On My "To Read" List
Submitted by DaveMog on Tue, 05/15/2001 - 07:46
Tags:
- The Brothers Karamasov (Dostoevsky)
- The Gift (Nabakov)
- Idylls of the King (Tennesson)
- Don Quixote (Cervantes)
- Mosquitoes (Faulkner)
- The Idiot (Dostoevsky)
- The Stranger (Camus)
- The First Man (Camus)
- The Last Tycoon (Fitzgerald)
- Juse the Obscure (Hardy)
- Return of the Native (Hardy)
- Glory (Nabakov)
- Flying Home (Ellison) - READ 2003
- Silent Spring (Rachel Carson)
- The Half Life of Happiness (Casey)
- An Artist of the Floating World (Ishiguro)
- Les Miserables (Hugo)
- My Losing Season (Conroy)
I am currently reading Jude The Obscure by Thomas Hardy. I shall post again when I have finished it. I saw the movie earlier this year starring Christopher Eccelstone and Kate Winslett which I very much enjoyed, and for which I have since bought the DVD, and this inspired me to buy the book. I shall watch the DVD again when I finish the book.
Other books I have read on your list are:
Don Quixote by Cervantes - a tortuous read, quirky but unfunny, not recommended.
The Stranger (The Outsider) by Albert Camus - OK, but disappointing given its reputation.
Finished reading Thomas Hardy's Jude The Obscure. This is a truly excellent book, about the relationship between two cousins and the affect upon people's lives of being constrained by the social and religious pressures of respectful society. It can be a slow read due to Hardy's prose style and detailed explanations/motivations, but the characterisations are totally engaging. Not everyone's cup of tea, but I thoroughly recommend it.
I had eagerly wanted to read this since I saw the the 1996 movie (starring Christopher Ecclestone and Kate Winslett) on TV approximately two years ago, when the tragedy of it struck a chord in me - truly shocking (read it to find out). It did not disappoint. As soon as I finished reading the book I watched the movie again which I bought recently on DVD.
I also have on my bookshelf waiting to be read "The Mayor Of Castorbridge" and "Tess Of The D'Urbervilles" by Thomas Hardy, and shall certainly consider bumping them up closer to the top of the list.
When I first read this book I was repelled by what I saw as Hardy's pitiless vision of ruined lives. Now I understand better how characters like Sue and Jude can be caught up in false ideals fashioned by the "social and religious pressures" that professor mentions. I find myself wanting to get inside the book and fix everyone's lives: give Jude a profession he can fit into, tell Sue to read some Kate Chopin... I think the book is a perfect blend of poetry and social realism, and this combination is what makes it so especially heartbreaking. I wish I could shake Thomas Hardy's hand for writing it.