I am in a book club on another board.

So far we have read Moll Flanders & Madame Bovary.

We are starting Tess of the D'urbervilles right now.

We read about one book per month, so it is rather low pressure.

We post a few posts about each book, but not spoilers,
(usually outdated/quirky words we do not know with definitions)
then at the end, give our opinions of the book/characters/writing.

If anyone wants to read with me, let me know.
Most of these books you can get at your local library too.

After Tess, we will do Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf.

Looks like in TESS, we have some real winner parents again:


I loved the description of the mother "Her mother's intelligence was that of a
happy child: Joan Durbeyfield was simply an additional one..."


And I loved the description of the dad:

"Durbeyfield was what was locally called a slack-twisted fellow;
he had good strength to work at times; but the times could not be relied
on to coincide with the hours of requirement...."




After 'Mrs Dalloway', we are reading 'Call of the Wild'.

Sounds interesting!

I would love to take part but am reading two pretty involved books, right now.

I have finished TESS!

One part I knew what would happen,
That she'd meet up with her first lover,
but I really did not foresee the ending so much.

In 2 parts I thought TESS was foolish:
when she would not get help from her in-laws, and the ending.
Not that they would have helped her, and she sensed
that, and that would hurt her more and she shied away.
For the ending, I think she could have simply left the situation
without the added drama. But then my ending would not have
made the story a classic book ...and it may not have rung true
to deep human nature and pain either.

Obviously the men were harsh and indifferent to her,
I think she cracked in the end; she was just pushed too much
and she had lost a baby. All that heartache and loss of dignity
with no baby to show for it anyway.

And her parents were ineffectual and too fertile.
All this does not make a happy life without some bad consequence.

*****

Next Up: 'Mrs. Dalloway' in 1-2 weeks.

Here's an emoticon to go with Virginia Wolf.

thank you!

i had to read Tess a few years back in school. could not get through it. i wrote my essay on it using Sparknotes

It picked up at one point and then was more interesting.

I knew Alec would see her again.

She should have confronted him with the baby and gave him a chance.

In those days, a woman HAD to have a husband if there was a baby.

How about her parents sending her off to a strange place
with a strange man, nice eh?

malazan tales of the fallen: Gardens of the Moon ,by steven erickson

rright hhhup my fantasy dork alley

QUOTE (peachfuzz @ Aug 17 2009, 08:39 PM)

I am in a book club on another board. So far we have read Moll Flanders & Madame Bovary. We are starting Tess of the D'urbervilles right now. We read about one book per month, so it is rather low pressure. We post a few posts about each book, but not spoilers, (usually outdated/quirky words we do not know with definitions) then at the end, give our opinions of the book/characters/writing. If anyone wants to read with me, let me know. Most of these books you can get at your local library too. After Tess, we will do Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf.