Classic Spin #2

Well, I completely failed at the last Classics Spin, probably because I had the misfortune of ending up with Barnaby Rudge. I gave Barnaby a chance (well, sort of) but I just wasn’t in the mood for a book built around the Gordon Riots.

So, I’m going to give it another go. In no particular order, here are the 20:

1. The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad
2. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. The Maltese Falcon by Dashielle Hammett
4. Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
5. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
6. The Warden by Anthony Trollope
7. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
8. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
9. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
10. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
11. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
12. The Once and Future King by T.H. White
13. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
14. O Pioneers by Willa Cather
15. Enchanted April by Elizabet Von Arnim
16. The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather
17. The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton
18. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
19. Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens
20. Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck

I have tried really hard to only pick books that I am actually willing to read!

Henry James on Dorothea Brooke

Dorothea Brooke is a genuine creation, and a most remarkable one when we consider the delicate material in which she is wrought. George Eliot’s men are generally so much better than the usual trousered offspring of the female fancy, that their merits have perhaps overshadowed those of her women. Yet her heroines have always been of an exquisite beauty, and Dorothea is only that perfect flower of conception of which her predecessors were the less unfolded blossoms. An indefinable moral elevation is the sign of these admirable creatures; and of the representation of this quality in its superior degrees the author seems to have in English fiction a monopoly. To render the expression of a soul requires a cunning hand; but we seem to look straight into the unfathomable eyes of the beautiful spirit of Dorothea Brooke. She exhales a sort of aroma of spiritual sweetness, and we believe in her as in a woman we might providentially meet some fine day when we should find ourselves doubting of the immortality of the soul.

Originally published in Galaxy, March 1873.

Middlemarch: Books I & II

My goodreads group is reading Middlemarch for our May/June monthly read, and I am moderating the discussion, which officially began on May 6. George Eliot divided Middlemarch into 8 books – this post will discusses Book I: Miss Brooke and Book II: Old and Young.

Like many big Victorian novels, Middlemarch is character driven rather than plot driven. In Book I, we are introduced to much of the genteel Middlemarch society – from Dorothea Brooke, who is, at least at this point, one of the novel’s main characters, to Rosamunde Vincy. The bulk of Book I is taken up with Dorothea and her blossoming infatuation with the intellectual and ascetic Mr. Casaubon. By the end of Book I, Dorothea and Mr. Casaubon are married.

As I read about the engagement of the stubborn and intelligent Dorothea to Mr. Casaubon a feeling of foreboding developed. I can’t help but think that this decision is going to turn out badly for, at least, Dorothea, if not both of them. Dorothea is looking for something in Mr. Casaubon that he has no idea how to provide – she seeks an intellectual partner. Casaubon, on the other hand, seems to be looking for a worshipful, unpaid servant. Certainly he doesn’t seem capable of the kind of relationship that Dorothea is desires, and it seems highly unlikely that he will be satisfied with what Dorothea has to offer.

Book II brings us out into wider Middlemarch society, and focuses on the political and economic machinations of the men. Dr. Lydgate’s desire to improve medical science and the delivery of medicine is discussed, Fred Vincy behaves like a wastrel, Mr. Bulstrode bullies everyone with his money, and we catch up with Will Ladislaw in Italy toward the end of Book II, where he is spending someone else’s money on aesthetic idleness. By the end of Book II, the cracks in the brand-new marriage between Dorothea and Mr. Casaubon have widened into a full-fledged chasm, and it appears unlikely that they will be able to bridge the gap.

Eliot develops Middlemarch slowly. So slowwwwwwly that sometimes it seems like nothing is happening at all, while Eliot slyly shows us the character of every person in town with her well-chosen words.

One of the components of our discussion relates to the differences between plot-driven and character-driven books. Many of my co-readers have enjoyment issues because of the slow pace. I find myself rather enjoying the leisurely pacing of Middlemarch, although I can understand why other readers would find it boring. I do tend to chip away at classics, and read modern (i.e., books with a faster pace) fiction simultaneously. This probably helps.

April Round-Up: The Quick and Dirty

Mage apprentices have been vanishing without a trace—and someone on the council might be involved. Alex Verus has no evidence, no witnesses, and no suspects. All he knows is that someone is keeping tabs on him. And after assassins target his own apprentice’s classmate, Alex sees that he doesn’t know the half of it—and that he could be the next to disappear…

I am all caught up on Benedict Jacka’s delightful Alex Verus series. This is a British Harry Dresden, urban fantasy from across the pond. I love wizards, I love books set in London, I love this series. This was an excellent installment, although it didn’t have nearly enough Arachne. The only downside to catching up on a favorite series is that it means I have to wait for the next in the series to hit the shelves. In this case, the title is Chosen and it is coming soon to a bookstore near my kindle e-reader on August 27, 2013.

While attempting to disprove that Homo vampiris, the vampire, could exist, Dr. Warthrop is asked by his former fiancé to rescue her husband from the Wendigo, a creature that starves even as it gorges itself on human flesh, and which has snatched him in the Canadian wilderness. Although Warthrop also considers the Wendigo to be fictitious, he relents and rescues her husband from death and starvation, and then sees the man transform into a Wendigo. Can the doctor and Will Henry hunt down the ultimate predator, who, like the legendary vampire, is neither living nor dead, whose hunger for human flesh is never satisfied?

So, I read a lot of books this month. Some of them will get more extensive treatment later when I do a full series discussion down the road a bit. The Curse of the Wendigo is likely to be one of those. It is the second book in Rick Yancey’s three book series that starts with The Monstrumologist. I love this series – gothic horror written in the style of Charles Dickens. The protagonist, Will Henry, is awesome with a side of adorable. And some of the stuff in this book will turn your stomach. In the best and most literate way possible. Rick Yancey rocks.

Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett thought she knew exactly where her life was going. But after a wild night at the hottest club in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, she shocks everyone-including herself-when she decides to leave the only life she’s ever known and set out on her own. Grabbing her purse and her cell phone, Camryn boards a Greyhound bus ready to find herself. Instead, she finds Andrew Parrish.

Sexy and exciting, Andrew lives life like there is no tomorrow. He persuades Camryn to do things she never thought she would and shows her how to give in to her deepest, most forbidden desires. Soon he becomes the center of her daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But there is more to Andrew than Camryn realizes. Will his secret push them inseparably together-or destroy them forever?

I wish I could say I liked this book. Heck, I wish I could say that I found this book tolerable. Sadly, it would not be true. I hated this book. It is poorly written, the main character is annoying, and I nearly DNF’d it at the midpoint. The cover is sort of pretty, though, so there’s that. It is designated as category “NA” which should probably be renamed category “hot-bad-boy-falls-hard-for-good-girl-with-lots-of-slut-shaming-on-the-side” except that would be too long. I give up on this NA bullshit and I will read no more. If this is the future of publishing, I am going to need to find a new hobby.

Annie Phillips is thrilled to leave her past behind and begin a shiny new life on Belvedere Island, as a nanny for the picture-perfect Cohen family. In no time at all, she falls in love with the Cohens, especially with Libby, the beautiful young matriarch of the family. Life is better than she ever imagined. She even finds romance with the boy next door.
All too soon cracks appear in Annie’s seemingly perfect world. She’s blamed for mistakes she doesn’t remember making. Her bedroom door comes unhinged, and she feels like she’s always being watched. Libby, who once felt like a big sister, is suddenly cold and unforgiving. As she struggles to keep up with the demands of her new life, Annie’s fear gives way to frightening hallucinations. Is she tumbling into madness, or is something sinister at play?

As you can see from the plot summary, The Ruining billed itself as a bit of a psychological thriller, and it started out with PROMISE. Promise of chills. Promise of thrills. Promise of lots and lots of suspense. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the book all right, and I will definitely give this author another shot. But, in the end, there was a little too much damsel in distress, a few too many convenient solutions, and a little too much girl-gets-saved-by-boy for me. I wanted more than this book ended up being. I will give a thumbs up to the author’s use of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s iconic – and psychologically terrifying – novella The Yellow Wallpaper.

Troubled young Fawn Bluefield seeks a life beyond her family’s farm. But on the way to the city, she encounters a patrol of Lakewalkers, nomadic soldier-sorcerers from the northern woodlands. Feared necromancers armed with mysterious knives made of human bone, they wage a secret on-going war against the scourge of the “malices,” immortal entities that draw the life out of their victims, enslaving human and animal alike. It is Dag–a Lakewalker patroller weighed down by past sorrows and present responsibilities–who must come to Fawn’s aid when she is taken captive by a malice. They prevail at a devastating cost–unexpectedly binding their fates together as they embark upon a remarkable journey into danger and delight, prejudice and partnership . . .and perhaps even love.

Toward the end of the month, I was looking for a little foray into high fantasy. I had picked up Beguilement for (I think) .99 for my e-reader at some point. I’ve never read anything by Bujold except a little standalone Renaissance fantasy called The Spirit Ring a couple of years ago. I decided to give this one a try. I liked it. It is a very sweet, not at all epic, high fantasy that tells the story of Fawn, a young farm girl, and Dag, her Lakewalker lover. The course of true love never does run true, and especially NOT in high fantasy. This one was nice, though, and I will definitely read the sequels at some point.

*All italicized plot synopses taken from Goodreads under the fair use doctrine.

Project: Classics Retold

First off, props to Alyson @ The Cheap Reader for this amazing blog project! Alyson was also responsible for (in a good way) Project Fairytale back in February. This was such a success that, rather than resting upon her laurels (classical reference – see what I did there?) she decided to one up herself. Hence, we have the Classics Retold project, which is so huge that it is being adminstered on five separate blogs, loosely divided by time period. The details of the project can be found here:

http://thecheapreader.wordpress.com/features/classics-retold/

What a wealth of classics there are from which to choose! I definitely wanted to do something in the medieval/renaissance period, which is being managed by Alyssa at her blog (http://bookstakeyouplaces.com/2013/04/11/classics-retold/). Still, narrowing down my selection was extremely difficult, with Robin Hood, King Arthur and all of Shakespeare to choose from! I ultimately settled on (ta-da) William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Yes, it is true. Come September, this blog will be entirely taken over by Titiania, Oberon, Puck and some guy running around with an ass where his head should be.

That’s not disturbing. Right?

So, aside from the No Fear version of MSND, I am looking for retellings and spin-offs. So far, I’ve discovered a number of YA retellings, a feminist spoof (which I may or may not be able to get my hands on), a Pratchett version, and at least one award winning graphic story by Neil Gaiman. There is also, of course, the 1999 film version starring Michelle Pfeiffer as the lovely Titiana, with Calista Lockhart as Helena. I will hopefully be able to answer the age-old question of “can Calista Lockhart act” after watching this movie. I suspect that the answer to the question will be “no,” but I am attempting to keep an open mind.

If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear.

1911: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Frances Hodgson Burnett was born in 1849, and published The Secret Garden in 1911. The book itself relies heavily on Christian themes, and Burnett was an adherent of Mary Baker Eddy’s Christian Science theology (not to be confused with L. Ron Hubbard’s Scientology movement). These themes can be seen throughout the book, in which the physical frailty of Colin, one of the books three primary protaganists, can be seen to be entirely psychosomatic.

Looking at the book as metaphor through the eyes of an adult, I didn’t find it particularly successful. To me, trying to imbue the book with too much depth causes it to lose much of it’s charm – I would compare it to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which is wildly successful as a child’s fantasy tale, but is much too heavy-handed as allegory when evaluated using adult standards. Like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I liked The Secret Garden better before I knew WHY Burnett wrote it.

Where The Secret Garden really shines is if it is simply approached as a simple, pretty tale of childhood. There is much to love in the descriptions of the moor, and of the garden, and the inquisitive robin who makes friends with the girl. Burnett’s descriptions of Mary’s transformation from the unloved, unhappy, resentment-filled and spoiled child to a robust, laughing youngster is charming. The clash between Mary and Colin – two brats who’ve had their own way much too much – is hilariously foot-stamping. And Dickon is simply delightful as the boy who can talk to animals.

In addition, Burnett’s descriptions of the secret garden, and it’s impact on the children, are so winning:

There was every joy on earth in the secret garden that morning, and in the midst of them came a delight more delightful than all, because it was more wonderful. Swiftly something flew across the wall and darted through the trees to a close grown corner, a little flare of red-breasted bird with something hanging from its beak. Dickon stood quite still and put his hand on Mary almost as if they had suddenly found themselves laughing in a church.

Mary, describing the garden to Colin:

Perhaps they are coming up through the grass – perhaps there are clusters of purple crocuses and gold ones – even now. Perhaps the leaves are beginning to break out and uncurl – and perhaps – the gray is changing and a green gauze veil is creepin – and creeping over – everything. And the birds are coming to look at it – because it is – so safe and still.

“It’s so beautiful!” she said, a little breathless with her speed. “You never saw anything so beautiful! It has come! I thought it had come that other morning, but it was only coming. It is here now! It has come, the Spring! Dickon says so!”

The Secret Garden is the perfect book to read in the spring, as it is full of descriptions of burgeoning life and youth. It’s enough to make me want to get outside and get some dirt under MY fingernails.

The Bloomsbury Group Reprints

Let me confess to my weakness for books with matching covers. Also, for English books set in the early twentieth century. The Bloomsbury Group titles fit both of these weaknesses to a “T”. Succumbing to this weakness means that I have a box of books winging its way to me from Amazon even as I type.

First published in 1931. “How I loathe that kind of novel which is about a lot of sisters’; so proclaims Deirdre at the beginning of The Brontës Went to Woolworths, one of three sisters.

London, 1931. As growing up looms large in the lives of the Carne sisters, Deirdre, Katrine and young Sheil still share an insatiable appetite for the fantastic. Eldest sister Deirdre is a journalist, Katrine a fledgling actress and young Sheil is still with her governess; together they live a life unchecked by their mother in their bohemian town house. Irrepressibly imaginative, the sisters cannot resist making up stories as they have done since childhood; from their talking nursery toys, Ironface the Doll and Dion Saffyn the pierrot, to their fulsomely-imagined friendship with real high-court Judge Toddington who, since Mrs Carne did jury duty, they affectionately called Toddy.

However, when Deirdre meets Toddy’s real-life wife at a charity bazaar, the sisters are forced to confront the subject of their imaginings. Will the sisters cast off the fantasies of childhood forever? Will Toddy and his wife, Lady Mildred, accept these charmingly eccentric girls? And when fancy and reality collide, who can tell whether Ironface can really talk, whether Judge Toddington truly wears lavender silk pyjamas or whether the Brontës did indeed go to Woolworths? [Description courtesy of Goodreads.]

First published in 1985. Spirited Henrietta wishes she was the kind of doctor’s wife who knew exactly how to deal with the daily upheavals of war. But then, everyone in her close-knit Devonshire village seems to find different ways to cope: there’s the indomitable Lady B, who writes to Hitler every night to tell him precisely what she thinks of him; the terrifyingly efficient Mrs Savernack, who relishes the opportunity to sit on umpteen committees and boss everyone around; flighty, flirtatious Faith who is utterly preoccupied with the latest hats and flashing her shapely legs; and then there’s Charles, Henrietta’s hard-working husband who manages to sleep through a bomb landing in their neighbour’s garden.
With life turned upside down under the shadow of war, Henrietta chronicles the dramas, squabbles and loyal friendships that unfold in her affectionate letters to her ‘dear childhood friend’ Robert. Warm, witty and perfectly observed, “Henrietta’s War” brings to life a sparkling community of determined troupers who pull together to fight the good fight with patriotic fervour and good humour. [Description courtesy of Goodreads]

First published in 1940. When Norman Huntley and Henry Beddow, sheltering from the rain in a dismal Irish country church, placate the sexton by telling him that they knew of his beloved pastor (now departed), there is no reason to suppose that there is any harm in the invention. It is purely for their own amusement that they create a fictional mutual friend: an elderly lady, Miss Hargreaves…

The sexton does not doubt her existence. For him, Miss Hargreaves is as real as you or I. And she gradually assumes a fully-rounded character in the imaginings of the two young men as they while away their holiday in expanding the details of her life: her book of poetry, her parrot Dr Pepusch, her harp, and her hip-bath. It is merely a continuation of their little joke when they write to invite her to visit them back in their cathedral home-town of Cornford.

It is something of a surprise when Miss Hargreaves accepts their invitation. And their disbelief turns to confusion and horror as, one evening soon afterwards, her train pulls into Cornford Station . . .

As Dr Glen Cavaliero stresses in his introduction, Miss Hargreaves is a brilliantly funny and moving fantasy with an admirable lightness of touch and wonderful characterisation, but for all that it has a dark and frightening undercurrent. A burlesque parable of ‘the ways of God with man’, the book explores how the creator must live with the consequences of their creation, no matter how uncomfortable. And if they renounce their responsibilities, then there is always the possibility that their power may be turned against them. [Description courtesy of Goodreads.]

First published in 1932. Tenth May, 1934. At this moment I look up and see the Man Who Lives Next Door standing on his doorstep watching my antics, and disapproving (I feel sure) of my flowered silk dressing gown. Probably his own wife wears one of red flannel, and most certainly has never been seen leaning out of the window in it – The Awful Carrying On of Those Army People – he is thinking.Vivacious, young Hester Christie tries to run her home like clockwork, as would befit the wife of British Army officer, Tim Christie. However hard Mrs Tim strives for seamless living amidst the other army wives, she is always moving flat-out to remember groceries, rule lively children, side-step village gossip and placate her husband with bacon, eggs, toast and marmalade. Left alone for months at a time whilst her husband is with his regiment, Mrs Tim resolves to keep a diary of events large and small in her family life. Once pen is set to paper no affairs of the head or heart are overlooked.When a move to a new regiment in Scotland uproots the Christie family, Mrs Tim is hurled into a whole new drama of dilemmas; from settling in with a new set whilst her husband is away, to disentangling a dear friend from an unsuitable match. Against the wild landscape of surging rivers, sheer rocks and rolling mists, who should stride into Mrs Tim’s life one day but the dashing Major Morley, hellbent on pursuit of our charming heroine. And Hester will soon find that life holds unexpected crossroad.

Oh, I cannot wait! They are going to be so pretty!