Posts tagged with classic-books
Pretty!
Thrilling news for fans of tastefully bound Jane Austen adaptations: the "Puffin in Bloom" series from Penguin Random House, which features cover art by Rifle Paper's creative director Anna Bond, will release new editions of Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Sense and Sensibility...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Money For Nothing, by P.G. Wodehouse
Our current Book Giveaway is P.G. Wodehouse's 1928 novel Money For Nothing. While not Wodehouse's most memorable work, it's the perfect book to take along on vacation. You'll have fun reading it, but also it won't be a great loss if you accidentally leave it behind when you're done (seeing as it's a lot like all of Wodehouse's other standalones). A full review will follow shortly...
The Mysterious Affair at Styles, by Agatha Christie
Most classic mystery novels seem extremely formulaic to me: I can usually guess the murderer almost entirely based upon the size of the role they play in the story. That said, what feels overly familiar to a reader in 2023 was probably a lot less shopworn in 1916, when Agatha Christie wrote her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Mysterious Affair at Styles, by Agatha Christie
Our current Book Giveaway is the very beautiful Harper Muse Classics "Painted Edition" of Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles, her first novel and the book that introduced the world to Hercule Poirot. A full review will follow shortly...
Another one for the shelf
I'm super into the minimalist cover art featured on Gladstone Press's edition of Pride and Prejudice, which is currently on sale for $11. (All of their covers are great.) I'd like it even better if they had produced an entire set of Austen's novels...
Bambi, but even more of a gut-punch
According to Dark Horizons, Sarah Polley is in talks to direct a live-action remake of Disney's Bambi, based on the 1923 Austrian novel of the same name by Felix Salten. I like Sarah Polley, but, uh, does the world really want to see a Bambi adaptation...
I miss you, bookstores
One of the things I have missed most during the pandemic has been my life-long habit of going into bookstores and looking for pretty new editions of classic books. My local bookstore offers a drive-through window, so I can easily order specific editions in safety, but it's not like I get a press release from the estates of long-dead authors telling me about specific reprints. (ALTHOUGH THAT WOULD BE NICE.) So...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling, by Henry Fielding
This week's Book Giveaway is Henry Fielding's 1749 comedic novel The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling. I'll be posting a review as soon as I finish reading it, but while I am a fast reader, this sucker clocks in at nearly 900 pages of small font, so, uh... please do not hold your breath.
Sign me up
Ooh, I see PBS is hoping to take Masterpiece in an edgier direction with an upcoming adaptation of Henry Fielding's The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. If you haven't read Tom Jones, imagine an 18th century telenovela, complete with birth secrets...
I like the font, at least
Well, it's finally happening: Judy Blume's 1970 awkward-teen-girl classic Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret is being made into a movie. The trailer looks good (in a painfully embarrassing way, but that's due to the source material), so...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Pulp! the Classics edition), by Lewis Carroll
This week's Book Giveaway is the Pulp! the Classics edition of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This is basically all about that cover art: if the twisted hippie take on Judy Garland (...right?) makes you laugh...
No, on so many levels
I just saw a trailer for an upcoming film adaptation of Jack London's The Call of the Wild, and it was extremely off-putting. A) I hate Jack London. B) Why is CGI still so bad?!? It might have improved (slightly) since the terrifying Polar Express movie, but...
I've been burned before.
I have never liked Peter Pan much, and I am by no means certain that this new, Wendy-centric film adaptation of the story will make me feel any more positive about it. It certainly looks beautiful and wild, but I can sense the angst...
Single season for the WIN!
Ooh, according to THR, ABC is rebooting Revenge, their (very, very loose) TV adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo. I fully approved of the glorious soapiness of Revenge when it premiered; sadly, it...
Throwdowns
This Twitter thread devoted to the greatest literary feuds in history is amazing. I don't know who Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was, but anyone who would brave a dissing contest with Jonathan Swift gets my vote...
Surely he has enough money?
The trailer is out for the new Robert Downey Jr. adaptation of Dolittle. This production has been beset by rumors of strife and drama, but it's apparently a...
New bit of an old story
According to the Japan Times, a manuscript containing a missing scene from The Tale of Genji was recently discovered among the heirlooms of the family of a former feudal lord...
Pride and Prejudice (Macmillan Collector's Library edition), by Jane Austen
As longtime readers of the site know, I periodically treat myself by reviewing a new edition of my all-time favorite book: Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Few things make me happier than analyzing editorial choices—how creative are the essays? Is the cover art period-appropriate? Are the footnotes accurate? Did they weigh in on...
Did you know...
I missed this when it was published this summer, but it's still interesting: Mental Floss posted an article called "15 Facts About The Very Hungry Caterpillar" in honor of the Eric Carle children's classic's 50th anniversary. Most of them were...
The Magic Pudding, by Norman Lindsay
Norman Lindsay's 1918 novel The Magic Pudding is proof positive of my theory that Australian fiction—even their fiction for children—is not for the faint of heart. It centers around the Magic Pudding, a rude, sulky, anthropomorphic dessert, and the three friends who form the Noble Society of Puddin'-Owners...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Magic Pudding, by Norman Lindsay
This week's Book Giveaway is Norman Lindsay's The Magic Pudding, which was originally published in 1918 and is considered to be an Australian children's classic. (It is also exhibit A in my ongoing argument that Australian literature is a uniquely red-blooded beast.) This giveaway will run through 10/25/19...
Instant no
Here's the trailer for the new movie Vita and Virginia, based on the love affair between Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West. Frankly, if I wanted to watch two attractive people make each other miserable for two hours, I'd prefer the misery originated from...
The Quiet American, by Graham Greene
It's been nearly twenty years since I read Graham Greene's The Quiet American, but a flurry of recent mentions in the news convinced me that it was time to revisit it. I'm still not familiar with the First Indochina War (which I've been meaning to learn more about since, uh, high school), so I can't weigh in on the accuracy of Graham's war descriptions, but...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Quiet American, by Graham Greene
After seeing it mentioned in several news articles about Mayor Pete Buttigieg, I decided it was time to re-read Graham Greene's The Quiet American. A full review will follow shortly, but here's a spoiler for you: nearly every speaking character in this novel is totally awful. This giveaway will run through 8/15/19...
Nightmare fuel
If you haven't already seen the trailer for the upcoming movie adaptation of the musical Cats, get ready to pinch yourself: don't worry, you're not high (I mean... I assume) and you're not having a nightmare...
Nicely dull
And in another bit of TV adaptation news, Town & Country informs me that PBS's Masterpiece program will be remaking James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small as a six-episode miniseries. I remember watching reruns of the 70s TV show as a child—I thought it was boring, but in a weirdly soothing, pleasant way...
Money was spent
Vanity Fair recently revealed an exclusive first look at Gretta Gerwig's upcoming film adaptation of Little Women, which will star Saoirse Ronan as Jo. As longtime readers of the site know, I can't stand Little Women, but I can admit that this looks like a very handsome, well-cast production...
Neat!
Thankfully, I just read another, non-eye-roll-inducing thinkpiece about one of my favorite books: Jia Tolentino's “The Westing Game, a Tribute to Labor That Became a Dark Comedy of American Capitalism". I actually don't think that title does a great job of encapsulating the article, but...
Soapy!
I have watched the first four episodes of Netflix's new show The Society (billed as a modern YA take on The Lord of the Flies, but with a supernatural twist), and I am giving it a somewhat wobbly thumbs-up. It took me two full episodes to be able to tell most of the characters apart (the Elle and Allie actresses were particularly confusing), and...
BOOOO
Tea and literature are two of my favorite subjects, so I opened this recent NPR article expecting nothing but joy... only to discover a horrifying announcement about a link between hot tea and esophageal cancer...