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

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

I didn't feel that The Woman in White was monster read, but I guess it is over 500 pages! It just went so fast for me that I never noticed.

I remember reading this in college and my prof saying that everything you need to know is in Benjy's section... but because of the way it's put together, you really have to dig to find it. We went through with highlighters in different colors to point out the different time periods in his section. Crazy stuff!

I liked Dracula. Dragged a bit toward the end, but was an enjoyable read. Kind of fun to see where some of our modern ideas come from :)

Colleen wrote: "Alana wrote: "Cry, the Beloved Country, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Les Misérables, The Once and Future King, [book:The Blue Notebook|6060623..."

Honestly, The Blue Notebook is one of the shortest I've read in a long time, at something just over 200 pages, but it took me AGES to get through! I only read about 10 pages in a sitting, scattered here and there, and renewed it at least twice. I won't say the writing was bad, but with the subject matter, I just had a hard time with it. The ending was fitting, though certainly not "happy." Not one I would have picked up on my own and one I almost wish I'd abandoned, since it took me so long to get through it.

I've actually done Heart of Darkness three times, once in high school, twice in college. All three times were difficult and I have no desire to do it again.

ANYTHING Faulkner is incredibly difficult for me.

Cry, the Beloved Country, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Les Misérables, The Once and Future King, The Blue Notebook and The Mystery Of The Yellow Room: Extraordinary Adventures Of Joseph Rouletabille, Reporter are all on my Currently Reading. A book for all occasions!

The Two Towers was slow, I do remember that. I got such halfway through that and put it down. A great later I started the trilogy over and went right through them, especially the third book. Sometimes it just has to be the right timing.

Lol, I am determined to read Moby Dick one day, but I have heard nothing but how challenging it is, so I know it will be a monster read when I finally get to it. I will HAVE to do it with a group, no other way around it.

Francie wrote: "I love by John Grisham"

I've never gotten around to this one, for some reason.

But I agree, Gifts of the Magi is wonderful!

I'm at 96, just four short of my goal! I'm determined to make it, although I think it will be last minute :)

I think if we surveyed 7 people on their favorite of the 7 Austen novels, we'd get 7 different answers :). I don't think Persuasion was her best, but it wasn't bad, either. Certainly a keeper on the bookshelf :)

I picked this one up as a re-read from the collection of novels I read in high school and didn't care for. I've been trying to give them another chance. So far, I think I'm finding this one even less enjoyable than I did in high school. So far, I'm just finding it boring.

Can't help you Jessica, that's one of the very few I gave up on and only after ten pages at that!

I'm reposting this from commentary on another group...

I find it interesting that there are so many "Madame Bovarys" in the story. We have mom, first wife, and now main "heroine," for lack of a better word.

Does anyone know if "Bovary" as a word has any significance? My French is limited, but I would assume it's a variation on "bovine," as in "cow?" Interesting that the rich man would have this name, and then marry a girl from the country who probably spent more time around such animals than he ever would. Of maybe I'm just reaching at this point.

Maybe so, but I guess I just find it extremely difficult to believe that she really hung on to the idea of him for the next seven years. I mean, it's all romantic in books like the Notebook and all that, but seriously, a lot happens in seven years. Do we really believe that she never wavered in her devotion? Or is it more likely that no other prospects came her way in that time?

I have only two or three Holmes stories left and this is by far the absolute best. Not only is the best of the Holmes tales, it's one of the best works of literature I've ever read. It's that good. The description of the moors is chilling and the tale is told brilliantly. Excellent book!

Well, it's an Austen, so it's automatically bookshelf, but if I'm really honest, it would probably be a donation box. Not my favorite, not the worst.

I felt Anne was likeable insofar as the person she was was very honorable, etc, but too much of a pushover, which drives me crazy in people. They both could have been happy years earlier if they'd just been honest with each other!

I am very nearly almost done - FINALLY - with Dance with Dragons. So ready to be done! I can do it! I think I can I think I can I think I can...