Classics

Austin, Jane. Northanger Abbey. Penguin Classics, 1985. Written as a humorous commentary on the Gothic novel, Jane Austen takes us into the life of eighteen year old Catherine Morland. Catherine’s family is poor but respectable. Her more prosperous neighbors offer to take her to Bath in order for her to “come out” in society. Because she is poor, her choice of marriage partners is limited. Catherine meets and falls in love with Henry Tilney. Henry needs a wealthy bride, but loves Catherine. Is there any hope for their love?

Austin, Jane. Persuasion. Penguin Classics, 1985. Young Ann Elliott, who is rich and beautiful, falls in love with Mr. Wentworh, who is handsome but poor. Because of family pressures, Ann rejects Mr. Wentworth’s marriage proposal. Years later, when she is no longer beautiful, Ann’s family is experiencing financial problems. When Mr. Wentworth, now Captain Wentworth, reappears she finds that she still loves him. Does the Captain want revenge because of Ann’s rejection or is he still in love with her?

Dumas, Alexandre. The Count of Monte Cristo. Dodd, Mead, 1984. The sailor Edmond Dantes is living a life that bids fair to turn out "happily ever after." He is a handsome young man, loved by a good and beautiful woman, and is in line to become captain of his ship. What could possibly go wrong? Plenty. Dantes' good fortune has earned him several enemies: Danglars, his envious shipmate; Fernand Mondego, his rival for the affections of the beautiful Mercedes; the greedy innkeeper Caderousse, and the public prosecutor Monsieur de Villefort. Together, they conspire to have Dantes imprisoned in the Chateau d'If on charges of Bonapartist conspiracy, believing that he will never come out alive. But he does . . . and in possession of a secret that leads to a fortune and the means of taking revenge on his enemies. Styling himself The Count of Monte Cristo and newly risen from the figurative grave of the Chateau d'If, Dantes proceeds to reward the good and punish the wicked, believing himself an agent of God. As Dantes cuts a swath through French society the reader will find himself turning the pages faster and faster to discover whether anything or anyone can stop this wronged man's implacable progress. For anyone who enjoys a grand narrative of good vs. evil, The Count of Monte Cristo is a suspenseful must-read.

Frank, Pat. Alas, Babylon. Lippencott, 1959. Alas, Babylon tells how a small town in Florida named Fort Repose survives the year following a worldwide nuclear war. The residents of Fort Repose witness the destruction of neighboring cities and discover that they are completely isolated from the rest of the country. With no electricity, communications or imported goods a couple of the town’s residents hang onto hope and learn the basics of survival. Frank’s book shows the final end of humanity while this one describes the effects of nuclear war upon everyday people and how they survived.

Gaskell, Elizabeth. Mary Barton. Oxford University Press, 1987. Mary Barton, a poor working class girl, gets involved in murder, romance and intrigue in Manchester, England of the 1840s. The author, Gaskell, was a champion of the working class and a contemporary of Charles Dickens and Charlotte Bronte. A must read for anyone who is a Dickens or Bronte fan.

Gaskell, Elizabeth. North & South. Penguin Classics, 1986. Margaret Hale and John Thornton are complete opposites. She is cultured and genteel and he is an uncultured, but rich factory owner. When they meet they heartily dislike each other. Both are completely wrong in their perceptions. These perceptions change when they experience tragedy and loss.

Greene, Bette. The Summer of My German Soldier. Dial Press, 1973. Jenkinsville, Arkansas during WWII. The perfect place to have a prisoner of war camp. The people of this small town quickly share what they have heard about the Nazi mind and behavior. Patty Bergen's dad runs the local department store where Patty meets one of the Nazi prisoners one day. She welcomes his friendship and from there the story takes off. This story includes not only Nazi soldiers but a young Jewish girl and her parents and the small town gossip and a black maid/nanny who has more love and smarts than most of the other folks. Would this happen today? Read and see what you think.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Pendulum Press, 1974. A young lady, Hester Prynne, is found to be pregnant and must wear the scarlet letter “A” on her clothing as punishment in this classic American novel. The story takes place in 17th century Salem, Massachusetts. A Puritan town where moral and religious values are held high, Hester is constantly looked down upon by the residents of the town for committing the sin of adultery. She is a dignified, beautiful woman who is banished to wear the scarlet letter “A” on her bosom as a sign of shame for the rest of her life. Her lover, the father of her child, Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale, is a quite and reserved man of the cloth, who never has the nerve to tell of his involvement with this young lady nor her child. Her estranged husband, Roger Chillingsworth, who earlier left town for personal reasons, returns to find his wife pregnant with another man’s child. Her vengeful husband, who discovers that Dimmesdale is the father, befriends and slowly but secretly poisons him. Dimmesdale, who is unaware that he is being poisoned, does not speak a word of his involvement with Hester to anyone throughout the entire saga. He is not sure if he is dying due to declining health or from the guilt of knowing that he has committed adultery and fathered an illegitimate child. As the story unfolds, a detailed character analysis is given on each character. We learn all about the character traits of Dimmesdale, Chillingsworth, Hester and her unconventional but loveable daughter Pearl. The Scarlet Letter is a true treasure. It is truly a gripping and intriguing classic American novel that is a must read for both young and old.

Hugo, Victor. Les Miserables. Knopf, 1997. After spending years in prison or the crime of stealing bread to feed his starving family, ex-convict Jean Valjean attempts to make a new life for himself by shedding his old identity and devoting himself to good works and improving the lot of his fellow men. However, his nemesis Inspector Javert is determined to capture him, however long it takes, and the conflict between these two characters forms the main plot of Victor Hugo's massive and fascinating novel Les Miserables. Along the way we also meet such characters as Fantine, a good woman driven into prostitution by hardship; her daughter Cosette; the vicious and greedy Thenardiers, and Enjolras the revolutionary leader, along with many more. The plot is often melodramatic, with the primary characters purposely drawn larger than life--Javert and Valjean might just as well be wearing placards that announce that they are symbols of the Letter of the Law vs. the Spirit of the Law--but they make for absorbing reading nevertheless. Valjean gives uplifting reassurance that a man can overcome his past errors and rise to greatness, and Javert is an awful warning against trusting too much in one's own virtue. The inspiration for many spin-offs, including a Broadway musical, numerous film versions, and the hit television series The Fugitive, Les Miserables is a novel that has truly earned the name of classic.

Mitchell, Margaret. Gone With The Wind. Macmillan, 1936. This monumental classic is considered by many to be not only the greatest love story ever written, but also the greatest Civil War saga. Gone With the Wind is a sweeping, romantic story about the American Civil War from the point of view of the Confederacy. In particular, it is the story of Scarlett O'Hara, a headstrong Southern belle who survives the hardships of the war and afterwards manages to establish a successful business by capitalizing on the struggle to rebuild the South. Throughout the book she is motivated by her unfulfilled love for Ashley Wilkes, an honorable man who is happily married. After a series of marriages and failed relationships with other men, notably the dashing Rhett Butler, she has a change of heart and determines to win Rhett back. Released in 1936, it sold more than 50,000 copies on the first day. It won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize. Now available in many languages, it is still as popular today. The 1939 film starring Clark Gable & Vivian Leigh was named the number 1 film of all time by the American Film Institute. Both the film and the book are excellent!

Plutarch. The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives. Translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert. Penguin Classics, 1960. Writing during the reign of Roman Emperor Hadrian, Plutarch recreates the biographies of nine ancient Greek statesmen: Theseus, Solon, Themistocles, Aristides, Cimon, Pericles, Nicias, Alcibiades and Lysander. Plutarch describes ruling styles, personal idiosyncrasies and tragedies in lives of these first leaders of the democratic city-state of Athens.

Sheldon, Charles. In His Steps. John C. Winston Company, 1937. The pastor of the Raymond church challenged his congregation to make a pledge. Fifty people made the pledge the first Sunday and later another fifty. They promised that for one year they would do nothing in their lives until first asking the question "What would Jesus do?" They would not try to make this determination for anyone else but themselves. The story tells how this challenge impacted the personal and business lives of the people who took the challenge. Even a city election and issues of concern were affected. This movement was picked up by churches in Chicago and other parts of the country. This classic gives one plenty of reasons to pause and think of what we do in our daily lives.

Shute, Nevil. On The Beach. Morrow, 1957. On the Beach tells a simple story. Nuclear war has devastated the Northern Hemisphere. A small group of survivors in Australia wait the 7 or 8 months for the radioactivity to drift south-wards. The bad thing is that all people in Melbourne are going to die when the radiation reaches the city on a special date. The story focuses on this group of people and their willingness (or in some cases unwillingness) to accept the fate that awaits them.

Steinbeck, John. East of Eden. Viking Press, 1952. Steinbeck’s novel is a symbolic recreation of the biblical story of Cain and Abel woven into a history of California's Salinas Valley. With East of Spanning the period between the American Civil War and the end of World War I, the novel highlights the conflicts of two generations of brothers; the first being the kind, gentle Adam Trask and his wild brother Charles. Adam eventually marries Cathy Ames, an evil, manipulative, and beautiful prostitute; she betrays him, sleeping with Charles on the very night of their wedding. Later, after giving birth to twin boys, she shoots Adam and leaves him to return to her former profession. In the shadow of this heritage, Adam raises their sons, the fair-haired, winning, yet intractable Aron, and the dark, clever Caleb. This second generation of brothers vie for their father's approval. In bitterness Caleb reveals the truth about their mother to Aron, who then joins the army and is killed in France.

Thackeray, William Makepeace. Vanity Fair. Random House, 1991. This is perhaps Thackeray's most famous novel, and the one which earned him praise from his fellow literati. The novel tells the story of two women, Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley. While Amelia is sweet and even tempered, if somewhat spoiled, Becky is devious and conniving - a villainess readers will love to hate. The novel follows the women through the ups and downs of their lives. Amelia's wealthy merchant father loses his money and Amelia must cope with being suddenly poor, while Becky schemes her way into high society. The novel follows the women from London, to Brussels and back to London where we watch them grow from schoolgirls to wives and mothers. Thackeray introduces us to a long and varied cast of characters and innumerable plot twists that make the story a fun and fascinating one.

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Silmarillion. Edited by Christopher Tolkien. Del Rey, 1999.
In this book, published posthumously and edited by his son, Christopher, Tolkien establishes the creation of Middle Earth and describes the creation of elves and men. Each chapter can be read as a short story and tells the history of Middle Earth through the 1st and 2nd Ages (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy occur in the 3rd Age). The Silmarillion fills in the historical gaps in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Captivating reading, especially for anyone who is fascinated with Middle Earth.

February 12, 2003