Wandering Thoughts

Well, I'm still faithfully reading A Tale of Two Cities. Every scene is stunning and poignant, quite lovely. However, the story just hasn't grabbed me yet. Perhaps, I ought to stop comparing it to Great Expectations (which is one of my top favorites). Its just that, there comes a point in a novel where the story should take hold of you, the characters seem utterly real, the world they inhabit is the one that you inhabit. I love that feeling. The feeling of feverishly racing through the chapters. Every moment you spend engrossed in the pages takes on a magical quality. I remember the first time I felt this way about a book. I was 14 and I read Wuthering Heights (by Emily Bronte) for the first time. Since then, I've been on a continual search for books that make me feel that way. Nonetheless, I have hope that Dickens will not disappoint me for too long... Although I did stop at the book store today and picked up The Silmarillion (Written by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien). In faithfulness to this blog I'll do my best to leave it sitting quietly on the bookshelf. If you're wondering, yes, I'll be reading The Silmarillion next. This book isn't typical of the kinds of fiction I had planned to peruse in this blog (I meant to stick to the classics), but Tolkien is my #1 favorite author (yes, he beat out the Brontes!) and I can't help it! Perhaps I'll read The Lord of the Rings again sometime... I've been wanting to, but have refrained because I'm on a quest to read as much classic literature as I can, and rereading books would only slow me down. I'll end here before I start gushing about Tolkien. I'm such a nerd :)