Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Fulfilling my New Year's Resolutions!
Dear reader,
In my blogpost on my resolutions for the year 2011 I wrote that I really wanted to do some reading on the Victorian Era, or Victorian literature, next to my studies. I am not sure if I will be able to make the 100 pages a week target I set myself.. I am pretty sure I won’t, but I will try my best to do it! I am not planning on reading less than 50! :D
To help me achieve my goal (and as a way to stimulate myself to really do it) I have joined a site that is called Goodreads. There you can make a list of all the books that you have read, still want to read, or are reading at the moment. I have limited my list to literary books ;). Most of the books in the ‘read’ list I have read for my courses. This, however, will soon change! The wonderful thing about this website is that it also provides you with widgets for your blog! ;) Couldn’t help but try it out.
See more under the cut....
Seeing that I did not have any homework for this week, and that I have finished half of the homework for next week, I decided to pick up a book. I decided to go with A Tale of Two Cities of Charles Dickens… And what a good choice that was! It really is a wonderful book. I decided to write a short review on it on Goodreads. ;) See below if you are interested. (If not, than skip to the part under 'view all my reviews')
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
As I thought, there is nothing like a good Dickens. His use of language and imagery is absolutely superb. Almost without effort he seems to call before the mind’s eye the towns of London and Paris during and around the French revolution. Without describing gruesome details (a technique many a writer today seems to resort to for the desired effect) Dickens nevertheless succeeds perfectly in sketching the horrific and grim Parisian atmosphere of that time. His plots always develop slowly, but this does not spoil the fun of reading, for one cannot help but keep wondering why Dickens chooses to dwell on the description of some characters, as they seem, at first glance, quite insignificant. However, this master of the gold thread always neatly uses all these characters to construct an interesting and amazingly strong plotline; never leaving his reader with loose ends. As most of his other books do, A Tale of Two Cities leaves its reader with a couple of characters which will not soon be forgotten. The description of Dr. Manette, for example, in the first ‘book’ is so strong that one can do naught but pitty this old man. This reader was almost moved to tears by the wretchedness of his situation.
A Tale of Two Cities is indeed a memorable book and very well worth reading, or even rereading for that matter.
View all my reviews
I am about to take up The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James and have Elisabeth Gaskell's Wifes and Daughters on my nightstand. I usually read a little in the latter before I go to bed (so that is more of a long term project).
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles DickensMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
As I thought, there is nothing like a good Dickens. His use of language and imagery is absolutely superb. Almost without effort he seems to call before the mind’s eye the towns of London and Paris during and around the French revolution. Without describing gruesome details (a technique many a writer today seems to resort to for the desired effect) Dickens nevertheless succeeds perfectly in sketching the horrific and grim Parisian atmosphere of that time. His plots always develop slowly, but this does not spoil the fun of reading, for one cannot help but keep wondering why Dickens chooses to dwell on the description of some characters, as they seem, at first glance, quite insignificant. However, this master of the gold thread always neatly uses all these characters to construct an interesting and amazingly strong plotline; never leaving his reader with loose ends. As most of his other books do, A Tale of Two Cities leaves its reader with a couple of characters which will not soon be forgotten. The description of Dr. Manette, for example, in the first ‘book’ is so strong that one can do naught but pitty this old man. This reader was almost moved to tears by the wretchedness of his situation.
A Tale of Two Cities is indeed a memorable book and very well worth reading, or even rereading for that matter.
View all my reviews
I am about to take up The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James and have Elisabeth Gaskell's Wifes and Daughters on my nightstand. I usually read a little in the latter before I go to bed (so that is more of a long term project).
So far I am making a good start with the fulfilling of my other New Year’s resolutions as well. I have been trying hard to post blogs quite regularly (of course they depend heavily on I experience in everyday life hahah), I have sent out job applications and actually have a job interview this Friday, I have been searching the net to find a good place to take singing lessons (I am waiting with the actual application for the lessons until the job has been settled, so I can chose a day on which I want to take the singing lessons), and I have been trying to help my dad out around the house a little. Haven’t started the cooking lessons yet though ahahah. Come to think of it: I might as well do that today!
Also I have been thinking seriously about going abroad during the first semester of next school year and I have decided not to do it. I have a wonderful fiancé that I do not want to leave behind and I really wouldn’t know what to do if something happened to one of my parents. My mom has been having more and more difficulty with walking, so if something were to happen to dad I would definitely have to help out more around the house, do the groceries and such. Also I would really miss some of my friends, and some of them depend on me for certain things, and I really want to be there for them whenever I can. However, to compensate for my lack of experience abroad I will focus even more on self studies and just try to read as much as I can on the Victorian Era. Perhaps that the opportunity to go abroad will arise later in life ;). One never knows!
I am really going to try my best to make 2011 a successful year! But most of all; I hope the rest of the year will be as wonderful as the first month :D.
Love,
Blacky.
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