Friday 10 April 2015

Friday Memes: Book Beginnings, Friday 56, Feature and Follow Friday

I have been far too distracted lately, unable to focus my attention for very long on reading or writing reviews. I have lost count as to how many books I have started and tossed aside over the last few weeks. Not to mention the plethora of half-attempted reviews. I think it is time to take a little break away from this blog and re-charge. However, I will be taking several literary works on my mini-vacation including some poetry (collection of Keats), To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (comfort reading) and some other light entertaining beach reads, which will undoubtedly include Elmore Leonard. I do not know how long I will be gone but I hope to at least finish The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton before returning.




Thanks to Rose City Reader for hosting this meme. Share the first line or two from the book you are reading and provide some brief impressions:

"The suburb of Saffron Park lay on the sunset side of London, as red and ragged as a cloud of sunset. It was built of a bright brick throughout; its sky-line was fantastic, and even its ground plan was wild."

Chesterton sets the scene for his mad-cap thriller with some strong imagery and foreshadowing. One can visualize the endless rows of identical brick houses painted in red. The adjective of "ragged" is interesting; perhaps alluding to a sense of imperfection, something faulty, unstable. I get the sense here that the  author seems to be building up towards something crazy and unexpected. Is he trying to peel back the veneer of suburbia to reveal its ugliness and depravity? Dunno.


Thanks to Freda's Voice for hosting this meme, which works nicely in conjunction with Books Beginnings. All you have to do is grab any book, turn to page 56 (or 56% in your e-reader) and share any sentence. Taken from the same book:  

"Now you must insist, and insist absolutely, on the duel coming off after seven tomorrow, so as to give me the chance of preventing him from catching the 7:45 for Paris."

Pistols at dawn! Hell yeah. I haven't gotten this far yet but color me intrigued. Someone is intent on going straight-up gangsta. 


Thanks to Parajunkee and Alison Can Read
for hosting this blog-hopping meme. Question of the week:
 

Have you ever read a book you thought you'd hate but loved or vice versa? 

More the latter. I tend to have fairly high expectations for many "classics" but have been disappointed on so many occasions. Most recently, The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, Passage to India by E.M. Forster, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. The list goes on...

Catch ya'll on the flip-side.

19 comments:

  1. I love these quotes! The description of the neighborhood is quite vivid, and then to have a duel? A real must read!
    Enjoy you hiatus.

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    1. Indeed, the beginning is wonderful. I haven't reached the duel yet though. My trip was brief but enjoyable. I got a lot of fresh air and sunshine. :)

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  2. I've been let down by a number of classics, I didn't like Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre. I've tried multiple times to get into them.

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    1. It took a while for Jane Austen to grow on me, especial P+P. I had to read twice before I was able to fall in love with it and now Austen is one of my favorite authors. I have not been able to finish Jane Eyre though. Started it on several different occasions but never got very far before getting bored and moving on to something else.

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  3. New GFC follower. Iv'e got Wuthering Heights on my tablet but have yet to read it. I really need to give it a try where its a classic but can't seem to bring myself to read it yet. Here is my F&F post: http://mountainrhinestones.blogspot.com/2015/04/feature-and-follow-3.html

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  4. Oh, I love Wuthering Heights! I can see not liking it though. Most people who read it with me did not like it in the least.

    New follower!
    My FF!

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    1. Thanks for following my blog Cayt! Yeah, I am one of those people you speak of who found Wuthering Heights to be deplorable in every way.

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  5. I didn’t mind Wuthering Heights, but I really struggled with Passage to India. I just couldn’t get into it.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. I have suffered through a lot of terrible novels over the years but Wuthering Heights would be high up on that list for causing me an exorbitant amount of pain to finish.

      At least we agree with Passage to India. Such a disappointment.

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  6. Very descriptive beginning, I like that! Sounds very interesting mixed with the 56.
    Happy weekend!

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  7. Wuthering Heights was enjoyable! Not my favorite read, though!

    New follower via GFC & Bloglovin!

    Here's my FF!

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    1. That seems like a contradiction of sorts...hehe.

      Thanks for following Jennifer. I like your blog and did the same. :)

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  8. Wow, have a great vacation! I hope you have a wonderful relaxing time and get lots of reading in. AND I hope you're able to finish The Man Who Was Thursday!

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    1. Well, it was more of a mini-vacation. It got cut short due to time constraints and family stuff but I am hoping to get away soon for a longer duration. I didn't manage to get as much reading done as planned but I am almost finished with The Man Who Was Thursday! Only a few more chapters to go.

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  9. I read "classics" when I'm in some kind of depression.New follower via GFC,
    Silvy @Books are my life

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    1. Not sure I fully understand what you mean here...

      Thanks for following Silvy.

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  10. Do check out my FF: http://bookstopcorner.blogspot.in/2015/04/feature-follow-8-judging-book-before.html

    Old Follower

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    1. Hello Aditi, good to hear from you again. Yours is good thanks.

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