Tag: Classics

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

by The Lit Bitch3 Comments on Review: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Right now, The Haunting of Hill House is everywhere thanks to the Netflix mini series. My sister and I do a buddy read for October/Halloween every year and each of us pick a book to read for the month and then we read it together. My pick was Frankenstein and The Haunting of Hill House was her pick.

I wasn’t terribly excited about this book, but I’ve been looking for something similar to Crimson Peak (the movie) and this one sounded like it would be in the same vein—-though a more modern setting.

I also picked up the Penguin Horror edition with an intro by Guillermo del Toro and I was incredibly impressed with his artistic insight into the Gothic and horror genre. I normally skip over the intros by people when reading classics etc, but Guillermo del Toro is one of my favorite directors and I was eager to see what he thought. Plus I LOVE Gothic horror—–more emphasis on Gothic than the horror—-and I was excited to see what his observations were for this book.

The classic supernatural thriller by an author who helped define the genre. First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. Continue reading “Review: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

by The Lit Bitch3 Comments on Review: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Every year my sister and I pick two scary books to read. This year we went with two horror classics, The Haunting of Hill House and Frankenstein.

Neither of us have read these two books so we thought it would be fun to do a buddy read all month and discuss them. So we started Frankenstein first. It’s been on my list to read for so long. It’s like the classic horror story and everyone says how amazing this book is.

Mary Shelley began writing Frankenstein when she was only nineteen. At once a Gothic thriller, a passionate romance, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of science, Frankenstein tells the story of committed science student Victor Frankenstein. Continue reading “Review: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Special Feature: Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables #1) by L.M. Montgomery

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Special Feature: Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables #1) by L.M. Montgomery

By now I am sure many of you are in full holiday mode. I know I am! The amount of Amazon Prime packages arriving at my house is actually quite embarrassing.

How many of you have a young girl you are trying to buy for? Or maybe a wife who loves reading? You can’t go wrong with the classic Anne of Green Gables!

Like many adult women today, I grew up loving Anne with an E Shirley. She was so sassy and funny that you can’t help but love her. As a young girl my first ‘crush’ was the dashing Gilbert Blythe.

Earlier this year, I ‘listened’ to the audiobook Anne of Green Gables and found myself feeling rather sad because I felt like I maybe I had outgrown Anne. But then again, it could have been the narrator. The narrator was rather over the top.  Continue reading “Special Feature: Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables #1) by L.M. Montgomery” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables #1) by L.M. Montgomery, Colleen Winton (Narrator)

by The Lit Bitch6 Comments on Review: Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables #1) by L.M. Montgomery, Colleen Winton (Narrator)

Every time that the Anne of Green Gables movies was on TV when I was a young girl—I watched it. Religiously. I loved the 1985 version….a true childhood classic for me. Anne with an E was my idol. Mostly because I too was an Anne with an E so I felt like in some way we had a special connection.

Now as an adult, I can’t tell you a single thing about the movie I watched many many times over as a girl, but I remember loving it and I remember that it made me fall in love with all things turn of the century and that I wanted desperately to move to Prince Edward Island and live on a farm, but I can’t really remember the actual story all that well.

Admittedly, I never actually read the books as a girl. I had them all and I tried reading them but just couldn’t get past the first one because I already knew how to story would end (I remember that part at least). So basically, I have never read them, but now as an adult and new parent I have been longing for fond childhood memories.

When the audio book came up for review, I eagerly jumped at the chance to review it. I have never reviewed audio books, but lately I’ve been in to podcasts so I figured this couldn’t be much different so I turned up the speakers at work and started listening to a beloved childhood classic rather than my typical Pandora station.

Continue reading “Review: Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables #1) by L.M. Montgomery, Colleen Winton (Narrator)” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

War and Peace or more commonly known as “the book most people have lied about reading” is the definition of epic.

This book is big and intimidating but it’s often the crown jewel for readers, why? Because it’s arguably the greatest novel ever written, so naturally if you’ve read it you must be part of the ‘in crowd’ or elite readers of the literary world.

So, why haven’t I read this book up until now? I mean, I’ve read massive books before, I mean the A Song of Ice and Fire books are just as long as this book so I’ve clearly read long books. Let’s not forget Les Miserables, another long tedious book that I’ve read. I’ve also read other works by Tolstoy (Anna Karenina) that are lengthy and wordy, so I am familiar with his writing style. So why avoid this book? Well I’ll be honest, even with all my reading and lengthy epics under my belt, this book scared me.

Tolstoy’s writing is complex and tedious as are parts of the story. A Russian writer in the Victorian era is anything but easy to read. I struggled with Anna Karenina at times and honestly felt like War and Peace was just too high above me. Like maybe it would be too had and what if I didn’t like it or understand anything? I would feel like an absolute disgrace to my literature degree!

Continue reading “Review: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy” →