Classics
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THE WOMAN IN WHITE by Wilkie Collins | Review
Wilkie Collins is commonly known as a master of Victorian sensationalist fiction whose work has greatly influenced what we now know as detective and mystery genres of literature. The Woman in White was published as a full novel in 1860 after having been an extremely popular serialized publication from November 1859 to August 1860. Collins’ clever Continue reading
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A Classic Couple: The Song of the Lark and Paper Towns
It seems fitting that books by two of my favorite authors—Willa Cather and John Green—would connect across different centuries. As mentioned in a past Top Ten Tuesday post about pairs of classic and contemporary novels, I’ve found many interesting parallels between Cather’s The Song of the Lark (1915) and Green’s Paper Towns (2008). Thea and Continue reading
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A Classic Couple: 1984 and Illuminae
It’s time for another Classic Couple, a feature inspired by a past Top Ten Tuesday list. George Orwell’s classic novel 1984 is known for being an unsettling masterpiece of dystopian fiction. Its literary influence spans decades since its initial publication in 1949, as shown by the many elements it shares with contemporary fiction such as Continue reading
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A Classic Couple: Robinson Crusoe and The Martian
As is often the case with books I’ve been forced to read for school, I was one of the few people in my class who genuinely enjoyed reading Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. In fact, I wrote my first ever college paper on the conflict between savagery and civilization in Crusoe’s construction of a new Continue reading
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A Classic Couple: GREAT EXPECTATIONS and A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY
In a past Top Ten Tuesday post I paired Charles Dickens’ classic novel Great Expectations with the more contemporary novel A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. Many people expressed interest in hearing more about the connection I see between these two works of literature even though they seem very different at a first Continue reading
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NORTH AND SOUTH by Elizabeth Gaskell | Review
Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South is the second novel I had to read for the Victorian Literature tutorial I’m taking at Oxford during my first term. It’s fitting that this follows Dickens’ Hard Times on our summer reading list because Dickens was actually the editor of the magazine that Gaskell’s novel was initially serially published Continue reading
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Top Ten Tuesday: Books to Pair with Classics
Happy Tuesday!! August is coming to a close, which means it’s time to start thinking about going back to school. This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is back-to-school themed, which means I’ve decided to focus on classic literature. Classics definitely get a bad reputation from required reading lists in classrooms; however, I think looking at Continue reading
1984, A Prayer for Owen Meany, Classics, Donna Tartt, English Major, Gone Girl, Illuminae, literature, On the Road, The Broke and the Bookish, The Catcher in the Rye, The Goldfinch, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Road, The Woman in White, Top Ten Tuesday, We Were Liars -
HARD TIMES by Charles Dickens
Hard Times by Charles Dickens is the first book I was assigned to read over the summer to prepare for the English Literature 1830-1910 tutorial I’ll be taking during my first term at Oxford. I was thrilled when I saw this title on the list because I’ve been meaning to read more by Dickens since Continue reading
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TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf | Review
Months ago when I was choosing what tutorials I’d like to take at Oxford I asked my roommate if she knew anything about Virginia Woolf. She said that she had a really interesting life, particularly the circumstances of her death (she committed suicide and left a note). Based on my roommate’s vague interest alone I Continue reading
About ME //
i’m holly — former english major, current twenty-something book lover, allergic to nuts. drop me a line at nutfreenerd@gmail.com or on instagram.
nut free nerd 