True Book Addict...True to Books: Profound Passage Of The Day

Friday, September 25, 2009

Profound Passage Of The Day

"When you get in a tight place and everything goes against you, until it seems as if you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time when the tide will turn."
~Harriet Beecher Stowe

No comments:

Currently Reading

Frankenstein
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Frankenstein was Mary Shelley's immensely powerful contribution to the ghost stories which she, Percy Shelley, and Byron devised one wet summer in Switzerland. Its protagonist is a young student of natural philosophy, who learns the secret of imparting life to a creature constructed from relics of the dead, with horrific consequences. Frankenstein confronts some of the most feared innovations of evolutionism: topics such as degeneracy, hereditary disease, and mankind's status as a species of animal. The text used here is from the 1818 edition, which is a mocking expose of leaders and achievers who leave desolation in their wake, showing humanity its choice - to live co-operatively or to die of selfishness. It is also a black comedy, and harder and wittier than the 1831 version with which we are more familiar.

Add to goodreads

The Twelve Caesars
Suetonius, Robert Graves (Translator)

An essential primary source on Roman history, Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars is a fascinating achievement of scholarship covering a critical period in the Empire. This Penguin Classics edition is translated from the Latin by Robert Graves, author of I, Claudius, revised with an introduction and notes by James B. Rives. As private secretary to the Emperor Hadrian, the scholar Suetonius had access to the imperial archives and used them (along with eyewitness accounts) to produce one of the most colourful biographical works in history. The Twelve Caesars chronicles the public careers and private lives of the men who wielded absolute power over Rome, from the foundation of the empire under Julius Caesar and Augustus, to the decline into depravity and civil war under Nero and the recovery that came with his successors. A masterpiece of observation, anecdote and detailed physical description, The Twelve Caesars presents us with a gallery of vividly drawn - and all too human - individuals.

Add to goodreads

Currently listening to

Northanger Abbey
Jane Austen

Jane Austen's first novel—published posthumously in 1818—tells the story of Catherine Morland and her dangerously sweet nature, innocence, and sometime self-delusion. Though Austen's fallible heroine is repeatedly drawn into scrapes while vacationing at Bath and during her subsequent visit to Northanger Abbey, Catherine eventually triumphs, blossoming into a discerning woman who learns truths about love, life, and the heady power of literature. The satirical novel pokes fun at the gothic novel while earnestly emphasizing caution to the female sex.

Add to goodreads

#TuesBookTalk - Join us on Goodreads & we now chat on Slack!

TuesBookTalk Read-a-Longs's currently-reading b...

76 members
A group for the TuesBookTalk Readalongs on Twitter. We meet every Tuesday night at 9:30pm ET/8:3...

Books we're currently reading

Les Misérables: Volume One
by Victor Hugo
Start date: January 1, 2013

Les Misérables: Volume Two
by Victor Hugo
Start date: January 1, 2013

View this group on Goodreads »

Which literary heroine are you?

You are Josephine March from "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott. Opinionated and outspoken, your bold nature can sometimes get you into trouble. You must constantly make a conscious decision to seem gentler to people when you first meet them -- those who do not know you well can sometimes find your passion abrasive or overly aggressive. The happiness of others is your greatest source for happiness of your own -- you want nothing more than to provide for your family and friends, to make them happy.

Who would I be in 1400 AD?

Which classic dame am I?

Your result for The Classic Dames Test...

Katharine Hepburn

You scored 21% grit, 24% wit, 52% flair, and 19% class!

You are the fabulously quirky and independent woman of character. You go your own way, follow your own drummer, take your own lead. You stand head and shoulders next to your partner, but you are perfectly willing and able to stand alone. Others might be more classically beautiful or conventionally woman-like, but you possess a more fundamental common sense and off-kilter charm, making interesting men fall at your feet. You can pick them up or leave them there as you see fit. You share the screen with the likes of Spencer Tracy and Cary Grant, thinking men who like strong women.

Find out what kind of classic leading man you'd make by taking the Classic Leading Man Test.

Take The Classic Dames Test at HelloQuizzy