English-Language Classics Edition
Last weekend when we went to the Beijing Bookstore, I got Age Of Innocence and Dr Zhivago from the Moonstone English classics series. Out of the limited selection in the English-language section, those were some of the only books I hadn’t already read.
I really liked Age Of Innocence, although I found it a little depressing. It’s an interesting portrait of old New York, with really engaging descriptions of customs and fashions (without feeling like a history lecture, which often stops me from reading period pieces for fun). There’s a hopelessness about it, but what else should I expect from Edith Wharton?
If you read it, though, you’ll probably want a different edition. The tragic love story is probably better without substituting “impotent massage” for “important message.” If anyone from Moonstone is reading this, can I suggest proofreading before publication? Even better, how about hiring me to proofread? It would bring me even closer to my lifelong goal of lying in bed all day, reading books.
I just started Dr. Zhivago, and that is one depressing book. So far it goes funeral, suicide, rail strike… and I think if I keep on with it, it goes revolution, starvation, revolution.
Anyone know any good, non-depressing classics? Or Chinese bookstores?