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Category Archives: AP English – 18 Years Later
In Which the Proprietors of Postcards from Purgatory Give Themselves an Early Christmas Gift: Pre-reading notes on Ibsen’s A Doll House and Hedda Gabler. (By Jill)
Here is what I have to say about our December AP English Challenge title: THANK THE LORD IT’S NOT A GIANT NOVEL. It’s a total of 154 pages in a mass-market paperback edition of Heinrik Ibsen’s collected plays. It’s like … Continue reading
I Can’t Quite Believe I’m Beating Jill to the Punch on this One: Thoughts on Part One of Jane Eyre (by Bethany)
OK, the title of this post is a little misleading. I have no doubt that Jill has finished Jane Eyre by now – or at least is very, very close and will do so tonight while it is still November. … Continue reading
So a governess, a blind guy, and a madwoman walk into a bar…. Pre-reading Notes on November’s AP English Challenge book, Jane Eyre (by Jill)
I am so excited to re-read Jane Eyre! I won’t be starting it for at least a week as I want to knock out some more Anitober selections, but since Bethany posted her pre-reading notes I thought I should go … Continue reading
Emma Bovary: The Original Desperate Housewife (by Jill)
I finished Madame Bovary a little over a week ago but I waited a few days to start my post about it and then it’s taken a few days to finish it. I blame the World Series and Hurricane Sandy. … Continue reading
On Madwomen in Attics and the Defence of Personal Boundaries: Pre-Reading Notes on Jane Eyre (by Bethany)
At seventeen I had a terrible track record with nineteenth-century novels. I only occasionally attempted one for pleasure, and while I had been assigned a few along the way in my first few years of high school, I’m pretty sure … Continue reading
Final Thoughts on Madame Bovary (by Bethany)
I think Madame Bovary is the wisest, most beautiful novel that ever bored me to tears. Structurally, it’s flawless: the establishment right from the start of Charles Bovary as a harmless buffoon who ever since childhood has been separated from … Continue reading
I Really Am Reading It: Thoughts on Part I of Madame Bovary (by Bethany)
I know it’s taken me a while to get started, but I’m reading Madame Bovary actively now and am enjoying it. I do think Lydia Davis’ translation is the best I’ve ever encountered, although I’m also willing to blame my … Continue reading
Just doing some mean girl ranting about Emma Bovary on a Sunday night… Progress report on Part One of Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary (by Jill)
I’ve been doing a little reading about Madame Bovary on the side, and have learned that this book was quite revolutionary when it was first published in 1857. It was one of the first realistic novels published. I can see … Continue reading
Prereading notes on Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary (by Jill)
Let me tell you what I know about Madame Bovary. There’s a married French woman and she has an affair. This was assigned, as Bethany said, as extra credit at the end of the fall semester of AP English. … Continue reading
Finished With Lord Jim and Ready for the Funny Farm: AP Challenge Month #4 Comes to its Inevitable, Fated End (by Bethany)
Somewhere deep in my memory, right next to the place where the phone numbers of elementary school classmates are permanently inscribed, there exists the odd (and entirely erroneous) conviction that the scene from Return of the Jedi where the Ewoks … Continue reading
Postcards From Purgatory 