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Posts tagged ‘the french lieutenant’s woman’

Jul 3

FrenchLieutWoman
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Repost: 101 Books Guide To Carrying An Embarrassing Book In Public

It’s rerun week at 101 Books! Today’s post originally appeared on August 1, 2011. 101 Books will return live on Monday July 9. 

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Here’s the situation: You’ve got a book with a questionable cover—nothing dirty. You’re just a little self-conscious about this book’s cover when you carry it in public.

Maybe you’re a guy who likes Danielle Steel novels. Or maybe you’re a girl who enjoys the occasional foray into Fabio-inspired grocery store romance novels. Hey, whatever floats your boat, right?

But if you want to take the book out on your lunch break, you might be a little leery of letting fellow diners know about your Fabio obsession.

If you’ll remember from earlier this year, I encountered this whole carrying an “embarrassing”-book-in-public issue while reading a Judy Blume book. Now, I’m facing it to a slighter degree with The French Lieutenant’s Woman.

So, using The French Lieutenant’s Woman as an example, I’ve come up with a few book carrying techniques that may or may not help you work around this problem.

The Confident Carry

With this approach, you are taking on the world. You’re saying, “I know you see the barechested woman with flowing hair on this cover, and I don’t care.” If you’re bold enough and confident enough in your reading selections to use this technique, then pat yourself on the back. You’ll go far in life.

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Aug 9

16 Comments

Book #23: The French Lieutenant’s Woman

I really wanted to dislike this novel.

The title. The cover. My mistaken thought that it was an oozing, touchy-feely-beat-me-over-the-head-so-I-don’t-have-to-read-this love story. All of this factored into my preconceived notions about The French Lieutenant’s Woman.

Forgive me. I was wrong.

Does The French Lieutenant’s Woman have romantic elements? Yes. It is a love story? Partially, in a twisted kind of way. But to paint this novel with a broad brush like that is doing John Fowles a disservice.

How much did I enjoy this novel? Well, let me tell you all about it.

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Aug 8

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One Of The Best Passages I’ve Read All Year

In the almost full year that I’ve been writing this blog and reading these books, I’ve read some incredibly insightful stuff.

But this passage from John Fowles in The French Lieutenant’s Woman may take the proverbial cake. Fowles, the narrator, is talking about two servants who are in love and from cultures that couldn’t be more different:

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Aug 2

17 Comments

John Fowles: Stop Planning and Start Writing

John Fowles looks like a guy who might beat me up if I call his book a "love story." (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Let me tell you a secret. After yesterday’s post, you might think I really dislike The French Lieutenant’s Woman. But, truth is, this is a strong novel to this point. Sure, the cover is a bit “romancey” for me, but the story itself is powerful.

I didn’t expect much from this book, and it’s blowing me away to this point–not too different from I, Claudius in that regard.

One unique aspect of The French Lieutenant’s Woman is the narrator. Fowles, the author, inserts himself into the story several times. He talks about the characters, about his writing process, and he makes you very aware that this is a fictional story he is telling.

About 100 pages into the novel, Fowles takes a break from the story itself and talks about his writing and planning process. To me, this is absolutely fascinating stuff.

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Aug 1

40 Comments

101 Books Guide To Carrying An Embarrassing Book In Public

Here’s the situation: You’ve got a book with a questionable cover—nothing dirty. You’re just a little self-conscious about this book’s cover when you carry it in public.

Maybe you’re a guy who likes Danielle Steel novels. Or maybe you’re a girl who enjoys the occasional foray into Fabio-inspired grocery store romance novels. Hey, whatever floats your boat, right?

But if you want to take the book out on your lunch break, you might be a little leery of letting fellow diners know about your Fabio obsession.

If you’ll remember from earlier this year, I encountered this whole carrying an “embarrassing”-book-in-public issue while reading a Judy Blume book. Now, I’m facing it to a slighter degree with The French Lieutenant’s Woman.

So, using The French Lieutenant’s Woman as an example, I’ve come up with a few book carrying techniques that may or may not help you work around this problem.

The Confident Carry

With this approach, you are taking on the world. You’re saying, “I know you see the barechested woman with flowing hair on this cover, and I don’t care.” If you’re bold enough and confident enough in your reading selections to use this technique, then pat yourself on the back. You’ll go far in life.

Read more

Jul 28

12 Comments

Next Up: The French Lieutenant’s Woman

Here we go again. Another book that makes me uncomfortable.

While Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret was on a whole different level, The French Lieutenant’s Woman still makes me feel a bit awkward. I’m a guy. I like football, beer, and Russell Crowe movies. And I’m reading a romance novel? Call me cultured.

John Fowle’s story is set in the Victorian era of the late 19th century. It’s about a mysterious woman with a checkered past, and I think there’s some kind of love triangle thing going on, too.

Some quick facts:

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Jun 1

10 Comments

The Big Reveal: Books 19-23

I say “big reveal” in jest, I hope you know. I doubt very many of you woke up this morning and anxiously asked yourself, “I absolutely cannot wait to hear what Robert Bruce at 101 Books will be reading over the next few weeks.”

Thanks to those of you that voted yesterday, though. I always love to hear your thoughts on the books I have and haven’t read. So here are the next 5 novels, in no particular order:

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