Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

I finished it: Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. Recently, I was asked about my latest achievement and this book came to mind. I didn't want to sound like a total nerd, so I didn't share it but.... It really was an achievement. The book was good, don't get me wrong, but it was long. At times, I felt like starting a new book when the boring bits about farming in the 1800's became a little much for me but I held on, I kept at it. A lot happened: people met, fell in love, got married, had affairs, had babies, became mentally unstable, died. I really do think everyone should attempt this book at some point but I would caution that it takes a certain dedication to make it through to the end. Not everyone would feel this way but I can only write from my perspective. 

One of my favorite quotes came from Levin (who was my favorite character): "This whole world of ours is only a speck of mildew sprung up on a tiny plant; yet we think we can have something great - thoughts, actions! They are all but grains of sand!" It's not a new idea and I'm sure we've all thought this at some point in our lives; it's very true, though, isn't it? Levin was prone to pessimistic opinions and thoughts frequently, but I liked something about him. He was surprisingly complex. He could be arrogant and confident one minute, unsure and jealous the next (literally in the time it would take him to walk from one room to another, he could be possessed by envy over the littlest things), thoughtful and pensive but brash and dismissive at the same time. I absolutely loved him during the birth of his son. I think that's when he really became my favorite character and probably the most memorable part of this entire novel for me. He was so worried and didn't understand half of what was going on, but he was so endearing during this part of the book.

Kitty grew on me. I didn't like her at first and I don't think I expected her to become anything substantial in the novel. She was naive and foolish but then something happens to her (something the luckiest of us gets to experience, in my opinion) and it changes the way she views herself, her surroundings. This change gives her more meaning, more depth. I liked her much more afterwards. 

The title character, Anna, was just hopeless. I don't know what the normal opinion of her is by literary bigwigs but to me, she was hopeless. The woman did not know how to be happy. I commend her for living her life by her own rules and shunning society when her choices were unpopular but I think what society thought and whether they accepted her meant more to her than she could admit to herself. Her unwillingness to let herself be content was her downfall.... She didn't love Karenin and only married him because he asked; had a child with him, wasn't happy. Fell in love with Vronsky, had an affair; was miserable because she couldn't be with Vronsky. Got pregnant, almost died, left her husband and son, lives with Vronsky; is unhappy because she's not accepted in society, seems almost mentally unstable when she should be happy that she's with him, married or not. Has her daughter with her in the new life she shares with Vronsky, but isn't really in her day to day life and leaves most of her upbringing to nurses and maids. She feels jealous whenever Vronsky needs to be among society, (can't really fault her for this though.... there was a huge double standard in that he is not viewed in the same way she is after the scandal, even though they're both involved). She's obsessed with the fact that he may find someone else to love and torments herself with doubt. She drives herself insane, basically. It's sad, maddening, and awful. She was needy, weepy, weak and I pitied her. I like my female characters to be strong and independent (Jane Eyre ruined me, I think) and Anna was not these things. Her final scene was so well written and came at me so unexpectedly that I had to reread it two times.

...Just a side note on a very minor character: Varenka. I liked her and I wish I knew more about her. Why was she so dedicated to the elderly and the sick? Why did Kitty feel such a draw to her? There was a small part of the story when someone connected to Levin was about to propose to her but didn't. Her disappointment was my disappointment. I felt bad for her.

The novel has been described as a "slice of life" and it really is! It's a peek into the lives of these 4 or 5 couples and it sort of stays with you. There are some boring parts about farming and Russian government procedures that I read but didn't absorb, but all in all, the book allows the reader to look into the lives of Levin and Kitty, Dolly and Oblonsky, Anna, Vronsky and Karenin; it was a nice way to spend my summer and I'd recommend it to anyone who wanted a good, long read. 

...In reading some information on Anna Karenina from Schmoop.com (seriously awesome website for anyone who loves to learn), I came across these two paragraphs and it sums up everything I was poorly trying to convey:

Even though Anna Karenina is a famous tale of a lady who steps out on her husband, there are many moments that get to us in this novel have nothing to do with betrayal. We read Anna Karenina for the part when Anna is briefly reunited with her son after a long absence only to lose him again. Or that time when Karenin manages to do something great by forgiving his cheating wife and her lover. Or the terrible moment when Vronsky realizes he's broken his own horse's back, and it's a symbol for the way he's ruined the life of his lady-love just by sleeping with her (we told you Tolstoy is a moralist, right?).

Like all novels, this is a book of its time, and that means that parts of it don't speak to us across the hundred and forty-odd years that separate us from Tolstoy. But as for Tolstoy's many meditations on isolation, loneliness, resentment, betrayal, and even hope for a better life – we don't know about you, but we feel these things are always relevant. Over the course of Anna Karenina, the main characters of the novel come off the page more brightly and clearly than some real-life people we've known. And given that Tolstoy and the social world he's depicting are long gone, that's quite an accomplishment.

You can read more here.

I had planned to choose another book from my list after a break of two weeks but I picked up 'The Book Of Negroes' by Lawrence Hill today on my lunch break and read a couple of chapters to pass the time. I think I'll read it next, then choose a book from the list. It'll give me time to let the book choose me, to be honest. I spent so much time with Tolstoy, during which a few books were mentioned to me in passing conversation and I made mental notes but have since forgotten which on the list I was going to read next. Definitely not War and Peace. Tolstoy was an amazing writer but I just can`t take another 2-3 months with him. Not yet, anyway. 

From Narnia to Russia...

Finally finished The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. It was a long, interesting read. Made up of seven books arranged in order of the story, not necessarily the publication dates, it brings the reader into the fictional world of Narnia and usually deals with some sort of good vs. evil battle fought by the people of Narnia and a couple of children from the "other" world. It was toward the last half of the story that I realized how much of the story was based on the Christian religion. A little research and yup, this is a pretty commonly accepted fact. Apparently, another set of titles on my list, Philip Pullman's series His Dark Materials is seen as a response to The Chronicles of Narnia, written by a self-described atheist who rejects the spiritual themes in The Chronicles of Narnia.

I'm sort of tired of children's literature for the moment, or else I would have started that series to compare.

So, now onto a very adult book: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. This book intimidated me for years. I felt it would be beyond my comprehension, too difficult to attempt and I almost left it off the list. But, a conversation on a CBC radio broadcast between two writers who discussed Tolstoy and his writing peaked my interest and I decided to give it a try. Gotta at least try, right?

I'm glad I did. I started it yesterday and I'm already on chapter 15. Of course, seeing as the book is broken down into eight parts with a total of over 200 chapters, this isn't all that impressive. It's the size of a brick. I'll be reading it till well into August, if not September.

So far, I'm disliking Oblonsky and I'm liking Levin. Oblonsky has charm and that certain smoothness that politicians always possess but he feels no guilt for cheating on his wife and offers no apologies. If anything, he's upset that he got caught and feels he should have hid the affair better. He even goes so far as to console himself with the fact that he had to cheat because his wife is no longer attractive. What a romantic. Levin, on the other hand, is very stern and unattractive, keeps his feelings close to his chest. But inside, he's a mess for Kitty and I find him kind of endearing. 

So that's where I'm at in the story. Hopefully I'll stay interested!

An Update.

Wow. I meant to update this blog way sooner than this. I'm horrible at making myself do things. I've taken the last two months to just be. Be lazy, be productive, be thankful, be bored and be a million other things. Mostly be a procrastinator, one of my many faults. 

I read a lot of books last winter during my forced break from the blog. Some were on my list and some weren't. A few were great, most were good. All kept me company and kept my thoughts occupied, my brain sharp. I really do love to read. I'm sure you've got that by now but I seriously don't know what I would do if I had no books within my reach. I can live without television, internet and the phone, without seeing people on a regular basis, without conversation. But I don't think I could live without books, without a good story.

One that stands out in my mind was "Gone With The Wind" by Margaret Mitchell (Number 43 on my list). I enjoyed this book, truly. It was a long read but once I got about two-three chapters in, I was happy that I would be immersed in the world of Scarlett and Rhett for a while. America before, during and after the Civil War was an interesting time, made more so by silly and petty Scarlett O'Hara. What amazed me most about her was how she started out so spoiled, went through all the things she went through but never really grew as a character. She married, she was widowed, she saved her family's plantation, she worked like a man, she married again, she had children, she lost a child... Life really happened to this chick. And after all this, she was still a shallow, selfish person who was deserted by the one man she should have loved right from the start. Not that Rhett shouldn't have left - trust me, I wanted him to leave her. I would have left her a long time before he did, were I in his place. She took everyone for granted. She was bothered by everyone, annoyed by being needed. She never really enjoyed anything but money and superficial friends, parties and material things. It's been a while since I've disliked a character so much. I kinda enjoyed my distaste for Scarlett though, if I can be honest. I liked disliking her.

I watched the movie (starting to become a habit of this project: read the book, watch the movie) after I finished reading the book and while I enjoyed the movie, so much of the book was left out. If you ever have to choose between the book and the movie, read the book. The movie is a quick, condensed, Hollywood retelling of the book. You get more of a love for the story from the book.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (Number 47 on my list) was a difficult read. I've heard authors state in interviews that they didn't really understand this book the first time they read it, but that picking it up later on for a second time proved to be more educational.  It's descriptive, dark, and interesting. The human soul is a dark, dark place, is what I have taken away from this book on my first read. 

Here is an excerpt, one I really like for the descriptive qualities of the book:

"A slight clinking behind me made me turn my head. Six black men advanced in a file, toiling up the path. They walked erect and slow, balancing small baskets full of earth on their heads, and the clink kept time with their footsteps. Black rags were wound round their loins, and the short ends behind wagged to and fro like tails. I could see every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar on his neck, and all were connected together with a chain whose bights swung between them, rhythmically clinking. Another report [gunshot] from the cliff made me think suddenly of that ship of war I had seen firing into a continent. It was the same kind of ominous voice; but these men could by no stretch of imagination be called enemies.  They were called criminals, and the outraged law, like the bursting shells, had come to them, an insoluble mystery from over the sea. All their meagre breasts panted together, the violently dilated nostrils quivered, the eyes stared stonily uphill. They passed me within six inches, without a glance, with that complete, deathlike indifference of unhappy savages."

Can't you just see the scene? Hear the panting breath of the so-called criminals as they make their way up the path? I love the sentence "They were called criminals, and the outraged law, like the bursting shells, had come to them, an insoluble mystery from over the sea." Living peacefully one day in your own brand of community and the next, strangers from across the sea thrust their version of law, of existence down your throat and call you a criminal, tie you to your fellow man and force you into slavery. Heart of darkness, is right. 

"The mind of man is capable of anything - because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future."

 Beautiful. 

Interesting little factoid I discovered while doing random research about Heart of Darkness is that although English was Conrad's third language, he is generally considered one of the greatest writers of fiction in the English language. Quite the accomplishment.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Number 114 on my list) is a painful story about a young girl who is raped and murdered. It was made into a movie in 2009 (such a gorgeous film by Peter Jackson, full of color and of light) so I knew what it was about and I knew it would make me cry because it affected me deeply. It's a beautiful story, an insanely heartbreaking but uplifting story that needed to be told. This is one of those books that I will remember forever. I could be 98 years old, living in a rest home and see a copy of this book and I would immediately think "Susie Salmon, like the fish" and remember the cornfield, the place under the earth, the sinkhole. I love this story. It left a mark on my heart.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon (No. 104 on list) was a quick, easy read. I finished it in 8 hours. I enjoyed this book. It taught me about Autism from the point of view of an Autistic boy. I could read it again and enjoy it just as much as the first time. 

The Fellowship of the Rings by J.R. Tolkien (First book of No. 113 on list). Here, I hit a snag. I started it. I put it down. I started it again. I put it down. I started and finished another book, then picked Lord of The Rings back up again but still no good. Still didn't finish it. It's not a fun read. I'm so confused... I loved the movies. I should enjoy the books! I've never had this problem before. I just can't seem to get into the story because of the endless description. I talked it over with two friends who have read the series and they both agreed: Too. Much. Description. We get it, the grass is green. The trees are tall. Gollum's annoying. Get on with the story, Tolkien.

I'll try reading it again someday.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (No. 126 on list). Oh, this made up for Lord of The Rings. Please, please, please: If you, anonymous person who might someday read this post, take nothing else away from this humble little project of mine, please read this book. If you are a book lover (and you must be. Why else would you be here?) you will love this book. A quote on the front from Stephen King called it "One gorgeous read" and that just sums it up completely. It is a beautiful, gorgeous read. It gave me goosebumps at one point! It inspired me to free form write late at night after reading a few chapters. Words came pouring out like my pen was possessed. The attraction to this book, for me, is not so much the story as a whole, but the writing itself. Here's an example:

A motionless figure stood out in a patch of shadow on the cobbled street. The flickering amber glow of a cigarette was reflected in his eyes. He wore dark clothes, with one hand buried in the pocket of his jacket, the other holding the cigarette that wove a web of blue smoke around his profile. He observed me silently, his face obscured by the street lighting behind him. He remained there for almost a minute smoking nonchalantly, his eyes fixed on mine. Then, when the cathedral bell struck midnight, the figure gave a faint nod of the head, followed, I sensed, by a smile that I could not see. I wanted to return the greeting but was paralyzed. The figure turned, and I saw the man walking away, with a slight limp. Any other night I would barely have noticed the presence of that stranger, but as soon as I'd lost sight of him in the mist, I felt a cold sweat on my forehead and found it hard to breathe. I had read an identical description of that scene in The Shadow of the Wind. In the story the protagonist would go out onto the balcony every night at midnight and discover that a stranger was watching him from the shadows, smoking nonchalantly. The stranger's face was always veiled by darkness, and only his eyes could be guessed at in the night, burning like hot coals. The stranger would remain there, his right hand buried in the pocket of his black jacket, and then he would go away, limping. In the scene I had just witnessed, that stranger could have been any person of the night, a figure with no face and no name. In Carax's novel, that figure was the devil.  

 

Another example:

"...The art of reading is slowly dying. That it's an intimate ritual, that a book is a mirror that offers us only what we already carry inside us, that when we read, we do it with all our heart and mind, and great readers are becoming more scarce by the day."

I couldn't agree more.

Presently, I'm reading The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. The first book, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is one of the very few books from my childhood that I can remember exactly where I was when I discovered it, the kind of day it was and what the book cover looked like as I decided whether or not to read it. I don't think I knew that there were other books that followed it or I'm sure I would have read them when I was younger. I've been slowly reading it, saving it for nice, sunny days and taking it outside to sit and soak up the sun while I read about adventures in Narnia. It's quite good. It's very large, when all the books are compiled into one unabridged novel, so it's not a quick read. It's a book meant to be read aloud to children. C.S. Lewis was a very good writer.Very imaginative, very descriptive. I only have a few chapters left.

Next on my list is what I am anticipating to be a difficult read: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. This will be my first foray into Russian Literature and I'm sure it will be an eye-opener. 

Till next time....

I'm back! I was not able to keep up the blog for the past three months but I have been reading (see side panel) and knocked off a few more books from the list. 

Also, I realized that I started this blog just over a year ago.... and I'm still at it! For me, this is something to be celebrated.

More updates to come soon!

Update

Unfortunately I won't be able to continue with this project for the next two months. I've had a flare up of health issues and have to stay in the hospital for 8 weeks after a recent surgery. But, I will be back!

Keep reading,

Crystal

Jane Eyre

I really enjoyed Jane Eyre. I think it's my favorite so far that I've read from my list, and perhaps one of my top five favorite books that I've ever read. It's so well written that it could easily have been published just last year, instead of 165 years ago. I loved Jane as a character and I agreed with pretty much every major decision she made throughout the story (except that at the first hint of something being locked in Rochester's attic, I would have investigated a little more than she did, or at least really bugged Rochester to tell me what exactly was up there. She infuriated me with how long she took to discover what it was. Was it a ghost? An animal? The servant Mrs. Poole?)

I didn't like Rochester at first, I will admit. I thought she could do a lot better and I initially thought it was because she was so innocent and not used to men that she felt herself in love with him. He was abrupt, rude and played mind games. Three things I can't stand in men. But as the story went on and St. John Rivers was introduced into the story, Rochester started looking a little better. Eventually, after a long period without him and with only the petulant, intimidating and God-fearing St. John to entertain the reader as a possible love interest, I started wondering when Rochester would come back into the story (because obviously, as Jane often pined for him, it was not over between them). The ending was surprising, but very good.

As I was reading Jane Eyre, I couldn't help but wonder why books aren't written like this anymore, with symbolism and well thought out plots, interesting dialogue and characters with depth. Like I said, this book was published 165 years ago and has never been out of print since. That's quite an accomplishment. I was also so in love with the portrayal of Jane: a strong-minded, morally conscious female in a time when women were not normally that way. She stood up for herself, she carried her own weight, she made hard decisions based on her own scruples where other women would have folded and settled. She's probably my favorite literary character in history.

Can you tell how much I liked this book?

What I did not like was the 2011 film adaptation of Jane Eyre. What a terrible movie. It skipped so much between ending, beginning, middle, ending, middle, beginning, etc. and left out important conversations and scenes, that would leave someone who had never read the book completely lost and confused. The movie moved along so fast through the events that there was no way to enjoy it. The director obviously never read the book, or if he had, he didn't get it. Awful film, really. Waste of money.

Since I finished that one pretty quickly, my next book hasn't arrived yet. As I mentioned in my previous post, I like the book to choose me. As I was nearing the last quarter of Jane Eyre, I started to wonder when it was going to pick me because I needed time to order it and have the library mail it to me. Wasting time on Facebook one day, a post from George Stroumboulopoulos came across my newsfeed with this video. A big fan of George, I always click on whatever he posts as it's usually an interesting little fact or spotlight on a person or news story I might have missed. And there it was, my next book choice: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. 

I really do love my way of deciding what title to read next. 

It's not here yet, so I get a little break to think about what I just read before I jump into something else. I'm looking forward to Heart of Darkness. I love imagery. I love descriptions and this book has that in abundance, I've been told. It's only a short read, so let's hope that another book will pick me soon.

I also have another movie to look forward to after reading this book. Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now was based on Conrad's book. Not really my kind of movie, but I'll give it a shot.  I'm a huge Doors fan, so if nothing else, I'll be rewarded for watching the film by hearing "The End". The reason I know this, having never seen the movie, is a friend of mine used to tell me all he thought about was Apocalypse Now whenever "The End" came on while we were in my car. All I would think about was Jim Morrison's hotness.

The Three Musketeers

I finished this book just before Christmas. I was delayed somewhat due to happenings in my own life, which, ironically, have left me with a lot more time to read, but were not exactly what I was expecting. I took a break during Christmas and didn't read anything, letting chance direct me to what book I should read next, which I'll tell you about shortly.

I liked The Three Musketeers. If I had children, or if I should someday have children, I think this (and the Harry Potter series) will be the sort of book I'd read to them at night. Written for adults in its time, it's not sexual, gory or anything that would be inappropriate for kids. It has lots of throw-down-the-gauntlet, grab-your-sword sort of excitement (seriously - if you bumped into one of these guys by mistake, you better be prepared for a sword fight. They were a little touchy) and every woman's honor was fought for (except Milady Winter - read the book if you want to know why). Good narrative, good descriptions and an interesting book overall.

Favorite of the Musketeers was probably Porthos. I think knowing Oliver Platt played this character on film biased my opinion. As a literary character though, he just seemed the most kind-hearted of the three.

I have to admit, the entire time I was reading this book, I wanted a Three Musketeers bar badly. I prevailed and stayed true to my diet.I have a sickness where I think about chocolate a lot.

So my next book choice was difficult. I personally don't like to pick my next book. I like to leave it to chance and let the book pick me, which can sometimes take a while. Sounds flaky but it's how I go about minor decisions in life, as long as they have no direct or major affect on others. It happens in different ways, at different times, like someone mentioning a book to me, or randomly reading/hearing/seeing an interview or TV show that mentions a book, author, etc. You get the point. 

While contemplating my next choice, the following all happened within about 1 week: I watched The Help (loved it - you should definitely check it out) and in a random scene, there is a bookshelf with Native Son by Richard Wright clearly visible in the frame (book number 73 on my list); I was watching TV one evening and an episode of The King of Queens comes on and the plot is that Doug and Carrie join a book club. The first selection? Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (book number 53 on my list); Then I read an article that mentioned Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (book number 20 on my list). So I now had three books to choose from and it was a difficult choice .All three sounded good once I was able to research them and read the summaries. Jane Eyre won in the end because it's a book I've always wanted to read but just never did for some reason.

Not a big follower of movie releases, I was also very excited to see this trailer for a movie based on the book that had been released in March 2011. I love when I have a movie to look forward to after I read a book. Although, honestly, more times than not, I'm disappointed in the film adaptation. Why does Hollywood need to put so much fluff into films? Why can't the story ever be enough?

As I do with any book I read, I googled the author, the book itself and just did a general knowledge tour for myself. The family story of the Brontes is tragic and heart-breaking. I knew sort of that almost everyone in the family died young, but when I read various web biographies, it became a little more real and a lot more sad. Thankfully, health care has improved somewhat since the 1800's.

We'll see how Jane Eyre goes. I started it this afternoon and I'm enjoying it. Only on page 28 right now. At 401 pages, it's what I call a light read. I expect, if all goes well, I'll be finished in under two weeks. Yes, I'm pretty sure I have said that before. I'm committed to it this time!

Happy New Year!

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

I might have to call it quits on this book. It started out strong, but there is just something about the title character Owen Meany that makes this a hard read for me. 

It's his voice.

Why should this matter, right? It's a book for crying out loud. The thing is, when I read a book I like to visualize the setting, the look of the characters, the clothes they're wearing and even what they sound like. The author describes Owen's voice as high, thin, whiny, sharp. And every word Owen says - every word - is in ALL CAPS. Honestly, it's a turn off for me. I find it distracting and annoying. 

Owen Meany is like a cartoon character, not a real person, which makes it hard for me to relate to him. Everything about him is exaggerated. He's not just a little pale; he's almost translucent. He's not just a little loud; his voice is high-pitched and nasal. He's not sort of small for his age; he's actually so small that the other children can (and do) pick him up and pass him around over their heads. The boy played the baby Jesus in the school play, that's how small he is.

So I've lost interest in this book. I don't like to give up (and normally I don't give up) but I have a lot of books on my list and I don't want to spend another month trying to get absorbed in this story when maybe it's just not what I'm interested in. I'll watch Simon Birch instead.

So next selection is The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. I'm moderately excited about this one. I know the story (who doesn't?). I've seen the films (not the most recent one). I'm hoping it will be a good read.

Oliver Twist

"Oh, lady, lady! If there were more like you, there would be fewer like me, there would. There would!¹"

This was a challenge. The story was interesting and I liked it when I did get some time to read it; but I found the use of language and punctuation distracting and would read the same page once or twice and still not always know exactly what setting I was in. Back in the day, this was a popular book (one of Dickens' most famous novels and only his second to be published), so I know it's just my not being familiar with books written in the mid-1800's, and not a reflection on the writing itself.

It's a nice story and one that has been retold over and over but really: This is a classic. In my mind, this is about as classic as you can get with a project like this. No list would be complete without this book.

The characters were all so different and complex. All had different levels of morality and decency. My favorite character would have to be Mr. Brownlow because of his charity toward Oliver and the role he plays in the entire story, of course. He seems like a nice, grandfatherly-like man who would sneak you peppermints when your mom wasn't looking, wear a pocket watch and always smell nice.

A close-second for favorite character is Nancy. I know, I know, she was with the bad guys. Why would I pick her as a favorite character? Because she's not all bad. She actually helps Oliver more than once and you can tell that despite being a street urchin herself since an early age, a thief, beggar and who knows what else, she still has a conscience and a heart. And for that conscience and heart to survive through the life she led, it must have been a good conscience and heart, you know? I was sad for this character when I read her final scene. I felt she deserved a better ending that that. But, it was essential to the story and helped bring about an important ending.

Least favorite character was definitely Sikes. I hate this guy. What a bastard. Seriously. He beats his dog, he plots against his friends, he threatens his lady-friend, (and eventually murders her), he's not on Oliver's side and is just an all-around lousy person. The way he meets his end was one of the best scenes in the book.

My favorite quote from the book (mostly because of what was going on in my life when I read it) is:

"There was such peace and beauty in the scene; so much of brightness and mirth in the sunny landscape; such blithesome music in the songs of the summer birds; such freedom in the rapid flight of the rook, careering overhead; so much of life and joyousness in all; that, when the boy raised his aching eyes, and looked about, the thought instinctively occurred to him, that this was not a time for death; that Rose could surely never die when humbler things were all so glad and gay; that graves were for cold and cheerless winter: not for sunlight and fragrance. He almost thought that shrouds were for the old and shrunken; and that they never wrapped the young and graceful in their ghastly folds.


A knell from the church bell broke harshly on these youthful thoughts. Another! Again! It was tolling for the funeral service. A group of humble mourners entered the gate: wearing white favours; for the corpse was young. They stood uncovered by a grave; and there was a mother - a mother once - among the weeping train. but the sun shone brightly, and the birds sang on.²"

Beautiful.

I want to adopt an orphan now - especially if he (or she) is a nice little waif, like Oliver. I'm waiting for the feeling to pass. 

Oliver Twist

My next selection is number 9 on the list "A Prayer For Owen Meany" by John Irving. I need a modern book after the Victorian-era language in Oliver Twist. Hopefully it won't take me two months to read this one!

1. Taken from chapter 40, pg 305.
2. Taken from chapter 33 pg 253

Time spent with Jane Pt 2

I finished Pride and Prejudice today. I can't believe it took me this long to finish reading the book. I lost a lot of time when I accidentally left it outside overnight and it got completely soaked in the rain. I spent a week drying it with a fan/hairdryer/sunlight, hoping and praying that the pages wouldn't keep that wrinkled, damp-book look to them. It is a library book, after all. Happy to say that my patience while drying out the book paid off and you can hardly tell it was almost ruined. Once I reattach the cover, that is. Funny thing about books - they expand when they've been completely soaked and then dried. So now the cover is slightly smaller than the book itself. Hopefully, this will escape the eye of the librarian when I return it. 

The story itself was very good and I now understand why this book is considered a classic. I think you should read it. Or watch a movie version of it (I recommend the Kiera Knightley version, or the Colin Firth version). In a nutshell, girl meets boy and boy is rude to girl, so girl decides she hates boy and that he's a stuck-up and proud jerk. Girl eventually rethinks her dislike and they profess love to each other, after a bunch of other things happen, and eventually boy and girl become engaged. Happy endings all around.

What's amazing to me is that Austen's books have spawned an almost cult following (there is even a term for its followers: Janeite). If you do a Google search for Pride and Prejudice, you get roughly 14 million results. Some jewels out there are along the lines of extremely detailed websites that go over every detail of the book and the life lessons it teaches us (taking it a bit too far, in my opinion), and quizzes that tell you which female character you are (I'm Elizabeth, apparently).

Basically, what I learned from this book is sometimes, if you're open-minded, you find a Mr. Darcy; but other times, if your vanity gets in the way, you may find yourself with a Mr. Wickham. Fortunately, there are sites like this one to point us in the right direction. 

Jane Austen herself never had much luck in the romance department and it seems that she channeled all these secret hopes and desires into her books. She was only 42 when she died, young by today's standards. Her books were published in the last years of her life, with two posthumously. She started Pride and Prejudice (initially titled First Impressions) when she was 21, following a ill-fated romance with the nephew of neighbors, Thomas Lefroy (who was most likely the basis of her character Mr. Darcy). He eventually became Lord Chief Justice of Ireland but at the time of his romance with Jane, was dependent on family for financing his legal education and career. It was decided that Jane was not properly suited to him and they were kept away from each other, marriage being strongly discouraged. If you've read Pride and Prejudice, this all sounds very familiar.

My next book selection is Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. Truthfully, the only Dickens book I can remember reading is A Christmas Carol, so I'm looking forward to starting this book and thereby adding another Dickens novel to my read-list. Initially, I had toyed around with the idea of making this summer's selections all Dickens novels, as I have five on my list. But I find I become bored if I read several of the same author's works in a row and would likely enjoy the five more if they were separated by other genres, authors, styles of writing, etc. I'll also check out the movie once I'm finished the book. Who knows, maybe once I've finished Oliver Twist, I'll find myself saying these famous lines and read another Dickens novel:  "Please sir, I want some more" .