lynnenne (![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} germaine_pet) wrote, |
but considering your A/S love I shouldn't be surprised after all.
Hahahahaha. Reading GWTW is like reading old fanfic. The writing kinda sucks, but I love the characters so much that it just doesn't matter. *g*
Fall On Your Knees was published in the mid-90s, and is one of the most beautiful love stories I've ever read. It's also quirky and unconventional and a gorgeously poetic read. Plus it's set in Cape Breton, which is where I spent my childhood summers, so I can identify with the setting and the characters. I highly recommend it.
I don't think The Trumpet Major is one of Hardy's better-known works. It's a comedy of manners, much in the style of Austen. I found it quite funny.
Not many Anglophones have read La Condition humaine, but it's very well known in France. I read it as part of a class on French history (my French wasn't strong enough to get through it, so I read the English translation). It's set during the Indochinese war near the turn of the century, and introduces a lot of themes that would lay the groundwork for French existentialism. It also has strong female characters and paints a frank, unvarnished portrait of the misogyny of the period, which is rare for male writers of that generation. Or any generation, really.
War and Peace was a seminal work for me. I read it at a time in my life when I was going through some huge upheavals, and I identified with Andrei's spiritual quest in a way that was intense and frightening. I'm sure if I read it today I would still love it for the beauty of the language, but I doubt it would have the same impact. It's weird how a book and a life can intersect to create this event that influences you long after the work has been put away.
Hahahahaha. Reading GWTW is like reading old fanfic. The writing kinda sucks, but I love the characters so much that it just doesn't matter. *g*
Fall On Your Knees was published in the mid-90s, and is one of the most beautiful love stories I've ever read. It's also quirky and unconventional and a gorgeously poetic read. Plus it's set in Cape Breton, which is where I spent my childhood summers, so I can identify with the setting and the characters. I highly recommend it.
I don't think The Trumpet Major is one of Hardy's better-known works. It's a comedy of manners, much in the style of Austen. I found it quite funny.
Not many Anglophones have read La Condition humaine, but it's very well known in France. I read it as part of a class on French history (my French wasn't strong enough to get through it, so I read the English translation). It's set during the Indochinese war near the turn of the century, and introduces a lot of themes that would lay the groundwork for French existentialism. It also has strong female characters and paints a frank, unvarnished portrait of the misogyny of the period, which is rare for male writers of that generation. Or any generation, really.
War and Peace was a seminal work for me. I read it at a time in my life when I was going through some huge upheavals, and I identified with Andrei's spiritual quest in a way that was intense and frightening. I'm sure if I read it today I would still love it for the beauty of the language, but I doubt it would have the same impact. It's weird how a book and a life can intersect to create this event that influences you long after the work has been put away.