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Topic:
Modern Classics of World Literature (currently disc. "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck)
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
1/26 9:33pm
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing Alice in Wonderland)
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There are some very, very strange interpretations out there, no question. Carroll is not my favorite, but he is iconic.
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King_of_Red_Lions
Registered:
Mar '03
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Date Posted:
1/29 9:06pm
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing Alice in Wonderland)
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I love Lewis Carroll's work. Anyone who wants to read the Alice stories should pick up the versions annotated by Martin Gardner - he digs deep.
I prefer Through the Looking-Glass to Wonderland. Both have iconic characters. LG has more plot structure than the mostly episodic Wonderland. The illustrations are peculiar, the nonsense is entertaining. A favorite of mine.
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NYCitygurl
Title: Manager of SFFBC, C&G, and NSWFF
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
2/12 4:09pm
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing Alice in Wonderland)
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The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood's most famous novel is about a woman trapped in a time when a religious organization has taken over the United States and oppressed women. Offred, the main character, is forced to serve as a handmaid (read: person pretty much raped every month in an attempt to get her to conceive a child) to a top-level Commander. Meanwhile, she dreams of the life she once had with her husband, Luke, and their daughter. She also carries on an illegal and dangerous relationship with Nick, who might work for the secret police, and the Commander, who she is not supposed to interact with except the one time a month.
Really scary book. Don't like it, even though the writing's good.
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"Not till the moon falls. Not till the world ends."
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
2/12 9:02pm
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing The Handmaid's Tale)
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I haven't read this one, but it sounds like yet another Dystopian future novel.
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1stAD
Registered:
May '01
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Date Posted:
2/15 6:45pm
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing The Handmaid's Tale)
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It's really sharply written, and I like the chronology that the author set up. Most of all though, I like the fact that the author doesn't beat you over the head with her feminism even though this is clearly a feminist work. Basically, the setup is that a cabal within the military set up a violent coup and eliminated Congress, under the pretense of an Islamic terrorist attack. Under martial law, all civil liberties are stripped away and a new social order is set up.
Women no longer really have any civil or property rights, and the titular handmaids women have sex with "commanders" (high ranking men) in order to conceive children, in exchange for security and a slightly higher quality of life. While the situation is terrible for women, the men who serve in Gilead (bizarro-America) find it difficult to take wives unless they have wealth/power or take risky posts in the military (while Gilead proper has instituted a sort of Taliban-like regime), there are still insurgencies in the outlying territories.
Taken as a feminist allegory, it paints a grim picture of how confining a rigidly patriarchal society is for both women and men.
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Cobranaconda
Title: Ex-FF-UK: South CR
Registered:
Mar '04
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Date Posted:
2/15 7:24pm
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing The Handmaid's Tale)
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It bored me.
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"We find that your American beer is a little like making love in a canoe."
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NYCitygurl
Title: Manager of SFFBC, C&G, and NSWFF
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
2/18 9:21am
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing The Handmaid's Tale)
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It scared the hell out of me. And also, I like happy stories and hayy ending. This had an up-in-the-air ending (you actually don't find out what happens to any of the characters) and she never got her husband and daughter back.
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"Not till the moon falls. Not till the world ends."
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
2/20 10:07pm
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing The Handmaid's Tale)
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Bleak, but interesting.
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Grand_Duchess_Olga
Registered:
Jun '02
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Date Posted:
3/7 7:23am
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing The Handmaid's Tale)
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It's rather a too simple book. It's like the author didn't want to do a story on a situation like this in the past. Say, a civilization conquers another one and use the women like that. I guess it's a commentary on how religion could lead to a society where some women are treated like animals/sex slaves. But then I can read Princess Sultana's Circle or other books by Jean Sasson for that.
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NYCitygurl
Title: Manager of SFFBC, C&G, and NSWFF
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
3/31 4:27pm
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing The Handmaid's Tale)
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Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston's novel is set in Florida. Janie, a young black woman with some white ancestry, has to find her inner strength and survive bad marriages and being looked down upon by the community to find true love and peace.
After following her grandmother's wishes and entering into a loveless marriage, Janey runs away with Joe Starks, who has big plans to build up the all-black town of Eatonville. After spending twenty years as a trophy wife, Janey is widowed and falls in love with Tea Cake, a much younger man. To the scorn of the town, Janey and Tea Cake leave and get married. They live together for two years until he dies of rabies, after which Janeu returns home, happy that she's had adventures and content with her life.
The book is written in the dialect of the place and the times, much like Huckleberry Finn, and is considered by many to be a very important and influential book.
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"Not till the moon falls. Not till the world ends."
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
4/1 9:40am
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing "Their Eyes Were Watching God")
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There was a TV adaptation of it recently, but I didn't see it.
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NYCitygurl
Title: Manager of SFFBC, C&G, and NSWFF
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
5/19 1:13pm
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing "Their Eyes Were Watching God")
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I don't have as much time or interest as I'd like to continue this  If anyone is interested in adopting this thread, I'd be grateful.
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"Not till the moon falls. Not till the world ends."
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KnightWriter
Title:
Administrator Emeritus
Registered:
Nov '01
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Date Posted:
5/19 4:01pm
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing "Their Eyes . . .") *UP FOR ADOPTION!!
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I'd love to take it off your hands for you  . Definitely an area of interest for me.
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"May you live all the days of your life"
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
5/20 10:20am
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing "Their Eyes . . .") *UP FOR ADOPTION!!
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Well, okay then!
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NYCitygurl
Title: Manager of SFFBC, C&G, and NSWFF
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
5/20 11:02am
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing "Their Eyes . . .") *UP FOR ADOPTION!!
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My hero  Go for it
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"Not till the moon falls. Not till the world ends."
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