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.

April Prompt - A Classics Challenge

Well, I've been on hiatus, but I'm back.  I've read many good books these last few weeks, and I may or may not write about them, we'll see.  First, I wanted to continue where I had left off, so here's my post for the April prompt of the Classics Challenge.  The last classic I had read in April was The Scapegoat.  The questions are related to the book cover.  The book cover I had was:

What are your first impressions as you look at the cover?
The cover didn't really tell me anything.  I found this book at a used book sale and only picked it up because I liked Daphne Du Maurier.  But I didn't really have any impressions about the book itself because the cover isn't very informative.

Does the book cover have an aspect that reflects the character, setting, or plot of the novel?
No, I don't think so!

If you could have designed the book cover what would you have chosen?
I'm not sure...Maybe I would have had two identical men looking at each other somehow, because that definitely has to do with what the story is about.

The Scapegoat, by D. Du Maurier

This is another book I read as part of the Classics Challenge.  The only book I'd read by this author is Rebecca, so I wanted to try one of her other books.

A quick summary: John, an Englishman on vacation in France, runs into someone who looks exactly like him.  They have a few drinks together and the next morning, John realizes that the other man (Jean - not only do they look alike, they have similar names!) switched their clothes and belongings and left John there, basically stealing his identity and leaving John to pose as Jean.  So the rest of the book is about John trying to be Jean, figuring out who Jean is, and learning about his past.

I bought this book at a book sale almost a year ago, and it took me this long to read it partly because I wasn't too convinced about the premise.  Why would John simply accept the fact that someone else stole his identity?  Why would John feel like his only option was to pretend to be Jean?  But once I started reading, I was able to understand the character a lot more and why he would accept this.  I thought the author did a good job of making John a character you can identify with in many ways. 

I enjoyed this book very much! I will look up some other books by this author so I can read some more in the future.

March Prompt - A Classics Challenge

It's time for the next prompt! This month, we have to answer questions related to setting.

The classic I read was Lady Susan, by Jane Austen, and there are multiple settings, because there are different places Lady Susan lives/visits throughout the book.  But I would say the main one would be her brother-in-law's house, where most of the action takes place, so I will focus on that one.

How do you envision it?
I pictured one of those big houses I've seen in Jane Austen movie adaptations.  Maybe something like this:

Do you feel the setting is right? or was it a weak point of the author?
I think the setting was right. I don't think it was described very well, but it is where most of the story took place, and I thought it worked.

If this particular setting was changed how would it affect the course of the story?
The story would change very much! While we learn about Lady Susan's actions while visiting other places, the main plot is about what happens when she comes to visit this place, and how her visit affects everyone there.

Lady Susan, by J. Austen

I love Jane Austen! I have read her major six novels several times, but had never read Lady Susan. This book differs from her other books in several ways.  First, it's in letter format, so all we read are letters the characters send to each other.  This is interesting because you get to read about events from different perspectives. Second, Lady Susan, unlike Austen's other main characters, is not very likeable. If I had to describe her using one word, it would be manipulative. She wants to control people so that she gets her way in everything, and she doesn't care who she hurts in the process.

I enjoyed the book very much. I couldn't believe how manipulative Lady Susan was. But in the end, as in Austen's other novels, evil does not prevail (a characteristic I always enjoy in a novel - and real life!).

Getting to Know Thomas

Ever since I read James Martin's books, I was interested in reading something by Thomas Merton. I decided to start with The Seven Storey Mountain, his autobiography. In this book, Merton writes about his life from childhood to around the time he became a monk. After reading this book, I read No Man is an Island, which is a collection of essays on different topics. Both books were very good. They were not always easy to read, so I did not read these as fast as I thought I would, but it was definitely worth it. Merton is an example of how much God can do in and with a willing person. The more I read, the more I couldn't help being amazed at the beautiful person God turned Merton into.

I would definitely recommend these two books.

February Prompt - A Classics Challenge

This month, we have to talk about one of the characters we found interesting.  The latest classic I read was Excellent Women, by Barbara Pym, so I picked a character from this book.

I was intrigued by Everard Bone, even though I wouldn't consider him a main character.  I imagine Everard as a haughty, proud person who never smiles and is always looking down on you.  (I couldn't find a picture).

We're led to believe that Helena is in love with him (Helena is Mildred's new neighbor, and Mildred is the book's main character).  It's hard to answer some of the Challenge questions, because I feel we don't really know that much about Everard, but I'll do my best.

At first, I did not like him at all.  He seemed to me to be incredibly rude and haughty.  But then we start to learn a few things about him and I started to dislike him less.  I wouldn't say I ever completely liked him, but my opinion of him did improve a little bit as I read more.  That said, I don't think I would ever want to meet him.  I found him to be an interesting character mostly because I never knew what to expect from him.  Sometimes I had a certain idea about him and then learned it was actually the opposite.  So that made him interesting as a character, but I'm not so sure I would find him that interesting as an actual person.

A Red Herring without Mustard - by A. Bradley

This is the third Flavia de Luce mystery.  I had already read the first two, and thought it was time to find out what was new with Flavia.

A quick summary:  An old gypsy woman has been the victim of an attack.  She's left for dead when Flavia finds her.  Sometime later, Flavia finds a dead body.  In this book, Flavia goes about trying to find out who the attacker/murderer is.

For those who haven't read any of the Flavia de Luce mysteries, Flavia is an 11-year-old chemistry-loving girl.  Although the main character is a little girl, I find that the books are pretty adult, and Flavia is quite witty.  I enjoy reading these books.  Throughout the book, besides reading about the mystery, we also read about Flavia's constant feuding with her two older sisters and about the family's financial troubles.  We also read about Harriet, Flavia's mom, who died when Flavia was a baby.  There seems to be something somewhat unresolved about Harriet, so I expect we will continue to read about her in future novels.  Finally, there's Gladys.  Yes, Gladys is Flavia's bike, but the way Flavia talks about her, I feel like she is another character, which I find amusing.

This was a fun book to read, and a very welcome treat after having read the very serious Thinking, Fast and Slow.

Heaven is for Real - by T. Burpo

Several people recommended this book, so I thought I'd give it a try.

A quick summary: Colton is a little boy who had to have some emergency surgery.  While he was in surgery, he went to heaven for a little while.  The book is narrated by Colton's father.

I really enjoyed this book.  Hearing about heaven from a little boy's perspective was really awesome.  Here are a few things I liked and/or found interesting:

- His description of Jesus, with the "pretty eyes."  One of the things I would have liked about meeting Jesus in person was to have seen His eyes and expressions.  I've always  believed if you ever got the chance to look into His eyes, there would be no turning back.  So somehow I can see how this would be something Colton noticed and remembered. 
- At one point in the book, Colton said Jesus was the first thing you saw when you got to heaven, which I think is pretty awesome.
- There were a couple of people he met when he was in heaven, some family members who had died before he had been born.  It was pretty cool to read about how they recognized each other and how he knew so much about these people without having previously met them.
- Colton described the throne of God and some of the other people who were there.  I thought that was pretty cool.

There's certainly more, but it's hard to pick only a few.  I would recommend this book.  I enjoyed it a lot more that I thought I would, and I'm very glad I read it!