If I were in a BookTube video right now, this would be the time where you'll be listening to me talking very calm and slow... So... yeah... *inserts t.v. important news interruption sound*
Hello, guys! I'm Lídice, welcome back to my blog! Today I'm going to be sharing with you some of my most wanted classics reads!
It's kind of weird to be writing this taking into consideration it's been like forever since the last time I did it. Did you miss me? I sure as Hell did.
Blogging after all this time feels in some sort of way like that guy we all know that is used to going to the gym and exercising and all of a sudden stops doing it, and when he decides to start again, all his muscles are less strong and not very willing to cooperate with him the way they used to (hashtag tragic moment).
So without further ado, let's jump right in!
Mrs. Dalloway / Virginia Woolf
This book has been in my bucket list for quite a while now. People form all around the world have been raving about it and I really want to know why. Mrs. Dalloway is Virginia's Woolf fourth book but it remains as the most important of all. It details a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a fictional high-society woman in post-World War I England. It's created from two short stories, "Mrs Dalloway in Bond Street" and the unfinished "The Prime Minister," the novel addresses Clarissa's preparations for a party she will host that evening. With an interior perspective, the story travels forwards and back in time and in and out of the characters' minds to construct an image of Clarissa's life and of the inter-war social structure. (goodreads) What makes this book so interesting is the author's background (as you might know, her sister, mother, and father died when she was barely a teenager and after that she went co-co bananas crazy; hearing voices that told her she was worthless, hence she began to write to shut the voices up and prove herself to her dead parents) and the fact that Mrs. Dalloway references certain vital points that Sigmund Freud stated in his essay 'Beyond the Pleasure Principale' (an essay that describes humans as struggling between two opposing drives: Eros, which produces creativity, harmony, sexual connection, reproduction, and self-preservation; and Thanatos, which brings destruction, repetition, aggression, compulsion, and self-destruction).
Lolita / Vladimir Nabokov
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov has been the most controversial book in the 20th centuary and some say it still remains as one these days. Why, you may ask? Well, that's because Nabokov tells us the story of our main character, Humbert Humbert, a middle aged frustrated professor that feels sexual attraction towards his landlady's 12-years-old child. Naturally, Humbert Humbert excuses himself saying that he's in love with this little innocent girl, but overall, he'll do everything in his power to posses her. The conotroversial part of this novel is the fact that you as the reader can't help but fall into Humbert Humbert's word game, and there comes a time in this book where you'll want nothing more than not belive Humber Humbert, for you cannot help it. Nabokov has a way with words, that totally manipulates you to belive every lie he says. Lolita references to many work of arts, Poe's poem 'Annabel Lee' being one of them.
The Handmaid's tale / Margaret Atwood
News flash moment! I knew about the existence of this book because everybody went crazy for the T.V series adaptation and after that, all these great newspapers like The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal had begun to publish reviews and critics of the show, which, truth be told, got me interested in investigating a little more about it, which lead me to want to read the book.
The Handmaid's Tale is the story of life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly the United States. Facing environmental disasters and a plunging birthrate, Gilead is ruled by a twisted fundamentalism in its militarized ‘return to traditional values'. As one of the few remaining fertile women, Offred is a Handmaid in the Commander’s household, one of the caste of women forced into sexual servitude as a last desperate attempt to repopulate the world. In this terrifying society, Offred must navigate between Commanders, their cruel Wives, domestic Marthas, and her fellow Handmaids –where anyone could be a spy for Gilead– all with one goal: to survive and find the daughter that was taken from her.
Oedipus the King / Sophocles
The thing with reading the Percy Jackson series is that once you begin to see the wonderfulness of Greek mythology, you can't help but continue reading more books that involucrate Greek mythology in order to satisfy your need to know more about it. I'm having a kick right now for Classics, and as it turns out, 'Oedipus the King' is one of the Greek's Classics.
You might have heard of Oedipus name before when describing Freud's theory 'Oedipus Complex' which is, based, of course, in Sophocles play. The plays talks about the story of a King (Oedipus) who acting entirely in ignorance, kills his father and marries his mother. The play unfolds with shattering power; readers are helplessly carried along with Oedipus towards the final, horrific truth.
And that, my fellas, is everything for today. I'm sorry I haven't been so active lately; I've been going crazy about school. However, summer vacations are so near now, I can almost smell the ocean salty water smell. We have exciting things coming soon, so keep un reading us!