Movements & Periods

A Room of One's Own
A Room of One's Own

Review:Lovely book from an era when feminists were ladies first. Virginia Woolf had such a way of capturing the luxurious elegance of upper class English life before and after World War One. All the feminists she ever knew were ladies. (Not like that horrible American Emma Goldman.) Nobody worries about stuff like finding a job, being able to afford decent medical care, or living in a dangerous neighborhood. So delightfully aristocratic! Of course there were probably hundreds of thousands of English wo... Read more

How The Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures
How The Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures

Review:There was a moment in this book where I actually shouted "Yes!" out loud.

The year I turned 13, I became the owner of a scruffy paperback copy of "The Great Gatsby. "I fell in love the first time I read through it, then proceeded to read it another thirty times. Read every Fitzgerald novel I could find, every biography, every short story. I carried Gatsby around with me all that year, balanced on top of my pile of school books as I went from class to class. Though we studied it for Honors... Read more

Centennial Edition (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
Centennial Edition (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

Review:I was forced to read this for AP English, along with Dubliners. Joyce wrote this book with himself in mind - the main character's life is almost autobiographical. Therefore I don't want to insult Joyce himself, but the main character's attitudes were absolutely repulsive to me. Cynicism and outright pretentiousness can only take a man so far.

That being said, the writing is incredible, as can be expected. My issue with the book is the simply bitter aftertaste this person's attitude left i... Read more

Finnegans Wake (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin)
Finnegans Wake (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin)

Review:Joyce, man of Letters, fluent in Languages, Traveler in circles high and low and places near and far, Scholar of knowledge, Prophet to Mankind.

Joyce's Ulysses (is the story of a young man) whose framework is Homer's Odyssey: a tale of Modern-day Odysseus' personal existential/sexual quest overcoming his psychological internal travails (not Odysseus' external travails) affirming humanity (the fundamental family unit: the father, mother, son, and daughter). Joyce's FINNEGANS WAKE (is the s... Read more

Middlemarch (Penguin Classics)
Middlemarch (Penguin Classics)

Review:A vast cast of characters in an English town and its surrounding countryside cope with the challenges of love and marriage, as well as politics, propriety, and money. Past misdeeds come back to haunt the characters and illusions are shattered.
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Consider the Lobster and Other Essays
Consider the Lobster and Other Essays

Review:It came extremely recommended and I just found it alright. The famous lobster essay, was second to the essay on the bit of new journalism he did in his coverage of the porno Oscars in Las Vegas. A very crafty writer who doesn't mind coming up out of the text and challenging the reader. He's also not afraid to write with flair. I'll read him again. Read more

Robinson Crusoe (Penguin Classics)
Robinson Crusoe (Penguin Classics)

Review:I read this book for a environmental literature class, and although it is a classic, after reading it I do not know what's so good about it. I really disliked it. I did not find it interesting. It was also unsatisfying. Read more

A Book for Everyone and No One (Penguin Classics)
A Book for Everyone and No One (Penguin Classics)

Review:I bought this for a 20th C. philosophy in the wake of Nietzche class and found it an awkward read. Much declamation and lots of "THEE" and "THOU"'s. I found the Hollingdale 1961 so much more readable and easy to understand. I plan to reread the work in the Hollingdale translation since I don't think this translation made the work very enjoyable. Read more

The Count of Monte Cristo (Penguin Classics)
The Count of Monte Cristo (Penguin Classics)

Review:This has to be the best translation of this book out there. It reads exquisitely and the kindle version is particularly well optimized. Definitely worth the money, especially when compared to the free versions floating around on Amazon. Just do it and you'll enjoy it even more! Read more

Kafka on the Shore
Kafka on the Shore

Review:Unlike some of the other reviews, I thought the story dragged in the first two hundred pages or so, but he 'got on his bike' and really took us for ride that was breath taking and imaginative! As it said on the back on my book, "Cats converse with people; fish tumble from the sky; a forest harbours soldiers... and there's a savage killing, but the identity of both the victim and the killer are a riddle". Add all the metaphysical inferences and meanings that will leave you with hours and hours of... Read more

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