I first read _The Outsiders_ 19 years ago (the year that the film version was released). Hinton was all the rage to read in my high school and I was seriously attached to Ponyboy and Sodapop and the rest. Like many another teenage girl smitten by Ralph Macchio, I memorized the Robert Frost poem and [...]
It is difficult to remember what it was like to read this book for the first time.It is also difficult to imagine a book where each new reading provides so much more illumination into the main character and his personality. I can remember finding Catcher to be funny the first time I read it.I now [...]
In this darkly beautiful novel, John Knowles takes the reader on a journey, and it is no ordinary journey. ‘A Separate Peace’ plumbs the remote depths of the human heart–and it will take courage to face what isthere.This is, first and foremost, a character story. Gene and Finny arecentral to the plot, and to this [...]
I read this book about 18 months ago, but I am writing a review now because the book came up during a mealtime conversation.We talked about how prophetic a very good science fiction writer can be.This isdefinitely the case in Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.Guy Montag lives in aworld that represses freedom of speech, creativity, and the [...]
In 1960 John Steinbeck decided to reacquaint himself with America after being away because, in his own words, “I’ve lost the flavor and taste and sound of it.I’m going to learn about my own country.”So he set out on a 3+ month journey with his dog to do just that.Along the way, he met people [...]
Having reread this book for the first time in 20 years, I can confirm that there’s a reason that it’s considered one of the very best American novels. However, my reaction to the story was different than when I first read it in high school. I recall that back then I was hoping that Daisy [...]