Tell your classmates about the fantastic (or perhaps not-so-fantastic) classic novel you read for first quarter. Share some tidbits about the plot, characters, writing style, what you liked and didn't, and more!
18 Comments
Tyler
10/20/2014 05:39:22 am
For quarter one I am reading "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde and man is it an interesting book. It is about this devilishly good looking man who, get this, doesn't age! It follows all of his actions, adventures, and the consequences of these things. It is a very well written book, a little boring at times, but I would definitely recommend it.
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Cassie Quinn
10/20/2014 01:14:29 pm
I also read "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and it is by far my new favorite book! When researching Oscar Wilde for my quarter one report, I was surprised to learn just how much of his past was put into this book. Right after college he lived with a painter, much like Basil in the book. Then, later on in life he was charged with being homosexual and sent to jail for two years! I was actually going to look into this based on the descriptions of some male characters in the book; Basil seemed to be more in love with Dorian than simply friends. There are plenty of references to women's inferiority, and the wise evil influence of Lord Henry offers constant advice to never settle down. Women are shown as stupid in a way, and useless. It was humorous to read about the similarities to his life, and I made all sorts of new connections to the story.
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Tyler
10/21/2014 01:13:21 am
Hmm very interesting! That actually answers a few of my questions that I had about the book. Like Henry and Basil's love for Dorian, I always wondered if it was maybe a bit more then a friendly love... but reading what you had to say about Wilde really brings things into perspective and opens new ways to interpret the book! Also with Lord Henry and his wife Victoria, what are your thoughts on them? I think they are very shy around each other, or at least Victoria is shy around Henry. What were your thoughts about those two?
Hank Larson
10/22/2014 10:52:18 am
I agree with Tyler on how the life of Oscar Wilde puts a lot of things that happened throughout into perspective. I can really see how Wilde put aspects of his own life into the book like Cassie said. Wilde really conveys the idea of women inferiority through the characters of the book. To answer your question Tyler, I belief the Lord Harry is very willing to speak his mind to other men and at dinners but it seems like at home, with his wife, he would be much more reserved and respect her. With the way he talks about marriage he can't have a very strong marriage with his wife. To me it seems like they would spend much time together, especially the way Harry is always wanting to go out to dinners and plays. I also believe that Basil had deeper feelings for Dorian than just good friends.
Cole
10/27/2014 01:09:35 am
I agree with all of you. I think it was definitely an interesting book but I found it very boring at times. I felt like I was reading it but nothing important was happening. Thanks Cassie for throwing in some of that information! It helps put this book into perspective. It's very interesting that he incorporates pieces of his life into the story. Much like everyone else, I too thought Basil had more feelings than admiration for Dorian.
Hank Larson
10/31/2014 12:22:09 am
I didn't think there was ever really any boring parts in this book. There was one chapter that I skimmed over because it only talked of Dorian's obsessions with materialistic object like jewels and art. There may have been other parts in the story that seemed a bit dull at time but when I read into them, they seemed to be much more important to the whole story. It came into affect later in the story. So there may have been dull moments but they had a major effect on the plot and story as a whole.
Alison Von Haden
10/20/2014 07:57:26 am
The book that I choose for quarter I is "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte. This book is about a girl named Jane who lives with her uncle because both her parents died. After her uncle dies, her aunt sends her to live at a boarding school for orphan children. After eight years here, she receives a governess job at Thornsfield were she later falls in love with her master. I do not want to give away the ending. I really enjoyed this book. Some chapters were long and boring but it was a good book overall. I highly would recommend it to any girl that likes love stories.
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Faith Anderson
10/20/2014 11:03:58 am
For 1st Quarter, I read "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy. There are two intertwining story plots in the novel. One involves Anna Karenina, a high society woman in late-1800s Russia. She is in a decent marriage to a older government official, but she leaves him to be with a cavalry officer. A conflict that arises is that Anna is no longer publicly accepted in society, while her lover, Count Vronsky, still is. The second story line centers around Konstantin Levin. Levin is a upper class gentleman who runs his own farm on his family estate. He is considered a little odd since he does some of the manual labor alongside the peasants. Levin struggles for awhile with self-identity, especially after marrying Kitty Scherbatsky. He tries to find balance between his old life and new life.
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elizabeth
10/20/2014 11:57:42 am
For the quarter I read "The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton. The copy I have has this awesome picture of an 1800s woman in fancy dress shooting a bow and arrow, so I thought hey, this looks like it should be good, right? Not so much. Note to self: never judge a book by its cover, or the description on the back because they can be misleading. It was sooooo boring. Nothing happened. It's basically about New York society, and these interconnected well to-do families. The only conflict is the love interest between two married characters. The descriptions of the novel played that conflict up a lot- however it seemed to me to be just another example of an occurrence in their society. It was boring, predictable, and ordinary and not an enjoyable read.
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Remington Schneider
10/20/2014 12:29:48 pm
I chose to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain for my 1st Quarter book. It is about a young man's adventure down the Mississippi after escaping from his crazy father. He encounters a runaway slave and continues his journey with him and the story is about all their adventures on the way south. This book has a lot of regionalism in it; the dialect of the people changes based on where Huckleberry is. Overall I have really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to others.
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Mitchell Johnson
10/21/2014 01:10:15 am
I also read this book, and something I found interesting was the way Mark Twain wrote the book. He writes it in the view point of this somewhat illiterate and delinquent young boy so the text is easy to read, but also kind of crude much like Huck himself. The writing style of Mark Twain really brought you into the story by showing you just how the main character would tell it.
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Remington Schneider
10/21/2014 04:17:51 am
I agree with how you said it brought you into the book because the way Huck is presented as a teenager like us (maybe a little younger than us but we are still able to relate to him). Although Huck was portrayed as slightly illiterate it was nothing compared to Jim, the runaway slave. The disparity between a low-educated young man compared to what Huck considered a smart African American was a great one.
Mitchell Johnson
10/24/2014 01:48:39 am
Another interesting thing about this book was the way each character was so different, in ways of intellectual level and speech. Take Jim for example who is very superstitious, not very smart and has a heavy African American/southern accent, which was a huge contrast to characters like Aunt Polly who are practical old women who have more of an Old English way of speaking. Differences like this help the reader to interact with the characters on a higher level, and makes for a more interesting story.
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Jared Fogarty
10/22/2014 12:07:27 pm
I also read "The Picture of Dorian Gray" for my quarter one book. Although it was a shorter novel, almost too brief for my liking, it did have a very detailed plot. The story starts off when the young, hansom Dorian Gray is introduced by his friend Basil to a new gentleman, Lord Henry Wotton. Upon meeting Lord Henry, Dorian is instantly drawn in to him and is influenced greatly by his words and ideas. Lord Henry brings up new philosophy that Dorian struggles with throughout the novel. Although Dorian Gray realizes right away that Lord Henry is an awful influence, he soon becomes corrupted and becomes the monster that he wanted to avoid.
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Natalie Carlberg
10/23/2014 07:39:29 am
I read "The Turn of the Screw" for my first quarter book by Henry James. I really enjoyed this book and it was a quick read because it is a short book, but it is also very intriguing. James has a unique writing style for "The Turn of the Screw" so the readers want to keep reading because the chapters end very abruptly. The book also has a lot of surprises throughout it too so it is really fascinating. It is about a governess who is sent to a country house to take care of two orphans and there is a lot of evil throughout the house which contributes to a lot of the things that happen throughout the book. I would definitely recommend the book to anybody because I think that anybody would like it!
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Tyler Ellefson
10/27/2014 01:28:08 am
My quarter one book is Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. The novel is about a sailor named Gulliver who ends up in different parts of the world where people are, well, not the same size as him. The book is actually quite humorous and although, it was written in 1726, is fairly entertaining and not a dull read. Jonathan Swift also wrote "A Modest Proposal" which we read in English 10 (yeah, the one about eating babies). His satire is also apparent in Gulliver's Travels making it a pretty fun read. Did anyone else actually kinda enjoy their book?
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Pearl Davis
10/27/2014 12:23:16 pm
This quarter I read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. The book is about a boy named-- you guessed it-- Huckleberry Finn and his adventures. The story takes place directly after the events of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer during the 1800s in the south. After rejecting a civilized lifestyle, Huck escapes his home and travels down the Mississippi with a runaway slave named Jim. Throughout his journey, a variety of interesting events happen to him.
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Sara King
10/28/2014 01:03:50 am
For my quarter one book, I read "The Picture Of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde. This intriguing book is about a man whose age is portrayed in a painting rather than on himself. Although this book is not very action filled, it kept my interest throughout the entire book. Its mysteriousness and diction is very engaging. After doing some research, I found that a lot like "Great Expectations," this book was first published as a serial story in a magazine in July 1890. Later on in 1890, he actually got publication of a novel, "The Picture Of Dorian Gray." I found this very interesting. I wonder if other books in the 1800's were written first as articles in a magazine or newspaper as well.
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