Esther Racah Writer & Literary Blogger

Category: Books

I love books and literature, so I decided to open a blog which is all about books. A literary blog is like a personal virtual library. It allows me to express my point of view about my favourite books.

During my childhood, I always enjoyed reading books; hence I’ve become interested in literature. Being an avid reader, I love to write book reviews. At an early age, I started to read books in three languages: Italian, English, and French. And of course, I preferred to read fairy tales by The Brothers Grimm, C. Perrault, H. C. Andersen, and J. Jacobs. Among my favourite fables which I was reading several times, I can list The Frog Prince, The Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Goldilocks, and the Three Bears.

During my teenage years, my focus moved to novels by Jane Austen, the Brontë Sisters, W. Shakespeare, C. Dickens, A. Pushkin, T. Mann, and other European writers. In general, I’ve always been very interested in English literature. I’ve read books by British authors such as G.Chaucer, W.Shakespeare, J.Austen, Brontë sisters, C.Dickens, and V.Woolf ( to cite some of them ).

One of my purposes is to express my perspective on the book I read. Although I do read in French, and my native language is Italian, I will mainly write reviews about English and American novels, because I’m more acquainted with the English language. I want to show a different side of classic books, which can have a connection with our daily life.

  • A Tale Of Two Cities Book 2 – The Golden Thread

    A Tale Of Two Cities Book 2 – The Golden Thread

    A Tale of Two Cities Book 2 – The Golden Thread is the second book by Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities. The title refers to the golden Lucie Manette, the gold strand, because she connects some of this book’s characters, brightening their life.

    The Golden Thread

    The golden thread refers to Lucie Manette, the only daughter of Dr Manette. Her father spent eighteen years in the prison of La Bastille. She has golden blond hair, and she is beautiful. Miss Manette is sweet and kind, and she cares about her father very much. Lucie marries Charles Darnay, the nephew of the cruel and cynic aristocratic Monsieur Evrémonde. She represents a precious girl, as she is very compassionate and full of love for others. Her golden soul is brimful of virtues and far from vicious sins. The Golden Thread is the second book of A Tale of Two Cities and the continuation of the first book – Recalled to Life. 

    Knitting And Revolutionary Women

    In Paris, revolutionary people recognized the couple Defarge as leaders. In particular, Madame Therese Defarge supported this movement to remove the Crown from France. The plan includes the execution of all the nobility and aristocracy. In the same way as Lady Macbeth, in Shakespeare’s tragedy, Madame Defarge is cruel and plans which person must die. Furthermore, at the same time, she is the head of a group of women who knit mostly during the executions. They have a cold, detached, and ruthless mind. The knitting recalls the Greek myth of the Moirae, the three Fates who ruled each human’s life. Indeed, knitting is a metaphor for human fate and destiny, which unexpectedly ends up.

    Women In The Golden Thread

    In The Golden Thread, women have a central role, and they are not mere passive figures. Lucie Manette and Madame Defarge differ in appearance, manners, and spirit. Lucie is beautiful, delicate, feminine, and flawless. The wine shop owner, Madame Defarge, is a woman who seeks revenge. In the novel, she is burly, cold-minded, and pitiless.  

    We could think she is a human monster, but we understand her behavior when we proceed to the end of the third book, The Track of a Storm. After the rape of her sister and the murder of her brother, she is hurt and full of grief. The Marquis St. Evrémonde was the man who committed such ferocious acts when he was young. He is the uncle of Charles Darnay, the husband of Lucie Manette, and he is also guilty of the murder of a child. 

    As ingenious as she is, Lucie does not know all these past events that connect Therese Defarge and her husband, Charles. Nonetheless, her innocence does not move Madame Defarge because she is determined to exterminate all the Evrémonde family, including Charles Darnay. Madame Defarge never stops knitting and never ceases to plan and organize her vengeance against those aristocrats, including their descendants.

    Family And Loyalty

    In The Tale of Two Cities, the family is essential in every type of society, among ordinary people and aristocracy. Some families have a strong connection and love, such as between Lucie and her father. Nevertheless, sometimes the family links are unwelcomed and rejected, like in Charles Darnay’s case with his noble uncle, the cruel and abusive Marquis St. Evrémonde. 

    Loyalty and family do not always walk together; there is no connection between some families’ components. For example, Charles burns all the bridges with his aristocratic and wealthy family. He cannot bear the atrocities that stained his family; hence, he builds a new life in England, renouncing all the privileges coming from his birth and changing his surname. Lucie and Charles married and had a child, little Lucie. 

    The French peasants formed a secret society, which created a big family where people shared the same principles and helped each other with equality. Moreover, they were loyal to their common doctrine of liberty, equality, and fraternity, leading the French Revolution.  

    I cannot avoid recommending this book because it is an authentic masterpiece in its style and content. It is rare to find all these qualities in a novel, and I must confess that it is one of my favorite books. 

  • A Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens – First Part

    A Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens – First Part

    A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a brilliant historical novel, which finds its roots in “The French Revolution: A History” by Thomas Carlyle. Dickens published this book in 1859 and his analysis during his travels to Paris had a significant impact in this masterwork.

    The three books inside the book

    A Tale of Two Cities consists of three books: “Book the First: Recalled to Life”, “Book the Second: The Golden Thread” and “Book the Third: The Track of a Storm”. This historical novel takes place in London and Paris, during the French Revolution and the Terror. The main characters are the French doctor Alexandre Manette, his compassionate daughter Lucie, the arrogant Sydney Carton, the revolutionary Madame Defarge, the businessman Jarvis Lorry and, the French aristocrat Charles Darnay. In this novel, the brightness and obscurity represent the virtue and sin personified by the different characters.

    The peculiarity of A Tale of Two Cities

    A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a peculiar novel where, at the same time, the reader travels in London and Paris. We find the chronicles of the historical events, which simultaneously occur in these two cities and the personal circumstances of each character’s life. It is the tale of human tragedies inside the grand picture of historical dramas such as the French Revolution. The struggle of each character is a reflection of the tragedies of Dickens’s life in that period. He shows a life’s vision, where humans are victims of misfortunes. In this novel, the villains of this tragedy are the poor and the oppressed ones. Their violence and cruelty is a reaction to all the abuses they had to suffer.

    Part I – Recalled to Life 

    I’m currently reading the first book. I find exciting and unique how Dickens narrates all the life occurrences of the characters such as Jerry Cruncher, who works as a bank employee and brings a message for Jarvis Loris, a bank manager. This message concerns a man, Alexandre Manette, a French doctor, who was finally set free from the Bastille prison. Lorry helps the daughter of Manette, Lucie, to meet her father in France. One of my favourite parts is at the beginning of Chapter Three. Indeed in this section, every human creature is described as a profound secret and mystery. Every house and room enclose secrets, and subsequently, each heart is a secret itself. 

    I’m in the last chapter of this first book, Chapter VI, The Shoemaker. I find fascinating the ambience of this book, a microcosm inside a historical macrocosm. We can consider how fragile and dainty is life mostly when terrible and uncontrolled occurrences happen. And as James Joyce wrote in the Ulysses, “To learn one must be humble. But life is a great teacher”.

  • The lifestyle Of Emma

    The lifestyle Of Emma

    The lifestyle of Emma Woodhouse consists of several social gatherings. She divides her time between dinners, social meetings and parties with friends and acquaintances. Nowadays, she could be the perfect influencer with a large number of followers. Indeed, she fulfils the role of a mentor efficiently since she never refrains from providing advice and guidance; mostly to young women such as Harriet Smith.  

    The character of Emma Woodhouse

    Emma Woodhouse has a polyhedric personality. Undeniably, at the same time, she is a sophisticated and charming young lady. Sometimes Emma shows an immature and naive nature. Indeed, sometimes Emma misjudges her acquaintances, and her glamorous lifestyle includes the time she spends with her father and Mr Knightley, her closest friend.  

    Busy and cheerful as Miss Woodhouse is, she has an engaged life. This beautiful, brilliant, and smart girl (besides being very wealthy) is determined not to get married. She takes care of her father, Mr Woodhouse, who prefers an indoor and reserved life. Emma is a blend between a matchmaker and a life coach, following her excellent intuitive sense, which sometimes fails. 

    Emma is influenced by a society where marriage and economical-social status are essentials. Indeed, she thinks it is essential to classify people because of their financial and social situation. Most of the novel, Emma Woodhouse has a narrow-minded point of view of society. Only, in the end, she realises that she was wrong in her social evaluations. 

    A modern heroine 

    I find Emma character and this novel very modern. Nowadays, society did not change so much in the evaluation of persons. The glamorous lifestyle of Emma Woodhouse is not related to her historical period. Undoubtedly, she is a modern heroine because she could be the perfect influencer with a million followers, a well-known matchmaker, and a life coach as well.

    She is an independent woman, and she always keeps herself busy without taking care so much about the other’s opinion. This young lady is relentless and doesn’t need a man in her life. Emma has all that she needs. Indeed, she is wealthy, and she doesn’t need a profession. Nevertheless, Miss Woodhouse spends her time helping friends and neighbours find their soulmates and giving them the right advice to live a better life.  

    Emma is a winner even when she is wrong in some matchmakings and misjudgments of some friends. She controls her emotions, elegantly, and charmingly. She also has style when she falls into her mistakes and is an unconventional and modern heroine. Occasionally Emma can contradict herself and be naive.

    She never gives up, and she keeps going even without any moral support nor aid. When Mr Knightley tries to correct occasionally her behaviour, she explains her reasons kindly and firmly. She grew up without her mother, with the assistance of her governess and her father. Emma is used to be in solitude, although she is very social. 

    We recognise a woman of our time in all her aspects; indeed, Emma is not strictly related to her Regency period. Miss Woodhouse is feminine but never submissive because she knows her price, and she is proud of herself. Even if Emma Woodhouse is very young, she is conscious that she doesn’t need any man to improve her life and status. Her independence is impressive for a woman who lives during the Regency era. 

    The boundless imagination of Emma

    Emma lives in two parallel worlds. She interacts with the real world, and she lives in an inner world, which is in her mind. Her imagination is endless and boundless, and it gives her a pulse to defends her ideas and points of view because, in the end, there is a balance between her inner world and reality. Her strong temper meets a naivety, which is due to her young age.    

    Sometimes Emma’s imagination collides against the harsh reality. In other occasions, she employs her creativity in her matchmaking, and, in this way, Emma tries to improve the society surrounding her. In that period, it was essential for a woman to marry. Mostly when the lady in question wasn’t so rich, it was more respectful for her and her family to find a husband. 

    I’ve just finished reading the novel, Emma by Jane Austen, and I’ve found that it is a fantastic book, which everyone should read. I identified myself with this heroine, who uses her imagination to escape in another reality and comfort herself from pains until she finds her love.  

  • The Book Of Emma By Jane Austen

    The Book Of Emma By Jane Austen

    The book of Emma by Jane Austen is a unique masterwork of British literature. Indeed, it is one of the most read books in history and a marvellous novel. Emma is the second book on my first list of books. 

    Emma in a few lines

    The main character of this book is Emma, who is a twenty-one years old girl. She is a charming, smart, and rich young lady. However, she doesn’t enjoy to study, and she categorises people because of their social-economical status. Nevertheless, she is merciful with the poor, and she loves to match people around her. In the beginning, she is determined to enjoy her life as a single woman because she doesn’t intend to marry.

    On the other side, Mr Knightley is a wealthy close friend who sometimes disapproves Emma’s behaviour, even though he is a kindhearted and benevolent man. Besides Emma and Mr Knightley, the other characters of the novel are Mr and Mrs Weston, Emma’s closest family, the wealthy and jolly Frank Churchill, the selfish and bad-mannered Mr and Mrs Elton, the well-educated and beautiful Jane Fairfax, the beautiful and naive Harriet Smith, and Emma’s father, Mr Woodhouse.

    The marvellous novel of Emma

    I started reading this fabulous novel, which is a book of fifty-five chapters. In the first chapter, there is a description of Emma as the youngest of two daughters living happily in a comfortable house. I use the term marvellous to define this novel because of the book’s happy and cheerful atmosphere.

    The main character is a woman like in Macbeth (check my first and second blog post about Macbeth). Of course, there is a considerable difference since lady Macbeth is a wicked and deceitful woman. Instead, Emma is a good-hearted girl who sometimes can commit some mistakes like every human. They are similar because of their strong personality and leadership. They influence people surrounding them, and they are tenacious in their purposes.  

    One of my favourite books

    Emma is one of my favourite books, and I’m delighted to reread it. Indeed the first time I’ve read Emma was during my adolescence. And I confess that I love Emma Woodhouse’s character because I see in her some traits of my personality. She is a modern heroine, after all, since I can imagine her in today’s society. Although the publication year happened to be 1815, the book of Emma by Jane Austen is a modern romance without any doubt.

    This novel is the most special one among Jane Austen’s books. The independent and outstanding personality of Emma makes her a real modern heroine. Indeed, she relies on her wisdom, which she uses to instruct and guide people around her. She has gracious manners and intelligence; hence she is well considered by most of all her friends. She is a tutor of a girl who must learn how to dive into society because she is still very naive. 

    Even though Emma can appear as snobby and judgemental, she is not selfish because she takes care of the others. Matching couples, and advising with guidelines to her closest friends, in particular women. From time to time, she commits mistakes unintentionally; indeed, Emma is not a wicked woman. Surely, she devotes herself to improve other’s life. She has high self-esteem, which she uses most of the time. I will continue to read this beautiful book. And I will write more in the next blog posts. 

  • The complexity Of Macbeth

    The complexity Of Macbeth

    The complexity of Macbeth is beyond all imagination. Shakespeare’s Macbeth is more than a shallow play. Indeed it is a complex book, which I’ve read with grievous feelings. It was not easy to run through it as I was planning to do. Indeed I’ve been struggling between the archaic English’s difficulty and the dramatic aura of this tragedy. 

    The complex character of Macbeth

    The story of Macbeth is a timeless tragedy. The plot could take place in another historical period. Macbeth’s obsession for power reaches the pinnacle of his psychosis when he loses his mind after committing many murders. Although at the beginning lady Macbeth abets her husband to commit those terrible crimes, in the end, he is in charge of his choices, forgetting the taste of fear.

    The complexity of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is because he is not a typical antihero. In the first part of the book, he is a fearless warlord serving the king loyally. At the end of the drama, he is familiar with his slaughterous thoughts, and at that precise moment, lady Macbeth dies. Her death happens because she realises and regrets all her misdeeds. She is an architect and accomplice of those crimes. 

    Initially, the madness and cruelty of Macbeth are uncontrollable, not realising the brutality of his misconduct. Later, he feels torment and excruciation because of his actions. Even if Macbeth is not afraid of anything ( he even evokes and queries the supernatural forces ), nevertheless, he is weak. He dies in the final fight against Macduff, whose wife and son died at the hands of Macbeth. 

    The immoral traits of Lady Macbeth

    The insanity of Lady Macbeth is evident since the beginning of this tragedy when she urges her husband to murder the king to become a queen.  She is dominant and fierce even though she is a devoted wife. Indeed, she supports her husband’s breakdowns, every time he has pangs of guilt because of the atrocities he commits.

    In the first part of the tragedy, she is the real main character for her dark charisma and tenacity, which lead Macbeth to all his infamous deeds. Nonetheless, she changes embracing the insecurities and madness of her husband. During her nocturnal somnambulism, she tries to wash away the bloodstains from her hands, as proof of her unconscious regret because of all the murders Macbeth committed.  

    If, in the beginning, she was insane and immoral; in the end, her morality emerges. She realises her guilt. She becomes fragile, ending up her life. In this sense, it can be appropriate to define her immorality as moral once she understands her misconduct. On the other hand, Macbeth fights up to the end to defend his status of a king. He disappears in the same way as he appears in the book as a fighting soldier, although an evil one. 

    Macbeth is a masterpiece and classic of the literature, which will remain a landmark in western culture. The complexity of Macbeth is not easy to disengage and explain thoroughly. I just wrote my impressions and not a detailed description and analysis. 

  • The Uniqueness Of Macbeth

    The Uniqueness Of Macbeth

    The uniqueness of Macbeth is because of the combination between its characters and the gloomy aura surrounding them. Indeed, Macbeth is a masterwork by William Shakespeare, although it is a short tragedy. It is a rare and extraordinary literary work. 

    The first tragedy in my list of books

    In my first list of books, I included as first book Macbeth. Macbeth is the shortest play among the most remarkable tragedies of William Shakespeare, who wrote it around 1606. A dark and gloomy aura lingers in this drama. The main characters are the thane of Glamis Macbeth with his wife, the three Weyward sisters (the witches), the king of Scotland Duncan, Duncan’s elder son Malcolm and the Scottish thane Banquo. In the tragedy of Macbeth, the metaphysical world meets the worst aspects of human nature. We find corruption, murder, power, lust, and extreme ambition besides avidity, misery, and desperation. It is the tragic story of Macbeth, who is instigated by his enthusiasm and his wife to commit murders to become king of Scotland. He will end up a victim of the crimes he committed in the past, once he realises his crimes’ gravity. 

    The darkness and tension 

    The dark ambience of Macbeth is the first thing, which captivates my attention. This play develops in five acts, and each act contains different scenes. At the beginning of the first act, Shakespeare started this tragedy with Thunder and lightning and three witches’ entrance. In the third scene, they greet Macbeth as Thane of Glamis and Cawdor; also, the third witch prophesies him to be king hereafter. Macbeth is a loyal general in the service of Duncan, the King of Scotland. Suddenly the situation changes, once Lady Macbeth receives the letter of her husband, the tension increases. Indeed, she plans the murder of King Duncan, evoking evil spirits to help her fall victim to the direst cruelty. And she exerts a strong influence over Macbeth, persuading him to commit this disgraceful action. 

    An evil portrayal of the women

    What it’s impressive in this drama is Shakespeare’s perspective regarding the women, how they can be wicked and, at the same time, powerful. The Weyward sisters, i.e., the witches, prove the persecution against witchcraft in that period. It can be legitimate to think that this tragedy added another stone in a wall made of superstitions, which will lead to a witch hunt. The witchcraft trials led to the murder of many innocent women because they represented an evil force. Although Macbeth committed all the crimes, the witches manipulated his mind, and Lady Macbeth hatched the plan, instigating him. The three witches have the power to prophesy and govern the climate, and lady Macbeth has a powerful influence on her husband’s mind.

    Conclusions

    Even though I love Shakespeare and Macbeth is a must-to-read drama, I’m perplexed by his vision of the woman as wicked and hideous. Without any doubt, this was the period of public condemn of every type of witchcraft as Reginald Scot attested in his The Discovery of Witchcraft in 1584, where he described the horrendous mass execution in 1582 in Kent. Of course, I don’t have doubts about the uniqueness of this opera. The edition I’m reading is from the British publisher Wordsworth Editions. To be continued in the next post because I’m continuing to read it!

  • My First List Of Books

    My First List Of Books

    My first list of books, which I will read in the first part of 2020, includes nine novels. These books are real masterpieces and literature classics. During my life, I’ve always read several books. During high school, I developed a passion for literature. Moreover, I also studied Greek, Latin, art, philosophy, and history. Let’s check these nine novels:

    • Macbeth by William Shakespeare   

      Macbeth is the shortest play among the most remarkable tragedies of William Shakespeare, who wrote it around 1606. The dark and gloomy air lingers in this drama, which sees as main characters the thane of Glamis Macbeth with his wife, Lady Macbeth. The other figures are the three Weyward sisters (the witches), King Duncan, Duncan’s elder son Malcolm and the Scottish thane Banquo. In Macbeth, the metaphysical world meets human nature’s worst traits, such as corruption, murder, lust, and avidity.

    • Emma by Jane Austen

    The hero of this novel by Jane Austen is Emma, a charming, smart, and rich young girl. She doesn’t enjoy studies, and she categorises people because of their social-economical status. Nevertheless, she loves to match her friends and acquaintances, intending not to marry. Another main character is Mr Knightley, who is a wealthy close friend of Emma. Sometimes he criticises her behaviour, although he is a kindhearted and benevolent person. The other characters of the novel are Mr and Mrs Weston, Emma’s closest family, the wealthy Frank Churchill, the selfish Mr and Mrs Elton, the beautiful Jane Fairfax, the naive Harriet Smith, and Emma’s father, Mr Woodhouse.

    A Tale of Two Cities is the most famous historical novel by Charles Dickens, who published it in 1859. This book finds its roots in “The French Revolution: A History” by Thomas Carlyle. Also, Dickens’ analysis during his travels to Paris has a significant impact on the book. The novel consists of three books: Book the First: Recalled to Life, Book the Second: The Golden Thread and Book the Third: The Track of a Storm. This historical novel takes place in London and Paris, during the French Revolution and the Terror. The main characters are the French doctor Alexandre Manette, his compassionate daughter Lucie, the arrogant Sydney Carton, the revolutionary Madame Defarge, the businessman Jarvis Lorry and the French aristocrat Charles Darnay. In this novel, the brightness and obscurity represent the virtue and sin personified by the different characters.

    In my list of books that I plan to read in the next months, I couldn’t miss Little Women, a novel by the American author Louisa May Alcott. The plot is about the life of four sisters March, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. They live with their mother Marmee in Massachusetts, New England. They are a low-income family whose father is away because he works as a pastor in the American civil war. Each of them has a different personality. Meg is pretty and classy; Jo is a butch girl, Beth is an introverted pianist, and Amy is a dreamy artist. Although they have different personalities, they love each other. Louisa Alcott found inspiration from her family, and she identified herself with the character of Jo March.

    • Good Wives by Louisa May AlcottGood Wives is the continuation of Little Women. We find the March sisters after three years of their lifetime. Meg is now a wife and mother; Amy travels to Europe, Jo is a nanny in New York, writing and learning German, and Beth’s health worsens. Although their life paths take different directions, they will always remain a very close family.

    • The Queen of Spades by Alexander Pushkin

      The Queen of Spade is a small book, which Alexander Pushkin published in 1834. This mysterious and minimal story takes place in Petersburg city. It is a tale where gambling and the supernatural find space in a bizarre and disillusioned ambience. The protagonist is Hermann, an army engineer,  who loses his mind and becomes mad. In The Queen of Spade, there is a detached and minimal description of events involving Hermann, the old countess, and her godchild Lizaveta. Hermann wants to know the secret of the three cards in a game, and hence he seduces the naive Lizaveta to meet the old countess. Ultimately, Hermann will fall into a mad obsession because of the unrevealed secret of the three cards.

    • Vanity Fair Fair by W. M. Thackeray       

      Vanity Fair is an 1847 English novel. This satiric novel doesn’t have a hero. Indeed, the protagonist is a treasure-hunt and rapacious crowd. They live without any morality, and they merchandise everything in their life. Thackeray describes London as a marketplace and a flat store. The society is a human jungle where there are predators and preys. There is no authenticity, but only performers pretending to show an opulent and extravagant facade. Vanity Fair is an authentic seriocomic tale.  

    • Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf   

      Mrs Dalloway is the fourth novel of Virginia Woolf, and its publication year is 1925. The main character is Clarissa Dalloway, who is a rich woman in her fifties. Clarissa is organising a party, and she recalls memories. The second main character is Septimus Smith, who is a war veteran. He struggles in his recovery from the post-traumatic stress disorder. The happening of the party of Clarissa is simultaneous with the decline of Septimus’s life. Virginia Woolf expresses a subtle critic of the medical profession and a hypocrite society. There is a correlation between the personal experience of the author and the characters of this fictional book. Indeed, Woolf had a bipolar disorder, and the suicidal theme anticipates the end of Virginia’s life.   

    • Orlando by Virginia Woolf 

      Orlando is the last novel in this list of books. This novel dates back to 1928, and it is a famous fantastic story by Virginia Woolf. The main character is an English nobleman who becomes a woman in his thirties. Orlando lives an adventurous three-century life starting from Queen Elizabeth I period. After different adventures, Orlando finds themselves as ambassador in Constantinople, and one day they awake as a woman. Lady Orlando goes back to England and lives as a woman for the following two centuries. They are a writer winning a prize for their poetry. The tale ends up in the year 1928, the publication year of the novel. In this book, there are different historical periods of Britain, from the Renaissance to Virginia Woolf’s contemporary period.      

  • My Literary Blog All About Books

    My Literary Blog All About Books

    Welcome to my literary blog, which is all about books! I love books and literature, so I opened a blog about books and poetry. A literary blog is like a personal virtual library. It allows me to express my point of view about my favourite books.

    During my childhood, I always enjoyed reading books; hence I’ve become interested in literature. Being an avid reader, I love to write book reviews. At an early age, I started to read books in three languages: Italian, English, and French. And, of course, I preferred to read fairy tales by The Brothers Grimm, C. Perrault, H. C. Andersen, and J. Jacobs. Among my favourite fables, which I was reading several times, I can list The Frog Prince, The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, Rapunzel, Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

    I focused on novels by Jane Austen, the Brontë Sisters, W. Shakespeare, C. Dickens, A. Pushkin, T. Mann, and other European writers during my teenage years. In general, I’ve always been very interested in English literature. I’ve read books by British authors such as G.Chaucer, W.Shakespeare, J.Austen, Brontë sisters, C.Dickens and V.Woolf ( to cite some of them ).

    One of my purposes is to express my perspective on the book I read. Although I do read in French, and my native language is Italian, I will mainly write reviews about English and American novels because I’m more acquainted with the English language. I want to show a different side of classic books, which can connect with our daily life.