News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on H.L. Mencken Reviews the Great Gatsby (1925). Parent comment

Re:H.L. Mencken Reviews the Great Gatsby (1925) by aidenn0 on Thursday December 22, 2022 @01:28PM (#34096656)
Obviously everyone is different, but (aside from Shakespeare) the two books I read in HS that I most liked were Cather in the Rye and A Tale of Two Cities. I should note that after liking A Tale of Two Cities so much, I tried David Copperfield and Oliver Twist and found neither to my liking. I had my great expectations of Dickens' other work rather crushed at that point.

Oh, and forcing anyone to read Melville should be a crime. A very few people I know loved the experience, but I was unable to finish Billy Bud much less Moby Dick.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:H.L. Mencken Reviews the Great Gatsby (1925) by ghaff on Thursday December 22, 2022 @01:38PM (#34096760)
I recall not caring much for A Tale of Two Cities. I keep thinking I should try other Dickens like Bleak House. I do enjoy some other Victorian authors--at least the few best-regarded books I've tried like Wilkie Collins and Anthony Trollope.

I vaguely recall not liking Billy Bud in high school although I read Moby Dick as an adult and was mostly glad I worked my way through but it did take an effort.

I don't think I hated Catcher in the Rye at the time. It just didn't make much of an impression one way or the other.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:H.L. Mencken Reviews the Great Gatsby (1925) by yesenadam on Thursday December 22, 2022 @04:04PM (#34098659)
I really loved Great Expectations.

Also Britten's Billy Budd is one of the 2 operas I really love.

1966 BBC version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1lVBfqQyjs

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:H.L. Mencken Reviews the Great Gatsby (1925) by ChrisMarshallNY on Thursday December 22, 2022 @05:46PM (#34099940)
My sixth grade teacher made us read The Hobbit.

The rest is history. I'm a voracious reader of "junky" fantasy books.

But Mencken was a real wordsmith -albeit a really, really cynical one.

> and, under it all, the simple sentimentality of a somewhat sclerotic fat woman.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:H.L. Mencken Reviews the Great Gatsby (1925) by aidenn0 on Thursday December 22, 2022 @10:20PM (#34102012)
My dad read me The Hobbit as a bedtime story starting from kindergarten. It was the first non-picture book I ever read.
[ Parent | on HN ]