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Summer of Classics
Quick one-sentence recaps of my Summer of Classics books, the less said about which, the better:Crime and Punishment: Since fiction editors are apparently a 20th-century invention, this will most likely be the last 19th-century novel I will ever read.
Native Son: If Richard Wright really wanted to write a sociopolitcal tract, I wish he would have just done so, instead of fabricating a barely plausible fictional narrative around his opinions.
I actually ended Summer of Classics a week or two early, and since then have been greatly enjoying the more modern fare of Joe Meno and Kazuo Ishiguro.
September 7, 2012 in Books | Permalink
Comments
About Native Son, I have to agree. It's a disappointment.
About the 19th c.: no Dickens for you?
Posted by: Michael Leddy at Sep 7, 2012 3:42:56 PM
Have you ever ventured into Moby Dick territory? It's not an easy read, but with the right commentary, it's a good one.
Posted by: Paul Lamb at Sep 8, 2012 6:56:12 AM
I read Great Expectations last year, and found it tedious. And there's no way I'm touching Moby. Reading so many supposed European classics of the 19th century (Dostoevsky, Dickens, Flaubert, Stendhal) during the last few summers makes me appreciate even more what a radical departure from prevailing fiction standards Knut Hamsun's "Hunger" was in 1890.
Posted by: Pete at Sep 9, 2012 11:29:44 AM
