classic Archives

Swiss Family Robinson, The

A Family Adventure Classic Author: Johann David Wyss The Swiss Family Robinson begins with shipwreck and ends with the establishment of a new kingdom – a reverse Lord of the Flies where a hapless family not only survives by wit and grit, but thrives on a delightful desert island. The Robinson’s are a large family, immigrating from their beloved Switzerland and caught mid-way by the peril of a storm. The sailors abandon the family, and the father, mother, and four boys ride out the storm on the stranded, sinking ship, only to arrive safely at a seemingly uninhabited island. From here, [...]

Frances Carden2023-10-22T10:45:37-07:00October 22nd, 2023|Tags: adventure, book review, children's fiction, classic, fiction, read, reading|

In Cold Blood

A Surprisingly Banal Representation of Murder Author: Truman Capote A sleepy Kansas town, where families safely leave their doors unlocked. Where everyone knows everyone else in town. A family – father, mother, two children, slaughtered in the night. Shot, point blank. Tied up. Robbed. All for $40.00. Truman Capote took an infamous, seemingly inexplicable crime and ushered in narrative non-fiction and the popularity of true crime books with In Cold Blood, which has since become a classic. I remember as a child watching the first movie based on this book. I recall marveling at the complexity of emotion, the way that [...]

Frances Carden2023-05-02T18:43:51-07:00May 2nd, 2023|Tags: book review, classic, horror, in cold blood, read, reading, true crime, truman capote|

Frankenstein

Made a Monster? Author: Mary Shelley Dr. Victor Frankenstein is a young, ambitious man who has used science to unravel the deepest, most impenetrable mysteries of life and death. His own ambition has destroyed him, and the walking testament to his hubris has become vengeful and half-crazed from rejection. Thus begins Mary Shelley’s tale of a man who did not respect the bounds of nature and God and now must contend with the horror of his own creation. Most of us hear the word Frankenstein and we think of mad scientists, sizzling lightning bolts, shouts of “it’s alive,” evil laughter echoing [...]

Frances Carden2023-04-22T20:09:05-07:00April 22nd, 2023|Tags: book review, classic, Frankenstein, horror, read, reading|