Book Review: Lord of the Flies

Author: William Golding

Originally Published In: 1954

Read in: October 2009

Poor Piggy. Lord of the Flies is an interesting study in human nature. This was one of the many books I missed out on in high school. I recall my friend Susan mentioning reading the book and I always thought it had something to do with corn (maybe Children of the Corn?). My interest was sparked this year when I realized that a lot of my patrons read and like the book. It was also mentioned on this show which I thought I wouldn't like, but ended up a follower anyway.

The story takes place on a remote island. A plane crashes leaving only British school children as survivors. No adults. The survivors must find a way to summon outside help and also create a society of their own. Ralph, a blonde-haired boy is the first elected leader. His right hand man is a chubby boy named Piggy (although he doesn't want to be called that) who is constantly picked on even in this new situation. He wants the boys to have fun, build shelter, and build a fire to summon help. Jack, whose choir boy group becomes the hunters of the pack, becomes Ralph's main adversary. Jack and his pack of hunters become increasingly insane when a corpse on the island is mistaken as a beast, resulting and crazy rituals and even more serious occurrences.

I liked this book, although I expected to like it more than I did. The book is very allegorical, so I think I would have understood all of its nuances had I read it in a class rather than on my own. Overall, I'm glad I read it and now I can understand all of those pop culture references to the book!

Book Review: The Monk

Author: Matthew Lewis

Originally Published: 1796

Read in: September and October 2009

The Monk is a creepy reminder of the capacity for evil in humans. The story describes the downfall of a prominent Spanish monk named Ambrosio at the hands of Satan. This is Gothic literature at its best and most detailed.

Ambrosio begins his descent when a woman named Matilda disguised as another monk, tempts him. As an instrument of Satan, she encourages him to commit horrible acts throughout the book, of which I will spare the reader because you all should read this yourselves!

There are many diversions (for example, the bleeding nun) in the book, which honestly slowed my reading of this book, but it's usually my preference to stick with the main story. Overall, I was justifiably appalled by the main story (in a good way because I would recommend this book to anybody who likes Gothic literature). I often felt like Catherine Morland from Northanger Abbey while reading the story because I had trouble walking into dark rooms after reading the book. It was a great fall early evening read.

I'm happy about finishing this book before Halloween because I was able to complete this year's R.I.P Challenge. This was also a Classics Challenge read. Both challenges end on the 31st, so I'm just in the nick of time. Thanks to the hosts for encouraging people to read read read!

Book Review: Madame Bovary

Author: Gustave Flaubert

Originally Published: 1857 (after the back lash)

Read in: July and August 2009

After months and months of reading British literature (my favorite) I decided to move back to my college roots and read a French author. I don't know much about Flaubert (I have only read "A Simple Heart" up to this point) but was interested in reading Madame Bovary. I had a much easier time finishing this book than my last classic, perhaps because the main character was a bit on the tragic side for my tastes.

The book is basically the story of what happens when a woman, Emma, gets very bored with her life and lives for a fantastic ideal. At a young age, her father hands her over to Charles Bovary, a second-rate physician. She is almost immediately tired of the marriage and is repulsed by Charles. The physician thinks she needs a change of scenery and moves her to a different town. The new location only distracts Emma more and she begins to form relationships with other men. Emma also has a taste for the finer things in life and her reckless attitude with money combined with her passion for... well, passion creates dire consequences for her and Charles.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. Flaubert's writing style and his attention to detail were amazing. But I LOATHED Emma, mainly because I am not a romantic. I realize that the novel was likely a social critique of the time, so she had to be over the top, but I have never read about a more self-centered character. Sadly, I think we can all see some part of ourselves in Emma, because nobody is perfect.

Next on the list? Matther Lewis's The Monk. Should be creepy!

Book Review: Howards End

Author: E. M. Forster

Originally Published: 1910

Read in: April - July 2009

My second Forster novel, Howards End proved to be an interesting read.  The book focuses on three different gradations of middle class families and class struggles in Edwardian England.  The Wilcoxes are a hard-core rich English family.  The Schlegels are half-German and spend much of their time in salon-like pursuits.  The Basts are of the lower middle class and are constantly struggling.  

Margaret Schlegel and Mrs. Wilcox form a friendship neat the end of Mrs. Wilcox's life that is so profound that she decides to leave the Howard's End estate to Margaret instead of her own family.  The remaining Wilcoxes find this so preposterous that they chuck the written note into the fire and Margaret never knows of her inheritance. The Wilcoxes had an embarrassing encounter with the Schlegels earlier at Howards End when Margaret's younger sister, Helen, struck up a romance with the younger Wilcox son, who soon left the country without her.  After Mrs. Wilcox's death, Henry Wilcox falls in love with Margaret and the two soon married, much to Helen's chagrin.

The Basts come into the picture when at a musical event, Helen accidentally takes Leonard Bast's umbrella home with her.  Leonard follows her and shares an awkward encounter at the Schlegel home.  Eventually Bast and his wife become a charity case for Helen and when the three attend an event hosted by the Wilcoxes, Bast's wife recognizes Henry as a former lover.

The above is only half of the connections these three families share.  It's amazing to me that all three are part of the middle class because they're so different in almost every aspect of life.  The Basts, at the bottom of the middle class totem pole, obviously struggle the most and the passionate Helen is often looked down upon for showing compassion for them.  Margaret is often stuck in the middle of arguments, as she tries to get Henry to open up more while getting Helen to calm down at the same time.  The climax at the end of the book is shocking and very telling of the time period and acts as a wake up call for all.

I enjoyed this book, although not as much as A Room With A View.  I really enjoyed the movie with Sir Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson.  I watched it about half way through reading the book because I was honestly struggling to finish the book (hence, why it took me 2.5 months to complete.)  The movie got me back on track though, even though it spoiled the end for me.

Up next for the Classics Challenge is Madame Bovary.  I read A Simple Heart in French in college and enjoyed it, so I'm looking forward to this.  Actually, I think this will be the first French author I've read since college.  I think I overdosed back then, but I'm looking forward to getting back to my roots, because there are some AMAZING French authors out there.

Book Review: Brideshead Revisited

Author: Evelyn Waugh

Originally Published: 1945

Read in: February - April 2009

Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited was my first read for the 2009 Classics Challenge.  The story is narrated by a man named Charles Ryder.  Charles meets a fellow student named Sebastian Flyte while studying at Oxford.  Sebastian is a fun-loving and needy guy who brings a teddy bear named Aloysius with him everywhere.  The boys form a very close relationship to the point that Sebasitan rescues Charles from his abysmal, yet comical life with his widower father during the summer holiday.  Charles is brought to the family's home called Brideshead, after a first brief visit at Christmas earlier in the year.  There he gets to know Sebastian's very interesting family, whom are all very different personalities and varying degrees of Catholic, something that Charles has never previously considered.

As Charles and Sebastian's schooling progresses, Sebastian begins to find more comfort in alcohol than Charles, to the point where he flees his normal life and travels to Morocco, and then a Tunisian monastery, where he becomes a charity case.  Even Charles can not bring him back, so Charles distances himself from the family.

The above only encompasses the first section of the book, so there are more serious encounters in store for Charles and the Marchmain family.  What I like most about this book is the range of emotions.  There is comedy, drama, love, very vague homosexual undertones, religion, loss, and much more all wrapped up in British formality.  Even though the book took me quite a while to complete, I enjoyed every minute of it.  I plan to read more Waugh, only in the distant future, as I have quite the pile of British literature at my fingertips at the moment.

Classics Challenge 2009

Well, I almost didn't see Trish's Classics Challenge 2009 post until too late.  I'm planning on reading classics all year, so I'm definitely in.  I hope to complete the "entree" section (5 classics) but will do my best to read as much as possible.  Here's the reading list in which I plan on using for the challenge.  

1.  Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (I will only use this if I don't complete the book by the end of March)

2.  Howard's End by E. M. Forster

3.  Villette by Charlotte Bronte

4.  The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

5.  Vanity Fair by William M. Thackeray

6.  Middlemarch by George Eliot

7.  A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

8.  The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence

9.  Animal Farm by George Orwell

10.  Madame Bovary by Gustav Flaubert

11.  The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe

12.  Nana by Emile Zola

13.  To the North by Elizabeth Bowen

14.  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

This list is by no means all-inclusive.  These are simply books I own and haven't gotten around to reading just yet.  I'm looking forward to the challenge and thanks for hosting this again, Trish!

Classics Challenge: Wrap-up

Boy am I happy that this challenge lasted six months.  My pre-wedding lack of reading would not have allowed me to complete the challenge if it had been shorter (I was not able to complete this year's RIP.) But luckily I was able to read on in November and  December.  I changed my line-up midway through the challenge (what was I thinking with all of those chunksters?) but thankfully there are plenty of unread classics out there.

Here is a list of my completed books:

1.  The Handmaid's Tale (my modern classic)

2.  Wuthering Heights

3.  Frankenstein

4.  A Christmas Carol

5.  The Good Earth

6.  The Great Gatsby

My favorite book of the challenge was Wuthering Heights and my least favorite was The Great Gatsby.  I would love to participate in this challenge again.  I love the classics and this motivates me to read them.

Thanks Trish for hosting!  Great job!

Book Review: The Great Gatsby

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Originally Published: 1925

Read in: December 2008

Another book I have never read that most people read in high school is F. Scott Fitzgerald's  The Great Gatsby.  The majority of my classmates read this novel in my junior year of high school.  I'm not sure what we were reading in Mrs. King's class (I had amazing junior and senior year English teachers and I thank God daily that I chose the AP route) but it wasn't this book.

I can recall most of my classmates not liking the book very much. Maybe it is my lack of literary training, or my general preference for British literature, but I tend to agree with my 16-17 year old friends of yore.  I found the book slow and quite frankly boring.  Luckily it's small stature made it more bearable than some though and I was able to complete the book in a short period of time.

The story is told from the point of view of Nick Carraway, who rented a small cottage near the great and wealthy Jay Gatsby.  Nick meets Gatsby for the first time when attending one of his many lavish and popular parties.  A strange friendship then forms because Gatsby is in love with Nick's second cousin once removed, Daisy.  Daisy has a past with Gatsby and is married to a man named Tom, who is cheating on her.  Much of the action in this book revolves around these complicated love scandals.

At first I found this book confusing.  I was having trouble keeping up with all of the characters.  It picks up a bit about 100 pages in when the reader finds out more about Gatsby and his controversial rise to fame and fortune.  I found none of the characters enduring, which is not something I think Fitzgerald was aiming for, but I didn't like this quality nonetheless.  Overall I don't think I will be rereading the book anytime soon, and while it is indeed a classic, it's not necessarily my cup of tea.

This book completes the Classics Challenge!  A wrap-up post to follow...

Book Review: The Good Earth

Author: Pearl S. Buck

Date Originally Published: 1931

Read in: November/December 2008

My last two novels for the classics challenge are books that many of my high school classmates read, but somehow I missed out on them. I remember kids reading Pearl Buck's The Good Earth in ninth grade social studies classes.  My teacher did not assign this book.  I decided to read it because it won the Nobel Prize and it's a novel commonly assigned to teens in their courses.

The book follows the life of Wang Lung from the time of his marriage to the time of his death, during pre-revolutionary China. [Spoilers Below]  I was immediately drawn to the affairs of his family.  He experienced many hardships as a young man, mainly because of a meddling uncle and a drought. But with persistence and dedication to his land, he became very rich.  My favorite character by far was Wang Lung's first wife (he later takes a concubine), O-Lan, who birthed her own children (literally by herself) and was a steady force for the family.  Sadly, Wang Lung does not truly appreciate her until she is dying.  His tribute to O-Lan's death was a beautiful moment in the book.  While Wang Lung is tied to his land, his heirs are not.  Perhaps this is attributed to the revolution (which is only somewhat evident in the background) or because his sons were raised completely different from himself, in a life of luxury.  The sons' discussion to sell his land, nearly devastate Wang Lung near the end of his life.  While the sons reassure their father that they won't sell it, they smile in agreement behind his back to go against Wang Lung's wishes after his death.  [End Spoilers]

I thought this was a beautiful book.  If you're looking for a light and short classic read, I would highly recommend it.

Book Review: A Christmas Carol

Author: Charles Dickens

Date Originally Published: 1843

Read in: November 2008

I have loved this story since I was a kid.  My first encounter was Mickey's Christmas Carol that we recorded from TV and I am kind of embarrassed to admit that I still imagine the D!sney characters in place of Victorian figures.  My elementary school performed the play and I remember singing songs with the school's chorus and danced in the "hoedown" scene for our production.  Fortunately, one person reading this blog will remember this production as well.

Sadly, this is my first encounter with the actual story, but I loved it just the same.  Thankfully, my previous encounters stayed true to the actual work.  The story details a grumpy old miser who is extremely adverse to charity and merriment in general.  On Christmas Eve, he is visited by the ghost of a dead business partner, as well as ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future who help him reverse his miserly ways. I won't say anything more because most people know the story and if they don't, I sure don't want to ruin it for them!

I loved this book.  It was a quick and easy read, and I plan on reading it during the holidays for years to come!

Book Review: Frankenstein

Author: Mary Shelley
Date Originally Published: 1818
Start Date: August 27th
Completion Date: September 4th

Frankenstein is yet another classic novel that I have been meaning to read over the years. I initially knew enough about the book to know that Frankenstein is not the monster himself, but the creator of the monster. However, I had no clue of the novel's eloquence and emotion.

Most people know the story of Frankenstein. A man with a vision creates what he hopes to be the perfect human out of inanimate materials. When this creation comes to life, Frankenstein realizes that the new human is so ugly that he is terrifying. Confused and hurt by his creator's (and others) repulsion, the monster has a difficult time comprehending his new body, emotions, and not to mention language acquisition (could you imagine being born adult?) The monster develops a deep revenge for his creator and vows to follow him throughout events in his life and even seeks to murder Frankenstein's family and friends. By the end of the book, many lives are in peril and the novel serves as a reminder that nobody should mess with mother nature.

I enjoyed this book for many reasons. First, I admired the eloquence of all the characters, even the monster (to the point where I find myself sympathizing with him at certain points.) The book is beautifully written and the plot evokes some beautiful imagery and emotion. Second, Frankenstein is indeed the modern retelling of the Prometheus myth. He discovers something initially thought to be great and wonderful for society, but in actually many horrors come with his creation. Frankenstein himself, like Prometheus, also suffers consequences for his actions. Third, I think it's great that a classic novel was written as a result of friendly competition between great writers/poets when they were stuck inside during an unusually cold summer.

Most people have read this book, but I highly recommend it if you haven't gotten around to it yet.

Book Review: Wuthering Heights

Author: Emily Brontë
Date Originally Published: 1847
Start Date: July 16th
Completion Date: August 1st

The first book I completed for the 2008 Classics Challenge (well, besides the bonus book) was Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. I've been meaning to get around to this book for over a year now (ever since I read and fell in love with her sister's Jane Eyre) so I'm glad this challenge helped me with my goal.

The novel is not by any means a happy one because it is centered around almost lifelong revenge. Heathcliff, the main character, is a foundling raised by the Earnshaw family who lives at Wuthering Heights. While Heathcliff and his foster sister, Catherine, become quick and inseparable friends, his older foster brother, Hindley, resents him. This is ultimately realized when the children's father dies a few years later and Hindley takes over the estate and forces Heathcliff to work as a hired hand. While this is a blow to Heathcliff's ego, he is more hurt by Catherine's friendship and eventual marriage to Edgar Linton, a neighbor at Thrushcross Grange. After Hindley dies, (at this point Heathcliff has taken over Wuthering Heights because Hindley has taken too many loans from Heathcliff) Heathcliff seems focused only on revenge, and draws mostly himself, but servants and children of all adults involved as well.

I enjoyed this novel, although not quite as much as Charlotte's Jane Eyre (but that's not saying much because I think Jane Eyre is my favorite book.) The complexity of the characters' relationships and the consequences of misunderstandings, the insanity displayed by many of the characters, and even Heathcliff's dark physical appearance create a (to me) beautiful Gothic setting. I tend to love the Gothic though, and I don't recommend reading this book if one is in a paricular bad mood or feeling down.

Overall, I'm glad I read it. I think my next Brontë will be Charlotte's Villette.

Book Review: The Handmaid's Tale

Author: Margaret Atwood
Date Originally Published: 1985
Start Date: July 2nd
Completion Date: July 8th

After completing The Robber Bride last year upon recommendation from a bookish friend, I knew I had to read more Margaret Atwood. She deals with some pretty heavy issues, so I knew that reading The Handmaid's Tale wasn't going to be all fun and games.

I chose The Handmaid's Tale because it seems to be her most popular novel, at least here in America, and is also one that is typically read in high schools and colleges. I initially had no clue that the book deals with a dystopian America, so I was really surprised by her tone and the narrator's overall story at first.

Offred (Of Fred) is a handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She was separated from her husband and daughter and placed in a camp of women who are young and fertile to learn the ways of being a concubine in order to boost the population's birth rate. Each member of society wears a different color so they can be distinguished in public. As a handmaid, Offred always wears red. Each handmaid is placed in a wealthy household run by a commander for the republic for a certain amount of time to attempt to produce a healthy baby for the family. If this does not occur, the handmaids are either transferred to another household, or sent to the colonies, which seem to be basically death traps. Commander Fred and his sterile wife, former evangelist, Serena Joy, along with other household members (the Marthas who keep house, etc.) run awkward and restricted lives with each person experiencing pain and sadness in different ways. As Offred continues with her story, she slips into different memories from the past, ranging from her childhood, to her marriage, to her handmaid schooling. She also begins to develop forbidden relationships with members of the household and find out that certain handmaids participate in a quiet resistance movement.

This book succeeds with it's message, like many other classic dystopian novels. There will always be a resistance and the black markets that come with it, there will always be sex, and innocent lives will always be taken for the "good" of the republic/country/land/cause. The Handmaid's Tale is interesting because it was written from a woman's point of view, which seems to give a little more emotion and heart to the story. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and plan to read even more Atwood in the future.