Goodness. Can it really be the end of October already?
Since I am leaving on a trip to North Carolina on Wednesday, I thought that I would make this post a few days early.
Did any of you get to read Anne of Green Gables?
Had you read the book before?
What’s your favorite quote?
To you, does Anne of Green Gables seem like a summer-, winter-, autumn-, or spring-book?
Why do you like Anne of Green Gables?
Feel free to share your thoughts. That’s what a book club is for.
Love and blessings to you all!
Since its publication in 1908, Anne of Green Gables has become one of the most-read and best-loved stories in the world. Translated into more than twenty languages and with at least fifty million copies sold worldwide, L.M. Montgomery’s classic novel has made her talkative and impulsive heroine Anne Shirley not only a Canadian icon but an international treasure as well. As inspiring today as it was a hundred years ago, Anne of Green Gables remains a testament to the powers of hope, friendship, and imagination.
via christianbook.com
This is an enduing work and one of my favorite novels. It’s not deep. It’s not long. It’s not hard to understand. It’s simply a beautiful story of a girl growing up. So, now that autumn has arrived, curl up on the couch with a mug of hot tea, snuggle under a cozy blanket, and just enjoy reading Anne of Green Gables.
Hello Lovely Readers!
As it is now the end of March, it is time to discuss ‘The Hobbit’, which, even though this month was taken over somewhat by ‘Jane Eyre’, was still our March book.
I love the Hobbit and you can read my introductory post HERE.
If you were able to read the Hobbit this month (or if you’ve already read it), I would love it if you would partake in the discussion on this post.
Below are three questions to consider (which I did not write), regarding the story and you are welcome to comment on this post with your thoughts. I would love to hear your impressions of this fabulous story. These questions are just to get the wheels in your head turning, and if you have other thoughts or observations to share, feel free!
1. What factors define a person’s identity in The Hobbit? Do individuals
have any power over who they become, or are their characters entirely
determined by static factors such as family and race?
2. Describe Tolkien’s use of humor in The Hobbit. From what authorial
techniques and sources does the book draw much of its wit? How does
Tolkien’s lighthearted tone impact the portrayal of the more serious
elements of the plot? Is The Hobbit primarily a comedy?
3. Talk about the plot. What was more important, the characters or the plot?
Was the plot moved forward by decisions of the characters, or were the
characters at the mercy of the plot?
Happy Reading!
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”
The hobbit-hole in question belongs to one Bilbo Baggins, an upstanding member of a “little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves.” He is, like most of his kind, well off, well fed, and best pleased when sitting by his own fire with a pipe, a glass of good beer, and a meal to look forward to. Certainly this particular hobbit is the last person one would expect to see set off on a hazardous journey; indeed, when Gandalf the Grey stops by one morning, “looking for someone to share in an adventure,” Baggins fervently wishes the wizard elsewhere. No such luck, however; soon 13 fortune-seeking dwarves have arrived on the hobbit’s doorstep in search of a burglar, and before he can even grab his hat or an umbrella, Bilbo Baggins is swept out his door and into a dangerous adventure.
The dwarves’ goal is to return to their ancestral home in the Lonely Mountains and reclaim a stolen fortune from the dragon Smaug. Along the way, they and their reluctant companion meet giant spiders, hostile elves, ravening wolves–and, most perilous of all, a subterranean creature named Gollum from whom Bilbo wins a magical ring in a riddling contest. It is from this life-or-death game in the dark that J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterwork, The Lord of the Rings, would eventually spring. Though The Hobbit is lighter in tone than the trilogy that follows, it has, like Bilbo Baggins himself, unexpected iron at its core. Don’t be fooled by its fairy-tale demeanor; this is very much a story for adults, though older children will enjoy it, too. By the time Bilbo returns to his comfortable hobbit-hole, he is a different person altogether, well primed for the bigger adventures to come–and so is the reader.
From Amazon.com
I. Love. The. Hobbit.
Tolkien’s words are beautiful. His story is breathtaking. If you haven’t read this fabulous story yet, pick it up this month. This sweeping tale will capture you in its magic. I’m so pleased to be reading now, with Literary Ladies!
Also, for the ladies who feel up to the challenge, because the new Jane Eyre movie (starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender) is being released into theaters on March 11th, I will also be holding an event for reading the book, watching the movie, then discussing the differences. I know that we read the book last year, and this is just an extra club activity for those who have the time and are planning to see the movie.
Jane Eyre 2011 on IMDb
Literary Ladies,
How was your reading this month?
This discussion will be more free-form so, feel free to raise questions and comments and discuss with the other members.
My number one question is thus: Do you think that Christine was right in going with Raoul, or do you think that she should have stayed with the Phantom?
Also, would you classify Erik as a true antagonist, or is he just the misunderstood protagonist? Just something to think about…
This is a book to ponder and I would love to hear your thought and questions.
I am so excited about this month, I can hardly contain myself!
The Phantom of the Opera is one of my favorite books of all time! Gaston Leroux perfectly combines little bits of mystery, humor, romance, horror, and adventure to make an absolutely incredible story.
Have fun this month, enjoy the book (I know that you will) and I can hardly wait to discuss it with you at the end of February!
You can purchase it from the LLDS store
I have a strange feeling inside that not too many of us participated in the reading this month. *smiles*
I’m not posting any discussion questions and I would just like to hear the opinion of those who did read the book.
If you’ve read other versions of Robin Hood, how did this one differ?
If so, were the differences favorable or not?
In your opinion, which version of the classic folktale is the best?, etc.
There are many retellings of the legend of Robin Hood, this month, we are reading the one that was written by Paul Creswick and was published in 1903.
Purchase it on Amazon.com (and support LLDS) here:
Robin Hood
Or read it for free from Project Gutenberg here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28700
Happy Reading all!
(LLDS’s one year anniversary is coming up with a great giveaway and more…)
Generally considered the first English sensation novel, The Woman in White features the remarkable heroine Marian Halcombe and her sleuthing partner, drawing master Walter Hartright, pitted against the diabolical team of Count Fosco and Sir Percival Glyde. A gripping tale of murder, intrigue, madness, and mistaken identity, Collins’s psychological thriller has never been out of print in the more than 140 years since its publication.
(From the publisher.)
I know that this was a busy month for many of you, with the holidays and all, but I hope that some of you took the time to read ‘The Woman in White’… it was certainly worth the time and effort!
As much as I would love to talk about the fabulous book all over again, you can read the majority of my thoughts on the book (and the movie version) here: http://www.literaryladies.com/2010/12/my-thoughts-on-the-woman-in-white-book-and-movie/
If you read ‘The Woman in White’ this month, please take a moment to share a quick thought or write several paragraphs. Whatever you have time for and what suits your fancy.
For those that are interested, here are the discussion questions for this book:
1. Laura is presented as an ideal of Victorian womanhood, obedient, respectful of social conventions, and willing to sacrifice her own wishes for others. How does her double, Anne Catherick, illuminate the dark side of that ideal?
2. Why is Marian so mesmerized by Fosco, who she says “has interested me, has attracted me, has forced me to like him”? Why is Fosco able to see Marian, despite her physical unattractiveness, as a “magnificent creature”?
3. One critic has suggested that Marian and Fosco might be considered the true protagonists of The Woman in White. (In many ways they are much closer to Collins’s own bohemian sensibilities than Hartright and Laura.) In what sense might this be true? How would you interpret the story’s conclusion— especially Marian and Fosco’s fate—in this light?
4. The use of multiple narrators was one of Collins’s favorite storytelling techniques. What qualities does each narrator bring to the story? How does each change our view of the characters? Could the story have been told from a single viewpoint, and if so, whose?
(This set of questions issued by Penguin Group USA)
The question or topic that I want to pose to you for discussion is this:
What are your thoughts on how Collins portrays women in ‘The Woman in White’? From Marion to Laura to Anne…
How does Collins paint them?
*No plot spoilers*
I finished reading this month’s book today and it was incredible. It was wonderful. For me, it started out rather slowly, but, towards the middle and end I could hardly bring myself to put it down.
I understood the book well, but, to reinforce the story in my mind, I rented and watched the movie version starring Tara Fitzgerald as Marion and Justine Waddel as Laura. I enjoyed in immensely, but they did change some vital parts of the story. In the book, Hartright describes Marion as being “ugly”, yet, in the movie, Tara Fitzgerald was anything but. The mystery and Sir Percival’s Secret were changed drastically, the book was much “cleaner” -to put it in that sense. The book has a “clean” story and they altered that in the movie by putting in some more risqué references.
As I said before, I watched the movie to help me to grasp a better understanding of the novel. Instead, it succeeded in confusing me thoroughly and I had to go back in the book and read passages over again. To me, the book was 100 times better! There were many differences in the movie that I haven’t mentioned including the fact that, in the book, Marion’s last name in Halcombe and in the movie, it is changed to Fairlie, the same as Laura’s.
 Marion (Tara Fitzgerald) and Laura (Justine Waddel)
 Walter Hartright (Andrew Lincoln) and Marion (Tara Fitzgerald)
I adored the length of the book because it gave me time to become emotionally involved with the characters. I don’t think that Wilkie Collins characterized his characters extremely well, so it took me a long time to connect with them. But, once I did, and had been with them for 600 pages, I was sorry to see the book end. In my opinion, the movie moved along much to quickly for you to feel anything for the characters.
Have any of you finished the book and/or seen the movie?
If so, how would you compare and contrast them?
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