words, words, words

I got my copy of Lolita in the mail today - thank you amazon book sellers for my used 40 cent copy! I love the experience of cracking open the spine of a new book. There is something so exciting about not knowing what you will find within the pages. I don't get these people who read books on a kindle or an ipad or some other fancy device that I will never own.  Call me old fashioned , but you will never catch me on a bus or train or plane with one of these things on my lap trying to look cool and hip reading the latest Oprah book club selection. No, not me, I would much rather take my hard earned 40 cents (or I should say my husbands hard earned 40 cents because if you forgot, I have no income) and spend it on a well worn, dog eared, ragged paperback. Books have souls and each one is unique.  Never mind that one of my favorite experiences in life is sitting at home in a big cushy chair with a glass of wine and opening the cover of a...

There are varying definitons and opinions about what defines a classic but they all have  3 things in common: 1.  It stands the test of time 2. It has universal appeal 3. It has artistic quality I have to add my own to these three and that is that it moves you to feel something - whether it be love, hate, anger, sadness or joy, a classic work of literture should have the power to move. This has led me to reflect upon my first real experience with being moved by a book. I read a lot as a child and teenager but largely to impress my mother who was a librarian. My reading experience didn't extend beyond  Stephen King and the Baby Sitter's Club books. Then my junior year in high school, my English teacher assigned, "A Separate Peace." by John Knowles,  a typical high school reading list book.  I approached it like I did every school assigment - with diligence but little to no enthusiasm. Three quarters of the book was pretty forgettable....

"I haven't any right to criticize books, and I don't do it except when I hate them. I often want to criticize Jane Austen, but her books madden me so that I can't conceal my frenzy from the reader; and therefore I have to stop every time I begin. Every time I read Pride and Prejudice I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone. -Letter to Joseph Twichell, 9/13/1898" — Mark Twain Hear, Hear Mark Twain! I have an ongoing hatrted for Jane Austen and yet, I will attempt at some point during this challenge to read something by her that I haven't already been force fed. I'm already dreading that week of my life . I would remiss if I didn't mention some of the greats that I have read and loved rather than harping on my hatred of all things Jane Austen. I can't say I have a favorite novel because there are just too many to choose from but I would count, "The Great Gatsby," "Anna Karenina," "H...

This blog is an attempt at tackling all the "classics" of literature that alluded me while I was an English major in college over ten years ago. I loved studying the classics and I absolutely LOVE to read - its one of my passions but in college, there was often better things to do than study Spencer's, "The Faerie Queen." (Hate!!). Drinking, fraterninzing with the opposite sex and working 2 jobs often took priority. Now that I am well out of college I am ready to revisit those years in the academic sense (and maybe occasionally in the social sense). Technically, that is my story but more honestly, this is an attempt to combat extrememe boredom in a period of now 2 years of unemployment.  I have spent this time of nothingness, doing all of the things they tell you to do when you become unemployed: volunteering, getting more exersize, reconnecting with yourself, blah blah blah, but reading has been my constant go to and support in this time. It just seems fitting ...