Tag: Tree Book

  • The Robber Bridegroom

    This was an interesting edition, which featured some well-known and some lesser known fairy tales from the Grimm Brothers. The titular story tells of a young girl who finds out her intended is not all that great and figures out a way to defeat him. Another one, the six servants, I only knew from the… →

  • It was snowing butterflies

    I have never read On the Origin of Species. However, I was glad that some of Darwin’s writing had made the Little Black Classics. These are a part of his notes that he took while on Beagle trying to prove the evolution theory. As such it provides not only biology, but also remarks on exploring… →

  • A Pair of Silk Stockings

    I had not heard of Kate Chopin before I started reading this. A Pair of Silk Stockings contains five short stories and overall it was a really nice read. That’s what I have been reading these little books for, finding new-to-me authors. In the title story, a woman has 15 dollars to spend on nice… →

  • The Congress of Rough Riders

    I’m a big fan of John Boyne, and this was one of the last books I hadn’t read yet. So, I didn’t mind the fact I really don’t like cowboys and just started reading. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed cause it turned out that I minded the cowboys after all. It was not bad,… →

  • The Voyage of Sir Francis Drake Around the Whole Globe

    This was horrible! One of the worst in the collection, of that I am sure. When reading historical accounts it is always difficult, because their actions have to be put in the historical context rather than how we would judge these actions today. However, The Voyage of Sir Francis Drake Around the Whole Globe, is… →

  • The Night is Darkening Round Me

    My first venture into the works of the Brontë sisters contains poems by Emily, although it says that one of the poems included is now rather assigned to Charlotte. These poems are very dark. Death is the one recurring theme. As such it feels very 19th Century, but it didn’t make for very enjoyable reading.… →

  • Lips Too Chilled

    Poetry has always been somewhat of a hit or miss with me. Lips Too Chilled collects Haiku, and I am not really experienced reading them. So, maybe that is why I quite liked these, some were very nice in their short simplicity. I am usually not one for the very strict formats that different poem-styles… →

  • The Old Man of the Moon

    Penguin describes this edition as a Chinese official’s account of his all-consuming love for his wife, and that pretty much sums up the book. It is also an account of life in China in the 18th century of course, but it is the love story which is at the center of it. There were some… →

  • Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime

    I started collecting Penguin’s Little Black Classics, and my random reading pilot drew this booklet. (I believe this was the first LBC I’ve read) I was never really crazy about The Picture of Dorian Grey. I read it and it wasn’t bad but not as good as I expected it would be (based on raving… →

  • Leonardo da Vinci

    For me Vasari’s addition to the little black classics showed once more that reading about great artists can be extraordinarily dull. While it was clear from the writing that Vasari admires Leonardo da Vinci and the other artists described in the book, I found it rather random and never warmed up to his style. I… →

  • How Much Land Does A Man Need?

    Tolstoy may be known for his gigantic works like Anna Karenina and War & Peace, but this is a very neat short story, a parable of man’s greed and ambitions. What we have is never enough, we always want more. While it was clear where the story was heading – I am pretty sure someone… →

  • Noah Barleywater Runs Away

    It has been said that Noah Barleywater Runs Away is a mere children’s book. An adventure but not more than that. It has also been said that Noah Barleywater is a thought-provoking novel, even for adults. What side am I on? It’s aimed on children aged 8-12, but I believe there is so much more… →

  • The Life of a Stupid Man

    The Life of a Stupid Man collects three stories by Japanese writer Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. The first was the nicest, a short story about a murder told from the perspective of several witness, including – strangely enough – the murder victim. This one I quite liked. The other two stories were autobiographical and very fragmentary. Those… →

  • Antigone

    I had actually never read Antigone until this point, although the story was familiar of course. Antigone, the titular character, goes against her uncle the King’s wishes and buries her brother who died in rebellion. →

  • Socrates’ Defence

    I couldn’t read this without hearing the song from Horrible Histories. Either way this was a very interesting read. I have read some Plato before for school, but never his more famous work on Socrates. Here he really tries to keep the style rather simple – for he is accused of bedazzling the audience with… →

  • Call Me By Your Name

    3rd read for the #ReverseReadathon I saw the movie first – as a part of watching all the Best Movie nominees I was ticking boxes and one of them was Call Me By Your Name. I remember I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it, since romantic movies are not one my favorite genres. However, I… →

  • Anthem For Damned Youth

    I saw some of Owen’s work in class, but it was a while ago and I can’t really recall it. However, his tragic end just before the armistice stuck with me, especially since his poems are very anti-war. Poetry in the Little Black Classics has not been the easiest for me. However, I found this… →

  • The Figure in the Carpet

    I didn’t really like this and I think it is mainly due to the fact I disagree with what it proposes. It features a writer who cannot enjoy all the positive reviews for his latest work since he feels that all reviewers are missing the most important point he is trying to make. When one… →

  • The Reckoning

    This edition contains two short stories by the American author Edith Wharton. The first is on marriage and falling in and out of love. And while I quite liked the concept, I liked the second story a bit better. It’s about an old woman who’s main pleasure in life is watching the world pass by… →

  • The Great Fire of London

    I thought it would be a no-brainer I would like this. It’s a historical account of London around and during the great fire of London in 1666, which burned down much of The City as well as burned out the plague (to name one good thing that came from it). The signs of the fire… →

  • Mutiny on the Bounty

    This book tells the story of the Mutiny on the Bounty in 1789. Before I read this book, I hadn’t really heard about it. But that made it more thrilling for me, as I didn’t know how it was going to end and all. Boyne has a very pleasant way of telling stories, I really… →

  • The Nose

    This is a weird story. A man wakes up to find his nose missing and for him, this is the end of the world. How can he ever go out in public again, how could someone possibly take him serious ever again? This is rather absurd of course, and there is very little logic in… →

  • A Simple Heart

    I am a little bit conflicted about stories like A Simple Heart. It tells the rather bleak life of a servant girl. And while I like that the main character is not a hero of some sort or very special, it does not make for the most engaging type of story. The writing was nice… →

  • Crime and Punishment

    (Please be aware that this is an old review) A very famous classic in Russian Literature. I read Anna Karenina last year (and I know it’s Tolstoy, so completely different, but I don’t have a lot to compare it with as I’m not really experienced in Russian Literature). Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov, or Rodya, is a… →