I have been reading, however. My son and I have jumped on the David Copperfield bandwagon, although he's much further along than I am. I'm very pleased he's engrossed by this one since he disliked Great Expectations so much that he never finished it.
I'm also reading Field Notes from a Catastrophe by Elizabeth Kolbert, due to a recommendation at Readerville. I'll be posting some excerpts from it in a day or so.
Finished Tara Ison's The List over the weekend. More on that later--Ison's currently answering several questions I sent her way and I'm looking forward to sharing her responses.
Spent most of my reading time last week with Hardy's The Return of the Native. Oh, there are a ton of quotes from this that I'd like to post! And I was so pleased with myself for reading it since L. read it ten or 12 years back, and I'd been jealous hearing him talk of the bonfires and Eustacia and the heath. (I have no idea why I didn't read it immediately after he finished it.) But now he's totally forgotten it, and when I insisted he had, he managed to pull up a few memories from Jude the Obscure, which he read just a few years back.
Sorry to hear you have been under the weather! I am planning on reading Tess after I finish Jane Eyre, but a commenter on my blog thought it was too bleak for this time of year. So I am wondering, stick with bleak, since that's pretty much what life has been like lately, or give David Copperfield a try (but he is in the mail and won't get here until next week). I'm afraid if I don't read Tess while I am in the mood for it, I will not pick it up again for a really long time....
ReplyDeleteYou could always check out a copy of DC to ready until your own copy gets there. . .
ReplyDeleteI read Tess freshman year in college. All I can remember about Tess is writing a paper on free will/determinism afterwards, nothing about the actual book.
I'd say, let the books decide for you. Read a chapter or two of both and go with the one you're liking most.
I just finished Return of the Native after more years than I care to think about since college - I had forgotten how wonderful Hardy's use of language is - I could "see" the heath and each of the characters. . . and not as a particular movie actor. Loved it!
ReplyDeleteI surprised myself by loving "Return of the Native" after hating "Jude" and "Tess" (which I actually quit before finishing). I don't know why I liked it so much; the only thing I can think of it that it was funnier than the others, but now I can't remember why I thought that. The play at the end, maybe? Looking forward to seeing some quotes, as my copy's in storage...also, have you tried "The Mayor of Casterbridge"? Another great one.
ReplyDeleteYou may have loved Return of the Native because it ends the way you want it to (or at least it did for me). I wanted things to work out for Diggory Venn more than for anyone else, so I was quite happy.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read Mayor, although I have it on hand (along with Far From the Madding Crowd, Two on a Tower and The Woodlanders). I'll be starting the Hardy bio before too long and I'm sure I'll read at least another novel or two by the end of the year.