Vocabulary Vertigo | The Way of All Flesh

It's time again to 'get learned' with some new terms.  I have tons more words from "A Tale of Two Cities" which I may or may not get to, but I figured I should post a couple from the latest project... "The Way of All Flesh" by Samuel Butler.  Here we go!

1. paragon (noun): a model or pattern of excellence or of a particular excellence.

context: "He spoke so wisely and so well that his listening guests considered him a paragon of right-mindedness"

2. wolds (noun): an elevated tract of open country OR an open, hilly district, esp. in England, as in Yorkshire or Lincolnshire.

context: "He may have had an ill-defined sense of ideals that were not his actuals; he might occasionally dream of himself as a soldier or a sailor far away in foreign lands, or even as a farmer’s boy upon the wolds, but there was not enough in him for there to be any chance of his turning his dreams into realities, and he drifted on with his stream, which was a slow, and, I am afraid, a muddy one."

3. catechize (verb):
A) to teach or examine by means of questions and answers

B) to give oral instruction in Christianity, esp by using a catechism
C) to put questions to (someone)

context: "That work was written too exclusively from the parental point of view; the person who composed it did not get a few children to come in and help him; he was clearly not young himself, nor should I say it was the work of one who liked children—in spite of the words “my good child” which, if I remember rightly, are once put into the mouth of the catechist* and, after all, carry a harsh sound with them."
*Note: A person who catechizes is a catechist

4. stentor (noun) – a person having a very loud or powerful voice

context: "Gone is that scarebabe stentor, that bellowing bull of Bashan the village blacksmith, gone is the melodious carpenter, gone the brawny shepherd with the red hair, who roared more lustily than all, until they came to the words, “Shepherds with your flocks abiding,” when modesty covered him with confusion, and compelled him to be silent, as though his own health were being drunk."

5. Canticle (noun)

A) one of the nonmetrical hymns or chants, chiefly from the Bible, used in church services.
B) a song, poem, or hymn esp. of praise.

context: "When I was last in Battersby church there was a harmonium played by a sweet-looking girl with a choir of school children around her, and they chanted the canticles to the most correct of chants, and they sang Hymns Ancient and Modern; the high pews were gone, nay, the very gallery in which the old choir had sung was removed as an accursed thing which might remind the people of the high places, and Theobald was old, and Christina was lying under the yew trees in the churchyard."
I wonder if this last word is where "incantation" came from?

Fall Into Reading 2010

I'm getting a little behind on my challenges, so when I found this one I could not resist.

You basically just have to list some of the books you are 'challenging' yourself to read between September 22nd and December 20th.  Here is my list, and I'm cheating a bit here because I'm combining it with another challenge and I'm challenging myself to something I just finished doing (which was an informal challenge I gave myself a couple of days ago).  I used the word 'challenge' way too much in that paragraph.

1. Read anything by Charles Dickens (COMPLETE)
2. Read a work of Non-Fiction (currently attempting a book on Pompeii)
3. Read a work by a Japanese author (I'm going to try to read Mishima's "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion" which was recommended to me by a friend.

Have any of the rest of you joined?  Feel free to link to your challenge.

Review: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Let me start off this review by admitting that this is the only Dickens work I have read, outside of "A Christmas Carol."  To be perfectly honest, the reason I have yet to delve into his works is because I had very poor expectations of his work by others that have read his well-known material and detested it.  In addition, Dickens has been voted down in my book club for over three years running.  I finally decided to just plunge into his work, and I begun with "A Tale of Two Cities" because a close friend of mine told me that I would enjoy it.  She was right.

Here's the synopsis of the book, which I'm shamelessly stealing from Wikipedia because it's just so compact an encompassing:

"A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it is among the most famous works of fiction.


The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same time period. It follows the lives of several protagonists through these events. The most notable are Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. Darnay is a French once-aristocrat who falls victim to the indiscriminate wrath of the revolution despite his virtuous nature, and Carton is a dissipated British barrister who endeavours to redeem his ill-spent life out of his unrequited love for Darnay's wife, Lucie Manette."

There were a few things that I was expecting from having talked to others about Dickens.  Since he grew up in a poor family and hated social inequities, I knew there was going to be some sort of struggle between classes, which their obviously was.  I have been told that a majority of his work is set in England, which seems logical given that he was born and died there.

What I did not expect, was that Dickens is a satirist.  Being critical of class structures sometimes leads itself into being a satirist, but that doesn't necessarily translate 100% of the time.  I was pleasantly surprised at how subtly humorous Dickens was.  I'm sure there were plenty of things that went over my head, but I laughed out loud a few times at some zingers which resonated with me.

I was also not expecting the novel to be such a mystery, and here I have to tip my hat to Dickens.  Not only did he write a mystery, but he used no shameless Dan Brown mystery techniques... and it doesn't come across as an English Agatha Christie type mystery.  It's obviously LITERATURE and not intended to be in the MYSTERY genre, but Dickens displayed many scenes without giving background into what was happening.  Either this is done because a writer is poor at his/her craft, or because he/she wants to surprise you with something.  The air of mystery surrounding these scenes was so refreshing... it seemed to combine my love of the genre as a child with my love of literature as an adult.  I had no idea the two could be put together so seamlessly.  Here is what I jotted down as I was reading: "Has a way with making things mysterious, but still has a literary air."

The other thing that appealed to me is that Dickens is dramatic.  I think I should capitalize the word to give it more emphasis.  Dickens = Drama!  I can see where some would be put off by this, but I loved it.  It wasn't subtle like the humour in the novel, but it was really compelling to me... quite possibly because I am a dramatic person.  My spouse can be a drama queen, so perhaps I just have an affinity towards it. 
I did find that Dickens had the tendency to go off on tangents.  When he was describing the history of Monseigneur, his house, his servants, his frivolous lifestyle, etc... basically the definition of a corrupt aristocrat, I tuned out a little.  I appreciated a little background, but not necessarily a whole chapter on it.  I could see where readers could get put-off of Dickens, but I didn't find too many occasions of this in the novel.  He had a tendency to jump around to various other characters in the story, but all jumping seemed to be properly placed in keeping with the story.

So that's my view on Dickens, based on this one experience.  Let me talk a little bit about the novel.

"A Tale of Two Cities" was rooted in real-life events, and I only found this out after searching "Bastille" on the Internet to find out exactly what Dickens had detailed the fall of the Bastille (a fortress-prison) in Paris in 1789. 

The title of the book was obviously about the different natures of both London and Paris at the time .  So the two cities were represented by peace (London) and turmoil (Paris) and chronicled the class disparity between the aristocrats and the peasants... which could be seen as two distinct cities as to themselves.  The city where the aristocrats lived, a beautiful Paris where money was not a concern and indulgence was normal to a Paris as viewed by the peasants, where people starved daily and their government leaders had abandoned them.  The dualism in the book was poignant, and Dickens' opening lines stress the power of perspective, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" and then went on to say that the novel spoke of a period that "was so far like the present period".  Every society has had it's rich and it's poor, and the viewpoints of both classes can be remarkably different.

I liked the theme of man (in this case, Charles Darnay) running away from a difficult situation and ignoring his responsibilities to lead a quiet life with the woman he loved.  Was the man a coward or was he sensible?  Did he due greater harm to the people of Paris and if so, was he justified in doing harm?  Do some people have a duty in life that they must face or do we all have a duty to live the life we WANT to lead? 

Due to the way Sydney Carton ended his life, does this make him a hero?  Is it more noble to abuse yourself for years in a self-deprecating nature to eventually self-deprecate for a purpose?  Is this what heroes are?  Was Carton a hero or was he just finding the easy, noble way to peace of mind?  Hard to tell.

This work is full of questions and Dickens does not attempt to answer them.  I enjoy the fact that he left these decisions up to the reader.  I enjoyed every minute of this book, minus the one diatribe about Monseigneur.  I am a current fan of Dickens, and I plan on giving some of his other work a go.  I'm still intimidated by the length of some of the novels, so I'll probably continue with a shorter work like "Oliver Twist" or "Great Expectations."  Thoughts on this in the book blogging community?

Book Beginnings | A Tale of Two Cities

In normal circumstances, after creating a list of 20 Novels I'm Ashamed I have NOT read, I would have continued to go about my daily life and paid no attention to said list.  If I'm ashamed I haven't read these books, why would I procrastinate in reading them?  I'm not sure what the answer is [length of novel, intimidation, creating structure to selecting books when I prefer limited structure, etc], but I know that is how I would react.

Thus, when I finished this month's bookclub book early, I vowed to read at least one of the books and I'm in the heart of "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens as you read this.

As is customary on Fridays, here is the beginning of the novel:

It was the best of times,

it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom,
it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief,
it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light,
it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope,
it was the winter of despair,

we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way— in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

I like the opening to the novel, but I wouldn't regard it as some due as the best opening line of all-time.  It tells me that opinion is subject to interpretation and that history repeats itself.  I don't think it tells me all that much about the novel - the opening seems a bit more flash than substance.  What do you think?

Vocabulary Vertigo | A Tale of Two Cities

Usually I record terms that I either don't know or are a little hazy on while I'm reading, but then I forget (or become too lazy) to look them up, so while I am reading "A Tale of Two Cities", I decided (albeit late into the endeavor) to record some of the terms and actually look them up on the fly.  I'm going to try to do this periodically, but we'll see what happens.  I'll try to limit it to around 5 words, but I may get carried away.  I have decided to call it "Vocabulary Vertigo", because some of the terms are liable to make me dizzy while staring down at them. 

tocsin
–noun
1. a signal, esp. of alarm, sounded on a bell or bells.
2. a bell used to sound an alarm.

dolorous
-adjective
full of, expressing, or causing pain or sorrow; grievous; mournful: a dolorous melody; dolorous news.

lodestone [I was first introduced to the term through video games]
-noun
1. a variety of magnetite that possesses magnetic polarity and attracts iron.
2. a piece of this serving as a magnet.
3. something that attracts strongly.

farrier
-noun
A blacksmith

coquette
–noun
1. a woman who flirts lightheartedly with men to win their admiration and affection; flirt.

–verb (used without object)
2. to coquet.

Comments are welcome on this post.  Would you prefer context?  More terms/less terms? Suggestions/opinions?

Review: Death In the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway

I did not see this one coming.  It came at me like a 4 year old, mature bull who was hooking to the left without my noticing.  Thinking this was a work of fiction, I did not know until after the pass of the bull on the left towards the maleta.  At this point, it was too late and I was gorged by the non-fiction and could not take it back.  While my femoral artery was not ruptured, I did receive a hole in my leg which was later infected, then amputated.

Old Lady: Why are you speaking this way?  It is not good. 

I am speaking this way to teach you.  How else are you to learn?

Old Lady: Perhaps, but I don't like it.

Sometimes you have to dislike something in order to understand.

---
Okay, so what the heck am I talking about?  This is a little snippet in my own words what "Death in the Afternoon" is like.  I'm not going to knock Hemingway, and I did not intend to do so with the words above.  I am simply presenting you a glimpse of what this novel is - so you may choose if it suits you or not.

Keep in mind that Hemingway is my favourite author.  There is no one better.  Sure, there is a lot of booze.  There are short sentences.  There are women, which many criticize based on over simplicity.  This is who Hemingway is.  There is nothing wrong with him.  There is nothing wrong with his work.  Hemingway's non-fiction is not the same, because there is no dialogue.  Hemingway admits to this.  But it is evident that Hemingway is very perceptive, whether correct or incorrect (based on your own opinions), and this book is a nice work of detailing what bull fighting may be.

However, it lacks something.  Missing is the feeling you get when you read a fictional work by Hemingway.  The emotion is there, but the characters are not - they exist but are lost in details.  Details are not Hemingway's forte.  Hemingway's forte is a feeling you get when you hear the truth, but not just the truth.  The feeling is a live creature, which exists only as you read the pages.  It lives in your soul and you cannot describe why, but you cannot shake it.  It is not you, but has something that you want to be or something that will never be able to be seen again.  This is Hemingway, and "Death in the Afternoon" does not have this.  Hemingway knows this.

I ask myself why he wrote this work, and the answer is simple as well as alluded to.  Nothing like it ever existed, and while not thinking he was qualified as an expert, he knew that he had some important things to say on the subject and I believe he just wanted to get it all out.  The information was there to be told, however incomplete.

The book contains many details on technique, history of bullfighters and cities of Spain.  You and I will not understand much of this, but Hemingway does tell us in the book that going beyond a certain chapter without knowledge of bullfighting will not be helpful.  He is right in this.

The book contains humour, which I enjoy.  There is a part where he tells rich people who think they will hate a bullfight to sit up close because after their pre-conceptions have poisoned them and something occurs in the ring to reinforce the pre-conceptions, they can vacate their expensive seats so someone else can get a good seat that could not afford to do so.

There is also a random part about an Old Lady, which I have mentioned above.  I am not sure if this is supposed to be funny, but it is frivolous. 

My review is random sounding with facts - the truth as I see it.  This is an objective of this review, because it will teach you what this book is about.  You will be prepared, which is more than I can say for myself. 

Just like you should not see a bullfight from up close first in Madrid, you should not read this book first if you have not read Hemingway before.  This book is for seasoned Hemingway vets.  This is not meant to demean you if you do not fall into this category, but just to warn you.  Do what you like, but this is the opinion I have on the matter.

Also, if you have pre-conceived notions about bullfighting, please buy a book and vacate your seat in the affair so someone else may be able to have the book who cannot afford it, when your pre-conceived notions on the subject are validated.  Hemingway would like this.

Book Beginnings | Death in the Afternoon

It's Friday again, and time for Book Beginnings (sponsored by Becky at 'Page Turners').

Without further ado, here's the opening line from Hemingway's "Death in the Afternoon":


"At the first bullfight I ever went to I expected to be horrified and perhaps sickened by what I had been told would happen to the horses."
 
This opening line has everything that Hemingway intended.  You feel that you don't really want to know what is going to happen to the horses, because you can pretty much guess.  That said, you still kind of want to know and it makes you want to read on.  Another example of Hemingway playing with you right away.  A strong literary technique to open a book, in my opinion.  What do you think?

Used Book Store Shopping

I was in the middle of posting some comments on a post about used book stores at Ordinary Reader, but the comment would not publish so I figured that I may as well do a post on the subject.

Let me start by saying that I don't really like new book stores and that I generally only shop at them when someone who knows I love books, buys me a gift card or I need a speciality item in a hurry (ie: my swiss travel book).  There have been several occasions where I have come across a new store and stuck my head into it and tried to quickly duck out when someone behind the counter asked "Can I help you?" where I posed this rebuttal question "Only new books?"

There are several reasons why I prefer used books over new ones. 
A) They're cheaper
B) They're better for the environment
C) They smell differently
D) Hunting for them is more fun
E) They can be of better quality
F) They have character

I was trying to pick out which of these descriptors were more important to me, but it's too difficult to fragment an experience into it's constituent elements.  I figured the easiest way to tell you how I feel about used book shopping is to give you an example of how I shop.

There are two types of events to me, as they pertain to book shopping.  One is a planned event and another is unplanned.  They are equally gratifying to me.  Planned events usually involve 'making a day of it' and food or coffee is usually sandwiched between shopping (not the other way around).  If there is an event that limits my ability to take long periods of time to browse, these trips are less enjoyable.  Some stores take me five minutes and some take me more than an hour and I like to be able to do what feels appropriate.

Unplanned events sometimes have unwanted time restrictions, but the 'aha! moment' can be large enough to overcompensate for a lack of time management.  When you stumble upon something great, my first thought is... how much time do I have?  My second thought is.... how am I going to be able to get these books home?  ...and my third thought is... will my spouse kill me?  Admittedly, while this thought occurs to me... it always occurs at the checkout line and by that time I am generally committed.

If I know the bookstore already, here is the general methodology I follow when entering.

1) I say hi to the store owner (if I know him/her).  I don't know all store owners, but I have a few favourites that I like to say hello to and ask them about business and about how they are doing.  The problem is that if I see something pretty WHILE I am talking to them I want to run directly to the section and check it out.  If I'm shopping with someone, this is harder because they get to shop while I'm talking and I feel envious... or frightened that they will find something like a "The Catcher in the Rye" first edition that is priced at $20 or something and that my only chance will have slipped through my fingers.  This has never happened, but the probability is there!! ;)

2) I go to the rare section or the leather bound section first.  If these sections happen to contain amazing finds, I don't make it to the fiction section and I spend all my time humming and hawing and smiling like a little kid until the time comes when I hand over cash or look at the final ominous number on the receipt.  (Parenthetically, I have never spent more than $90 on a single book... and usually my limit is about $60).  This section rarely (pun intended) contains a huge find and sometimes contains a small one but usually has nothing.  If it has nothing, instead of feeling sad I feel relief.  Phew!  I have made it without spending too much on a book.  Then I go to fiction.

3) I scrounge the fiction section in this manner.  Going in alphabetical order is a necessity and I cannot tell you why.  It just is, and I will step over anyone reading on the floor or hogging a section or whatever... in a nice way.  But I am going to get through the section alphabetically.  This is for certain.

I scan the shelves looking for a few things.  The type of edition is important, and nearly everything I buy is hardcover.  I like the structure and with so many unread books on my shelves already I can afford to be picky.  Sometimes I am searching for select titles or authors, and I usually do that on the fly but occasionally after I have made my A-Z journey, I go back and search for select authors because I may have missed them.

4) If the fiction section didn't yield anything, out of respect for the store owner (maybe I've only been there 5 minutes), I TRY to find something else.  I look through history, science fiction/fantasy and some of the popular Malcolm Gladwell type stuff.  If I'm really desperate I go look at the Bibles, but this is unusual and has only lead to one Bible purchase [I have yet to read anything from it].

5) I pay or give the owner a brief farewell.  If I know the owner, I will usually stop and chat some more until I feel awkward for whatever reason (there is a time when all conversations reach a logical conclusion and any length of time after that is just awkward) and then I leave.

That's the process, and I only deviate from it during times when I'm with someone and they want to shop 'together' or I am in a new place and I am so overwhelmed I get excited like a puppy and just start randomly slobbering over everything.

I could get into the types of bookstores that are out there... but I think that's a topic for another post.

Roald Dahl Day

Happy Roald Dahl Day! 

Why is September 13th Roald Dahl Day?  That's an easy one... it was his birthday! 

I don't honestly know if I'll read any Roald Dahl today, but I've been wanting to read "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" for quite some time now.... so we'll see how busy I get. 

Like many others, I have a ton of Roald Dahl memories because I grew up reading his books.  My favourite was definitely "Danny, Champion of the World" ...but I don't remember much about the book other than something about pheasants.  It's been a long time.


I have read the following Dahl books (all from my childhood):

1. James and the Giant Peach
2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
3. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
4. Danny, Champion of the World
5. The BFG
6. The Witches [I was scared by the movie]

I suppose 6 out of his 17 children's stories is not bad... it's amazing on how much of an impression he made on me for only 6 children's books.

I'm shocked that he wrote Gremlins and Matilda... the former being one of my favourite movies from the 80's... looking back, the movie (and it's sequel) is pretty horrible.  Anyway, hope you have a great Roald Dahl Day.  The official website is here: http://www.roalddahlday.info/

The House of Mirth | Edith Wharton

Author's Nationality: American
Original Language: English
Genre: Classics
Publication Date: 1905
Pages: 329

"The House of Mirth" is better reviewed after it is digested, because there are many angles to explore... but I'm chomping at the bit to review it right away so here we go.  The novel was a bit of a struggle because the main character, Lily Bart frustrated the hell out of me.  A few of the characters in the novel will sympathize with me.

Let's start off by saying that the novel is based on Wharton's own experiences, growing up in New York City in the late 1800's.  It's a typical materialistic society, completely based on money and status within society where the rich rarely worked (or didn't need to work), the poor were poor, and the middle-class strive to live like the rich.  The main character, Lily Bart was in the latter category.

Lily Bart was extremely beautiful, which lead all the men to fall in love with her (with negative results) and most of the women to feel envious of her beauty and a desire to break her down with the power they held in society.  Lily Bart's central flaw was her inability to be happy with an existence in her own income (and consequently status) bracket.  She tried to keep up with the Jones' (points for whomever can tell me where this term originates) to the point where she had spent everything she had.  Because she didn't want to live a 'dingy' life and was poor, she had to scheme to get money.  In this society, the way to elevate your position in society was to marry rich and Lily Bart tried to play this game but struggled with the acceptance of her lot.

What makes Lily Bart a sympathetic character, is that while she had a desire for the finer things in life (she was vain and materialistic), she had a problem accepting that she should marry for money and not for love.  Of course, she was able to convince herself on one occasion that marrying for money was not a bad idea... but we are left with the feeling that at some point she would regret this choice if she ever made the plunge.  It's this 'moral code' which made Lily endearing, in a small way and why some (myself not included) view her as a heroine.  She enjoyed helping people (possibly just for the way it made her feel - not entirely altruistic) and when confronted with numerous opportunities to punish those that had wrongly punished her, she chose the high road.

The only likable characters in the book were Lawrence Seldon, and he lost some of his lustre as time wore on and he was bandied about by Lily, and Gerty (Lily's cousin) who was a sweet girl who was happy with her lower status in society.  She was never loved, but she loved many people and contributed to charity and was always striving to aid her friends when in need.  As a reader, this book was a struggle because everyone was phony and obsessed with money which was probably a true account of NYC at the time.

Wharton's Library

I was incredibly impressed with Wharton's metaphors and prose in this novel.  She had a knack for the written word and some of the imagery utilized was fabulous.  In addition, the ending of the book was a thing of beauty... and while you didn't know what was coming exactly, you had the feeling with a title of "The House of Mirth" that things just wouldn't end well.  Speaking of which, the title comes from the Bible...

"The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth." -Ecclesiastes 7:4 KJV

By this account, and the popular though on the subject, is that the people of high society were fools and those wanting to join this group in their 'mirth' were also fools.  I agree with this, but my brain wants to take this to another level.  The 'house of mourning', which I believe is akin the struggle of existence that high society does not have to face, is in fact a real house in this novel.  I believe it's the house of Nettie Crane (Nettie Strathen).  For those who have read this work, what do you think?

Overall, I will say that the struggle through most of the middle of the novel was worth it for the ending, but be prepared for a depressing read.  I would recommend the work, but it's definitely not anywhere near the top of my list.
---
QUOTATIONS
---
"She closed her eyes an instant, and the vacuous routine of the life she had chosen stretched before her like a long white road without dip or turning: it was true she was to roll over it in a carriage instead of trudging it on foot, but sometimes the pedestrian enjoys the diversion of a short cut which is denied to those on wheels." 55-56

"The real alchemy consists in being able to turn gold back again into something else; and that's the secret that most of your friends have lost." 70

"To a torn heart uncomforted by human nearness a room may open almost human arms, and the being to whom no four walls mean more than any others, is, at such hours, expatriate everywhere." 148

Japanese Literature Challenge

Since I finished the Classic Literature Challenge, I figured it was about time I found another one.  This one is the Japanese Literature Challenge which I am stoked about because I have never read anything by a Japanese writer.  I am very shocked to be uttering this... I guess I never really gave it much thought before.
Here are my latest encounters with Japan:

• I just came back from a trip to Switzerland and I met a Japanese ballet dancer from Sapporo.  All I know about the city is that they make good beer. ;)
• I recently found an art book by Hokusai which I absolutely love.  He made the infamous tidal wave drawing that I'm sure you've probably seen around.
• Some of my favourite films are Japanese including Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Ran (all three are Kurosawa films), The Departures (2009), etc.  Some that I have not been completely enamored with include Ugetsu and Late Spring.

The book that I plan on reading for the challenge was recommended to me and is entitled "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion" by Yukio Mishima.  This challenge is a good excuse to put it at the top of the list and have it read by the end January 2011 (when the challenge ends).

Book Beginnings | The House of Mirth

It's Friday again, and time for Book Beginnings (sponsored by Becky at 'Page Turners').

I have come across a bunch of positive reviews for Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth" and I found an english copy floating around in a hoste just as I was finishing "The Fourth Hand", so I figured I would give it a whirl.  Here are the opening lines:

"Selden paused in surprise. In the afternoon rush of the Grand Central Station his eyes had been refreshed by the sight of Miss Lily Bart."
We learn from this that the novel's principle characters will be Selden and Miss Bart and that at least one has a crush (physical or otherwise) on another, and about a quarter of the way through, this has proven to be the case.  As an opening line, I suppose it gets the job done and I like the line "eyes had been refreshed by the sight".  All in all, a decent opening but again... nothing transcendant.

Novels I'm Ashamed I Have Not Read

I've seen a lot of lists recently in the blogger community about books that people are ashamed they haven't read.  I know I'm going to leave something out of this list and I'm going to have to revise it, but I'm going to give it a shot.

My initial thought is that many of these novels will be epics.  The reason I never seem to get to these books is that I like to get through 2 books a month, and since the book club takes up one which is usually less than 500 pages, I am limited to what else I can take on if I want to finish both within the month.  I suppose I could span two months "War and Peace", but I don't like having so many novels up in the air at one time.  Perhaps that's just a cop-out and I'm actually frightened by these books, but I'm not sure where the truth lies.

Here's my list in no particular order.

1. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
I have heard this is not the slog that I originally anticipated, so I really have no excuse here.  I actually have not read any Tolstoy and given my love of other Russian greats (Dostoevsky, Nabokov, Turgenev, Pasternak) I'm ashamed to have not made it to Mr. Tolstoy.

2. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
I enjoyed watching this on BETA as a child and have always wanted to read the novel and in addition to #3, both seem to be regarded as some of his best work (as far as I can tell).

3. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
I feel a tremendous guilt for not reading any Dickens other than "A Christmas Carol." For some reason, not reading the above makes me extremely agitated and I can't tell you why. I just feel like I'm doing a disservice to the literary community by not reading any of Dickens' works.  A friend told me that this is the ultimate (and that I will enjoy it), and I trust her.


4. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
I wasn't a huge fan of Crime and Punishment, but I loved Notes From Underground.  Someone once told me that I should wait until I'm older to read this one... and that's the reason I haven't begun it.  I don't know when I will be considered old enough, so I keep putting it off like it's some sort of justification.
 
5. Ulysses by James Joyce
I have heard this is a tremendously difficult read due to syntax and/or language so I have put it off.  Plus the size of the work is daunting to me.  Again, have yet to read any James Joyce.

6. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
I think I feel guilty that I have read 'The Invisible Man' by H.G. Wells and not Ellison.  They are completely unrelated (one a science experiment turned wrong versus blacks in America), but I guess I feel bad that I read the least important work first.

7. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Honestly, how have I not read this?  I am constantly reminded of a Pablo Picasso painting of Don Quixote and for some reason that makes me want to read the work even more.  It doesn't make sense, but there you have it.

8. The Iliad by Homer
There is no excuse for not reading this.  Since I have seen numerous movies on the subject, I feel as if I should have read this long ago... before all the adaptations which are floating around in my head.

9. The Odyssey by Homer
I read a good part of this in high school, but I would like to read the work in its entirety.  I think I'm at a point in my life now where I can get a lot more out of it... though I loved it as a kid, for probably different reasons - more like an adventure novel.

10. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
See #3... I generally regard this as the third Dickens book I should read but I contemplate putting David Copperfield here.  Maybe Roof Beam Reader can enlighten me on the order I should read Dickens, since he has delved into quite a few of his works.

11. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
I read about a quarter of this and loved it... but never finished it [this continuously nags me at the back of my brain every time I hear the title mentioned].  I have a vivid picture of Queequeg and I'm so interested in learning what he's all about.

12. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
I'm scared of reading this and I don't know why.  I almost feel like I need to learn Italiano before I delve into it.  I almost bought a 500 Euro Italian copy in Florence, but I realized this would have been stupid.  It was a beautiful brown leather copy which came in a special case.  If I find the picture I took of it, I'll post it here.

13. Walden by Henry David Thoreau
No hippy (or semi-hippy) has an excuse for not reading this.  After hearing from Dead White Guys on the subject though, I am not running to my shelves to get into it.

14. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
I read part of this book on a trip to the Dominican Republic.  When I started reading the part where God unleashed his furious wrath on the vessel, my plane got struck by lighting.  You can't make this up.  I never finished the book after that and I don't know why.  I also own 3 copies or more of this one.

15. The Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin
I feel like I cannot praise the work of Darwin without reading it.  I have heard a lot about Russel's works too and I would love to read both if I ever got the chance.  The size of this one unnerves me and I also would have to read "The Voyage of the Beagle" ...and I can't figure out which I need to read first. 

16. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Since I went to Chateau D'If off the coast of Marseilles, I think I owe it to myself to read this one.  The reason I haven't is due to length and the fact that 'The Three Muskateers' was such a slog to me.

17. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
See #1.

18. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
I can't watch the movie until I read the book.  Why this is the only book by a female author on my list... I do not know.

19. Herzog by Saul Bellow
I simply loved "Henderson, the Rain King" and this book is supposed to be better.  Plus, Bellow is Canadian.  I don't have a copy of this one, so that's my excuse.  I also want to read 'The Adventures of Augie March' and 'Humboldts Gift', but I think I need to read 'Herzog' first.

20. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
I read "The Chrysallids' in high school years ago and enjoyed it.  I have had numerous people tell me to read this one, and I never have.  My rationale is that I don't have a hardcover of this one because it's so tough to find.  One day I will find a copy of the Omnibus and read all three works in it at the same time.

Those are the books that haunt my existence, and I'm sure the list is growing rather than shrinking.  I'm currently taking suggestions on which of these I should start with.

What books do you feel ashamed you have not yet read?

The Fourth Hand | John Irving

Author's Nationality: American
Author's Original Name: John Wallace Blunt, Jr.
Original Language: English
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 352

I must have known somehow about how Patrick Wallingford lost his left hand prior to my post a couple of weeks ago on the opening line from the novel.  It gets eaten by a lion.  Okay, this is not really a spoiler... you find it out in the first chapter or two which leads me to believe that I've read a portion of this book before and put it down before completion.

I'm not going to say much about this book except that it pales in comparison to both "The World According to Garp" and "A Prayer for Owen Meany", both books I absolutely loved.

This book is about Patrick Wallingford, a ladies man and a journalist that loses his hand.  The novel is really a different type of love story where Patrick finally falls in love with a women who is not just some girl who wants to sleep with him (he's basically what some term as 'easy' and just waits to be approached by women because he's so good looking).  The book was plastered with sexuality, and some would say sexual perversion.  I suppose it's up to the reader to make a judgement call on that one - I will just say that I after a while I was thinking 'okay, Irving... enough with all this sex.  I don't want to read a Harlequin romance novel."

SPOILERS BEGIN HERE.

The premise is this:  Wallingford loses his hand to a lion.  He hates his job as a journalist because journalism is not what it used to be - it's smutty.  He sleeps around with women and has only two long term relationships.  Eventually, a woman out of nowhere offers her husband's hand as a transplant.  This man, Otto, eventually gets killed (accidentally by himself in typical Irving style) and his hand is surgically attached to Wallingford.  He impregnates this woman as a 'service' for the hand and now he has a baby with a woman that he 'loves' - this woman doesn't give him the time of day... she only cares about the hand.  She replaces the love of the hand for the child she bears (and thus, the hand doesn't have a reason for living anymore and eventually 'dies').  Wallingford finally gets fired from his job and eventually gets Otto's ex-wife to agree to marry him because she wants to try to love him.  Throw in a bunch of sex and that's it in a nutshell.

I think all the sex* took away from the book, and while the love story was there and interesting (since it was atypical), the novel on the whole did very little for me.  It wasn't as funny as "A Prayer for Owen Meany" and it didn't have any strong messages that either Garp or Owen Meany had that I believe will stick with me.  The characters weren't really endearing and not a lot actually happened.  Let's just say that I wasn't impressed, and if I read another Irving novel it would probably be "The Cider House Rules" because I've heard that that's really the only other one that is a decent read.

Anyone else have opinions on Irving or this novel?

*Note: There is a good chart of Irving's reoccurring themes and sexual variations here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Irving

QUOTATIONS:
"...books, and sometimes movies, are more personal than that; they can be mutually appreciated, but the specific reasons for loving them cannot satisfactorily be shared." 322

"What do medical school students know about having lives?  They haven't had time to have lives." 347

Charlotte's Web | E.B. White

Publication Date: 1952

Author's Nationality: American

Author's Real Name: Elwyn Brooks White

Original Language: English

Genre: Classics (children's literature)
Pages: 184

After reading "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" I decided to make a conscious effort to revisit some of my childhood favourites.  Since I was going away on vacation, I figured I would have enough time to get through "Charlotte's Web", one of my favourite books as a child.  However, I had so much to do at work that I had to finish the book when I got back.  Due to this, I read the book in two parts... prior to the fair and everything after.

This is still one of my favourite books of all-time, and one that I will read to my children.  White does a tremendous job of taking complex themes like aging, coping with death, friendship and love and somehow makes them simpler to understand.  The book is obviously not just for children; adults can learn a lot about life through the prose as well.  The book serves as a constant reminder of what life is like through the eyes of a child, and it's always important to reinforce childhood memories in order to understand their children but also to understand what was and is important to them.  I love the line "children almost always hang onto things tighter than their parents think they will," because I think it's very true.  Children are sometimes not given credit for their memory because some events they bounce back from very quickly.  Others are very important and stay with you into adulthood.

The book has a nice balance of happiness and sadness... akin to the ebbs and flows of a 'normalized' life.  I was reading John Irving's "The Fourth Hand" on vacation and it mentioned that if you didn't cry when you read "No one was with her when (Charlotte) died" then you weren't human, or something of that ilk.  It was a touching line and often a reality in death.  Wilbur had a tough time coping with his own finite life, but he had an even tougher time losing a friend.  I know as a child I lost many friends in all my moving around, and while I don't remember being read this at the time... it may have helped.  I would surely read it to my child if the situation arose.

This book is timeless (except one reference which stood out to me about recycling and a second about the novelty of a 'deep freeze'), and will continue to be read to generations.  I believe the first time I read Charlotte's Web was after White's death in 1985... and it still rings true to me 25 years later.  White left a wonderful legacy... despite the limited number of publications he produced.  Another reminder of quality over quantity... a lesson that if more learned, would do the world much good.

I have never read "Stuart Little" so I may eventually give that a go.  I feel like the movie (I'm not sure if I watched it or just the previous) tainted my opinion on it but hopefully I can look upon it with to as close as a tabla rasa as possible.

QUOTATIONS:
"What a gamble friendship is!" 41
"Wilbur was merely suffering the doubts and fears that often go with finding a new friend." 41
"People are not as smart as bugs." 67
"Children almost always hang onto things tighter than their parents think they will." 69
"You're terrific as far as I'm concerned," replied Charlotte sweetly, "and that's what counts.  You're my best friend and I think you're sensational." 91
"When words appeared everyone said they were a miracle.  But nobody pointed out that the web itself is a miracle." 109
"Friendship is one of the most satisfying things in the world." 115

Lights, Camera, Blog Action!

So I've been away on vacation for quite a bit and in the midst of it, Becky at Page Turners posted a sort of book blogger synopsis on her sight.  The concept of "Lights, Camera, Blog Action" is to highlight other blogs in the blogosphere.  I'm going to reprint my responses, though re-reading them makes me cringe a little.  Sometimes I am in a dramatic mood and I find you really need to be in a dramatic mode to feel posts like these.  I wonder if authors have a hard time reading their works after the fact, or if they think 'wow, someone really understands me.'  I guess it depends on how much one changes over time.

Tell us something about yourself
I'm the slowest reader in the history of the planet. It partly has to do with the fact that I hear myself speaking the prose in my head as I read and when the book is not to my liking or I'm particularly busy in 'real life', I tune out quite a bit. I have a passion for leather books and books with slipcases (the former because I like the feel and smell and the latter for the structure).

My perfect moment would be sitting in a hammock by a quiet lake, reading a book while the wind dances with the trees and caresses my skin. There is nothing better in the world. Add a coffee to this and the warmth of the sun and I just may cry due to happiness overload.

What was your favourite book as a child or young adult, and why?
I remember in elementary school, taking out our textbook and reading selected excerpts from popular works. Other than “Jabberwocky”, the ones that stick out in my head were Homer’s “Odyssey” (which I have yet to read) and “Riddles in the Dark”, the popular chapter where Bilbo wins the Ring in a battle of wits with Gollum. I loved the excerpt so much that I made my father buy me the novel along with most of the Lord of the Rings books that the store had (they were missing the Fellowship of the Ring, so I ended up getting a different edition – this perturbed me for years afterwards). Anyway, I remember being shocked that my father would actually buy these for me. I can’t remember him ever having bought me anything, and he has never been a fan of literature (he only reads John Grisham novels), so I must have made some sort of impression on him.

I loved “The Hobbit” the most of the Tolkien books. I have read it twice and I still have many fond memories that will never be affected by the movies. I long to attend the table of Beorn and watch him shapeshift. I would like to whistle with Tom Bombadill, roving through tall grasses and sitting by willow trees. I long to sit by the fire and eat sweetcakes with Bifor, Bofur and Bombur... and all the other dwarfs. When in a rut, I’d love to go adventuring on the downs (despite the danger) and see what prizes can be found there. In short, the world Tolkien created fascinated me and appealed to me on a level that I never knew existed. It took me to places I had never been before and I continually want to grab the book from my shelves and dive back into it.

Why do you love to read?
Occasionally, I will read something that will strike such a tremendous chord with me. It will change the way I look at life, the world, or my place in it. When this happens, I can feel as if my life is expanding... as if I am growing in a productive manner, despite not doing anything typically termed 'productive'. I read for these moments, and I am constantly looking for inspiration and I'd like to think in an eclectic way... something that is very unique to myself. I have quotes on sticky notes all around my work space to remind me of things that are important. Here are two: "Nobody promises you tomorrow" [dont' know where I got this one - it's a bit hokey, but it's holistic] and "Man is free the moment he wants to be" by Voltaire.
How do you choose your books?
I read mostly classics. Some think this is stuffy, but my rationale is this: I have limited time on this earth (and you all know I read very slowly now), and I would like to offer myself the greatest probability of obtaining these precious moments through literature. I constantly feel the weight of remorse... that I will not get to read everything I want to before I leave my body. If I read something modern, I have to really believe it will be something special because it will cause me to not have time for something else.

(Parenthetically, I never read synopsis', because I feel they will change my perspective on books).

What are you currently reading and what's been the best book you have read in the last 6 months?
I'm currently reading "The Curse of Lono" by Hunter S. Thompson. This kind of flies in the face of my usual classics, but the book is a work of art in itself (Ralph Steadman's artistic personifications of the author's thoughts scare and teach me at the same time).

The best book I have read in the last six months is Thomas Hardy's "Jude the Obscure." Thomas Hardy is a genius, but he takes an emotional toll.

If you had to narrow it down - who would be your 3 favourite authors and what would be your 3 favourite books?

Favourite Authors:
Ernest Hemingway
John Steinbeck
The third is tough, because I have only read one by each, but I'm going to have to go with either Boris Pasternak or Vladamir Nobokov.

Favourite Books:
"The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger
"Notes from Underground" by Fyodor Dostoevsky
"Doctor Zhivago" by Boris Pasternak

The talent here is so dense, it is painful to pare it down to such a small list.

When and why did you start your blog?
I started my blog for me... because I realized that I forgot a lot about the books I read over time. In most cases I knew how I felt about a work, but only really select tidbits about it. I created this blog to keep my memories in tact. What I found out was, my experiences with books do not end. Over time, my perceptions and thoughts about a work change and I have realized that all these experiences are floating inside my being, making me who I am.

How did you choose your blog's name?
I've always felt like an "Eclectic" person and I really LOVE this word, so it kind of stuck. The Indulgence part just came to me one day, because really... my experiences with good books can be classified as an indulgence, like a creamy unbaked cheesecake or a coffee made of freshly ground beans on a Saturday morning. There are no price tags on experiences like these, and the indulgences are what makes life magic.

Thus, my blog's name is "Eclectic Indulgence."

What do you love about book blogging?
Learning... about myself, others and literature out there I have yet to experience.

What tips do you have to offer to other book bloggers?
If you blog, do it for yourself first. People will enjoy hearing what you have to say if you just be who you are and love what you do. You don't have to be technically astute, you just have to love and be willing to share that with the world.