Hello. And Aaron's Rod.

Hello.  I am SO excited to start this project!  It is going to be a big undertaking, but I think we are up to the task!  There are so many books that I have always wanted to read, and this is going to be a great way to knock off some of the very best ones.  I can't wait.

I do feel very underqualified to talk about such great works of literature (and also to contribute to this blog created by my English-major, librarian sister).  These books have been discussed by minds much much greater than mine.  So I'm absolutely not going to be adding to the scholarship on this literature.  I don't have anything to add that someone much smarter hasn't already thought of and said!

What I can offer, though, is armchair thoughts on the books from someone who 1) hasn't read a whole lot of great books and 2) doesn't have a lot of time!

So.  I'm about 2/3 of the way done with Aaron's Rod now.  As I read, I have been asking myself whether the book is worth reading and am I glad that I am reading it.  So far Aaron's Rod is absolutely worth reading.  I think this is the first D.H. Lawrence book I have ever read and it's really good so far.  I like that his characters don't really take themselves too seriously.  When I read in the introduction (by a D.H. Lawrence scholar) that the book was about Europe's reaction to World War I, I thought to myself, "Oh no, this is going to be very sad, drawn-out, and boring."  But so far it really isn't at all.  I see how the characters are exploring what it means to live in postwar Europe.  Thankfully, they are doing so in an entertaining way.