Discover Top Posts Tagged with #back to classics

Finding a Ducati 250 Mach 1 is not easy: a huge number of Mach 1s were converted for racing use, and subsequently wrecked. So when Harné Heuvelman was recently asked to restore an original 1966 model to its former glory, he was very enthusiastic. Along with his father Harm and engineer Niels Schoen, Harné runs Back To Classics in the Netherlands, which is one of the go-to workshops in Europe for vintage Ducati enthusiasts -- via Bike EXIF

#ducati #motorcycles #back to classics

Back To Classics’ latest showpiece is this 1978 Ducati 900 Super Sport, an NCR-fettled racer that began life as a privateer entry in the Isle of Man TT. It was originally delivered to Steve Wynne of Sports Motorcycles, a key figure in Mike Hailwood’s TT success.

-- via Bike EXIF

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*whispers* I’ve forgotten how to draw so I’m doodling and then an UT!Sans happened

#undertale #sans #ut!sans #i never draw this dude eesh #back to classics #take my doodles!#since #i didnt draw any of what i meant to today #IT'S BEEN ALMOST A WEEK OKAY #I FEEL LIKE IVE FORGOTTEN HOW TO ART

Classics Reviews: A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Pages: 341 Format: Ebook Source: Public Domain

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Rating:

After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the ageing Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There the lives of two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil roads of London, they are drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror, and they soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine.

Why do I give this book 3 stars? I did not get any personal enjoyment from the majority of this book, however I can recognize the richness of the writing and how it develops the story. Dickens' writing is difficult to read, but it is rewarding when you can understand, if nothing else, just for the sake of seeing how words can be arranged to be aesthetically beautiful. He could have told the same story with different and easier words, of course, but it wouldn't have been the same experience.

What did I enjoy most/take away most from the story? I did not start to like this book until about 70% in, which is when I feel the plot actually starts to happen. Before then, you can't really grasp what is going on or what is the relevance of certain things. However, it all comes through in the end, so that upped my rating of this book considerably. Aside from the writing style, which is this book's greatest quality (because it is beautiful as I mentioned before) and greatest fault (because it makes it for a very painful reading experience at times) for me I appreciated the theme of sacrifice the novel brings forth, especially as illustrated by Sidney Carton's character.

What were the things that bothered me the most? This book is strongly focused on the historical background of the French Revolution circa 1785. I am not a fan of history myself, so I don't know, but I fear that Dickens' view is a little too extreme. The aristocrats were just as vicious and committed just as many bloody atrocities as the revolutionaries are shown to commit in the novel. And yet here they are viewed as the good guys (as represented by the injustice upon Charles' character). I also did not like the portrait of women, they are either viewed as the Victorian ideal domestic angel - passive and with no way to fight for the own fate (Lucie) or as blood-thirsty creatures who disturbs the feminine ideal (Madam Defarge). That is of course how women are viewed in most novels written by men in the 19th century, but I feel that just because that kind of thing was the common view in that time is not enough reason to look past it.

Would I re-read this book and/or read more by this author? Not anytime soon. However, perhaps when I'm older and know more, revisiting this story my give me a different point of view.

Full disclaimer: I read this book on my kindle, with the free edition that is public domain. I used LitCharts website to help me identify the plot points and themes that I could not understand on my own. Also, this is no excuse for anything, but I should mention to any who may not know - English is not my first language and I have not previously read any English classics in high school.

For the Back to Classics Challenge.

Share your thoughts and opinions.

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