Pride and Prejudice

So, I kind of forgot that I need to write down my book thoughts! I haven't been reading very much this summer, which is really a shame. But I did just read Pride and Prejudice, and until Casidy mentioned it in her post I sort of forgot that I need to write about. Which is silly, because I just finished it last week and have thought about it a LOT since then.

Here's the thing about Pride and Prejudice. I sort of skimmed over it in high school, but didn't really read it. I've seen the movies. And I've just never been that into it. I didn't really care about Mr. Darcy. Maybe it was just my way of sticking it to the man, since everyone else LOVES Pride and Prejudice, and LOVES Mr. Darcy, and I just wanted to be different. Or maybe the movies just didn't speak to me. Whatever the reason, I was never a big P&P fangirl. WAS would be the keyword there. Because as of today--HUGE fan. I loved this book a ton. So much more than I thought I would. I laughed out loud, my heart ached, and I think my cheeks might have actually blushed at parts.

The thing I never really understood fully from the movies is just HOW embarrassing the Bennets are for Elizabeth and Jane. Mrs. Bennet seriously made me cringe so many times. And Kitty and Lydia are so silly! I don't know how I never realized just how empty headed and silly they are, but somehow I didn't. (Maybe they're not the only empty headed and silly ones.)

Something I really loved about this book is how complicated Elizabeth is. And yes, I readily admit, that maybe that thought was planted in my head by You've Got Mail, when Kathleen says that Elizabeth Bennet is one of the most complex characters ever written, but I noticed it nonetheless. She has to be loyal to her family and be a good daughter, but they are so humiliating. She develops all these feelings for Mr. Darcy, and her family has no idea that anything has even happened. I love the discrepancy between what her family thinks of him, and what she thinks of him/what he really is. So much of the story is so internal, what is going on with her, and I love it. And I never used to love her so much before I read the book. I didn't appreciate her cleverness or her independence or her classiness and awareness of society before I read it.

I think Jane Austen does such a good job telling stories about sisters. Jane and Elizabeth are such great sisters, like the Dashwoods in Sense and Sensibility. I love the friendship that they have. Plus, in that family, who else could Elizabeth ever turn to? Mary?

The whole class thing is so interesting in Jane Austen books, and something I think can never really be translated into a modern day understanding. I just really don't think that as 21st century Americans we can understand the complexity of class society that people lived in at that time. We do still have classes, and there are definitely people who would never sink below themselves to marry someone else, but it's really not as stratified as theirs is.

Anyway, the real point is that Pride and Prejudice is an incredible book. That will not be the last time I read it, I am sure. Books like that need more than one reading, there is so much more to glean from it. And yes, I am a huge Mr. Darcy fan now. Who would have thought?

Sense and Sensibility

So after I read Emma, I decided I just had to read Sense and Sensibility. And I'm pretty sure Pride and Prejudice will happen soon.

Also like Emma, I love the movie of Sense and Sensibility, but had not read the book. So I did. And of course the book is better, and deeper, and everything, but if you haven't seen the movie, please do. It is wonderful. (If you can get over Snape as Colonel Brandon. For me it was the other way around with the first few movies. Colonel Brandon can't be Snape! But now I think he is perfect.)

But this a blog about books, not movies, so I apologize. The point is, Sense and Sensibility is wonderful. I feel like Jane Austen is so good at writing an interesting story with a good plot, filled with charming characters, many of them hilarious, and also making you think about human nature, and the way people are. She's very observant about the way people act. And of course there are always lots of funny little thing about good society and the proper way to act, and who is unsuitable for who, and things like that.

Sense and Sensibility has so many endearing characters. I love both Elinor and Marianne Dashwood so much. And I love so so much the reversal of the way that they are by the end of the book. Throughout the whole thing, Marianne is romantic and whimsical and impulsive and only thinks with her heart. Elinor is exactly the opposite. She is very controlled in her emotions, she has a lot of sense. But by the end, we see Elinor sort of let go of that a little, and Marianne becomes more like Elinor, more sensible. I really liked that.

I loved how much the sisters were involved in each other's lives, and how much they loved each other. Because it's a story about lots of things--love, lies, London--but above all, it's a story about two sisters who care about each other very much.

Anyway, it was a wonderful book, and if you haven't read it, I recommend it.

Ethan Frome

Do you want to feel cold and heartbroken? Read this book. I've actually read it twice before, when I was a Freshman in high school, and then again when I was a Junior. But I hadn't read it since, so I decided to give it another go.

Plus, I had wandered over to the Ws to check out House of Mirth or Age of Innocence from the library, but they were both checked out. So I got Ethan Frome instead. And it's a perfect rainy weather book, since the whole thing takes place during a frozen New England winter.

It's a short book, I think it's technically called a novella, so it's a fast read. But if it were a longer book, I think it would take a long time to read because of the writing. It's very beautiful and kind of slow. It's quiet and cold, mostly because it's talking about people and places that are quiet and cold.

The whole book takes places over just a couple of days. Ethan Frome lives on an isolated farm with his crabby, sickly wife, Zeena, and her young, pretty cousin, Mattie, who lives with them to help out Zeena. Can you see where this is going? Ethan of course falls in love with Mattie. And although I am never a fan of such things, it makes so much sense. His wife is so terrible and Mattie is so sweet.

I mostly remembered the ending, but I had forgotten one key part of it that makes it all the more heart wrenching, so I just felt agonized over it. So good. Sometimes it just feels so amazing to have your heart torn out by the pain of fictional friends. Why is that? I don't know, but I loved it, and I love this book. It really is so fast. I remember the one I read in high school was less than 100 pages long. The one I read just barely was like 150, but the book was so small it fit in the back pocket of my jeans.

The writing is beautiful and gives such solid visuals to it all, you feel like you're there. It's really really beautiful.

Emma

Before we can go on, there is something I must clarify: Emma is my favorite movie. I watch it like 6 times a year. I think it's the funniest movie in the world, it seriously cracks me up. It's what I want to watch when I'm sick, or when I work on a craft project, I quoted it at the beginning of this post--stuff like that.

However, I hadn't read the book. And a few weeks ago I realized that was pretty ridiculous, so I read it.

I think most of you probably know the story, but just in case--Emma Woodhouse is a young woman, I think she's 21, who decides to take a new friend, Harriet Smith, under her wing and introduce her into good society. She also dabbles in matchmaking. Harriet is an orphan who lives with Mrs. Godard, a teacher. There are a whole bunch of other characters of course--Mrs. Weston, Emma's former governess who is recently married, and her new son in law, Frank Churchill. Mrs. Bates and Miss Bates, an elderly woman and her middle aged spinster daughter, and Jane Fairfax, their granddaughter/niece. Mr. Woodhouse, Emma's father, is so cute, and much more neurotic in the book than he is in the movie. And in the book we get to know John and Isabella Knightley, Emma's sister and her husband, much better. And then of course there is Mr. Knightley, who I love so dearly, so greatly. He is wonderful. The Eltons, who provide comedy and social faux pas galore. Everyone is so great.

One thing that is much more prevalent in the book than the movie is the amount of concern with class and rank and society. They talk a lot about who is beneath who, and whether this person or that person is suitable as a friend or a spouse. It made me glad to live in a much less stratified society, where it doesn't matter if you marry someone who isn't established in the area, or who is only a farmer.

As always, the book is better than the movie. I will always always love the movie, because I just will, but I got so much more enveloped in the plot and the characters in the book, where there is space enough to develop both more fully. A lot of things happen that don't happen in the movie, of course, and I loved it all.

Anyway, it was so good. I really loved it, and am so glad I read it. I highly recommend picking this up.

Oh, and here is an awesome quote I emailed to myself because it just sort of sums up the way Emma is: "Oh! I always deserve the best treatment, because I never put up with any other."

Sanditon

At the library the other day, I was cruising down the A aisle, and this book caught my eye. I thought I had heard of every Jane Austen book, but I had never heard of this one.

That's because it's unfinished, she died while she was writing it. Do not think this is her Requiem, though. It's not tragically unfinished, but it is a cute, funny story.

It's about a seaside town called Sanditon, and the people who are there. It's only 82 pages long, it gets halfway through the 12th chapter and then it just sort of ends.

Like I said, it's not a heartbreaking work of staggering genius, but it is a fun story, and had it been finished I would have read the entire thing, and I'm sure I would have liked it very much. Because I did enjoy it, it was funny and I really enjoyed all the characters. But maybe because from the beginning I knew that it wasn't a complete story, I just didn't fully invest myself into loving it. But it was good. Definitely doesn't need to be at the top of your to read list, but if you happen to come across it sometime, it's a cute book.

Oh, and isn't that picture funny? That's the cover of the version I read, and I love it. There was no mention of roosters in the book, so I'm not sure what it means, but I really love it.

Jane Eyre

I know some of you other peeps are reading this too, since it's our book club book, so feel free to add in your own thoughts. And if you're not done, I won't spoil it!

I was somewhat familiar with Jane Eyre already. I skimmed through it in high school, but basically remembered nothing except that a girl was a governess in a big house, and there was something mysterious. So yeah.

I also recently watched a movie version of it, about 5 months ago, with my mom and my grandma. And I actually kind of liked having recently seen the movie, because I had a framework for the story. Sometimes stories from this era of writing can get lost in descriptions and things, so it helps to already know the storyline.

The point is--Jane Eyre is about an oprhan girl who grows up with her aunt and cousins, who are awful. They do NOT treat her like part of the family. Then she goes away to school, which isn't much better, but at lest she finds people there who are kind to her.

Fast forward to when she's 18, and she takes a position as a governess for a little French girl in a big spooky manor house called Thornfield Hall. And THAT, my friends, is where things get interesting. (Well, it was interesting before that too, but you know.) Anyway, the master of the house, Mr. Rochester, is a fascinating fellow, and . . . . read it!

I LOVED this book. The details left out of the movie are shocking to me now that I've read the book. I hope the new movie coming out leaves more in than the version I saw. I love Jane, I love Mr. Rochester, I love the weirdness of the story, I love the twist at the end--no way you could ever see that coming. It's beautiful. And even though I said before that sometimes these novels get too caught up in descriptions and things, I actually don't think Jane Eyre is too much like that. It moves pretty well. There are of course lots of words I don't know, but in context I always still know what's going on. I really, really, enjoyed it. Probably more than any other "Classics" I've read.

Anna Karenina

I finally finished listening to an unabridged audio version of Anna Karenina by Tolstoy.  It was a long book and I felt it.  I'm not one who regularly tackles long books, so maybe I'm just a wimp, but if I were to do it again, I would try an abridged version.

What made it so long?  I think Tolstoy got carried away with descriptions of social issues and philosophies of the time.  In his defense, most of the issues he has his characters discuss or think about endlessly are still quite relevant today; things like social classes, labor issues,  and women's vs. men's rights.  That is probably why the book is seen as classic literature even after so may years.

Did I like the story?  At times.  I really liked some of Tolstoy's descriptions and comparisons, though I couldn't think of any to share.  However, I  found an article through Google that included a lot of my favorite lines in her list of favorites.  Go here if you want to read some of them.  I don't know if they will be meaningful if you haven't read the book, but in case you are interested, it is there.  

The problem was I  really didn't like a lot of characters.  The upper class and nobility in this time period are so awful. Their arrogance,their pampered lives and the amount of time they spend thinking about themselves and their mostly petty problems like what to wear, the latest fashions or who is going to invite them or who they will invite to some snobby social function, wears on me.  

However, I genuinely liked the character of Levin.  Though he was of the noble class too, he was a good man and I liked that he didn't know how good he was. Throughout the book, he struggles with his religious beliefs and with the meaning of life and his flaws.  Near the end of the book, he comes to terms with religion and his beliefs.   His realizations are so genuine.  That was my favorite part of the book, I think.  I liked Kitty too, though I didn't think she was as interesting or her character as well-developed.  

I never mustered up much sympathy for Anna though.  After I finished the book, I read a few reviews of it.  The reviews pointed to reasons that her character was worthy of sympathy for her tragic life, but it just didn't happen for me. She just seemed controlling and selfish to me most of the time.  Her lover, Vronsky, seemed shallow to me.  I didn't find him very interesting or likable either. 

  If I am going to read about people like this, I need it to be laced with humor and that is one thing I thought this book seriously lacked.  I only remember one brief comment by one of the characters that made me even smile.  Okay, maybe two, but I needed more.  When I have read books by Jane Austen or Charles Dickens, I have found enough humor in them to keep me happy.  Maybe I value humor too much, but I'm glad my ancestors were English and not Russian.  If Russians were funnier, maybe they wouldn't have to drink as much vodka in order to cope with life.

So, would I do it again?  Yes, but I think I would get an abridged, printed version.  That way, I could mark the passages of thought or description that I really liked so I could enjoy them again.  That is one drawback of listening to audio versions of books.  BUT  this book was so long, I was glad I could listen to it while I was doing dishes or walking or something, and you can't do that while reading an actual book.  

There are lots of different translations, abridgments, and audio versions of this book available.  The one I listened to was narrated by Davina Porter.  She was an excellent narrator.  It didn't say who did the translation.  I definitely give it a thumbs up, and if we are giving stars, I think I have to say 3.75 out of 5.

I'd be interested to hear impressions any of the rest of you have about it or if you think tackling War and Peace would be worth it.      

Emma

Emma. Written by Jane Austen.

(I think we all know that, but. . . tradition, right?)



So I read Emma a while ago. It is a book that I couldn't believe that I hadn't read before now because I knew the story so well from watching the movie countless times (which I think I have determined that I like the new BBC version the best because I feel like it gives the most accuracy to the book, which of course it can when it is much longer than the other versions, but still. . . and I also know that Erin the most-lover of Emma will disagree with me on this and that is okay).

Anyway, back to the book. I really liked the book. I can't say that I like it better than Pride and Prejudice because I don't. I just have something that I love about Elizabeth that makes her win out over Emma, but I did like this book and I think that everyone (no matter how many times you have seen the movie) should read this book because it is a good story and teaches good things about real life.

I am going to assume that most of you know the basic story of Emma (whether it is from watching one of the movies based on the book and/or from reading the book itself) but one thing that I loved about the book was that we got to know the dad a little more (which until I read this and watched the BBC movie, I never understood what a HUGE worry-wort he was) and we get to know Emma a little more. She is a little self-centered for me but I really do love her and it made me realize how young she was and almost made her a little more real because I am guessing that most of us are pretty self-centered when we are 18 or 19. Am I right?

Anyway, I feel silly even posting about this book, because most of you have probably already read it, and have your own opinions about it, but if you haven't read it yet, I would recommend it.

Wives and Daughters

I just barely finished Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives and Daughters. It is a longer book and so I had been putting it off for some time, but I checked the BBC movie out from the library and watched it to get me excited about reading the book and even before I finished the movie (I had to watch it in installments, because I didn't have a 5-hour block to dedicate to watching a movie, although I wish I had for this one) I started reading the book because it is fantastic!!!

Seriously. I am still so happy and giddy about this book that I really don't know what to say other than that for anyone who is a typical Jane Austen book lover and even for those who aren't, I think that you will LOVE this book. It is just so cute. That is probably the best word to describe it: cute.

The "main character"-ish Molly, is just so adorable. This book is on my love list for sure and definitely one of my new favorite chick flicks. 5 out of 5 starts hands down. I don't know why I hadn't heard about the sheer greatness of this book before. Love it.

To Kill A Mockingbird

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This year is  the 50th anniversary of  To Kill A Mockingbird, a great American classic.  I decided to read it again since it had almost been 50 years since I read it.  (I'm just kidding about that.  I'm not that old.) I didn't remember too much about the book except that I had enjoyed it.

You all know the story as most of you probably had to read it and discuss it and study it in high school.  It seems like that can either make you love a book more or hate it, but I think it would be pretty hard not to like this book.  It has great characters.  Scout and Jem are delightful and in my mind Mr. Darcy,  has nothing over on Atticus.  Maybe that just shows my age, I don't know.  

Anyway, I don't really know how to review books and I don't think this one needs reviewing, so I will just leave you with a few tidbits about Harper Lee that I have gleaned from the Internet, so I know they are all true.

First of all Harper Lee is a woman.  If you can believe it, I didn't know whether Harper was a man or a woman.  (Please, Kate and Rebecca; no comments about West Jefferson High School : )

To Kill a Mockingbird was the only book she ever had published.

She was a childhood friend to Truman Capote.  In fact the character, Dill, was based on him.  There was even a rumor that Truman Capote actually wrote To Kill a Mockingbird and had her put her name to it, but that was pretty much disproved through the years.

Her father was a well-respected lawyer in a small town.

Aunt Alexandra's character was based on her mother.

She has done very little public speaking in her lifetime.  When she does show up to receive an honor, she doesn't give acceptance speeches.

She became good friends with Gregory Peck, who played Atticus, in the movie adaptation of the book.  She knew his family well too.  In fact, one of Gregory Peck's grandsons, Harper Peck Voll,  is named after her.   I guess I wasn't the only one that couldn't figure out if Harper was a name for a girl or a boy.

She never married.  She is 84.

There is a TON of info out there in webland about the book and a lot more about her too, so if this peaks your curiosity, you've got some surfing to do.

I have never watched the movie.  Should I make the effort to find it for more reasons than to compare Atticus to Mr. Darcy?   If any of you have things to add about this book; what you liked, what you didn't, things you learned, etc., feel free to add to this.  Like I said, I really don't know how to review books.

Les Miserables

If you haven't already read Les Miserables , do it. And I say that with force. DO IT.



A few years ago my husband and I had tickets to see the musical. Erin suggested that I read the book first, and my life is forever changed because of it. Jk...kind of.

I am so glad that I read the book! I'm sure I had more of a grasp on what was happening in the musical because I read the book, but the book...? So much deeper, so much more detail, and so much more feeling. I know that is usually the case with books that have been turned into plays and movies and such, but it could not be more true that it is with Les Mis.

I think you should see the play too but PLEASE read the book. After the play was over I was a little disappointed that the most heart-wrenching, beautiful parts of the book were not included. In the car on the way home I literally wept when I was explaining to my husband my favorite parts of the book that were left out. WEPT, I tell you. And I recall saying through my tears,

"Jean Val-Jean is a good guy, dang it!"

I don't think any other book has made me feel the way this book did. And I'm not sure that any other book can.

You will cry and you will love Jean Val-Jean.

I promise.