Cassandra by Christa Wolf
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Christa Wolf's Cassandra is an intriguing novel on a retelling of the Trojan War and the fall of Troy from Cassandra's point of view. Her novel digs deeper into the views of a woman during the time and has a strong impact on the significance of feminism and anti-war beliefs. From the voice and depictions of the different aspects of war we can see that there is a connection between ideas and beliefs going on within the author and the main character. Wolf essentially uses Cassandra as more than a marginalized figure and, instead, uses her as an example of her role as a woman in society during the Trojan War.
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Found on https://www.hopejennings.com/great-books.html
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Questions
Does Christa Wolf's character, Cassandra, portray her own thoughts and opinions, or was it more of an outsiders view?
What is the lesson or message that Wolf wants the reader to understand at the end of the novel? How does it relate to the aspect of war and where women of the time correspond with it?
Do you believe that Cassandra could be viewed as more of a modern day feminist? Or are there only similarities? And if so, the differences?
What is the lesson or message that Wolf wants the reader to understand at the end of the novel? How does it relate to the aspect of war and where women of the time correspond with it?
Do you believe that Cassandra could be viewed as more of a modern day feminist? Or are there only similarities? And if so, the differences?
House of Names by Colm Tóibín
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Grief and Isolation are the two main components that make up Colm Tóibín's House of Names. Throughout the novel, each of the main characters go through the death of loved ones and their actions resulting from those deaths as well as making clear of their feelings of loneliness to be seen and demonstrated through their intentions and thoughts that the author provides to the reader. Tóibín's novel confronts the social aspect of the struggles that take place in life that deal with both grief and isolation which set up for the future actions of each character's path.
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Found on https://www.hopejennings.com/great-books.html
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Quotations
"I have been acquainted with the smell of death ... It is easy now for me to feel peaceful and content."
“There was a time, I know, when I felt rage and I felt sorrow. But now I have lost what leads up to rage and sorrow. Maybe the only reason I wander in these spaces has to do with some other feeling, or what is left of it. Maybe that feeling is love. There is someone whom I love still, or have loved and protected, but I cannot be sure of that. No name will come. Some words come, but not the words I want, which are the names. If I can say the names, I will know then whom I loved and I will find them, or know how to see them. I will lure them into the shadows when the time is right.”
“In time, what happened would haunt no-one and belong to no-one, once they themselves had passed on into the darkness and into the abiding shadows.”
“Achilles has been sent to us to end what began before I was born, before my husband as born. Some venom in our blood, in all our blood. Old crimes and desires for vengeance. Old murders and memories of murder. Old wars and old treacheries. Old savagery, old attacks, times when men behaved like wolves.”
Websites
http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-house-of-names-a-novel/#gsc.tab=0
Contents from this website would help in answering some background or historical information that can be used to better understand the novel as well as the breakdown of terminology.
Contents from this website would help in answering some background or historical information that can be used to better understand the novel as well as the breakdown of terminology.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/may/27/house-of-names-colm-toibin-review
This website provides more of a connection of Tóibín's novel to the real world and would be a great start for those who would struggle to connect or understand the essentials of the novel.
This website provides more of a connection of Tóibín's novel to the real world and would be a great start for those who would struggle to connect or understand the essentials of the novel.
The Lost Books Of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason
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Within Zachary Mason's novel, The Lost Books of the Odyssey, are several short stories that reimagine some of the The Odyssey by Homer. Mason includes these stories as things that could of happened if other choices were made or some things were just played out differently in The Odyssey. He also uses different point of views to get his ideas, portrayals, and other concepts within his novel across by switching the point of views up an abundance of times throughout.
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Found on https://www.hopejennings.com/great-books.html
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Questions
Is Odysseus a hero or a villain? Or can he be seen as both?
Does Mason have a purpose in providing his audience with different experiences through point of views throughout his individual stories?
Why do you think Mason gives voice to Homer's minor characters, such as the Cyclops?
Websites
https://bldgblog.com/tag/zachary-mason/
A readers insight or view of the novel are the contents of this website. It consists of ways to go about the deeper meaning behind the novel and how and what Mason uses as applications to life.
A readers insight or view of the novel are the contents of this website. It consists of ways to go about the deeper meaning behind the novel and how and what Mason uses as applications to life.
https://blackbird.vcu.edu/v9n1/nonfiction/dempster_m/mason_page.shtml
Contents of this website explain how Mason goes about his writing in terms of attention to the reader, to the meaning, and to his writing style through a review on the novel.
Contents of this website explain how Mason goes about his writing in terms of attention to the reader, to the meaning, and to his writing style through a review on the novel.
Circe by Madeline Miller
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Circe is the re-telling of the Odyssey written by Homer. The novel consists of a series of re-tellings of mythological tales, Circe trueing men into pigs being her most known and an example of the tales throughout . Madeline Miller creates more emphasis and meaning on the character of Circe that contrasts Homer's depiction of her as just an obstacle for a hero. Her emphasis and meaning go into Circe's thoughts, actions, and emotions throughout the novel as she is seen to have a fascination with the idea of mortality.
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Found on https://www.hopejennings.com/great-books.html
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Quotations
“But in a solitary life, there are rare moments when another soul dips near yours, as stars once a year brush the earth. Such a constellation was he to me.”
“I thought: I cannot bear this world a moment longer. Then, child, make another.”
"I thought once that gods are the opposite of death, but I see now they are more dead than anything, for they are unchanging, and can hold nothing in their hands."
“That is one thing gods and mortals share. When we are young, we think ourselves the first to have each feeling in the world.”
Websites
https://the-bibliofile.com/circe/
This website provides a review on the novel and gives some basic background information that are useful in understanding the content. There is also a section that goes over a general character development.
This website provides a review on the novel and gives some basic background information that are useful in understanding the content. There is also a section that goes over a general character development.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circe
More emphasis on the background of the character of Circe is the purpose of including this website. It goes into her relation to some of the characters you can find in Madeline Miller's Circe as well as just background on who she is.
More emphasis on the background of the character of Circe is the purpose of including this website. It goes into her relation to some of the characters you can find in Madeline Miller's Circe as well as just background on who she is.
