tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7648643754444494257.post1303319867890817172..comments2022-12-17T14:04:32.159+00:00Comments on Vivienne's Pastimes: InsularityViviennehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15102166089045048403noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7648643754444494257.post-56714862047273668972008-12-08T17:16:00.000+00:002008-12-08T17:16:00.000+00:00Sylvia Plath was an A-level set text, T S Eliot ha...Sylvia Plath was an A-level set text, T S Eliot has been a companion ever since. I want to read more Edith Wharton (I've read and loved The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence), and it may well be time to try Henry James again (got on well with The Aspern Papers, Daisy Miller and What Maisie Knew, rather came to grief over The Portrait of a Lady, probably because I was 17 and didn't like ambiguity).<BR/><BR/>I'm making a list. At least classics tend to be readily available in charity shops.Viviennehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15102166089045048403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7648643754444494257.post-6410427811572945252008-12-08T12:24:00.000+00:002008-12-08T12:24:00.000+00:00T.S. Eliot and Sylvia Plath are helpful for paddin...T.S. Eliot and Sylvia Plath are helpful for padding out a list of American writers. Maybe Emily Dickinson too? Could Edith Wharton or Henry James be in there too?mooncalfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01150392487909235200noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7648643754444494257.post-82031137244883779362008-12-08T03:10:00.000+00:002008-12-08T03:10:00.000+00:00I feel that Moby-Dick, Watership Down, and Sherloc...I feel that Moby-Dick, Watership Down, and Sherlock Holmes are worth adding to your reading list. I suggest that you read Moby-Dick like a nine-year-old reading through a volume of the encylopedia, taking whatever comes along in stride.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7648643754444494257.post-86770893086612671692008-12-06T23:57:00.000+00:002008-12-06T23:57:00.000+00:00Moving the story forward from Silas's remarks, how...Moving the story forward from Silas's remarks, how does anyone think it felt as the mother of three children, to have to support them through four goes at Lord of the Flies?<BR/><BR/> At least the third studier had threee previous marked essays to crib from . . .<BR/><BR/>None of them seemed to think much of it, and I am pretty sure it is one of those books they put on the list because they believe the boys will like it - violence, you see.jeanfromcornwallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10062674591619616456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7648643754444494257.post-91000627942897706822008-12-06T23:51:00.000+00:002008-12-06T23:51:00.000+00:00I never studied Lord of the Flies or Animal Farm. ...I never studied Lord of the Flies or Animal Farm. Or 1984, come to that - we did Homage to Catalonia and Killing the Elephant for GCSE, and The Spire for A-level. You're right about the Shakespeare and the WWI poets, though. And I believe Kes was a GCSE constant, though I managed to escape that too. My brother did Ulysses. For GCSE!<BR/><BR/>Incidentally, I never could work out why Ibsen counted as *English* literature (A-level again). <BR/><BR/>LAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7648643754444494257.post-54268833643773738952008-12-06T16:28:00.000+00:002008-12-06T16:28:00.000+00:00I escaped Dickens entirely, attempted to read him ...I escaped Dickens entirely, attempted to read him independently, and was unable to handle the sheer verbosity.<BR/><BR/>Of course, as you know, I was also obliged to analyse Lord of the Flies twice (which is probably why I got such good marks in it at the County School).<BR/><BR/>I shall allow Kendra to tell you what the US equivalents are. However, I'm certain that the Catcher in the Rye is one of them...Silas Humphreyshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10639832677140104872noreply@blogger.com