In the Bookshop...
Well... I finally finished reading 'Little Women'! I have to say that I absolutely loved it! As a friend here once said (about another book), "It was like eating chocolate all day"! Every turn of the page evoked emotion. I found myself laughing out loud while reading in coffee shops and almost in tears late at night as I read in bed (yes, I am man enough to admit that!). The strange thing is that people reacted in strange ways when they found out that I was reading it. Mostly my guy friends would just chuckle a bit... and the women would say, "aahh.... you have never read it!?!". I'm glad that I took some time off of my adventure/boy books to read this little heartwarming story. I found it refreshing to read a simple character based book. I really felt as if I was right there with them in their little old house. Anyone else read it? Any thoughts? Comments?
The reward for finishing 'Little Women' is a trip to my favorite bookshop! I went yesterday and spent the longest time searching through the maze of bookshelves for my next classic. I picked up several books and carried them around for a long time, but finally decided to only buy the one book that I am going to read next. I don't want to overload myself (I am, however, reading several books at the same time - This is just my pleasure reading). So - I found an older copy of a book that I have always heard talked about, and have even discussed in history classes, but I don't think that I have ever actually seen a copy of - much less read. I decided on "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe. We visited Mrs. Stowe's house this past summer while visiting our friends Blake and Mary in Connecticut. We had taken a day trip with our friends to see Samuel Clemens' (aka Mark Twain) house, and she happened to live next door. It was at that time that I thought to myself, "I would really like to read that book..." So, here I am. I am going to give it a try. I'll let you know how it goes.
The reward for finishing 'Little Women' is a trip to my favorite bookshop! I went yesterday and spent the longest time searching through the maze of bookshelves for my next classic. I picked up several books and carried them around for a long time, but finally decided to only buy the one book that I am going to read next. I don't want to overload myself (I am, however, reading several books at the same time - This is just my pleasure reading). So - I found an older copy of a book that I have always heard talked about, and have even discussed in history classes, but I don't think that I have ever actually seen a copy of - much less read. I decided on "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe. We visited Mrs. Stowe's house this past summer while visiting our friends Blake and Mary in Connecticut. We had taken a day trip with our friends to see Samuel Clemens' (aka Mark Twain) house, and she happened to live next door. It was at that time that I thought to myself, "I would really like to read that book..." So, here I am. I am going to give it a try. I'll let you know how it goes.Labels: Currently Reading
3 Comments:
OK I tried to leave this comment the other day but hit the wrong button and poof it was gone! And it was well written and now I can't remember all the good stuff. :(
Anyway, in my previous comment I wanted to say that when I went through this same phase (I still read voraciously, just not classics all the time) I began to notice that some books which I had been told were politically incorrect for reasons such as racism, were actually also often espousing very conservative Christian views. I found Uncle Tom's Cabin that way, almost preachy! Another book you should try is Frankenstein. Nothing like the movies at all. The monster actually reads the Bible and Milton and muses on the creator. It's very interesting.
It seemed I spent a lot of time as a white guy going to college in the south deferring to the professors' and classmates' opinions that such and such an author was bigotted and therefore not worth reading. At the most they would allow that an author just reflected the views at the time they wrote, racist, Christian, etc. But now that I'm older, have been more places, have read more, I wonder if some of those works and authors were castigated as much for their theological world views as for social or political ones?
Talk amongst yourselves... ;)
Tim
that looks like the coolest bookshop...maybe one day you can take me there!!
now I know you're a manly man! Secure enough to read Little women AND talk about it!
Love ya,
Krista
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