2009 with ChocolateMuse

I'm sure I read more than 50 books last year, but abandoned my thread at somewhere around 40-something. How disgraceful. I hope to stick with it this time, though I'm starting a bit late.

I'm not challenging myself to read any amount in particular, I just want to use this thread to track what I read and review as I go. I won't record everything I read (some re-reads aren't worth it) but just the books I want to review, however briefly.

Also, I've joined a book group, real and face-to face. It's only just started. We began with Love in the Time of Cholera, but to my shame I didn't finish it in time. The next book is People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, and I've begun it already. I will keep you posted.

I have also been listening to a lot of books on LibriVox.org, and I intend to list here any good ones I listen to as well.

It's gonna be fun! :)

Welcome, ChocolateMuse! I think you'll find the discussions great fun, though I probably could have read double the number of books had I not spent so much time on LT these last few months. :-) And thanks for mentioning LibriVox. I had never heard of it, so you're already adding to my reading enjoyment!

Funny me! I thought your name sounded familiar and sure enough when I went looking I found I had read your 2008 postings. I guess "Welcome Back" would be more appropriate, huh? :-)

Good luck keeping up with your thread! :) Thanks for stopping by mine a couple of days ago--I can't believe I let it lapse that long. I'll update it soon.

Wow, I feel so welcomed! Thanks bonniebooks and Medallia. Enjoy LibriVox, it's changed my reading life.

You might be interested in this thread, where people post good and bad LibriVox experiences. I'd personally love to see a lot more posts in that thread!



So my first completed book is Northanger Abbey, which is a re-read. It always used to be my least favourite Austen, and probably still is, but I enjoyed it more than usual this time around. The older I get, the witter Jane Austen seems to be. I laughed very much at this quote, when Catherine is travelling to Bath, and imagining hold-ups and robbers and all sorts of dramatic things:

Nothing more alarming occurred than a fear, on Mrs. Allen's side, of having once left her clogs behind her at an inn, and that fortunately proved to be groundless.

Okay, maybe you needed to be there, but it was funny at the time.

Another thing - whenever I read this book I always feel that I should read some of the gothic novels being parodied, but I'm sure they'd get on my nerves way too much, so I never try.

Good start. Northanger was actually one of my favorites of Austens but I'm also a sucker for gothic books so it only makes sense. They just did a Masterpiece Theater remake of this book & it was pretty good. Check it out if you can. Good luck with the challenge.

Thanks Theresa. I hope to do that if I get a chance.



2. The Reluctant Widow, by Georgette Heyer.
It was interesting re-reading this in conjunction with Northanger Abbey. Both are a 'new take' on the gothic novel, without actually being gothic novels. In this one, an impoverished young lady of gentle birth finds herself in a run-down old mansion at night, due to a mix-up in carriages. While there, she is persuaded against her will to marry a man on his deathbed, so that she can inherit the estate. Despite this beginning, along with secret passageways, agents for Bonaparte and mysterious housebreakers, all this atmosphere is damped down by a set of very matter-of-fact characters who go about their business without much alarm or surprise.

Heyer is always a light read, but she has class.

3. People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks
I'm not quite sure why I kept reading this until I finished it after midnight last night. Overall, I'm unimpressed.

An Australian manuscript conservator, Hanna, is given the task of conserving a medieval Jewish haggadah (like a prayer book). She finds things in the book, such as wine stains and white hairs of which she can only guess at the origin. Hanna's story alternates with the stories of these objects, going further and further back in time. Each story shows anti-Semitism and Jewish suffering, (including one Spanish Inquisition torture scene that is bothering me yet, it's so awful), and the preservation of the haggadah under horrible circumstances.

Why didn't it work for me? Lots of reasons. It came out a bit patchy, for one thing. All the different lives not hanging together well enough. Also, the rampant Aussie-ism of Hanna annoyed me (as an Aussie myself, I find she seems to push the colloquialisms much further than we really take them here). The character of Hanna changes without good reason - sometimes a scholarly loner, sometimes pushy and overbearing, without a good reason for the change (okay in life but not in fiction!). The love-interest is token, predictable and patchy, and I knew he would be the love-interest the very first paragraph he was introduced. She also deals with way too many BIG issues. Anti-Semitism is big enough in itself, let alone war, death of children, difficult mother-daughter relationships, euthanasia, and Hanna's discovery (near the end of the book) of a previously unknown famous father and a heritage she'd known nothing of... It's all too much, and not dealt with in enough depth.

Still, something kept me reading, and I wasn't annoyed the whole time. The story is still fairly gripping despite all its faults, so there's certainly some merit in that!

First of all, welcome back to the 50 book challenge. Second, thanks for the Wodehouse recommendation on another thread. And third(?), thanks for your review of People of the Book. It largely mirrors my feelings. I had great trouble with the modern portions of the story. They seemed trite and predictable and I whined out loud at the ending. The historic portions were much stronger, I thought, and were what kept me reading. I wasn't a big fan of March either, so maybe Brooks just isn't for me. I did, however, pick up a copy of Year of Wonders at a library sale and I might give it a try some day.

Again, welcome back!

Hi, Chocolate Muse!
I just read your previous thread yesterday! I am enjoying your reviews. I have got to get ahold of one of those Georgette Heyer books. They sound wonderful! Have a super day!
--BJ

>9 theaelizabet: thanks theaelizabet, I too disliked the ending very much. The more I think about it, the more I feel like it's really a pretty trashy novel.

>10 billiejean: nice to see you here billiejean! The thing about Georgette Heyer is you've got to choose a good one for your first reading of her work. Try Venetia, Frederica, Friday's Child (my favourite) or These old shades, if you can. She also wrote mysteries, set in her contemporary time (around 1930s). These are also very good, I'm reading one at the moment.

4. Have finished Adventures of Sally - this was a LibriVox recording, read by Kara Shallenberg, aka kayray. I read this one last year, and my review is here, on post #46.

5. The Warden, by Anthony Trollope
My first Anthony Trollope book. I started it a LONG time ago and kept putting it aside for something else. The first three quarters didn't really grip me. Once I got to the last part though, it suddenly turned interesting.

Other Lters say that this book serves really as the introduction and scene setter for the rest of the Barchester novels, which only get better from here, so that's the way I'm viewing this book. I hope that once I've read the other Barchester novels I'll come back to this one and enjoy it more.

It's a nice, thoughtful study of a truly 'good' man's struggle for what is right, in a complicated situation where there is no black-and-white answer. One feels for Mr Harding, and also for his rather one-dimensional daughter Eleanor. A quiet sort of book, and I can see how I could easily fall in love with the atmosphere of Barchester.

6. Detection Unlimited, by Georgette Heyer
This is one of Heyer's contemporary mysteries, and another reread for me.

One thing I like about Heyer's mysteries is the way her characters are believable, yet unrealistic. I think 'theatrical' is the best way to describe them. The characters walk in and take over - very few ordinary people make their way into Heyer's world. It's delightful.

It's your basic whodunnit set-up, not dissimilar to something by Agatha Christie. Murder happens, and the reader suspects one character after another, all of them with their own secrets, relationships and personalities. I knew who did it all along, from the last time I read it, but discovering the murderer's identity is not why I read a Heyer mystery.

I also read The Nonesuch over the weekend, but won't review it unless someone desperately wants me to. I read too many Heyers. :)

>13 ChocolateMuse: Glad you enjoyed The Warden, it was what got me hooked on both Trollope AND LibriVox!

>15 digifish_books: I think I enjoyed it, but I wasn't totally hooked. But I'm more than half expecting to be hooked once I start Barchester Towers (which is on Mount TBR but not soon). And for interest's sake, it was The Card that got me truly hooked on LibriVox :)



7. A long way from Chicago, by Richard Peck
Richard Peck was recommended in Whisper1's thread, and so I got this book from the library. And it was indeed enjoyable, though not mind-blowingly brilliant by any means. I've seen it subtitled "a novel in stories", and this layout worked quite well - the two child characters go to stay with their grandmother in a small town for one week every year, and each chapter is about that one week in each consecutive year.

The story is really about Grandma, a formidable, original, gun-toting character, as unlike your average Grandma as any you'll find. Crazy things happen, always originating with Grandma as she fights for herself, her town and her friends in way-out and often funny ways.

I'm finding the plot hard to summarise - the above doesn't really do it justice, I think. Anyways, it was a good read, which I finished in one go.

Barchester Towers is much better than The Warden. The Mr Slope vs. Mrs Proudie tussle in particular is very amusing and classic AT.

Oh yes, The Card was delightful!

>17 digifish_books: - I look forward to it Laura!



8. Somebody else's kids, by Torey Hayden
I don't read that much non-fiction (not proud of that!) but this was well worth it. It's the kind of book that pulls and tugs at the educator in me. Four badly damaged children, one teacher. It's the story of one year they have together. If you care about kids who have been damaged, either physically or emotionally, and the educators who care for them, read this book.

Sounds like a wonderful book! :)
--BJ

Just to be weird and random, I saw this link on another LT thread and decided to take the quiz myself.

Results:

You're Babar the King!

by Jean de Brunhoff

Though your life has been filled with struggle and sadness of late,
you're personally doing quite well for yourself. All this success brings responsibility,
though, and should not be taken lightly. Life has turned from war to peace, from damage
to reconstruction, and this brings a bright new hope for everyone you know. These hopeful
people look to you for guidance, and your best advice to them is to watch out for snakes.
You're quite fond of the name "Celeste".


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

If you ever get the chance, do watch the BBC series "The Barchester Chronicles", a dramatisation of "The Warden" and "Barchester Towers".

phew! There you are! I was looking everywhere for your thread so I can thank you for dropping by mine and see if we have any more books in common. Found it now and I'll be keeping an eye on it!

Oh, and I've never heard of Babar the King but that cover is just wonderful! Makes me want t order it now.

Hi.
I found your thread here on the 50 book challenge after looking for you on the 75 challenge group. Thanks for posting on my thread.

WOW. I'm sorry I didn't find you earlier. You and I share similar reading habits.

I enjoy your well written comments and reviews. I'll be checking in often.

Ooh wow, I get so excited when I see comments in here! Thanks everyone!

>21 Robertgreaves: Robert, I will certainly do so, but only after I've read Barchester Towers. I had a cursory look for a dramatisation of The Warden and had come to the conclusion that one didn't exist, so thanks!

> 22 Eliza, so glad to see you here! Pull up a chair and have a cuppa :) I'd never heard of Babar either, I agree it does look pretty interesting.

> 23 Whisper, I could have told you that before (about our reading habits) lol. Thanks for dropping in, do come often! :)

I seem to be hard to find... but I did put a link to this thread on my profile! Bit late to tell you now huh...

9. Black Swan Green, by David Mitchell
A truly incredible book - the kind where as soon as I close it I itch to write to the author to tell him how impressed I am. A coming-of-age novel (can that term apply to 13-year-olds, or does it have to apply to teenagers approaching adulthood?) set in a small English town/village during the era of the Faulklands War. So many coming-of-age novels are saccharine, cliched or depressing - this is none of those. It's incredibly real, with emotions, dialogue, events, and a whole atmosphere of how awful and amazing it is to be 13 years old.

It's not a YA book, not to my mind anyway. It's written for adults, insightful and intelligent (not that YA isn't that! It is!), aimed at an audience that has been there, rather than one that is there now. The main character is delightful, and his voice rings with truth.

What made this book for me above all else was a certain character who appears for just one chapter in the middle of the book, the Belgian old lady with her music, her truth and her 'butler'. I haven't met a character as captivating as her for years.

Highly recommended. My best find so far this year.

"I seem to be hard to find... but I did put a link to this thread on my profile! Bit late to tell you now huh..."

I think it's only because we're on the 75 challenge thread and keep looking for you there instead of on the 50 one. But the profile link definitely helps.

As for David Mitchell, I want to read his Cloud Atlas first - as I've heard many many good things about it. And if I like it I'll get to Black Swan Green - thanks for the review!

Great review!
--BJ

> 26 & 27 - thanks, both of you! I understand Cloud Atlas couldn't be more different in tone, style and content to Black Swan Green - not that I've read Cloud Atlas, just going by what LTers say.



10. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith
First time I've read anything by McCall Smith - I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. At about halfway through the book, I put it down and rehearsed what I'd say on here about it - I would say, 'can't see what the huge fuss is about... enjoyable but can't find the charm everyone raves about... over-simplistic, lack of depth, etc...'

But then I read to the end, and changed my mind. It's good. I'll probably get hold of Tears of the Giraffe at some point and read on. I'm still not enthralled and captivated, but it was a pleasant read with enough feel-good moments for me to see what people love about this series.

But on a rather nasty note, does anyone else feel rather patronised by the author? A man writing for women, where nearly all the villains are men, and where strong women are constantly having to struggle against the selfish male powers-that-be - all this makes me wonder if McCall Smith has read a book on 'what women want' and written a cosy book to make us little darlings feel good.

Whoa. I must hang around way too many feminists. I would hate anyone who said something like this about PG Wodehouse or Georgette Heyer, which are my personal cosy comfort reads. I hope I don't cause anyone offence. I should note that this was a passing thought that crossed my mind while reading this, it didn't dominate my mind throughout the book.

I have an extra copy of Tears of the Giraffe--accidentally bought it twice--if you want it.

Thanks again, Bonnie!

11. Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser
I'm still reacting to this. I think it might actually turn out to be life changing. Sure, it's about America and I am Australian, but I'd be surprised to find out if things are any different here.

I think anyone who eats should read this book. Not because I think it would/should change everyone, but because I think it's important that people's choices are actually informed, rather than made according to corporate-generated ignorance.

It's journalistic, yes. It pushes a barrow, yes. It uses good English, but isn't 'literature' by any means. But I don't think anyone could argue that its subject matter isn't important, which applies to the whole Western world, and a good many other countries as well.

I found out about this book from petermc's thread, so if you're out there petermc, thanks!

Hi, Chocolate Muse!
My daughter read this book for school last year in her English class. So in my quest to read all the books that my girls read in high school English, I have it on my tbr. I must admit that I eat too much fast food. It is quick and easy and cheap! I think that I will be cooking at home more next year, though, to save money.

You have a wonderful mix of books! Have a great Monday!
--BJ

I've still got to finish this book as well--I was amazed, though not entirely surprised, by how much McDonalds controlled the meat industry, for example. But, now that I rarely eat fast food, I'm not as motivated to go back and finish it. I should be, though, as it's important to know this information in terms of how it impacts national health, global warming, the economy, use of natural resources, etc. It really bothers me, too, that even as some people are getting more informed (eating less meat, less transfat, less fructose corn syrup, less processed food, using less packaging, etc.,) companies like McDonalds and CocaCola are just selling more of their product to other countries which help destroy local food economies and makes those people even more nutritionally at-risk. Oops! Sorry for ranting on your thread.

>32 billiejean:, Thanks BJ! The book has made me realise that quick and easy and cheap, along with a certain intangible 'feel-good' air, are all the clever tools McDonalds uses to trade on the health, economy, and human rights of multiple countries.
And thanks, I had a great Monday - it's Tuesday morning here in the Antipodes! You have a great day too :)

>33 bonniebooks:, Rant away Bonnie. I fully agree with you. I also think lots of people are only half informed - they know these things are 'bad' without knowing exactly how they're bad. I knew there was plenty wrong with fast food before, but I still ate it. But not any more...! And so true about the other countries. As the book says, as soon as McDonalds entered Japan, obesity and heart disease rose significantly across a once-healthy nation. How do the people in these corporations sleep at night?

How do the people in these corporations sleep at night?

I would assume very very comfortably with satin pillows underneath their heads, silk sheets covering their fat bellies and underpaid scantily dressed girls sitting next to their beds, waving fans so it doesn't get too stuffy in the (5-star hotel) room.

Yeah, and I bet they don't eat McDonalds for breakfast either.

12. One Child, by Torey Hayden
Similar in every way to Somebody else's kids referred to in #18 above, only this, as the title delicately suggests, is about one child, rather than four. An incredible true story, of a severely troubled six-year-old girl who committed a violent atrocity to another child, and her journey to normality through an amazing teacher.

From #28: ...all this makes me wonder if McCall Smith has read a book on 'what women want' and written a cosy book to make us little darlings feel good.

Whoa. I must hang around way too many feminists.

What were you saying about not being witty? I thought this was great!

From #34 & 35: How do the people in these corporations sleep at night?

The same way, I believe, as bankers and warmongers.

#18 & #37. We seem to have a similar concern: females in trouble, be they children (you) or teens and adults (me). I'm an ex-addictions counselor; are you a teacher?

Wow Charlie. *fiery blush* I feel like an acolyte who has been praised by the master.

I'm not a teacher per se, though I'd rather like to be. I work in the education unit of a medical school at a university, managing websites, resources and timetables. I'm about to embark on graduate study in higher education and go onto curriculum design and stuff like that. But a little voice gets loud inside me sometimes, asking why I'm wasting my time on priviliged medical students when there are so many troubled kids out there who need educators to help them actually have some kind of life. So who knows just where my career might take me... :)

I think one needs a lot of courage to work with people in trouble, be they abused kids or troubled people with addictions. All linked anyway - I've seen stats that say something like 80-90% of women with drug addictions were sexually abused in childhood. Those aren't exact stats, but something like that. So I admire people who actually get out there and help these people.

Thanks for visiting my thread!

13. Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh
This, I think, is a very complicated novel, and my reaction to it is equally complicated. The language is quite beautiful, and at one point I actually got out a dictionary to look up a word or two, which is something I almost never do. These words were worth looking up, making the meaning and nuances of the sentences even more memorable.

This is the kind of book I'd like to study in a literature studies tutorial at university or something. It's a book about themes - nostalgia and change; love and beauty; friendship; death; faith; and the complications of family. I found it evocative and sad - not a comedy at all, though somehow I had the impression that Waugh wrote comedy, don't know why.

The character of Sebastian was particularly poignant for me. Sebastian as a young man, beautiful, carefree, but lost in the adult world - all adds a great deal of weight to the events of his later years. The latter half of the book had less of an effect, but I think that's more personal, and has more to do with who I am than the merit of the book itself.

Still, it was one of those books I was glad to finish - I didn't want it to keep on going forever. So... 'complicated' about sums it up.

Loved your review on lucky book #13! I have this one on my tbr. I had wanted to read it in April, but I just read too slow and have too many irons in the fire. Your review has kept my interest. I also thought that it was supposed to be funny. I will have to check it out sometime soon.

Adios!
--BJ

That's a great review of Brideshead--I read it recently for a class, and loved it, but had many of the same reactions. Some of my friends actually thought it was hilarious, but I just laughed at a few moments and enjoyed it as a whole without really knowing why they all thought it was so funny. I picked up some of his other works a few days ago, and from the looks of it, Brideshead might have been his longest work by far, just in case you get curious about his others.

>42 whitewavedarling: Thanks whitewavedarling - your excellent review here on LT was one of the prompters that got me to read it.

I laughed occasionally too, but certainly not often enough to call the book a comedy. I think it's a rich, well-rounded book that doesn't really fit any genre other than 'literature'.

I did look up other Waughs, and have mentally added some of his other books to Mt TBR - particularly the ones that are lauded as funny, such as Scoop and Decline and Fall, to see if I actually 'get' his humour.

>41 billiejean: And good luck with it BJ, it's worth the read! :)

Thanks in return--it's always nice to hear when your reviews are getting read :)

I really like your review on Brideshead Revisited. and I was very happy as I read your review because it is coming up for me on the 999 challenge and your review took a little of my fear of handling it away. It actually sounds as if I may enjoy it! Woo Hoo!~! Love it when I know I will enjoy a book I feel I must read.
So a big thank you there.
N/B
(Alas, I did not enjoy it. Perhaps at my next attempt I shall.)

Thanks for the nice comments on my review. I'm wondering whether to go against my policy and add Brideshead to my library even though I don't own it, so I can do an official review.

On another note, a friend of mine gave me a 'book journal' for my birthday - the cover looks like this:



Inside has ruled pages with 'books to read' headings and, at the back, 'books lent/borrowed'. Wow, now I can stop trying to carry Mt TBR around in my already overloaded head! :-D What a fantastic present!

That does look like a terrific gift! Happy day! :)
--BJ

Happy Birthday, ChocolateMuse. I hope you got lots of books as presents.

I got a book like that a couple of years ago for my birthday and love it! (My cover looks just like a stamped/used library card that you would put in the pocket of a book.) It was why I could immediately add the first hundred books to my LT library without having to go to my bookshelves. I have to admit that I don't use it anymore now that I've joined LT, but still love my book.

How come I never get anything neat like that? And why am I asking you?

All I ever get is socks. **Charlie pouts while he whines**

That's what you get for being a guy--socks and ties! ;-)

Harry: "What do you see when you look in the Mirror?"
Dumbledore: "'I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woollen socks."
Harry stared.
"One can never have enough socks.", said Dumbledore. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books."

:)

Message #25.
I'm trying to catch up on some of my favorite threads. I'm reading yours this morning. I very much like your review of this book. It is already on my tbr pile, but it looks like I need to move it up some notches.

You are reading great books! And, what a neat image of your book journal gift.

#52 gug; Loved that! How very appropriate after Charlie's response!~!

You too Bonnie.
***waving madly***

I think I will give him a little cheese and crackers and perhaps some nice fresh grapes to go with his "whine"

belva

Charlie, I could tell you to put a sock in it, but that might be a bit abrupt coming from a relative stranger. Besides, you have my sympathy - for the socks/book journal problem as well as for my bad pun.

I wish I could hand out book journals to everyone here, all round! But maybe your loved ones will give one to you if you ask nicely :)

Hi ChocolateMuse, I just stumbled across your thread. You've read some good books this year! I liked reading your comments about Black Swan Green. I had thought about reading it when it first came out but I never got around to it. Thanks for the reminder. My thoughts about AlexMcSmith would seem to mirror yours except that I have only read a couple of his from the 44 Scotland Street series. They're really just OK but somehow compulsively readable.

And I agree, anyone who eats should read Fast Food Nation. Scary stuff.

I'll be back for more ideas! Thanks and good luck!

Hi coppers, thanks for dropping in!

Just OK but somehow compulsively readable... excellently put, I think that's exactly right.

I've found your thread and starred it :) Come again!

14. Dracula, by Bram Stoker
I read this one for my book group, and am very glad of it. This is what a book group is for, methinks, to make one read books one wouldn't otherwise get around to reading.

This book was unexpected for me in some ways: that it's written in letters and journal entries; that there were human interactions beyond mere vampire-attacks; that Dracula himself is rather a minor charactor, at least in an on-stage sense.

It was also what I did expect in other ways, particularly the pure and weak female role depicted with the strong and active male role... though Mina, with her "man's brain and woman's heart" (modified quote) does play an excellent role.

Overall, I enjoyed it very much. It's beautifully atmospheric and satisfyingly dramatic. Its also technically the first book belonging to the horror genre that I think I have ever read - not that it's all that horrifying. I love all the settings... the Romanian mountains, the London streets, the lunatic asylum, the English seaside town, and the chase by ship, rail and horse at the end.

This book delivers what it promises: drama, atmosphere, death, vengeance and vampires.

I was so glad to read your review. :) I am planning to read this book next October. Seems like everyone likes this one. Have a great day!
--BJ

I plan to read it for Halloween, blackdogbooks is going to have a group read of scary books then :)

>40 ChocolateMuse: and 43: Waugh has written a couple of satires, though judging from the one I've read, I'm not entirely sure I "get" his sense of humour. It's called The Loved One...it had its amusing moments and I saw what he was trying to do but it just didn't do it for me.

And happy belated birthday, that journal is a lovely gift!

> 59 & 60 - Halloween reading of Dracula sounds a great idea!

>61 spacepotatoes: - Thanks for that. I have a feeling I don't 'get' his humour either, but I intend to give it a fair trial before I make the final decision :)

15. Miss Webster and Cherif, by Patricia Duncker
I'm not sure how I feel about this book. The beginning was excellent, but my interest levels gradually declined as I went on.

Miss Webster, a 70-something year old spinster, unexpectedly grinds to a halt. Can't move, can't speak. She is taken to hospital - and it is here in the medical setting that the book is at its best - the depictions of age, frailty, the different types of medical people: the good, the bad and the ugly, are all very well done. I felt I was really getting an insight into what it would be like to be helpless and ugly, a sick and toothless 70-year-old woman, experiencing brutality and kindness alike from the medical world.

Afterwards, she is sent to a war-torn country as a complete change from her current life to aid her recovery. On returning, a young Moroccan, the son of someone she met on her holiday, suddenly shows up on her doorstep. He is young and beautiful, and she invites him to stay in her house. The rest of the book is about their (platonic) relationship, to each other and to the community of a small English village, followed by a rather dramatic denoument that didn't really work effectively for me.

Bits didn't quite hang together in places; characters moved in and out without having much meaning, and various subplots such as a young English rock singer/murderer, and racial violence, sort of bubbled up now and then without getting anywhere.

But I give the book merit for the original plot idea and for its excellent beginning.

#63. Sounds like a rather strange book and not really my jug of grog. I think I'll opt for Dracula, or watch some reruns of Buffy.

It's not really mine either, Charlie (you mean you don't drink cups of tea?). The book is at least quite short, which is a plus. :) I didn't hate it, but won't look for more by that author.

I keep getting embarrassed at how few books I've read, and then remember that I only started at the end of March. I guess 15 books isn't quite so bad in only two months. I'm posting this as an encouraging reminder for myself. :) Keep it up Rena, keep it up!

Hmmm. Your latest book doesn't sound quite good enough to add to my list (it's getting way too long anyway) but still a good review for helping me to make my decision. Cover looks interesting too. Better luck next time! And that is a lot of books. I know tons of people who can't get one book read in two months.

Thanks Bonnie. I must admit it was partly the cover that drew me to the book. Probably a lot of us are guilty of pre-judging a book by its cover.

And thanks for the encouragement... we aren't all AlcottAcre, right!

Not even close! :-)

I pick books up for the cover sometimes. I just bought a book because it had a picture of a lab sitting on a suitcase. I always say, if you want a book to sell, put a photo of a dog on it! Or at least that seems to work for me!

Thanks so much for welcoming my sweet girl Marian to LT. I am so excited that she joined. Have a wonderful day!!
--BJ

15 in 2 months is great! That's how much I've managed since January, so don't feel bad :)

ChocolateMuse, I would encourage you to give Patricia Duncker another go. She's one of my favourite writers - and Miss Webster... is definitely not one of her best books. I'd recommend James Miranda Barry, which is based on the true story of a 19th-century woman who lived as a man, and worked as a military surgeon. Great story as well as an interesting look at how we create our identities...

Thanks for the advice and encouragement! Wandering_star, I will take your advice and give Patricia Duncker another go some time.

I've been off LT for a few weeks now, and whoa, the amount of catching up on threads I've got to do!

One reason is I've been reading but not finishing... I'd got halfway through Cloud Atlas when I had to return it to the library. Hmph. Anyway, I've finished one at last, which I'll do another post on.

16. The Great Pianists: from Mozart to the present by Harold C Schonberg
A little special-interest perhaps, but I found this book fascinating. It doesn't concentrate on biographical details of the great pianists, but rather on their personalities, idiosyncracies and their piano playing style as described by those who heard (and saw) them.

There's some delightful titbits in there, such as the fact that Liszt was a handsome man with long hair, who would throw his hands around, and toss his hair over his face, make dramatic gestures and fierce grimaces while playing. Ladies would swoon and scream and throw their jewellery on the stage while he played. The first rock star?

As well as anecdotes like that, the book is also a history of piano playing, from the piano's invention in Bach's day, until the time of writing, which was the 1980s. It gives a clear picture of the changes from baroque to classical to romantic to modernist. As a piano player, I found some fascinating insights there too, such as that it's a relatively new idea that the performer should slavishly adhere to what's written on the score - it was the norm for over a centry to embellish and enforce one's own personality onto the music.

My only complaint is that the book finishes too soon - reading it now, I feel like I'm missing out on the rest of the story - it was written squarely in the modernist period, which I'm sure is over now. What are we at now? Post-modernist? Neo-romantic? Eclectic? I'd love someone to tell me.

Loved your review, ChocolateMuse! I used to play the piano, and I play a little now and then just for fun. This book looks like one I would like. Have a great day!
--BJ

17. The Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins
This was a great book! Full of detective-story cliches, but it was written before the cliches began - sort of the jumping-off point of detective fiction. It's all very dramatic, a bit of a Victorian melodrama in places. There is the precious stone taken from the sacred Indian idol, there is hopeless love, betrayal, mysterious foreigners, deception, love false and true... and there's the faithful old retainer, the brilliant detective, the dumb policeman, the mysterious stranger, the loyal lawyer, and the beautiful young woman. It's all in there, and heaps of fun.

There are some extremely suss medical procedures and diagnoses in there too - amusing from our perspective in this century. Also, the book is made up of bits and pieces written by various characters - all are highly individual, entertaining, and either very loveable, or hilariously hateable.

It's a great read, and highly recommended. I'll be looking out for more by Wilkie Collins.

>76 ChocolateMuse: Glad you enjoyed The Moonstone, I read it last year and loved it! I've just finished The Woman in White, another Collins' page-turner which you might enjoy. I also have No Name and Armadale on my to-read list.

I've got The Moonstone quite near the top of my TBR pile. I want to read some biographies and novels about the emperor Tiberius for a reading group's sessions in July and then I'll be reading The Moonstone. I read it about 15 years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it so I'm looking forward to reading it again.

If you get a chance, it might be worth reading Mitchell's Ghostwritten before continuing with Cloud Atlas as it has some of the backstory for Cloud Atlas in it.

Thanks digifish, I will look out for The Woman in White with pleasure. I'll also keep an eye on your thread (as I do anyway!) for reviews of the other two you name. I made the mistake of expecting Wilkie Collins to be rather dry and classical - couldn't be less so!

Robert, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It will be an easy break after the biographies of Tiberius anyway!

jinster, thank you! I had no idea that was the case. I intend to take your advice.

I'm halfway through my next book... I've never been quite this busy before, so my readings's going SO SLOW! It feels rather unusual to take weeks to finish a book. I used to live in a fictional world for most evenings every day, and now I can only have occasional visits there. Poor me. :(

The Moonstone has been dislodged in favour of this group read of Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/67664

18. The secret history, by Donna Tartt
I hesitate to say anything about this book for fear of giving things away. Suffice to say that I was riveted, and finished it in three sessions. One of the quotes on the cover was that it's "a thinking person's thriller", which is very apt. It's an intelligent book, different and thoughtful, yet a page turner with the best of them.

The characters are delightful: theatrical yet poignantly real. The plot is flawless, the language style is beautiful without being self-conscious, the settings were places I enjoyed being in, described with real beauty.

A five-star book, highest possible recommendation.

Ooh! How intriguing you've made this book sound. Click! On to the "Wish List."

Good to hear re. The Secret History--it's sitting on my tbr pile at home, so I'll have to make sure to get to it when I'm back in August. :)

I hope you both enjoy it as much as I did! I'll keep an eye on your threads to see what you think :)

I too loved The Secret History when I read it in the beginning of the year... it's weird how the book manages to be such a page-turner while revealing the identity of the murderer(s) in the first few pages. Quite an accomplishment, that. Also I loved the characters so much - they are so real and they are what make the book so great IMO.

It's a great summer book, for those of you going on holiday!

19. Wives and Daughters, by Elizabeth Gaskell
Oh, how I love this book. I've read it before and will read it many times again. One of the best of the 19th century novels, and certainly underrated. I've been trying to compare it to other novels of its time - the sparkling satire of Jane Austen, the exaggerated tragedy and comedy of Dickens, the gothic passion of all three Brontes, the relentless intellectualism of George Eliot... well, Gaskell has all of these things, but is not exaggerated or dominated by any aspect. Rather like life, really. The tagline of the BBC adaptation is something like 'what it is to be alive', which is awfully trite for a tagline, but most applicable to the book.

I read it for the first time around this time last year, and here is my plot review from my LT thread:

The plot isn't one that bears up well under a re-telling - Molly Gibson's father marries again, to a softly selfish woman with a beautiful daughter. Molly's friends and family life change dramatically as a result. Various people gossip, fall in love, marry, and die.

Oh, and the book is unfinished, but so close to finished that it hardly matters to the reader. We know how it has to end.

Please don't get the impression from this review that the book is at all dry. It isn't. It's a simple story; detailed, immersive, unpretentious. I recommend both the book and the BBC film adaptation.

I just want to add a few more thoughts I've been having about Wives and Daughters - probably of more interest and relevance to people who have already read the book than to those who haven't. I'm thinking about the essential 'goodness' of the characters. Just about all the characters would be considered as good people in a 19th century way, but usually somehow flawed. The reader is always conscious of how good or not good these characters are - and the characters are often very conscious of it themselves, too. In fact I read somewhere that Mrs Gaskell felt a little guilty, because her books always have such good people in it, always much better than she was herself. But the goodness of the characters is never ever priggish or preachy, mainly because of their rather considerable flaws.

Squire Hamley, for instance: In many ways he's an awful man: rampantly prejudiced, opinionated, often unintentionally offensive, and when things go wrong for him he becomes tyrannical, unreasonable and unbearable in many ways - yet he's so evidently got a good heart, that the reader has to like him all the same.

And Cynthia - I can't properly describe her, simply because she's such a wonderfully complex character, so full of charm, weak, beautiful, needing to be loved, always being worshipped, morally unsound, yet with a real desire to be a 'good person', her nature and personality bending to the stronger wills around her. And that doesn't begin to do her justice. She's such a complicatedly realistic character, so successfully like a real person that it blows me away.

As for the two villains of the piece, they interest me particularly. Mr Preston, cruel and obsessive, "tigerish, with his beautiful striped skin and relentless heart" (I love that quote so much!), and softly selfish Mrs Gibson with her petty ways and her constant attacks over very little things. Neither of them are actually 'bad' people - Mr Preston's story is too tragic, and Mrs Gibson is too stupid, for anyone to really hate them. Instead, one is forced to pity Mr Preston, and to tolerate Mrs Gibson with gritted teeth.

Oh, I could write essays on this book. Just read it, okay! :)

Oh dear - I think you are going to be VERY bad for my wishlist/TBR mountain. I love your books/reviews - I'm starring you and I'll be back in great anticipation of you corrupting me further! :-D

You have read so many wonderful books this summer! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews!
--BJ

ditto what biliejean and elliepotten said.

I'm actually skipping over your comments for right now because I want to read Wives and Daughters, but as soon as I'm done, I'm eager to come back to see what you've written. :-)

Good morning ChocolateMuse;
It seems ever so long since I have been here.
You have been reading some very good and interesting books.
I have Wives and Daughters in my bookcase along with four others of Gaskell's and I'm saving them for a winter read. I am so glad to hear how very much you loved the above entitled book. I am sure I will as well.
Hope things are going well in your little neck of the woods.
hugs,
belva

Ditto what BJ said (except for the 'summer' bit.... ;).

Wow, I thought after my long silence everyone would have forgotten me, but here you all are still! :) Thanks everyone, and I do enjoy all of your threads too!

Belva, it works well as an early spring read, which is what it is down here in the Great South Land. It's best read while getting over the flu, outside in the sunshine, with sweet peas or jasmine growing nearby, and peace in the air.

Reason for my long silence: I did it again. I started The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt, read three quarters of it, then had to return it to the library (it's sooo long!) and haven't got around to getting it back out to finish it. And in between I've been re-reading old favourites, which I seem to do every year in late winter/early spring. Laura Ingalls Wilder, L M Montgomery, C S Lewis, that sort of thing. I don't feel the need to review those on here, and I haven't been reading anything else of note since The Secret History, which seems awfully long ago now!

Chocolate, I'm just dropping by to say how much I enjoy your selections! We have a lot of similarities, and I think recommendations from you will be going straight to my short list :)

Thanks wisewoman! And while I'm here, may I point out to my LT friends that wisewoman has started a 50 Book Challenge thread, where I can guarantee her reviews will add extra obesity to all your wishlists (just what we all need, I know....)

I'm currently reading Vanity Fair, which promises to be another five star wonder! Review soonish, when I get it finished.

So ChocolateMuse, are you enjoying The Children's Book? Enquiring minds want to know (excuse terribly bad pun that only Americans of a certain age might recognize). I've been hoping to read it before the Booker Prize is announced. Right now I'm reading The Glass Room, also on this year's shortlist. Nice list here!

Hi Theresa! Being an Australian of, um, uncertain age, I'm afraid I don't recognise your pun, but hopefully others will :)

I did enjoy the Children's Book, as much of it as I got read. I wasn't thrilled or utterly rapt, but it was a good read. It's an excellent depiction of Edwardian England - both the big picture and the small details, thoughtfully described. Lots of connections to the title - that everyone was like a child in those days, just verging on the Big Time of Growing up, as WW1 came closer. The adults of the story are in many ways more childlike than the children. Lots about personal exploration and discovery, which seems to be one of the main themes of the book.

I found the characters to be more interesting than attractive. I mean, I was interested in reading about them, but never really identified with them or came to love them. And the plot is one of those large-scale intertwining things that aren't really straightforward and linear, but just follow the lives of a whole lot of characters all connected to each other in some way.

So, I recommend it, but not in a you-must-read-this-or-you-haven't- yet-lived kind of way.

(ETA to fix typo)

Just celebrating the 100th post on this thread, with sheepish sideways looks at Stasia, Richard, Linda, Belva, BJ etc...

*ignores all the posting giants and quietly sips champagne in a corner*

Congratulations on your 100th post! And thanks for the champagne all around!

I look forward to seeing your review of Vanity Fair. It is another book on my tbr list that I have been meaning to get to.
--BJ

Thanks for the feedback on Children's Book. That's somewhat the way felt about Byatt's Posession. Perhaps I will read one of the other nominees next, though I will get to Children's Book eventually.

Many congrats on the 100th thread!

Cheers, m'dears - mine may be a mug of tea rather than a glass of bubbly, but I'm toasting your big 1-0-0 all the same!

Oooh, Vanity Fair! I loved that one. And doesn't Thackeray have the BEST middle name ever??

Congratulations on the 100th post!

I've had Vanity Fair lying around for about a year now, I'm hoping for a group read of it sometime next year to motivate me to get through the whole thing!

Yeah, a group read of it is just what I need, too!
--BJ

Thanks for all the congratulations - my little celebration was half serious, half tongue-in-cheek, just so you know that I have a sense of perspective, and that only 100 posts by September is actually kind of sad. :)

Spacepotatoes, I keep seeing you around, and have finally located your challenge thread. I'll be able to keep up with you now.

Ellie, I don't drink in Real Life myself, but somehow Virtual Bubbly seemed appropriate at the time. I should have listed you and Eliza in my 'posting giants' list too.

Theresa, I'm interested that you had a similar reaction to Posession. It's praised so highly elsewhere that I thought it would be quite different. Thanks for your perspective!

Wisewoman, yes!! If I had a middle name like that and was an author, I would make sure all three names went on the cover every time! And the fact that you loved the book as well only confirms the already established fact that you and I are twin souls when it comes to books.

Group read of Vanity Fair - good idea! I'd love to join in a discussion of it! I'm reading it for my real life face-to-face book group which meets every month. It was a good stimulus to get me started, but I need no further stimuli to keep on reading. It's a great book. Not finished it yet though...

Me? A POSTING GIANT? Have you SEEN some of these guys?! I've just broken into thread #2, mainly because of all my own burblings! Haha, well, I'll drink to all of us - Virtual Bubbly, tea, whatever takes your fancy...

>#106:
--BJ;
You, my sweet friend, are a group read addict!~!
Ha! What? Seven right now?
belva

>108 elliepotten:, well, a very tall posting person then.

Cheers to ya's all!

20. Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray
Finished at last! I had an excellent time reading this book, and the only reason I was glad to finish was so I could review here and then read something else :)

On one level the book is a (rather convoluted) love story. On another level it's a moral tale, about choices in life and where they lead you. On another level it's a clever and amusing satire about society in Thackeray's day - and much of it still applies today. On another level it's a study of the helplessness of women, and the desperate or submissive ways they had to act to influence their destiny... and yet however hard they fought, their destiny would often still be the same.

And over it all, it's a story about interesting, rounded characters in glittering and ever-changing settings. It's a fun book. It made me laugh, and it made me think. It's the reason why so many faithful horses and donkeys over time have been named 'Dobbin'. Becky Sharp is one of the most fascinating characters to enter the world of fiction - you hate her, love her, pity her, despise her, admire her and condemn her - and despite all the suffering she causes other people, you can't help wishing her well.

I should add that this book is not for everyone. We're reading it for my October book group, and I gather from other people's comments that it's not universally popular. I imagine that if you're not familiar with society in Thackeray's time then you'll probably miss a lot of the point. Also, Thackeray's use of authorial intrusion, which I love and think is done wonderfully well, might annoy some people. And, be warned - it's long!

EDIT to remove an accidental spoiler

Great that you liked Vanity Fair - it's one of my favourite books. I too love the Thackeray's gossipy asides and think Becky is the greatest anti-heroine in literature.

I love your thoughts on Vanity Fair, Rena, and am so glad you enjoyed it. And yes, the authorial asides were great! Thackeray expresses what I am thinking when he passes judgment on something (or he expresses what I *wish* I had been thinking, lol).

And jintster, I agree wholeheartedly that Becky is the greatest anti-heroine in literature (or at least the greatest I've ever read). High five! :)

Hmmm! You make me want to read this book again. Although, I'm not fond of authorial asides, because they take me out of the story. Great review!

Bonnie, I usually don't like them either, but Thackeray as narrator becomes part of the story, and he's doing it to be funny on purpose. It's great. :)

And jintster and Amy, "anti-heroine"! Yes, nice technical term there. Thanks!

the book sounds good but whatshername's face on the cover must be really annoying to look at. Could never stand that actress. I am not hallucinating here, right, it is her huh?

>116 girlunderglass: Do you mean Reese Witherspoon? My edition of the book has her on it too.

117: yes, HER. :)

You know, it started to annoy me too, soon as you said that. I have now taken her off. For those coming after the fact, it was a close-up of the afore-mentioned actress's face.

The cover I have there now is more like the actual cover of the book I read - when I put the other one up there I decided I wanted a cover of something attention-grabbing... which apparently worked :-)

(usually the covers I post here are the same as the one I read, see what happens when I make an exception...)

21. The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R Tolkien
Oh, how does one begin to review such a book as this? I'm not even going to try.

Some years ago, I read LoTR up to the beginning of The Return of the King, and could not get into it. I wanted to love it, but couldn't. It all seemed so annoyingly random and made-up, and I was approaching it entirely the wrong way.

But this time, I'm entirely won over, thanks to wisewoman's words of wisdom, which can be found here http://www.librarything.com/topic/73151 on post 6. Kudos to LT's Wise One!

Sweeping grandeur, vast mythic landscape, allusions to almost anything you like, this book is huge on every scale - yet within all its grandeur it is the small things that really make it live. Tolkien has an unexpected sense of humour that pops up here and there just when it's needed most, and as for the characters, well, as Amy says, how could you not love Sam?

To do justice to this book, one needs to write several large theses (not just one, Amy!), so I will not say more. If you've read it, you know what I mean. If you haven't, well, what are you waiting for?

22. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, by Oliver Sacks
Fascinating anecdotes written by an eminent neurologist (author of The Man who mistook his wife for a hat and others) in an accessible and personal style about the amazing and unexpected ways that music works on people.

There's the man who got struck by lightning, and then a few weeks afterwards suddenly found that the creation of new music was flowing through his mind, "like turning a radio on". There are musical hallucinations; interesting stories about music and synesthesia (when one hears the key of D for instance, one sees a colour - plainly, not just in imagination); about how people trapped in parkinsonian spasms suddenly move freely and easily to music; about absolute pitch, the ability to hear a note and know exactly what it is, as plainly as we see green and know that it is green. Stuff like that, told with a human warmth and interest in the people being discussed.

I came away from the book with the sense that music is more than we think it is - far more than a series of sounds. It's something that different people understand on such different levels (regardless of education and training), and something of extraordinary power. It's as if music is already out there, existing on its own without human intervention, and it's only our own varying perception that enables us to access or understand it.

Hello!

Excuse me for popping my head in here unasked for, but I've noticed many of your (very insightful and interesting, I might add) comments on Amy's wall, and when I starred her thread, I couldn't resist doing the same for yours. I must say, for not trying, you certainly had some wonderful things to say about Fellowship. The part about the little things being what makes it live is so true. Since I'm reading LotR in one volume, I'm saving a review until I finish my reread. THAT will be a massive commitment!

I hope you enjoy TT just as much. I've just joined Frodo and Sam again in Book IV.

Hi ncgraham! Firstly, anyone's welcome in my thread, the more the merrier, especially when they come out with that sort of flattery! :)

Secondly, I looked you up and read some of your reviews, and wow, if you call me insightful, that is a compliment indeed. I love your review of the Narnia books and The Tale of Despereaux, which echoes my feelings about it from when I read it years ago. It looks to me as if you don't have a challenge thread. Why not?? It's a good way of allowing others to discover your very insightful and detailed reviews! I look forward to your LoTR review when it comes...

I've begun TT and love it. I can't believe I thought Treebeard was silly when I read it last time. He's amazing! Ancient yet not at all remote.

On another note, throwing this out there to anyone, does it bother other readers of LoTR that the sudden friendship between Legolas and Gimli in Lothlorien isn't explored or explained? It's the only real failing I've found so far.

Hi ChocolateMuse,

Wisewoman's take on LOTR convinced me, too, and your words just seal the deal. I think I may start with Hobbit sometime over the holidays, then leap into the Fellowship. Thanks for the encouragement!

If I recall, the Gimli/Legolas friendship is born offstage, while wandering through the woods. It seems sudden because we're not in on it. It makes more sense once you get to the "Road to Isengard" chapter in TT, where you get more insight into them and their relationship. They both have a tendency to wander (one of the many small touches by Tolkien that I feel add to the ephemeral feel of the story, for we know that eventually elves and dwarves "wander" right out of our modern world) as well as a great appreciation for beauty, and I can just see the two of them walking the woods of Lorien, completely silent, and Gimli learning to take delight in the woodland realm. I wonder, too, if Gimli's encounter with Galadriel gave him new eyes for such things. But I'd better stop before I start waxing poetical myself.

Agreed 100% on Treebeard. The description of him standing in the rain is, for lack of a better term, awesome.

And I do plan on making my own Challenge thread. But between writing reviews (my backlog is currently at 5), being a college student, and general life, it's hard to find the time.

I remember reading The Hobbit as a little girl and kinda wondering what all the fuss was about... Then the LOTR movies became a whisper in the media, and I decided to try again. Oh, how I enjoyed it that second time! Normally I hesitate a bit before diving into something as huge as LOTR, but I was determined to finish The Fellowship before the movie came out. Mine's a one-volume copy, so I read straight through all three books and tumbled out the other side a bit dazed and wondering what on EARTH I was going to read next that wouldn't just feel totally wrong. Always the sign of a great read!

P.S. I LOVE your review of Musicophilia! I've heard it mentioned a few times here on LT but your thoughts on it are rather tantalising and have finally propelled it onto Mount TBR...

Thanks Lorena, for helping me gang up on ncgraham about starting his own challenge thread. He will succumb soon, I am sure of it :)

(And I couldn't agree more with his take on Despereaux too! A little too cutesy and conscious of itself)

*high fives Lorena over the tag-teamwork convincing Theresa to read Tolkien* :D

Nathan, I love the idea that Gimli's and Legolas's friendship was really started after Gimli met Galadriel. One of the bits I quoted in my challenge thread describes Gimli meeting her, that he felt as if "he had looked into the heart of an enemy and found love and understanding there." And though it isn't really explicit, I imagine that Legolas' own barriers were broken down when he saw the reverence Gimli had for Galadriel.

I'm in Lorién now, so I'll keep an eye out for any little hints about their friendship blossoming. And ellie, it's great that you're a fan too! Tolkien brings together so many different people.

Been catching up on the threads on the 50 group - which I visit less often than the 75 one - and I'm just stopping by to say I really really loved your review of Musicophilia. Thumb-up & well done!

> Nathan (can I call you that?) and Amy, thanks for your thoughts on the Gimli-Legolas friendship - I realise it all happens offstage, and that's precisely the problem I have with it. See, I know there's SO MUCH in LoTR that absolutely has to happen offstage, or else the book would never end, and that's fine, even brilliant. But I think this is something so central, so present, which concerns members of the Fellowship, during the course of their actual journey with the Ring, and is also a big part of character development - that I think this is one thing that should happen onstage. All the things you suggest, about beauty and wandering and Galadriel... it's all very likely, but it's one thing that I feel should be made to happen in front of us, instead of a throwaway line "...they had become good friends during their time in Lorien" (not verbatim, but something like the actual quote).

With any other author, when a Capulet/Montague type of friendship develops, people wouldn't allow such a thing to happen offstage, as an unimportant aside. There's so much in such a development as that! These kinds of things are what stories are all about - growing and changing as people and in relationships, breaking down ingrained prejudices, etc etc...!

Just sayin'. It doesn't ruin the book in any way, it's just the one and only thing that bothers me in the entire book. I sound much more cranky about it in this post than I really am - and all the time a nagging voice is saying to me that actually, Tolkien clearly chose to make it that way on purpose, and must have had a good reason for it, and that Lorién is a place where amazing things happen as a matter of course, so why should this be any different...

Anyway.

> Theresa, I eagerly wait to see if you're won over like I've been. Enjoy!

> Ellie, your description of your Great Read of LoTR is fantastic! Exactly what a great read does to one!

> Eliza and Ellie, thanks for liking my review! :) It's a fascinating book, I hope you get to read it.

23. Tears of the Giraffe
I was particularly excited to read this because my copy was sent to me from America by a generous LT friend *bows to Bonnie*. It was most thrilling to find the parcel in my mailbox :)

If approached at a surface level, this book is excellent light reading - bits of humour, warmly drawn characters, and an unusual language style which I think probably echoes the Botswana way of thinking (not that I'd know really). By that I mean that the language is unusually simple and direct, with a tendency to state straight out, in the most matter-of-fact way, things that Western cultures tend to euphemise and dance around on tiptoe.

I think the relationship between Mma Ramotswe and Mr J.L.B Matekoni is very nicely done, and undergoes some development in this book, after its beginning in The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Mr Matekoni is perhaps the most endearing character I came across in the book, mainly because of his humble opinion of himself and his high opinion of everyone else, Mma Ramotswe in particular.

On a deeper level, I don't quite know what to think, and can only assume it's not meant to be approached deeply. But there's a tendency to cliche, and a sense of the author choosing all the things that are supposed to appeal to women and throwing them all into the book to keep us happy (shades of my opinion of the first book in the series, see post #28 above). Orphans in wheelchairs, and mothers seeking for a 10-years-lost son, and womanising men being punished, and faithful men being rewarded. All very moral, which I usually like in a book, but it all seems a bit too purposefully designed to tug at the heart strings. Which it didn't really do for me.

All the same, it was a good read, great for a palate cleanser in between heaver-weighted books. I have every intention of reading the whole series over a very long period of time, just one here and there, when the opportunity arises and the mood takes me. I have long loved the title of the next in the series, Morality for Beautiful Girls, and like the idea of reading it some day.

Hey, Lorena! It's always fun getting presents in the mail, isn't it? My son is much better at that than I am, and I always get a little thrill when I find a package on my doorstep. Your reaction was very similar to mine. I liked reading the first few books in the series--they were light and charming--but didn't feel the need to read any further.

24. Eye to Eye by Catherine Jinks
I picked this up at my sister's place and read it in a few hours. It was a re-read, I wanted to see if it was as good as I remembered it. I think it was, but minus the element of surprise and discovery, which is important in this book.

Catherine Jinks's genius is in depicting friendship - to me, all her best books explore friendship, loyalty, and the way unlikely friendships can develop into something stronger than the adversity against it. If you haven't read Jinks' Pagan's Crusade and its sequels, I highly recommend them.

Eye to Eye is YA science fiction - not something I'd usually pick up, but well worth the reading. A damaged spacecraft with a highly developed articifical intelligence lands on a primitive planet, and is discovered by a scavenger boy in the desert. Without either really understanding the other, a kind of bond is formed between the two - as close to friendship as you can get where one party is neither human nor capable of emotion.

True to YA fiction, there is only one plotline. The book hints at the backgrounds and cultures that both come from, without going into detail. This works - all that really matters in this book is the two main characters and their interaction with each other. The ending seems a little contrived, but it still fits in okay. I don't think there really is a truly satisfactory ending to a story like this.

If you've never heard of Catherine Jinks, it would be fair to warn you that all of her books are incredibly different from each other, so if you read one thing by her and don't like it, don't be put off from trying something else. I think she prides herself on being versatile, and to do her justice, she's good at that. My personal favourites of hers are the Pagan series, and A gentleman's garden.

ETA: some touchstones aren't working.

I notice my reviews are getting longer - I usually try to keep them brief, but they are insidiously getting quite long. Apologies to those who prefer to do a quick read to decide whether to Wishlist it or not. (Hah! I declare that 'wishlist' is now officially a verb!)

>131 bonniebooks: - hi Bonnie, yes, and I get very few presents in the mail, and never any from the States, so I was very excited indeed. Thank you! :)

nothing wrong with a good long review :)

Nice review, Chocolate. I have never heard of Catherine Jinks, but I'll keep an eye out for her stuff now.

And I adore long reviews (my own are ridiculously long as a rule). If I'm really in a hurry, which is rare, I'll skim and then fully read the last paragraph to decide. But usually I enjoy every word of well-written reviews like yours, no matter the length!

About Tears of the Giraffe — I read the first in the series and wasn't overly impressed. I think you're right that McCall Smith is like, "here ladies, let me serve you something validating that will make you feel good about being a woman" — and the effect is a little condescending. I don't know if I'll ever pick up the rest of the series. Too many other fantastic books out there clamoring for my attention.

So how is LOTR coming? :)

Umm, I'm not sure that McCall Smith's writing is specifically aimed at women. I'm not a woman but I thoroughly enjoy his books.

Yeah, I was gonna say, being aimed at women hasn't stopped my husband from enjoying The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. ;) I like this series very much, as far as fluff reading goes.

> 134, thanks Eliza, I enjoy other people's long reviews myself, but I must confess that at first on LT I didn't, and wished people would keep them shorter, so my own aim to keep mine brief is a residue of that.

> 135, Amy, Catherine Jinks is an Australian author, so I don't know how hard she is to find elsewhere in the world. She deserves as much acclaim as JK Rowling for her YA Pagan series IMO, but didn't get it.

LOTR is coming along very well. I'm almost at the end of the first section, and about to embark on the Frodo/Sam section of Two Towers. 'The Road to Isengard' chapter is absolutely sheer genius, from beginning to end. Even more so than the rest of the book, which is really saying something! And the friendship between Gimli and Legolas is much more finely developed in TT, and is making me more satisfied with Tolkien's decision to gloss over it in FoTR. In fact, that friendship, along with the more developed characters of Merry and Pippin (who struck me as being mainly cardboard cutouts in FoTR) are the highlights of TT for me so far.

> 135-7, Well, maybe I'm wrong, and McCall Smith is writing for everyone impartially. I guess a guy would know better than I would if something's aimed at them or not! Though, I don't see any reason at all that blokes can't enjoy a good book aimed at women anyway. I have been known to enjoy a good blokey shoot-em-up thriller, provided it's real literature and written well.

Of course a guy can read and enjoy a well-written book which is mainly aimed at women. But he will be conscious that that is what he is doing. I didn't get that feeling at all from McCall Smith.

That's interesting! I guess I just made an assumption, which I'm sure I got from something to do with the book itself, but other than what I say about it above, I don't know what gave me the idea. Thanks Robert, I stand corrected :)

We all respond to books in different ways. That's what makes books interesting and one reason we're here on LT.

And it all chimes in with my current read, Doris Lessing's The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four, and Five, which is basically about the relations between the sexes, the differences between them and how they need each other, all in the form of a fairy tale.

I told you that chapter would reconcile you to the Gimli/Legolas friendship! *shows off semi-prophetic powers*

Oh, and I did end up succumbing. Here's my Challenge thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/75065

>141 Robertgreaves: - I will watch for your review Robert... actually, I just searched for your thread among my stars and found that I lost it somewhere*. I did have it once, and remember your username's not in the title. Could you be so kind as to post the link here for me?

>143 ncgraham: - *bows to ncgraham* I acknowledge your greatness. And again, YAY for your challenge thread! :-D

*That line should go in a song or something. It has an abstract and meaningless pseudo-poetic ring to it that's quite nice, do you not agree?

My current challenge thread: 75 @ 52

My recently completed challenge (my challenge years run from my birthday): 51: The TBR Challenge

Lorena, we're almost at the same spot in TT. I'm just at the part where Théoden is at Helm's Deep and the Orcs are advancing on the wall. One thing I've been noticing quite a bit, because of your comments, is Gimli's and Legolas' friendship. As they are riding to Helm's Deep Eomer offers to have Gimli ride with him, and Gimli says yes as long as Legolas can ride next to them. So cute! And then Legolas says it comforts him to have Gimli by his side in the coming battle. I liked their relationship before but having it called out like you did has really made me pay more attention to it. So thanks :)

And yes, it's great to see how Merry and Pippin really start coming into their own. Merry is a great character — very steady and smart. And Pippin is just fun.

So glad you are enjoying it! *sigh of contentment*

You girls are catching upon on me! I'm only just the slightest bit ahead of you, in Book IV now, the chapter "The Black Gate is Closed." I loved my reread of Book III ... the Ents, the Rohirrim, Merry and Pippin, etc. (I've always come out as Merry on quizzes and such, so I'm quite partial to him.) Book IV is amazing so far as well; there are subtleties to the relationship between Frodo, Sam, and Gollum that were inevitably glossed over in the movies. I just came across this quote and had to share it somewhere:

'Smeagol,' he said, 'I will trust you once more. Indeed it seems that I must do so, and that it is my fate to receive help from you, where I least looked for it, and your fate to help me whom you long pursued with evil purpose....'

And I used to find the second volume of this "trilogy" boring ... what a foolish young squirt I was.

>145 Robertgreaves: thanks Robert, it seems I did have you starred after all, but couldn't find it on Friday. Must have been having an end-of-week snooze attack. Thanks!

>146 atimco:-7 - ah, LoTR. I am shooting a RED HOT glare at Amy for raving about Jane Eyre last week. Do you think I could stop myself from picking up one of my three copies on the weekend and starting my millionth re-read? And now I have to choose, every time I get a speck of precious reading time, between LoTR and Jane Eyre! This is truly a terrible thing, specially since I also have to read The Picture of Dorian Gray for my book group.

Thus I am currently with Frodo and Sam in that waterfall place with all those Men of Gondor. I ended up there some time last week, and haven't got back to it since. So I'm just ahead of you, ncgraham, but you've probably caught up by now.

What a lovely, complicated character is Gollum. So pitiable, so hateable, so uncertain. And the necessity of Sam is not only for Frodo's sake, but also for the reader's. We, like Frodo, need his down-to-earth calm loyalty, or else we'd get overwhelmed with the seriousness of the quest, and the total lack of trustworthy sympathy from anyone else.

Amy, I'm, looking forward to RoTK, just so I can get back to the Gimli/Legolas friendship again!

Ncgraham, I remember reading that quote, it's a standout. Poor noble Frodo. :) And remember, I was enough of a foolish young squirt to find the entire "trilogy" boring! And, quizzes? There are quizzes? (of course there would be.) Lead me to them!

And, Jane Eyre, well I am at Lowood, having just watched Helen endure a beating, and then explain her shining faith to Jane in the common room. Which reminds me, I want to look up Rasselas on Project Gutenberg.

25. Ghostwritten, by David Mitchell
This is a clever book, yet manages to mostly avoid David Mitchell rubbing his cleverness in the reader's face. The style is unpretentious - or I should say the styles, as there are many different styles in the book, all done well. Each section is about entirely new characters in an entirely new place, living an entirely different life - yet in each one, there's a brush with characters that have gone before. And then in the end, everything connects up in this big ohhhhhhh moment. Clever. Nice. I liked it.

The downside with this kind of structure is you necessarily have some sections you enjoy reading more than others - but there were none that I hated, and only one I got bored with. Each one is so very different from the others, it's almost like a book of short stories, only there's a much bigger aspect to them all. One particular section stayed with me, of a Japanese teenager working in a music shop. It's beautifully done - the boy loves jazz, and he falls in love with a girl who comes into the shop, and the whole thing is wonderfully atmospheric, just like the jazz pieces the character loves. Warm, intimate, wistful, rainy. Really quite beautiful. And just one small event in that story enlightens us on something that has gone before, in quite another place, to quite another character - such a small thing, that means nothing much to the character himself, but has a big impact on this other character he has nothing to do with. It's like that all the way through, and makes one think about how insignificant things connect in such unexpected ways, linking up all over the world.

As for the title - well, one story is narrated by a ghost, another by a ghostwriter, another has a ghost in it - yet the supernatural element is somehow made quite ordinary and not particularly important.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's more in this book that I've missed. I read it without trying to understand absolutely everything, and without putting in much effort to connect things up, so I have the feeling I've missed a lot. But that hardly matters in the end. I enjoyed all the journeys very much. David Mitchell is an impressive author - and please note that the LibraryThing Author David Mitchell is not this David Mitchell, but somebody quite different.

Edited to change the book number from 132 to 25... just a slight alteration...!

So I'm just ahead of you, ncgraham, but you've probably caught up by now.
Not yet, but I will be in a few minutes. *cackles evilly*

Have you read Dorian Gray before, or is this your first experience with it? I didn't like it when I first read it, but then I didn't like Jane Eyre much either when I first read that. It's interesting that you mention those two together, though, as I did have a similar experience with both, having less-than-great reading experiences but then falling for the 40s film adaptations. I've convinced myself I was too young for JE, and that a reread will make all well. Maybe that's true of Dorian as well....

Excellent review! You make me want to read it. This site is not good for my TBR pile.

Oh dear! Sorry to waylay you with Jane Eyre, Lorena. But I bet you couldn't have REALLY discovered it for the first time without excessive raving too, so you must pardon me.

You guys are both ahead of me in LotR. We are just setting out to seek Saruman in his lair.

Yes, Gollum is fascinating. He is a very modern character in his junkie-like addiction to the Ring. And yet there are glimmers of hope for him. Can he ever be redeemed? He is, in a way, and yet he isn't. In some ways you could make the argument that he is rather like Judas. But I don't want to say anymore about that just now...

I hope you enjoy The Picture of Dorian Gray! I did, though it isn't a book I couold really LOVE, if you know what I mean. It has a lot to say that is worth listening to, but there are no characters to empathize with. I've never seen the old film, Nathan — I know, a glaring lack in my film knowledge. I will remedy that one of these days.

*also wants to read Ghostwritten now*

I'm simply stopping by to say congratulations on your "hot" review listed on today's LT home page.

If you like Ghostwritten, you'll loooove Cloud Atlas.

I'm laughing at your getting sucked into Jane Eyre again. I have to be careful not to mention Heart of Darkness to my hubby too often--he has read it probably ten times, and he reads so little that if he gets sucked back into it, that'll be a large portion of his reading for the year!

I liked Dorian Grey but wasn't blown away by it.

I second Medellia. Cloud Atlas is even better than Ghostwritten. It's got a few of the same characters in it too so worth reading while Gostwritten is still fresh in your mind.

Mitchell's other two novels are excellent too. The story set in the Japanese music store is inspired by Murakami. Mitchell obviously rates Murakami very highly as one of his novels, Number9Dream is entirely a homage to him.

:-D I GOT A HOT REVIEW!!!!!!!!!! :-D

This is a momentous occasion. No doubt all the friends visiting my thread yawn and shrug when they get another one, but this is my very first one ever! Woohooo :D

> re Dorian Gray, no I haven't read it before. A friend of mine in the book group is madly in love with anything by Oscar Wilde, so I'm trying to love it for her sake. I agree with Amy, don't think I could ever love it, but now that I've realised that Wilde probably didn't actually believe all the clever things he gets his characters to say, I'm enjoying it rather more. When I actually get to reading it, that is, in between everything else...

> re Cloud Atlas, I did in fact read about half of it earlier this year, and enjoyed it too, but I had to return it to the library and didn't get it back out. I intend to return to it soon, um, maybe after LotR, and Les Miserables, and Moby Dick, and...

*sigh* so many books, so little time...

I want to read Number9Dream too. I've decided David Mitchell is one of those authors I mustn't miss any books by. (see what you can make of that specimen of grammar!) Thanks for the insight about Murakami, jinster.

Again congrats! Well deserved! Kudos to you!

Well congrats on the great review!! Ghostwritten has been added to the tbr list. It sounds wonderful.

No, that is indeed a great achievement, Chocolate! (And I'm sure you would have had one before now if you posted them more frequently ;) ) Well deserved indeed.

26. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
For a long, comprehensive and thoughtful review on this, I recommend Amy's review here: http://www.librarything.com/work/2204/reviews/14524965. I don't intend to make mine as comprehensive or as thoughtful. (Not hot review material this time! Just a ramble.)

This is about the millionth time I've read this book, and the great thing is that I get something more out of it every time I read it, partly because I first read it as a teen, and I myself am (hopefully) a bit more mature each time I come to it again.

What struck me this time was the classic gothicness. I can't believe I never really noticed it before. The scenes with Bertha in particular have all the ingredients of gothic literature, and the images and chilling situations, and the unseen and unknown elements are just delicious.

I love Jane so much - so apparently mousy, yet indomitable; outwardly soft, but with a core of steel. In that sense, she's a lot like Fanny in Mansfield Park. I adore that kind of heroine, when done well.

I was more struck by Helen Burns at this re-read than I have been before. I wonder if Charlotte Bronte knew someone like her in life. Which brings me to the other thing I got from this re-read; I've become curious about the lives of the Brontes, and really want to read Gaskell's book on Charlotte's life. Now that I think I've read every Bronte book (except the 2nd half of The Professor at least once, (more often multiple times), I feel as if I have some sense of what it must have been like to be a Bronte. So I want to know more about their actual experiences.

Jane Eyre: gothic, passionate, intelligent, truly romantic. I'm tempted to say that everyone should read it.

Jane Eyre: gothic, passionate, intelligent, truly romantic. I'm tempted to say that everyone should read it

Well, you certainly have convinced me to reread Jane Eyre. I've, too, have known women like Jane and I don't know whether I'm so amazed by how much backbone they have because it's so unexpected, or whether those are both sides of a particular trait? For example, a cautious person can show a lot of backbone when they feel pushed to make a decision they're not ready to make yet. And they're more likely to feel pushed than someone who is more impulsive or adventurous. So that resolve is more apparent.

P.S. I like your kind of "rambling." It gets me thinking too.

27. The Two Towers, by JRR Tolkien
Book Three, with all the characters except Frodo and Sam, is active, brightly coloured, full of trees and movement, with a large cast of characters. Book Four is quite a contrast - black, brown and red; the feeling is heavy and doom-laden. This contrast is genius in itself.

I am in awe of my own stupidity, in that the other time I read this book, I thought Shelob was random and silly. How infinitely idiotic I was then. That scene is the most amazing in the entire book, and the description of the monster is a grotesque kind of poetry. And Sam, dear Sam, fighting valiantly for his master, what a wonderful scene. Take this quote:

No onslaught more fierce was ever seen in the savage world of beasts, where some desperate small creature armed with little teeth, alone, will spring upon a tower of horn and hide that stands above its fallen mate.

*happy sigh*

As I've said elsewhere, the friendship between Gimli and Legolas, along with the character development of Merry and Pippin are the things that made Book Three for me.

I also love the part in Book Four when Frodo and Sam talk about their journey as a story - a small part of the ongoing tale of the Silmaril. You could start pontificating about postmodernism and meta-fiction here, but really, the beauty of it is that we get a wonderful wider context of their quest, and it also somehow makes the fantasy element of the story become more real. And I love how they wonder if Gollum thinks of himself as the hero or the villain of the tale.

Now, come brothers, onto RoTK, with valiant hearts let us approach the final dark miles of this mighty quest!

>160 bonniebooks: - thanks Bonnie! I like your kind of thinking in response to my kind of rambling! :) That's an interesting thought. I wouldn't call Jane Eyre 'cautious' exactly, though. More retiring, self effacing, with a tendency to be overborn by stronger wills than her own - yet, try to push her beyond what she deems acceptable or right, and ten bulldozers wouldn't move her!

Thanks too, everyone else, for all those nice congratulations on my hot review.

More retiring, self effacing, with a tendency to be overborn by stronger wills than her own - yet, try to push her beyond what she deems acceptable or right, and ten bulldozers wouldn't move her!

Exactly!

*soaks in all the JE talk*

I know, the Gothicness is superb.

Has anyone in these parts read the "sequel," Wide Sargasso Sea? I read it for a Women's Lit class in college and didn't really have strong feelings about it either way. But I've since read others' opinions that made me want to take up arms against it. I recently bought a copy at a sale and might read it just so I can rail against it intelligently.

And Rena, I love your thoughts on TTT. I never thought of it in colors! And yes, the Shelob scene is amazing. Tolkien's descriptions of her, before the action even begins, are so arresting.

And don't call yourself infinitely idiotic! My dear, you gave it another go; you decided to take advice and then make your final judgment. That's infinitely wise, if you ask me! I am still rejoicing over your conversion :)

Isn't Wide Sargasso Sea a prequel? I have it on my shelves but haven't read it yet. It was actually adapted for television a few years ago, but I was at university and didn't manage to catch it, worst luck.

Brilliant thoughts on JE and TTT Rena. I loved the Shelob part too - it was so nerve wrecking, the desperation of the fight for survival against a creature so deadly and seemingly unstoppable. She just oozes malevolence...

Oh sorry, you are right! Prequel. This is what happens when I have a crazy day.

Hmm, I don't think I want to try Wide Sargasso Sea - the whole idea behind portraying the characters in an "unflinching, postmodern light" according to MF_Bloxam's LT review sounds rather like a travesty to me. I say, leave postmodernism in its place, and don't let it interfere with 19th century gothic fiction.

Thanks Ellie - it was during the Shelob part that I started saying 'oooh' out loud and snuggling up on the couch with sheer enjoyment. The hero so small and so noble, the evil so very evil... pure storytelling at its best!

Back in #159 Rena sez: I was more struck by Helen Burns at this re-read than I have been before. I wonder if Charlotte Bronte knew someone like her in life.

You made me curious--Helen Burns is a favorite character for me, too--so I picked up my new Penguin edition of Jane Eyre, which has good notes. According to those notes, Helen Burns was based on Charlotte's eldest sister, Maria. I didn't even know there was a Maria! It also says (as a note to a brief reference that Helen Burns makes to the idea of universal salvation) that Maria Brontë had come to believe in this, and that it wasn't unlikely that the Brontë sisters had taken this belief from Maria.

Thanks for wondering out loud! I find that very interesting.

Excuse me for being a "buttinski" here (keeping an eye on these threads sometimes makes me kind of creepy!), but Jane Eyre is one of my all time favorites. I last reread it about two years ago. At that time, I also read Lyndall Gordon's Charlotte Bronte: A Passionate Life. It's an excellent biography and Gordon plumbs many of the connections between Bronte's life and her fiction. Lucasta Miller's The Bronte Myth is pretty good, too, especially for a look into Emily's inner artistic life.

theaelizabet - don't I know you from somewhere as Theresa? And I'm quite sure you've "buttinskiid" here before... *checks* yep, as recently as Oct 11. Do tell me if I shouldn't be calling you Theresa! And please, drop in, any time of day or night. I call it lovely luscious literary conversation, not butting in.

Have you read Gaskell's book on CB as well? Should one read that before reading the others you mention? My local library has the Lyndall Gordon, but not the Gaskell, and I looked at it and thought, nah, surely Charlotte's friend and mentee is the place to start... what do you think?

Meddy, thank you! I also didn't know there was a Maria, how interesting. Those who die young are always particularly saintly... though I am only assuming that Maria died young, since one does hear about the brother, but never a fourth sister. How unhealthy those moors must have been, or the parsonage must have been entirely unheated, or something quite drastic.

Thankee kindly and yes, please call me Teresa (no H, not that it really matters:)).

I'd actually begin with the Gordon. She goes into great detail about Charlotte's relationship with Gaskell and the myths that began with the that bio as Gaskell, as a loving friend, tried to "clean up" if not actually reform Charlotte's image after her death. Our Charlotte had scandalized many with her writings. That's not to say that the Gordon bio sensationalizes Bronte's life. She doesn't, but she does take a clear-eyed view of the world that Bronte inhabited. I've dipped into the Gaskell, quite a bit, but have yet to do a full reading of it. It can be read and enjoyed, as a piece of literature (it is Gaskell after all) and few such bios were being published at the time, especially not one written by one women about another. I love the beginning where she describes the town and the road leading to Haworth.

And finally, there were two sisters and I believe they were both older and died due from illnesses, or at least tough times, had at the school that became the model for Lowood.

I've enjoyed reading all of the banter about Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights and I feel another reread coming on!

I say, leave postmodernism in its place, and don't let it interfere with 19th century gothic fiction.

Couldn't agree more! So I want to read this and rip it apart, starting with its audacious presumption, but there are so many other GOOD books to read, and I have such limited time nowadays. Maybe eventually...

If I were to read anything on the Brontes, I would start with Gaskell. My copy of Villette constantly referred to her work, and I already love her fiction.

And yes, it was two sisters who died at school. Charlotte attributed their deaths directly to the insufficient food and clothing of that institution. Knowing this, I was amazed at her restraint in JE when describing Brocklehurst and Lowood. I would have ranted myself incoherent; she takes those horrors and handles them as little as may be. The result is art. Wow.

So now I have no idea whether to start with Gaskell or Gordon, but it's looking as if I won't have much time for either anyway, which is a real pity. Maybe I could plan to do a study of the Brontes in the winter. It looks like it'll take that long for me to get to it anyway, since Les Mis is going to take just about all summer, and then Moby Dick in autumn... and besides winter is more Bronte-esque sort of weather. It'll be more fitting. :)

Thanks for your advice anyway, both of you!

I agree, Amy, about Charlott'e amazing restraint. I echo your 'wow'.

Good morning CM;
I have loved all of the "Bronte Bantering" on your thread. I will have to seek out the name of the Gaskell. Shouldn't be too difficult.
And then CM, you up and mention Les Miserables; that's okay and very good and all, but, but, but then the elusive and abusive Herman Mellville's Moby Dick comes up and my mind immediately said: "Ewwwwww, I must go clean the litter pan post haste!~!" We does not like the Moby Dick; we does not like the Herman Mellville and we does our damnedest never to read him and so shall leave you to him. Or vice versa; whatever.
Have enjoyed my morning here on your thread catching up. Some wonderful comments and conversation. Very nice with my coffee.
big hug,
belva
& thank you:-)

Haha. Nasty mobydickses, we hates them.

Thanks for dropping in Belva! I'm glad my thread suits your coffee. If I hate Moby Dick too, we can have a good old rant together, and if it so happens that I love it, I shall spam you with reasons why :)

The Gaskell is called The Life of Charlotte Bronte. Fairly straightforward, that.

I want to read Gaskell's biography because she was Bronte's contemporary. (I think that's what you said; I'm too lazy to go back and read to see if I've got that right.) How close of friends were they? Did Gaskell talk about that?

I don't know myself, Bonnie, haven't read it. Hopefully other readers of this thread can help. I think CB was something of a mentor to Gaskell, but I'm not sure.

I think some of Gaskell's information, at least, came from Patrick Bronte, the girls' father, who started to put together biographical information for her after Charlotte died. At least, that's what I surmised from the few pages I DID read of Authors in Context: The Brontes this week...

28. The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde
I find myself a bit baffled by this book, mainly because I can't work out the discrepancy between my understanding of the author and the outcomes of the book. Am I right in thinking that Wilde was a High Art subscriber to the idea of Art For Art's Sake (caps necessary)? If so, why did he write a book almost entirely about the danger and corruption that art and intellect can bring to a person?

Almost everything in this book points out the hollowness of art in itself, and how that taking it too seriously can do serious damage to a person's life and character. There is the painting of Dorian itself, that opens Dorian's eyes to beauty and sets him on the path of corruption. There's Sybil Vane, who Dorian falls in love with solely as the characters she acts as in Shakespeare's plays - he doesn't love Sybil herself at all, only her art. When she forsakes her art, this leads to Dorian's further cruelty, corruption and death. There's the 'poisonous' book that Lord Henry lends to Dorian, which seals his fate in evil and corruption. And that inevitable ending where by trying to destroy the painting, Dorian destroys himself (sorry about that spoiler, but I absolutely must put it in!) underlines that message yet again.

It just seems to not add up to me - clearly I'm missing something that is probably blindingly obvious.

Otherwise, my impression of the book is that Oscar Wilde thought he was enormously clever, and decided to write a book that illustrates that fact. He was clever, and the book is very clever, but it's awfully self-conscious. I've never read a book so full of epigrams.

From a storytelling viewpoint, why put James Vane in at all, if he was only going to die an accidental death before actually doing anything? Is he there simply to illustrate the tragedy visited on innocent people (as for Basil Hallward and Alan Campbell) when someone puposely chooses to pusue selfishness and corruption for a lifetime?

I feel as if this review is rather pretentious, which makes sense, as I think the book itself is equally so (in fact a lot more so). The book is quite powerful, and has some gorgeous language. And the bit where the murdered man is left in the room and is still in the same place the next morning, slumped over the table unchanged after the night, is an awesome specimen of gothic horror.

Pretentious is definitely a word I can see as being fitting for Dorian Gray. And I too noted some discrepancies between the books' purpose and its outcomes. For instance, I believe Wilde wanted Lord Henry to be a charming cad, whom you couldn't help but like despite his terrible influence on Dorian—at least, this is the impression I got from the book. Instead, I wanted to punch him almost every time he stepped into the page. I actually feel that actor George Sanders fulfilled Wilde's purpose more fully in the 1940s film, which I highly recommend. Sanders spent a lifetime playing charming cads, and Lord Henry was his greatest role. Anyway, off-topic....

All in all, a very good review. Much as I respect him as a writer, Wilde always leaves me cold.

(By the way, have you ever heard of Ravi Zacharias' Sense and Sensuality, a deathbed conversation Wilde has with Jesus and Blaise Pascal? 100% fictional, and probably offensive to non-Christian Wilde fans, but I loved it. It addresses some of the themes from Dorian Gray in a fascinating way.)

My opinion of Lord Henry changed over the course of the book - he began as a kind of Nemesis - quite scary in his influence and shocking in his outrageously amoral theories. But then he ended up being a bit pathetic. All those theories and clever little epigrams, and yet he never actually does anything. Even when Dorian asks him about murder, Lord Henry says oh no one wouldn't do that, one should never do something that can't be discussed after dinner. He's supposed to be terribly corrupt, but he doesn't accept a positive act of evil.

Even when he's divorced from his wife, it's because she has the affair and she initiates the whole thing. He sems to have nothing much to do with it. Lord Henry is just a commentator on life, he never actually lives it himself (except through Dorian). He's like the personification of 'art' as Wilde portrays in in the book - passive and empty, yet able to create great evil in others.

I haven't heard of Sense and Sensuality. Probably not the kind of thing I'd pick up, though looks like an interesting concept.

Well, I think it's safe to say that your reading of Dorian Gray was much closer and more philosophical than my own—although it was also, of course, more recent. I just remember thinking, "Ugh! I hate Lord Henry!"—"I'm tired of this book."—"Wait, there's a movie with George Sanders and Angela Lansbury? LOVE!!!"

Yeah. Really deep indeed.

*giggles*

I also thought your first two thoughts ncgraham, along the way. I was partly forced to be thoughtful because I read it for my book group, so I knew I'd have to say something insightful... and also, LT has actually literally changed the way I read, probably forever. If I'd picked up Dorian Gray a few years ago, I would have dropped it after about page 5, and never gone back again.

There's a new movie out, has anyone seen that yet? I haven't seen it, probably won't. But would like to know other LTers' opinions...

29. Unseen Academicals, by Terry Pratchett
In spite of the widely discussed fact that Pratchett has Alzheimers, this, his latest book, gives no indication of it. It's entirely coherent, all loose ends tied up in a wholly Pratchettish way, all characters retaining their identity throughout.

This is no different to most Prachett - which means that a lot of stuff happens, some of it funny, most of it strange and/or random, interspersed with the occasional line or situation that is sheer comedic brilliance. I would quote here for an illustration, but you usually need the context to get it.

The line splashed all over the covers is "the thing about football... is that it's not about football". Apart from the fact that it took about half the book before I realised it's actually talking about soccer (these crazy Brits), I think that line is a good summary of the plot. Basically, Pratchett is satirising the myth, the dream and the reality of that sport with the black-and-white ball.

But it's also about characters, many of them becoming a bit of a Pratchett cliche, such as Glenda the cook (young, not physically attractive, matter-of-fact, loyal-to-the-death), or Nutt, (minority-species becoming integrated into the multi-everything city of Ankh Morpork in spite of prejudice and danger). We also meet old friends, including Ridcully; the Librarian; and Lord Vetinari. It was quite interesting to see the latter get slightly drunk and talkative - unusual decision of Pratchett's to do that.

I wonder what happened to the Bursar? I missed his presence at Unseen University, but I may well have missed a previous book that explains his disappearance. He was a great character in the earlier books, with his dried frog pills and entirely random bouts of craziness.

I haven't read a University type Pratchett since starting work at a university myself. I was hoping for some satire on academic life, but there was very little, if any, apart from the intense rivalry over the Dean having become Archchancellor at a rival university, and the stupid chase-the-duck tradition scene at the beginning.

Basically the usual, unremarkable latter-day Pratchett. Good, but his earlier books had more spice, humour and freshness. His books have lost the sense of discovery the earlier ones had, which is inevitable, I guess, but still a pity.

Nice review! I actually haven't read any Pratchett as of yet.

I'm not sure I'll bother with the new Dorian Gray movie either. It looks somewhat sensationalized and too explicit. No one's going to beat George Sanders and Angela Lansbury in their roles, not even Colin Firth and Rachel Hurd-Wood, though Ben Barnes will probably easily surpass Hurd Hatfield. Still, not particularly interested.

At least it looks like the screenwriter read the book though, which is not true of some other current/upcoming movie adaptations. *coughSherlockHolmescough*

*sighs sadly* Oh, how I love The Picture of Dorian Gray... and we're a family of Pratchett fans to boot. Maybe the humour of both is just more easily 'got' by British readers? I'm looking forward to seeing the Ben Barnes movie, though I'm expecting it to be a long way from the book - at least I'll be watching it for its own sake rather than comparing it all the way through. Ben Barnes being devilish, now there's a thought for the day... ;-)

Ellie, don't get me wrong, I'm a Pratchett fan! Only more of an early-Pratchett fan than an everything-by-Pratchett fan.

I saw the trailer for the Dorian Gray movie online, and Ben Barnes does seem to look sufficiently devilish where necessary. In fact, the whole thing looks pretty scary!

ncgraham, it looks to me as if the sensationalism is drawing on the horror-movie angle, which is probably fair enough? Though I am not an expert on horror by any means...

Catching up, catching up! Congrats again on your Very Hot Review this week, Rena :). Let us know when you do pick up a Pratchett book, Nathan — we will supply you with a good list of titles to start with. My first was Wintersmith. I should read the other two Tiffany Aching books; the Wee Free Men are hilarious.

I also really enjoyed your thoughts on Dorian Gray. They weren't pretentious at all. I agree, the "big idea" of the book really does seem to contradict Wilde's own convictions. I enjoyed the book when I read it a few years ago, but it will never be a book I can love. Like Nathan, I'll probably avoid the movie. I've heard it's pretty explicit.

I think my first Terry Pratchett was Hogfather, which I loved (and perfect for the festive season - maybe it's time for a re-read?!), and I also loved his collaboration with Nick Gaiman, Good Omens. Or start at the beginning with The Colour of Magic... It's all good!

Hogfather's good, very tightly plotted. I also really liked Mort. It might be fun to reread Hogfather now. Good idea, ellie! :)

I've avoided Good Omens... as a Christian, I would not enjoy seeing my faith made fun of. Some things are sacred!

I didn't read it as making fun of anybody. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, for example, have been 'borrowed' by all sorts of TV and book plotlines without reflecting on Christianity in the slightest. It's just an imaginative fiction (and a darn clever one), after all...

I was just pointed to an amazing review of Jane Eyre here: http://www.librarything.com/work/2204/reviews/53231642

This makes a lovely addition to our Bronte conversation.

Re Good Omens, I'm with wisewoman. The plot summaries I've read flick me on the raw, it's all quite hurtful. A pity - if it was about anything else, I can see it's both brilliant and very funny.

I think my first Pratchett was Guards! Guards! which is about those faceless and nameless watchmen and soldiers you get all the time in fantasy fiction who only exist to be shot down by either the hero or the bad guy and instantly forgotten. This is their story.

I'd also recommend starting with Wyrd Sisters, which is where the witches come into their own, besides being a lovely parody of some of Shakespeare's plays.

Maybe not Good Omens then. I guess this is why they list religion and politics as the two topics you should never get into at a dinner party! :-)

Moving swiftly on...

I haven't read any of Pratchett's books yet. All my friends rave about him and keep on insisting that I read some. Oh well maybe someday! I agree with, Amy though. I would not enjoy seeing my faith being made fun of either.

Well, you can't win 'em all, and we can't all like the same things or the world would be a very dull place... I think that Pratchett reread of Hogfather might definitely be in order this Christmas though! I keep meaning to read the Discworld novels from the beginning but since they're all Mum's, not mine, they tend to get overlooked when I'm scouring the shelves for my next read. Soon, soon...

Hogfather is definitely a winner. Thanks to your suggestion, ellie, I think I will reread it soon :). Has anyone else seen the TV adaptation of it? I thought it was actually pretty good.

I really liked Guards! Guards! too. It does have a little crass humor, but the book's overall humor doesn't depend on it and it isn't on every page. You'll have to let us know if you read one eventually, Porua!

I read Discworld haphazardly and there are still quite a few I haven't gotten to yet. I tend to binge on him when I do read him.

I didn't watch the TV version - should I check it out over Christmas? My problem is that I hate skeletons, so I've never even seen The Nightmare Before Christmas! (That's the Tim Burton one, right?) I'm alright while I'm imagining Death with his big, booming voice... not so good actually seeing him, perhaps. It's funny the things that freak people out.

Back to that review I linked to above of Jane Eyre, I found it very interesting to think that maybe all my love of JE is actually my inner 12-year-old girl taking over. That actually maybe the appeal of Mr R is that we all feel that, along with Jane, we are the only people who actually 'get' this misunderstood suffering hero.

I don't think that's all there is to the appeal of JE, but I have to admit it's probably a part of it. What a lowering reflection. :)

#196 Will surely do that, Amy.

#198 I read Jane Eyre when I was 12 or thereabouts and found it to be kind of gloomy. Not that I didn't like it. But I certainly didn't fall in love with the hero. He seemed, well...old to me. But who knows maybe if I re-read it someday I'll change my mind!

I disagree with that reviewer about my inner twelve-year-old or whatever. Every younger reader that I know who has read Jane Eyre has, without exception, either mildly or violently disliked Mr. Rochester. It isn't about "getting" or understanding him at all. They think him old and creepy and at the end, very pathetic and contemptible. Who would want to waste herself on him?

The younger people I know who are reading/have read this book also have strong objections to Rochester's morality and do not think him worthy of Jane in the least. While I agree about the morality issues, I have a broader life experience at this point and find it easier to forgive... because I know how easy it is to err. And I can recognize the artistry of the character sketch; Rochester is so well written.

And lastly, I read this book in my teens and liked it well enough. But it was only during this last reread, at age 26, that I finally fell in love with the book and felt that I fully appreciated the characters (Rochester included). My inner twelve-year-old has no use for Rochester. My grown-up self, while not swooning over him (except when teasing my husband, lol), sympathizes with his weakness while not condoning it — a fine distinction my younger self could not make.

wow what a well-written reply, wisewoman. I have never read Jane Eyre. I'm 21, and I think up to a point I have to agree with you: one of the reasons I've never read it is because so many people have told me - people my age usually, but also older - that, like you said they "do not think him worthy of Jane in the least". I usually dislike it (to put it mildly) when women in novels swoon over someone who is not worthy of it. And that might be related to different stereotypes/ideas regarding the role of women and men there are depending on what era we are talking about, and the different types of protagonists that readers want to see, again, depending on the era they live in. I assume that women a century ago probably did not find as many objections to Mr. Rochester as women in this age do. And what you said about younger people's morality issues concerning certain type of men is also true, again up to a point. Because if that would be completely true, how do you explain then so many young girls' fascination with Twilight's Edward, a "man" surely more flawed, misogynistic, controlling, and creepy than Mr Rochester? Young girls and modern readers can forgive flaws too: the only difference is that they can only do so - it seems - if the man in question is close to their age, is the "cool guy in school", and unbelievably hot and beautiful.

>201 girlunderglass:: And rich! Women still go for material wealth--being taken care of and protected--while men are still captured by youth and beauty.

And there was me thinking that Rochester was right up there with Heathcliff and Darcy in the 'swooning women' stakes... I think the Turbulent Teenage years are definitely conducive to 'getting' the misunderstood fallen hero - but I haven't lost my reckless ability to fall for the literary heart throb yet! :-)

#201 & 202 Oh my God! You guys have said EVERYTHING I've ever wanted to say on this particular subject. Have you guys been reading my mind? :-)

Oh goody, all the more for me then... *waves cheekily and rides off into the sunset with a whole battalion of completely unsuitable but devastatingly romantic leading men*

201 girlunderglass: Thanks! I should probably be a little more specific about the younger readers I know who have all responded in a similar way to Rochester. Most are from another site and are Christians, as I am. And I should also add that the majority of these readers I have in mind despise the Twilight books for both the abysmal writing and the dangerous messages they promote. So I suppose they aren't really a fair sample. But I do think the whole "inner twelve-year-old" argument very weak, as my own experience was the exact opposite. Perhaps I (and the younger readers I've observed) are just way out there?

I do think the point stands, that *in general* younger readers judge more harshly and categorically than do older readers who have more life experience.

Because if that would be completely true, how do you explain then so many young girls' fascination with Twilight's Edward, a "man" surely more flawed, misogynistic, controlling, and creepy than Mr Rochester?

If you start arguing about what is "completely true," we'll never reach a resolution! There are always exceptions both sides can pull out at need.

But here's my thoughts. Edward's flaws are never presented as flaws in that story. They are part of his charm, and I think it's fairly clear that Meyer herself is in love with her character. This is not the case with Jane Eyre; Brontë is quite blunt about Rochester's failings and while she has an author's affection for him as a character (and for her other characters as well, I might add), I never get the feeling that she is writing the book merely to play out her own twisted fantasies.

One of the big themes of Jane Eyre is grace — Rochester can never *really* deserve Jane because of both his past and what he tries to do (*avoiding spoilers here or I would be more specific*), but Jane forgives him. This isn't the forgiveness of the abused woman ("oh, he's so sorry, he'll never do it again" and then what do you know, it happens the next day). It is forgiveness that comes after heartfelt, broken repentance, after a real change has taken place. I quote his repentance speech in my recent review and it's just amazing.

You might like Jane Eyre more than you think. Jane certainly falls for Rochester and is not able to control her feelings, which is very realistic. I doubt anyone is in perfect control of him- or herself at all times. But Jane can and does control what she does with those feelings. She chooses against pressure, against what would be easy, what she herself strongly desires to do. Unlike Bella (gosh I hate even comparing the two heroines and books; it feels disrespectful to Charlotte Brontë's genius!), Jane acts sensibly even though she is fathoms deep in love. It almost kills her, but she is strong enough to do it. This is what I find so incredible about her, and so powerful in the story.

Ellie: *waves cheekily and rides off into the sunset with a whole battalion of completely unsuitable but devastatingly romantic leading men*

Heehee. Have fun, ellie! I've got my romantic leading man and he is a sweetheart. He even watches (and enjoys) countless Jane Eyre adaptations with me! Not to mention Jane Austen :)

Brontë is quite blunt about Rochester's failings and while she has an author's affection for him as a character (and for her other characters as well, I might add), I never get the feeling that she is writing the book merely to play out her own twisted fantasies.

haha fair enough. It does feel that way with Meyer - she is as smitten with Edward as Bella is. And, like I said, I've never read JE so I can't judge Rochester. You've scored a point for the "you should read Jane Eyre at some point!" camp as far as I'm concerned! And when I do, I'll look you up on LT and rant all over your profile :))

And when I do, I'll look you up on LT and rant all over your profile :))

Hurrah! :) I can't wait to hear your thoughts as a first-time reader. It completely took over my life when I read it a month or two ago, which surprised me because I had read it before and mildly liked it. Usually these "book baptisms" only happen on a first-time read, at least for me.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Rants (the happy kind, that is) are always very welcome on my profile!

"Jane certainly falls for Rochester and is not able to control her feelings, which is very realistic. I doubt anyone is in perfect control of him- or herself at all times. But Jane can and does control what she does with those feelings. She chooses against pressure, against what would be easy, what she herself strongly desires to do."

Well said, wisewoman. This has been a great discussion. I just want to add that for me the brilliance of the book--and what catapults it into the classic arena--is that Jane's choice is not made to fit the prevailing moralistic, Victorian ideal, but to further herself as a fully-realized adult who owns her destiny. In other words, she doesn't just do the "good girl" thing. She works against her desires (strong ones, in fact, quite racy for the times) because it's what's right for her--she wants to be true to herself--and knows that doing so, though painful, will make her stronger. Does that make sense?

I've read JE more times than I can count. Last year, my daughter and I listened to an audiobook version. She was 12 and definitely "got" the strong woman thing. Of course, she disliked Twilight because, "Bella was a wimp."

Jane's choice is not made to fit the prevailing moralistic, Victorian ideal, but to further herself as a fully-realized adult who owns her destiny.

Absolutely — thanks for that, Teresa. It reminds me of the part when she tells Rochester, "I have as much soul as you — and full as much heart!" That line, spoken proudly and angrily, always gives me shivers in the adaptations I've seen. I think all of them preserve it. You can't improve Brontë's dialogue.

This isn't the forgiveness of the abused woman ("oh, he's so sorry, he'll never do it again" and then what do you know, it happens the next day). It is forgiveness that comes after heartfelt, broken repentance, after a real change has taken place.

Very nicely put, Amy, thank you, and exactly how it is. Part of the brilliance of the book has something to do with the power relations and strength shifts between Jane and Rochester. So it explores the employer/employee; experience/innocence; masculine/feminine to begin with, and then starts exploring the more subtle things, like Jane's moral strength and Rochester's weakness. And then at the end, Jane is the whole survivor, Rochester the broken and repentant; his physical and social power has deserted him, and Jane the weak and small is the one choosing to put her relative superiority aside to join him as an equal.

Edward's flaws are never presented as flaws in that story. They are part of his charm, and I think it's fairly clear that Meyer herself is in love with her character.

This, in writer-speak is called a 'Mary Sue'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_sue.

I haven't read Twilight so can't comment on it in any depth, but my understanding of the books is that Bella is the one who's purposely intended to be flawed, while Edward's flaws lie only in the circumstance that he's been dead for a few centuries (and for some reason is still going to school). So apart from these minor details, he's utterly perfect, and the amazing and oh-so-romantic thing is that he falls for the flawed wimp Bella, who represents the way every teenage girl secretly sees themselves. So I agree with the above posts, that Twilight is about wish-fulfilment; and though on the surface Jane Eyre is about the small governess marrying the rich and powerful employer, it explores such subtle shifts of power, forgiveness and redemption that Twilight never even sights in the distance.

(Whenever I write anything about Jane Eyre, I suddenly find myself using semi-colons a lot, just like C Bronte...)

Love that wiki link - had never heard of the term before - and the semicolon is possibly my favourite punctuation mark. After the dash :)

30. The Return of the King, by Tolkien
Done! And sorry it's over, and already looking forward to a re-read! Warning to those out there who haven't read it - I cannot discuss this book without what may be considered as major spoilers.

Tolkien does not flag at any point in this epic story. He's also the master of the slow reveal, so that as the story goes on, and particularly in the denoument (which is pretty lengthy), we as the reader shift back and back, and slowly come to realise the immensity of the story, and the vastness of what has just been going on. The fact that an Age has come to an end, and the Elves and Gandalf just disappear from Middle Earth never to return, gives a sense of sadness and loss amid the victory. And with Sam left bereft of Frodo after all he did for him, well, I admit it: I cried.

I'm not sure what I think about the communist/fascist angle that suddenly emerges on returning to the Shire. I felt for a while as if I'd wandered into Animal Farm by mistake. It felt a bit like Tolkien was labouring a political point too obviously at that point. But from the story point of view, within the confines of Middle Earth, that part of the story was still absorbing, complex and heroic like the rest of the book.

I appreciated Eowyn's part in the book - woman as a hero, sensitively portrayed. I like how her character has a whole story of its own, though she is not one of the Fellowship.

Merry and Pippin really emerge as characters in this last book - it takes them a while, but once they do, they are truly awesome.

I like how once Frodo achieves his quest, he is spent, and becomes just a shadow for the rest of the book. It's sad, and more realistic than a 'happily ever after' would have been. His burden truly was too great, and the wound he took really did have a lasting effect. This works so well, and takes the story far beyond any last hint of the 'fairytale'.

The scene at Mount Doom is magnificent. I gasped out loud while reading it. The Gollum event is predictable but also inevitable. The eagles coming afterwards, despite their use earlier in the book and Gandalf's role, still feel a bit too much like deus ex machina for my liking, but that's a petty argument. I loved it. All of it. I don't really want to find any fault with it.

I feel like saying I'm sorry I took so long to discover the incredibleness of LoTR, but actually, I think this was the exact right time for me to discover it. Greater than fantasy, much more than escapism, vastly huge and yet masterfully intimate, this is indeed a work of genius.

So now I'm reading When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro, also listening to Barchester Towers from LibriVix.org - http://librivox.org/barchester-towers-by-anthony-trollope/

And tomorrow is 1st December, which means I join the group read of Les Miserables... so my reading is cut out for me for the next few months. I guess others, like me, will find their reading life interrupted sorely by events from that annoying Other Life thing for the next month. Bring on January and peace-at-last! And my two-week holiday! Can't wait... :)

Hi ChocolateMuse! I'm glad to see someone else isn't keen on December and That Thing happening towards the end of it! I'm already planning on reading something I can really escape into around that time to minimise my stress levels! A two-week holiday sounds even better :)

CM - don't worry - I cried at the end of LOTR too! At the end of such an epic book and the turbulent excitement of the quest within it, emotions were running surprisingly high and finding the bittersweet endings awaiting these characters I'd come to love - well, there were a few tears.

I can't say I'm looking forward to all the shopping that needs doing before That Event That Shall Not Be Named - but on the other hand The Big Day will signal the start of a short but sweet holiday for us, meaning lots of reading, mince pies and festive movies. Lovely. In the meantime I'm avoiding anywhere with deafening C-music (it's NOVEMBER!), and doing as much shopping as possible online so that when Mum wants to go C-shopping next week, I can leave her to it and take a heap of lovely vouchers to Waterstones instead. Mwahaha!

Edited: I realised I had used the C word accidentally. I think from now on we should simply use that age-old code word: banana. Banana shopping it is.

*resolves to avoid the C word in this thread, although he will not join his fellow posters in exclaiming "Bah, humbug!"*

Great review, Rena! Although I'm a huge fan of the genre, I love the fact that you described LotR as being "Greater than fantasy." It's so true! Oh, your review is really making me want to throw all these papers to the wind and read RotK right now. Eowyn is one of my favorite characters, and The Scouring of the Shire perhaps my favorite chapter in the whole saga. Did you dip into the Appendices at all? A fair bit of them are dull, but you simply must read "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen." It's gorgeous, and one of my favorite passages in all Tolkien.

I've been waiting for your reaction to the big moment on Mount Doom. Was it what you were expecting? I wish I could remember the first time I read it and what my reaction was!

Spoilers!

I agree about the realism of Frodo fading away and not being able to enjoy the Shire afterwards. His wounds never really healed. It's a happy ending, but bittersweet.

I don't really want to find any fault with it.

Ha, I'm so with you there too. But I think if we do make any criticisms, it's because we love the book so much and feel invested in it.

>215 Rebeki: - Welcome Rebeki!

> Re: the C word, I don't mean to throw hate around, there are definitely good things about, erm, banana, but it's just that time of year when I want to flake out and get a break, not run around in crazy circles. I think the whole thing makes less sense down here in the Antipodes - it's summer, and all one feels like is crashing on a couch under the air conditioning and reading a good book... or swimming in a pool or going to the beach or something. Not listening to loud jazzed-up C-music in crowded shopping centres where everyone's red-faced and sweaty and stressed out and commercialism is going crazy...

Bah. Humbug.

>217 ncgraham: ncgraham, I love some other fantasy too, particularly George R R Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series (if he EVER gets the next book out). When I say 'greater than fantasy', I'm not saying fantasy isn't great, I just mean that there is absolutely nothing of the formulaic genre-ness in Tolkien, that it's actual literature, groundbreaking, thoughtful and incredibly well written. Same goes for George R R Martin. I think it's the groundbreaking aspect that makes it 'greater than fantasy'.

spoilers:

>218 atimco: WW, I LOVED the Mt Doom scene. And I was expecting it to be something like that, only I thought it would last longer somehow... it was over so soon! It had been foreshadowed a lot that Gollum would be instrumental at that point, and since he could never be happy without his Precious, I figured he was likely to die with it. I guess I did expect an encounter with Sauron himself, but I don't mind that it didn't happen. And I join your chorus: I love Sam!!!

Not listening to loud jazzed-up C-music in crowded shopping centres where everyone's red-faced and sweaty and stressed out and commercialism is going crazy...

Exactly. If everyone would just take a breath and not turn into crazed shoppers who act like they will never be able to buy anything ever again after, well, banana, then it would be very pleasant. I prefer something a little quieter meself! Banana Day is actually quite relaxed after all that.

I'm so happy to read such great discussion of LOTR. I think too many people are dismissive of it sometimes; people who haven't read it sometimes seem to believe that the ones who hold it in high regard are doing so out of a kind of literary vanity, because it's such a huge and thematically complex work. When it reaches the top of favourites polls, you can almost hear the jaded sigh of 'Yeah, great... what a surprise'. How much they're missing out on!

>220 elliepotten:: When I was much younger, it seemed like even the men who didn't read very much had read Tolkien's trilogy. Sometimes that was all they had read, so I can believe that it's up there in the "favorites" polls. I didn't enjoy Lord of the Rings until I had boys to read it to. They loved it, of course!

^^re:219, I knew what you meant. You enjoy Lewis too, in addition to Martin and Tolkien, right? No matter how much I enjoy the works of people like McKillip, Alexander, McKinley, etc., there's very little that compares to LotR. It is just unique.

#219: I'd never thought about that, but it's true that for non-Christians in the northern hemisphere "banana" is a welcome mid-winter event. Eating heavy food and being confined to the house isn't really what you need in summer...

I'm not going to start anything by Martin until the last book is done. I HATE waiting for series to be finished. You'll let us know when the last one's out, won't you, Chocolate? and tell me where to start? I know you will. Book-lovers can never resist the temptation of tempting other readers :)

ellie wrote: I think too many people are dismissive of it sometimes; people who haven't read it sometimes seem to believe that the ones who hold it in high regard are doing so out of a kind of literary vanity, because it's such a huge and thematically complex work.

You know, the criticism I've encountered has come from the opposite direction. Tom Shippey in his book Author of the Century gives a good rundown of all the "literati" (i.e. literary snobs, professors in universities, etc.) who denigrate LOTR precisely because of its popularity with those dregs of society, lay readers. They make fun of the book because of its supposedly "cult" following, laughing at those who learn Elvish and turning up their nose at any suggestion that Tolkien was a good writer. This is in part because the entire genre of fantasy has not traditionally been much respected in our hallowed halls of academia. Tolkien himself got a lot of flak from his fellow professors at Oxford for writing such a book (personally, I think most of them were just jealous!).

You can't reason with critics like that. They are just so prejudiced. Tolkien writes in his foreword to the second edition (full foreword here: http://www.fortunecity.co.uk/library/fantasy/11/lord_of_the_rings_foreward.htm, sorry it's a black background with purple text, lol):

"Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer."

I just love him :)

Oooh, I love it when writers bite back! But yes, I can see that REVERSE snobbery happening too. I guess all you can say is that good old LOTR has weathered the storm from both sides and still come out fighting...

Oh, and for the record: I'm now officially allowed to say CHRISTMAS because we have put up some very fetching tinsel and stars in our shop windows, and I ate my first mince pie this week. Plus, with a wealth of vouchers in my hand, that Christmas shopping trip might just become a marathon BOOK shopping trip instead. Now doesn't that just make everyone feel festive?!

>224 atimco: Amy, I will indeed let you know when the whole series is done IF it ever gets done. Hopefully we'll all be still here on LT in about 30 years...

I've seen the same reactions of LoTR - snobbily dismissing it as 'mere fantasy' and 'genre stuff'. What's the bet they haven't even given it a go.

Ellie, I'm sure your tinsel and stars look lovely and British amid all the snow. Please tell me your shop is made of stone, it would suit my Dickensian idea of it beeyootifully.

It is indeed! Plus the river's high and fast, so the ducks are having the time of their life surfing down to the weir like little torpedoes! I think it will look very pretty if we get a bit of snow to boot - I'll post a photo on my profile if it does!
Although the warm Victorian effect was somewhat dimmed yesterday by the loudest woman EVER (you know the kind, a woman of a certain age with platinum perm and too much makeup...) peering out of each little window and squawking, 'oooh, ain't in quaint!' *shudders and looks faintly green*

31. When We Were Orphans, by Kazuo Ishiguro
I've made several attempts at reviewing this, and like all Ishiguros I've read in the past, I'm having major troubles. It's hard to put my finger on just what it is about his books that make the impact - but for me, there's no doubt that the impact is there.

For most of the book, you read away, and everything's quiet, simple, reflective. The protagonist narrator, Christopher Banks, is telling us about his life - recent events, memories of the past, detailed recollections of his childhood. Some of the memories are not quite clear, as memories often are. Events jump around in time. Our interest is held, we read on knowing all this is leading somewhere... and then wham. Action. Just in the last third of the book, suddenly it's all stops open and everything happens at once. And we get to the last few pages of the novel, finish it, and suddenly we realise that we have come to know Christopher Banks, really know him - what he's like; how he sees himself; how others see him; what has driven him all through life; his motives, ambitions, needs and ideas. And we care. And the ending, which, if told to us as bare bones would be almost meaningless, hits us hard.

Which brings me to so many other cool things about Ishiguro. One is how detailed his writing is, and yet there are many things he leaves unsaid, especially at the end. It leaves us thinking. His style is very distinctive, and consistent across all three Ishiguro books I've read so far. It's deceptively simple, detailed in an almost pedantic way - yet never once gets in the way of the action.

Another cool thing is that this book is an excellent example of an unreliable narrator. I myself don't know whether some of the things Banks tells us are actually 'true' or not. Banks himself seems to believe it utterly, but is he rewriting his own history so that he can deal with it better? Is he having himself on? Or is his memory simply innacurate? Or is it actually true, and the other people he talks to are the mistaken ones? Even during the action scene in the last third, some things seem almost like dream sequences. Could they really be 'true'?

Then there's the character study. Banks is a fascinating person, and as I said before, we come to know him very well. He's full of flaws, contradictions, and little quirks that make him so vulnerable and so, well, human. In the action sequence, his singleness of purpose is depicted wonderfully well, and... well, I'll stop there before I start on the spoilers.

Most of the authors who I really admire are dead - Ishiguro is one of the few exceptions. Vive Ishiguro!

Thumb thumb thumb!

I will have to add Ishiguro to my 2010 reading plans, I see.

one more thumb !

Thank ye kindly. I'm starting to get used to these HRs... keep 'em coming... ;-)

Amy, start with The Remains of the Day. You will not regret it!

Also, you asked a while back about the Barchester Chronicles, and I haven't answered because I'm not sure where to start or end! As I mentioned on another thread, The Warden isn't all that riveting, but worth plugging away at, because Barchester Towers is awesome. Trollope, it seems to me, creates a bunch of characters, good, bad, selfish, selfless, (rather like Les Mis really!), throws them together with their conflicting desires, stands back, and gleefully watches the resulting explosions. Good stuff!

You could listen to it on Mp3 here if you like:
The Warden
Barchester Towers

I thumbed your review last night. Great stuff. I love Ishiguro, too, and agree that one should start with The Remains of the Day, which is the best of the four works of his that I've read. (I still need to read When We Were Orphans and The Unconsoled--plus Nocturnes, now.)

Btw, I'm up for creating a Trollope (Barchester) thread next year in the Salon if you want to discuss. I probably won't be getting around to any serious new reading until February, so maybe around then if you're still interested.

There is also a dedicated group for Trollope lovers at http://www.librarything.com/groups/trollopeloversuniteo

I've just finished reading When We Were Orphans and found it a very puzzling book. I skipped over your review when you posted it in case it gave anything away about the story, but just came back to read it. I think it's a great review. I didn't enjoy the book as much as you did - I agree that it was clear the story was going somewhere, but I didn't think the end part successfully pulled the threads together, so the impact of the end was not so great for me. But looking at your considered opinion helped me to crystallise my own view of the book. Thank you!

Digifish - Thanks for reminding me about that Trollope group. I had forgotten it existed. I'll go browse some more next year after I start reading the books.

Medellia, I can't imagine not being interested in a Le Salon group discussion of Trollope in February.

Digifish, I've been meaning to check out that group, I knew it was there and avoided it for fear of spoilers. I should at least have a look at threads dedicated to The Warden some day soon.

Wandering star, I read your great review and was particularly struck with what you say about the similarities between Banks the the butler Mr Stevens in The Remains of the Day. Thinking about it, that's quite true. Both characters deceive themselves, both do things without admitting even to themselves why they do it. Both are pedantic, logical, refuse to admit that they're affected by emotion, yet both are. Hmm. Actually I read in a review a long time ago where someone said Ishiguro's a bit of a one-trick-pony. It made me mad at the time, and I don't want it to be true! I'm sure there are differences between the characters that are still amazing in their own right, but it's Friday afternoon and my brain is all limp and flabby. *cop out*

As for the bits that go unresolved, I felt that the unresolved things are the whole tragedy within the book. Both Banks and Sarah Hemmings are ruled and driven their whole life towards one ultimate ambition. I don't want to put in spoilers here, so all I'll say is that Ishiguro shows how ordinary life isn't nicely wrapped up, and big ambitions aren't all they might seem to be. All of which you say in your review - but you found it frustrating and I didn't. Yay for contentious literature! I love it! :)

(Okay, maybe that let some spoilers in. Should I delete it?)

Ah, good point, it hadn't occurred to me that Sarah's life mirrored Christopher's like that.

I do think I will have to re-read When We Were Orphans at some point though, to see if I enjoy it more when it doesn't confound my expectations about where it's going. I'd like to read some of the earlier books, too - the only other Ishiguro I've read is The Remains Of The Day, and that was quite some time ago.

Just linking this: http://oinks.squeetus.com/2009/08/how-to-be-a-reader-book-evaluation-vs-selfeval...

for my own reference. That bit about rating echoes things I've been thinking, so I want to go back and reread that post later when my brain is functioning better.

Peace, love and good will all coming your way from me CM. I wish you & yours the best in 2010.
big new year hug,
belva

Hi everyone, I have absolutely loved all our conversations this year, thanks to every single one of you for making this thread so interesting.

I've never been interested in a numbered challenge for my reading, so this year I've headed over to Club Read, and can be found here. I humbly hope that all those of you who have joined in here will star me over there and drop in from time to time.

My highlights for the year have been:
Black swan green and Ghostwritten, by David Mitchell
The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
Lord of the Rings, by Tolkien

Non fiction: Musicophilia, by Oliver Sacks
Re-read: Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

Best wishes to everyone for 2010, both in literary pursuits and otherwise.

(and thanks, belva - best to you and Chrissy too)

*hugs Chocolate* Thanks for all the great conversation. I will certainly join you in your new thread. Happy New Year!

Can you leave us the link here? I know it's a pain but with everyone starting new threads at the same time it's proving nigh on impossible to find people!

http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=80650
(Choc's new thread)

Thanks!