The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare

 

Title:  The Comedy of Errors

Author:  William Shakespeare and Samantha Newman

Narrated by:  Mark Meadows

Publisher: Arcturus Digital

Length: Approximately 41 minutes

Source: Checked out through Hoopla through the Kewaunee Public Library

 

Title:  The Comedy of Errors

Author:  William Shakespeare

Narrated by:  Various Readers

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Length: Approximately 1 hour and 27 minutes

Source: Checked out through Hoopla through the Kewaunee Public Library

What is your favorite Shakespeare Play?

Two of my favorite Shakespeare plays are Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing.  I took Shakespeare in both high school and college, but it has been a while since I have read a Shakespeare play.  My Back to the Classic Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library decided to read The Comedy of Errors for our May pick.

The Comedy of Errors is a short play full for slapstick comedy.  Two sets of twins are separated by a raging storm with one parent tying themselves, their son, and their servant’s son to two different masts and the two masts being separated.  Now Antipholus of Syracuse has been searching for his brother and mother with his servant, Dromio of Syracuse.  When they arrive in Ephesus, much hilarity ensues due to mistaken identities.  Antipholus of Ephesus is a settled and respected merchant and has a servant named Dromio of Ephesus.  How will these identities be sorted out?

One of my book club members recommended an audiobook version that is adapted by Samantha Newman and is Part 1 of the Shakespeare’s Tales Retold for Children series.  This was an entertaining version that was great for really understanding the plot.  I also listened to the actual play from Blackstone audiobook that had a variety of readers and sound effects.  I like listening to Shakespeare and the beauty of the language.  I also checked out a copy of “No Fear” Shakespeare version of The Comedy of Errors from the library as well.  It was very interesting in that it showed a page of the original Shakespeare text and then the other page would be it translated into modern day English.

Overall, A Comedy of Errors is a good Shakespeare play to start with as it is short and simple, but it is not my favorite play.

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

 

Title:  The Hobbit

Author:  JRR Tolkien

Narrated by:  Andy Serkis

Publisher: Recorded Books

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 25 minutes

Source: Purchased from Audible.com

What is a classic that you have always meant to read?  This was my second time reading The Hobbit, but it was the first time for many in my Back to the Classics Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.

Bilbo lives a contented lie in a comfortable hobbit hole.  One day he receives a knock at his door only to discover many visitors including dwarves and a wizard named Gandolf.  Gandolf tells Bilbo that he is going to be the “burglar” for their adventure.  Bilbo soon finds himself on a journey where he visit many new places and learns more about himself.  Will they recover the dwarves’ gold?  Will Bilbo make it back alive?

My thoughts on this audiobook:

·       Andy Serkis was a great narrator for the audiobook, especially the Gollum parts in Chapter 5, “Whispers in the Dark.”  He also was great at singing the songs.

·       I wish there was a prequel about Belladonna Took, Bilbo’s mother.  What kind of adventures did she have with Gandolf?  I forgot about this brief snippet.

·       I loved how Bilbo was an everyman on an adventure.  He discovered himself and how brave he was.

·       The Hobbit is a great prequel to the Lord of the Rings series.

·       This book was great for discussion at our book club.  We may continue reading the Lord of the Rings series one book a year moving forward.

·       This is a coming of age, adventure, and fantasy story.

·       It was also a great comfort read.  I really enjoyed reading it again, it’s been about 25 years since I last read it.

·       I really loved the humor that Tolkien sprinkled throughout the story.

Favorite Quotes:

“In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit.”

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. But sad or merry, I must leave it now. Farewell.”  - I agree with this sentiment!

Overall, The Hobbit by TRR Tolkien is a great adventure story full of great humor.  It’s a book that is fun to reread and Andy Serkis was a great audiobook narrator.

Beloved by Toni Morrison

 

Title:  Beloved

Author:  Toni Morrison, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers - introduction

Narrated by:  Toni Morrison, Karen Murray

Publisher: Random House Audio

Length: Approximately 12 hours and 33 minutes

Source: Purchased from Audible

What is the saddest book you’ve ever read?  I would rate this as one of mine.

Sethe was born into slavery but was able to escape with her children to Ohio.  When her former master finds her and her children, she makes a decision that will haunt her forever.  Now a ghost haunts her home.  When a girl appears with the name Beloved, the only word carved on the tombstone of her baby, is this girl the ghost of her child or an imposter?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This was the January read for the Back to the Classics Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  Only two of us braved the cold, but we had a good discussion on this complex book.  I selected this book as I’ve been too scared to read I on my own as I knew it involved the death of a baby.

·       Toni Morrison won both the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for literature, but this is only the second book of hers that I’ve read.  I really wish we would have studied her when I was in college.

·       This was a deep book that I keep thinking about.  It was written in a very unique way with a variety of narrators and a variety of time periods.

·       I really liked the intro and the ending.  The ending basically said that terrible things happen and are then forgotten.  They need to be remembered so we don’t repeat the terrible things in our history.

·       I was disturbed to find out in the intro that this book was based on a true story.

·       I listened to this book on audiobook.  It was very interesting.  I liked also having a physical copy of the book to read along with it.  I also stopped and looked up chapter summaries on SparkNotes as recommended by a book club member. It did help me to understand what I was reading.

·       This was a very sad novel describing the horrors of slavery.  It was so horrifying that you would kill your own child rather than have them be a slave.  Sexual abuse was used to control the women and it didn’t just break the women, it broke the men as well to see their wives, mothers, and sisters treated this way.

·       Schoolteacher talks about Sethe like she is an animal.  He compares her to a horse and says that you can’t beat a horse too much or you wreck it.  His nephew and others had stolen Sethe’s milk and then whipped her.  She does not want her children to go back to this kind of life.  Other people do not understand this.

·       The house is haunted, and no one will go inside due to what has happened to her.

Overall, Beloved by Toni Morrison was a haunting novel about a terrible part of our history.

The Greatest Gift by Philip van Doren Stern

 

What is a fun or weird gift that you have received in the past?

George Pratt is on a bridge contemplating suicide when a mysterious stranger shows up.  George tells the man his woes and how he wishes he had never been born.  The stranger tells him he has never been born.  George meets with his family members and discovers their lives are worse without him.  Will George come to value his own life?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I reread The Greatest Gift in November for the Back to the Classics Book Club.  We had a good discussion on this story as well as on classic Christmas movies in general.

·       The Greatest Gift is the story that is the basis of the classic Christmas film, It’s a Wonderful Life.  We discussed how in this case, the movie is even better than the original story.  It really took the story and built an unforgettable world.

·       I thought it was funny that in the short story Mary’s fate was to marry a terrible man and have terrible children that mistreat her as does her husband.  In the movie, she is an unmarried librarian.  That doesn’t seem so bad!

·       Philip Van Doren Stern sent his friends and family a Christmas card with a story he had written called “The Greatest Gift.”  The story found its way to a producer at RKO studios, and it eventually became It’s a Wonderful Life.

·       This is a small book.  The first half is the story, and the second half was an afterward by the author’s daughter about how the story came to be and how it became the classic movie.

·       Why are there so many mysterious beings in Christmas stories?  We also read “Markheim” by Robert Louis Stevenson for book blub and a mysterious being also appears in this story.  It’s not explicitly said it’s an angel in either story.

Favorite Quote:

“I understand right enough,” the stranger said slowly. “I just wanted to make sure you did. You had the greatest gift of all conferred upon you—the gift of life, of being a part of this world and taking a part in it. Yet you denied that gift.” As the stranger spoke, the church bell high up on the hill sounded, calling the townspeople to Christmas vespers. Then the downtown church bell started ringing.”

Overall, The Greatest Gift by Philip van Doren Stern is a look into the inspiration behind the Christmas class movie, It’s a Wonderful Life.

Book Source:  Purchased from Amazon.com.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

 

Title:  The Great Gatsby

Author:  F. Scott Fitzgerald

Narrated by:  Sean Astin

Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC

Length: Approximately 5 hours and 30 minutes

Source: Checked out from the Kewaunee Public Library through Hoopla.  Thank-you!

What is your favorite party scene in a book or movie?  Whenever I think of a rip-roaring party scene, I think of The Great Gatsby and his Roaring 1920’s parties.

Jay Gatsby is a very wealthy man, but his love, Daisy, married another while he was stationed overseas during WWI.  His one obsessions is winning back Daisy’s love.  By chance, Daisy’s cousin Nick is staying in a home next door to Gatsby.  As Nick gets involved in their lives, he realizes that not everything is better with wealth.  Will Gatsby win back Daisy’s love?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       The writing in this novel is so beautiful and descriptive.  It is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece.

·       The audiobook narration was excellent.  Sean Astin was an expressive narrator with difference voices depending on the character.

·       I read this in September for the Back to the Classics Book Club pick for the Kewaunee Public Library.  We had a fun discussion the book which ranged from bootlegging to Robert Redford as Gatsby.  We are going to watch the 1974 movie at the end of this month as a tribute to the late Robert Redford.

·       We also discussed how The Great Gatsby became popular as it was sent by the War Department to soldiers in WWII.  It harkened back to happier times in the 1920s, discussed the American dream, and also pointed out that even rich people have problems.

·       The parties at Gatsby’s house are just crazy.  The book describes the roaring 20’s excess perfectly.

·       Gatsby was the American dream.  He reinvented himself from his humble American beginnings.  He did all he could to amass great wealth.  He dreamed of the beautiful Southern girl with a voice “full of money.”  He very nearly had it all, before it all came crashing down.

·       The plot really showed how money drives society.

·       I read this for class in high school and twice in college, but I still love it every time I reread it.

·       I enjoyed how the book has the mystery of Nick finding out who Jay Gatsby truly was and where he came from as well as a slight murder mystery at the end as well.  It was an interesting story.

There are so many great quotes in this book.  A few of my favorites include:

“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning-- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”

“So we drove on toward death through the cooling twilight.”

Overall, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald has an engaging and unique plot with vividly drawn characters.  This book is a classic for a reason.

The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor

 

Did you have any favorite short stories that you read in high school?  I read a few Flannery O’Connor short stories in both high school and college American Literature classes and enjoyed them.  They were well written and had surprise endings that were unlike most other stories.  I picked The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor for the July pick for my Back to the Classics Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  We watched the movie Wildcat (2023) in August about the life of Flannery O’Connor.

My thoughts on the short stories and movie:

·       I don’t think the ladies of my book club enjoyed the stories as much as I did, but I enjoyed reading it.  The movie was strange and hilarious in ways.  I learned a lot about Flannery O’Connor and enjoyed seeing some of her short stories on the screen.  We enjoyed watching the movie as a group.  I did not think a Flannery O’Connor story could make me laugh, but it did.  One member said that the stories reminded her of The Twilight Zone and that is a great description.  Another recommended looking up each story online to really understand the religious subtext of the stories, which is a great recommendation.

·       O’Connor seemed to really target mothers and grandmothers in her stories that try to control their offspring or are stuck in their old ways and unable to adapt to a changing world.  I found this to be fascinating.

·       The stories really seemed to focus on the Southern myth and how people were stuck in their own thoughts of past grandeur and are unable to move on to the present (example their ancestor had a plantation and 200 slaves, but they themselves live in poverty).

·       The stories pick on the racist thoughts that were prevalent at the time and bring them to the forefront for the reader to really think about.  People say her works are racist now because of her use of the N word.  The stories instead made me really think about race.

·       The stories tend to focus on that people or things were not what they appeared to be.

·       Hypocrisy was a major theme.

·       Pride, idolatry over family heritage were also themes and people thinking they are better than others.

·       The stories overall really made me think.  Some of the stories stood out more than others.  My favorite is still A Good Man is Hard to Find.

·       I thought it was interesting that it appears that the Boomer generation in my book club did not read her in school.  My children (Gen Z) also did not read her.  I did as a Gen X.  O’Conner did discuss race frankly and use the N word.  As she says in the movie, that is how people talked in the South at that time.  Her stories on race ring true sadly still now, but minus the N word.  Unfortunately, I have heard people I know talking about classifying people based on race and economics as is discussed in the stories.

·       I also listened to the audiobooks, A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories narrated by Marguerite Gavin and Everything that Rises Must Converge narrated by Bronson Pinchot, Karen White, Mark Bramhall, and Lorna Raver.  Both were excellent and well worth listening to.

·       I kept a notebook with notes on each story so I could go on for quite a while, but this is my general review of the book.

Overall, I have thought about The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor long after I have turned the last page.  They are brilliantly written and unique Southern Gothic short stories.

Book Source:  I purchased The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor at a used book store many years ago.  I also purchased two short story collections on audible this summer.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

 

Title:  The Wind in the Willows

Author:  Kenneth Grahame

Narrated by:  Callum Hale with music by Dylan Allcock

Publisher: Findaway Voices

Length: Approximately 6 hours and 8 minutes

Source: Checked out from the Kewaunee Public Library through Hoopla

If you were represented by an animal in fiction, what would you be?  I would like to be represented by a cat.

The Wind in the Willows is the story and adventures of Mole, Rat, Badger, and Toad.  Toad is incorrigible and gets into lots of scraps.  Luckily, he has friends to help him out in times of trouble.

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I loved the audiobook version.  It had a great narrator, sound effects, and music.

·       This book had a lot of songs in it, and I liked how they were sung in the audiobook.

·       This was the May selection for the Back to the Classics Book Club, although we did meet the first week of June this time.  I finished just in time!

·       We all agreed that this was a nice, mellow, and happy book.

·       Kenneth Grahame told these stories to his son while he grew up.  He didn’t write any other books after this.  I was hoping for a The Wind in the Willows book two.

·       It was strange when the animals eat a stew and list all the various creatures in it.  Aren’t you eating your friends?

·       I read that either you are a toad fan or a everything else fan.  I like the book, but I really felt the story lighted up whenever Toad entered the room with his escapades.

·       The hard cover copy illustrated by Michael Hague had beautiful pictures.

·       This book had great friendships between the animals.

·       This novel was first published in 1908.

Overall, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame is a perfect book to read to unwind, relax, and escape to another world.

 

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

 

Title:   I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Author:  Maya Angelou

Narrated by:  Maya Angelou

Publisher: Random House Audio

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 11 minutes

Source: Audiobook Purchased from Audible

Do you like audiobooks narrated by the author?  I love them, especially when they are memoirs. I have read a physical copy of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou in the past, but it was especially wonderful this time to listen to Maya Angelou narrate her own story.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was Maya Angelou’s debut memoir, and it details her childhood until the age of seventeen.  This memoir is unique in its structure, prose, and depth of feeling.  She changed the way that memoirs were written.

Other thoughts on this novel:

·       I reread this novel in March for the Back to the Classics Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  We had a great discussion about it.

·       This book is frequently banned.  I was dismayed to see it back in the news again recently as it has been removed from the shelves at the Naval Institute.  This is a travesty.

·       Maya and her brother Bailey were sent on a cross-country train alone from California to Arkansas when they are very young by their parents.  I just can’t imagine this!

·       I loved how Maya is always reading such great books at an early age.

·       Horrible things happened to Maya as a child, and she stops speaking. I loved that a teacher, Mrs. Bertha Flowers helps her to get her voice back.  She said you can not truly love poetry until you speak it.  She helped to introduce her to great authors.

·       Maya experienced so many things in her life up to age 17:  rape, being the first black streetcar operator in San Francisco, living in a junk yard, driving for the first time when she had to get her drunk father home from Mexico, etc.  It culminated with her having a baby.

·       This memoir soars with love and laughter, but also pain and neglect.  Angelou tells her story in a raw and honest way.

·       In her raw and honest way, Angelous discusses her feeling on sexuality as she grew up being confused during puberty.

·       Angelou’s parents angered me.  While her mother does help her with self-confidence and determination as a teenager, neither were there for their children and put them in awful situations.

·       “Mama” their grandmother, was truly a greater person raising her grandkids as best as she could.

Overall, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou is a compelling memoir that is great for a book club discussion.  Angelou tells her amazing story in an authentic and sincere way.  This classic should not be missed.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

 

Title: A Tale of Two Cities

Author:  Charles Dickens

Narrated by:  Simon Vance

Publisher: Tantor Audiobook Classics

Length: Approximately 13 hours and 39 minutes

Source: Audiobook Purchased from Audible (free on Audible)

Are you a fan of Charles Dickens?  If so, what is your favorite Dickens novel?

Dr. Alexandre Manette is wrongfully imprisoned in the Bastille for eighteen years.  After his release, he is reunited with his daughter, Lucie.  She marries Charles Darney and life is good, until the family is tricked into going to Paris during the French Revolution.  They will learn the truth of their past and the value of sacrifice and friendship.

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This was the January pick for the Back to the Classic Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  It prompted a good discussion.

·       I had not read this book since high school, so it was due for a reread.

·       I listened to the audiobook and read along in a physical copy. 

·       This was different than other Dickens novels as this was written as historical fiction during this lifetime.

·       It appeared that everyone at book club enjoyed this book, although we had troubles at times with following the actions of all the characters throughout the novel.  Especially as some characters shared the same name.  This was especially confusing while listening to the audiobook!

·       This novel as the best opening and closing lines of a novel of all time.  “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.”  “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”

·       The two cities of the novel are London and Paris, but the Paris scenes to me were the most memorable.

·       This was a great story.  Why was Madame Defarge so vengeful?  The reader finally gets the reasons behind her vengeance at the end of the novel.  It took Madame Defarge from being a cartoon villain to a woman who deeply loved her family and wanted vengeance for their abuse and death.

·       It was a great story of the French Revolution.  It really explains why average citizens were so mad and took their vengeance.  Unfortunately, vengeance can go too far and innocent people got swept up in the fury.

·       The female main part was underwritten.  Lucie Manette is just pretty and simple.  It was hard to see why men were literally ready to die for her.

·       Sidney Carton was the best written character with shades of grey.  I wish that the reader was able to learn more about his background.

·       I was horrified by the Marquis carriage running over a child at the beginning of the novel and how he didn’t care at all.

Overall, A Tale of Two Cities is a must-read classic about the French Revolution with a great story and memorable characters and quotes.

Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

 

Title:  Far From the Madding Crowd

Author:  Thomas Hardy

Narrated by:  Jamie Parker

Publisher: Naxos AudioBooks

Length: Approximately 17 hours and 28 minutes

Source: Checked out with Hoopla through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you.

If you could live in any book world, which would it be?

Gabriel Oak is a successful tenant farmer that raises sheep.  He falls in love with a beautiful young woman, Bathsheba Everdeen, that has come to the area to visit.  He has proposed, but she refused him and left that area.  After a devastating accident, Gabriel loses his sheep and tenant farm.  He travels looking for work as a shepherd and gets a job at a farm in a different county.  He soon learns that the farm is owned by none other than Bathsheba Everdeen.  Bathsheba has inherited the farm and is learning how to run everything herself.  She also finds time for romance with two other men with faithful Gabriel looking on.  Will Bathsheba find her soulmate?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       Far From the Madding Crowd was the June read for the Back to the Classics Book Club.  We had a good discussion and enjoyed the story . . . even if Hardy tended to get long winded in his descriptions.

·       Gabriel Oak had a tragedy early on with his 200 ewes when his young dog drove them over a cliff killing them all.  This caught my mind and my imagination.  There was insurance at the time for this type of catastrophe, but Gabriel had not purchased it.  This caused his to lose everything.

·       I liked how Hardy chose the names of his characters.  Gabriel Oak is a good man with a strong character.  Bathsheba Everdeen is fickle with her feelings and dealings with men.  She is young and doesn’t understand the consequences of how she treats others.  She grows up a lot in the novel.

·       I liked that Bathsheba was a woman with her own mind.  She was trying to run her farm herself and to learn how to do it on her own.  She was impetuous though and headstrong which caused her to make poor decisions at times.  She was a complicated character.

·       I liked the parallel story of a young servant girl who runs away with her suitor, but through an honest mistake, becomes a single pregnant woman.  Life was cruel to unwed mothers with no means to make a living.  She had to pay for her mistake.

·       The novel was beautifully written, and I enjoyed the descriptions and storyline.

·       Jamie Parker was a great audiobook narrator.  He had a lot of different voices for different characters and acted out the parts.

Overall, Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy was a beautifully written novel with great characters and an intriguing storyline.  It’s a good book to discuss as a book club selection.  It really made me want to visit Wessex!