Showing posts with label Dickens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dickens. Show all posts

Monday, February 1, 2010

Booking It--Twisty


“I love books with complicated plots and unexpected endings. What is your favourite book with a fantastic twist at the end?”

So, today’s question is in two parts.

1. Do YOU like books with complicated plots and unexpected endings?

2. What book with a surprise ending is your favorite? Or your least favorite?

Answer #1--Well, of course I do! It's hard to imagine a fiction reader who doesn't.

Answer #2--I've read lots of books with complicated plots and surprise endings, but I think the first one I ever read like that was Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, way back in the sixth grade. We were reading it out loud in class, something I've always had a hard time bearing because so many students read so poorly and so00000 slowly. So I was racing ahead, pulled along by the plot, and you guessed it--when it was my turn to read, I had no idea where to begin and was scolded by the teacher. The funny thing about this story is that, as I was leaving, she called me to her desk and told me, although I really did need to try to stay with the class, it made her very happy that I was enjoying the story so much I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. She's always been one of my favorite teachers.

I think that I was pretty much a Dickens addict for a few months after finishing Great Expectations, toting one of those huge novels with me wherever I went.

I'm still a Dickens fan.