Everything in The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a fascinating juxtaposition of the grotesque and the sublime - the speech, the characters, the setting. I felt like the whole point of the story was to show that architecture was the only good thing that came from the Middle Ages so for heaven's sake, don't tear those ... Read More »
Book Review: Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist is a social satire that criticizes Victorian England. Some of his criticisms of society could still apply today. It was more graphic and violent than I thought it would be. Dickens writes the best characters I've ever read. Even the minor characters have personalities and flaws. Dickens has this way of narrating that makes ... Read More »
Book Review: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
I read this book mainly because it was talked about a lot in Eclipse. I was shocked by how dark and Gothic it was. I can't imagine what people must have thought when it was published. If I could pick two words to describe Wuthering Heights it would be "passionate" and "bizarre." I've never read ... Read More »
Book Review: Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy
A good introduction to Tolstoy if you don't want to take on War and Peace, but it's definitely not as good. The ending felt unfinished and a little vague and the characters were not as interesting as the ones in his more famous works. He seems to have a woman with a mustache in every ... Read More »
Book Review: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
I read Les Miserables unabridged. I read it because I wanted to know what really happens at the end since this 1400 + page book is usually abridged. Call it the rebel in me, but why should I let someone else choose what I should read out of this book? Oh, you don't think I ... Read More »