Tag: Classics

Book Challenges, Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading, Reading Challenges

Review: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

by The Lit Bitch5 Comments on Review: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

I decided to read Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness as part of the Victorian Literature Challenge.

I have read Heart of Darkness before for a Comparative/Literary Criticism class in college. I’ll be honest, I didn’t care for it much then and I didn’t care for it reading it again two years later. Though I hoped that not having to write a paper on the book and not having to deconstruct the entire concepts would help me be able to get into it more but I was sadly disappointed.

Conrad’s novel is an interesting specimen in literature, it is more of a transitional book that has a foot in the Victorian era but also has a foot in modern literature. The book is about one man’s journey into madness while he travels the Congo.

The main character (Charles Marlow) is on the Themes on a boat waiting for the tide to change, he beings to tell his travel companions about his adventures in the Congo. He talks about the ‘evils’ he expeirences while there and how he worked to transport ivory down river….he was more or less a mercenary. Continue reading “Review: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad” →

Book Challenges, Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading, Reading Challenges

Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

by The Lit Bitch3 Comments on Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

I have settled on re-reading one of my fav books of all time….The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

I decided to read Dorian Gray for the Gothic Reading Challenge, I had it on my list to read for both the Gothic Reading Challenge and the Victorian Literature Challenge but decided to use it for the Gothic Challenge since I am in a ‘dark’ mood with all the madness happening…..why not have madness in my literature too LOL.

Oscar Wilde is one of my most fav authors, he literally just didn’t care who he made mad and wrote about what he loved….he is eccentric, carismatic, and philosophical in his writing style, I just cannot get enough Wilde :).

In Dorian Grey, we as readers are introduced to many “monstrous” sides of vanity and pride. We first met protagonist, Dorian Gray, as a naive young man who is gentle and kind. He is oblivious to the idea of age, maturity and growing “old”. The story focuses on the moral disintegration of Dorian which of course is a metaphor for the Victorian/Gothic era….the who era is about ‘darkness’, moral corruption, and the ‘daemons’ in us all.  Continue reading “Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde” →

Book Challenges, Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading Challenges

Review: Emma by Jane Austen

by The Lit Bitch7 Comments on Review: Emma by Jane Austen

I finally find myself at the end of another book and at my computer long enough to compose a post. I just finished Emma by Jane Austen last night as part of the Victorian Literature Reading Challenge hosted by Subtle Melodrama.

As the challenge outlines, the books must have been written during the Victorian era (1837-1901) or contain Victorian era thoughts/values which Austen does….though Austen wrote more in the Georgian era/ Regency era (1811-1817) her concepts and ideals were generally Victorian so I was happy I could include some of her novels as part of the challenge.

Of course I have read Emma before, once in high school and once as part of a Jane Austen literature class to fulfill my British Literature BA in college. One of the things I love about the ‘classics’ is you get something new out of them every time you read them and of course Emma is no different so I chose to read it again as part of the challenge. Some of you might not know but Emma is actually the basis for the modern day film, Clueless which became a ‘cult classic’ file in the late 1990’s. Though Austen might be considered ‘old fashion’ or ‘boring’ to some her stories are truly timeless and relevant even in the more recent culture. Continue reading “Review: Emma by Jane Austen” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading, Reading Challenges

Review: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

by The Lit Bitch17 Comments on Review: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

I went out on a high note when I finished my last book of 2010 last night and so I now write my last book review of 2010.

The timeless novel Gone with the Wind was written by Margret Mitchell in 1936 and won the Pulitzer Prize for the novel in 1937. In 1939 the epic romantic was made into a film, one of the first in color if I recall.

GWTW maintains its appeal even in today’s society, at my ‘day job’ one of the history teachers shows this film to her class when they are done studying the period and the kids are all TOTALLY into and don’t talk through it at all!

The novel it self can be intimidating because of it’s length. My sister bought me the book last year for Christmas and the pocket paperback copy was 1200 pages and HUGE!  I promised I would read it at some point during the year but ultimately decided to buy it on my iPad since I didn’t want to struggle with the bulky book.

I am so glad I decided to stat this book and even though it took me about 2 weeks to read, it was SO WORTH IT! Everyone should read this book at least one time in their life! Continue reading “Review: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell” →

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

Review: Dracula by Bram Stoker

by The Lit Bitch3 Comments on Review: Dracula by Bram Stoker

I finally finished reading the PadWorx interactive e-book (Bram Stoker’s Dracula) and can I just say, it was amazing. I have read Dracula before so I love the story but the interactive book added a whole new element.

Lately bloggers and the media have been talking about e-readers and e-books, some have suggested that e-books and readers will soon dominate the market. When I got my iPad I knew that I could download books for it but I never dreamed that I would have a hard time going back to a paperback book. Having books at my fingertips is wonderful, and when there are books like this one by PadWorx it’s hard to go back to a regular book.

When I first saw the App for Dracula I thought it was going to be a little cheesy and for $5.00 I thought it was on the ‘expensive’ side specially when I can download just the text version for free…..however the App quickly changed my mind.

For those of you who have read Dracula know that it is a long book though it reads quickly because it is an epistolary novel (a book written in letter or journal form). However, there are times that the novel itself drags a bit and sometimes it can be difficult to follow. When I first read Dracula I had a hard time figuring out what was going on until about 100 pages in, then it finally made sense. With the interactive version, it does help the reader follow a long better. Continue reading “Review: Dracula by Bram Stoker” →