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musicdeepdive's reviews
445 reviews
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
challenging
emotional
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Add another vote for the Pride and Prejudice comparisons, but with much more bloodshed (figuratively).
Crimea: The Great Crimean War 1854-1856 by Trevor Royle
2.5
Rather dry prose with some sloppy syntax hurts what should be a more interesting book than it is.
Hard Times by Charles Dickens
challenging
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.75
Pocket Dickens, many of his writing strengths bound together in one travel-ready volume. Not a marvel, but effective.
Henry David Thoreau: A Life by Laura Dassow Walls
adventurous
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.5
Fascinating description of a fascinating man - a short life extraordinary well-lived.
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.5
Pastoral and reflective, really a masterful work of philosophy. If only we all could be as wealthy as this fellow and take two years of our lives to while away in nature, wisening ourselves in the process.
Franklin Pierce: Young Hickory of the Granite Hills by Roy Franklin Nichols
3.25
Not as difficult a read as its almost-century-old age would have you believe, but Nichols does sometimes feel like he's forcing an erudite sort of writing style that he can't quite make natural, and Pierce as a man just isn't that compelling, sorry to say.
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I admire the scope of this work and nothing can take away from the satire Dickens is incorporating per usual. But it is one of the Dickens novels that feels the most like a serial, bloated and stumbling over its excess and devoid of a quality central protagonist to anchor the story (Esther, bless her heart, is the weakest Dickens lead to date and it's not particularly close). The "true fans of literature" champion this as the best Dickens novel and maybe their infinite wisdom is accurate - myself, I will take my Copperfields and Twists and walk away quite happily.
Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
5.0
A different perspective than many slave narratives as this is the experience of someone captured into slavery rather than born into it, and in the context of the furor regarding the Fugitive Slave Act, it's easy to see why this stunningly well-written narrative captured the hold of many.