Rebecca Daphne du Maurier

I'm excited to start this one.  Rebecca won the Anthony Award's Novel of the Century in 2000.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck REVIEW

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Steinbeck’s writing is wonderful. He packs quite a punch in this little novella. He uses simple characters to create a complex work that tackles universal themes of friendship, loneliness, poverty and helplessness. He uses animal imagery that is both symbolic and suggestive. Symbolism isn’t my strongest suit, but here, even I get it. He condemns society for its treatment of the lowest classes. He basically does it all in 100 pages.

The one thing that I didn’t like was the way Steinbeck penned Curly’s wife. None of the characters had very much depth, but Curly’s wife’s behavior was odd, to say the least. I imagine these laborers as being smelly, dirty and unattractive. It is inexplicable that she would have been completely undiscerning in her attraction to them, desiring all of the men equally. Since Curly’s wife was such a pivotal character, I would have liked for Steinbeck to have taken a more nuanced approach with her.

Although, I rate this book five stars, I won’t be reading more Steinbeck anytime soon. The bottom line is that his stuff is depressing. I get it. I even like it, but I need it in small doses. Two Steinbeck books in one year are more than enough for a while.

I am participating in a classics challenge. The challenge requires a blog entry for each classic book. You can find my blog at http://linda2015classicschallenge.blo...



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Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

My son is reading John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men in English class, so, being that I am in a classic's challenge, I figured I'd give it a go.  I know the plot, presumable because I read it in high school myself, but I don't actually remember reading it.

I can probably go ahead and take care of the Ws:

WHEN I Discovered This Classic:  high-school, most definitely

WHAT Makes It A Classic:  Steinbeck's pros is wonderful and he tackles big themes of loneliness, work, poverty and tragedy.

WHY I Chose to Read It:  I love reading books with my kids

WILL It Stay A Classic:  Yes

WHO I’d Recommend It To:  No one.  Steinbeck is completely depressing.  His whole purpose seems to be to let us know that, if you poor, life sucks, and, then, you die.  The poor have no control and all choices lead to one depressing outcome.

Phaedo by Plato REVIEW

Phaedo by Plato
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What I like about Plato’s dialogues is how accessible they are. Much of Western thought is based on Plato's writings, so you can’t get much more academic than that, but at the same time, Plato isn’t hard. You don’t have to have special skills or been formally trained in philosophy to enjoy and understand Plato. Pheado is one of Plato’s later dialogues so it, probably, represents Plato’s own viewpoints rather than Socrates’. As for the philosophy itself, I like the proofs for the pre-existence of the soul and even the existence the soul after death. Some ideas Plato seems to take for granted and just doesn’t offer any explanation, like re-incarnation. I enjoyed Pheado. I think that Plato's dialogues is a great place to start for someone who has an interest in the origins of western philosophy.

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The Ws

WHEN I Discovered This Classic

college 

WHY I Chose to Read It

I hadn't read any ancient Greek, for the challenge, yet.

WHO I’d Recommend It To

someone interested in Western philosophy

WILL It Stay A Classic

Clearly, the answer is yes, but I think that it is still relevant because it deals with the universal theme of the existence of the soul.

WHO I’d Recommend It To

I’d recommend this to anyone who expressed interest in reading a mystery.

Murder on the Orient Express - REVIEW & The Ws

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Without a doubt, I saw the movie adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express as child, but it never occurred to me that I would remember anything about the book. Although I didn’t recall anything specific, I knew, without a doubt, “whodunit.” My knowledge of the ending, pretty much, ruined the experience of the book. I kept reading for two reasons: 1) to make sure that I wasn’t crazy and that I really did know the outcome, and 2) to get a feel for Agatha Christie’s writing.

I don’t know if this book is reflective of Christie’s overall style or not. I loved the main character, but I didn’t think that I got enough of his investigative process. There were many interviews and an elucidation at the end. I don’t read many mysteries, so I don’t know how common that style is, but personally, I think that I would enjoyed the book more if I were given more access to Poirot’s thought process before the big reveal.

Given the circumstances, it is difficult for me to give this book a fair rating. If I hadn’t known the ending, I might have rated it four stars. However, I wouldn’t hesitate to read another of Agatha Chrisite’s book.


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The Ws

WHEN I Discovered This Classic

I can’t remember a time of not knowing that this book existed.  I, probably, saw a movie adaptation before the age of ten.

WHAT Makes It A Classic

Agatha Christie books have sold over 3 billion copies.  Christie took the lead from authors like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but she has been influential in her own right.  Murder on the Orient Express is her most famous dealing with the universal themes of justice and judgment.

WHY I Chose to Read It

It was chosen as group read in a group that I’m in on Goodreads.

WILL It Stay A Classic

It was written in 1934 and has never been out of print.  That is a pretty good start. 

WHO I’d Recommend It To

I’d recommend this to anyone who expressed interest in reading a mystery.

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky REVIEW & the Ws

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I have read some amazing classics, this year, so I had no reason to think that Crime and Punishment wouldn’t be another winner. Unfortunately, I didn’t anticipate what a drag it would be. Hours and hours of my life dedicated to exploring the mind of an insane person. If only Dostoyevsky could have done it in 250 pages, it might have been tolerable. Sometimes it was oddly compelling, but, mostly, I just wanted the punishment to end. (view spoiler)[ As far as the plot goes, I never figured why Raskolnikov committed the murders. In the beginning, I assumed that it was about money, but, as the book went on, it was obviously that he didn’t care about the money. I suppose that he gave an explanation in his article, but the arguments, in the article, didn’t fit together with the circumstances of Raskolnikov life. His attempts to explain it to Sonya sounded ridiculous, except for the fact that he admitted that he was a little bad and a little crazy. In the end, the murders were senseless. I have to assume that that was the point, but it didn't sit well with me. (hide spoiler)]

Sometimes if I don’t like a book, it is really that I just don’t understand the book. For a while, I read a chapter analysis after each chapter. I hoped that thoroughly understanding the book would help me appreciate it more. I gave that up by part three (about ½ through). The chapter analyses weren’t adding much to comprehension of the book, and it was prolonging the experience.

I’m giving Crime and Punishment two stars instead of one, because Dostoyevsky, in some respects, is an excellent writer. I, truly, felt that I was inside the mind of a mad man.

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The Ws

WHEN I Discovered This Classic

I must have been in high school.  I don’t quite remember.

WHY I Chose to Read It

It was chosen as a group read for a group that I am in on Goodreads.

WHAT Makes It A Classic

Crime and Punishment examines universal themes:  primarily societal alienation and the psychology of the criminal mind.  Crazy is crazy whether it’s the 19^th century of 2015.  Anyone interested in crazy will, probably, like this book.

WHAT I Thought of This Classic

I think that books like this are the reasons people hesitate to read classics.  In my opinion, it was long and boring.  I didn’t like the characters, so I didn’t care much what happened to them.

WILL It Stay A Classic

Since it was written in the early 19^th century and it is still going strong, I think that there is a good bet that it will continue its domination of any list of Russian classics.

WHO I’d Recommend It To

A psychology student

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe REVIEW

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My feelings about this book are mixed. On one hand, I found it interesting and challenging. I utilized many resources, while reading this book, to help me better understand the background information and literary allegories. One valuable resource was a study guide prepared by Heather DuBois Bourenane from the University Wisconsin‐Madison. I became engrossed in the plot, and I appreciated the literary devices used to examine various themes. On an academic level, I was very impressed with the book.

On the other hand, if I consider Things Fall Apart outside of any historical significance, political importance or literary appreciation, I was underwhelmed. The main character was, too, vilified in the first chapters. I didn’t care much what happened to him, nor did I feel empathy for any of the other characters. I didn’t feel anything while reading the book. Reading a novel shouldn’t be an academic pursuit but one of the heart.

That leaves me in a quandary as to what rating to give Things Fall Apart. I have settled on 4 stars. Although I didn't find the novel emotionally riveting, Achebe seamlessly incorporated African storytelling with a western style of writing, and he tackled difficult themes in a way that was stimulating and thought provoking.

Most of the answers to the Ws are found in my previous post about this book.

Things Fall Apart – 1987 Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation mini‐series.

Find scene 1 at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7FS95IcRNU

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