Review: Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

I love the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's and I enjoyed the movie Capote with Philip Seymour Hoffman. So, I figured I needed to read Capote's novella that inspired Breakfast at Tiffany's. And I loved it. If you need a plot summary click here.

Fantastic prose. First person narration doesn't really describe it. It's chock full of conversation which is not what I tend to associate with "literature." But this is the good stuff. The conversations are interesting because they reveal the way Holly's world works -- the way she works, the way 1950s New York society works and how people perceive other people. Also, they're funny conversations -- unusual and witty.

How people perceive other people... I think this is why I enjoyed "Fred's" narration so much. He's not really telling us a story about himself like most first person narrators do. He doesn't droll on about his own feelings (interesting though they are). He's telling us Holly's story -- she's the main character and "Fred" is just the one to tell us about her. The fact that we never know "Fred's" real name drives home this point for me. "Fred's" perspective is limited to his direct and indirect encounters with Holly and information passed through the grape vine. As a result, Holly is something more than a character in a book. She's that person we all knew once or maybe catch glimpses of in ourselves. "Fred's" narration makes me wonder: Am I who I think I am or, am I who others think am I? Which is the truer perspective? The narration works well in establishing both "Fred" and Holly's characters and their relationship and is a technique I haven't really encountered before (or noticed if I have).

On the surface, Breakfast at Tiffany's is about a quirky girl who obeys her own ambiguous set of rules. But I found this book is really about getting to know someone -- encountering a person who is special, unusual and magnetizing but also evanescent, elusive and fragile. That's Holly Golightly. The reader goes through this social experience with "Fred," getting to know Holly with him.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite passages with O.J. and "Fred" talking, O.J. speaking first...

"So," he said, "what do you think: is she or ain't she?"
"Ain't she what?"
"A phony."
"I wouldn't have thought so."
"You're wrong. She is a phony. But on the other hand you're right. She isn't a phony because she's a real phony. She believes all this crap she believes" (28-29).


Publisher: Modern Library, 1994 (originally, 1958)     Pages: 3-105 (of 161)
Full Title: Breakfast at Tiffany's: A Short Novel and Three Stories
Rating: 5 Stars     Source: Public Library

Review: North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

I recently re-watched BBC’s North and South miniseries (2004) and liked it so well I downloaded the book to my kindle and began reading. This is one of the few times I felt the film adaptation was better than the book.

North and South tells the story of the Margaret Hale whose father, because of his conscience, leaves the ministry and relocates his family to the northern manufacturing town of Milton. Margaret languishes in Milton’s smog, missing friends while caring for an ailing parent. The only society to be found is with Milton’s elite tradesmen of whom Margaret thinks little. Meanwhile, Milton’s workmen go on strike (relatively novel in the mid 1800s as factory work was fairly new), causing trouble and unrest for the entire town.

Where Gaskell lost me is with the general characterization of Margaret. She’s too perfect. For instance, she tells one lie (to ensure someone’s safety) and, because she was caught in her lie by the man she cares about, she hates herself. With 20/20 hindsight, Margaret feels her lie was unnecessary and totally wrong and can’t get over the fact that her love interest thinks ill of her because he knows she lied. The self-loathing went on for far too many pages (and months in the story). Margaret: Girl, an innocent life was at stake so you told a lie. So what if that guy knows you lied. If he doesn’t care to understand the whole story, and you can’t bare to tell him, then move on.

Margaret Hale: misunderstood angel. Blah.

Where the novel was interesting was in the class conflict. Interactions between Margaret’s (demoted) family, the elite tradesmen and the workmen fueled the plot. I enjoyed the fiery conversations between Mr. Thornton (factory owner/love interest) and Margaret. I liked her spunk in speaking her opinion about the treatment of workmen as well as Mr. Thornton’s personal story. I’m not sure if they ever agree completely but they do influence each other enough to consider the other’s point of view.

Despite my frequent frustration with Margaret, I enjoyed Gaskell’s writing and her ability to weave a multi-layered story. It has a recognizable pattern (romance) but creates enough tension between characters to keep one reading to see their reactions. Though a friend of Charlotte Bronte’s, Gaskell’s writing lacks the darker shades of her friend’s writing. North and South does not explore the power struggle between Margaret and Mr. Thornton as well as it could have and like we see between Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester. Yet, North and South was not a light book as it took the manufacturing strike seriously. There was really no humor at all (missing Jane Austen’s wit) and so this novel fizzled out for me.

Give me passion and action or at least some intelligent humor (shoot, any humor) but not  this “oh, no. He thinks me a fallen woman!” crap. The miniseries is excellent. The book is for die-hard Victorian novel lovers who, like myself, will find some level of enjoyment in the cultural aspect of the story as much or more than the supposed romance. It was a struggle to finish but I’m glad I did.

Have you seen the movie or read the book? Both? What do think?

Publisher: Kindle Edition, 2009 (First published: 1855)     Pages: 499
Rating: 3 Stars     Source: free on Amazon

Review: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

If you’re new to the classics scene, especially Victorian era classics, and have been previously daunted by the length of Victorian novels, I recommend trying A Christmas Carol. I enjoyed this novella. In only a few pages, Dickens creates interesting characters that you care about and a story you want to finish. Even if you've seen movies based on this tale the book is still worth reading. 

Dickens was a master at writing for his audience, pulling on just the right strings, and those strings still pull 21st century readers. The supernatural element creates a surprisingly spooky environment for a Christmas story. I have to wonder if people thought Dickens was crazy -- “You’re going to write a ghost story about Christmas?” -- but it works and is truly a wonderful, touching little story about a greedy man who reconnects with the important things in life -- people. Did you read A Christmas Carol? What did you think?

Publisher: Dover, 1991     Pages: 68
Rating: 5 Stars     Source: purchased copy

"The Other Side of the Hedge" by E.M. Forster: A Short Story Saturday Post

It's time for Short Story Saturday! Today's story, "The Other Side of the Hedge" by E.M. Forster, can be read for free here in about 10 minutes or less. I hope you'll read it and share your thoughts with me!

Forster's short story is striking commentary on the drive towards a preconceived notion of success. It also makes me think of times in life when things were in limbo like after highschool when I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do. The protagonist is shocked when the the other side of the hedge leads nowhere: "But it must lead somewhere!" Sometimes there is such pressure (as often self-imposed as not) to proove we are progressing on a prescribed track that it leaves little room for exploration. The man is so consumed with making progress, so focussed on tracking his steps, that he can't see he's been going around in circles and not truly advancing. He's also abandoned relationships with those he viewed as competition.

Though not my favorite short story nor favorite Forster text, "The Other Side of the Hedge" can get you thinking critically about what you're doing and why you're doing it. And if a text as short as this can accomplish that then it gets a thumbs up from me.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is what you might call a mash-up. A mash-up in literature takes one genre and inserts elements of another genre into it.  In this case, we have a classic mashed with elements of parody and horror/pop-culture zombie elements. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is more of a spoof, a comedy aimed at poking fun at the original text, and not a scary tale. Let’s compare the first lines of each book. The original Austen: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” The Grahame-Smith version: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.”  Clearly, the zombie book is making fun of the boy-crazy Bennet girls who, in the original text, spend the entire novel looking for a boyfriend/spouse. In the new novel, a girl of good repute will have renowned martial arts skills which she employs to kill zombies. The zombies appear in “slow” parts of the novel – during a coach ride or during a walk. They aren’t scary

Summary: "As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Can she vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is something you'll want to read and is a great book to read along with the original."

and the battle-scenes were not what I usually expect from a scary zombie or funny zombie book/movie. I think the idea behind this novel is a great one - take a classic and make it relevant to 21st century readers. But it was hard for me to finish and left me wishing I had reread the original.

For more information on mash-ups, particularly historical ficiton YA mash-ups check out this article by blogger/librarian  Melissa Rabey.

Publisher: Quirk Books, 2009     Pages: 320
Rating: 2.5 Stars     Source: IC Public Library   

Review: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Ok, so this post is less of a “review” and more of a book talk. I mean, Shakespeare has been dead for how long? (395 years!) But I find this play's long-lasting fame a bit of a mystery.

There’s a lot to draw from Shakespeare’s plays especially if you read them as historical texts. It’s great fun to read the plays from a feminist perspective. The whole “women as commodities” lens is just too easy to apply. (For an in depth look at this idea read Luce Irigaray’s “Women on the Market.”) Of course, we could read through a Marxist lends or a psychoanalyst lens.

But let’s put these lenses aside and explore what a reading of Romeo and Juliet is to the modern reader who has no direct interest in Elizabethan England but just wants to read a good story. Immediately we have a problem. Romeo and Juliet is a play not a book. I think it loses its magic when there are no actors to interpret the text and put it in action.

The reading experience, having the original text side-by-side with a modern interpretation, was strange. I had to stop and read the modern version so often it severely altered the flow of the play. While it added to my understanding, the modern version lacked the linguistic beauty of the original. However, I think high school students might benefit from the modern version. If the original is just too cumbersome to read they will still get the gist of the story by reading the interpretation. But I find I prefer knowledgeable footnotes.

The story is pretty straight forward. Two powerful families are fighting and their respective son and daughter fall in love at first sight. The young lovers are unable to successfully run off together because they are kids without powerful enough connections and the romance turns tragic and they die. The families learn their lesson. End of story.

Why does Romeo and Juliet get so much attention? The story is just ok. The original prose is not as captivating as other plays. There are a couple great monologues by the two protagonists but otherwise the lines drag on. It’s a story of young love so I guess that’s why they teach it in high school. But what’s wrong with The Tempest?  Or As You Like It which is much funnier? 

What about you guys? Do you love Romeo and Juliet? What is your favorite Shakespeare play?

Publisher: Barron’s, 1984     Pages: 282
Rating: 2.5 Stars     Source: Purchased at Walden Books (right before they closed. Boo!)

Short Story Saturday: The Door by E.B. White

So, you think you know E.B. White, huh? Charlotte’s Web. Stuart Little. Both classic children’s stories. Who doesn’t love Wilbur? Well, creativity knows no bounds. Prepare yourself for an entirely different side of this beloved American author.

“The Door” by E.B. White (1899-1985) It should take about 7-8 minutes to read.

After reading the story what do you feel? What do you think? What are the words that come to mind?

Are you feeling confused? Perhaps a bit uneasy? Maybe even chuckling to yourself or thinking “huh, what was that?” Then not to worry. You totally got the story.

White takes us through a tormented mind and makes the reader experience the madness of the character. The reader begins to go crazy trying to keep up with the shifting point of view as the male protagonist describes modern life as a rat maze. We have so many choices but how real is our control? Can the chaos of life be conquered? Is reality what we make of it or, is reality out there regardless of whether or not we see clearly - that curb coming up to meet our foot? This story, first published in The New Yorker in 1939, is a great example in the shift from modernism to postmodernism in literature.

Not your average barnyard tale is it? I hope you enjoyed “The Door.” I’d love to hear your thoughts on the story!

50 Great Short Stories, pages 348-353. 

Publisher: Bantam Classics, 2005

Source: Purchased from Amazon

Review: The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

Forgive me if this post seems a little…phony. Apparently, since I’m an adult it can’t be helped. Or so says Holden Caulfield, teenage wise guy extraordinaire. Did you ever wish as a child that you would never grow up? I know I did. I thought life was as close to perfect as it was going to get and any change could only be bad.

Holden is experiencing this fear of change, too, but on a grander scale. He’s lost his little brother to cancer, a friend has committed suicide and he’s failing school. He is growing up and can’t put adulthood off much longer. Life is sucking. This is where we find Holden when the book opens.

While Holden thinks that nobody understands him countless readers have identified with him throughout the book’s life. The first time I read The Cather in the Rye I disliked it. It was hard for me to feel sorry for a spoiled rich boy who can’t seem to think of anyone but himself. On my second read, I was surprised to find how funny and perceptive Holden is. Granted, his views are tainted with teenage angst and attitude. But much of what Holden perceives as “phony” does warrant criticism. The problem is, Holden has trouble seeing his own phoniness.

The Cather in the Rye brings mortality to the present. Death is always in the future tense (especially for teens) - I will die...in a distant future so far I never need to think about it. However, death is always around us and cares not for time frames. The good news is death tends to leave life in it’s wake. When  you’re grieving, though, the circle-of-life kind of theorizing doesn’t help much. For many survivors who have lost loved ones, life can feel phony.

What Holden experiences is far from phony. Perhaps Holden is not typical, but certainly his experiences with friends, teachers, parents, sexuality and death have an undercurrent of truth which reflect many reader’s feelings.

Publisher: Little, Brown, 2001    Pages: 277
Rating: 3.5 Stars     Source: IC Public Library

"The End of Books" by Octave Uzanne: A Short Story Saturday Feature

There's been speculation that the physical book as we know it is on its way out. What with Kindles, audio books and the plethora of articles online, sometimes it feels like print could disappear and the world would still function. This is an issue my classmates and I have been discussing and it hits a tender nerve with me. Honestly, I think it's going to be a long time before digital resources could be in the position to trump print. I have my reasons which we'll begin to explore today and more so in my next post.

This man started it all. Johannes Gutenberg's movable type press, invented in 1439, lead the way to the mass production of books that we revel in today. Many thanks Johannes! Print's role as King of Text has been challenged for quite some time. The print vs. digital saga we're experiencing now is just another skirmish in an ongoing battle for textual dominance. Would it surprise you to to know that people have been thinking about this issue for over a hundred years?

Octave Uzanne  (1851-1931) was a French bibliophile, author, journalist and book snob extraordinaire (see link for photos of his lavish books). If you're a book lover or intrigued by the print vs. digital issue, I think you will enjoy this short story.

I give you "The End of Books."

My Reactions: 

I was surprised at how accurate some of Uzanne’s predictions were. Of course, the phonograph with wax cylinders did not last long. But the idea for audio books is there which I found interesting. However, Uzanne pokes fun at the idea of audio books. He suggests people can’t be bothered to strain their eyes to read (or they’re just too lazy to read) so they listen to books instead. What do you all think of this idea? Do audio books offer the exact same experience that reading a book does? I’ve often wondered about this (hmm… maybe I should research this topic!). What is the same? What is different?

New media brings new possibilities and challenges. Edison’s phonograph made recording audio possible. Uzanne envisions authors becoming narrators and since anybody can talk anybody can record – good writers or not! Surely the quality of self-published material will be far inferior to anything recognized by peers and published by a respectable publishing house. Right? Or, no? What about blogging? Isn’t it the same concept – anybody can publish whether they’re good at creating content or not. Unlike Uzanne, I’ve never bemoaned this fact. I find it exciting that more and more people can reach a greater audience though self-publishing efforts. Good content will, in time, find more readers and the not-so-good content will find less readers. Marketing strategies aside, I think it’s that simple.

What I agree/disagree on with Uzanne:

• Agree: Other forms of textual media will rise that will become popular (like audio books and e-readers) but they will not utterly replace the book. 
• Agree: The mass production of books means many will be created that are not meant to last.
• Disagree: The mass production of anything less than “literature” of the highest quality will lead to the doom of man’s intelligence! Smart people are naturally drawn to nerdy, smart things and won’t stop because someone wrote, and they read, a subpar book (example: I read and relatively enjoyed Twilight. No, my brain has not quit working).
• Agree: Print is a large, integral part of our industry and will not be snuffed out in only a few years because new media emerged. Even though bookstores have been closing (we are in a recession after all), book publishers are hanging in there and still produce large numbers of physical books.
• Agree: The aesthetic experience of holding and reading a book cannot be duplicated. Either it’s paper or it isn’t.
• Disagree: Author as publisher means too much bad literature! Author as publisher means more good literature (that might never have surfaced under other circumstances).

For all Uzanne’s foresight he does not envision the complicated digital world we live in today. My posts live online (via the server who stores them for me) and in a document file on my computer. I have no physical copies. Will Blogger store my blog posts for the next 10 years, my lifetime, forever? What if my computer crashes and I lose all my documents? What about online articles and ebooks?

Keep an eye out for "The Saga of Print vs. Digital Continued." Today’s post scratched the surface of why digital resources are not ready to act as King of Text. In my follow up post I’ll discuss exactly why digital media are not yet trustworthy enough to store all of planet Earth’s information as well as ongoing efforts to remedy this issue.

This has been a Short Story Saturday feature. Happy reading!

Short Story Saturday: "The Man Higher Up" by O. Henry

For today’s Short Story Saturday I read “The Man Higher Up” by O. Henry. This is the first work I’ve read by O. Henry (pen name for William Sydney Porter, 1862-1910) and I was very impressed. Why I’ve never read anything by this American author before is a mystery. In school it was all Faulkner and Hemingway who are fine and dandy but honestly, I thought “The Man Higher Up” demonstrates as much skill as the other two authors and was more enjoyable to read.

For your reading pleasure, here’s the full text of “The Man Higher Up.” It’s about a 10-15 minute read. 

Which is worse: Wall Street speculation or plain old fashioned burglary? This is the story’s premise.

What I enjoyed about “The Man Higher Up”:

•    The work captures the hierarchical nature of society and points out that even “degenerates” have their classes.
•    The irony, sarcasm and word-play are great fun.
•    The point of view is masterfully crafted. We have an unknown narrator sharing a conversation he had with a friend, Jeff Peters. Peters tells his long story to this narrator. So, we get a wonderfully distorted first-person narrative. And it works.
•    The dialog is smart, witty and creates one-of-a-kind characters.
•    The “surprise ending,” for which O. Henry is known, brings the story full-circle and gave me a nice chuckle.

I highly recommend this short story and I’ll be keeping my eye out for O. Henry in the future. If you’ve read the story, what did you think of it?

I read this story from an anthology, 50 Great Short Stories, pages 181-193. 

Publisher: Bantam Classics, 2005

Source: Purchased from Amazon

Short Story Saturday: A New Feature in which we read Araby

Welcome to Short Story Saturday!

Short stories are often neglected in favor of the novel but short stories can be just as fun, interesting and challenging as their longer counterpart. Whether you already love short stories, have never read one before or fall somewhere in between, I hope you will consider joining me each weekend to read and explore these literary  nuggets!

Today’s short story is “Araby,” a classic by James Joyce. The full text can be read for free here. But before we delve into the text let’s consider just what a short story is.

What is a Short Story?
    The jury is still but here are some generalizations:
    The Short Story…
•    Can be read in one sitting; is more than 500 but less than 20,000 words long
•    Often captures a moment – much like a photograph
•    Is traditionally fiction
•    Reveals character and conflict quickly
•    Requires careful diction (word choice) because there’s limited space to get meaning across
•    Generally has a single focus (whereas a novel may have several)
•    Often ends with a revelation or epiphany

A Brief History of the Short Story
    Anecdotes –> Parables –> Fables (like Aesop’s) –> Tales (including fairy tales) –> Short Stories!

Questions to Think About When Reading a Short Story:
•    What is left off the page, what is implied/ unresolved?
•    What are possible outcomes, what might happen if the story continued?
•    Is there allegory, symbol, epiphany?

If you haven’t already, go ahead and read through “Araby.” It’s very short and shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes. My approach to “Araby” is more of an analysis so I’ll assume you’ve read it or, in other words, expect spoilers.

As you may know, “Araby” is part of a collection called Dubliners (1914) in which Joyce attempts to reveal the average life of the Irish. Joyce is the master of epiphany – a moment in which a character has a revelation or illumination. His aim is to portray the Irish middle class as realistically as he can. Joyce is also a writer from the Modern Period (1914-1945 or WWI-WWII).  For more info on the Modern Period in English and American literature check out this Wikipedia page.

By the way, this analysis was part of a paper I wrote so don’t steal my ideas! 

Typical of a short story, there is a lot going on. Joyce does a lot of contrasting. Did you find any symbols or contrasting elements? What about that apple tree in the garden? The dead priest? The rusty bicycle pump?

There are several romantic elements contrasted with anti-romantic elements.
Romantic elements:
•    Exploration   
•    Watching the girl through the blinds
•    Imagining she was with him
•    Girl as a Virgin Mary image (remember when she’s lit up from behind?) that the boy exalts and worships
•    High expectations for the bazaar

Anti-Romantic Elements:
•    Drunken men at the market
•    Cheapening of the bazaar – counting money is a trivialization of love, silly flirtation between the salesgirl and boys
•    Bicycle pump is rusted and disused (an impotent phallic image associated with the priest?)
•    Air is musty, ashy and cold
•    Girl as a sex object

The place, people and pervading mood in Joyce’s “Araby” do not appear conducive to happiness or hope. Yet the adolescent protagonist clings to these emotions despite the stark realities of life around him. He thinks he is untouched by the gloom that abounds and that he is somehow not subject to the elements surrounding his life.

The opposite sex and romance is a mystery to him. He forms his notion of romance from his observations of a friend’s sister. He takes notice of the way she moves her body and watches her dress swing. He follows her from a distance, almost like a stalker. He received no encouragement in his infatuation but he makes himself believe he has found love. He mistakes his infatuation for the girl as something sacred which he is protecting and using to strengthen himself. The boy pushes aside all calls to reality in order to maintain his delusion of romance.

He sets off for Araby, the bazaar, full of expectation and desire. He has built up the bazaar as he built up his infatuation for the girl – both a figment of his imagination. The bazaar does not satisfy his expectations because the show is over and nothing is left but the architecture. He sees how arbitrary and meaningless it really is. He hears the vendors speaking with English accents and realizes he doesn’t belong. He is Irish and poor.

He sees how he deceived himself even though everything around him was ordinary, unmagical and even ugly. He says, “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger” (41). He realizes the absurdity of his infatuation with the girl and the bazaar. He becomes disillusioned and realizes he saw what he wanted to see when his picture of romance could not function in reality. He couldn’t force his illusion to work outside his home where he could not control the environment. Hopes and dreams do not always actualize and reality must be dealt with. The boy is angered at himself for being so vain as to think his hope alone could change his world. It is a painful but also maturing experience.

So, what did you think of the story? Did you like it, did it strike a chord? Was it too dark? Does it end well? Did you want to cry, laugh? Is there hope in this story?

I feel something different almost every time I read “Araby.” Sometimes I feel bad for the boy because he’s poor. Other times I can’t get over how silly he was about the girl. Sometimes I can feel Joyce’s disillusionment with the Catholic faith and at other times I just think the religious symbols are convenient. I also love how Joyce personifies the houses! I think he may be the first to give houses “faces.” Anyone know differently?  At first, I used to think the story was very dark. But the last line always makes me smile. Don’t we all have similar moments when we feel the fool?

Well, this was a heavy post and probably not something to expect from every Short Story Saturday. I’ll try to choose at least a couple stories each month that are available for free online so you can read with me if you want. Happy Reading!

Northanger Abbey Finale: Chapters 24-31

This post is part of a readalong and contains plot references/spoilers! Here are links to my other N.A. posts: Chatpers 1-9, 10-15, 16-23. 

I finished this novel while reading in the car so I didn't take any notes which means I don't have quotes or reactions to specific chapters. However, I'll give you my overall impression.

In many ways I was happy with this ending. Catherine finally realizes how absurd her gothic projections have been. She manages to learn from her mistakes and begins interpreting people and circumstances correctly.  I thought it was a sign of maturity that Catherine took Henry's mild chastisement and, realizing her errors, refused to let her imagination run wild anymore. I was worried Catherine would return to Isabella and was glad she did not renew the friendship.

Concerning the romance, I was left feeling mystified. What exactly drew Henry and Catherine together? I didn't feel privy enough to Henry's thoughts to know why he pursued Catherine. He didn't seem particularly passionate about her except at the end when he rode out to her house. Do you think Henry was motivated by love or by a desire to prove his independence to his father, the General? Perhaps a little of both? I'm thinking Henry knew he liked Catherine right away and only waited to to get to know her more before proposing. As far as I remember, Catherine was always transparent with Henry (correct me if you find places where she was not) even when it embarrassed her to be. Perhaps Henry was happy to find someone who was easy to read because she was honest - unlike the General Tilney, Captain Tilney and the Thorpes.

My favorite aspect of Northanger Abbey was Austen's way of reminding us we are reading a story and how this story differs from other Gothic novels. Austen tells us Catherine is the heroine even though she is rather ordinary. Austen tells us how anticlimactic scenes are, like Catherine's banishment from the Tilney's and uneventful journey home. It is not enough that Austen shows us these things but by telling us it reinforces the humor of each non-scary, non-special moment.

Overall, I give N.A. a thumbs up. This is my third Austen read and it did not disappoint.
Publisher:  Broadview, 2002 (originally in 1818)    Pages: 280
Rating: 4 Stars     Source: Purchased from Amazon

Review of A Room with a View by E.M. Forster and Italy Photos from My Honeymoon

The Plot: Young girl grows up in sheltered home. Girl travels to Florence, Italy. Girl meets boy. Girl scared of boy. Girl returns to England confused. Girl gets engaged to a jerk. Previous boy turns up causing more unrest. But not to worry, things more or less sort themselves out. Left is a photo of Bobbio Pellice in the Alps.

The dialogue is witty and fun to read. I wish there had been more of it. There is a lot of (what I would call) received narration. Forster is a master at this but there was just too much. I wanted more straightforward dialogue. The third person point of view seemed to shift between several characters – Lucy the protagonist, Mr. Beebe the rector, Miss Bartlett the chaperon, the mother, the brother…and on and on. I felt I did not intimately know any of the characters as a result. It left me feeling distant from them all. 

Forster pokes fun at each character's short-comings giving some mild comic relief. Mostly, he reveals upper class snobbery and self-delusions about their “liberal” and “rebellious” natures. There are many touristy blunders committed as well. I felt for Lucy who desperately wanted to see the “real” Italy but was too afraid to plunge into unknown territories on her own. This is a picture from Florence.

What I liked in this novel was the idea that passion is not wrong, nor is it something to run away from, but it is to be acknowledged as a truth and dealt with accordingly. Lucy fears censure so much that she cloisters herself off and relies upon her elders for advice on her every little move or thought. Yet she wants to believe she is independent. It’s only when she is able to know her own mind that she can take control of her future (though she still receives a push to get to this point). The novel is set in the end of the Victorian and early Edwardian period and the stifling nature of the time is exposed. Forster was able to see the fear in his own culture. I’m speaking of a fear of passion in general. Hand holding, helping a female into a carriage, etc. was a big deal then and could potentially be turned against a girl to ruin her reputation.

And this is where Italy comes in. Having been to Rome, I must say I think it is the most romantic place in the world. You should go there with someone special. It’s not a town for friends but for lovers. No one minds hand holding there! The fountains, the ancient ruins, the lights, the cool evenings, the sculptures and paintings, the cobblestone streets and charming people all create a mood of intense feeling. It’s no wonder Forster was impressed by Italy during his journey there and felt, as many others have, that the Italians have it right.The Trevi Fountain (Rome) is gorgeous at night!

I said the end mostly worked out. I’ve read Howard’s End as well and it too has a near happy-ending. The right couple ends up together but there is a cost. It’s not a completely happily-ever-after kind of end. I find this sort of ending realistic without being a downer. If you like Howard’s End or early Modern literature you may like A Room with a View. This photo is of the Pantheon, ancient pagan temple turned Christian church, and an engineering feat. I hope you enjoyed the pictures from my Italian honeymoon!

Publisher: Barnes & Noble, 1993 (originally published in 1908)     Pages: 232

Rating: 3 Stars                        Source: Purchased at a used book sale

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Unlike most fairy tales, Alice in Wonderland isn’t very dark. Sure, there’s the off-with-their-heads! Queen of Hearts but she wasn’t really that scary and no one was actually beheaded. The King wasn’t quite the push over as I remember him being in the cartoon movie. He was just ditzy like most of the characters and offered pardon to all whose heads the Queen demanded. I never felt anxious for Alice, like she was in real danger, because she wasn’t. She manages to bully her way out of most situations by eating mushrooms and becoming too large for people to trifle with. This is definitely an ok story for little ones but they will likely find the original hard to read and many of the puns may be lost on them. The Mock Turtle episode was boring, his story lasting way too long for me. The caterpillar and Mad Hatter scenes were a lot of fun with their riddles. Alice was a silly little girl, rather ditzy and not very clever except for the fact that she has a fantastic dream. I enjoyed the poems at the beginning. They were my favorite part of the story. It seems that many of the characters are stand ins for people Carroll knew and so many inside jokes are not readily evident (nor do they need to be to enjoy the story). I read the story from The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll: A Wonderland of Stories, Nonsense and Wit.
Publisher: Penguin Books, 1988     Source: IC Public Library
Rating: 2.5 Stars                             Pages: 106 (p. 15-120 in this edition)