I decided that I need to read about a heroine in literature who doesn't off herself in the end. Thanks for all the suggestions/votes--I have ended up choosing Ann Veronica by H. G. Wells as my next "classic" selection. "A fascinating description of the women's suffrage movement, Ann Veronica offers an optimistic depiction of one woman's sexual awakening and search for independence." Okay, so perhaps some of the same themes I have been reading about, but I still have high hopes for a happier ending than my last few choices. I guess technically I should have picked up Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, since I think Flaubert greatly influenced him (if I am remembering what I read earlier correctly). But I will save that one for later. Besides, I also find Wells fascinating--he published over 50 works of fiction, and 150 books and pamphlets. No doubt he was right in his thinking--that "no less than global unity was needed if humanity was not to destroy itself." Apparently Penguin is publishing a new series of Wells's work. Last year I read, The Time Machine. I guess I have a few more to read to get through his oeuvre!
Since Ann Veronica should be a pretty fast read, I was thinking that next time around I should choose something by John Steinbeck. (Why not plan ahead). I was entering books into Library Thing and came across a few of his novels. I have not read anything by him since high school. I am about ready for a change of pace, I think. And happy days--I am finally past the halfway mark in Fall on Your Knees. Is there such a thing as a reader's block? For the life of me, I could not seem to make any progress with that book! But I have gotten into it again, so I hope to read the second half faster than the first half went!!