Bella44 said:

LOL!!!  Drat Philippa Gregory – she has a weird way of worming into conversations that don't even concern her   

It's funny what you said Anyanka, about how some books you hate the first time you read them but read them later and think are pretty good!  'Jane Eyre' has been a favourite of mine since the first time I read it, so excited that there's going to be a new movie of it!

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Just heard a review this morning of Jane Eyre and I may have to check it out when I have time (and it opens in my town — it's in limited release right now).

Ms. Gregory never wants us to forget her — no matter how hard we try!!!

MegC said:

I have read Jane Eyre a few times, but I can't get in to Wuthering Heights.  I feel the same about WH as I do about Frankenstein:  It took a VERY long time for me to get into the language of Frankenstein, but I love the book.  But everytime I have to read it (or any book written in that era for that matter) I'm taken back to reading Darwin's Origin of Species–again, loved the content, but hated the stilted language.  Painful.  

I HATE HATE HATE To Kill a Mockingbird.  We had to read it in Freshman English when I was 15 and my English teacher just went on and on and on about that stupid book.  Trust me, by the time she was done with it, the mockingbird was dead.  I can't bring myself to read it again.  

I agree with you about To Kill to a Mockingbird. I read it in Grade 11 and hated it. My teacher also subjected the class to the film. I cannot understand why it's a classic novel. A classic bore morelike it.

I own Jane Eyre, but have not read it yet. I just got Wuthering Heights from the library and hope to beging reading it soon.

Frankenstein reamins one of my favourite novels of all time.

DuchessofBrittany said:

MegC said:

I have read Jane Eyre a few times, but I can't get in to Wuthering Heights.  I feel the same about WH as I do about Frankenstein:  It took a VERY long time for me to get into the language of Frankenstein, but I love the book.  But everytime I have to read it (or any book written in that era for that matter) I'm taken back to reading Darwin's Origin of Species–again, loved the content, but hated the stilted language.  Painful.  

I HATE HATE HATE To Kill a Mockingbird.  We had to read it in Freshman English when I was 15 and my English teacher just went on and on and on about that stupid book.  Trust me, by the time she was done with it, the mockingbird was dead.  I can't bring myself to read it again.  

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I agree with you about To Kill to a Mockingbird. I read it in Grade 11 and hated it. My teacher also subjected the class to the film. I cannot understand why it's a classic novel. A classic bore morelike it.
I own Jane Eyre, but have not read it yet. I just got Wuthering Heights from the library and hope to beging reading it soon.

Frankenstein reamins one of my favourite novels of all time.

I didn't likeTo Kill a Mockingbird, either.  What is the attraction that teachers have with that book?  I haven't read it since high school either.  The thing I most remember about it was the heat. I was sweating just reading it. ewww!

I loved Wuthering Heights, and Jane Eyre.  Although I agree with Tina the 1939 movie was the best. I haven't seen it in years.   I used to watch it when I needed a good cry.  I'd cry for like a half hour after it ended.  Then I was good to go.

Frankenstein, is another one of my favorites.

Has anyone read Black Like Me, by John Howard Griffin.  I read this in high scool, and the story has always stayed with me.  It is a true story of a white journalist who goes through a proceedure which changes his skin tone.  He then travels as a black man through the racially segregated south.  The year is 1959.  

Sharon said:

Has anyone read Black Like Me, by John Howard Griffin.  I read this in high scool, and the story has always stayed with me.  It is a true story of a white journalist who goes through a proceedure which changes his skin tone.  He then travels as a black man through the racially segregated south.  The year is 1959.  

I have several years ago.

Having had no experience of that kind of prejudice, I was shocked at just how people were treated based on the colour of their skin.

MegC said:

I **think** (and I'm guessing here because, honestly, I zoned out of TKAM about 1/4 of the way through it) the point of making us read TKAM was to get an idea of the prejudice that was occurring in the South in the 50's/60's.  I had a really hard time with that class in general, though.  I didn't like ANY of the books we read and I LOVE to read.  And my teacher kept going on and on about how the author (Harper Lee) was friends with Truman Capote when they were kids.  Honestly, even honors level high school freshman don't care about stuff like that (I still don't care that Harper Lee was friends with Truman Capote).

Seems to me, though, that Black Like Me would have been a better way of approaching that subject.  I'm guessing, though, that the school board wouldn't approve it or some such nonsense (I couldn't even get Darwin's Origin of Species approved…).

I've been chuckling about the reactions to TKAM because it's so refreshing to have people admit that they don't like many of the books some of our teachers insist are “classics” (for whatever reason something becomes classic).

I remember my mother telling me of some of the books she had to complete in junior high and high school, among them the works of Faulkner. As she used to say, she may have HAD to read them, but she didn't have to like them! LOL (I read the plotline to Absalom My Absalom online and while I understand that the author was tackling the evils of slavery and aristocratic Southern families hiding incest, fathering children by black women, etc., it all seemed a bit preposterous and over the top to my mom and me — and our family is multi-racial! Thankfully I only had to read the synopsis online; she actually HAD to read it in school).  

I think that two of the books I was glad I did get to read in school  — because they left a lasting impression on me — were: 1) Mark Twain's Puddin' Head Wilson, which my fifth grade teacher decided to have us read instead of the formally assigned The Prince and the Pauper. (I had seen the Disney version of TP&TP on TV as well as the Errol Flynn version, and even as a kid, I had trouble relating to it. Even after finding out that the Prince was poor Edward VI didn't make me any more interested). I still think Puddin' Head Wilson is a great look at the pre-American Civil War South and how even the slightest drop of Negro blood, even if someone looked Caucasian, still made them a slave. (It's also a pretty good detective story too). 2) My 8th grade teacher decided to pass on Great Expectations and have us read A Tale of Two Cities instead — and I was glad she did. I've seen the movie versions of GE and with a couple of exceptions, I didn't care much for the selfish (and occasionally psychotic and sociopathic) characters. AToTC though — I actually scribbled a short story in which the Scarlet Pimpernel rescues Sydney Carton before he is executed! LOL OMG did I love Sydney (and watching Ronald Colman play him didn't help — I bawled for hours when I saw it brought to life). And for me, there was nothing like Miss Pross kicking the butt of Madame Defarge!!

MegC said:

@Tina:  Another book we had to read in that same English class was Great Expectations.  Now that I think about it, there were absolutely zero redeeming qualities about this class.  

Some classes you just survive.

The following year, though, I read Hamlet (which I dearly love–still my favorite of all the Shakespearian plays I've ever read), The Odyssey, and a couple of years later I read Crime and Punishment and Dante's Inferno.

Unfortunately, that class soured me on Dickens for a LONG time.  It wasn't until recently that I started appreciating him again.

@MegC — I can understand about a class souring you on something. I was remembering my third grade teacher the other day; thanks to her I learned to hate Spanish and math. Thank God she didn't also destroy my love of history!!

I adore Hamlet. I think that after Romeo and Juliet it was my late mother's favorite Shakesperian play, but she was the one who introduced me to Shakespeare at a young age. I read The Odyssey in high school and loved it. When I was in junior high/middle school and we were studying the American Civil War, I decided to tackle Uncle Tom's Cabin which I doubt is read much now but was so incredibly influential and helped to convince so many of how evil slavery was. Abraham Lincoln — on meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe — supposedly told her, “So you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war!” (People have forgotten that Uncle Tom is actually a powerful character and the first American black literary hero, not the “yessum” character most regrettably think of now). It definitely left a mark with me.

A few years ago, I decided to read Russian literature for the first time and read both Anna Karenina and The Brothers Karamazov back to back. The latter left me so floored I've decided that every few years I'll reread it to hopefully gain more insight! (I started War and Peace a few months back, but put it aside to take a break; I'll get back to it though). 

Isn't it sad how a teacher or class can ruin something for you?

I have to say, I agree with you ladies about surviving some high school classes. The horror. I still have nightmares! I've always loved to read, but in high school, I did not particularly care about the meanings or symbolisms behind some writings. It was at university, when I took some literature classes, that I really appreciated the art of writing and was mature enough to read beyond the written words.

Has anyone here read Daphne de Maurier's Rebecca. One of the best novels, and one of my personal favourite. I try to read it every couple of years.

Another great book is All Quiet on the Western Front. Fantastic novel. The film with the great Ernest Borgnine is worth watching.

However, my fav. novel of all time remains Anya Seton's Katherine. The romantic in me cries everytime I read this love story. The classic line: Duke of Lancaster to Katherine (I'm paraphrasing here) “See what it's like to be loved by the Duke of Lancaster.” Takes my breath away and I sigh! I always imagine Gerard Butler as the Duke…. never mind…

Anyway, back to reality… I am in the middle of reading Sir Thomas More's Utopia.

Yesterday I finished Susan Nagel's book about Marie Antoinette's daughter.

DuchessofBrittany said:

I have to say, I agree with you ladies about surviving some high school classes. The horror. I still have nightmares! I've always loved to read, but in high school, I did not particularly care about the meanings or symbolisms behind some writings. It was at university, when I took some literature classes, that I really appreciated the art of writing and was mature enough to read beyond the written words.

Has anyone here read Daphne de Maurier's Rebecca. One of the best novels, and one of my personal favourite. I try to read it every couple of years.

Another great book is All Quiet on the Western Front. Fantastic novel. The film with the great Ernest Borgnine is worth watching.

However, my fav. novel of all time remains Anya Seton's Katherine. The romantic in me cries everytime I read this love story. The classic line: Duke of Lancaster to Katherine (I'm paraphrasing here) “See what it's like to be loved by the Duke of Lancaster.” Takes my breath away and I sigh! I always imagine Gerard Butler as the Duke…. never mind…

Anyway, back to reality… I am in the middle of reading Sir Thomas More's Utopia.

Yesterday I finished Susan Nagel's book about Marie Antoinette's daughter.

Okay, you've sold me on Seton's Katherine. I've been meaning to read it anyway, but just you mentioning that you imagine Gerard Butler as the Duke of Lancaster…Never mind ROFL

I read Rebecca when I was about 15 and then saw the movie not long afterwards. Loved, loved, LOVED IT! Both of them. (And Dame Judith Anderson's Mrs. Danvers strikes more fear in me than Darth Vader and that's saying something LOL).

Let us know your thoughts on Utopia when you're done. I think you may be the first person I've ever “talked” to that had read it or was reading it!

TinaII2None said:

@Sharon — I didn't read Gone with the Wind for school either! I found my mother's copy when I was about 10-years-old — and I was hooked. This was also about two years after my grandmother took me to see the 1968 re-release; it was one of her favorite movies as it was for my mom. I had heard the two of them talk about GWTW since I was old enough to know what a movie was! LOL

While I realize it is a romanticized version of the Old South, I don't watch it for history as much as I do for the characters! (And I normally get raised eyebrows when I admit that I love the book and the movie — I guess I'm supposed to hate both of them because I have an African American heritage, but I've never been that way. If I like something I like it — or love it. It was the same with English history and the Tudors).

I'm with you though — I wanted to be Melanie Wilkes too 😀 And you know, she does have a certain strength to her that we don't always catch at first. Her coming downstairs when she hears the gun being fired, dragging Charles' sword behind her LOL And SHE was the one who suggested going through the Yankee deserter's pockets to look for money. There are things I love about Scarlett too — and things that make me want to slap her silly, but her not giving up in the face of so much adversity, especially when the world is piled on her shoulders in that final scene before the intermission, made me admire her. OMG! I've often felt that way too. You want to run and hide, especially when everyone is depending on YOU for everything. (Who's going to take care of her sick sisters? Who's going to milk the cow? How are they going to feed Miss Melly and the baby? Who's going to pick the cotton when it comes in?) At that point I would have been making a dress out of draperies to get whatever I could have too! LOL But you choke down the carrots (I think one version had turnips), you raise your fist in the air and you decide that nothing is going to hold you down.

I've read in film history that Vivian Leigh and Olivia deHavilland fought to try to keep Scarlett from being a total b****. Original director George Cukor (the “woman's director”) understood but credited director Victor Fleming (“a man's man”) did everything he could to make Scarlett look like one. But there are moments that shine through in the movie version.

My biggest complaint? NEITHER MELANIE OR SCARLETT DESERVED ASHLEY! They were both too good for him. LOL But hey, that's just my opinion.

I like strong three-dimensional female characters, which may be why I'm drawn to such women as Elizabeth and Anne Boleyn. Scarlett — Elizabeth Bennet — tragic Anna Karenina….Hmm…was Anne Boleyn the Scarlett O'Hara of her time? Remember how the women of Atlanta talked about Scarlett. (She goes down to the mill. She even drives her own buggy. Oh we caught Scarlett in Ashley's arms at the mill.) Anne got the same “respect.” (She's a goggle-eyed w****. She destroyed the King's marriage. She's a witch and a concubine. That brat of hers is probably not the King's.)

And I've rambled long enough. I worked last night and haven't been to bed yet because I stayed up to watch Barry Levinson's Avalon for the first time! Now I'm too wound up to sleep! LOL

Yes, I agree, Tina, Melanie had an inner strength and I do admire her.  I loved that even the old biddies listened when she spoke. She  had a peaceful quality about her.  They were both survivors.  I guess, I go with Scarlett because she defied convention. That was the part of Scarlett that I loved.  Ashley…dear Lord…I couldn't stand him.  Not even when I was 15.  Melanie understood him.  Scarlett never tried to understand him.  She made up her mind that she loved him without ever trying to know who he was.  He would never have made her happy. Rhett…Mmmm Rhett!  Well, okay maybe Scarlett blew that one.  Or did she?  After the war when Rhett was trying to be accepted into the 'southern society' by parading his daughter around and asking the old biddies for advice on illnesses and stuff, I kind of got turned off by him.  He had already left Scarlett as far as I was concerned.  He wanted to fit into society, and Scarlett could not have cared less.  In that respect, she was never going to change.  At the end, when absolutely nothing happened between Scarlett and Ashley, Rhett turned on her.  Who needs that?

I loved the book and the movie.  I went to the re-release in '68 with my Mom.  It was one of her favorite movies, too. 

Now that you mention it Scarlett and Anne do have the same type of personality.

Oh I love Hello Kitty!

Thanks for the smile — I needed it!

Anyanka said:

But Darth's such a cutie!

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