Melissa > Recent Status Updates

Very much enjoying the groans and begging to read more every time I try to stop reading this aloud to my crew. Only the oldest was still interested after the terribly long first chapter of modern day with not the greatest MC narrator, but once we got into the actual princess bride story they are glued.

I'm surprised at how vividly I remember some of these scenes when I come across them from when I read it nearly 25 years ago. I dislike how much time is spent on setting the scene in this book sometimes, but at the same time, when I start reading some scenes, I think, hmm, I remember her in this hallway comforting a kid, or at this windowsill contemplating the world, so I guess it works in cementing it into memory.

I'm confused why this book is for children, I mean, sure, some are exposed to things they shouldn't be & it's "real" but just why... & why is there no plot?! No plot makes this too mature content not even make any sense... Grump. I'm now just reading this to see what other thing can shock me as to what the author thought "oh yeah, this is good fodder for a children's book...scribble, scribble, scribble..."

Loving reading classics aloud with my daughter for the vocab. Coming across words we hardly use anymore, like surcease, which frankly is one of my favorite words to say out loud. I've tried to use it every day now because it's just too fun to say and shouldn't just be relegated to books! Do you have a favorite big word to say aloud?

Me & the girl have read Hardy's Bathsheba (vain & truly bad at making good decisions) then Gone with the Wind's Scarlett (Selfish as all get out), so I'm figuring next should be Austen's Emma since she spoke of her as “a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.” Can you imagine those three together in a room? Or maybe Vanity Fair's Becky Sharp. Decisions, decisions... which terrible heroine to read next...

Going to do a Far from the Madding Crowd Movie Marathon, 1967, 1998, and 2015, do you have a favorite? We'll see if I do!

Ch. 37 - I've not read a prettier description of a storm. Hardy is a master of description, impressing me over & over with his word pictures, not making me wish he'd just get on with it. It made me wish I was as ingenious with setting, but either he was naturally gifted (which I'm not) or he spent TONS OF TIME coming up with it and I'm afraid I could spend just as much time & still fail to be this clever.

My girl is done with Bathsheba-she no longer cares if the woman makes a foolish choice or not, but she's still here for Gabriel Oak. :) Still enjoying the writing/descriptions.

I sure hope there's actual good info in here, this dude might say he knows how to think, but his ability to write a book is lacking. Who puts the note about the author as chapter 3? Just weird. I write my own author bio, and yes I write it in third person, but it's at the end. But mixed in with the text REALLY makes it weird for the author to be speaking about themselves in the 3rd person. Skimming a lot.

Ok, I shouldn't have laughed so hard at dying sheep, but Thomas's descriptions are just so detailed and sometimes so random, but also endearing and sometimes hilarious. Like the detail about a shepherd getting interrupted while lost in his Bible "..I was sitting at home, looking for Ephesians, and says I to myself, ' 'Tis nothing but Corinthians and Thessalonians in this danged Testament." Such a random detail, no?

OH! So much better than what we just slogged through. I was a little afraid that one of my faves from High School would not hold up (Like Rebecca didn't) but this first chapter is one of the best even if it is mostly description. The description is exquisite. Here's hoping this is as good as I remember, because Hardy became one of my favorite authors after reading this book. (Even if Jude the Obscure is just dumb.)