Blog
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Twice-Told Tales
It is puzzling to me why Twice-Told Tales is passed over for The Scarlet Letter as required/recommended reading in U.S. schools. I cannot yet compare the contents of the two, having avoided Scarlet Letter this far, but in the context of his other writings such as Blithedale or Seven Gables, Twice-Told Tales strikes me as… Continue reading
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Nightmarish Utopia
I believe Sir Thomas More meant well when he penned Utopia (1516), but it is quite possibly the worst book I have ever read. Given the standard of living for the majority of human beings in the early 16th century, More’s dream of a perfect nation must have sounded as idyllic as it gets. Yet… Continue reading
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South: Antarctica, Endurance, and WWI
Sir Ernest Shackleton‘s South was my spontaneous “heavy reading” for this spring/summer. At times, my reaction was “What did I myself get into?” It is a long first-person narrative, stylistically tedious, and inherently repetitive–but absolutely worth the commitment. {Note: Be sure to look through photographer Frank Hurley’s book South with Endurance while you read South. … Continue reading
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The Idiot
Russia, mid-1800s. When Prince Myshkin returns to his native country, he is young, naive, and not fully recovered from the physical and mental illnesses that had sent him to Switzerland. A sudden inheritance plunges him headfirst into the Russian aristocracy, and he is unprepared for its gritty reality. Torn between the woman he loves and… Continue reading
About Me
Hi, I’m Marian—I talk about classics, history, and other books on this blog, as well as on YouTube.
Currently Reading
Recent Posts
- Wuthering Heights: Childhood (Chapters 1–5)
- The Books I’m Bringing on Holiday
- May (Paper) Flowers
- Emo Classics – Bronte, Woolf, and Kierkegaard
- What I’m Reading – It’s Almost March Edition
