Wow! A post that is not about a book I've read! If you want, I can tell you about the massage therapy textbook I've just finished reading. But that would be boring. I think it would be more interesting for me to direct you to a friend's website I've only just discovered today.
Her name is Claudia and although I knew her in elementary school as "Heather's Mom" we're friends these days because we both have a love for blogging about the things that interest us. Why don't you take a moment and check out her website?
http://ebookandbookreviews.com/
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories in the Sketch Book, by Washington Irving
This book is a very difficult read. In fact, I'm going to share with you a little secret. I started it in October and I haven't finished it yet! Gasp!
The problem for me, lies in the fact that the book is an anthology. I loved certain stories. But others were incredibly boring. To me, an anthology is an author's way to get things published that would normally get thrown in the editor's trash bin.
To be fair, there were some stories that were not interesting to me, but which had wonderful insight about life in England in the early 1800s, life in England from an American's perspective, death, immortality through writing, and relationships between men and women. I can understand why they may have been included in the publishing, but they still did not interest me, and slowed the speed of my progress through the book.
In case you don't know anything about the author, he was American-born, but the majority of the things collected in his Sketch Book were written during a time when he lived in England. This book was written at the beginning of the 19th century, using a slightly more formal and outmoded pattern of speech. A reading of this book would be a major accomplishment for a middle-schooler to undertake, because of the amount of vocabulary words and slightly different syntax sometimes used within the book. It may even be on some advanced high school reading lists (depending on your school).
And now for a quick review of some of my favorite stories:
Rip Van Winkle. I'm sure you are familiar with this one already. A man falls asleep for 100 years and wakes up to find everything is changed. It is a great story, and the detail of the descriptions is very vivid and seems to place you right in the scene.
The County Church; The Widow and Her Son. These two are placed right next to each other, and take place in the same church. The first is a visit to the church and observations of the simplicity of faith (vs the big "megachurches" of the city) and the second is a picture of what happens when tragedy hits the church family. I felt I could relate to the stories and observations made about church life.
The Boar's Head Tavern, Eastcheap. This one is a unique writing and really only appreciated if you are familiar with Shakespeare's "Henry" plays. Being a total book nerd, I love Shakespeare. I also love history so the narrator's quest for the history of the Tavern is also interesting to me.
The Specter Bridegroom. This was quite a fascinating piece of fiction (rather than some of the others which seem to be observations about life). I have no idea why the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle became so famous while this one did not. I have a mental image of Peter Jackson and Tim Burton teaming up with Johnny Depp to make this into a movie. I hope it happens, as that would be awesome.
There are plenty more, but I will leave you with those. If you like somewhat antiquated language, want to read a challenging book for school but think Shakespeare is too challenging, or if you like anthologies or reading the classics, this book is for you.
This book is a very difficult read. In fact, I'm going to share with you a little secret. I started it in October and I haven't finished it yet! Gasp!
The problem for me, lies in the fact that the book is an anthology. I loved certain stories. But others were incredibly boring. To me, an anthology is an author's way to get things published that would normally get thrown in the editor's trash bin.
To be fair, there were some stories that were not interesting to me, but which had wonderful insight about life in England in the early 1800s, life in England from an American's perspective, death, immortality through writing, and relationships between men and women. I can understand why they may have been included in the publishing, but they still did not interest me, and slowed the speed of my progress through the book.
In case you don't know anything about the author, he was American-born, but the majority of the things collected in his Sketch Book were written during a time when he lived in England. This book was written at the beginning of the 19th century, using a slightly more formal and outmoded pattern of speech. A reading of this book would be a major accomplishment for a middle-schooler to undertake, because of the amount of vocabulary words and slightly different syntax sometimes used within the book. It may even be on some advanced high school reading lists (depending on your school).
And now for a quick review of some of my favorite stories:
Rip Van Winkle. I'm sure you are familiar with this one already. A man falls asleep for 100 years and wakes up to find everything is changed. It is a great story, and the detail of the descriptions is very vivid and seems to place you right in the scene.
The County Church; The Widow and Her Son. These two are placed right next to each other, and take place in the same church. The first is a visit to the church and observations of the simplicity of faith (vs the big "megachurches" of the city) and the second is a picture of what happens when tragedy hits the church family. I felt I could relate to the stories and observations made about church life.
The Boar's Head Tavern, Eastcheap. This one is a unique writing and really only appreciated if you are familiar with Shakespeare's "Henry" plays. Being a total book nerd, I love Shakespeare. I also love history so the narrator's quest for the history of the Tavern is also interesting to me.
The Specter Bridegroom. This was quite a fascinating piece of fiction (rather than some of the others which seem to be observations about life). I have no idea why the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle became so famous while this one did not. I have a mental image of Peter Jackson and Tim Burton teaming up with Johnny Depp to make this into a movie. I hope it happens, as that would be awesome.
There are plenty more, but I will leave you with those. If you like somewhat antiquated language, want to read a challenging book for school but think Shakespeare is too challenging, or if you like anthologies or reading the classics, this book is for you.
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