Tag Archives: Classics

The Suicide Club by Robert Louis Stevenson

September 12, 2018Book ReviewClassics, Crime, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde & Other Storiesskyebjenner

Title: The Suicide Club
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
In: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde & Other Stories (Robert Louis Stevenson)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Classics, Crime
Pace: Medium
Format: Novella
Publisher: Word Cloud Classics
Year: 1878
5th sentence, 74th page: And they awaited the event in silence, the Doctor shaking with fear, the Colonel in an agony of sweat.

Short story trilogy involving a club for people who wish to end their lives. The “Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts,” “Story of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk,” and “The Adventure of the Hansom Cab” chronicle the exploits of Prince Florizel of Bohemia and Colonel Geraldine through some of 19th-century London’s most dangerous haunts.

I really loved this novella. It was basically three short stories that had the common thread of the villain and the hero. The hero being the Prince and the villain the perpetrator of the Suicide Club. Written in the lyrical fashion that I’m starting to associate with Stevenson, it’s kind of a fun journey through London and Paris. With a heavy dose of mystery and crime thrown in.

There is something soothing about reading Stevenson right before bed (even if it is a tale called The Suicide Club). But, what I really liked about this tale is that it was kind of three different tales, and therefore it was a good way to finish up three days. I didn’t really wonder what was going to happen next, because each time there was a conclusion of sorts. But I also looked forward to picking up my book at the end of a long day and losing myself in Stevenson’s words.

I’m sure that there is a profound commentary on the extravagancies of daily life that I could tweeze out of The Suicide Club. And the idea just sit just outside of my awareness. But it is such an enjoyable story and was so much fun, that quite honestly, I don’t feel like thinking any further about it at all.

<- Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Review

The Rajah’s Diamond Review ->

Image source: Pinterest

Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll

September 10, 2018Book ReviewAlice in Wonderland, Classics, Easy Reading, Fantasy, Lewis Carroll, Word Cloud Classicsskyebjenner

Title: Through the Looking-Glass
Author: Lewis Carroll
Series: Alice in Wonderland #2, Word Cloud Classics
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Classics, Easy reading, Fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Word Cloud Classics
Year: 1871
5th sentence, 74th page: And only one for birthday presents, you know.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

In 1865, English author CHARLES LUTWIDGE DODGSON (1832-1898), aka Lewis Carroll, wrote a fantastical adventure story for the young daughters of a friend. The adventures of Alice-named for one of the little girls to whom the book was dedicated-who journeys down a rabbit hole and into a whimsical underworld realm instantly struck a chord with the British public, and then with readers around the world. In 1872, in reaction to the universal acclaim *Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland* received, Dodgson published this sequel. Nothing is quite what it seems once Alice journeys through the looking-glass, and Dodgson’s wit is infectious as he explores concepts of mirror imagery, time running backward, and strategies of chess-all wrapped up in the exploits of a spirited young girl who parries with the Red Queen, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, and other unlikely characters. In many ways, this sequel has had an even greater impact on today’s pop culture than the first book.

This was just as weird, convoluted and slightly insane as the first Alice book. Which, of course, I loved. There is something about the amazing waxing and waning, lyricism that Carroll lends to his work that makes it impossible to put down. Again, there is no really clear beginning, middle and end, but it somehow still works brilliantly. Maybe after I read this a thousand more times I’ll truly find the beginning, middle and end… but until then, I enjoy the jumpy, random storyline.

Although there isn’t a strict storyline within Through the Looking-Glass, there are quite a few fun little commentaries on the world that we live in and the way we speak. Again and again throughout this story, I questioned a lot of the things which we automatically say. I questioned their origins, and why they mean what they mean. It was a very different way to look at the history of English and the culture in which I live.

I was expecting Through the Looking-Glass to be very different to this. I have seen Tim Burton’s version of Alice in Wonderland, and I thought that the storyline would follow that a lot more closely. And whilst it is possible to see where the different stories crossover and intersect, there are many moments that have also been created so that neither story is like the other. It all just keeps getting curiouser and curiouser!

<- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

My Antonia ->

Image source: Pinterest

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

September 9, 2018Book ReviewAlice in Wonderland, Classics, Easy Reading, Fantasy, Lewis Carroll, Word Cloud Classicsskyebjenner

Title: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Author: Lewis Carroll
Series: Alice in Wonderland #1, Word Cloud Classics
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Classics, Easy reading, Fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Word Cloud Classics
Year: 1865
5th sentence, 74th page: The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a moment like a wild beast, screamed, “Off with her head!

After a tumble down the rabbit hole, Alice finds herself far away from home in the absurd world of Wonderland. As mind-bending as it is delightful, Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel is pure magic for young and old alike.

I mostly read this to see if the book is as tripped out as the movies… and yes, yes it is. There are tongue twisters and confusing tales, and I’m not entirely sure that there is even a clear storyline. But it works perfectly. I was incredibly entertained and found it difficult to put this story down, even though I’m still not entirely sure I understood everything that was happening.

One of the bits that I loved the most about this story was that there were great, lyrical phrases throughout. Some I enjoyed so much that I actually read them three times, just because I loved how they worked and sounded. And the very clever ways in which Carroll was able to twist around words and reality to create this incredibly vibrant world of Wonderland.

Alice is kind of a know-it-all, but, since she’s in a world where she is always sure to be wrong, that is tempered. She annoys me occasionally, but mostly I was too busy trying to figure out what the heck was going on with the rest of the storyline. Now I can’t wait to find out what happens in Through the Looking-Glass, and whether it is just as weird and convoluted as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

<- The Return of Tarzan

Through the Looking-Glass ->

Image source: Harvard Book Store

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde & Other Stories by Robert Louis Stevenson

September 5, 2018Book ReviewClassics, Robert Louis Stevenson, Short Story Collections, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde & Other Stories, Word Cloud Classicsskyebjenner

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Stories

Title: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde & Other Stories
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Series: Word Cloud Classics
In: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde & Other Stories (Robert Louis Stevenson)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Classics, Short story collections
Pace: Slow
Format: Collection
Publisher: Word Cloud Classics
Year: 2014
5th sentence, 74th page: “I have to thank you,” said he, “for your extraordinary patience.”

A book so iconic that its title is synonymous with split personalities, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson was first released in 1886. The story of a virtuous Dr. Jekyll who mistakenly creates an alter ego of unadulterated evil serves as an examination of the duality of human nature and the battle between good and evil. Full of mystery and fright, this story has remained popular for more than a century and has been adapted countless times — over 132 in film alone. An instant success and popular with students of morality, this thrilling tale is now available as part of the Word Cloud Classics series, making it a chic and affordable addition to any library.

An amazing collection of lyrical tales of crime, psychology and the horrors of humanity. I love that Stevenson takes the modern setting of London at that time, the common, everyday livelihoods and creates a dark and twisted tale. There are so many layers within these stories that create a world in which I am constantly questioning my daily life. Even over a hundred years after these stories were published.

One of the things that I always enjoy about classics is that fact that they have multiple layers and realities which you can sink your teeth into. These tales can be read again, and again, and again and there will always be a new layer you can find. I suppose that’s why they’re classics. But this collection has certainly moved to the top of my list of favourite classics… it’s just that little bit darker, and that little bit more twisted.

<- Frankenstein

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ->

Image source: Rainbow Resource

Jodie’s Journey by Colin Thiele

August 17, 2018Book ReviewAustralian Authors, Classics, Colin Thiele, Easy Readingskyebjenner

Title: Jodie’s Journey
Author: Colin Thiele
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Australian authors, Classics, Easy reading
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Walter McVitty
Year: 1988
5th sentence, 74th page: It wouldn’t be ready until four o’clock so she probably would not be home until five.

When Jodie Carpenter won the Greenvale Junior Show Jumping Championship there were tears of happiness in her eyes. It was a moment that nothing could ever take away from her. She was not to know that she was about to be cruelly struck down by a crippling disease, and that the hurdles which lay ahead of her would be more challenging than those she had just overcome…

I have been hunting for this book for ages. It was the first tale that through me into the world of novels and that I completely loved. This book is honestly the very reason that I became so obsessed with reading. So the fact that I have finally found a copy to revisit this made me one of the happiest girls in the world. And reading this again, also made me deliriously happy. And it also made me cry.

Colin Thiele is such a great Australian writer and one that I have long admired. The fact that Jodie’s Journey is based near my home just made it all the more thrilling. I can see the places in which he talks about, because I’ve been there. I’ve breathed the air and experienced the terror of bushfires. I remember going to a small school, and the town I live in is even mentioned in the book. It all hits so wonderfully close to home and draws this amazing world that sweeps you along as Jodie fights to overcome her illness.

I wasn’t alive when Ash Wednesday swept across the state, but I have experienced that same overwhelming terror and confusion bought about by the presence of a bushfire. The fact that Jodie is crippled and on a farm makes everything all the more scary, but the powerful message in her strength and journey help you to believe that you can do anything. At least, that’s what it did for me as a kid, and it served as a great reminder now that I’m an adult.

<- More Australian author reviews

More Classic reviews ->

Image source: AbeBooks

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

August 15, 2018Book ReviewClassics, Easy Reading, Gothic, Mary Shelley, Word Cloud Classicsskyebjenner

Title: Frankenstein
Author: Mary Shelley
Series: Word Cloud Classics
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Classics, Easy reading, Gothic
Pace: Slow
Format: Novel
Publisher: Word Cloud Classics
Year: 1818
5th sentence, 74th page: Yet my heart overflowed with kindness and the love of virtue.

Horror. Romance. Science. A classic tale that would be a fright to miss!

The idea for the story came to the author, Mary Shelley, in a dream she had about a scientist who had created life and was horrified by what he had made. This Gothic-style romance is among the first of true science fiction novels, if not the first. A young scientist named Victor Frankenstein, after going through his own near-death experience, decides to play God and create life in the form of a grotesque creature, which turns into a nightmare. Through his experience, he learns that the gift of life is precious, not disposable. His journey and personal transformation has deeply affected readers.

I’ve never read Frankenstein. I’ve not really spoken to anyone who has. And it was one that I’ve wanted to read for curiosities sake but wasn’t completely desperate to read like some others. All that changed when I started on the first page of this book. I can completely understand why this has stood the test of time and captured so many readers’ imaginations and fascinations.

I really enjoyed how this tale started off with a series of letters that helped to foreshadow what was to come. It highlighted the dark nature of the tale, and the sense of total and utter devastation of Frankenstein as his story unfolded. Even though I knew that this wasn’t going to be a sunshine and roses kind of tale, it still broke my heart a little as the tale unfolded. Not just for Frankenstein, but there was a few moments when I felt genuine sorry for his monster too. Although, not enough to accept the horrors of his actions.

The foreshadowing that is layered throughout this story is brilliantly done. It gives this horrifying sense of dread and an uncomfortable feeling that sits in the pit of your stomach. The commentary on social injustice and assumptions that cause his monster to completely lose his mind just add to that feeling of uncomfortableness. But it’s a good uncomfortable, it acts as a way to open your eyes, even in this modern day that makes you question all of the assumptions that you make about others. And to remind you that sometimes the worst monster in the world is the one of your own creation.

<- Shakespeare’s Sonnets and Other Poems

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde & Other Stories ->

Image source: Amazon

The Romantic Poets by William Blake, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, George Gordon Byron, William Wordsworth & Samuel Taylor Coleridge

August 4, 2018Book ReviewClassics, Easy Reading, George Gordon Byron, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Poetry, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake, William Wordsworth, Word Cloud Classicsskyebjenner

Title: The Romantic Poets
Author: William Blake, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, George Gordon Byron, William Wordsworth & Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Series: Word Cloud Classics
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Classics, Easy reading, Poetry
Pace: Slow
Format: Novel
Publisher: Word Cloud Classics
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: With rocks, and stones, and trees.

omanticism gained traction in the late 1700s as writers moved away from the intellectualism of the Enlightenment and toward more emotional and natural themes. The major works of the movement’s five most famous poets — William Wordsworth, George Gordon Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake, and John Keats — are represented in this handsome Word Cloud Classics volume, The Romantic Poets. One of the largest and most influential artistic movements in history, Romanticism valued intuition and pastoralism, and its themes are well represented in the verse of its stars.

There’s something wonderfully soothing about reading poetry. It is relaxing, and lyrical and although it often isn’t as amazingly descriptive, it is a great way to soar through the literary world.

I had forgotten the joys of romanticism. And the ways in which it has completely changed and informed much of the literature that I love and enjoy today.

There’s not much that I can really say about this collection. I will probably pick it up and read parts and writers from time to time to get my poetry fix. This is probably the only time I’ll actually read it cover to cover. There was just something so enjoyable about this first time though…

<- The Wizard of Oz

Jane Eyre ->

Image source: Rainbow Resources

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

June 21, 2018Book ReviewClassics, Crime, Easy Reading, Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Word Cloud Classicsskyebjenner

Title: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Series: Sherlock Holmes #3, Word Cloud Classics
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Classics, Crime, Easy reading
Pace: Medium
Format: Collection
Publisher: Word Cloud Classics
Year: 1892
5th sentence, 74th page: ‘Does it not strike you as a little singular that this McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of marrying his son to Turner’s daughter, who is, presumably, heiress to the estate, and that in such a cocksure manner, as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would follow?

Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing… It may seem to point very straight to one thing, but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something entirely different.

I’ve been wanting to read Sherlock Holmes for ages. After all, there are a lot of TV shows and genres that I absolutely adore. And, I really wasn’t in the slightest bit disappointed. Actually, I found a more comprehensive collection of Sherlock Holmes tales which I bought after reading the first few pages of this book. There is a great lyrical flow of words, a great journey upon which to be bought and I just love how at the end of each tale, there is a grand reveal.

Each of the twelve cases in this collection have their completely unique spin and take on modern-day life in Victorian England. What I like about this is that it is far more accessible than many of the other stories that I have read of this time. The language is a lot simpler, and it deals with the courses of daily lives. The lyricism makes it incredibly difficult to put this book down and it makes me want to know what has happened to the vast array of clients which march through the pages.

I know that this is one of those stories that I will find more details as I reread it. The culprit and the villain (if there is one) is woven through each story. Yet, it isn’t until the very end that it becomes so blatantly obvious what happened – and only through Holmes’ amazingly concise reiterations of the storyline. I like that although everything isn’t necessarily tied up in a neat bundle, it is all explained completely.

<- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

The Count of Monte Cristo ->

Image source: Rainbow Resource

Hans Christian Andersen Tales by Hans Christian Andersen

June 11, 2018Book ReviewClassics, Easy Reading, Fairy tales, Hans Christian Andersen, Word Cloud Classicsskyebjenner

Title: Hans Christian Andersen Tales
Author: Hans Christian Andersen
Series: Word Cloud Classics
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Classics, Easy reading, Fairy tales
Pace: Slow
Format: Collection
Publisher: World Cloud Classics
Year: 2014
5th sentence, 74th page: “I know I’m not stupid,” the man thought, “so it must be that I’m unworthy of my good office.”

Then the door BLEW open. A puff of wind struck the dancer. She flew like a sylph, straight into the FIRE with the soldier, blazed up in a flash, and was gone. The tin soldier MELTED, all in a lump. The next day, when a servant took up the ashes she found him in the shape of a little tin HEART. But of the pretty dancer nothing was left except her SPANGLE, and it was BURNED as black as a coal.

I love reading original fairy tales. It’s always fun to compare and contrast them to the modern tales that I love and recognise. Hans Christian Andersen is certainly one of the key writers of the fairy tales that we all know and love today. I wasn’t sure though how many of my well known tales were from here, and how many from another writer. So it was kind of a pleasant surprise to discover some quite familiar tales throughout this collection.

This is the perfect book to read before bedtime. A great way to unwind, relax and think about absolutely nothing. Especially if you’re home alone, have a great imagination and really like to watch crime shows. Nothing like a good fairy tale to unwind and relax. Even though some of these are a little dark. Nothing like the Brothers Grimm who have some truly blood-thirsty tales, but there is a note of sadness, and often not a happy ending when reading this collection.

This entire collection made me float away in a dream world. It was fun, enjoyable and I’m actually really disappointed that it is all over.

<- Inferno

Emma ->

Image source: QBD

Weir of Hermiston by Robert Louis Stevenson

January 15, 2018Book ReviewClassics, Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde and Other Strange Tales, Easy Reading, Robert Louis Stevensonskyebjenner

Title: Weir of Hermiston
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
In: Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde and Other Strange Tales (Robert Louis Stevenson)
Rating Out of 5: 3.5 (Liked this)
My Bookshelves: Classics, Easy reading
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Kingsford Editions
Year: 1896
5th sentence, 74th page: ‘I maun have forgotten to change them,’ said she; and went into prayers in her turn with a troubled mind, between anxiety as to whether Dand should have observed her yellow stockings at chuch, and should thus detect her in a palpable falsehood, and shame that she had already made good his prophecy.

The Lord Justice-Clerk was a stranger in that part of the country; but his lady wife was known there from a child, as her race had been before her.

The old “riding Rutherfords of Hermiston,” of whom she was the last descendant, had been famous men of yore, ill neighbours, ill subjects, and ill husbands to their wives though not their properties.

I didn’t love the ending of this – and then I found out that it is an unfinished work, and my dislike for the ending finally made sense. It wasn’t an ending at all, just a point at which the writing stopped. Knowing that has made me a lot more inclined to like what was written, and feel a little sad that there is no ending to be seen.

The Weir of Hermiston read like a biography – the history of the parents, the marriage, the housekeeper, were all delved into and provided a rich backdrop against which Archie is living his life. His choices, the words, the actions are all informed by his history and although I found some of the explanations a little too long winded, and, yes, tedious, it worked well in the characterisation.

It’s just a pity that it was never finished, I suppose I will just have to imagine a happy ending for myself. At least, an ending that would leave me happy anyway…

<- Markheim Review

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Strange Tales Review ->

Earth and Skye

The ramblings of a bibliophile.