The tradition is back! I will keep doing this every year so I hope you enjoy these. Anyways, the title is relatively self-explanatory so here are all the classics I’ve read over the summer with condensed reviews. P.s.: As I said last year, my definition of “classics” is pretty loose. I tend to include every book that has been part of the literary canon for around thirty years. Debatable? Yes, but I do my best here. P.s.s. This review will be bilingual depending on the language I felt like writing in. The Art of War by Sun Tzu 3/5 *Read the translation by Thomas Cleary from the original Chinese Français: L’art de la guerre Summary Twenty-Five Hundred years ago, Sun Tzu wrote this classic book of military strategy based on Chinese warfare and military thought. Since that time, all levels of military have used the teaching on Sun Tzu to warfare and civilization have adapted these teachings for use in politics, business and everyday life. The Art of War is a book which should be used to gain an advantage against opponents in the boardroom and battlefield alike. My thoughts I still have not yet found a way to write about non-fiction concretely. In this case, I find it especially hard as I know nothing of military strategy and, therefore, am severely unqualified to testify on the accuracy or the relevance of Sun Tzu's proposed plans. While some elements make seem to make common sense, I simply do not have the knowledge or the experience to grasp others. The general public was, after all, definitely not the target audience for this treaty. Nonetheless, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is a classic that deserves to be read, especially for political fiends. The advice he gives might be strange as he does not advocate for war. Sun Tzu sounds anti-war at some point, saying that it should not be the first course of action, but that one must be prepared if it comes to it. He does not glorify war nor the soldiers that fight. Even if you are not a fan of military history, it is a short read and does have some morals that you can apply to your daily life. It has also had an incredible impact on the world as the tactics and principles in the book inspired generations of military leaders in both the East and the West. For this reason alone, it deserves to be read. La Peste d’Albert Camus 3/5 English: The Plague Résumé " - Naturellement, vous savez ce que c'est, Rieux ? - J'attends le résultat des analyses. - Moi, je le sais. Et je n'ai pas besoin d'analyses. J'ai fait une partie de ma carrière en Chine, et j'ai vu quelques cas à Paris, il y a une vingtaine d'années. Seulement, on n'a pas osé leur donner un nom, sur le moment... Et puis, comme disait un confrère : "C'est impossible, tout le monde sait qu'elle a disparu de l'Occident." Oui, tout le monde le savait, sauf les morts. Allons, Rieux, vous savez aussi bien que moi ce que c'est... - Oui, Castel, dit-il, c’est à peince croyable. Mais il semble bien que ce soit la peste. Ma chronique Ça fait bientôt deux ans que j’attends de lire ce petit roman de Camus. Après avoir lu sa pièce de théâtre Les Justes, j’avais hâte de me replonger dans son style, mais cette fois-ci en forme de roman. Par contre, je dois avouer avoir été un peu déçu. On vend Camus comme étant un des grands auteurs du siècle dernier et je peux voir d’où viennent les commentaires. Pour moi, ce n’était simplement pas ma tasse de thé. La Peste n’est pas une mauvaise histoire, mais il est plus lourd que j’aurais cru. Le style de Camus est occasionnellement difficile à suivre avant des réflexions prolongées sur la vie, la mort, l’espoir et la justice. Bien que celles-ci furent parfois intéressantes et bien fondées, c’était simplement trop. J’ai eu l’impression que les personnages parlaient sans vraiment rien dire. Peut-être est-ce moi qui n’a pas cette sensibilité, mais je n’arrivais pas à entrer complètement dans l’histoire puisque je me décourageais à comprendre les débats philosophiques. Si ce genre littéraire est davantage dans vos cordes, vous allez avoir un plaisir fou, mais très peu pour moi. Je dois cependant dire que les parties du discours que j’ai compris étaient très belles et remplies de messages pour l’humanité (sans doute pour cela que Camus a reçu le Prix Nobel de littérature). Les personnages sont également bien construits. Chacun possède son propre caractère et ces maniérismes. Leurs histoires vont s’entremêler au fur et à mesure malgré leur différend au départ. Je recommande La Peste si vous cherchez un récit touchant avec une bonne dose de moralité existentielle, ou si vous êtes simplement un amoureux de philosophie. The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories by Nikolai Gogol 3.5/5 *Read the French translation from the original Russian Français: Le journal d’un fou Summary Hailed by Nabokov as "the greatest artist that Russia has yet produced," Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852) left his mark as a playwright, novelist, and writer of short stories. Opening a door to his bizarre world of broad comedy, fantasy, and social commentary, the title story portrays a petty official's mental disintegration as he struggles for the attention of the woman he loves. Set during the repressive rule of Nicholas I, it satirizes the bureaucratic excesses of the era. Additional tales include "The Nevski Prospect," a portrayal of the feverish pace of St. Petersburg street life, and "The Portrait," a gripping depiction of a soul's perdition. My thoughts I had learned about Gogol in Russian History. I knew that he wrote Dead Souls, the satirical novel that comes out against the nobility harshly in a time where censorship was the norm. Gogol had been a part of the 19th-century intelligentsia and, surrounded by his peers, he wrote some of the most controversial texts of his time so when I stumbled upon this collection of short stories in my boyfriend’s box of old school books, I knew I had to read them. This specific collection included the more famous Diary of a Madman, but also The Portrait and The Nevsky Prospect. Oddly enough, The Diary was my least favourite, and The Portrait was the stand-out. Let’s begin with the worst. The Diary was not terrible, it just seemed too short. The character goes from being sane to crazy in about thirty pages. There was not enough character development for my taste. Even when we did reach the “madness” part, it felt simple and too unrealistic given the timeline. Then came The Nevsky Prospect. This story was good, just not wow. It was the longest (around 50 pages), and the most complex with more characters and intertwined plotlines which, unfortunately, were not always logical. We follow the same themes as in The Diary, but with an added layer of complexity which makes it ideal for analysis while still being approachable. We also dig deeper into the different spheres of the Russian social life which paint an appealing yet disenchanted portrait of St. Petersburg. And the final piece of the puzzle, The Portrait. This one was by far my favourite because the story was the simplest and most compelling. It is not an original plot by any chance: poor artist gets money by chance, then all his dreams come true as he grows unhappy. However, the added elements of suspense and symbolism were unique and made me feel chills up my spine. There were some elements of fear that were shyly attempted in The Diary, but successful in The Portrait. Overall, there is a nice continuity between all three stories and they are worth reading together to get a good picture of Gogol's style and his ideas. They are also all filled with social commentaries against the extensive Russian bureaucracy and its insensitive upper class. The background makes the texts funnier due to the absurdity of the people and the regime. I would highly recommend this to all Russian literature fans, but also those who are looking for sharp and quirky political commentary. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton 2.5/5 Français: Outsiders (oui, le titre est en anglais même en version traduite) Summary According to Ponyboy, there are two kinds of people in the world: greasers and socs. A soc has money, can get away with just about anything, and has an attitude longer than a limousine. A greaser, on the other hand, always lives on the outside and needs to watch his back. Ponyboy is a greaser, and he's always been proud of it, even willing to rumble against a gang of socs for the sake of his fellow greasers--until one terrible night when his friend Johnny kills a soc. The murder gets under Ponyboy's skin, causing his bifurcated world to crumble and teaching him that pain feels the same whether a soc or a greaser. My thoughts The Outsiders was the novel that kickstarted the classification "young adult" to describe books marketed to teenagers. While the subject matter is applicable for that age range, it had too much of this cutesy quality attached to it for me to truly get on board with it. S.E. Hinton wrote this book while she was still in high school and while that is impressive, it shows. There were some moments where the dialogue was awkward and where the descriptions were just trying too hard. Even in the darkest times, I would find myself struggling to believe that this is how street life would be in the 60s. The story itself is not bad, but it feels exaggerated. While I strictly know nothing of gang life, it all felt overly dramatic to me with the shootings, the deaths, the stealing etc. If they were adults, I would understand, but our main protagonist is 15 and it just not believable. The moral of the story is also painfully obvious from the beginning and feels moralistic. While Hinton is not wrong when arguing for a world where we can all realize that we are all made from the same cloth, it was done in a cliché way. I do believe that if I had read this when I was a teenager, I would have loved it a lot more. It has a lot of good things going for it after all like strong male characters and good plot progression, but, by now, I just need more. The Elephant Man by Tim Vicary 2.5/5 Français: Elephant Man (un autre titre anglais pour une version française) * Note: You may also be able to find this book under the author name of Frederick Treves, the name of the doctor in the story. // Vous allez peut-être trouver le livre sous le nom de l’auteur Frederick Treves qui est le docteur dans l’histoire. Summary He is not beautiful. His mother does not want him, children run away from him. People laugh at him, and call him 'The Elephant Man'. Then someone speaks to him – and listens to him! At the age of 27, Joseph Merrick finds a friend for the first time in his life. This is a true and tragic story. My thoughts This is one of those short stories where I did not know if I had to include in this "classics" review because I don't know if it technically is one. I had heard of this book before, but I doubt it is part of the literary canon nor is it over 30 years old yet. However, they turned this short story into a movie which had much success and won a couple of Oscars. I decided that this was enough to put it here on top of the fact that I would never have written a full review about it otherwise (whoops). The Elephant Man is both a children’s tale and not. It is very short and includes illustrations, but it is quite tragic. Vicary does a nice job of making the text accessible and interesting to all. However, if you are looking for a deeply intense story, this is not it. I would not recommend it for adults unless it is to read your child as while it is sad it is perfect in length and carries nice morale. The Elephant Man is mooving, but you will quickly forget about it. Address Unknown by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor 3.5/5 Français: Inconnu à cette adresse *Note: Read in the French translation by Michèle Lévy-Bram Summary A series of fictional letters between a Jewish art dealer living in San Francisco and his former business partner, who has returned to Germany, Address Unknown is a haunting tale of enormous and enduring impact. My thoughts Address Unknown is probably one of the best short stories I’ve read over the summer. It was a quick and highly enjoyable read. The subject matter is interesting and original with the idea of a Jew in the US corresponding with his friend slowly turning Nazi. I would say that I would have liked to see a lot more growth in character. It seems that from one chapter to the other Kressmann was going from being interested in Nazi ideology to complete adhering to it. I understand that you cannot make a short story two hundred pages long, but I do think the pacing was a bit too fast. Still, it remains an amazing and shocking story with an amazing twist. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson 4/5 Français: L’étrange cas du Dr. Jekyll et Mr. Hyde *Note: Read in the French translation Summary The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the original title of a novella written by the famous Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson that was first published in 1886. It is about a London lawyer named John Gabriel Utterson who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and the evil Edward Hyde. My thoughts I was extremely excited to open this one up as it is a story that has seen countless renditions in movies and has even given birth to a new expression. I was not disappointed. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was undoubtedly my favourite short story of the summer (although it is technically a novella, we'll pretend it is a short story). Surprisingly enough, I was never told about the twist at the end which allowed me to fully feel the suspense and the mystery surrounding Utterson's inquiry. Stevenson was also a wonderful writer who was pleasant to read even in translation. He mastered the leaving of little clues along the way that will give you the satisfaction of spotting them if you already know the twist or trying to guess what it means if you don't. I also believe this is one of those books that would be fun to read in class as it is not too long, not hard to read and captures the attention. Le joueur de Fyodor Dostoïevski 4/5 English: The Gambler *Note: J’ai lu la traduction française de André Markowicz Résumé Le jeu brûle tout. Il est la passion. Il est le rêve. L'enfer et la démesure. Le révélateur des abîmes de l'âme et l'ignoble concentré de la comédie bourgeoise. Il est l'argent! Autour de ses tapis, le général déchu se fait l'esclave du marquis et attend le décès de la richissime Baboulinka, sa tante. Dans ce désordre furieux, Alexis succombe à son tour au cancer du jeu. Le jeune précepteur veut séduire l'intraitable Pauline, belle-fille de son employeur. Il est pauvre et doit devenir riche. Il veut surprendre et se tuerait pour ça. Ma chronique J’aime bien les Russes. J’aime encore mieux les Russes du 19esiècle. Le drame, la passion, le ballet d’émotions ne sont comparables à aucune autre littérature. Je n’avais pourtant jamais essayé Dostoïevski. Il m’intimidait. Lorsque j’ai trouvé Le joueur dans une vieille boîte chez mon copain, j’ai décidé que ce roman court était idéal pour commencer. Étrangement,Le joueur est très accessible. Le sujet est simple et le style sans trop de détours. Il reste quelques longues explications sur l’amour, l’argent ou le désir, mais elles ne s’étendent pas pour plus que deux à trois pages. Dostoïevski s’exprime avec clarté et donne une voix unique à chaque personnage. Le joueur est parfois hilarant, tragique et moralisateur. C’est une montagne russe (jeux de mots de mauvais goût, pardonnez-moi) qui vous fera voyager à travers la Russie à la veille de ses révolutions. Je recommande fortement ce roman à tous ceux qui veulent en apprendre plus sur la Russie du 19esiècle. Pour ma part, je ne la découvre pas, mais au moins j’ai l’assurance d’avoir la capacité de pouvoir attaquer des plus grosses briques l’été prochain.
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