Think About It Thursday is a brand new meme hosted by Rachel at 1001 Books. Every Thursday she will post a book related question to give us all some fodder for discussion. It's a fun way to integrate with the blogging world so jump on the circuit and participate with either a comment or a post on your own blog, preferably in response to and linking to another person's blog.
If you would like to participate, then either write a blog post with your answer or comment on mine or other posts you find on her site. Be sure to share your post link on Rachel's post so that we can check out your answers.
If you do not have a blog or wish to create a post, then please just answer the question in the comments for Rachel's current Think About It Thursday post.
This week's question:
Is there a specific time period you enjoy reading about more than others? Medieval, turn of the century, great depression, contemporary, futuristic? What time frame floats your boat?
My response:
Admittedly, Rachel has thrown us a hard question to answer, but that's what makes it such a great one.
I love all the time settings of any really good book, but there is one in particular that stands out for me as the era that lends itself to some of my favorite books. The first half of the twentieth century was a time that saw so much growth and turmoil that there was and still is a wealth of material to inspire a good story. From Ayn Rand, with her staunch support of the indiviual through the ideals of her character Howard Roark in The Fountainhead to the wildly absurd stories spun by Kurt Vonnegut, the first half of the twentieth century is covered in a variety of themes and genre.
I wouldn't have thought on first guess that my preference would have approached my contemporary time. In light of all the stories set during the days of kings and queens or cast forward into the future (Sci-Fi is one of my favorite genres), but on close examination, I'd have to say that stories pulling from the essence of that era as we've changed from a farming society to an industrialized society in the western world, are the ones that address the socio-political issues that I so like to ponder ...questions that arise...
...about human challenge (Hemmingway's The Old Man and the Sea)
....about wealth, love and dignity (F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby)
...about poverty and social deviance (John Steinbeck's Cannery Row)
...about the nature of man (William Faulkner's Light in August)
...about racism and justice (Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird)
...about the awakening of female sexual empowerment (D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterly's Lover)
...about the resounding pain of World War II (William Styron's Sophie's Choice)
...about the boundaries of human brutality (William Golding's The Lord of the Flies)
...about the alienated (Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle)
Just a short list to name a few.
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