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.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Garlic and Sapphires, Ruth Reichl
Not a course book. A delicious, light read. Pun intended, please hold your groaning.
I picked up this book on a friend's recommendation. It is the true story of a New York Times restaurant critic who goes undercover to keep people from recognizing her. She pulls off a slew of fun disguises with complete characters to back them up and discovers the difference that an appearance can make for how the world treats someone. I loved it because it was fun, light reading, but extremely well-written. Being a restaurant critic, Reichl has an excellent turn of phrase. She also lives more through her senses than I do, so it was fun to read such vivid descriptions that I could never imagine thinking, let alone writing.
I thought I would not like a food book -- I can't watch food-TV without feeling both fat and hungry. However, this book proved me wrong. Final conclusion: read it!
I picked up this book on a friend's recommendation. It is the true story of a New York Times restaurant critic who goes undercover to keep people from recognizing her. She pulls off a slew of fun disguises with complete characters to back them up and discovers the difference that an appearance can make for how the world treats someone. I loved it because it was fun, light reading, but extremely well-written. Being a restaurant critic, Reichl has an excellent turn of phrase. She also lives more through her senses than I do, so it was fun to read such vivid descriptions that I could never imagine thinking, let alone writing.
I thought I would not like a food book -- I can't watch food-TV without feeling both fat and hungry. However, this book proved me wrong. Final conclusion: read it!
To Begin Again
It is not given to us to begin; that privilege is God's alone. But it is given to us to begin again--and we do every time we choose to defy death and side with the living.
~Elie Wiesel
This poor blog started its demise through neglect when I became a student again. I hope to reinvigorate it with a two-fold strategy: recommitment and blogging about school books. The former will hopefully be a natural result of my sheer stubbornness of character. The latter means that the blog will be slightly skewed toward religious (Catholic) books. Even if they are not your cup of tea, please do check in to see what is not academic theology, or maybe to find something new you can learn about Catholicism.
~Elie Wiesel
This poor blog started its demise through neglect when I became a student again. I hope to reinvigorate it with a two-fold strategy: recommitment and blogging about school books. The former will hopefully be a natural result of my sheer stubbornness of character. The latter means that the blog will be slightly skewed toward religious (Catholic) books. Even if they are not your cup of tea, please do check in to see what is not academic theology, or maybe to find something new you can learn about Catholicism.
Monday, July 25, 2011
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.
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.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
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.
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.
Monday, May 30, 2011
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.
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.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Springtime in Guatemala, Fr. Paul Aumen
"Violence must be told and retold so that no one will ever forget how horrible it is and how little is accomplished by it. There must be a better way for all people to live together. As India's Ghandi so truthfully said, 'There is room on this earth for each one of us.'"
Springtime in Guatemala is a memoir of sorts, written by Fr. Paul Aumen, a missionary of the Precious Blood. He served for 20 years in Chilean missions, then moved on to serve an additional 18 years in Guatemalan missions. The book is a collection of stories and experiences, about several parishes, the Guatemalan people, and Guatemala's 36-year civil war and genocide. It's not an overly complex book, and is an (intellectually) easy and quick read. However, the memoir is full of pain. Through Fr. Aumen's stories, we see how, through pain, suffering, and death - there is beauty and truth and life.
As I read, I could picture so many of his experiences. The magnificence of climbing a volcano. The absolute poverty and violence that has caused (and causes) so many good, innocent people to suffer. How alive Antigua is during Cuaresma and Semana Santa. Words cannot express how beautiful this book was for me, in its heart-wrenching, simple truth.
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