tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post3704901467184690687..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: Elizabeth Spencer's Five Favorite Southern NovelsAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-66700404397536019082009-09-16T22:18:20.468-05:002009-09-16T22:18:20.468-05:00Rose City Reader, I thought of you hwne i lionked ...Rose City Reader, I thought of you hwne i lionked to that list. I thought, Rose City Reader will want this list.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-37948014416806439702009-09-16T19:24:48.462-05:002009-09-16T19:24:48.462-05:00I'm too susceptible to received lists, so I am...I'm too susceptible to received lists, so I am off to explore that Oxford American poll . . .Gilion at Rose City Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18080293172467000794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-55300691459761090512009-09-16T14:57:44.578-05:002009-09-16T14:57:44.578-05:00Jane, the response that gets my goat is the bored ...Jane, the response that gets my goat is the bored dismissal that so many great books get. I didn't get <i>Wuthering Heights</i>, it doesn't work as a romance, I didn't like any of the characters, therefore it's a bad book. Maybe I go too far the other way - but, like you,re doing with Henry James, at least I'm trying. <br /><br />I have vaguely formed plans of doing a big Henry James reading some time. I don't know him that well. I assume, amongst that mass of writing, that some of it is pretty bad. Also good, some of it must be pretty good. There's so much.<br /><br />The Oxford American poll of course includes both of the novels you mention (Lee at #5, McCullers at #11). So Spencer can't include either - that would destroy the integrity of her list. <br /><br />I've actually hever read Harper Lee.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-77710311353894130652009-09-16T13:50:13.587-05:002009-09-16T13:50:13.587-05:00>This is one of my doubts about Appreciationism...>This is one of my doubts about Appreciationism. I worry that I'm too susceptible to received opinion. I'm told books are great, and when I read them I discover that they're great. Perhaps my judgment is less independent, my thinking less critical, than I like to imagine.<br /><br />Boy can I resonate with this, although there are a lot of great books out there whose reputation is deserved. I'm currently struggling to love Henry James. Some authors are just more loveable than others. <br /><br />I think I have more favorite Southern plays than novels...though no list of Southern novels should leave off To Kill a Mockingbird or The Heart is a Lonely HunterJaneGShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11094501834387622997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-46423677616758051812009-09-15T10:30:42.073-05:002009-09-15T10:30:42.073-05:00I'm curious about Edisto. Seems like the kind ...I'm curious about <i>Edisto</i>. Seems like the kind of thing I like.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-50907748466699569422009-09-14T22:48:39.850-05:002009-09-14T22:48:39.850-05:00I read Edisto when it was released and enjoyed it....I read Edisto when it was released and enjoyed it. Then again, I probably remember more about the kegger that happened the weekend that I read the book. Or maybe I'm equally ignorant of both. Such is the payoff from a wayward college education.Dwighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13688525659034403580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-20851445590083529132009-09-14T22:16:30.968-05:002009-09-14T22:16:30.968-05:00I'll give The Last Gentleman a try sometime. D...I'll give <i>The Last Gentleman</i> a try sometime. Definitely keep <i>Huckleberry Finn</i> on the re-read list - it has some serious problems, but the best parts are amazing.<br /><br />You think the accent on "cussèd" points to the right? That's probably correct. Now I'm filled with doubt.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-81860518186206021522009-09-14T17:34:57.003-05:002009-09-14T17:34:57.003-05:00You should definitely read The Last Gentleman. I, ...You should definitely read <em>The Last Gentleman</em>. I, ahem, am only halfway through it...stalled sometime over the summer...but I stalled for a while with <em>The Moviegoer</em> too and I think that's just the reaction I have to Percy even though I end up loving him.<br /><br />Of course, that's the closest I come to having read anything on her list. I've only got 4/10 of the top 10 Oxford Americans, too. And half of those I was not a fan of (I need to re-read Huck Finn, though). Ach, I am as provincial in (American) literature as in life.<br /><br />I know I am definitely too susceptible to received opinion. But I am, at the same time, cussèd. So maybe it balances out.nicolehttp://www.bibliographing.comnoreply@blogger.com