My Thoughts on ~The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens~

Hey there, book-lovers!

It's been awhile to share my thoughts on my favourite novelists, which include Charles Dickens. If you're like me, you perhaps go on the internet regularly, but you still mildly resist to the idea of reading books paperless. Today, I want to introduce to you, a book that I have recently read of Dickens - It's called The Old Curiosity Shop. It's really not been a long time since I began to love his writing.

I am in my early-going-mid 20's, and I felt like Dickens, as I was reading this book, was the most brilliant writer ever.

I did read a concluding remark at the end of the pages by some brilliant person, and I may be unconsciously sharing of his/her remarkable commentaries. But, I shall try not to so I can actually share what I THINK!

So, not many perhaps, have read all of Dickens' literary works, so The Old Curiosity Shop, may not have be familiar to public readers (including yourself).

First of all, what I really LOVE about it is that, despite those 'literary criticisms' heavily imposed by the historical readers and critics, I really, really loved every bit of the book - even the plot! Now wait a minute, obviously plot has to be good in order to be readable. What I meant was, people commonly criticized the way Dickens drew his plot towards the end.

So, why did I not criticize it? Personally, I had too much emotional strength in the protagonist, Nell. So, when the story did not turn out great for her as I hoped it would be, I still loved her for what she did in previous chapters. Dickens, through her and other characters, discussed his moral values (besides his witty comments and many sarcasms) upon common folks' society, ranging from a servant to a grandfather who runs a little curiosity shop (it's sort of like an antique shop) and lives with his granddaughter Nell, an evil mastermind behind all misfortunes to the weak and naive ones, and to money-driven lawyers.

Justice is eventually served (as I exclaimed, yes!). But the element of innocence achieved through a little girl's perspective - her longing for sibling's love, to depend upon her grandfather - is difficult to be realized as she has to depend only upon herself. Her bravery, unconditional love for her grandfather, and her gentle, kind manner are some things to be praised. 

Perhaps being an emotional reader and a watcher, I cried a little at the end - when things didn't work out for little Nell - but, the book served its purpose of creating strong emotions for her.

Dickens' way of writing, which is hard to describe, is simply beautiful and full of wits. He would take you to a very imaginative, but yet so real life story. 

If you want to start, or continue indulging on some great classics, this book is the one for you. I hope you'll enjoy the wonderful journey of beautiful life, and realize that, how it changes so fast, yet, each moment was precious because it is short-lived. I think it was particularly applicable in this case, because everyone's life was so different at the concluding chapter (including yours!).

And I hope when you are reading this book, you will feel as I did, that good virtues never die.

Lord of the Rings - onto the last chapter...

I have finally read two-thirds of the all-time favourite book - <The Lord of the Rings> by J. R. R. Tolkien. It is indeed a worthy book, because of poetries and songs; I just cannot get over at how incredible it is!

At first, I thought it would be difficult to read such a grand classic (and a thick book to begin with, it is almost 2,000 pages! I cannot go on without finishing the entire book). But now I know, you read as it flows - I love to describe reading as if one does yoga - you can let it flow, do not try to read things over and over again.

Audio books really helped me to read the <Pride and Prejudice> by Jane Austen. Now this book is just worth reading! Pure adventure and joy!

The plot begins with Bilbo Baggins, the main protagonist from <The Hobbit> and slowly transition to Frodo Baggins, Gandalf, Sam, Aragorn, Merry, Pippin, Boromir, Gimli, and Legolas ('The Company'). Well, what I love particularly about this book is that it has so much human things - the dear friendship between Gimli and Legolas, as well as Frodo and Sam, many kings (and stewards) of the human race who are noble, shrewd, kind, forgiving, cruel, and most of all, courageous. 

Personally, I felt that the book LOTR (abbreviated) tells of love between friends, companions, and the will to help each other at the time of war (pressing, death, and gloomy). I feel that the author did an excellent job of tying the subsections into one central theme.

I would also like you to know that there are other books written by the same author concerning the medieval times in this strange land of fiction. I was very excited to learn of this, because I'd like to know more about the elves, the people in the ancient time as well as some more background information for the LOTR.

I highly recommend this book, as I am reading this so far, I dearly love it. Thanks to my friend who happened to mention this book to me.

Becoming Jane

As I write this post, I have noticed a stiff recalling of this movie: I am currently listening to the soundtrack of Becoming Jane - the most wonderful movie about the most admired authoress - Jane Austen. Obviously, I cannot get over how much I love the movie and the main characters: James McAvoy is the man of this movie, and I cannot imagine it without him. 

I would be all drools and over the top about this subject, but needlessly without the substance that I am trying to get at. 

I seriously love this music; it really calms me down. The inner peace, the French horn, the wind ensemble... I must say that brief period of band life in high school really brings me to favour the woodwind instruments. Because it still sounds beautiful without the piano being the main player. Cannot get over with the clarinets now, which once I thought sounded a bit annoying. Well, was I wrong.

If you haven't watched it, you are basically missing out on these beautiful sounding music - so no farther think, just watch it on your on-line streaming site!

I've always felt the same as the person who has posted the soundtrack on-line, that I ought to have been living in the same era as Austen. While I know now, that clearly it would be a misfortune to me if I were born in a poor/low-income family. The reality may be harsh, but Austen wrote so romantically during her lifetime that so many people these days want to go back to the late 19th century, in some small city such as Bath.

I am not from Europe, and therefore, I cannot foretell if that experience would be such as joy for me; to be honest, I fear the exact opposite feelings would overtake me.

It led me to believe, that life was meaningless without purpose, like a ship that lost its way to the final destination. Was Austen also living her life without a goal? Were her goals solely to focus on her writing, and really neglecting the reality around her?

I wonder, if Austen meant to marry anyone but for the unfortunate turnout with Tom Lefroy. 

I'd love to meet her, if I could, because now I am a sheep without a shepherd. 

Why Didn't Jane Austen Marry?

Have you ever wondered why Jane Austen never married?

As you may be aware, Jane Austen is the author of six classic novels - Emma, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility (There is an addition to this list - Lady Susan).

She never married nor did she ever gave her heart to anyone but one person. 

Pretty romantic, isn't it? I thought so, too. This man named Tom Lefroy, who later became the Privy Councillor of Ireland and eventually served as the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He died at age 93, which is double the years Jane Austen had lived, who died at age 41. 

So how did she fall in love with Mr. Lefroy? Not much do I know about their love story, but I have read somewhere that they met through a relative of Lefroy, who happened to be Ms. Austen's friend. I really do wish to go back in time to watch their first meeting - how they'd clicked in the first conversation, what countless times they stared into each other's eyes while dancing together in balls, and many flirtations that'd made them sparkle. So passionate about each other that'd prevented them from hiding their emotions in public...  Jane Austen chose him as her object of amusement, but had she known that the very person would break her heart soon enough... 

If I was her, I would not have kept myself so unguarded from the rest of the world. I would have tried to secure myself with Lefroy as soon as I realize that I would be forever attached to him. However, I understand that their relationship was considered ill-matched  by others - Austen, being a daughter, was not getting any inheritance from her father nor had superior connections in her family. Lefroy was studying law at that time under his uncle's support, and my presumption is that, his family probably did not approve of his connection with Austen. These concerns are very different from what we worry about in marriage in the 21st Century, however, the idea is comprehensible to us in that we still do have social classes living separately and don't mix together like water and oil.

Sad, isn't it?

But that's how it was back then. While they were flirting, they had a great time together. I believe it only lasted for several months, so it must have been a very in-the-moment, intense relationship that they had. Jane liked Tom, Tom like Jane, but they eventually had to go in separate ways. And Tom married, moved to Ireland and became a profound figure in terms of his career. I wish they had rekindled in love before he married, but they never met after that until after Austen's death and Tom visited to pay his respects for her. 

I still think all of Jane Austen's novels were created with much inspirations from her memories with Tom Lefroy - he is the centre frame of her male characters and his personalities must have been divided among them. Imagine your first love. Will you ever forget throughout your lifetime? That is what I believe in Austen as well. She never married after meeting Tom Lefroy, who pretty much changed her entire life and her perspectives in society. An eye-opener with more experiences than she had in life - who embraced her literary character and received amusements from her witty comments. 

Of course, if I was her, I don't know if I will ever refuse another man's hand in marriage - because I would not receive infinite offers. I even may have given up my point of view of marrying the one I like and choosing the one who can give comfortable living. But everyone's different in choices... So what would you have done if you were Jane Austen in 1800s? Find another man and settle or go get Tom Lefroy? or just remain single all of your life?

You can leave your comment below. :) Thanks for reading my blog, and I will be talking more about another interesting author next time. Stay tuned!

Jane Austen, Her Life and Her Novels

Hey everyone, welcome to my continued blog on Jane Austen! 

As I have written in my previous blog, Jane Austen wrote the <<Pride and Prejudice>>, which was made into movies since the novel was first published in 1813. I am actually excited for today's blog, which I will be talking more about Jane Austen's life as well as how her novels were written.

To start off, Jane Austen (1775-1817) was born in Steventon in England to a family in which she had six brothers and a sister. Like many families in those days, the family went to church regularly as her father was a rector in the town. Now, the reason why she chose her profession as a writer was that she was encouraged to write stories and poems from her childhood - her family was very supportive of it. She was like the literary one in her family - perhaps it was a natural talent, but definitely without her brother's or father's help, it would have had been very difficult to publish her novels. 

So you might ask, what does her life and background has to do with her novels? After all, fictions are not really true stories. Or is it?

How I believe is a little different from here. After reading all of her six novels, I think I have come to understand Jane a little more. Perhaps you may have heard of the name Tom Lefroy from the movie <<Becoming Jane>>? Yes, that is right, it was her romance with Tom that inspired the famous Classic called <<Pride and Prejudice>>. 

I may be imagining myself, but after learning about how their short-lived romance (it was only like a month) ended and how Tom named her daughter Jane, I think he must have had a large impact on her novels. Actually, I see him everywhere in her novels - Mr. Darcy, Captain Wentworth, Mr. Knightley, Edmund, Edward and Henry Tilney. Now that I think how a month of romance would have had consisted of countless flirtations, heart skips, and passion, I feel that the male protagonists in her novels were all based on her romantic relationship with Tom Lefroy. You might disagree with me, but that is how I perceive these characters at this moment. 

That being said, my ultimate favourite character version of Tom would have to be Captain Wentworth from <<Persuasion>>. Considering the fact that Wentworth actually serves in the navy is very different from Tom Lefroy who studied law; however, I feel that he is the only character that is neither rich or prestigious in social standing. He worked his way up to become a captain of his ship and while he worked, he was going through many years of a bitter separation from Anne Elliot. Misunderstandings, bitterness of feelings of both parties, and the short duration of their relationship are all that was felt by Jane Austen by the time she has published her novel in 1818. This novel, in effect, had to be my favourite besides <<Pride and Prejudice>> for being a very realistic novel in comparison to all of her novels and also for portraying herself very much.

Mr. Darcy, on the other hand, is already a ready-made man. Rich, handsome, and well-educated with not lacking any single importance that was demanded by the society of all times. I love him though - his intelligence, his calm disposition, and his willingness to sacrifice to marry Elizabeth. Who wouldn't, right? Anyways, if you have read this novel, then you know Mr.Darcy is a real man. 

At this point, you may not fully see that Austen's female characters reflect herself as well. However, the more I read them, the more I am convinced that every female protagonist is in fact Jane Austen. It's like trying to put puzzle pieces at the right place, but you will see that they are eventually. It's like musicians who write their own songs and their songs are really just another story of their lives. I feel that writers do the same thing, because inspirations come from your surroundings. 

Hopefully, you all had a better knowledge about Jane Austen and how to approach her novels! I fully recommend you to read <<Pride and Prejudice>>, <<Persuasion>>, and <<Emma>> if you want to learn more about Jane Austen! 

Thanks for reading and follow me if you like my blog posts. :)

*~*~*Next time I will talk about <<Pride and Prejudice>> and share some of my favourite quotes from the novel. Stay updated!*~*~*

Jane Austen, the all-time favourite author in the 21st Century!

Hello fellow Classics lovers!

This is Inès again. So today I wanted to start off by saying how excited I was to be visiting the place that is like 'blueprints' on my brain and undoubtedly has given me most of my favourite childhood memories. As some of you may have had lived in different places during childhood like myself, I wanted to relate to you how awesome it felt to be seeing the place in 10 years. I can't exactly find the right word for it because that place is so special to me that made my whole face glow with joy!

Anyways, going back to our main topic, today I want to give you my personal insights to getting into Jane Austen's novels - by the way, there are 6 published novels that are widely distributed in North America and other continents. The most renowned novel is perhaps <<Pride and Prejudice>>, followed by <<Sense and Sensibility>>, <<Emma>> and other novels. In short, here is what she wrote over the course of her life:

Sense and Sensibility (1811)
Pride and Prejudice (1813)
Mansfield Park (1814)
Emma (1815)
Northanger Abbey (1818)
Persuasion (1818)

I've recently finished reading the complete list of these novels - my last one being Persuasion. I began reading Pride and Prejudice when I was fourteen or fifteen, but I think I did not really absorb everything that Jane Austen described in the particular novel the first time I read it. Since English is not my first language, I think I was struggling through her witty, elaborate style of writing (and I may still do!) for the first five times I read it.

Yes, I do love <<Pride and Prejudice>> -Why? -Well, I've learned a great deal about the author's personal life and she portrays herself as the main protagonist - an attractive character, the famous Miss Elizabeth Bennett. Lizzy (Elizabeth's nickname) is an incredibly sensible woman, if I may add. She has dignity and self-confidence and knows how to use them when necessary. Her love of reading, playing piano and strolling are some of many things that I admire about her. Often main characters in the novel end up being someone that you want to become in the future, but yes, she is that kind of character to me.

Here is how I befriended the novel - and I have to say, I read it more than any of the novels I have ever read (and of course, I sometimes skip directly to pages about people getting into fights and other juicy stuff). Everytime I read it, I just love the feeling of being satisfied. I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't had the chance to read it yet (and maybe that is why you are reading my blog to get yourself interested in the novel first!), so I will only add that Jane Austen uses typicial domestic affairs to make a bold statement for herself.

Just a few weeks ago, Indigo (Chapters) slashed the price of many Classic novels to just 5 dollars. Hopefully you can grab one on-the-go and more satisfactorily, choose a Jane Austen novel! 



*~*~*~*In the next blog, I will continue with Jane Austen's novels, more in-depth with her other five novels. *~*~*~*  

Welcome to the wonderful world of Classics!

Hello fellow bloggers and curious explorers,

Today I want to introduce you to Classics - a truly marvelous, ingenious world, if you look closely that is. 
Before I go on, I need to ask you, have you ever read a Jane Austen novel like <<Pride and Prejudice>> or a Charles Dickens novel such as << Oliver Twist>>? By the way, those two are my all-time favourites - if you haven't yet, then this is a blog for you! 
Now, you may have seen this movie poster somewhere before:

The first poster for <<Pride and Prejudice>> by Jane Austen (left) represents the mini series made in 1995 that is about 3 hrs or longer. The right poster shows the most recent adapted version in 2005. Both movies were huge hits, but in terms of accuracy and realistic imitation of the novel, I would say the older version portrayed it better (Mostly owing to the fact that the 2005 one features incredibly hot actor and actress, and focuses on key facts of the story). <<Becoming Jane>> is another favourite movie of mine, because it is all about Jane Austen - not her characters. Plus, James McAvoy is a hottie.

Anyways, getting back to my initial point, Jane Austen was a female British writer who was active in late 1700s to early 1800s. Many people think that Classics belongs to a certain century or an era which is limited to specific time and place. However, Ernest Hemingway's novels are also considered Classics who was born as American and died in 1961. That being said, Classics can be a broad subject - it has so many writers that it might take several years (or my whole life) to finish every single book that was ever written by those countless, amazing writers in the world!

What I want to do in this blog is to share what I feel about Classics and to talk in-depth about several writers and their novels. I particularly am inspired by Jane Austen, a female writer who literally mastered the art of writing, and Charles Dickens who happens to have had great vigour to write all of those thick, 1000-paged novels as well as others including Emily Bronte, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Hermann Hesse and Leo Tolstoy.
I would also talk about non-classic writers who has struck me most definitely and shaped me during my teenage years such as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Bernard Werber, Harper Lee, Joachim de Posada and José Saramago.

I'll be updating my blog on a regular basis (once every 2 days), so feel free to leave me a comment or suggestion below! I am open to your suggested authors or novels that you may have in mind. I'll try to keep this as interactive as possible. I look forward to the next blog we will sharing together! :) Oh, and if you like my blog, follow me ;)

Have a happy Saturday!