Books Read in 2004
Submitted by marqueemarq on Tue, 11/30/2004 - 02:32
Tags:
- George Washington Cable-The Grandissimes
- Erik Larson-The Devil in the White City
- Thomas Hardy-The Mayor of Casterbridge
- Thomas Hardy-Jude the Obscure
- Various-Racing in the Street:The Bruce Springsteen Reader
- Anthony Trollope-The American Senator
- Anthony Trollope-Dr. Wortles's School
- Jane Austen-Emma
- Charles Dickens-Our Mutual Friend
- George Eliot-Silas Marner
- Fydor Dostoevsky-Notes From the Underground
- The Onion-Our Dumb Century
- The Onion-Fanfare of the Area Man
- Dick Hebdige-Subculture:The Meaning of Style
- Elizabeth Gaskell-Cranford
- Peter Matthiessen-Blue Meridian: The Search for the Great White Shark
- Toni Morisson-The Song of Solomon
- James Baldwin-The Fire Next Time
- Boethius-Consolation of Philosophy
- Chaucer-Troilus and Cressida
- Chaucer-The Canterbury Tales
- William Thackery-Vanity Fair
- George Gissing-New Grub Street
- Albert Camus-The Stranger
- Richard Wright-Black Boy
- Richard Wright-Native Son
Author Comments:
The best novel I have read this year is Anthony Trollope's The American Senator. The leading figure in the novel is Arabella Trefoil a complex anti-heroine. She's an enduring callous woman, I always thought of Elvis Costello's record Imperial Bedroom when I read her parts. Great Novel, I encourage everyone to read it.
This is a fantastic and impressive list. I wish I could concentrate on the more classic novels, but I continually get drawn to sci-fi as a diversion (not necessarily a bad thing).
I absolutely loved Chaucer's Troilus and Cressida and Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure - both amongst my all-time favourites. I would be interested in your comments on those two in particular, and how do The Mayor of Casterbridge and The Canterbury Tales compare.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles is on my list to read early in the new year, plus I saw an excellent TV adaptation of The Mayor of Casterbridge last Christmas.
Thanks for your reply. One way in which the Canterbury Tales and The Mayor of Casterbridge could be compared is in their understandings of one's character in relation to their fate. The protagonist Michael Henchard in the Mayor of Casterbridge is doomed by Fate or Fortune because of his character. In several tales from Chaucer's work, who was greatly influenced by Boethius's consolation of Philosophy, this is a recurring theme. I guess i'm not allowed to give spoilers but that is a sort of comparison between the two works. If I were you though, I would read them both, I loved them both. My favorite this year has been The American Senator, but these two, along with Troilus and Jude, were among my favorites. Yeah, I can't wait to read Tess of the d'ubervilles also, The only thing more impressive than his fiction is his poetry, he's my favorite poet.