The Cat's Table

Michael Ondaatje is a master writer. His prose is so lyrical, it flows, it wraps around your imagination. I wasn't sure what I was going to make of The Cat's Table. The premise seemed simple enough, but simple things did not happen on the ship, Oronsay, as it traveled from Sri Lanka to England. There were so many twists and turns, paths not to be taken, and ones all too alluring.

The Cat's Table is primarily told from the perspective of Michael (nicknamed Mynah), on his journey to be reunited with his mother in England. The story feels so real as it's being told. Michael grows up to be an author, which is the last piece of information that makes you wonder if the tale is actually autobiographical. Much of what happens to the main character feels real. The people he meets feel real. It has a "life story" sensibility. You could be told this tale is a memoir and you would believe it. It is so believable, that Ondaatje includes a note at the end of the story telling the reader that the story is fictional. He did not take a trip on a boat called the Oronsay. Apparently, there were many boats with that name travelling from Sri Lanka to England during that time.

By the end of the novel, my heart had begun to reach out to Emily. I was so happy that she and Michael reconnected. I was glad that they figured out the truth of what happened to the CID agent. I loved all the characters. Cassius and Ramadhin felt like really people. They felt like they could have been life-long friends. I immensely enjoyed Mr. Daniels and Miss Lasqueti. Miss Lasqueti's story was an interesting one, folded into Michael's. Having finished the book, it really is difficult not to see these characters as real. They felt real. Ondaatje created people going on a journey, not just physical, but within themselves as well. I want to know what happened to all of them. How did they live their lives? Were they happy? Also, was Mynah ever Ondaatje's nickname? He took a trip like this when he was young. What interesting characters were on the boat with him? The Cat's Table still has me thinking. A beautiful read, The Cat's Table shows off Ondaatje at his lyrical best.

Anne of Avonlea

Another trip to Prince Edward Island, another book in the Anne of Green Gables series read. I loved Anne of Avonlea. Anne is more grown up, though only 16 at the start of the novel. She, Gilbert Blythe, and two other friends have returned from Redmond College to take up teaching positions. Anne and Gilbert teach their students and along with their friends Diana and Fred, form the Avonlea Village Improvement Society. 

Anne and Diana’s friendship grows and matures, as they do. Anne is very much treated as an adult, she teaches, and she helps Marilla raise children. Talk of marriage surrounds her. It’s a bit strange to me, as by the end of the story, she is just 17. It seems like she has a lot of responsibility at her age, though admittedly, it was a different time then. There are also different opinions on whether Anne needs more schooling. Some residents of Avonlea Village say, no. Though she wants to go back to school, Anne loves teaching. Her students love her. She loves them. She takes her work very seriously, feeling deeply for each pupil. Were people really so mature as teenagers at the beginning of the last century?

Though I fully enjoyed the story, watching Anne and the residents of Avonlea grow, I wish there was a bit more plot. Anne of Avonlea seems to be a snippet of Anne’s life for the two years between Anne of Green Gables and Anne of the Island. A lot of exciting, surprising, interesting things happen, but I didn’t really feel a thread that held them all together. In a weird way, it makes me want to read Anne of the Island more. With how this book ends, there is so much bound to happen in the next one.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

The ending was beautiful. The words were poetry. Sentences evoking complex imagery. It was an artful ending that I am glad I stuck around for. I loved the funerals and the wedding. I loved the uniqueness and the craziness of Jamat Guest House. I thought it was the perfect place for Anjum. In the end, it was the perfect place for them all. Arundhati Roy created a tapestry of words. I am very glad I won The Ministry of Utmost Happiness from Goodreads.

What grabbed me in the story was Anjum and the Hijra. The discoveries and secrets of Anjum's mother were captivating. I needed to know what happened next in Anjum's life, every moment, every adventure, the sadness and happiness. I really enjoyed reading about the Hijra and how they all lived and loved. Though sometimes a bit crazy, Anjum's life captured my imagination. She suffers so much, yet comes out of it with a home. I still want to know if Anjum gets to live out the rest of her days in peace.

Tilo, the other main character, was also very interesting. She seemed too modern for modern India. She was irreverent about caste, class and etiquette. I liked Tilo. I thought she was unique, which is probably why she was loved by thee different men in the novel. I just felt we spent too much time on her story. I liked Garson Hobart, Naga and Musa. But my favourite part of their love square is towards the end with Tilo and Musa. They are some very interesting situations the three men find themselves in over the years. Tilo has a quality about her though, a grace that I connected with. Still, I felt her part of the story was too long. I wanted to get back to Anjum and Saddam and the baby. I wanted to know what was happening in the graveyard and how the blind Imam was.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness was not an easy book to love, but I did. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Everything at the end, in the Jamat Guest House was wonderful and the characters went through a lot to get there.

Unless

Unless was art. From the first chapter, this simple, yet complex tale struck me on an artistic level. It fully deserves every award and accolade it has ever received. I don't even know if I can fully describe how much I loved it. Carol Shields' Unless is definitely one of my new favourite books. As I was reading it, I felt it happening, felt myself falling more and more into the story, the characters and the craft of the words. I felt myself fearing the end, fearing the reveal as to what caused Norah's change. Ends can make or break a book for me, but this ending was a bit surprising, but also sort of what I had hoped it what be. I say only a bit surprising, because if I think back to some of the things Reta talked about with her friends, her arc and the story's arc throughout the novel, it is not that surprising. I feel like subtle literary hints were dropped. Of course, they were expertly weaved into the story.

Part of me feels like, why didn't I read Unless years ago? I've only had this copy for about a year (that's not that long compared to some of the unread books I own), but it was published in 2002 and it's by a great Canadian author. I feel like maybe I aught to have read it when I first read The Handmaid's Tale. The other part of me, the maternal part I think, is glad I read it now. I connected with Reta. Though my children are much younger, I also struggle with finding stories, whether books, film or television, with strong female representation. Not just for my daughter, but for my son too. (I'm going to stop there before I get too political and I'll stick with Reta's story.) The letters that she writes grow more and more scathing. I really liked when she said, you couldn't include Virginia Woolf? (I'm paraphrasing.) But she was right and she was connecting it with trying to figure out what happened to Norah.

There's so much in Unless. Motherhood, marriage, women, friendship, mentorship, all ran throughout the story. I found myself questioning Reta's relationship with Danielle Westerman. I don't know if I liked her. Though I always tried to remember that she was 85 and had been used to a certain dynamic with Reta. Now there was a change. Not just with Reta's home life, but Reta had other projects she was working on too. I felt that Danielle expected Reta's feelings to always be like hers, and they weren't. I reminded me of a bit of a parent-child relationship, where you expect your adult child to be more like you than they actually are, then are surprised. Reta's editor was driving me a bit nuts too. He just wouldn't let her talk, she couldn't finish a sentence. All the changes he wanted to make were infuriating. Unless invoked strong emotions with every chapter. It was a great, consuming read. There are so many more aspects I could explore and I look forward to finding more in future readings.

The Shadow Land

I loved The Shadow Land. I think it might be one of my favourite books this year. I won an ARC of Elizabeth Kostova's latest novel from Goodreads, and I am so glad I did. Everything about the story drew me in. The misplaced ashes, of course, were a unique way to begin the story. Alexandra's determination was special. She was an amazing person. She was emotional, and had purpose. I loved how she felt about Bobby, about Neven, Stoyan, Jack, her parents. The trauma and guilt of Alexandra's childhood shaped her life, her goals, and led her to this place. Bulgaria. A country I do not know much about, but now I'd like to learn more. The Bulgarian perspective is not one I've read when it comes to World War II and what happened after the war. It was hard, scary and sad. People blaming other people, being punished for not doing anything wrong, or not agreeing with the new government. It seems like it was difficult to just live life. Alexandra learns about this country, about where she has decided to live for no greater reason than the memory of her brother.

As beautiful as the writing is and as interesting as the country is, it's the plot that moves the story forward. The urn and the mystery that unravels is unique and unexpected. Alexandra is just trying to return someone's precious property and she gets sucked into this incredible tale, along with an unsuspecting taxi driver, who has secrets of his own. I really enjoyed the duality of the plot, Alexandra's story, moving along with Stoyan's. Stoyan's story was simple, but extremely emotional, Alexandra's story was also emotional, but more complex. 

I love a good ending and the end of The Shadow Land was wonderful. I loved how the stories met, how they came full circle. I loved the discoveries, the drama, the unexpected. The tension was fantastic, I was scared for Irina and Lenka. I really enjoyed the quieter chapters after the climax. I like that we got a hint as to what the future might hold for the main characters. I loved the friendships that developed through this story, across generations.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Shadow Land, loving it more than I thought I would. It was brilliant and beautiful. It captured the imagination. It didn't let me go until the end.

The Satanic Verses

Wow. So, The Satanic Verses is a long, long book. It is not an easy read, especially the first half. By about the last third, I felt like the story picked up more and I was actually interested in finishing it. By the final third, all the twisting, complex storylines were being brought to completion. Some of the subplots I thought were interesting, but didn't need to go into such detail. My main interest was in what happened to the main characters, Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha. They fell, unharmed, from the sky. Why? What would they do with this gift of life? Though it wasn't easy, it was worth reading.

Should I address the controversy first? I always wondered what Salman Rushdie could have written that would have so incensed the leader of Iran to issue a fatwa calling for his death. Was the book blasphemous? Maybe. Was it making fun of Islam? After reading it, no, I don't think so. I think it was giving a different perspective or using certain events and the life of Prophet Mohammed (uwbp) to inspire a story, reflecting on the feelings of immigration and displacement. Also, within the context of the story, this is Gibreel's dream. In his dreams, he is the angel, watching the Prophet in these sequences. I don't think Rushdie was saying anything of what he wrote actually happened. Gibreel's mental state created this dream. I've read that Rushdie was surprised by this reaction. He thought some people might be angry, but he didn't think there would be so much violence surrounding it. Who would think their novel would create such vitriol? The amount of controversy it stirred, the bannings in so many countries, the burnings, of course this was something I would want to read. I could go deeper into the fatwa and whether it was actually used properly, the refutations by Islamic scholars, Human Rights violations, but I don't think that's necessary here. What I want to talk about is the story, the plot and the characters.

The entire novel had a dream-like quality to it. So much of what happens to Gibreel seems like a dream or vision. Saladin's experiences seem rooted in horror. Unlike Gibreel, Saladin has rejected his past, his roots. He has tried extremely hard to acclimate to his new country. He loves London and wants to be a Londoner. He wants to leave his youth behind. This is the opposite of Gibreel, who is a big part of Bollywood and life in India, though he too leaves, but he leaves for love. He meets Allie and she changes his whole world. There are a lot of things that change Gibreel, besides the fall. He's very reactionary, listening to others' voices instead of relying on his own, even though he dreams that he is the voice that speaks to the Prophet. Saladin goes through a lot of changes too, though many of his are physical. Is Saladin's ordeal reflective of what he goes through as an immigrant in a land that does not necessarily respect him? What about the people he meets who are like him? Are they also displaced migrants? There is so much beyond controversy in this novel. There are stories, allegories, emotion upheavals, mental breakdowns, and strange changes.

I don't think I can explain the complexities of this novel. There was a lot happening. There were a couple of times where I considered quitting, but I just had to know what happened. Like so many novels, it was the characters that kept me going. I wanted to know if Gibreel and Saladin would come together again and what the consequences of that would be. I wanted to know if Gibreel and Allie would stay together. I wanted to know what choices Saladin would end up making. Besides the main characters, I also wanted to know about Mishal, Baal, and Ayesha. I wanted to know about Saladin's father, Nasreen II, and Zeeny. So, maybe I took a couple breaks here and there, but knew I had to finish it. Of all the characters, Saladin's journey was the one that had me the most unsure. I didn't know if in the end I was going to like his character. A lot of bad things happened to him, but he did bad things too. I wasn't sure if I was going to like him in the end. I am still not sure if I like him, I just know he was a character I couldn't turn away from.

After all the ups and downs, and not knowing how it was all going to turn out, I liked The Satanic Verses. I don't think it's for everyone, definitely not a casual read, but it was worth every minute I spent with it.

The Sun Is Also A Star

Heartbreakingly perfect, The Sun Is Also A Star is simply an amazing novel. It tells the story of Daniel and Natasha and how two people who have never met can find each other and fall in love. Natasha is trying to stay in America, trying not to get deported, and her whole day is supposed to revolve around that. Then there's Daniel. He's supposed to prepare for and have the biggest interview of his whole life. Then they meet.

I really connected with Natasha and Daniel, as I am also a child of immigrants. It can be a difficult balance, trying to stay connected to the culture of your parents and being a part of the culture of the country you live in. Some people want you to be one way, others want you to be another. It's a wonderful thing to find someone who understands. I have friends who were in the same boat growing up, even though our parents were not necessarily from the same countries, we shared similar experiences. There is a struggle that I think maybe all children of immigrants go through, though maybe to different degrees depending on how "different" a parent's home country is. While Natasha is Jamaican and Daniel is Korean-American, they share similar life experiences. I really enjoyed the conversation about "where are you really from", as I have had that question asked many times. There's the food thing too.

Nicola Yoon creates not only complex, beautiful characters, but writes with emotion. The decisions that not only Natasha and Daniel make, but also Irene, Natasha and Daniel's respective parents, Charlie, Attorney Fitzgerald, and even the waitress at the restaurant, are full of heartache. Nothing is taken lightly, they all have deep, serious, inner lives that maybe our two main characters know nothing about. It comes through in the interesting style in which Yoon has structured her novel. I wonder if her first novel, Everything, Everything is written in the same style (a book that I absolutely now have to read). There were also great references to 90's grunge and a quiz that I watched Penny and Sheldon take on The Big Bang Theory, which made me so happy. A great plot, amazing characters and interesting style, I couldn't help but love The Sun Is Also A Star.

*I won The Sun Is Also A Star as an ARC from a Goodreads giveaway. Yay! 

Blast From The Past #6 - Reading Douglas Coupland

I've read a few books by author, Douglas Coupland. The first I ever read though, was Hey Nostradamus!. I remember that I had always wanted to read something by Coupland, he was the author of Generation X, after all, as well as being a prolific Canadian writer. I was hooked by this story. The power of Hey Nostradamus! led me to read Generation X, Eleanor Rigby, The Gum Thief and more. I enjoyed The Gum Thief maybe way more that I should. Without reading that first book by Coupland, I might have missed out on some fantastic novels.

Coupland has written so many novels. I have three unread ones downstairs, including Generation A, the "sequel" to Generation X. I should definitely read it, especially since bees play a part in the story. There are just so many books that he's written. I still have to read JPod, Worst. Person. Ever. Bit Rot, and it doesn't seem like Coupland is about to stop writing. This desire to read all these books would not have started if I did not read Hey Nostradamus! ten years ago and think it was brilliant.

Blast from the Past #4 - Daisy Miller

I wish I had written more about Daisy Miller when I read it 10 years ago. She seems like such an interesting and multi-dimensional character. I only vaguely remember the story. I remember Winterbourne. Were there some kind of ruins? I remember his affection for Daisy. I remember Daisy being a unique person for that time. 100 years later, would Daisy's behaviour have been so shocking.?What would I think if I read the story again? I should read it again. I've enjoyed everything I've ever read by Henry James. The Turn Of The Screw is one of my favourite stories. Could Daisy Miller become a favourite too? It's not long. Will it be like when I read Appointment With Death after looking back at The ABC Murders? Don't be surprised if I read Daisy Miller again.

Also, there's a huge spoiler at the end of the post, which I didn't include in the image, because it's about the ending. Sometimes I like talking about endings, because they can be dramatic, but ten years later, I had forgotten the ending and have now spoiled it for myself. Good job, Me.

Looking at these posts from my early blogging though, I'm still wondering when I starting putting pictures in my posts. Or links. Or doing any kind of formatting at all.

About last week, part of me wants to delete it. It feels so personal... I don't know if I'm going to do another post like that for a while.

I'm still very happy I decided to do Throwback Thursdays. I am finding looking back at my old posts quite enlightening.

Children of Earth and Sky

You know when you read a book, and you expect you're going to like it, but you don't expect to totally become obsessed with it? I didn’t expect to love Children of Earth and Sky. I thought I would enjoy it and I knew I wanted to read it, but it really blew me away. I saw the ARC of Children of Earth and Sky listed on the Goodreads giveaways, so I entered. Guy Gavriel Kay is a bestselling Canadian author, who for some reason I hadn’t read yet, but have always wanted to. There were three of his books listed and... umm... I won two of them (I’ll read the other one soon, because if it’s anything like this one, I’m going to love it.) It’s not a short novel either, I thought it was going to take me a while to finish, but once I got past the beginning, I couldn’t put it down.

The beginning is a little slow, but after reading the whole novel, totally necessary. Kay takes you on a journey, introducing his characters, some are main characters, some are minor characters, but all are important to the story. There's even a "cast of characters" in the beginning. As I read that, and moving though the beginning of the story, I was thinking I was going to need it. Admittedly, I did have to refer to it a couple times in the beginning, to remember who the Seressini ambassador was and who certain people were in Dubrava. But that's really it. Kay created such real and memorable characters, that the main ones, the ones you love, stay with you.

Danica was amazing. I thought she was brilliant. From the first moment we meet her and her dog, I knew she would be my favourite in this book. I love how she sticks to her mission, but also finds room for more. I love when she's with her grandfather. I love her instincts. I loved Zadek, Neven, Marin, Leonora and Pero. I read each page just to be closer to them, just to see what would happen. Marin was brilliant. I love how he grew and how he changed from the first moment he met Danica, to when they meet again.

I thought I was going to hate the khalif, but I didn’t. I thought I’d at least dislike most of the rulers, based on how many of the people lived, but I didn’t. Except for maybe the adviser in Obravic, he was terrible. What happened to all those people, based on his decisions, his indiscretions, is terrible. The khalif was nice, sort of. I liked his easy way with Pero. I liked that he just wanted and appreciated honesty. How rulers treated their children though, the khalif and Eudoxia, was just awful. I know they were both revered by their own peoples, heroes to their peoples, but to me, they were just opposite sides of the same coin. I enjoyed Eudoxia a lot though, liking her more than I expected.

The way women were treated in this novel was terrible. It's not that Kay was writing them poorly, Danica and Leonora were intelligent, multi-dimensional, fascinating women. It's that this novel is based on life during the 16th century. Women weren't equal back then (not that they are now), and there were a lot of women being used for their bodies or hidden away because of them. Fighting through that, there are some powerful women in this world, doing their part to make their own way, finding ways to change the minds of the men around them. Even women we only see for a short time, are finding small ways to make their own decisions. With women like Danica and Leonora, it gives hope to the women of that world.

I've read that Kay has described his novels as historical fiction with a quarter turn towards fantasy, and that's pretty accurate. There are all things you would expect from a story set in 16th century Europe, but there's just a little hint of magic, something "pagan" going on in addition to something else. I kept expecting that this would somehow result in the fall of the khalif and the Asharites, but maybe I've been reading too many epic adventures lately. This novel didn't need the fall of a kingdom, it just needed characters to live their lives.

Children of Earth and Sky was a fantastic novel, by an amazing Canadian author. I definitely want to read the other novels set in this world, as well as Tigana, since it's the other book of his I was lucky enough to win. It was really great luck to have had this book land in my hands. Children of Earth and Sky is a beautifully woven tale that transports you to another world.

Little Dorrit

Did I love Little Dorrit? Yes, I think I did. Little Dorrit, by Charles Dickens, is very long. It's full of many colourful, interesting, complex characters. Once or twice, I had to use the internet to look up who someone was, since if they hadn't been mentioned for a while, I might have forgotten. Because Little Dorrit was LONG. Like really long. I thought Middlemarch was long (and it was), but Dickens was very generous with words. My one reprieve was that I could take a break. Little Dorrit is split into too "books", Poverty and Riches. So, when Poverty was done, I took a break. I read three other books, I think, in that time. I still wanted to know, longed to know, what would happen to Little Dorrit and Mr. Clennham, but I needed that break.

To stick it out for over 800 pages of Victoria Literature, the characters need to be compelling, and they were. I adored Amy Dorrit. She worked so hard to make her father happy, to give her siblings something, some meaning to their lives. They knew, but chose to pretend not to know, so much about Little Dorrit, the name she preferred for herself. Little Dorrit is just an amazing person, caring for her family and friends, loving, kind. I just rooted for her the whole time. I wanted her to be happy.

I wanted Arthur Clennham to be happy too. He seemed to long to be loved by his mother, but gave that up. He wanted to right some wrong he believed his father had done. He wanted Daniel Doyce to be a success. He wanted Little Dorrit and her family to be free. He spend time, money and emotion to better the life of the people he cared about. He thought he could be happy with Pet, but I'm kind of glad for him that it didn't work out (though not glad for her). When something terrible happened, though not his fault, he took all the consequences on himself. I was so worried about him, worrying that I might end up with sad ending, like Villette.

Because it was the characters that made the book for me, the last few chapters were the best. Dickens took the time to go back over the characters he introduced. We found out what happened to the Meagles, Merdles, Gowans and Casbys. We learn about Doyce and Pancks, and other residents of Bleeding Heart Yard. Dickens takes us on a journey of goodbyes, where he readers don't have to wonder what happened to all these people.

Though Little Dorrit was a lengthy tome, it was worth every minute. Dickens brought these places and people to life. Life at the Marshalsea, inspired by his father, was depressing, but could also have hope. Though the story didn't always take place there, the debtor's prison was the centre of this tale. How easily a man could end up there, how easily his whole family. How does a person ever get out without a stroke of luck? It was interesting how it was its own community, inside of London, how status was still maintained there. The Marshalsea seemed to have its own personality and change a person, as soon as they entered its walls. It really leaves you thinking about how far a person can fall and how far a person can climb back up.

Polaroids from the Dead

Last summer, I acquired a bunch of books. Sale books, plus books for charity, plus a friend's book purge. Seriously, I can't stop myself sometimes. Either from the friend's purge or from the charity sale, I received a copy of Douglas Coupland's Polaroids from the Dead. I wasn't really looking for this book, I just saw "Douglas Coupland" and picked it up. I've read several books by him, including his iconic Generation X (though I prefer The Gum Thief). I didn't know what I was getting until I was looking through all my newly acquired books. Polaroids from the Dead is full of pictures. The Dead? The Grateful Dead. The pictures are from a Grateful Dead concert that took place in 1991. The first section of this book containg (fictional?) stories all taking place at this concert, inspired by the pictures. It was an interesting snapshot of time.

This books if full of 90's snapshots. Places, peoples, things. Coupland addresses parts of his life in the first half of the 90's too. What he did, where he went, a German reporter he dragged around Vancouver. I think that man got more than he bargained for. There were a lot of moments that hit me, that took me back into the past.

One thing that hit me strongly, was the letter to Kurt Cobain. Coupland had started writing it while Cobain was in Europe and finished it after his death. That really took me back in time and out of everything that the second section of the book contained, it really stood out to me. I wasn't a big fan of Grunge back then. Instead I was listening to some Bad Boy and R&B, with reggae and boy band pop thrown in. But I knew the big songs from Nirvana (and Pearl Jam), I liked their songs. I understood the music, saw it everywhere. When Kurt Cobain died, it was a big deal. Coupland certainly seemed to feel it like so many people did back then.

Before starting Polaroids from the Dead, I had been hearing about the anniversary of the OJ Simpson trail. I was young when that happened. It was all the adults could talk about. It dominated television. I remember watching Simpson try on the glove. I remember hearing about Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman, watching their grieving families on television. It didn't really hit me though, I think because of my age. But it hit the adults. The anger, the disbelief. I remember being brought together into one of the larger classrooms with other students so we could all watch the verdict together. It was actually one of the first times I realised how different the American and Canadian justice systems could be, and that's when the tragedy of it finally sank in for me. Polaroids from the Dead was written shortly after. Coupland talks about Brentwood and OJ Simpson, how it all can be forgotten, but I don't think it has been. Partly because of the impact that trial had on other "celebrity" trials and crimes since. But also because Simpson still got into trouble and didn't stay out of the spotlight. Everything that Coupland wrote about Brentwood was deep and interesting. I wonder if it still applies to the area now. One of the oddest things about it was how close Nicole Brown Simpson and Marilyn Munroe lived to each other. But is it odd considering the people who have lived in that area? The entire third section, The Brentwood Notebook was an interesting study of the area.

In the book, Coupland mentions Princess Diana. As I'm reading his brief comparison of the Princess of Wales to Marilyn Monroe, it made me sad. I checked the year the book was published and the year of her death and I confirmed it, she was still alive when the book was written. His comparison of her to these Brentwood women seems like it was timely and unfairly accurate.

Things have changed since Polaroids of the Dead was written. It's almost a history book. It's a time capsule. If you're interested in the 1990's, though this book doesn't have everything (it was published in 1996), the first half of the 90's is very present. It's the perspective you can't get from someone looking back, it's from somone in it, living it in the moment.

Middlemarch

Middlemarch is a total soap opera.  There’s relationship drama and political intrigue.  It takes place during an interesting political point in history, where part of the political problems come from the “Reform Bill”. The business subversion and debt is abundant. Money and love seem to motivate everything, whether wanting or lacking. I could see Middlemarch done in 4 or 5 seasons… or one crazy mini-series.  (It has been done.)  I don’t think it could ever be a proper movie, there’s way too much going on.  So much so, that I would occasionally forget who a minor character was and have to look them up (thanks, Internet). Middlemarch was not an easy read, but it was worth it.

What kept me reading was George Eliot's brilliant characters. I loved Dorothea Brooke and Will Ladislaw, emotionally invested in the outcome of their lives. Their relationship was so natural and grew through genuine affection. The relationship was a huge contrast when compared to Lydgate and Rosamond. She frustrated me so much! I felt so sorry for Lydgate. Mr. Brooke was so doddering. I really liked Farebrother and wished I could have known how his life ended up. Bulstrode was a perfect character. For me though, it always came back to Will and Dorothea. They were my favourites, eager to find out what would happen to them. Eliot contrasted Dorothea and Rosamond quite a bit in the novel. One dark-haired and one light, but maybe the darkness represented Dorothea's depth of thought and emotion, while the light was Rosamond's feelings, her shallowness. I was excited when the two finally encountered each other.

Middlemarch takes place in the past for the narrator/Eliot, as she refers to how things were and the "Reform Bill". It's an interesting perspective on 1829-1832 from someone who is living in the 1870s. There are moments of apology for things happening 40 years earlier. I wonder what kind of social changes happened in those 4 decades for Eliot to occasionally take that tone. 

I also liked the cheeky tone that Eliot sometimes used: "Society never made the preposterous demand that a man should think as much about his own qualifications for making a charming girl happy as he thinks of hers for making himself happy. As if a man could choose not only his wife but his wife's husband! Or as if he were bound to provide charms for his posterity in his own person!— When Dorothea accepted him with effusion, that was only natural; and Mr. Casaubon believed that his happiness was going to begin." Was this something women and men had started to think about? About each other's happiness and not just it being one-sided?Were men regarding women's feelings? I think this is something Lydgate and Mr. Casaubon should have thought of. Fred Vincy seemed to consider it.

Let's talk medicine for a minute. Lydgate's professional goals were all about discovery and explanations for things. Why didn't people like that back then? Superstition? He seemed so much more advanced than the other medical men in Middlemarch. "He not only used his stethoscope (which had not become a matter of course in practice at that time), but sat quietly by his patient and watched him." Just, wow. Why wouldn't it be used all the time? From Eliot's comments, in the 1870s, stethoscopes were commonly used, but why did it take so long to catch on? People knew where their hearts were, right? Why wouldn't you want to have a better listen too it? This really caught my attention.

Though I kind of hated Mr. Casaubon, I felt sorry for him too. He just didn't get it. He didn't understand Dorothea. He didn't understand what marriage was, I think. Why did he ever decide to marry her? So he didn't have to hire an assistant? He had no faith in her, but she was so trusting with him. She never had bad intensions, but he couldn't see that. "Dorothea told him that she had seen Lydgate, and recited the gist of her conversation with him about the Hospital. Mr. Casaubon did not question her further, but he felt sure that she had wished to know what had passed between Lydgate and himself. "She knows that I know," said the ever-restless voice within; but that increase of tacit knowledge only thrust further off any confidence between them. He distrusted her affection; and what loneliness is more lonely than distrust?" It is so true, what is more lonely than distrust in a relationship? 

Will and Mr. Casaubon speak of the same woman: "I have not spoken too strongly now," said Will, leaning back against the angle of the wall. "There are certain things which a man can only go through once in his life; and he must know some time or other that the best is over with him. This experience has happened to me while I am very young—that is all. What I care more for than I can ever care for anything else is absolutely forbidden to me—I don't mean merely by being out of my reach, but forbidden me, even if it were within my reach, by my own pride and honor—by everything I respect myself for. Of course I shall go on living as a man might do who had seen heaven in a trance." One see the woman as heaven, the other with distrust. Why are their perspectives so different? Is it age? Life expreiences? General disposition? I don't know that Casuabon ever was really socialized with the world beyond his studies, where Will was all about the world. They are so very, very different.

I loved the language of the novel too. Eliot could craft a sentence, pour emotion into metaphor, "the years had been perpetually spinning them into intricate thickness, like masses of spider-web, padding the moral sensibility". Though it was a long read, with many devoted hours, phrases like that grabbed me, had me waiting for more.

I first read Middlemarch a long time ago, back in University, but honestly, I couldn't remember anything about it, except that I liked Dorothea and Will. I am so happy to have re-read it. It is definitely a novel I can see myself reading again in the future and it's one I would recommend to those who like a good story.

As Birds Bring Forth The Sun and Other Stories

I was so excited when I received a copy of Alistair MacLeod's As Birds Bring Forth The Sun and Other Stories. Years ago, I read the title story, in a collection of Canadian stories, From Ink Lake and was just captured by the beautiful writing. The words brought to life the Cape Breton landscape. When the collection containing this amazing story was offered to me, I had to take it. I'm going to say a few sentences about each story as I read them, though they all deserve so much more.

The Closing Down of Summer is a sad tale.  It is beautifully written, but my heart breaks a little for the narrator, who seems trapped in his life.  I wish they could escape and do so much more.

Winter Dog is a beautiful story, but again, a sad one. It was a timely story too, as the story began with the first snowfall before Christmas. It's a reminiscence; the  narrator looks at his children playing and at the dog that visits from across the street and he is reminded if a dog who looked similar, who saved him, but was not long for the world. The memory is strong, but somehow hidden.

To Everything There Is A Season is another beautiful story taking place at Christmas. It is sad to think if crossing the threshold to the adult side of Christmas, but is has to happen eventually. It is also sad to return home, though warmly welcomed, to see something once thought steady, has changed.  I lived this story. So much emotion in just a few pages.  

Second Spring is an interesting story. It's about growing up, I think. There's a thorough description of butchering, which was...strong. There was a lot about farm life, things I didn't know. But mostly it was about the narrator, from seventh to eighth grade and how much can change in a short amount of time. 

Why do all these stories have to be so sad?!?!

The Tuning of Perfection was heartbreaking in just a few pages. I loved Archibald. I felt for him, for his losses and how his family seemed to slip away from him. This story speaks to lost heritage and to desires. Maybe the best story of the collection thus far. 

As Birds Bring Forth The Sun is a haunting and tragic take. Maybe even stronger on this second reading.  Is is another sad tale from Mr. MacLeod. The first time I thought it was sad and mysterious. I found myself wondering about the dog. This time, I'm not wondering so much about the dog, but what spectre might be following this family, real or imagined. I'm wondering about family legends and how long they last. I also see different things in the story when it is in the context of this collection. The Gaelic, the loss and family. Now that I've read it again, I think this might be the best story in the collection, the one that can connect them all. 

Vision has many levels. It is about literal visions as in "the second sight". I really liked and felt for the narrator, retelling a tale of his father. It was deeply sad, maybe the sadest tale of all. It was not seeing what was in front of you.  It was blindness, the narrator's father and the old woman with cats. Vision is a story I feel like I will have to read again.

There's a lot of Gaelic in MacLeod's collection of short stories. It is a part of everyone. You can tell that it was something he grew up with and had a deep impact on his life. Each of these stories is piece or slice of their particular narrator's life, and it is a piece that has had a deep impact. Jane Urquhart writes the afterward in this edition. You can tell by the way Urquhart talks about the stories, how much she enjoys them and MacLeod. She has a deep appreciation for the stories, their emotion and their "universal" themes "told though intimate moments". Do I agree with Urquhart that the themes are universal? Migration, family, love, loss? Yes, I suppose I do, though when I read the stories, I didn't think that way. Instead, I appreciated the beauty of the writing and the sadness of the tales. It's definitely a collection I can see myself coming back to in a few years. 

I feel lucky that As Birds Bring Forth The Sun and Other Stories and MacLeod's other collection, The Lost Salt Gift of Blood came to me. Both collections were eventualy published together as Island, but I'm glad I have them seperately. I wonder if the themes or feelings of the other stories will be different. For right now though, I'll allow myself to ponder the lives of Alistair MacLeod's amazing characters.

Mansfield Park

I am just going to assume that people have read Mansfield Park or seen one of the movies....

I am finally finished Mansfield Park. I shouldn't say "finally" like it is a bad thing. I enjoyed Mansfield Park, it just took me longer to read than other books. I was eager for the ending, because I have come to know Jane Austen and I knew in this story, it would be the unrequited love fulfilled. Though, I was eager for the ending, I loved the beginning and middle too. I found it all very interesting. How could one sister have 10 children, another have only 4 and the third have none? (I know how someone could have no children, it was more the 10 to 4 thing.) It sparked an interesting discussion with my husband. Fanny Price's mother had more children than she knew what to do with. Her sister, Lady Bertram, married much more advantageously, and offered to take one of the children. Mrs. Price assumed it would be their oldest boy, William, but instead the sister asked for the oldest girl, Fanny. Mrs. Price, who favours the boys over the girls, was surprised, but sent her off; one less mouth to feed. I think it was kind what Sir Thomas did for his wife's relations. Fanny and William are much better off for having such an uncle, who showed them this kindness, as the Bertrams did help William also. It is Mrs. Norris, the childless sister, who drove me crazy, as I think she was supposed to do. She was so awful to Fanny and I'm glad Sir Thomas finally saw her true colours.

I was really hoping for a little more build up to Fanny and Edmund. I've read the other five main Austen novels and there is always some kind of movement, moments, before we get the final couple. Not with Fanny and Edmund. Instead, it felt as though the Crawfords would get paired, as so much of the novel was spent on those relationships. Thinking back on it, maybe Austen was making sure that we knew how unsuitable these relationships would be. For a minute, I thought Fanny would soften towards Crawford, just enough so that his betrayal would hurt her more, but nope. She was a rigid heroine. I liked her though. I feel like Fanny had a real sense of who was around her and how they all really felt towards her and each other.

I hated Mary Crawford. She was so insipid. She played at friendship. I feel like I've known people like her, who don't make a choice exactly, yet spin things in their favour, but it is something in them that has thoroughly skewed their judgment and they just don't see that they are wrong. I felt a little bad for the Bertram sisters, too much ruled by emotion and not enough by rational though. Crawford was a cad, he was Wickham and Willoughby, but worse. He was an awful "flirt", though I do think he had genuine affection for Fanny. Crawford lacked patience. If he had waited, he (and his sister) might have ended up with the people they desired. I still wish that everyone, especially Edmund could have, could have seen what Fanny saw.

I know Mansfield Park is Austen's least popular and regarded as her most difficult novel (probably why it's the least popular.) It definitely lacked some of the romance and lovable, relateable characters that fill her other books, but the story, the view of English society, was fantastic.  I know I was hesitant to read Mansfield Park and it certainly took me a little while to finish it, but it was fantastic and definitely a book I will re-read one day.  

Yay for Austen in August!! - Check out Austen in August at Roof Beam Reader

The Waves

Stream of consciousness. Experimental. MENTAL. We spend all our time in these characters heads. Though they interact with each other, we are never privy to their actual conversations, the exchanges of words. We have to discern what they are doing based on what they are thinking.  At least, that's what I've decided is happening.  Also, nothing happens.  I mean, stuff happens, but it is difficult to engage with a plot when we are never there, in the outside world, just in the character's minds.

The whole time I was reading The Waves I kept thinking, I would enjoy this more if I listened to it.  I think The Waves might be better as an audiobook, not that I listen to a lot of audiobooks. Actually, I've only listened to one, just to see if I'd like them.  It was Pride and Prejudice and I'd already read it, so I knew what was going to happen. The flow of The Waves, the lyricism of the words, made me feel as though I would enjoy listening to it.  The characters, never speak to each other, they only speak to you.

I knew - sort of - what was going to happen in The Waves. This was my second reading, but as I mentioned in a previous post, I didn't really remember it.  I wondered why. Now I know. Nothing happens.  As I said, we are so much in the heads of the characters, that we don't really experience them doing anything, I don't feel like there is really a plot to engage with. They all just live their lives and have feelings about them.

The Waves is called Virginia Woolf's most experimental piece of fiction.  I can see why it would be called such.  I have read many of Woolf's novels.  Though To The Lighthouse and Mrs. Dalloway are "stream of consciousness", they are not like The Waves.  The Waves exists almost on its own.

The book starts out with six friends in childhood, all living together somewhere. They stay connected, though not physically, but mentally and emotionally for their entire lives. Eventually, the boys go to an all-boys school and the girls go to their own school - I think, they are definitely separated during this time, but the girls know Percival and they adore and admire him as much as the boys do.  Percival is the "silent" seventh character, who (spoiler*) dies midway through the novel. He is missed throughout the second half of the book, as the characters have him up on a pedestal, a young man who died in his prime, on an adventure.

Though we stay inside the character's minds through the book, they each have a distinct voice.  I could tell which character I was with, just based on the way they spoke (soliloquized) and what they were talking about.  They each had their own wants, worries, and opinions. I found it fitting that the novel ended with Bernard.  He was the storyteller.  He was always searching for words. Through him, I think the reader learns the most about what is happening in the lives of the characters.

Though it did take me a long time to read a short book, I'm glad I did.  It was one of the most beautifully written pieces of fiction I've ever read.  Many times I found myself thinking that The Waves was actually a very long poem.  Every word felt carefully chosen, every phrase was eloquent.  It is one of the reasons I think it would be better to listen to The Waves; hearing the words might enhance the experience.  I think one day, though not anytime soon, I'll find myself with the urge to listen to Woolf's most experimental work.

* I'm not sure about the spoiler warning.  I mean, it's a classic Virginia Woolf book and I'm pretty sure Percival's death is in the synopsis on some editions.

On a side note, I recently came across a post on The Guardian's book blog all about Virginia Woolf, her work and her death.  Honestly, I know how Woolf died, but I don't typically think about that when I read her work.  It's an interesting post.

Also, 20/60 for my classics list.