Been reading stuff from across the pond

Scally the Wag · June 7, 2006

which has been on my shelf for yonks,

and partly because I also kept staring at Stephen Crane & James Fenimore Cooper.

Gatsby answered a few questions for me but came across as rather too short to have any great impact. It wasn't the length per se that I found unsatisfying but the rather sudden demise of the house parties.

When I was a youngster, the Redford film was out and the class smoothies were all raving about it. I remember them going on and on about Gatsby's shirts - the wardrobes full of them. Their idea of success in life was to have access to an unlimited stash of Ben Shermans for bird-pulling purposes. Given the overall theme of the book, I find that rather amusing.

To be honest though, for a book that transported me into a different time and way of life, Brideshead Revisited wins hands down.

The Red Badge of Courage is ace. Don't know how I missed it for so long. Even my kid read it when he was 10. I would strongly recommend it as a study in fear and, as a result, self-deception.

As for Fenimore Cooper, it had to be Hawk-eye & co. Absolutely marvelous. The text reads so easily - including the French bits - event after almost 200 years.

Following my early reading of Moby Dick, which is immense in numerous ways, I have warmed to classic American literature.

Not so sure if I'll pick up Hemmingway again though. Unless it rains. Really rains. Heavy rain.

Edited June 7, 2006 by Scally the Wag

Kahnee · June 7, 2006

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