Down the TBR Hole #9

I’ve been riding this train for over two months now, no reason to end it now. Make sure to check out last week’s DTH if you missed it.

The Rules

•  1. Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
•  2. Order on ascending date added.
•  3. Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books.
•  4. Read the synopsis of the books.
•  5. Time to Decide: keep it or should it go

Goodreads Synopsis: The hero-narrator of The Catcher in the Rye is an ancient child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caulfield. Through circumstances that tend to preclude adult, secondhand description, he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days. The boy himself is at once too simple and too complex for us to make any final comment about him or his story. Perhaps the safest thing we can say about Holden is that he was born in the world not just strongly attracted to beauty but, almost, hopelessly impaled on it. There are many voices in this novel: children’s voices, adult voices, underground voices-but Holden’s voice is the most eloquent of all. Transcending his own vernacular, yet remaining marvelously faithful to it, he issues a perfectly articulated cry of mixed pain and pleasure. However, like most lovers and clowns and poets of the higher orders, he keeps most of the pain to, and for, himself. The pleasure he gives away, or sets aside, with all his heart. It is there for the reader who can handle it to keep.

J.D. Salinger’s classic novel of teenage angst and rebellion was first published in 1951. The novel was included on Time’s 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923. It was named by Modern Library and its readers as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. It has been frequently challenged in the court for its liberal use of profanity and portrayal of sexuality and in the 1950’s and 60’s it was the novel that every teenage boy wants to read.

I tried reading this in high school. The main character was super unlikeable from the get go so I never finished it. I don’t plan on finishing it.

Verdict: Let it go

Goodreads Synopsis: The year 1984 has come and gone, but George Orwell’s prophetic, nightmarish vision in 1949 of the world we were becoming is timelier than ever. 1984 is still the great modern classic of “negative utopia”—a startlingly original and haunting novel that creates an imaginary world that is completely convincing, from the first sentence to the last four words. No one can deny the novel’s hold on the imaginations of whole generations, or the power of its admonitions—a power that seems to grow, not lessen, with the passage of time.

I honestly don’t know why I haven’t read this yet. I read Animal Farm in high school and absolutely loved it. This sounds like such a cool story and it’s reference all the time. I really want to get those references.

Verdict: Keepin’ it till I’m readin’ it

I’m almost certain that I’ve read this before, back when I was obsessed with diaries in elementary school. It’s been long enough though, so I should probably reread it at one point. But in terms of a TBR, I don’t think it needs to be there, especially if I’ve already read it before.

Verdict: Unhaul

Goodreads Synopsis: Lockwood, the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange, situated on the bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter one night at Wuthering Heights, the home of his landlord. There he discovers the history of the tempestuous events that took place years before; of the intense relationship between the gypsy foundling Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw; and how Catherine, forced to choose between passionate, tortured Heathcliff and gentle, well-bred Edgar Linton, surrendered to the expectations of her class. As Heathcliff’s bitterness and vengeance at his betrayal is visited upon the next generation, their innocent heirs must struggle to escape the legacy of the past.

I tried reading the first chapter back when I had a Kindle. The classics were free so I decided to try Wuthering Heights out for the weekend. I couldn’t even finish the first page, I was so bored. I just can’t seem to get through these older narratives, which is exactly why I haven’t read Jane Eyre.

Verdict: Unhaul

Goodreads Synopsis: A nineteenth-century boy from a Mississippi River town recounts his adventures as he travels down the river with a runaway slave, encountering a family involved in a feud, two scoundrels pretending to be royalty, and Tom Sawyer’s aunt who mistakes him for Tom.

Another book I tried reading with the Kindle discounts. It’s interesting enough but I had trouble getting through the dialect. Also, I already know enough of what happens to not be interested anymore.

Verdict: DJ Khalid voice: Another one (Unhaul)

So that’s a wrap on this week’s DTH. I let go of four literal classics and kept one on the list. We’ll probably be seeing more classics next week. I went through a phase, y’all, bear with me.

What do you plan on reading this week?

How do you balance your reading and TBR?

Are you doing Down the TBR posts?

Let me know in the comments, let’s chat!

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