The Classics Club: The Scarlet Letter

It was with a little apprehension that I started reading The Scarlet Letter by N. Hawthorne. I have to admit that reading about a situation where a woman is judged by people men whose only interest is to suppress any individual right we know now as self-evident, is not my cup of tea.  I know what women and specific social groups had to go through in those days, and I'm glad some of them persevered to allow evolution to take place so that we can now enjoy our "freedoms", but still I'd rather read non-fiction articles that will have no emotion than literature...  Anyway, back to the book:

The Classics Club: Ten Days in a Mad-House

(photo credit)

Ten days in a Mad-House by Nellie Bly, may not be your average work of classic litetrature - it is actually non-fiction.  I include it, however, in the Classics Club, because of the tremendous impact it had on people - just like some of the world-renowned works of literature ...

This has been a revelation to me, in more ways than one: a woman reporter, in Victorian time, decides to commit herself in an asylum in order to reveal the way these institutions worked.  Her courageous work resulted in an official investigation taking place and a USD 1 million funding to be allocated to the improvement of these services.

The Classics Club: Le tour du monde en 80 jours (Around the world in 80 days)

What good memories I have from the original film of "Around the world in 80 days" by Jules Verne... All the colours, the sites, the excitement, the adventure! Both as a teenager and as an adult, I've thoroughly enjoyed the whirlwind travel of Fogg and Passepartout...

For my Classics Club, I wanted to read the book as well, to see how Verne had interpreted all these elements in writing.  Also, because I've read other books of his that tend to be futuristic, I was curious to see how he would tackle a non-futuristic subject...

We enter in the life of Phileas Fogg, an Englishman whose daily routine must not be varied:

The Classics Club: The Lifted Veil

After having read many of the more known works of George Eliot, I felt it was time to read her lesser known ones as well.  For my Classics Club, then, I wanted to read The Lifted Veil, and see how it compared to the other works.

I was surprised, to say the least. This is a story of Latimer, who has the unusual gift (curse?) of foreseeing the future as well as "eavesdropping" on other people's thoughts.  The story borders on science fiction, and it was not how I came to know and regard Eliot's style.

This change is style was what probably took me aback.  I could imagine suspense and a lot of tension in such a tale, especially given the circumstances of Latimer's life.  But what I found instead, were long paragraphs full of adjectives and descriptions - that would be perfect for one of Eliot's usual works - but which took all the interest away from the core story of the Lifted Veil.

The Classics Club: Lady Susan

(some spoilers included)

One of the earlier works by Jane Austen, Lady Susan is a novel that really changed my opinion of its author.  While I would regard Austen as a romantic writer in general (I am more into the misery of the Brontës' style of writing), I found Lady Susan really showcases Austen's sarcastic and sometimes mean description of the noble class. It is a treat for anyone enjoying the witty world of the "comme il faut" society and all the true work that goes on behind the scenes...