Lit: Uniquely Portable Magic: Pride & Prejudice, a Read-a-Thon, and First Sentences

Greg (of The New Dork Review of Books) had a great review of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice this week. He makes excellent points on why the book is one men should read but anyone who hasn't read the book yet should take a look at Greg's review. Then you should definitely pick up the book and give it a chance (psst...don't tell anyone I say this but you have my permission to skip over any of the long descriptive sections).

June's question, over at The Classics Club, is "What is your favorite opening sentence from a classic novel (and why)?" Now I know you're going to expect me to say this:

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." - Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

But I'm not going to, as much as I love that sentence. Even though I've never read Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, I think it's opening line is my favorite, conveying all of the possibility of life, the broad spectrum of humanity. It seems more apt today than ever as our country seems to be so torn.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was an age of wisdom, it was an age of foolishness, it was an epoch of belief, it was an epoch of incredulity, it was a season of Light, it was a season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair."   

It's been a stressful week at Chez Shepp, so when I saw this upcoming readathon on Andi's blog (Estella's Revenge) just as The Big Guy switched the channel to "Grease," I knew it was just the thing I needed to have to look forward to. Hosted by  Readathon Central and Reviewing Wonderland, the Summer Lovin' Read-a-Thon is the first week of July. This girl has a four-day weekend that week and nothing major on the agenda so I'm looking forward to a relaxing week with plenty of time for reading!