Reading Through the Classics: Summer

TITLE: Summer
AUTHOR: Edith Wharton
PUBLISHED: 1917
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Romance (sort of...), Drama
PREMISE: A young woman has an affair in her small town...
MY THOUGHTS: So, this is my first Edith Wharton. I actually wasn't planning on reading this, but library. picked up on a whim, you know the drill. Plus, I'm just trying to get stuff off the TBR list. Have I mentioned it's huge?
Anyways, Wharton...very interesting. I kind of think of this as the anti-romance novel. Like, you know how romances in general tend to mostly be escapist fiction with happily ever after guaranteed? Yeah, Wharton basically took that idea and tossed it out of the window. She made everything in this realistic, including (spoiler alert) not having the affair end in happily ever after. Like Madam Bovary, this is one of those books that during its time was seen as sensual. Like Madam Bovary it...really isn't. But it was interesting seeing a book from this time period actually have its main female character be interested in sex and not slut shame her for it (like Madam Bovary did).
This was an interesting reading experience, to be honest. I'll definitely be picking up more Edith Wharton in the future.
WHO SHOULD READ: The Awakening fans, classic book fans, Edith Wharton fans

Reading Through the Classics: Franz Kafka's Short Stories

TITLE: The Metamorphosis and Other Stories
AUTHOR: Franz Kafka
CATEGORY: Classic
GENRE: Er....mixture?
STORIES IN VOLUME:
The Metamorphosis (1915)
The Judgement (1913)
The Stoker: A Fragment (1913)
In the Penal Colony (1919)
A Country Doctor (1919)
An Old Leaf (1919)
A Hunger Artist (1922)
Josephine the Singer, Or the Mouse People (1924)
Before the Law (1919)
MY THOUGHTS: So...Kafka. How to explain Kafka to those who haven't read it? Honestly...there's probably no real way to explain Kafka. He's one of those authors you just have to read for yourself.
Of these small stories, the best ones in my opinion are The Metamorphosis and In the Penal Colony. The rest...I don't really know what to make of them to be honest. Like...I don't think they're bad. But they're just...confusing. He's one of those kinds of writers that just puts you in a situation and expects you to make sense of things without giving any explanation. That's...something that kind of drives me batty to be honest. Like, I don't need everything spelled out for me...but at least have some explanation if you're going to turn a guy into a huge cockroach, just saying.
I honestly am not sure how I feel about Kafka. His stuff is interesting. It's just...so weird that I honestly don't know how I feel about it. I might be checking out some of his longer works in the future, I do know at least that much.
WHO SHOULD READ: Magical realism fans, literature fans