I have a review up on The Shelf Life Blog. It's a review of Her Fearful Symmetry, the new book by Audrey Niffeneger. She wrote The Time Traveler's Wife, which I loved, but unfortunately I did not love this book. I loved things about it, but then it turned on me.
Right now I'm about 150 pages into an 864 page book, Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. So far I'm enjoying it. It doesn't move too fast, but I guess if you've got 864 pages in which to tell your tale, you can afford to take your time with it.
In my senior English classes we're reading a few of The Canterbury Tales, which the students always enjoy. They love "The Pardoner's Tale" especially. In eleventh grade, we're reading The Crucible, which I love and haven't been able to teach since my student teaching, because that was the last time I taught American lit. The kids like it too. There's nothing like having a student read out Abigail's lines "...Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring you a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it..." and hearing the rest of the class draw in breath and go "Oooh!" Everyone loves a bad girl.
My Youniverse
3 comments:
I think p. 150 may be where I gave up. Very curious to see what you think!
I LOVED LOVED LOVED Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell with a white-hot passion. Yes, it takes immersion and attention, but there are so many individual sentences that were little gifts in and of themselves. It's very sly in parts, as well. I'm only sad that I can't read it again for the first time. Please! Keep reading! Enjoy.
I didn't make it past the halfway point in t Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, so good luck. I'm sure the payoff of finishing the story would be good, and maybe another time I'll try it again!
Like your blog!
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