Well, on the bright side, I can highly recommend Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (who also wrote Fahrenheit 451), but on the downside, all hope of finishing Oliver Twist just gone out the window. Curse you Friday Art SSR!
Something Wicked, however, is a very good book; starting with two boys-Jim and Will-who were born 2 min. apart, one one min. before midnight on Oct. 30, the other 1 min. after on Oct 31 (Halloween, of course). They see a shadowy train ride in at 3 a.m. (evidently the most horrid hour of the night, when you are as close to death as you ever will be without dying), who's whistle is as the screams of the dead, setting up a carnival using the very clouds as their tent.
The next day, they go to the carnival, just barely saving their teacher from being drowned (yes, drowned) in some Chinese mirror maze. Will's dad is also somehow involved in all of this (on the good side, not the bad (the carnival)).
You're sure this isn't a classic Miss K? It'd make my life easier. :) Plus, it is written by the author of another of the books on your list.
In Oliver Twist, Oliver has been apprenticed to a coffin maker. What fun.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Oliver Twist
Onward to Oliver Twist! So far, his mother died at his birth, and he's endured hunger at the orpanage-type-thing in around 20 pages.
However, I've been distracted from Oliver by the book Alas, Babylon, which is about the Russian's nuclear bombing of the U.S. during the "Cold" War. All of the major cities have been destroyed, all of New England and Florida put off limits, and the presidential succession line has reached all they way down to the Secretary of Health and Education; much more interesting than a small orphan boy, in my opinion. It comes with my high recommendation.
However, I've been distracted from Oliver by the book Alas, Babylon, which is about the Russian's nuclear bombing of the U.S. during the "Cold" War. All of the major cities have been destroyed, all of New England and Florida put off limits, and the presidential succession line has reached all they way down to the Secretary of Health and Education; much more interesting than a small orphan boy, in my opinion. It comes with my high recommendation.
Bulfinch's Mythology
Bulfinch's Mythology is a terrific book. There are many great Roman myths (including 20 page summaries of both the Illiad and the Odyssey ).
My personal favorite would have to be from the end of the book, however, when it gave a few Egyptian and Norse myths.
Thor, Loki (the gods of thunder and trickery, respectively), and one of their sevants were in the forest one day when they happened upon the city of the giants one day. They were invited into the hall, and told that all giants must prove themselves worthy. They excepted the challenge. Loki says that he can eat faster than any man alive, and so is put in front of a trough filled with meat; the giant Logi on the opposite side. They both set to eating, and meet in the middle. Logi has eaten everything, including bone and trough, while Loki only ate the flesh, and so in declared winner. The servant says he can run faster than anyone. The giant facing him laps him three times. Thor insists he can drink more than anyone. The horn in front of him is hardly diminished after three huge draughts. He also says he has enormous strength. When a huge cat is put in front of him (which the giants say they can all easily lift), he only manages to lift one paw. He then challenges the giants to a wrestling match. They send a crone, and Thor loses after several minutes.
On their way out of the city, the leader of the giants reveals that he has deceived them through illusions. Logi was truly all-consuming Fire, the running giant truly Thought (which no man can outrun), the horn was connected to the ocean, the cat the world-serpent Jormungandr (the giants were terrified to see him lift it at all), and the crone Time (who will defeat everyone in the end). When Thor turns to kill the giant and destroy the city for his shame, they are both gone, him seeing nothing but an empty plain.
I overwhelmingly prefer Norse mythology, personally, although there was much, much less of it than Greek or Roman.
My personal favorite would have to be from the end of the book, however, when it gave a few Egyptian and Norse myths.
Thor, Loki (the gods of thunder and trickery, respectively), and one of their sevants were in the forest one day when they happened upon the city of the giants one day. They were invited into the hall, and told that all giants must prove themselves worthy. They excepted the challenge. Loki says that he can eat faster than any man alive, and so is put in front of a trough filled with meat; the giant Logi on the opposite side. They both set to eating, and meet in the middle. Logi has eaten everything, including bone and trough, while Loki only ate the flesh, and so in declared winner. The servant says he can run faster than anyone. The giant facing him laps him three times. Thor insists he can drink more than anyone. The horn in front of him is hardly diminished after three huge draughts. He also says he has enormous strength. When a huge cat is put in front of him (which the giants say they can all easily lift), he only manages to lift one paw. He then challenges the giants to a wrestling match. They send a crone, and Thor loses after several minutes.
On their way out of the city, the leader of the giants reveals that he has deceived them through illusions. Logi was truly all-consuming Fire, the running giant truly Thought (which no man can outrun), the horn was connected to the ocean, the cat the world-serpent Jormungandr (the giants were terrified to see him lift it at all), and the crone Time (who will defeat everyone in the end). When Thor turns to kill the giant and destroy the city for his shame, they are both gone, him seeing nothing but an empty plain.
I overwhelmingly prefer Norse mythology, personally, although there was much, much less of it than Greek or Roman.
Question 4
"The best of a book is not the thought which it contains, but the thought which it suggests; just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones, but in the echoes of our hearts."-Oliver Wendell Holmes
This quote seems to suggest that what makes a book great is not what you are truly reading, but what you can imagine that is connected to that book. In any book, and especially in trilogies, in my opinion, there are spaces of time that are skipped over. Why not imagine what happened to the character then? You can make any experience as interesting as you think it needs to be. Also, don't forget that you can insert extra details into even the events fully described by the author.
This applies to Bulfinch's Mythology quite well. If there can be so many legends from just Roman and Greek mythology to fill that book, imagine how many more must exist. There must be many that were left out of the book, or shortened hugely, and then there are even more myths from other civilizations (though the term may be arguable).
This quote seems to suggest that what makes a book great is not what you are truly reading, but what you can imagine that is connected to that book. In any book, and especially in trilogies, in my opinion, there are spaces of time that are skipped over. Why not imagine what happened to the character then? You can make any experience as interesting as you think it needs to be. Also, don't forget that you can insert extra details into even the events fully described by the author.
This applies to Bulfinch's Mythology quite well. If there can be so many legends from just Roman and Greek mythology to fill that book, imagine how many more must exist. There must be many that were left out of the book, or shortened hugely, and then there are even more myths from other civilizations (though the term may be arguable).
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Soundtrack
For Great Expectations:
We'll try to start off strong with this, having "Vesti la giubba" from the play "Pagliacci" by Leoncavallo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky271W94VHA
I believe it's about a clown who must hide his true unhappyness under his jovial clown's mask. This is much like how Pip must hide his feelings that he would be happier if Magwitch hadn't left him money from Magwitch-pretending to be grateful.
Next, comes "Seminole Wind" by John Anderson. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGoBQIhyFFM
This is similar to Pip earlier in the book, as he craved to be raised out of his poverty (searching for wealth), while leaving broken relationships (holes) behind him.
Weakening, comes "Good King Wenceslas" by the hymnwriter John Mason Neale (not an attempt at conversion, etc., etc.). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfKtrJ1GvOU
It's about a king (rich man=Magwitch) giving food (wealth) to a poor man (Pip).
Last, and the largest stretch, "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oot0GtjQuxQ
Magwitch is an wanted man, and England is a place where the faces are cold to him, as they represent the possibility of being turned in. Also, though this only applies to it as the theme for "Deadliest Catch," he attempts to catch a boat (steel horse in context) to escape.
We'll try to start off strong with this, having "Vesti la giubba" from the play "Pagliacci" by Leoncavallo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky271W94VHA
I believe it's about a clown who must hide his true unhappyness under his jovial clown's mask. This is much like how Pip must hide his feelings that he would be happier if Magwitch hadn't left him money from Magwitch-pretending to be grateful.
Next, comes "Seminole Wind" by John Anderson. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGoBQIhyFFM
This is similar to Pip earlier in the book, as he craved to be raised out of his poverty (searching for wealth), while leaving broken relationships (holes) behind him.
Weakening, comes "Good King Wenceslas" by the hymnwriter John Mason Neale (not an attempt at conversion, etc., etc.). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfKtrJ1GvOU
It's about a king (rich man=Magwitch) giving food (wealth) to a poor man (Pip).
Last, and the largest stretch, "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oot0GtjQuxQ
Magwitch is an wanted man, and England is a place where the faces are cold to him, as they represent the possibility of being turned in. Also, though this only applies to it as the theme for "Deadliest Catch," he attempts to catch a boat (steel horse in context) to escape.
Bulfinch's Mythology
I've actually been reading this for the past four days, but...
It's a good book, full of legends from Greek/Roman mythology. There's a whole lot of them; you don't get a fraction from history class, other books, or that old Hercules show.
There also seems to be a few common trends. If someone angers a god, and get turned into a lesser animal (like a spider). If someone earns a reward, they get turned into a bird. There was even one where an old couple showed kindness to Jupiter/Zeus and Mercury/whoever in diguise, wished to die at the same time, and then got turned into trees.
The most memorable one I've run into was one that was extremely similar to "Romeo and Juliet." Two lovers were kept apart by their families, so they decided to meet in a hidden grove. The girl gets there first, sees a lion with a bloodied mouth, drops her veil while running, and the lion tears it up. When the boy gets there, he sees the veil, thinks she was killed, and stabs himself. When the girl gets back, she stabs herself too. Happy ending for everyone!
It's a good book, full of legends from Greek/Roman mythology. There's a whole lot of them; you don't get a fraction from history class, other books, or that old Hercules show.
There also seems to be a few common trends. If someone angers a god, and get turned into a lesser animal (like a spider). If someone earns a reward, they get turned into a bird. There was even one where an old couple showed kindness to Jupiter/Zeus and Mercury/whoever in diguise, wished to die at the same time, and then got turned into trees.
The most memorable one I've run into was one that was extremely similar to "Romeo and Juliet." Two lovers were kept apart by their families, so they decided to meet in a hidden grove. The girl gets there first, sees a lion with a bloodied mouth, drops her veil while running, and the lion tears it up. When the boy gets there, he sees the veil, thinks she was killed, and stabs himself. When the girl gets back, she stabs herself too. Happy ending for everyone!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
The Lost World
Well, I finished the book two days ago, guess it's time to blog about it.
The story opens as our main char., Edward Malone, is talking to the woman he wants to be his girlfriend, Gladys. When he asks what he could do to help her to love him, she says that he should go on an adventure.
While attending a zoological meeting for his newspaper, Prof. Challenger reasserts the claim that ruined his credibility-the existance of prehistoric animals on a plataeu in the Amazon jungle. To disprove his claim once and for all, the rest of the zoologists offer to gather a party to check on the claim, asking for volunteers.
Malone (who will send letters to the newspaper about the expedition), Prof. Summerlee (who hotly contested Challenger's claims), and Lord John Roxton (a famous explorer and hunter) accept.
A few days later, they set off for the jungle, Challenger giving them a letter to be opened at noon in a certain town in Brazil. They uneventfully go to that town, and open the letter, seeing a blank sheet of paper. After some speculation, Challenger joins them, saying he had intended to be there before they opened it, but was delayed.
Picking up two half-breeds, a large black man named Zambo, and two natives who were there during Challenger's first expedition, they make their way to the plataeu. Nearly inaccessable (as it curves outward), they make it to the top by tipping over a large beech on a nearby, climbable, pinnacle. Unfortunately, the half-breeds, who were related to a slaver Roxton once killed, push the beech down, stranding them. Their only communication is with Zambo, who has remained faithful (the natives went back to their village).
They make a small camp and begin to explore the island. About a week after they were stranded, Malone decides to go to the Central Lake, which they had seen from a large tree above their camp, to explore in the dead of night.
After coming back, he discovers his companions and food gone, and a pool of blood. After a day of searching, a beaten-up Roxton finds him, and tells him that they were abducted by ape-men, and were going to be thrown onto bamboo stakes at the bottom of the plataeu. Using their guns, they save Summerlee, Challenger, and several natives (who are at eternal war with the ape-men) from the village, and return the natives to their cave-village.
Leading an assault on the ape men, they wipe the males out, eliminating the species.
One of the natives they saved, who turns out to be the chief's son, gives them a map to a small hole in the caves that they can use to descend the plataeu.
Returning to England, Challenger proves his claims by presenting a live pterodactyl (which escapes) that they had captured.
Malone, going to Gladys' house, finds she has married a clerk.
In Roxton's house, we discover that he had found diamonds, all together worth 200,000 pounds, on the plataeu. Challenger plans to open a museum with his share, Summerlee to quit teaching to study fossils, and Roxton and Malone to return to the plataeu with a better-equipped group.
My opinions:
Certainly worth the read. It was very good, quick paced, and full of twists and turns.
My earlier comparison was rather incorrect, and it turned out this book is set on a volcanic plataeu, not a valley.
Unfortunately, it is also rather impossible for anything of the like to be true, with so many satellite pictures and the like of the area.
I was also surprised that Gladys had already married the other man, as it went far against what she said earlier in the book, and Malone had been gone for no more than a year, which seems like to little a time to get married to someone you have (hopefully) only been with for so short a time.
The story opens as our main char., Edward Malone, is talking to the woman he wants to be his girlfriend, Gladys. When he asks what he could do to help her to love him, she says that he should go on an adventure.
While attending a zoological meeting for his newspaper, Prof. Challenger reasserts the claim that ruined his credibility-the existance of prehistoric animals on a plataeu in the Amazon jungle. To disprove his claim once and for all, the rest of the zoologists offer to gather a party to check on the claim, asking for volunteers.
Malone (who will send letters to the newspaper about the expedition), Prof. Summerlee (who hotly contested Challenger's claims), and Lord John Roxton (a famous explorer and hunter) accept.
A few days later, they set off for the jungle, Challenger giving them a letter to be opened at noon in a certain town in Brazil. They uneventfully go to that town, and open the letter, seeing a blank sheet of paper. After some speculation, Challenger joins them, saying he had intended to be there before they opened it, but was delayed.
Picking up two half-breeds, a large black man named Zambo, and two natives who were there during Challenger's first expedition, they make their way to the plataeu. Nearly inaccessable (as it curves outward), they make it to the top by tipping over a large beech on a nearby, climbable, pinnacle. Unfortunately, the half-breeds, who were related to a slaver Roxton once killed, push the beech down, stranding them. Their only communication is with Zambo, who has remained faithful (the natives went back to their village).
They make a small camp and begin to explore the island. About a week after they were stranded, Malone decides to go to the Central Lake, which they had seen from a large tree above their camp, to explore in the dead of night.
After coming back, he discovers his companions and food gone, and a pool of blood. After a day of searching, a beaten-up Roxton finds him, and tells him that they were abducted by ape-men, and were going to be thrown onto bamboo stakes at the bottom of the plataeu. Using their guns, they save Summerlee, Challenger, and several natives (who are at eternal war with the ape-men) from the village, and return the natives to their cave-village.
Leading an assault on the ape men, they wipe the males out, eliminating the species.
One of the natives they saved, who turns out to be the chief's son, gives them a map to a small hole in the caves that they can use to descend the plataeu.
Returning to England, Challenger proves his claims by presenting a live pterodactyl (which escapes) that they had captured.
Malone, going to Gladys' house, finds she has married a clerk.
In Roxton's house, we discover that he had found diamonds, all together worth 200,000 pounds, on the plataeu. Challenger plans to open a museum with his share, Summerlee to quit teaching to study fossils, and Roxton and Malone to return to the plataeu with a better-equipped group.
My opinions:
Certainly worth the read. It was very good, quick paced, and full of twists and turns.
My earlier comparison was rather incorrect, and it turned out this book is set on a volcanic plataeu, not a valley.
Unfortunately, it is also rather impossible for anything of the like to be true, with so many satellite pictures and the like of the area.
I was also surprised that Gladys had already married the other man, as it went far against what she said earlier in the book, and Malone had been gone for no more than a year, which seems like to little a time to get married to someone you have (hopefully) only been with for so short a time.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
New Book
My next book is The Lost World. I believe it is a story about the discovery of a hidden crater filled with dinosaurs deep in a South American jungle. Sound like the kind of sci-fi/fantasy that I like.
Around 20 pages in, I can already tell this won't be an easy read. In Great Expectations, there were rather few words that I truly didn't know, and couldn't figure out from context clues. In The Lost World, however, i've already come across a good seven that I don't have the faintest idea what the definition is.
It kind of reminds me of a short story I once read where a scientist discovered a crater filled with a valuble gas, but falls into it, finding it slowly turns him to a statue. Unfortunatly, I don't remember the name, so I can't post a link.
Around 20 pages in, I can already tell this won't be an easy read. In Great Expectations, there were rather few words that I truly didn't know, and couldn't figure out from context clues. In The Lost World, however, i've already come across a good seven that I don't have the faintest idea what the definition is.
It kind of reminds me of a short story I once read where a scientist discovered a crater filled with a valuble gas, but falls into it, finding it slowly turns him to a statue. Unfortunatly, I don't remember the name, so I can't post a link.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
The End
In the conversation w/ Miss Havisham, it is revealed that she had never intended for Estella to become so uncaring, nor for her to break Pip's heart so. She merely wanted to shelter her from the same fate that she herself had had. She pays Herbert's debt's off to lessen her own debt to Pip.He wanders around town a bit, still not visiting Joe, and goes back to check on Miss Havisham, whom he left hysterically begging his forgiveness. While he looks in at her, a spark jumps from the fire beside her, lighting her dress afire. Jumping into action, Pip extinguishes her by wrapping her in the table cloth from the table where the rotting cake sat. Both of them sustain burns, Pip on his arms, and Miss Havisham in many places, though the doctor worries less about the burns and more about her going into shock.
After this, Pip reveals the fact that he knows both Estella's mother's (the servant) and father's (Magwitch) identities to Mr. Jaggers; he is very surprised, as it was also a revelation to him.
It's now that Pip receives the anonymous letter which I mentioned in "Question 2." After going to the marsh, he is overtaken by Orlick, formerly a helper to Joe who is drunk and angry at Pip for having ruining his job a Miss Havisham's, tied up, and taken to a sluice house by a lime kiln. After a lengthy speech in which he tells Pip he plans to throw him into the kiln, leaving no body, and is about to do so, Herbert and Startop (whom he made friends with at the same time he made enemies with Drummle) rush in, scaring Orlick off and saving Pip.
Pip had left the note itself at home by accident, leaving it for Herbert to see. He realized that something was wrong, and rushed to the location in the note.
The next day is the day they attempt to leave England for New South Wales. However, when they reach the harbor, the second convict has alerted the police, and they fight to capture Pip, his friends, and Magwitch. During the fight, Magwitch pulls the second convict overboard with him, and, after a fight underwater kills him. Unfortunately, while underwater, he is struck by the boat, causing severe injuries in his chest.
Magwitch is apprehended and cared for. The police find the body, discovering deeds to the lands forming Pip's "great expectations," rendering them evidence. Pip is with Magwitch as he slowly dies, not telling him how the gentleman that he was so proud of having made has just lost all of his fortune.
Once he dies, Pip himself falls ill. After several weeks in a delirious state, he discovers that Joe has been caring for him all during those weeks. In their old friendship again, Pip is glad that Joe could forgive him for his coldheartedness, but as he becomes stronger, Joe grows away from him, reverting to calling him "sir" and "master."
Finding Joe gone one morning, Pip goes to the blacksmith's house, finding that, as his sister died several years earlier, Joe and Biddy (a woman who was his first teacher and he hoped to marry) have gotten married themselves. Glad that he did not ruin the happy day by telling Joe of his intentions, he tells them that he will go to Cairo with Herbert to work as a clerk in the business Herbert had been hired into.
11 years pass, and Pip returns to the town. Herbert has become a co-owner in the business, and Pip has been happy for the first time in years. Miss Havisham has died, her house torn down. At the now near-empty lot where the house stood, Pip finds Estella. Drummle has died, though not before he beat her greatly, leaving her much more emotional (to a normal level) than before. Now the only part of her once fortune left to her, she plans to build there. She and Pip part on friendly terms.
My opinions:
Overall, certainly worth the read. It's slow in the beginning, as many books are, but it picks up well by the end. I would say everyone got a happy ending, something that I don't get to read much anymore.
I'm really kind of glad that Pip didn't marry Estella, as he has finally become happy on his more meager living and his friendlier terms with Joe by the end of the book, and Estella has actually gotten some emotions (which I doubt Pip could have given her).
Startop as a character I would have liked to see more off, as he is really only mentioned when Pip first makes friends with him and when he helps save him.
I also wasn't expecting Magwitch to die as he did. Such a surprise twist as he was, Pip had just started caring for him when he died, and I would have liked to see them all make it to New South Wales and live "happily ever after," though it would leave Pip out of reach of reconciling with Joe.
After this, Pip reveals the fact that he knows both Estella's mother's (the servant) and father's (Magwitch) identities to Mr. Jaggers; he is very surprised, as it was also a revelation to him.
It's now that Pip receives the anonymous letter which I mentioned in "Question 2." After going to the marsh, he is overtaken by Orlick, formerly a helper to Joe who is drunk and angry at Pip for having ruining his job a Miss Havisham's, tied up, and taken to a sluice house by a lime kiln. After a lengthy speech in which he tells Pip he plans to throw him into the kiln, leaving no body, and is about to do so, Herbert and Startop (whom he made friends with at the same time he made enemies with Drummle) rush in, scaring Orlick off and saving Pip.
Pip had left the note itself at home by accident, leaving it for Herbert to see. He realized that something was wrong, and rushed to the location in the note.
The next day is the day they attempt to leave England for New South Wales. However, when they reach the harbor, the second convict has alerted the police, and they fight to capture Pip, his friends, and Magwitch. During the fight, Magwitch pulls the second convict overboard with him, and, after a fight underwater kills him. Unfortunately, while underwater, he is struck by the boat, causing severe injuries in his chest.
Magwitch is apprehended and cared for. The police find the body, discovering deeds to the lands forming Pip's "great expectations," rendering them evidence. Pip is with Magwitch as he slowly dies, not telling him how the gentleman that he was so proud of having made has just lost all of his fortune.
Once he dies, Pip himself falls ill. After several weeks in a delirious state, he discovers that Joe has been caring for him all during those weeks. In their old friendship again, Pip is glad that Joe could forgive him for his coldheartedness, but as he becomes stronger, Joe grows away from him, reverting to calling him "sir" and "master."
Finding Joe gone one morning, Pip goes to the blacksmith's house, finding that, as his sister died several years earlier, Joe and Biddy (a woman who was his first teacher and he hoped to marry) have gotten married themselves. Glad that he did not ruin the happy day by telling Joe of his intentions, he tells them that he will go to Cairo with Herbert to work as a clerk in the business Herbert had been hired into.
11 years pass, and Pip returns to the town. Herbert has become a co-owner in the business, and Pip has been happy for the first time in years. Miss Havisham has died, her house torn down. At the now near-empty lot where the house stood, Pip finds Estella. Drummle has died, though not before he beat her greatly, leaving her much more emotional (to a normal level) than before. Now the only part of her once fortune left to her, she plans to build there. She and Pip part on friendly terms.
My opinions:
Overall, certainly worth the read. It's slow in the beginning, as many books are, but it picks up well by the end. I would say everyone got a happy ending, something that I don't get to read much anymore.
I'm really kind of glad that Pip didn't marry Estella, as he has finally become happy on his more meager living and his friendlier terms with Joe by the end of the book, and Estella has actually gotten some emotions (which I doubt Pip could have given her).
Startop as a character I would have liked to see more off, as he is really only mentioned when Pip first makes friends with him and when he helps save him.
I also wasn't expecting Magwitch to die as he did. Such a surprise twist as he was, Pip had just started caring for him when he died, and I would have liked to see them all make it to New South Wales and live "happily ever after," though it would leave Pip out of reach of reconciling with Joe.
*Sigh*
Well, I just tried to write a final post, but realized that I don't remember the details anymore. Guess I'll have to read the end again.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Question 2
It seems to me that, in this quote, C.S. Lewis intends to show that, while books may only be looked at as a diversion, they truly add interest and experience to the lives of those who read them. What may, in reality, be a boring day lying around the house, if you are reading a good book can be far more interesting. Even fantasy (in my opinion, especially fantasy), can make a day more interesting by simply, in a way, insterting yourself into the book as the main character. Also, books can add to our experiences, as, even though we weren't truly there in the events of the book, we still experience them, and can learn from them.
If Pip had read more books, he would well know that you are bound to be caught (no matter how perfect the plan) while attempting to make an escape (but that's getting ahead of my blogged storyline, eh?). Also, while this is again getting ahead of what you know, he would have known better than to follow the instuctions on a note that wanted him to go alone, at 9p.m., to the middle of a marsh in order to discover all he wanted about Magwitch (which nearly got him killed). Just maybe, too, he would resume relations with Joe, whom he has left out in the cold for years.
If Pip had read more books, he would well know that you are bound to be caught (no matter how perfect the plan) while attempting to make an escape (but that's getting ahead of my blogged storyline, eh?). Also, while this is again getting ahead of what you know, he would have known better than to follow the instuctions on a note that wanted him to go alone, at 9p.m., to the middle of a marsh in order to discover all he wanted about Magwitch (which nearly got him killed). Just maybe, too, he would resume relations with Joe, whom he has left out in the cold for years.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
I Don't Know
I really need to keep up with this. Now it's TWO-hundred-odd pages. Joy.
When we last left off, Pip had just been told he had come into "Great Expectations" and would eventually receive a large sum of money. He then left for London.
Once in London, he met his cartaker Mr. Jaggers, a feared lawyer, and Wemmick, who works under Mr. Jaggers.
After making friends with a boy named Herbert (whom he knocked out in a fight going home from Miss Havisham's earlier in the book and is looking for an openingto make a living when he's older) and enemies with a boy named Bentley Drummle, he is told he will receive 500 pounds a year (a seemingly huge amount of money in those days) until his benefactor (whom he still believed was Miss Havisham) chooses to reveal him or herself to Pip.
In the following chapters, he mostly just works up a debt, and convinces Herbert (who does not have similar great expectations) to also work up a debt. He then reflects on how he would have been happier had he not come into such great expectations.
Skipping several unimportant chapters, he is now 23, when his benefactor is revealed. In the dead of night, he hears footsteps leading up to his room. The man who enters is........Magwitch; the convict Pip once fed out of his family's cupboards. He has been exiled (I think; on any case it's death for him if he's caught in London) for his crimes (conterfeit money, escaping prison, etc.), so Pip must hide him.
Unfortunately for Pip (from his point of view), this means Miss Havisham had no part in his fortune, and has no intentions of marrying him to Estella, who, after Pip breaks into tears after going to her and being told she will marry Bentley Drummle, is revealed to have few feelings left at all, not for Miss Havisham (her adoptive mother) and especially not for Pip. Pip then blesses her, and tells her not to marry Drummle but rather one of her countless other suitors, perhaps even one that loves her as much as he.
Miss Havisham is touched by Pip's true feelings (and Estella's complete lack of feelings) and is currently confessing something to Pip (which I have not read yet).
Meanwhile, Pip begins to suspect Mr. Jagger's servant (who had been accused of killing a woman in competition with her for a man and her own small daughter by that man, many years ago) of being Estella's mother, and after going back to London after his visit to Estella, receives an foreboding note saying, " DON'T GO HOME."
As it turns out, Pip, Herbert, and Magwitch have been watched by a second convict who was in the marsh all those years ago, and who was the mastermind in the crimes that got Magwitch a death penalty but got off easy due to his more gentlemanly demeanor.
They move Magwitch to an rented room near Herbert's girlfriend's house, and begin preparations for going to New South Wales (I think; that was where Magwitch was coming from, so it could also be the British prison site). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_wales
Oh, oh, and it turns out that the second convict was Miss Havisham's former lover, so she wasn't really rejected by him-he just got sent to jail.
As to my opinions:
Well, it seems Pip really did love Estella, though I was correct in saying that she did not love him. Also, Miss Havisham truly does seem "eccentric." To quote her, "I'll tell you what real love is. It is blind devotion,unquestioning self-humiliation, utter submission, trust and belief against yourself and against the whole world, giving up your whole heart to the smiter - as I did!" and "If she favors you love her. If she wounds you love her. If she tears your heart to pieces, love her, love her, love her!" Not the musings of a sane woman I'd say.
I also can't help but be disappointed in Pip for having worked himself into so much debt that shop owners have actually threatened legal action, and even worse, getting Herbert in a similar position, even though he won't be able to pay it off near as easily (in his favor though, he has been covertly paying Herbert's). He's like America! http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
But I have to wonder; just how much was the pound worth in those days comapared to today's dollar? Today, there's no way someone could be considered well-off with an income of 500 pounds
When we last left off, Pip had just been told he had come into "Great Expectations" and would eventually receive a large sum of money. He then left for London.
Once in London, he met his cartaker Mr. Jaggers, a feared lawyer, and Wemmick, who works under Mr. Jaggers.
After making friends with a boy named Herbert (whom he knocked out in a fight going home from Miss Havisham's earlier in the book and is looking for an openingto make a living when he's older) and enemies with a boy named Bentley Drummle, he is told he will receive 500 pounds a year (a seemingly huge amount of money in those days) until his benefactor (whom he still believed was Miss Havisham) chooses to reveal him or herself to Pip.
In the following chapters, he mostly just works up a debt, and convinces Herbert (who does not have similar great expectations) to also work up a debt. He then reflects on how he would have been happier had he not come into such great expectations.
Skipping several unimportant chapters, he is now 23, when his benefactor is revealed. In the dead of night, he hears footsteps leading up to his room. The man who enters is........Magwitch; the convict Pip once fed out of his family's cupboards. He has been exiled (I think; on any case it's death for him if he's caught in London) for his crimes (conterfeit money, escaping prison, etc.), so Pip must hide him.
Unfortunately for Pip (from his point of view), this means Miss Havisham had no part in his fortune, and has no intentions of marrying him to Estella, who, after Pip breaks into tears after going to her and being told she will marry Bentley Drummle, is revealed to have few feelings left at all, not for Miss Havisham (her adoptive mother) and especially not for Pip. Pip then blesses her, and tells her not to marry Drummle but rather one of her countless other suitors, perhaps even one that loves her as much as he.
Miss Havisham is touched by Pip's true feelings (and Estella's complete lack of feelings) and is currently confessing something to Pip (which I have not read yet).
Meanwhile, Pip begins to suspect Mr. Jagger's servant (who had been accused of killing a woman in competition with her for a man and her own small daughter by that man, many years ago) of being Estella's mother, and after going back to London after his visit to Estella, receives an foreboding note saying, " DON'T GO HOME."
As it turns out, Pip, Herbert, and Magwitch have been watched by a second convict who was in the marsh all those years ago, and who was the mastermind in the crimes that got Magwitch a death penalty but got off easy due to his more gentlemanly demeanor.
They move Magwitch to an rented room near Herbert's girlfriend's house, and begin preparations for going to New South Wales (I think; that was where Magwitch was coming from, so it could also be the British prison site). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_wales
Oh, oh, and it turns out that the second convict was Miss Havisham's former lover, so she wasn't really rejected by him-he just got sent to jail.
As to my opinions:
Well, it seems Pip really did love Estella, though I was correct in saying that she did not love him. Also, Miss Havisham truly does seem "eccentric." To quote her, "I'll tell you what real love is. It is blind devotion,unquestioning self-humiliation, utter submission, trust and belief against yourself and against the whole world, giving up your whole heart to the smiter - as I did!" and "If she favors you love her. If she wounds you love her. If she tears your heart to pieces, love her, love her, love her!" Not the musings of a sane woman I'd say.
I also can't help but be disappointed in Pip for having worked himself into so much debt that shop owners have actually threatened legal action, and even worse, getting Herbert in a similar position, even though he won't be able to pay it off near as easily (in his favor though, he has been covertly paying Herbert's). He's like America! http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
But I have to wonder; just how much was the pound worth in those days comapared to today's dollar? Today, there's no way someone could be considered well-off with an income of 500 pounds
Friday, April 9, 2010
Rising Mystery
Now, to sum 100-odd pages and my opinions in a paragraph or so. Let's see...
In the beginning of the book, Pip (the main char.) was threatened into giving an escaped convict living in a marsh food and a file (to break off what I think is a ball and chain strapped to his leg). These he had to steal from his "family" (his mother, father, and most of his sibling are dead; he lives with his abusive sister and her kind, blacksmith husband, Joe).
Later, he is "invited" (read as "forced") to play at a rich old woman's house (her name being Miss Havisham). In the house time seems to have stopped for the woman, my assumption being when her husband-to-be died/skipped-out on the wedding, to the extent that she only has one shoe on, her dress is yellowing along with her, the clocks have all stopped at 8:40, and the bride's cake is still on its table (rotting). He falls in love with her also abusive, younger relation, Estella, who seems to wish to break his heart (which is plainly obvious, as Miss Havisham audibly eggs her on; part of an ignorance to his surroundings that only increased as the book goes on).
Meanwhile, he meets, while in a bar with Joe, a man that has the file he gave to the convict (which seems to be becoming more important).
After his sister is nearly killed in their home (leaving her unable to speak and with memory loss) Pip supects the mysterious man with the file of having done it.
Shortly afterward he is sent to London by an anonymous "benefactor" (which he suspects is Miss Havisham) to be raised as a gentleman; Pip having wished for months after talking with Miss Havisham to be raised above his coarse neighborhood.
On to my opinions:
Pip seems remarkably ignorant to me. What made him so wish to become a "learned gentleman" when all he has seen of the way of life is a dilapidated old house, and a -let's say eccentric- old woman. Is he really that charmed by the horrible Estella, who, as he has overheard Miss Havisham speaking of, only wishes to break his heart and takes pleasure in his misery? Pip has even realized this, yet continues to wish to please her (an impossible task). He has even began to hold himself aloof of Joe, who was his only friend for much of his life. This brings up another question.
Just how old is Pip? He's old enough to have been apprenticed to Joe,and after a quick chenk of Wikipedia, this seems to put him at around 14; far from my guess of 10 or so, based on his ready belief of Miss Havisham, and sense of dread he felt that his seemingly small theft would be discovered.
(Alright, that was more than a paragraph...)
In the beginning of the book, Pip (the main char.) was threatened into giving an escaped convict living in a marsh food and a file (to break off what I think is a ball and chain strapped to his leg). These he had to steal from his "family" (his mother, father, and most of his sibling are dead; he lives with his abusive sister and her kind, blacksmith husband, Joe).
Later, he is "invited" (read as "forced") to play at a rich old woman's house (her name being Miss Havisham). In the house time seems to have stopped for the woman, my assumption being when her husband-to-be died/skipped-out on the wedding, to the extent that she only has one shoe on, her dress is yellowing along with her, the clocks have all stopped at 8:40, and the bride's cake is still on its table (rotting). He falls in love with her also abusive, younger relation, Estella, who seems to wish to break his heart (which is plainly obvious, as Miss Havisham audibly eggs her on; part of an ignorance to his surroundings that only increased as the book goes on).
Meanwhile, he meets, while in a bar with Joe, a man that has the file he gave to the convict (which seems to be becoming more important).
After his sister is nearly killed in their home (leaving her unable to speak and with memory loss) Pip supects the mysterious man with the file of having done it.
Shortly afterward he is sent to London by an anonymous "benefactor" (which he suspects is Miss Havisham) to be raised as a gentleman; Pip having wished for months after talking with Miss Havisham to be raised above his coarse neighborhood.
On to my opinions:
Pip seems remarkably ignorant to me. What made him so wish to become a "learned gentleman" when all he has seen of the way of life is a dilapidated old house, and a -let's say eccentric- old woman. Is he really that charmed by the horrible Estella, who, as he has overheard Miss Havisham speaking of, only wishes to break his heart and takes pleasure in his misery? Pip has even realized this, yet continues to wish to please her (an impossible task). He has even began to hold himself aloof of Joe, who was his only friend for much of his life. This brings up another question.
Just how old is Pip? He's old enough to have been apprenticed to Joe,and after a quick chenk of Wikipedia, this seems to put him at around 14; far from my guess of 10 or so, based on his ready belief of Miss Havisham, and sense of dread he felt that his seemingly small theft would be discovered.
(Alright, that was more than a paragraph...)
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Chosen
Great Expectations it is (first). As I mentioned earlier, it has been reccommended to me before (by my mom) and it seems fairly interesting. Plus, it's the largest of the three, I believe (don't ask me why that matters; it just does).
The challenge of this book for me is its genre. Realistic Fiction tends not to interest me the way a good fantasy does, so I'm likely to have to power through it. That may not be the greatest sentiment to have going into a book, but 'twalas (ach, I just used that in a sentence, and I likely spelled it wrong).
Off topic:
Gee, my blog's name isn't very creative compared to everyone elses', eh?
The challenge of this book for me is its genre. Realistic Fiction tends not to interest me the way a good fantasy does, so I'm likely to have to power through it. That may not be the greatest sentiment to have going into a book, but 'twalas (ach, I just used that in a sentence, and I likely spelled it wrong).
Off topic:
Gee, my blog's name isn't very creative compared to everyone elses', eh?
Which Book to Pick?
Well, so far I'm thinking about Great Expectations, The Last of the Mohicans, and/or The Lost World; Great Expectations largely because I've had it reccommended to me before, and Mohicans because it just seems kind of interesting. Both of those books have the drawback of being Realistic Fiction, however. The Lost World is a nice fantasy about dinosaurs, though, so it might be a bit better in my opinion.
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