization, and so important to later development. Unfortunately, she doesn't learn quickly enough to save Robbie....

One of the themes that I think could be easy to overlook about this book is that of the unreliability of witnesses. The fact that a man could go to jail on the word of one 13-year-old witness is astounding. Yes, we need to not doubt the victim, but we also need to make sure we have darn good evidence to convict someone to make sure they aren't falsely charged! My ex husband used to work with kids with mental health issues, and the agency he worked for had to make sure to take measures to protect their male workers and assure that they were never alone with young females, partly for the sake of the girls, of course, but partly because there have been countless lives ruined because a spiteful teenage girl made an accusation because she didn't get something she wanted, and a charge stays on a man's record long after an incident, whether it happened or not. Victimization can go both ways. The whole bit about Briony not feeling like she could retract the statement after awhile, because too many adults would be disappointed, is not something that should be taken lightly. That's an extremely important issue.

I think it was brilliant that he essentially gave two different possible endings for the story. One, Briony gets to reconcile with her sister and Robbie, and give them the life they should have had. But the agony there is that they don't forgive her anyway, and think of how much of their OWN lives they destroy in not forgiving! But the tragedy of the "true" ending Briony's not knowing whether they WOULD have forgiven her or not....because she never got the chance to try to make it right and find out. Very much true life.

I see I liked this story even more than I thought I did :)

Bookshelf! I listened on audio and am still looking to purchase a paper copy when I find a used one, because I intend to re-read it later, I enjoyed it that much!

I just started this one: I was suppose to read it for an in-person group last month (as well as for this group) but just got swamped with other reading. That group had some interesting insights though. One of the ladies remember living through the times from living in America and the politics going on at the time and how taboo so much of it was.

I'm just a few chapters in, but I'm liking the rawness and yet the heart of the storytelling. He gives just enough bits to get the idea without going into gory detail (at least thus far) and I think it's far more compelling than many fictional accounts that revel in the gore and miss the point. I love this metaphor (and truth) of the mental, emotional and physical weight of everything they are "humping" along the "journey" (which really has no destination, on the actual war goals).

I just finished this one and I really liked it. Yes, it's Dickens meets Austen, but I thought it was the best of both of them. It's much better thought out and has more depth than an Austen story, but it has the lightheartedness that keeps many Dickens novels from being as enjoyable.

It's a great look at humanity and the differences between groups....or rather, their similarities, if you look deep enough. It's one I would read again.

I just finished it for another group....quite enjoyable book! A lot of information and characters, but a nice blend of Jane Eyre, Austen, politics and religion, enough for a very compelling story.