2018 50 Book Challenge

[clockwise]



It's interesting how divisive Hemingway is, I absolutely loved Fiesta (the sun also rises), definitely one of his best books in my opinion.

Same here. The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms and the short stories are all masterpieces. Some of my all time favourites. More questionable are For Whom The Bell Tolls, Old Man and the Sea, To Have and Have Not etc.

 

[Steve B.]



Same here. The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms and the short stories are all masterpieces. Some of my all time favourites. More questionable are For Whom The Bell Tolls, Old Man and the Sea, To Have and Have Not etc.

Liked.

Haven't read the others, but will read a Farewell to Arms as it's one of the 1001.

 

[LonerMatt]

Dug OMATS

Didn't really get into A Farewell to Arms.

Haven't read any others. I think I tried to read For Whom the Bell Tolls once, though?

 

[California Dreamer]



Dug OMATS

Had that shoved down my throat at school. Maybe that's why I hated it.

 

[clockwise]

School put me off a lot of good literature too. Luckily never was force-fed Hemingway so could discover him on my own.

Farewell to Arms requires slower reading in my view. And the Sun Also Rises is in many ways more immediate and easier to understand. I found For Whom the Bell Tolls brilliant in parts but weak as a whole and overlong. I have basically read everything Hemingway ever wrote. I was a big fan when I was young.

 

[javyn]



School put me off a lot of good literature too. Luckily never was force-fed Hemingway so could discover him on my own.

Same here...I think. Not sure if school ruined Dickens for me, or if Dickens ruined Dickens because he sucked.

 

[Steve B.]



School put me off a lot of good literature too. Luckily never was force-fed Hemingway so could discover him on my own.

Farewell to Arms requires slower reading in my view. And the Sun Also Rises is in many ways more immediate and easier to understand. I found For Whom the Bell Tolls brilliant in parts but weak as a whole and overlong. I have basically read everything Hemingway ever wrote. I was a big fan when I was young.

I liked For Whom the Bell Tolls and the Old Man and the Sea.

IMO The Sun also Rises is vacuous in comparison.

 

[Steve B.]

Not all Dickens sucks. The two I've read so far A Christmas Carol and A Tale of Two Cities were pretty good. I've avoided the others so far because they are long. The only long I like is my trunk.

 

[California Dreamer]



Same here...I think. Not sure if school ruined Dickens for me, or if Dickens ruined Dickens because he sucked.

I've read all of his novels. Some definitely sucked (e.g. Oliver Twist, Curiosity Shop, Dombey and Son, Barnaby Rudge) but I was pleasantly surprised by a few of the lesser-known ones such as Little Dorrit and Our Mutual Friend. I don't count Edwin Drood.

A key thing to remember is that Dickens published as a magazine serial, so his construction differed from our expectations of a novel. It's sometimes worth following that approach - putting the book down at the end of an instalment and picking it up after a break of a few days.

 

[LonerMatt]

I really like Oliver Twist.

Couldn't stand Tale of Two Cities, though. David Copperfield ******** off too!

 

[California Dreamer]



I really like Oliver Twist.

Couldn't stand Tale of Two Cities, though. David Copperfield ******** off too!

I'm your mirror image there Matt.

I hated Oliver Twist because:

1. The overt racism in the description of Fagin was totally off-putting, even after making allowances for the times
2. The second half of the book dealing with the pursuit of Fagin was extremely tedious

And how can you knock a book with a line like "it's a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done before, and a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known". Gold.

 

[javyn]



I've read all of his novels. Some definitely sucked (e.g. Oliver Twist, Curiosity Shop, Dombey and Son, Barnaby Rudge) but I was pleasantly surprised by a few of the lesser-known ones such as Little Dorrit and Our Mutual Friend. I don't count Edwin Drood.

A key thing to remember is that Dickens published as a magazine serial, so his construction differed from our expectations of a novel. It's sometimes worth following that approach - putting the book down at the end of an instalment and picking it up after a break of a few days.

My Expectations of Dickens are no longer that Great.

 

[Steve B.]

67. The 13 Clocks 1957 James Thurber

I probably wouldn't have read this if it wasn't on [COLOR=FF00AA]THE LIST[/COLOR].

It was whimsical, humorous, and great if you're in 5th grade.

 

[LonerMatt]

I'm your mirror image there Matt.

I hated Oliver Twist because:

1. The overt racism in the description of Fagin was totally off-putting, even after making allowances for the times
2. The second half of the book dealing with the pursuit of Fagin was extremely tedious

And how can you knock a book with a line like "it's a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done before, and a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known". Gold.

Probably because I couldn't past the first 10 pages without dying.

I'm pretty resilient, but TOTC tests me.

 

[Steve B.]

68. Platero and I 1957 Juan Ramon Jimenez

I also wouldn't have read this if it hadn't been on [COLOR=FF00AA][COLOR=FF00AA]THE LIST.[/COLOR][/COLOR]

It's about a guy who talks to a donkey in Spain. I'm not sure if the donkey exists, or if he's like Jimmy Stewart's Harvey.

But the book was poignant and insightful.

A good read, but I'd say at the 7th- 9th grade level.