Classics Considered

by Marian H

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  • Weekend Quote: Futility

    “And if he finally burst through the outermost door—but that can never, never happen—the royal capital city, the centre of the world, is still there in front of him, piled high and full of sediment.” – Kafka, ‘An Imperial Message’ This is part of a much longer paragraph about futility.  What I love about this… Continue reading

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  • The Ladies’ Paradise

    The Ladies’ Paradise, one of my required books for history class, was my introduction to the author Émile Zola and his twenty-volume Rougon-Macquart series.  Apparently, this series may be read out-of-order, and indeed, The Ladies’ Paradise works well as a standalone novel.  It is the eleventh installment and (according to Wiki) takes place in the… Continue reading

  • Monstrous Societies

    © Brocken Inaglory I haven’t purposely adhered to the current “dystopian novel” trend, yet my three latest reads have all held striking elements of it. First is the famous Utopia, a complete contradiction to its name.  This was a really bad book, to put it simply.  The fictitious island of Utopia is a society of… Continue reading

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  • Character Thursday: Octave Mouret

    I am three chapters into The Ladies’ Paradise, by Émile Zola, and so far I love it.  Set in late-1800s Paris, it is about a clothing shop called the “Ladies’ Paradise”, which threatens to destroy all the other shops in the neighborhood with its business innovations, cheap prices, and unheard-of variety.  The shop is currently… Continue reading

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About Me

Hi, I’m Marian—I talk about classics, history, and other books on this blog, as well as on YouTube.

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