A jealous girl tries to frustrate the plans of her widowed father to remarry, giving the reason that it would be unjust to the memory of her mother. Good short story, less obscure and involved than most of Henry James' fiction.
Seems to be a different version of Far From the Madding Crowd, without the happy ending. The characters appear to be the same, clothed in slightly differing personalities. However, still a very readable book. Hardy is one of the greatest English writers, and none of his fiction is mediocre or fluctuates in quality, unlike many other writers of less repute.
Did not like the book much although it was quite well written. There are so many French words and phrases that it almost qualifies to be a bilingual novel. There are definite traces of Balzac in the story; Ouida was quite ambitious and reading her Wikipedia entry makes one think that she actually mirrored her own life on the "puissant" great ladies of Balzac's novels.
Beauty, charm, acerbic wit and through worldliness-- Athenais de Montespan seems more like a character in fiction than a real-life personage in history. Contemporary records show that she was suspected of resorting to witchcraft to acquire the affections of the monarch Louis XIV. Her memoirs are interesting as they give glimpses not only of life at the French court but more importantly, of what the Marquise thought of herself in relation to those around her.
Seventeen-year-old William Sylvanus Baxter falls in love with Miss Pratt, who is visiting some relations in his neighbourhood. His efforts to impress her lead him into hilarious circumstances; at one point he steals his father's evening clothes so that he can wear them when visiting her. The situation is complicated by what he regards as the uncooperative attitude of his family members, who at times seem to conspire deliberately to embarrass him in front of his sweetheart. Highly recomended.
Young, callow and inexperienced poet Lucien Chardon falls in love with a much older married woman, Anais de Bargeton, and flees with her to Paris, where both of them become speedily disillusioned with each other and end up parting ways.
Good, but certainly not in the same league as "Seventeen" or "Penrod and Sam." This book is a bit heavy at times and the narrative seems to drag a little.
The great child delineator Booth Tarkington has provided plenty of funny material in this story--- and most of it comes, naturally, from the things that the children in this novel do. In my opinion few other writers describe adolescent behaviour so humorously as Tarkington does; 'Seventeen' is a prime example. In this book the best part is when Florence, in an attempt to spare Noble Dill's feelings, breaks the news of Julia's engagement through her cousin's newspaper, which she is able to take over and edit using a well-planned, judiciously implemented threat of blackmail.
For fans of the school story genre this is one of the best. It is a light, humorous book without the intense adolescent relationships between friends at school, common in many school stories. This book traces the journey of Mike Jackson, a cricketing genius, from his first days at Wrykyn to his removal to another school Sedleigh, culminating in the victorious match between Sedleigh and Wrykyn.
Surfeited with heavy reading, one day I came across this book and subsequently I read all of P.G. Wodehouse's school stories. All of them are enjoyable and easy to read and depict schoolboy character very well.
An entertaining book for those who like school stories; especially for the reader who, like Charteris, "has a gift of humour, and (very naturally) enjoys exercising it."
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Surfeited with heavy reading, one day I came across this book and subsequently I read all of P.G. Wodehouse's school stories. All of them are enjoyable and easy to read and depict schoolboy character very well.