Now that we are getting close to summer, does anyone have a favorite "summer classic"? If so, what is it? If not, are you planning on reading a classic this summer?
Saturday, May 9, 2009
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6 comments:
I don't have a favorite yet, but I am reading everyday on my subway commute. I am almost done with Tess of the d'Urbervilles and today I bought the next few months worth of subway material. A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe, The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, The Aspern Papers by Hnery James and Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. I really liked Tess so I thought I would try out some more Hardy. I read Daisy Miller and enjoyed it in high school and The Heiress (based on Washington Square) is one of my favorite films and plays so I thought I would read some more by Henry James. I don't know anything about or by Daniel Defoe but I thought it sounded like a good read.
Anonymous, thank you for your contribution! I haven't read any of Hardy yet, but I may just go ahead and read Tess of the d'Urbervilles next since you said you liked it. I haven't read any of the books you mentioned although I have them all. :) Let me know throughout the summer how the other books are. I would really like to hear what your thoughts are on them. Also if you'd like to go into what you liked about Tess I'd be interested in hearing about that as well. Thanks!
Well so far after I finished off Tess I started reading A Journal of the Plague Year and I can't say I like it near as much. In fact I am about half way through it and I can't make myself finish it. Next I read the Aspern Papers which I enjoyed quite a lot and I am dissapointed was not a full length novel in and of itself. The Mayor of Casterbridge is the book I am currently in the midst of and I like it just as much as Tess and in the end I may like it more so.
As for what I like about Tess, I can't quite put my finger on it. I know that I adore the character of Tess quite a lot. All of the characters are interesting and well thought out. I think I may just like Hardy's style of writing.
A Journal of the Plague year may get better seeing as I am only half way through it, but I don't think it should take over half of a novel to grab you. So far my main problems with the book are there are no real characters to speak of. There is the narrator, but so far we have only gotten to see a few small parts of his life. The main portion of the book is him giving you facts and figures about the plague while telling stories that happened to other people that we don't know or care about. I feel no sense of danger either, I don't worry about the narrator or any one he knows catching falling ill mainly because the narrator is hardly taking any efforts to keep safe. It feels just like some random sickness that he hopes he doesn't get but if he does it won't be all that bad.
I don't know if I actually wrote anything that made any sense but I just thought I would do a quick update before I ate dinner. Perhaps later on I will do a more well thought out analysis of the books I have read.
Anonymous, I would very much enjoy any more analysis that you can give. Please give as long an analysis as you like when you have time. I can't wait to hear what you have to say! This summer has really kept me busy and I am still on Flatland, however I think I may give Tess a try after I am done.
Half way finished with 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' by Betty Smith -- LOVE it!
I am reading Pride and Prejudice at the moment and have plans to read 7 of Jane Austen's novels as well as David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. I read Jane Austen every summer, but have been told that David Copperfield is a delightful read and is close to a Charles Dickens autobiography.
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