Archive for July, 2008

Emma

Jane Austen

Northanger Abbey

Jane Austen

This week I finished Emma and Northanger Abbey. These were the last two Jane Austen novels that I had not read. I loved both of them, but I’d rank Emma 5 of 5 stars and Northanger Abbey 4 of 5.

WARNING: SPOILERS ABOUT BOTH BOOKS BELOW

I found Emma to be a more perfect and complicated novel. I knew she was not going to end up with Frank Churchill, but I did not have a clue how Miss Austen was going to transfer my strong affections from Mr. Churchill to Mr. Knightly by the end of the novel, so that I would be satisfied with the ending. However, transfer them she did, and I was pleased with the result. Mr. Knightly is no Mr. Darcy or Captain Wentworth, and it is a bit creepy that he’s so much older than she is and has loved her since she was 13. But not nearly as boring or as wishy-washy as Edmund in Mansfield Park.  It was also exceedingly funny; Mrs. Elton is perfectly horrid and all the more humorous for it. But I think what I like most about the novel is Emma herself.
She is such a great character – bold, funny, smart, good tempered andacutely aware of her failures and shortcomings (after the fact). She’s so sure of herself that it makes it all the more interesting when her plans go awry.

It was very easy for me to love Northanger Abbey. Catherine is so fond of novels and it affects her thinking and has humous consequences. However, Isabelle and John Thorpe were the most loathsome characters I encountered while reading any Jane Austen novel. They weren’t comically terrible (like Mr. Collins, Mrs. Elton, or Mary Musgrove), they were just completely horrid. I really like Henry, he’s an excellent love interest. But the resolution was underwhelming, considering how painful Catherine’s removal from Northanger Abbey was. Also lacking was the final culmination of Henry’s declaration of love. It did not hold up compared to Captain Wentworth’s letter, or Mr. Darcy’s second confession of love to Elizabeth. Despite all this, I greatly enjoyed the book. I liked that it moved quickly and was pretty suspenseful. (I did have to google “pump room” though, and find out exactly what it was. The name sounds horrifying.)

Words and phrases I now use too much, as a result of spending over a month engrossed in three Jane Austen novels: exceedingly, loathsome, irksome, pray tell me, upon my word, obliging and indeed. If only I could always stay immersed in Jane Austen’s world. :)

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The Lion and the Mouse

By now most everyone has heard about the controversial New Yorker cover featuring the Obamas. But did you know that same issue has a wonderful article inside about the rise of children’s literature and children’s libraries in the US? The article centers around Anne Carroll Moore, E. B. White, Katharine White, Ursula Nordstrom, and the publication of Stuart Little.

It’s a fabulous article, and you can read it for free online here.

Ursula Nordstrom, on what qualified her to edit children’s literature:
“Well, I am a former child, and I haven’t forgotten a thing.”

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I Capture the Castle

I fell in love with this book after reading the first sentence. It is:

“I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.”

The (very high profile) quote on the cover (“This book has one of the most charismatic narrators I’ve ever met.”) by J. K. Rowling is spot on.

The novel is written entirely in wonderful first person narrative. The narrator is a 17 year old girl named Cassandra Mortmain, who tells us about a year in her life and the life of her family in the old castle they call  home. She tells us her story in the form of journal entries, filling up three journals by the end.

I know it’s cliche, but I literally could not put this book down. I even took it with me to the fireworks on the fourth of july, with a book light. I had to sleep with it by my pillow at night.

This is now one of my very favorite books of all time. I fell in love with the writing style and how perfect her descriptions of her emotions are.

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I’ve returned from Michigan, unscathed from the midwest’s absolutely crazy thunderstoms on the 2nd. I had a lovely time, and read 3 books. My policy on Polysyllabic Spree posts is that it’s always Better Late Than Never.

Books Purchased – June 208

Books Purchased:

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
March by Geraldine Brooks
A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall
Truman Capote Conversations edited by M. Thomas Inge
The Stories of Mary Gordon
Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish
The Perfect Summer: England 1911, Just Before the Storm by Juliet Nicolson
American Bloomsbury by Susan Cheever
More Book Lust by Nancy Pearl
Every Book Its Reader by Nicholas A. Basbanes
The Jeeves Omnibus by P. G. Wodehouse

This is quite a stack, but due to an excellent Friends of the Hoboken Public Library Book Sale, and some excellent finds at Strand (plus an extra 20% off), I was able to purchase most of this stack at spectacular prices. Please pardon me while I indulge in posting the exact amazing price I was able to purchase these: I Capture the Castle: $1; The Sunday Philosophy Club: $1; Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: $1; March: $1; A Passage to India: $1; The Perfect Summer: $2.50; American Bloomsbury: $6; More Book Lust: $6.80; Every Book Its Reader: $3.20; The Jeeves Omnibus: $7.50.

(Just wait until you see July’s stack of books purchased. Eeeep. It’s already huge, due to going home and visiting the amazing Kalamazoo Public Library Friends Book Store and the amazing Book Nook in Cadillac.)

Books Read – June 2008

Books Read:

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Dancing Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
The Solitary Vice Against Reading by Mikita Brottman
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

I had a decent reading month as well, both in quantity and quality – I greatly enjoyed each of the books I read this month. I read two books on my personal Summer Reading List (Mother Night and The Joy Luck Club) which keeps me on track for completing my list. I especially enjoyed reading both Penderwicks books. I miss the Penderwicks dearly, and am excited that there will be more. I highly recommend The Penderwicks to anyone who enjoys reading children’s literature.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames was very enjoyable as well. If you like David Sedaris, you’ll like this book. If you’ve never read him before, I recommend starting with a different one, probably Me Talk Pretty One Day. His newest book is best enjoyed with a rich background on his life and the people in it, you’ll find it more interesting and charming.

Mansfield Park marks four out of six Jane Austen Novels read. It is my least favorite without a doubt, but I’m glad I read it, and I enjoyed it all the same. (Emma is next, started it tonight.)

The Solitary Vice Against Reading is a “book about books” book. If you like Books About Books, you will likely enjoy this one as well, except for the part two thirds of the way in when she tries to convince you that you should be reading more true crime books and case studies.

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It’s 4:30 am, and I’m up, showered, and eating breakfast. Oy.

However, it’s all for a good cause – a trip home. Today I leave for a long weekend in Michigan. I’m very excited!

I did not get a chance to update last night with my June Polysyllabic Spree post, but I’ll do that as soon as I return.

I’m bringing five books home with me for travel reading and hammock reading. Here are a few of them:
The Code of the Woosters by P. G. Wodehouse
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
American Bloomsbury by Susan Cheever

I’m also excited because this is my first flight with my new noise reducing headphones. And my first flight with my Nintendo DS, actually. I will be well entertained.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! If you celebrate the fourth of July, I hope it’s safe, fun, and full of delicious food, preferably off the grill.

(This post was brought over from emilyw.vox.com. Click here for the original post and comments.)