i haven't done official posts for each of them, but since february when i started reading more classics i've enjoyed jane eyre, pride and prejudice and a room with a view. i loved reading these because each of these have at least one movie version and i enjoyed watching the movies after reading the books. surprisingly the movies do well sticking to the originals.
when i finished a room with the view at the beach i went to start the count of monte cristo that i had grabbed off the shelf at home, but sadly it was an abridged copy. i hate abridged copies so i put it down and decided to not read it until i could have the full version.
in the mean time i decided to take a break from the classics and i opened up the 6th harry potter which i had brought as well, harry potter and the half-blood prince. i started reading back through the series a while ago, but dropped off it a couple months ago after finished book 5. i love harry, ron and hermoine so its always fun to open the books back up and enter their world. this time is no different. i've really been enjoying reading them again. i love that there are movies for them too. even though the movies wouldn't be all that great by themselves, if you've read the books, its so much fun to see pieces of the books played out. plus who doesn't like a little rupert grint? :) i can't WAIT for harry potter and the deathly hallows: part 2 coming out this summer!! the new trailer for its out... take a look:
i cried my eyes out reading the last book and fully expect to do the same in the movie. i also want to have a several day movie watching extravaganza to watch the whole series of movies right before the new one comes out and we see it in theatres. ah!! so excited.
but enough about harry. now lets talk about edmond dantes.
edmond dantes is the main character in the book the counte of monte cristo. if you are not familiar with the story, acquaint yourself. it is one of the finest stories i know. as i have not yet read the book, my familiarity of this story stems from our favorite movie version of the count - a french version with english subtitles starring gerard depardieu. we watched it when it aired on bravo years and years ago and since then its been a family favorite. we weren't used to watching subtitled movies back then, but we got used to it and - because the story is set in france - hearing everything in french just adds that extra element to the story.
my mom, dad and i enjoyed watching through the french mini-series version again on our beach trip. it was as good as always. the music to this movie is incredible as well. so go watch it!
when i got home i was more determined than ever to read the count, but since we didn't have it at home i put a hold on it at the public library. the one i put on hold said it was the full version - all 1400 pages of it - but alas, when mom picked it up from the library it was yet another abridged copy. so i set out to just buy a copy of the unabridged on amazon. after searching around for a few minutes i realized it was not as easy a thing as i thought; never in my life have i seen so many different versions and translations all with differing reviews. the tricky part - which i didn't realize when i started out - was that because this book was originally written in french, any english versions have been translated and as such different translations have different reviews and some are better than others. after researching around a bit i found a version i was satisfied with and added it to the cart. then came the amazon dilemma: "if i just get it up to 25 bucks i don't have to pay shipping - what else could i get?"
while i was on the subject of books i thought i'd just order another paperbook classic to read after the count. but THEN of course you notice another special and start adding book upon book and in the end i spent not the planned $15 but upwards of $50. ha. i have never ever been sad about anything i've purchased from amazon though, so i don't regret it. actually i am very excited! because the special that was going on was with the classic paperback books and it was a 4-for-3 deal. buy 3 get the 4th free. so here is what i ended up ordering and what will be my classic reading list for the indefinite future:
#1 the count of monte cristo
by alexandre dumas
#2 les miserables
by victor hugo
#3 anna karenina
by leo tolstoy
#4 the house of mirth
by edith wharton
#5 tess of the d'urbervilles
by thomas hardy
#6: the complete poems of john keats
as you can see i'm being quite adventurous - going toward the extremely long and difficult classics like monte cristo, les mis and anna karenina. but i think i'm going to enjoy it. it'll also last me quite a while as each of those are close if not over 1,000 pages each. i ordered keats not so much to read straight through as to enjoy now and then. i love several of keat's poems (ode to a nightingale being my favorite) and i'm looking forward to exploring more of his poetry.
so all in all - i am VERY excited about all the lovely books coming my way! they've shipped so they should be here soon and i can finally start the count. :)
i hope you all are enjoying this most lovely day - i sure am! now its off to keep reading harry potter 6! happy saturday!
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