I’ve read and enjoyed several of these. Suddenly, as I read your post, I saw Ma Joad sitting next to her dead mother and Chevy Chase strapping the dead grandma to the top of the car. Never occurred to me before.
By a kind of coincidence, I was encouraged to read Don Quixote by a BookTube channel and loved it after finding a good translation. I picked up Absolam, Absolam by Faulkner next. Had avoided him because I’d been told he was a difficult read. But, a few pages in, I saw he wrote like Cervantes and it was easy. I also saw similarities to Great Expectations as they are both partly about women jilted at the altar. Around the same time, I read A Farewell to Arms. If you read it out loud, parts of it sound like it’s written in Iambic pentameter. I live in Oklahoma. My parents were born during the drought and depression. They did not go to California. I have some letters from grandparents and great grandparents from that time period. Heartbreaking but the Grapes of Wrath is meaningful.
A student approached Faulkner for help explaining one of his paragraph long sentences. Faulkner replied: I don’t know, kid. I was pretty liquored up when I wrote that.
Similar to Robert Browning who, when asked about some lines I think in “Sordello,” replied that when he wrote them, only God and Browning knew what they meant, and now only God knows.
“Rebecca” has been the first book for my “Desert Island” list of three for decades. Read it first when I was 13. I couldn’t believe that the narrator was never named. Surely I missed that, so I immediately read it again.
I learned somewhere that this was Hitchcock’s first horror story, which I found very intriguing; probably prompted me to read it again. But any excuse to read Rebecca is a good excuse. And of all the film versions, Hitchcock’s is my favorite. (That was Joan Fontaine’s first movie [I think].)
I agree that your breakdown of all these books is stupendous, and should be compiled into a book. There are so many “must read lists” but most of the books will maim, damage, scar for life. Publish one for adults and one for children’s books. We had a very lively discussion in the extended family not too long ago as to how in the hell “Wuthering Heights” makes all the must read list.
I wish I could financially support all 1500 (give or take) authors I enjoy on Substack. I would put you at Number 1, if I didn’t have stupid bills to pay.
I was always extremely irked by ‘the new Mrs de Winter.’ She’s the new lady of the house. If she finds Mrs Danvers to be insubordinate and hostile, she had full authority to fire her. But I guess her lack of self-confidence is understandable, given her background.
Should you create a Part 7, what do you think about including Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things? It seems to me that several manufactured "controversies", (mostly stemming from the charges of obscenity) have frequently overshadowed the real ugliness that Roy was showing us.
Du Maurier was an absolute genius. It's too bad she wasn't more critically acclaimed. I do think Rebecca is her masterpiece. The hero was a murderer (a double murderer, when he thought he killed a pregnant Rebecca) and the heroine was nameless! And the most unforgettable character has never even appeared alive in the book! How clever is that? Steinbeck is brilliant, obviously and The Color Purple is inspiring. Quite a list you have here. Thanks!
Hey, Ms. Karen, I have a question about Rebecca. Did Mrs. Danvers die? I was under the impression that she went away.
“Mrs. Danvers has cleared out. She’s gone, disappeared. She said nothing to anyone, but apparently she’d been packing up all day, stripping her room of things, and the fellow from the station came for her boxes at about four o’clock.”
I do agree she started the fire but no one perished from it. If she did, was it implied? But the narrator even wondered,
“Mrs. Danvers. I wonder what she is doing now.”
It's a really small detail, but I just have to know. Sorry for bothering you.
The ending is very vague in the book. I think the author wanted it that way, and for us to talk about it like this however, I do think this is what the the general consensus thinks, especially based off of the TV/movie adaptations.
The image of Mrs. Danvers standing at a window while Manderley burns comes from Rebecca starring Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, and Judith Anderson.
In Hitchcock’s version, Mrs. Danvers is much more explicitly tied to the destruction of Manderley. She remains inside the house as it burns, and viewers see her at a window engulfed by flames, strongly indicating that she dies in the fire.
I’ve read and enjoyed several of these. Suddenly, as I read your post, I saw Ma Joad sitting next to her dead mother and Chevy Chase strapping the dead grandma to the top of the car. Never occurred to me before.
By a kind of coincidence, I was encouraged to read Don Quixote by a BookTube channel and loved it after finding a good translation. I picked up Absolam, Absolam by Faulkner next. Had avoided him because I’d been told he was a difficult read. But, a few pages in, I saw he wrote like Cervantes and it was easy. I also saw similarities to Great Expectations as they are both partly about women jilted at the altar. Around the same time, I read A Farewell to Arms. If you read it out loud, parts of it sound like it’s written in Iambic pentameter. I live in Oklahoma. My parents were born during the drought and depression. They did not go to California. I have some letters from grandparents and great grandparents from that time period. Heartbreaking but the Grapes of Wrath is meaningful.
Wow, thank you for sharing!
I loved Rebecca, and your recap and analysis makes me want to reread it!
It’s worth it! I wish I could read it again for the first time.
As a retired English teacher, I cannot tell you how much I am enjoying these lists. Thank you!
That means so much, thank you!
A student approached Faulkner for help explaining one of his paragraph long sentences. Faulkner replied: I don’t know, kid. I was pretty liquored up when I wrote that.
Similar to Robert Browning who, when asked about some lines I think in “Sordello,” replied that when he wrote them, only God and Browning knew what they meant, and now only God knows.
Nothing by Flannery O’Connor yet? We absolutely need Part 7!
“Rebecca” has been the first book for my “Desert Island” list of three for decades. Read it first when I was 13. I couldn’t believe that the narrator was never named. Surely I missed that, so I immediately read it again.
I learned somewhere that this was Hitchcock’s first horror story, which I found very intriguing; probably prompted me to read it again. But any excuse to read Rebecca is a good excuse. And of all the film versions, Hitchcock’s is my favorite. (That was Joan Fontaine’s first movie [I think].)
I agree that your breakdown of all these books is stupendous, and should be compiled into a book. There are so many “must read lists” but most of the books will maim, damage, scar for life. Publish one for adults and one for children’s books. We had a very lively discussion in the extended family not too long ago as to how in the hell “Wuthering Heights” makes all the must read list.
I wish I could financially support all 1500 (give or take) authors I enjoy on Substack. I would put you at Number 1, if I didn’t have stupid bills to pay.
Thank you for guiding all of us!
Peace 🕊️
So kind, thank you Suzanne! I’m glad you’re here!
These list are so fantastic
Today I was wondering if Les Miserables would be an addition to the lists!
I also wondered if there is a change in how we receive these books now than in previous times.
You should do some of Hemingway’s short stories too. “The Short, Happy Life of Francis MacCumber” comes to mind. Otherwise, great stuff! Brava!
Part 7. Might as well stop asking; you know we all the whole list!
I LOVE this. Don't stop here. I think THIS should be required reading.
I was in junior high when I read The Grapes of Wrath , it was a first look at the cruelty of mankind to its own. It broke my heart.
I was always extremely irked by ‘the new Mrs de Winter.’ She’s the new lady of the house. If she finds Mrs Danvers to be insubordinate and hostile, she had full authority to fire her. But I guess her lack of self-confidence is understandable, given her background.
this device is commonly used in romance novels ; the new wife has to suffer bravely before her husband figures it out.
Yes, the lack of communication between 'the New Mrs de Winter' and her husband was also annoying--but very telling.
Always love each and every installment of this series. Excited for Part 7!
Should you create a Part 7, what do you think about including Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things? It seems to me that several manufactured "controversies", (mostly stemming from the charges of obscenity) have frequently overshadowed the real ugliness that Roy was showing us.
Du Maurier was an absolute genius. It's too bad she wasn't more critically acclaimed. I do think Rebecca is her masterpiece. The hero was a murderer (a double murderer, when he thought he killed a pregnant Rebecca) and the heroine was nameless! And the most unforgettable character has never even appeared alive in the book! How clever is that? Steinbeck is brilliant, obviously and The Color Purple is inspiring. Quite a list you have here. Thanks!
Yes, agree!
Hey, Ms. Karen, I have a question about Rebecca. Did Mrs. Danvers die? I was under the impression that she went away.
“Mrs. Danvers has cleared out. She’s gone, disappeared. She said nothing to anyone, but apparently she’d been packing up all day, stripping her room of things, and the fellow from the station came for her boxes at about four o’clock.”
I do agree she started the fire but no one perished from it. If she did, was it implied? But the narrator even wondered,
“Mrs. Danvers. I wonder what she is doing now.”
It's a really small detail, but I just have to know. Sorry for bothering you.
I love this question! I always thought that she started the fire and then cleared out.
🤔 but in the post you wrote that Mrs. Danvers died in the fire (which is not what happens in the book). Makes me think the post is written by AI.
The ending is very vague in the book. I think the author wanted it that way, and for us to talk about it like this however, I do think this is what the the general consensus thinks, especially based off of the TV/movie adaptations.
The image of Mrs. Danvers standing at a window while Manderley burns comes from Rebecca starring Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, and Judith Anderson.
In Hitchcock’s version, Mrs. Danvers is much more explicitly tied to the destruction of Manderley. She remains inside the house as it burns, and viewers see her at a window engulfed by flames, strongly indicating that she dies in the fire.
But -I- personally think she started it and ran.
I've always had a soft spot for Frenchman's Creek
It's on my TBR list!