Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Seth Grahame-Smith

The book lists Jane Austen as an author as well.  I was lucky enough to have my best friend's copy, fully annotated for her literature students.  Her literature students are lucky enough to read this book along with Austen's original, and I can see how it would help boys enjoy the women-centered novel more.

For the first few chapters, I laughed with delight at the way Grahame-Smith worked the undead monsters into the plot and language of the original novel.  After those chapters, however, the zombie motif began to get a bit repetitive.  The main downfall is the parallel he tries to draw between the concept of being "accomplished" and being a fearsome warrior.  In Austen's novel, the Bennett sisters are not the former; in the new version, they are the latter.  It shifted the dynamic a little too much for my liking.

That being said, I enjoyed Grahame-Smith's sense of fun and plan to go on to Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Slayer, so I can learn a bit of history I never learned in school.

The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger

I picked this up at a library book sale last Saturday.  I'd seen the movie a few months ago, and had heard good reviews of the book.  Despite the length (over 500 pages), it was a quick read.

Henry DeTamble is an involuntarily time-traveling librarian with serious substance abuse problems.  Clare Abshire is a beautiful paper artist with a sizable trust fund.  They meet in the present and during Henry's sporadic voyages through time.  They fall in love.  They marry.  They live.  I enjoyed considering the fascinating and disturbing question of free will and fate in Henry and Clare's lives.  But though I like a good love story, I wasn't terribly impressed by The Time Traveler's Wife.

Perhaps I've been spoiled by classic literature - it's hard to find a well-written love story to equal that of Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester.  Maybe I am also spoiled by the good hearts and lives of my friends and family - it's hard to fall in love with characters who seem so selfish and shallow by comparison.  This book left me dissatisfied, thinking, This is it?  I may be young, but I know that there is more to life, and love, than this.  There are also better-developed characters, more cogent plots, and better overall examples of writing in the literary universe.  It's entertaining, but not great.

I think I'll go read some Dickens.

Cranford, Elizabeth Gaskell

After reading North and South, I decided I'd like to read more of Elizabeth Gaskell's works.  I found Cranford at a church sale in early June, right after I finished reading Emma.  And while it wasn't the most riveting book, it presented a lot of interesting themes and sweet old lady characters.

Cranford was originally published as a series of eight sketches in the weekly journal Household Words (which was edited by a certain Mr. Dickens).  The sketches were later integrated into book form, but together comprise a series of amusing stories rather than a coherent plot.  Through the narration of Mary Smith, a frequent visitor to Cranford, we meet the Miss Jenkynses, Miss Pole, Mrs. Jamieson, and many other inhabitants of the female-dominated town.  While the stories are set primarily in the 1830s and 40s, Cranford’s inhabitants seem to be stuck in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries.  Their old-fashioned customs, representative of old aristocratic England, conflict with the increasingly global and industrial world.  All in all, the satire is pretty funny – I caught myself laughing many a time – but in a character-driven way rather than a plot-driven way.

Emma, Jane Austen

I finished Emma today on the way home from a weekend visit to New Jersey. It's always a little sad to finish a good book, because it means saying goodbye to the characters.  However, I'm looking forward to watching the 2009 BBC version again!

Emma Woodhouse is probably (in my opinion) Jane Austen's most flawed heroine.  She is rich, spoiled, and very satisfied with herself.  Yet over the course of the book, matchmaker Emma is forced to come to terms with some pretty uncomfortable mistakes - and does a lot of growing up in the process.  Emma's a bit more human than Fanny Price or Anne Elliot, who seem too saintly to me.  I certainly recommend Emma as an entertaining read and some very funny, dynamic characters.

I could go on, but I'll leave it at this - Mr. Knightly is definitely a 10.

Mansfield Park, Jane Austen

After starting several books - and being plunged into preparation for marriage and a wedding (in that order), while working two jobs and working on a graduate certificate - I finally finished a book!  My previous Jane Austen reads have been rather light and I confess that's what I was looking for when I started reading Mansfield Park in February.  No to be!  The introduction (I'm a sucker for Oxford World's Classics) begins: "Mansfield Park is Jane Austen's most dramatic and disturbing work."  And so it is - there are quite a few theatrical themes in the novel, and the characters' actions are at times quite disturbing for Regency England.  Sadly, adultery doesn't seem quite as shocking in today's world.

Fanny Price is not your typical Austen heroine.  At the age of ten, Fanny is sent by her working-class family to live with her wealthy relations at Mansfield Park - perhaps a surprising favor for such an unaffectionate family.  She grows up passive, quiet, and modest, downtrodden by her awful Aunt Norris, but protected by her cousin Edmund.  At the same time, the is the only player not wholly deceived by others' true characters.
The novel picks up when fashionable brother and sister Henry and Mary Crawford arrive to visit their sister at the parsonage, and become "intimate" friends with the party at Mansfield Park.  Flirtation and more ensue.

I really grew to enjoy this novel as I got into it.  Its themes are heavier and content more mature than Austen's other novels.  Mansfield Park is not a love story - probably the reason that recent film adaptations (see imdb.com, 1999 and 2007) have been such poor representations of the book.  But it an excellent read, well-written with well-developed and exciting (if often despicable) characters.

Father Brown Mysteries, G. K. Chesterton

The Father Brown Mysteries are possibly my favorite short stories. I first became familiar with them when my former roommate found some at a used bookstore and began reading them to me as bedtime stories. The main character, Fr. Brown, is a humble priest with a shabby umbrella and a knack for solving mysteries and understanding people. His intuitive understanding of people allows him to see each crime from a new point of view, and therefore find the secret (and the criminal) behind it. I recommend them for anybody looking for a short and enjoyable read.

Note: There are a lot of different editions to these stories, but they were originally published in 5 books. For the most part, jumping around in order is perfectly fine, but it's best to read the first five stories in order to witness the development in the character of Flambeau.

Primary Colors, Anonymous (Joe Klein)

Primary Colors was originally published anonymously in December, 1996, and caused immediate controversy.  The novel follows a Southern governor's campaign for the Democratic Party Nomination for President; but each character is a near exact replica of a member of Bill Clinton's staff.  Jack Stanton (the Clinton figure) runs into trouble on the campaign trail when news breaks of his affair with his wife's hair dresser.  He fiercely denies these claims and his aide Henry (the narrator and protagonist) struggles to cover up his messes.  He soon enlists the aid of the loud-mouthed ex-mental patient and former Stanton political adviser Libby to help him "dust-bust."  The novel reveals the inner machinations of political campaign, the conflicts between Stanton's staff and his ambitious wife's staff, the temptation of negative advertising, the pitfalls of staff romances, but above all, the idealistic and genuine principles on which Stanton and his wife build their campaign.  These principles are tested and tried throughout the novel, and in the end, Henry and Libby administer the ultimate test of Stanton's true character.

Joe Klein, a journalist, was not involved in any Clinton campaigns.  Yet his observations and imaginations of how the larger-than-life personalities might interact proved accurate.  Immediately upon the book's anonymous release, White House staff members began to accuse one another of having written it and of revealing too many personal details.  The novel is an engaging--and apparently perceptive--glimpse into our nation's political system.

The 1998 Mike Nichol's film starring Adrian Lester, John Travolta, Emma Thompson, and Kathy Bates, is an excellent adaptation.  Klein actually confesses that when writing the character of Libby, he pictured Kathy Bates.

North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell

I'm back!  And with another book on my list of very-favorites.  This one actually came to me by the way of Netflix - yes, I broke a cardinal rule and watched the movie first.  The film version was so good that I figured the book must be even better.  And it was.

Our heroine, Margaret Hale, grew up in aristocratic southern England.  Her father is a country curate, but she spent many of her formative years living with a wealthy (and very irritating, in my opinion) aunt in London.  When her cousin (also very irritating) gets married, she returns to her parents at Helstone (the parsonage), only to soon be uprooted to Milton, an industrial city in northern England.  The Hale family has a strange position in Milton social circles, which are polarized between textile factory owners and their workers.  As the novel progresses, Margaret forms relationships with individuals in both classes - not least the distinguished and well-respected master, Mr. Thornton (a tough nut to crack).  I'll leave the rest to your reading pleasure.

Elizabeth Gaskell lived at the same time as Dickens and the Bronte sisters and had close connections with each.  It's a fascinating period in history (1840s-1850s), when industrialization was transforming social and economic conventions.  North and South is not simply a romance - it is chock full of debates about gender roles, class conflict, and social justice issues, 19th century style.  It's a very intelligent, thought-provoking, thoroughly enjoyable work.  I certainly recommended it for fans of Austen, Dickens, and the Brontes.  And for romantic socialists.

To clarify: Yes, there is another book called North and South, published by John Jakes in 1982.  Yes, it is about the antebellum United States.  Yes, I have been in love with Orry Main (and perhaps George Hazard as well) since approximately the age of eight.  I have never read the book, but the 1980s miniseries is pretty wonderful.  A whole lot trashier than Victorian England, though...

Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia-Marquez

I read this novel on recommendation of a good friend. Unfortunately, my Spanish isn't good enough to read it in the original, but Garcia-Marquez is an amazing writer, even in translation.

The novel is a love story. It starts close to the end, with a death: the death of the husband of Fermina Daza. After the funeral, her former suitor, Florentino Ariza, comes back to declare his love again -- after waiting over fifty years. Garcia-Marquez then shifts back to when they first met and follows the two characters through their lives.

I love Garcia-Marquez and enjoy just reading his words. His prose is engaging, and, while some of his characters are over the top, they fit into his story very well. Other characters are nuanced enough to be real. However, the plot (a man whiling away the years in love affair while waiting for the husband of his "true love" to die) did not sit well with me, and I was not a fan of the ending.

That being said, I can tell why the friend recommended it to me. And I would pass on the recommendation to anyone looking for read by a good writer.

A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

I have read the beginning and the end of this book several times before, but have never made it all the way through. Until now. In case you don't know, the novel follows the story of the French Revolution through the lens of Dr. Manette, who is released from the Bastille at the beginning of the novel; Lucie, his daughter; and her eventual husband, the French aristocrat, Charles Darnay. Dickens also spends a good deal of time in France, among the peasants, who are simultaneously oppressed and bloodthirsty.

I found Dickens's narration of history very hard to get through, both because it is dense and wordy and because I am not much of a history person. I wanted to take a pen and slice out a third of the words he used. Especially when he went on about kings and aristocrats and massacres and politics. Again, though, that is in part due to my interests. On the other hand, I fell in love with his good-hearted scoundrel character (a tendency of mine), and, in general, enjoyed the plot lines and the way Dickens wove them together. Mostly though, I just feel better read for having actually worked my way through the entire novel at last.

Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

In case you are wondering if I've fallen off the planet for the past month... No, I have not. I've been working my way through one thousand pages of Anna Karenina. I expected it to be difficult, but I found it much less dense than expected, very engaging, and maybe a new favorite. Apparently I had the "wrong" translation; I found the translation very accessible, but apparently the best one has purple flowers on the front cover.

The novel opens with an glimpse in the house of Stepan Oblonsky and his wife, Dolly, the morning after she has discovered that he was having an affair. These two characters serve to connect the other main couples: Oblonsky's sister, Anna Karenina, and Alexey Vronsky, who is not her husband; and Dolly's sister, Kitty Scherbatsky, and her suitor, Konstantin Levin. These four are the "main" characters, but the novel sweeps through a diverse cast of Russian nobility of the late 1800s.

The novel encompasses at least as many themes as characters, but both themes and characters kept me turning page after page, as Anna reacts to Vronsky as he seduces her; as Anna interacts with her husband as Vronsky seduces her; as Anna raises her son as Vronsky seduces her. They kept me turning pages as Kitty and Levin's relationship grows and blossoms. Passion and love, fidelity and honesty, personal and social responsibility, faith and religion all have their respective places in this novel, along with vast social commentaries on Russian noble and agricultural life at the time.

Two years ago, I wouldn't have made it through the entire novel, but I would have missed out. I highly recommend Anna Karenina to anyone who loves reading... in spite of my sub-par post to describe it.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon

Seven minutes after midnight, Christopher John Francis Boone found a dead dog outside of Mrs. Shears' house.  Someone had stabbed the animal with a garden fork.  Since Christopher's teacher had encouraged him to write a story, he decides to write a murder mystery about the death of the dog.  Christopher's book documents his own investigations into the dog’s death; he could never write about something that didn’t actually happen.  Despite his father’s command that he “stay out of other people’s business,” he sets out to detect who killed the dog—and ends up uncovering a host of family secrets in the process. 

Christopher has autism.  The entire novel is told in his voice, in a stream of consciousness style which gradually reveals the details of his life to the reader.  The book examines the challenges that Christopher faces because of his disability, the tensions in his family and relationships, and also the beauty of his world and his unique and brilliant perspective on life.  This is all captured in the framework of Christopher's murder mystery. 

Mark Haddon, who has worked with children on the autism spectrum, crafts the story masterfully, drawing the reader in immediately and keeping him or her captivated for every page.  Although stream of consciousness can often be a challenge for authors to write well, Haddon articulates the style perfectly.  Christopher's voice is believable and clear, and his experiences range from humorous to heartbreaking.  The book is not long, which is good, because once you start reading, you will not be able to put it down!
      

The Assassin's Gallery, David L. Robbins

No moon shines over the dark waters of the Newburyport coast as a Persian assassin slithers ashore.  Her mission: to kill Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States.  Only Professor Mikhal Lammeck, expert in assassin psychology, has a chance of tracking the elusive Judith and eliminating her before she reaches her target. 

Lammeck has spent years teaching the theory of assassin psychology.  Now, called back into the field against his will, he finds that he is in way over his head.  As the distance between him and his quarry narrows, Lammeck finds himself entering the assassin's mind, and is awed at her ability.  No longer motivated by the desire to help his country, the professor find himself drawn forward by the allure and enigma of his brilliant adversary. 

Robbins' novel is not simply an action-packed thriller.  His revisionist history is filled to bursting with historical detail, set against the complex backdrop of the 1940s social climate.  Industry, war, racism, and sexism writhe in the background, complicating an already intriguing plot.  Robbins also devotes considerable energy to developing the character of his assassin, lest she be seen as a “faceless” enemy.  Along with Lammeck, the reader comes to understand the motivations and history of the assassin, the challenges she faces, the depth of her resolve, and the reason that she is determined to succeed in her objective, against all odds.  

More literary than most thrillers, The Assassin’s Gallery is a great read for anyone who enjoys a good historical fiction novel and a story of action-packed suspense.   

Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood

As far as Snowman knows, he is the last human left on the earth.  The blazing sun—hotter now that the atmosphere has thinned—burns his skin, even in the shade of the tree in which he lives.  His only companions are the human-like Children of Crake, a tribe of genetic experiments of whom Snowman was made guardian, before the known world came to an end. 

Unlike the Children of Crake, who survive by consuming raw vegetation, Snowman must forage for more nourishing food.  He braves a dangerous trail, crawling with vicious Pigoons, to find supplies in the ruins of a nearby city.  Haunted on his journey by the memories of the brilliant, cunning Crake, his enigmatic lover Oryx, and Jimmy, the unremarkable boy who Snowman used to be, Snowman relives the series of seemingly inconsequential events that led to the destruction of his world.  Slowly, the true cause of the apocalypse is revealed.  

Oryx and Crake has particularly strong resonances with modern American society in a framework which is more action-filled than some of Margaret Atwood's other works.  The book is both exciting and thought-provoking--forcing readers to speculate on the future of genetic engineering, cyber-stalking, global warming, and biochemical warfare.  As in most post-apocalyptic tales, Snowman’s story is intense and tragic.  It isn't a light read, but it is an engaging one.  This book is hard to put down! 

Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen

I seem to be making my way through Jane Austen's works this year!  I began this book with few expectations other than a typical Jane Austen read, but it turned out to be a little different.  Northanger Abbey is Jane Austin's satirical take on Ann Radcliffe-style Gothic novels.  I found the novel's romantic conflict halfhearted; instead Austen focused on building suspenseful imaginings in the mind of her protagonist, Catherine Morland.  At seventeen, Catherine is sensible but very naive, and learns the hard way that some acquaintances are superficial and deceitful while others are generous and genuine.  And she learns that frank realities are sometimes worse than dark, romantic imaginings.

An enjoyable read.  It could almost qualify as a coming of age novel of sorts, regency England style.  I would perhaps recommend this book for a younger reader who's not quite ready to tackle the dark and more complex themes of works like Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion.

Looking for Alaska, John Green

This book is painful. I don't want to tell you the painful part, because it will ruin a lot of the book, but I do want to forewarn you, that it's not a light happy read.

But if you want an idea of the author's sense of humor, check this out.

The book is designed for high school boys, so there is a certain amount of immature humor. But the characters are believable and the themes dig deep. The story is divided into before and after. Pudge, a nerdy kid with no friends, transfers to a boarding school where he meets Takumi, the Colonel, and Alaska, a remarkable, enigmatic, impulsive--and did I mention gorgeous--girl, who is unfortunately devoted to her long-distance boyfriend. Between smoking breaks and epic pranks, Pudge falls in love with Alaska, or at least the idea of Alaska. He also develops strong friendships which he discovers will survive a senseless tragedy.

I recommend it mostly if you find teenage boy humor entertaining (or want insight into a teenage boy's brain) because otherwise I fear you will find it tedious. But it is a fantastic and thought-provoking book.

The Small Rain, Madeline L'Engle

Of course I loved this novel. Madeline L'Engle wrote it. I have read most of her novels and I've yet to find one that I don't like. This particular novel tells the story of a girl growing up. L'Engle tends to write coming-of-age stories, and all of them are similar, yet each of them is unique. Katherine Forrester is only 8 or 9 at the beginning, and the story takes up about 10 years of her life. She is the daughter of musicians and is a pianist herself. Her story covers her broken but beautiful family life, her time at school, and her experiences with all kinds of love.

This story was a quick read, fun and tragic by turns. I especially enjoyed the ending, because L'Engle tends not to tidy up too much at the end of novels. I can't think of much to say about it, other than that I highly enjoyed it and have checked out the next novel in which the main character appears.

The Jewler's Shop, Karol Wojtyla

This book came as a recommendation (and a gift) from a good friend on my last birthday.  The Jewler's Shop is a monologue-driven play written by Pope John Paul II back when he was a bishop in Poland.  Its subject is marriage: the three acts present to us three couples, each reflecting on their relationship from different angles and perspectives.  One couple looks at the past and present of their (positive) relationship as they prepare for marriage; the next portrays a couple whose love has faded over the years.  The final act brings the two together, as the (uncertain) children of the marriages from Acts I and II prepare for their wedding.  I found myself reflecting on so many things as I read this.  I am not an aficionado of poetry or theology, or metaphysics for that matter - so I feel like a lot of the words flew over my head.  But the message - I think I got that part, at least a little.

Sometimes human existence seems too short for love.  At other times it is, however, the other way around: human love seems too short in relation to existence - or rather, too trivial.  At any rate, every person has at his disposal an existence and a Love.  The problem is: How to build a sensible structure from it?

At the heart of marriage, as of any relationship, is first complete devotion to God, and a commitment love another, but also to share a deep friendship throughout life.  Marriage is the bedrock of a family, of society; this commitment ensures stability through the roughest days as during the sweetest moments.  It is so much greater, so much grander - and so much more difficult -  than today's society will allow.  And I am always thankful for a reminder, in the midst of a scary, mistrustful world.

Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte

Yes, I am fairly certain that most, if not all, of my fellow-bloggers have read this novel, and I hope a good chunk of my readership as well. I am also fairly certain that almost everyone who reads this novel develops a strong opinion of it, and I might be risking my often-in-jeopardy literary neck by offering my own view. But here goes.

First, in case you haven't read it, Wuthering Heights picks up the age-old question of nature-versus-nurture in the form of several very twisted love stories. The action centers around Heathcliff, a foundling child of mixed race, who enters the Earnshaw household. The older sibling, Hindley Earnshaw, hates him; Catherine, the younger, loves him. However, for various reasons, she chooses not to marry him, but the pretty-boy Edgar Linton instead. From there, the novel spirals into Heathcliff's elaborate machinations of vengeance.

I'm not sure what Bronte was thinking when she wrote the novel, but the narrative point of view is unusual, to say the least. A complete outsider (Lockwood) narrates the novel, but the housekeeper tells him the story that really constitutes the plot. However, she did not witness every event in the story, so she gives Lockwood long monologues from other characters... It is story veiled in story veiled in story and presents the dilemma of the unreliable narrator ad absurdum.

I don't like stories told through third-party narrators. I don't like stories where I don't identify with, like, or respect any of the characters. I don't like stories about hatred or vengeance. And if I picked some adjectives to describe the novel, they would be dark, twisted, annoying, and boring. So, logically, I should really hate Wuthering Heights. Yet, I don't. I enjoyed it the first time I read it, four years ago, and I enjoyed it this time, and I have no idea why.

The True Meaning of Smekday, Adam Rex

After the Boovish invasion of Earth, Gratuity Tucci has learned a lot about human nature. For instance:

"--Most folks will steal if they can get away with it.
--Most people want to break other people's things and roll cars over, but won't unless their planets are invaded by aliens, or their basketball team wins the finals.
--About one in a hundred people resent having to wear clothes all the time.
--Alien invasions make people stick flags on everything. Not just American flags, either. The Jolly Roger made a real comeback around this time."

This book is brilliant and hilarious. It is framed as an essay for school: What is the true meaning of Smekday?--the day formerly known as Christmas, the day that the Boov arrived to colonize Earth, and the day the Boov left one year later. The winning essay will be put in a time capsule that will be opened in 100 years. In her three attempts at writing the essay, Gratuity reveals the story to the reader in a not quite chronological way, which makes it incredibly engaging. I loved the way the author structured this book. He is also an artist, so there are some amazing illustrations, and interjected comic pages drawn by the Boov who can't write in English.

Thematically, it is largely a comment on Manifest Destiny and the treatment of Native Americans. It deals with issues of race and prejudice through the blunt, sarcastic, witty voice of 11 yr. old Gratuity. And the plot itself was amazingly conceived.

In an attempt to reach the human reservation in Florida by car, Gratuity and her cat, Pig, meet up with a Boov criminal, who has taken as his Earth name J.Lo. (Favorite line in the book: "It was a long message, and in pretty good English, but with that same pitched whine that J.Lo had. J.Lo the Boov, not J.Lo the singer/actress/perfume.") Together they travel across the country searching for Gratuity's mom, who was abducted toward the beginning of the invasion. Then Gratuity, J.Lo, and Pig join forces with a gang of boys who have been hiding under Disney World to drive the Gorg (another set of invading aliens--much more evil than the Boov) out of Earth. I won't ruin the ending for you.

One of the best things about this book is that even though the narrator is a girl, boys love it too. It's pretty gender-neutral in its style, and the sense of humor really appeals to boys. It's on a 5th/6th grade reading level, but we did it with a book group that included 3rd/4th graders and everyone loved it. Highly recommend it!