"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Friday Quotes, August 27

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City ReaderShare the opening quote from the book.
The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's VoiceFind a quote from page 56.

Check out the links for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Participants don't select their favorite, coolest, or most intellectual books, they just use the one they are currently reading. This is the book I'm reading right now: 


Book Title: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Book Beginning:
My father’s family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip.
Friday 56:
And now, when they were all in lively anticipation of ‘the two villains’ being taken, and when the bellows seemed to roar for the fugitives, the fire to flare for them, the smoke to hurry away in pursuit of them, Joe to hammer and clink for them, and all the murky shadows on the wall to shake at them in menace as the blaze rose and sank and the red-hot sparks dropped and died, the pale after-noon outside, almost seemed in my pitying young fancy to have turned pale on their account, poor wretches. 
Comments: I am participating in the Classics Club Spin Challenge. Great Expectations was my selected book. I have never read Charles Dickens before. I think it is about time, don't you? So far, so good. One of the things I understand about Dickens is how verbose he was.  Take a look at the sentence from page 56 for evidence of this. Joe is the town blacksmith, he is fixing a pair of handcuffs, and then he and Pip will go watch the military capture some escaped prisoners.

If you want to join the Classics Club Challenge, it is not too late.  Make a list of 20 classics books you'd like to read. Number them.  Then go to their website and check out the spin number. That will be the book you read. It is a fun and supportive way to read those classic books we all want to read but can't seem to find the time to fit into our reading schedule.

18 comments:

  1. Great Expectations is my absolute favorite Dickens novel. Pip, the convict, Estella, and Miss Havisham make the story really come alive.

    My Friday post: http://www.bookclublibrarian.com/2015/08/friday-focus-friday-56-book-beginnings_28.html

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    1. Oh good. Everyone has such differing opinions about it. I am about an eighth of the way into the book and have generally found it interesting. Pip is just leaving his first meeting with the weird Miss Havisham.

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  2. I have never read a book my Dickens. They intimidate me. Pretty much all classic novels do. But your quotes make the books seem less scary. :)

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    1. I feel the same way. The Classics intimidate by their length and sentence/word usage but they are classics for a reason...they are well-written and often very compelling. The Classics Club Spin is a good way to ease into reading one. The book is selected for you but off a list you created and then you have eight weeks to read the book. I divide up my books into eight sections so I know exactly how many pages i have to read a week to stay on track. If you like audiobooks, that is a good way to ease into the classics, too. Good voice actors can make all the difference.

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  3. Glad you are enjoying it so far. Happy reading.
    sherry @ fundinmental Friday Memes

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  4. I haven't read this. Such wonderful writing:)

    Here's my 56 - http://fuonlyknew.com/2015/08/28/the-friday-56-75-pokergeist/

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  5. I remember being assigned to read this one in high school. I found it baffling and slow at the time. I should try it again as an adult. I am reading Truest by Jackie Lea Sommers this week. Happy reading!

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  6. Yes, I used to read a lot of classics when I was young, and the language is definitely verbose...and sometimes flowery. But beautiful, too.

    Thanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.

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  7. It's been a long time since I read this classic. It's a great story that never gets old.
    Thank you for stopping by my blog today.
    Sandy @ TEXAS TWANG

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  8. I read that one a long time ago, good story. :)

    Stormi
    Friday Memes

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  9. I've had such a hard time reading Dickens that I gave up after being forced through 'Hard Times' in university! I have a copy of 'Great Expectations' lying around and maybe in another year or so I'll be strong enough! I wish you all the best with it though!! Thanks for sharing :) I hope you have a great week!

    My Friday post

    Juli @ Universe in Words

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  10. I will always love A Tale of Two Cities the most but Great Expectations is definitely a close second, I really enjoy Dickens! Hope you enjoy it
    http://dualreads.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/friday-reads-and-friday-56-with-book_28.html

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    1. The audiobook I ordered as CDs of both books. So in the near futre I hope to listen to A Tale of Two Cities.

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  11. We just finished Great Expectations as our family read-a-long. It took a while to get into it, but ended up much more enjoyable than I originally expected.

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    1. That is cool. How long did it take your family to read it together? What a good idea.

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  12. This is one I have always wanted to read but haven't.
    Happy weekend!

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  13. Hi Anne,

    I quite like Susan's idea of reading the classics together, such a clever way of encouraging young people not to neglect these impressive masterpieces, the likes of which we shall never have repeated for future generations!

    The idea of reading the classics does rather scare me I think, which is probably why my copies of the great tomes, sit unread on my shelves.

    I do actually enjoy the rather flowery and flamboyant language in which many of them were written, so before the art is lost to us altogether, in these days of abbreviated words and text speak, perhaps I should take the plunge and give then a try!

    Thanks for sharing and Happy Reading :)

    Yvonne

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