This time of year I frequently yearn to curl up in a big chair with a blanket, a hot drink, and a good book. When it is cold and dreary outside, there is such a coziness to be inside, reading about another person, event, worldview, time of history, etc.
So in celebration for the first half of the month, it's time for the first giveaway of the month!
To be perfectly honest, I've never done a giveaway here on the blog. And I've never won someone else's giveaway, so this is going to be a lot of fun!
For this giveaway, the winner gets a choice of a novel book necklace.
There are three to choose from: "Pride and Prejudice", "Jane Eyre", or "Romeo and Juliet".
Each necklace is a ribbon/cord measuring 16" with clasp.
What you need to do to enter is comment on this blog post with an answer to the question:
Re-pin, re-post, share, like, +1, tweet, hashtag, whatever!
So in celebration for the first half of the month, it's time for the first giveaway of the month!
To be perfectly honest, I've never done a giveaway here on the blog. And I've never won someone else's giveaway, so this is going to be a lot of fun!
For this giveaway, the winner gets a choice of a novel book necklace.
There are three to choose from: "Pride and Prejudice", "Jane Eyre", or "Romeo and Juliet".
Each necklace is a ribbon/cord measuring 16" with clasp.
What you need to do to enter is comment on this blog post with an answer to the question:
"What is your favorite classic book?"
"What is the basic story line and why do you like it?"
This giveaway ends at midnight central time on Thursday, October 17, 2013.
Winner will be announced on Friday, October 18, 2013.
Re-pin, re-post, share, like, +1, tweet, hashtag, whatever!
PS This is open to both girls and guys, but if a guy wins, and doesn't want this, I'll have a substitute gift.
Okay.....I'm in. I'm a sucker for giveaways, mainly because I have these delusions that I might actually win.....but never do. It's a very good thing that I don't play the lottery!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite classic book is probably Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
This book is set during the summer of 1865 in St. Petersburg. It is about a failing student, Raskolnikov, who has strong feelings of his own superiority but has not yet been able to demonstrate his greatness to the world. In order to prove himself, he decides to "justifiably" murder a moneylender to whom he owes money. By murdering his financier, Raskolnikov hopes to prove that superior beings need not be bound by conventional morality. Very shortly after committing this murder, the sister of the moneylender walks into the crime scene and Raskolnikov is forced to commit an additional murder.
The remainder of the book wrestles with questions of truth, redemption, morality, as well as the state of the human heart. As Raskolnikov wrestles with these questions, the reader is also forced to wrestle with them, making it a great exercise in thinking Biblically. That is why I love it!
PS - I'll admit that it's been a while since I've read the book so the above summary was aided in part by the summary given on the back of my copy of the book. Regardless, I hope you can see why I like the book!
I will have to agree that this is the perfect time to enjoy the pleasant mixture of hot drinks, warm blankets, and captivating books. Aside from the great warmth you get from the drink and the blankets, one can always enjoy the insight given through a book. Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" happened to be the first classic that came to my mind when reading this.
ReplyDeleteThe books starts off by introducing the main character, Santiago. Hemingway shows the tough struggles of Santiago since he is an older man who fishes for a living and hasn't gotten a catch for eighty-four days. Because of his great misfortune, Santiago has lost the trust of his young apprentice's parents. Even though Mandolin (Santiago's used-to-be apprentice) is forced to begin fishing with group of more abundant fishermen, we see that he still returns to give care to Santiago as the old man struggles to keep alive.
One day, the old man dreams of getting the greatest catch of his life, and promises not to come back to shore until he gets it. So he takes off in his small boat for what will be his last journey out to sea.
When Santiago makes it far enough into the sea, he catches a Marlin on his line and fights to pull the Marlin close enough to the boat. This fight ends up taking all day and night. He successfully kills the Marlin, though, and begins on his journey home. As he is heading home, he ends up being followed and attacked by sharks for three days. Santiago struggles to try and maintain the Marlin in good shape despite that the sharks continuously take bite after bite from the meat. After his tough mental and physical struggles caused by the sharks, he makes it back to the shore with nothing but the skeleton of the Marlin. As he uses the last of his energy to get to his shack with his newspaper bed, so he lies down and closes his eyes, only to drift off to the thoughts of the lions he saw earlier in life, playing on the beach.
Within this touching story, readers can see Hemingway's writing shows Santiago's struggles with the sharks as being symbolic of Christ's pain and suffering. I thoroughly enjoyed this classic and found myself enjoying even Santiago's simplest of pleasures. I hope everyone gets to read this classic so they too can enjoy the great tale of the old man and the sea.
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ReplyDeleteMeh, sure, why not :) My favorite classic novel is probably Les Miserables (which my brother would point out is not a good book to have as a favorite...) and it tells the story of a man named Jean Valjean - from his time in prison, breaking parole, becoming Mayor of a small town where he meets a dying woman and agrees to take care of her daughter, is discovered by the police and runs off to hide with the daughter, Cosette, in an abbey. Fast forward to Cosette falling in love with a young student, Marius, Jean Valjean fearing he's been discovered again, and some aftereffects of the French Revolution. In the end, practically everyone dies, but one of the big reasons I probably love it so much is that I can relate the storyline to the musical. It has an incredible story of redemption and sacrifice, and it doesn't paint over the depravity of humanity. ...Also, it's one of the few classic's that I actually found interesting enough to wade through XD
ReplyDeleteAlrighty I have put this off long enough!! Its not that I don't want to join your giveaway, its because I'm not an avid reader and I haven't read near enough classics. But I decided that my favorite classic (I hope it's considered a classic!) that I have read thus far is - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
ReplyDeleteThe story is set in the 1930's in a small Alabama town. It is written from the perspective of a six-year old girl named Scout, her real name is Jean-Louis Finch but she hates it when people call her that. Scout lives with her widowed father Atticus and her nine-year old brother Jem. She is quite the tom-boy and the first part of the book is full of mischievous adventures she shares with her brother and good friend Dill. The second part of the book and the more serious side of the book is about a lawsuit between a black man (Tom) and a white woman. Scout's father is a lawyer and he defends Tom. During this time (especially in the south) prejudice reigned, the truth didn't matter only the color of your skin. Atticus desired the truth to be known but he didn't stand a chance as the whole town was against him. The case unfolds and it becomes clear that Tom was wrongly accused and Atticus gives a wonderful stance for the him. But still the hard hearted town convicted him. Atticus stayed beside Tom through thick and thin - he would take a chair and a book to stay outside of the jail and watch the door for Tom. Eventually Tom was moved and well... he died. Yeah, I know sad. But, the ending is wonderful - it brings together the mischievous adventures Scout had and it puts a happier note on the case. (Excuse my terrible overview - I'm really bad at writing overviews and its been a while since I read the book.)
Why did I like this book? Well, I can empathize with Scout in the sense that she is tom-boy with has only one sibling an older brother. Some of her habits in being a little tom-boy I completely understand. The best part of the book though is Atticus standing up for what was right and not giving in to peer pressure. I often feel like I have to do what the world expects of me because its easier that way. Reading about Atticus and how he stood up against the entire town and losing the case, but not losing His faith, really inspired me. Because it wasn't easy for him, and lots of people treated him wrong but that didn't change the way he treated them. I think it is a wonderful story and a classic everyone should read!!
Thanks for doing this and sorry its kind of last minute!!
- Molli E.
I know I'm too late for the giveaway, but it was such a fun idea I still wanted to join in!
ReplyDeleteRunning the risk of sounding completely cliché, my favorite classic to date is "Jane Eyre" ( I was going to say " To Kill A Mockingbird" but Molli beat me to it! )
The story is a fairly familiar one: young Jane endures a harsh childhood, at times both physically and mentally abusive by today's standards. She excels in her studies however and at the age of 18 acquires a position as governess to the young ward of the cynical yet magnetic Mr. Rochester.
As time progresses Jane becomes increasingly puzzled by her employer's mercurial attitude towards her, as well as the unexplained stories that shroud her new home in mystery.
I won't anymore away for those who aren't as familiar with the plot, as it really is a fabulous gothic mystery with wonderful plot twists.
I think I enjoyed this book so much, because in Jane Charlotte Bronte has created a character that you really and truly feel for. She is not your classic "damsel-in-distress" heroine. Jane is alone, she is unloved, she's not pretty, she is scared. She has had every disadvantage thrown at her, yet she retains a dignity and grace that always feels genuine, never cloying or artificial. She befriends the most unwanted orphan, faces Mr. Rochester's taunts and challenges him. She is loyal, open and honest. She is tempted and torn, but makes hard choices because they are the right ones.
I finished tis book amazed that it had been written nearly 200 years ago. The struggles of Jane and Rochester still resonate, resulting in a refreshingly relatable and timeless story.