Classics Considered

I was so excited to hear about this read-along at Hamlette's blog !  In fact, I got a bit of a head start and made sure to read it this past Saturday.  But that gives me time now to read other people's posts over the course of this week, and I'm looking forward to hearing other people's thoughts.  :) +  Have you read The Old Man and the Sea before?  If so, did you like it more or less after this reading than you did before? This was my first time reading the book, but I grew up on the classic film with Spencer Tracy. As a child, I absolutely loved Age of Sail books and movies.  What I especially liked about TOMATS was the Marlin jump.  It never failed to strike a bit of terror in me - I was right there with the Old Man, thrilled and awestruck by the size of the "Fish." This made the Marlin in the book sort of anticlimactic.  It was beautifully written and probably would have been exciting had I not seen the film - but it felt short, very short. ...

An incredible, incredibly busy summer quarter hasn't left me much time to read.  I'm taking two classes, tutoring part-time, and job-hunting on the side.  However, yesterday I was able to get over to Barnes & Noble and pick up this lovely trio. I couldn't keep myself out of The Old Man and the Sea , so I read it today and will be posting a review for Hamlette's read-along at The Edge of the Precipice .  Not gonna lie - the cover and typography are just gorgeous!  (Admittedly a purchasing factor.)  I will say nothing yet of the story, except I'm glad I finally read it. And then there's Melville and Conrad.  Conrad really is best-read in hard copy.  His writing is wonderfully intricate, so much so it's easy to feel a little lost in the e-Ink versions.  I already know the story of "Billy Budd" from a radio drama, but I wanted to read the original and also "Bartleby the Scrivener," which comes highly rated.  Also, on a tight schedule, sh...

Previously: Book I , Book II , Book III , Books IV & V Today I spent some time cleaning out my closet, one of my favorite things to do on academic break.  Afterwards, I settled down to read another part of BK.  In all honesty, the chapter "From the Life of the Elder Zosima" did not look too promising.  Typically my expectations are low for stories in a story, and I was anxious to get back to Alyosha's story.  This was going to be a struggle to get through, I thought. As Thorin might say . . . I have never been so wrong. About halfway through, this "story in a story" actually moved me to tears.  And it struck me how timely it was, reading this part during this time of my life.  I always thought I should have read BK long ago, but it turns out this was the best timing.  "The Russian Monk" is a story about love, Godly love, and what a powerful force it is, and how profound, deep, painful, and beautiful it must be, to love your neighbor, and your enemi...

Previously: Book I , Book II , Book III The carriage started and raced off.  All was vague in the traveler's soul, but he greedily looked around him at the fields, the hills, the trees, a flock of geese flying high above him in the clear sky.  Suddenly he felt so well. What I got out of these two parts was not so much plot development but character development.  Through the eyes of Alyosha, we finally get to meet the enigmatic Karamazov brother, Ivan.  This in turn shows us their family's dysfunctional situation through his perspective, which by instinct is less disinterested than he might wish it to be. It's odd, but by far Ivan is my favorite character.  He is somewhat coldhearted, frequently profane, and not without some of the violent emotional tendencies of the oldest brother, Dmitri.  Still it is his anti-heroic traits and heroic potential that make him the most interesting character.  His bitterness is paradoxically deep-rooted and superficial....

*Page cuts will be added, should any posts in this series involve major spoilers. Previously: Book I , Book II In the previous installment, we saw the Karamazov family and friends bickering at Alyosha's home, the monastery.  Now we see the Karamazov family feuding in its natural habitat, and as what the father Fyodor and the son Dmitri call themselves, half-proudly: "sensualists." Book III really gets inside these two Karamazovs' heads, where depravity reigns over whatever better side they may (or may not) have.  Dmitri is engaged to Katerina Ivanovna, but he is also part of a lust-triangle involving his father and a young woman named Grushenka.  We are also introduced to Smerdyakov, a young man who, according to rumor, is Fyodor's fourth son.  Alyosha, as usual, is caught in the middle and ends up being the one to suffer most.  He is grateful to return to the monastery as soon as he can. Why had the elder sent him "into the world"?  Here was quiet, here...

Just dropping by for a quick update!  It's getting to be a difficult time of year, in an equally challenging year.  I hope to graduate in August, which means from now until then school remains fairly time-consuming. "Real life" issues have also been causing me a bit of stress. However, because of all this stuff building up, I think I will be reading more often, and blogging, too.  In fact, I feel a little desperate for some good reads to get me through the next several weeks.  (Also, summer == books.) Have you heard of Tolkien's Beowulf , which was just published last week?!  I am excited to get my hands on a copy.  Maybe it will spark my enthusiasm for the story ( admittedly lukewarm ). Right now, I have The Brothers Karamazov looming overhead, but I've actually been reading A Study in Scarlet for my Sherlock Holmes challenge.  Of course, it should be a one-day read, but I am so slow a reader these days. One more thing - I really enjoy following yo...

On the bus this afternoon, I finished reading Viktor Frankl 's nonfiction classic, Man's Search for Meaning .  It is a short, two-part memoir, detailing first his experiences as a Nazi concentration camp survivor, and second, his own system of psychotherapy, logotherapy .  This latter is based on his belief that the driving force in human life is the search for life's meaning, as opposed to more materialistic or Freudian motives.  Frankl stresses the relationship between meaning and survival, as well as his assertion that a human being is not solely shaped by his or her surroundings.  On the contrary, a person in the worst of conditions is still left one liberty, and that is to choose the way they react to what is happening to them. For such a short work, this was a fascinating read.  I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars and would actually recommend it to anyone, whether you are into psychology or not.  There were several points that particularly stood out to me: ...