Tag Archives: classics

A Passage to India, by EM Forster

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Thistle

This is such a difficult book to describe. It’s a sketch of the conflict between India and Britain, both in the overarching Britain-is-policing-India sort of way, and in a specific-individual sort of way. The two parallel each other. The main … Continue reading →

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Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

Posted on September 17, 2009 by Thistle

…people were never quite what you thought they were. There will be spoilers in this review, because I want to discuss the philosophy behind this book rather than the plot. Since most people know the general plot of Lord of … Continue reading →

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Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

Posted on September 9, 2009 by Thistle

Fahrenheit 451 is the ultimate banned book – a book about banning books to the degree of burning any that are discovered, as well as the house of the owner who concealed them. Firemen in this dystopian world don’t mess … Continue reading →

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Jane Eyre (graphic novel), by Charlotte Bronte

Posted on August 30, 2009 by Thistle

This is exactly what the title says – a graphic novel version of Jane Eyre. It’s part of a series of graphic novels aimed at helping teens enjoy classics through a different media. There are several versions of the GN … Continue reading →

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East of Eden, by John Steinbeck

Posted on August 8, 2009 by Thistle

East of Eden is too gigantic and un-plot-based to really have a synopsis. I suppose I can say it follows the sometimes-intertwined lives of the Trask family and the Hamilton family for many years, mostly in the Salinas Valley in … Continue reading →

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A Room of One’s Own, by Virginia Woolf

Posted on July 29, 2009 by Thistle

A Room of One’s Own is adapted from a series of lectures Virginia Woolf gave on the topic of “Women and Fiction.” In them, she concludes that in order for a woman to write, she must have money and a … Continue reading →

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The Trial, by Franz Kafka + graphic novel

Posted on July 26, 2009 by Thistle

Spoilers. Josef K. wakes up on his 30th birthday to find himself arrested. No one will tell him why, and he’s free to go about his own business in the meantime. Over the course of a year, he must defend … Continue reading →

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Songs of Innocence and Experience, by William Blake

Posted on July 22, 2009 by Thistle

Seriously, the apocalypse must be on its way. I just picked up a book of poetry all on my own, without prompting, and read it by choice, rather than by force or coercion. Even more miraculously, I mostly understood what … Continue reading →

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Thimble Summer, by Elizabeth Enright

Posted on June 28, 2009 by Thistle

Thimble Summer was published in 1938 and won the Newberry Medal in 1939. It’s about a 9-year-old girl named Garnet growing up on a farm in rural Southwestern Wisconsin. The book takes her through several months during one summer, through … Continue reading →

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Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Thistle

Margaret (age 11) has just moved from NYC to New Jersey, and is trying to cope with the change and to fit in at her new school. Already she’s different: Her parents do not have any religion and so Margaret … Continue reading →

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