Some C.S. Lewis

I recently finished A Grief Observed and The Abolition of Man.  Both were pretty short.  If I had to pick one, I think I liked A Grief Observed better.  Lewis wrote this book when his wife died, and he shares his feelings and thoughts.  What I liked the most about this book was how real it was: his pain was definitely evident.  Sometimes he expressed anger, sometimes sadness, sometimes confusion.  It was real and it was touching.  

The Abolition of Man had a completely different feel.  It was very rational; there wasn’t any of the raw emotion found in A Grief Observed (understandably).  It was a good book, and he definitely made some very interesting points. 

A Passage to India - by E.M. Forster

A quick summary: Mrs. Moore and Adela, two British ladies, go visit Mrs. Moore’s son in India.  Adela is supposed to marry him at some point.  There, Mrs. Moore meets Dr. Aziz, an Indian gentleman who invites her and Adela to go see some caves.  At one point when Mrs. Moore doesn’t feel well enough to keep walking, Adela and Dr. Aziz continue on their own, with the tour guide.  Adela accuses Dr. Aziz of making some inappropriate advances in the caves.  The book then continues to talk about the trial that follows.

I wanted to like this book because I really like E.M. Forster.  Sadly, I didn’t enjoy it very much.  The story just didn’t interest me at all.  In fact, I have to confess: there were some parts I skimmed over because I was so completely uninterested.  I feel terrible saying that.  I was so looking forward to enjoying this book.  It’s not that I hated it, it’s just that I was completely indifferent to it.  Maybe my expectations were too high…?

Man's Search for Meaning - by V. Frankl

A quick summary:  The author was an Austrian psychiatrist who was a concentration camp survivor.  The book is divided in two sections.  In the first, the author shares some of his experiences in the concentration camps, and in the second, he describes his theory of logotherapy and how people can find meaning in their lives.

This was a great book.  Something I really enjoyed was that he discussed some of his experiences from a psychological perspective: he explained why certain people acted in certain ways, from a psychiatric point of view.  His theory of logotherapy was also something that resonated with me.  He writes that everyone can find meaning in their lives, even if it is through suffering (though suffering is not necessary to find meaning).  The fact that he lived through an awful experience and was still able to find meaning in his life definitely added credibility to the things he talked about. 

Here are some quotes I liked:

“No man should judge unless he asks himself in absolute honesty whether in a similar situation he might not have done the same.”

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread.  They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

“From all this we may learn that there are two races of men in this world, but only those two – the 'race' of the decent man and the 'race' of the indecent man.  Both are found everywhere; they penetrate into all groups of society.  No group consists entirely of decent or indecent people.”

“Only slowly could these men be guided to the commonplace truth that no one has the right to do wrong, not even if wrong has been done to them.”

This was an amazing book, and everyone should try to read it!

June Prompt - A Classics Challenge

The book I read this month was The Good Soldier, by Ford Madox Ford.  This quote is found towards the end of the book:

I am that absurd figure, an American millionaire, who has bought one of the ancient haunts of English peace. I sit here, in Edward's gun-room, all day and all day in a house that is absolutely quiet.

No one visits me, for I visit no one. No one is interested in me, for I have no interests. In twenty minutes or so I shall walk down to the village, beneath my own oaks, alongside my own clumps of gorse, to get the American mail. My tenants, the village boys and the tradesmen will touch their hats to me. So life peters out.

The Good Soldier - F. Madox Ford

A quick summary:  Edward Ashburnham is married to Leonora, but has several affairs, including an affair with the narrator’s wife, Florence.  The book is mostly about the Ashburnhams and their relationship with each other and with others.  

When I finished this book I didn’t really know what to think.  I liked it in the sense that it sucked you in – once I started reading I had difficulty putting the book down.  But somehow I didn’t like the story itself that much.  And it didn’t help that the narrator kept going back and forth in time, so I sometimes had difficulty remembering the order in which things happened.  Finally, I didn’t identify with any of the characters, not even the narrator.

Although I have mixed feelings about this book, I’m very glad I read it.

Lady Anna - by A. Trollope

Ah, Lady Anna.  I'm not sure how I can summarize the plot in a short yet easy-to-understand way, but here goes.  Anna's mother married an Earl, which would make her a Countess (and she is referred to in the book as the Countess).  But he then told her their wedding was not valid, because he was already married to someone else.  Then, he left her and Anna.  So the Countess spends her life trying to prove that their marriage had been valid and that Anna was the legitimate daughter of the Earl (which would make her Lady Anna).  The only people who believe and help the Countess are a tailor and his son, Daniel.  Daniel and Anna basically end up growing up together. 

When the Earl dies, the Countess is involved in a lawsuit to determine who will get the inheritance.  If the Countess proves that her marriage is valid, she and Anna get the inheritance and their titles.  If the alleged first wife steps forward and proves her marriage, then she gets the inheritance.  But the Earl's family is also fighting for the inheritance, saying that the young man who is next in line for the title of Earl should be the one to inherit the money.  So the lawsuit is a bit complicated.  One of the lawyers suggests that one way to make things work out for everyone would be if Anna and the young man (Frederic) got married.  This is approved by Frederic's family and by the Countess, so Frederic and Anna meet.  They end up liking each other very much, but there's one problem: Anna has recently become secretly engaged to Daniel.  No one, not even the Countess, knows about the engagement. 

The book is about the inheritance, who gets the money, and whether the Countess and Lady Anna are entitled to their titles (ha!).  It is also about who Anna will choose: Frederic or Daniel. 

I love Trollope, but I had trouble connecting with the characters in this book.  I didn't really feel the chemistry between Anna and the one she ends up marrying.  That said, I loved reading this book.  Once I started, I didn't want to stop.  That's a credit to Trollope as a writer - even though I didn't identify much with the characters, the story and the writing were enough to make me enjoy this book.

May Prompt - A Classics Challenge

The May prompt is about the literary movement.  The classic I read in May was Lady Anna, by Anthony Trollope.

What literary movement is the prose or poetry you're reading from?
Trollope is considered one of the Victorian authors.  After reading about all the literary movements, I would say he was part of the realism movement.  It spanned from 1830–1900, and his novels were written in this time period.  

What are the values or ideals of the movement? Name other writers of the movement.
Novels belonging to this movement are novels that focus on ordinary, day-to-day things.  They portray "normal" lives and activities.  Other authors belonging to this movement are Charles Dickens and George Eliot.