Daniel Deronda - Favourite Quotes

 

As you can see I'm currently reading Daniel Deronda by George Eliot (among other things). I admire this book; truly, I'm obsessed with it. George Eliot's writing style is amazing (this is the first Eliot book I've ever read) and the story is fascinating – I never knew Jews were so frowned upon in Victorian England (too). Also, I might or might not be a little bit in love with Daniel.

I thought I'd share some of my favourite quotes with you. I'm only halfway through the book, so there might be another post coming later with another bunch of quotes. Enjoy!

"Development and catastrophe can often be measured by nothing clumsier than the moment-hand."

"Attempts at description are stupid: who can all at once describe a human being? Even when he is presented to us we only begin that knowledge of his appearance which must be completed by innumerable impressions under differing circumstances. We recognize the alphabet; we are not sure of the language."

"One couldn't carry on life comfortably without a little blindness to the fact that everything had been said better than we can put it ourselves."

 

"We know that he [Deronda] suffered keenly from the belief that there was a tinge of dishonor in his lot; but there are some cases, and his was one of them, in which the sense of injury breeds

– not the will to inflict injuries and climb over them as a ladder, but a hatred of all injury."

 

"Outsiders might have been more apt to think that Klesmer's position was dangerous for himself if Miss Arrowpoint had been an acknowledged beauty; not taking into account that the most powerful of all beauty is that which reveals itself after sympathy and not before it."

 

"There is a great deal of unmapped country within us which would have to be taken into account in an explanation of our gusts and storms."

 

"I think I dislike what I don't like more than I like what I like."

 

Top 5 classics I want to read

1. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them." 

 Being an English minor I had American literaure courses and I feel slightly embarassed that I haven't picked up The Catcher in the Rye so far, not even when it was a compulsory read for me. I'm quite curious about this one, just simply haven't had the time to look into it yet. I'll make sure it won't stay this way.

2. Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Hardy's powerful novel of swift sexual passion and slow-burning loyalty centres on Bathsheba Everdene, a proud working woman whose life is complicated by three different men - respectable farmer Boldwood, seductive Sergeant Troy and devoted Gabriel - making her the object of scandal and betrayal. Vividly portraying the superstitions and traditions of a small rural community, "Far from the Madding Crowd" shows the precarious position of a woman in a man's world.

The movie is coming out soon and I've long since promised myself I'd give Hardy another try (I want to (re)read Tess of the D'Urbervilles too).

3. Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence

Lawrence tells the story of Constance Chatterley's marriage to Sir Clifford, an aristocratic and an intellectual who is paralyzed from the waist down after the First World War. Desperate for an heir and embarrassed by his inability to satisfy his wife, Clifford suggests that she have an affair. Constance, troubled by her husband's words, finds herself involved in a passionate relationship with their gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors. Lawrence's vitriolic denunciations of industrialism and class division come together in his vivid depiction of the profound emotional and physical connection between a couple otherwise divided by station and society. 

A book that was banned after its publication due to its detailed descriptions of sexual acts. Well, let's see what shocked the people back in the beginning of the 20th century!

4. A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

In this brilliantly perceptive novel, a middle aged professor living in California is alienated from his students by differences in age and nationality, and from the rest of society by his homosexuality. Isherwood explores the depths of the human soul and its ability to triumph over loneliness, alienation and loss.

I own Christopher and his Kind from Christopher Isherwood, but, since that's more of a biographical novel, I thought I don't want that to be the first book I read from him. A Single Man seems to be a good place to start. It would count as an item for my LGBT challange too. Not to mention that after reading I'd like to watch the movie with Colin Firth...

     5. Persuasion by Jane Austen

Twenty-seven-year old Anne Elliot is Austen's most adult heroine. Eight years before the story proper begins, she is happily betrothed to a naval officer, Frederick Wentworth, but she precipitously breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that such a match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret. When later Wentworth returns from sea a rich and successful captain, he finds Anne's family on the brink of financial ruin and his own sister a tenant in Kellynch Hall, the Elliot estate. All the tension of the novel revolves around one question: Will Anne and Wentworth be reunited in their love?

 The next book on my Jane Austen reading list. I hope it won't disappoint.

What is you favourite classic? Why? Don't hesitate to share it with me in a comment below!

Did you like this top 5...? What other top 5s would you care to read?

Review - Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Title: Northanger Abbey

Author: Jane Austen

Rating: 5/5 stars 

Synopsis: The story’s unlikely heroine is Catherine Morland, a remarkably innocent seventeen-year-old woman from a country parsonage. While spending a few weeks in Bath with a family friend, Catherine meets and falls in love with Henry Tilney, who invites her to visit his family estate, Northanger Abbey. Once there, Catherine, a great reader of Gothic thrillers, lets the shadowy atmosphere of the old mansion fill her mind with terrible suspicions. What is the mystery surrounding the death of Henry’s mother? Is the family concealing a terrible secret within the elegant rooms of the Abbey? Can she trust Henry, or is he part of an evil conspiracy? Catherine finds dreadful portents in the most prosaic events, until Henry persuades her to see the peril in confusing life with art.

My thoughts: This is a story of lady meets gentleman. The lady in question likes reading gothic novels and the gentleman’s father owns an abbey that could easily be the set of one of the lady’s beloved tales. Perfect match, isn’t it? Seems so, but what if the Abbey turns out to be not nearly as pleasant a place as the lady thought it would be? What if the gentleman belongs to a peculiar family with a past that some members of the kin cannot bury?

Northanger Abbey could be divided into two parts set-wise. The first part of the novel takes place in Bath, to where our heroine Catherine Morland accompanies family friends and where she expects to spend a joyful time. And indeed, she soon gets acquainted with two families, each of which provides her with one friend and one suitor. In this first half of the book there’s an awful lot of talk about gigs and bonnets, but don’t worry, dear reader, Jane Austen is that kind of an author, who can make a conversation about ladies’ attire interesting.

The second part of Northanger Abbey is set in the Abbey itself – here Miss Austen reaches back to gothic novel traditions and shakes the reader’s spirit up a bit: if you get to the chapter where the journey to the Abbey starts, then it’s time to bid adieu to the ‘rosy’ part of the story. The nights grow longer and a hunt for the truth begins. But will the search around the house give Catherine satisfaction?

All in all, Northanger Abbey is a really entertaining tale. What I enjoyed the most in it were the gothic elements, the dark and at times creepy-crawly nature of the story-telling in the second half of the text. The main character Catherine is a lovely young lady, but since she’s young she’s quite naïve – oh well, who wasn’t at seventeen? As for the other characters, I was a bit irritated by Mrs. Allen as well as Mr. Thorpe. Unfortunately, the ending was spoiled for me – thanks mom! – but I liked it nonetheless as well as the whole of the novel.

Review - North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Title: North and South

Author: Elizabeth Gaskell

Rating: 5/5 stars

Synopsis: When her father leaves the Church in a crisis of conscience, Margaret Hale is uprooted from her comfortable home in Hampshire to move with her family to the north of England. Initially repulsed by the ugliness of her new surroundings in the industrial town of Milton, Margaret becomes aware of the poverty and suffering of the local mill workers and develops a passionate sense of social justice. This is intensified by her tempestuous relationship with the mill-owner and self-made man, John Thornton, as their fierce opposition over his treatment of his employees masks a deeper attraction.

My thoughts: How could I possibly describe the complexity of feelings Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South evoked in me? It won my heart completely. The basic oppositions in the book – north and south, light and dark, leisure and work, humility and pride – grow into something deeper than their simple selves throughout the pages. The main characters, Margaret and Mr. Thornton seem to represent the two parts of England and with it two kinds of lifestyle. Maybe at first we idolize the south ourselves, looking at it through Margaret’s eyes, and think Milton is hell compared to it, but later it seems just so natural to alter our opinions. I personally found Milton a great deal more interesting a place than Helstone – and not only because the love between Margaret and Mr. Thornton unfolded there, but because I strangely became interested in the class struggle that was part of the plot too. It was fascinating how the workmen organized the strike, and so were the things Mr. Thornton said about the relationship between ‘hands’ and masters.

I also liked to read about the great development in the latter towards the end of the book. Of course I melted every time Margaret’s thoughts about Mr. Thornton were expressed, but even more when I learned about Thornton’s thoughts about Margaret. The man has such a gentle heart, I always held my breath out of excitement when I came to read his musings on the beloved woman.

Thornton’s mother is a very well written character, it was entertaining to read her parts too, because she made me go ‘who this woman thinks she is’ many times. She is a very strong mother figure and I liked how protective she was of her son.

I feel I could go on forever and ever rambling about my favourite characters and parts, but I won’t. When I started to read this book I thought it was going to be about a girl, who moves from the south to the north, falls in love with a miller and, after having to face some difficulties, eventually they settle down with each other. Now that I’ve read it I can tell you, North and South is much more than this. It is an Experience and it is most certainly recommended to everyone (especially if you’ve read and like/d Jane Austen’s novels).

Review - The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Title: The Great Gatsby

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Rating: 4/5 stars 

Synopsis: Some said he had been a German spy, others that he was related to one of Europe's royal families. Nearly everyone took advantage of his fabulous hospitality. And it was fabulous. In his superb Long Island home he gave the most amazing parties, and not the least remarkable thing about them was that few people could recognize their host. He seemed to be a man without a background, without history; whose eyes were always searching the glitter and razzamatazz for something... someone?

My thoughts:

Huge expensive cars, jazz music, glamorous parties and fountains flowing with champagne: this is the roaring twenties – this is Jay Gatsby’s world. But who is this Gatsby, this phantom of a host, this mysterious stranger, who lets a great mass of people invade his house every Saturday so they can let off the steam? Who is this man, the subject of so much gossip? – the question wouldn’t stop bugging Nick Carraway, the young clerk who’s just moved to Long Island, or to be exact right in the neighborhood of Gatsby’s mansion. He soon gets an answer. And another. And another. The complexity of Jay Gatsby’s personality and the romantic, gloomy setting of his past seem to mesmerize Nick. There’s only one thing that’s certain: Gatsby is in love with a woman, who is no other than Nick’s cousin and who is happen to be married.

I read the book for the second time now, and the reason why I decided to do so is that we’re going to discuss it on my American Literature class in a few weeks’ time. Well, first of all, I have to say I’m so glad I re-read it! This time I was able to enjoy the atmosphere of the Jazz age much more than I had for the first time. I’m not a party-goer, you see, and so the idea of endless partying kinda terrifies me, but I understood more of what motivated the characters and this gave me a different grasp on the story and through that on the twenties’ America. 

Gatsby is by far the most fascinating character for me in this book, he strangely stands out of the crowd that surrounds him all the time. He is beyond the meaninglessness that pervades the summer air his guests breathe, he has a dream, he has a goal: to get his love, Daisy back. I like how determined he is, I like the fact his ambition to make a fortune – whatever illegal way he’d done that – was based on love.

His rival in the story – Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband – is a total brute, I have no idea how Daisy can bear him. As for Daisy, I don’t know whether I like her or not. I imagine her as a beautiful, seemingly confident woman, but she’s not independent, she craves to be controlled and she needs someone, who would make decisions instead of her.

Nick, our narrator, is a lovely guy. He’s from the west and he’s as much an outsider as Gatsby is, maybe that’s why they understand each other (Isn’t that so, old sport?).

Other than the characters I adore the parallel that Fitzgerald draws between driving and living in the novel. Careless driving indicates the same way of leading one’s life, which can result in serious consequences.

As you can tell, and I can only repeat myself, I enjoyed the Great Gatsby very much. You will too! Go and read it!

Review - 1984 by George Orwell

Title: Nineteen Eighty-Four

Author: George Orwell

Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis: Newspeak, Doublethink, Big Brother, the Thought Police - the language of 1984 has passed into the English language as a symbol of the horrors of totalitarianism. George Orwell's story of Winston Smith's fight against the all-prevading Party has become a classic not the least because of its intellectual coherence.

My thoughts: This was a shocking read. Merely to imagine a world without free thoughts is terrifying for me. When I was reading the book, at some parts my mind shouted: wrong wrONG WRONG, because the lack of privacy in the described society hit me so hard every time. The novel is a masterpiece, I cannot deny that, regardless how its mind-paralyzing ideologies made me feel. I definitely recommend it to those who enjoy dystopian novels (although if you’d like to avoid reading graphic torture scenes I suggest you pick up something else).