tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81468078122410344642024-03-18T05:15:48.198-04:00A Myriad of BooksKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.comBlogger377125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-49201269344411084282016-07-29T17:41:00.002-04:002016-07-29T17:41:32.197-04:00The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimlYHJOOUiN-dLipBF5SCEmM-Xy4apoLbqYibxgN9bt6CbuA__q2e2KJ2DcEDzmfiZ8W0F5g3vAHZYV1yI2bx7v9an6LvcsEp8-IX81xHJJ5kbhElRp0Q8TCpemkO_YfZ3cK-dRqad-2g/s1600/the+girl+from+the+well.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimlYHJOOUiN-dLipBF5SCEmM-Xy4apoLbqYibxgN9bt6CbuA__q2e2KJ2DcEDzmfiZ8W0F5g3vAHZYV1yI2bx7v9an6LvcsEp8-IX81xHJJ5kbhElRp0Q8TCpemkO_YfZ3cK-dRqad-2g/s320/the+girl+from+the+well.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
Genre: YA horror<br />
Pages: 267<br />
Published: 2014<br />
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Synopsis:<br />
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<i>You may think me biased, being murdered myself. But my state of being has nothing to do with the curiosity toward my own species, if we can be called such. We do not go gentle, as your poet encourages, into that good night. </i><br />
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<i>A dead girl walks the streets.</i><br />
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<i>She hunts murderers. Child killers, much like the man who threw her body down a well three hundred years ago.</i><br />
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<i>And when a strange boy bearing stranger tattoos moves into the neighborhood so, she discovers, does something else. And soon both will be drawn into the world of eerie doll rituals and dark Shinto exorcisms that will take them from American suburbia to the remote valleys and shrines of Aomori, Japan.</i><br />
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<i>Because the boy has a terrifying secret - one that would just kill to get out. </i><br />
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Review (previously posted on Goodreads):<br />
<br />
If you have ever thought to yourself while watching a slightly clichéd but entertaining horror movie, "Wow, I wish I could *read* this slightly clichéd horror movie," then this is surely the book for you. It has many of the qualities of your average horror flick: the dialogue is pretty wooden, the characterization mostly shallow and only what is necessary to tell the story, and the plot is intriguing enough to keep your eyes glued to the screen (er, page) for a few hours.<br />
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I liked the character and backstory of Okiku, the titular avenging ghost girl from the well who is determined to punish all those who kill innocent children. But unfortunately the book is actually less about her and more about a couple of American teenagers who I just couldn't bring myself to care about very much. I also was distracted by said teenagers' very unusual names. The guy's name is Tarquin (you know, like the Roman emperor, obviously, 'cause that was one of the top baby names in 2002) and the young woman's name is Calliope Starr. There is a serial killer whose name is Quintilian Saetern, but that turns out to just be an alias... his real name is Quintilian Densmore. Good job with that alias.<br />
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<br />
There are some interesting scenes with creepy, possessed dolls and again Okiku is OK. I think she had the potential to be more than OK and a downright fascinating character if The Girl from the Well was actually about Okiku, the girl from the well. I also enjoyed learning a little about Japanese folklore. But overall, I kind of wish I'd just rewatched The Ring or The Grudge instead.Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-77719387771647640112016-07-20T16:03:00.000-04:002016-07-20T16:03:06.789-04:00Wytches by Scott Snyder<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCq3h9geBTwdnzV1CSoEdKLbGQiQ6BV4ZmhmVsr-_FkyXGuxL2bn8AcBca7sB08xADzc_VA3s2bqOMVjU_UzhyphenhyphenhrD5_GR-QBOOUs0DHpsTePcLRL5PkZiULQ6UD_HjniN0tlmZjOk-zRY/s1600/wytches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCq3h9geBTwdnzV1CSoEdKLbGQiQ6BV4ZmhmVsr-_FkyXGuxL2bn8AcBca7sB08xADzc_VA3s2bqOMVjU_UzhyphenhyphenhrD5_GR-QBOOUs0DHpsTePcLRL5PkZiULQ6UD_HjniN0tlmZjOk-zRY/s400/wytches.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
Genre: graphic novel, horror<br />
Pages: 192<br />
Published: 2015<br />
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<i>Everything you thought you knew about witches is wrong. They are much darker, and they are much more horrifying. Wytches takes the mythology of witches to a far creepier, bone-chilling place than readers have dared venture before. When the Rooks family moves to the remote town of Litchfield, NH to escape a haunting trauma, they're hopeful about starting over. But something evil is waiting for them in the woods just beyond town. Watching from the trees. Ancient...and hungry.</i><br />
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I had my eye on this graphic novel for a while. When I finally bought it, after flipping through the first few pages, I had high hopes. <span style="color: #45818e;">Creepy witches who stalk a family from the shadowy cover of the woods and cover art that reminded me of the art from the <i>30 Days of Night</i> graphic novels</span>--count me in! <br />
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While the concept is indeed a different take on witches, I was disappointed to find that t<span style="color: #45818e;">he story is more strange and gory than scary. </span> As a horror fan, I am always on the hunt for <i>scary</i>, which is quite a different thing from downright disturbing or gory. On the other hand, <span style="color: #45818e;">I enjoyed the writing and the characters, and grew to care about them enough that I feel certain I will read the next volume when it is released. Sailor, who has just moved to a new house and a new school after being involved in a mysterious death, immediately drew me in as a character. Though outwardly cool and hipster-ish, she has anxiety and is struggling with her past along with her fears for the future. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e;">Her father, a goofy and eccentric man who writes and illustrates children's books, is also a great character. His paternal love for Sailor is the driving force behind all of his actions in the story, and in many ways he is the real hero of the graphic novel as he undergoes a number of trials and tribulations in an attempt to save Sailor from a terrible threat. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e;">The art, on the other hand, turned out to be less than brilliant in my opinion.</span> Many panels look perfectly decent, especially when it is daytime. But other parts of the story, particularly the creepier parts which take place at night, look oddly blurred or just weird. <span style="color: #45818e;">Sometimes I found myself squinting just to try to figure out what I was looking at. </span> While the style is definitely unique and the colors are striking, I prefer reading graphic novels where I can actually tell what is going on. Part of that may be purposeful, since for most of the story it is difficult to even guess what exactly is happening, but overall I think the art just wasn't for me. <br />
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<span style="color: #45818e;">Scott Snyder also wrote a short piece at the back of the graphic novel that gave me a good shudder. It turns out that the backstory behind <i>Wytches</i> is just about as creepy as the story itself. </span> When Scott Snyder was a kid, he and his friend would wander around playing in the woods near their houses. Snyder, apparently already a story-teller at a young age, would make up these outlandish stories about the horrid witches who roamed the forest. Years and years later, Snyder returned home and walked through the woods alone, heading towards this old abandoned meat-packing truck where he and his friend used to hang out. Suddenly, he thought he saw a vaguely human-shaped blur moving from tree to tree. Though he never found out who (or what) this figure might have been, Snyder developed the concept for <i>Wytches</i> shortly after having this eerie experience.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e;">While the story isn't perfect and the art is not a style that I found appealing, I did enjoy <i>Wytches</i>. I grew to care a lot about the characters considering the length of the graphic novel, and will definitely be eagerly anticipating the release of the second volume of this horror comic.</span>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-45947938726265758062016-07-19T00:02:00.000-04:002016-07-19T00:04:18.397-04:00Top Thirteen Books Set Outside the UK and the USTop Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by <a href="http://www.brokeandbookish.com/p/top-ten-tuesday-other-features.html" target="_blank">the Broke and the Bookish</a>. I am modifying the topic of "books set outside the US" to "books set outside the UK and the US," because a lot of what I read is set in the UK. Anyhow, I love this theme because a strong sense of place in a book is something that really appeals to me and I have always enjoyed exploring other countries, cultures, and time periods through books! I was not able to narrow my list down to ten books, so I have twelve this week.<br />
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<b><u>1.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>The Shadow of the Wind </i>by Carlos Ruiz Zafón</b><br />
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One of my absolute favorites! It has some Gothic elements, along with mystery, romance, and even humor. It is certainly a book lover's book, set in enchanting Barcelona. </div>
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<b><u>2.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>The Club Dumas </i>by Arturo Pérez-Reverte</b></div>
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Another Spanish author whose work I really enjoy. His books are mysteries, cerebral and exciting. Like <i>The Shadow of the Wind</i> above, this is another book perfect for those who love books. <i>The Ninth Gate</i>, an excellent movie which stars Johnny Depp as a cutthroat antiquarian bookseller who must acquire a book so rare that only three copies have ever been in existence, is based on this novel. </div>
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<b><u>3.</u></b></div>
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<b>Henrik Ibsen's plays</b></div>
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The Norwegian Ibsen is my favorite playwright after Shakespeare. Some of his best plays are <i>Hedda Gabler, Ghosts, An Enemy of the People</i>, and <i>A Doll's House</i>.<br />
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<b><u>4.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>The Poetic Edda</i> by Anonymous </b><br />
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Not a difficult read, and fun and informative for those like me who are obsessed with Norse mythology.</div>
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<b><u>5.</u></b><br />
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<b><i>The Iliad</i> by Homer</b></div>
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<b><u>6.</u></b><br />
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<b><i>Interpreter of Maladies</i> by Jhumpa Lahiri</b></div>
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Some of the stories in this brilliant collection are set in India, others in the United States with Indian-American characters.<br />
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<b><u>7.</u></b><br />
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<b><i>If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho</i> (trans. by Anne Carson)</b><br />
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Beautiful translations of what remains of Sappho's poetry. Called the tenth muse, she was highly praised by later Greek writers, but very few of her poems have survived intact. Anne Carson's translations are haunting and eloquent.<br />
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<b><u>8.</u></b><br />
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<b><i>The Language of Baklava</i> by Diana Abu-Jaber</b><br />
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Parts of this memoir take place in New York and other parts in Abu-Jaber's family homeland of Jordan. I'm not a foodie, but I enjoyed this book (which includes lots of recipes) anyway. If you are a foodie, then you would probably really enjoy it.</div>
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<b><u>9.</u></b><br />
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<b><i>Jellicoe Road </i>by Melina Marchetta</b><br />
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Set in Australia. This is an older YA novel that I absolutely adore.</div>
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<b><u>10.</u></b><br />
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<b><i>The Three Musketeers</i> by Alexandre Dumas</b><br />
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To my shame, this is the only Dumas book I have read! I found it compulsively readable, funny, and completely deserving of its status as a classic.<br />
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<b><i>A Bride's Story</i> by Kaoru Mori</b><br />
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A gorgeously illustrated manga series set in Central Asia, written by a highly accomplished Japanese manga-ka who excels in the genre of historical manga. Twenty-year-old Amir marries a husband eight years her junior. Can she learn to get along with her husband and her new family, and become accustomed to their unfamiliar traditions?</div>
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<b><i>Candide</i> by Voltaire</b><br />
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The ultimate world travel adventure story! <i> Candide</i> would rank high on a list of my top ten favorite books.<br />
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Thanks for stopping by this Tuesday! Leave a link to your top ten list in the comments, and I'll be sure to return the visit!<br />
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Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-6552742548757892072016-07-14T15:00:00.000-04:002016-07-14T15:00:03.988-04:00Pride & Prejudice (Manga Classics)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjli65R5-YkabpwogOthSVGlmJQe6AEUj1LU_voWEVbn825FswKmZn7e0bPTzE8Z13VCZksxJmaQKXqeIkz1QDAB1Lc234TqLV4gI2I01Fg1Qv4MwV1LPRWt30epE0f-izwENJ77SdzPo/s1600/pride+and+prejudice+manga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjli65R5-YkabpwogOthSVGlmJQe6AEUj1LU_voWEVbn825FswKmZn7e0bPTzE8Z13VCZksxJmaQKXqeIkz1QDAB1Lc234TqLV4gI2I01Fg1Qv4MwV1LPRWt30epE0f-izwENJ77SdzPo/s320/pride+and+prejudice+manga.jpg" width="223" /></a></div>
Genre: manga<br />
Pages: 377<br />
Published: 2014<br />
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<i>Pride and Prejudice</i>, depicted in gorgeous shojo manga style?! Being a confirmed Jane fanatic and, as a teenager, an avid admirer of melodramatic manga in which all the characters are mildly anorexic and have enormous eyes, I could hardly resist buying this hefty manga. Nor was I disappointed. I devoured this fun, exquisitely-drawn manga in a few hours and enjoyed revisiting the world of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy in a new medium. <br />
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Devout <i>Pride and Prejudice </i>fans might be a little squeamish at seeing such a complex and verbose story as Austen's original novel simplified for the manga format. And, yes, despite my enjoyment of it, I cannot deny that this is certainly "Austen-lite." However, I began the book acknowledging that it would be nearly impossible to capture all of the social intrigue and slights and character complexities of the novel with dialogue bubbles and the occasional narration. I think this would be an excellent introduction to Jane, or to classic literature in general, for a teenage reader or someone who usually avoids reading classics. In any case, I was actually impressed with how much of the novel's plot the manga encompasses and how many classic <i>P&P </i>quotations it includes. <br />
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I loved the way the artist Po Tse depicted all of the characters! Elizabeth and Jane were visually just gorgeous, and I think the writer Stacy King captured the strength of their friendship and their characters very well.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elizabeth and Jane</td></tr>
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Also intact are most of the humorous moments from the original novel. Mrs. Bennett's match-making antics made me smile! I loved the scene in which she tries to make Mr. Bennett convince Elizabeth to marry Mr. Collins, swearing that she will never see Lizzie again if she doesn't marry Collins. Mr. Bennett replies that Elizabeth is in the unfortunate position of losing one of her parents from this day forward, for he'll never see her again if she does marry Collins! Speaking of the always-irritating Mr. Collins, I also enjoyed his character and the sort of abbreviated, almost chibi-like way he was drawn compared to the other, more elegant characters.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr. Collins' arrival frightens everyone</td></tr>
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Most elegant of all was Mr. Darcy, and I think the artist did an excellent job showing his emotions through the lack of emotions visible on his angular, sardonic face... Does that make any sense?? Anyway, I was perfectly satisfied with the way Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship changed (and changed) over the course of the story. All of the major plot points were covered, unless I'm forgetting something. A few things seemed out of place or a little anachronistic in the manga, such as the way Kitty constantly flirted with the local soldiers much more openly than she did in the book. In one scene she yelled, "Hey, boys!" or something like that, across a busy street and I was a little miffed, because that wasn't something any girl in an Austen novel would do. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elizabeth and Darcy</td></tr>
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Nitpicking aside, I would highly recommend this manga to an Austen fan who cannot get enough of <i>Pride and Prejudice</i> (meaning all of them, I guess!) As a manga reader, I was incredibly pleased with the breathtakingly beautiful art. There was also something very satisfying about reading a stand-alone story, because many of the manga series I have read consist of dozens of volumes. I will definitely be checking out the other <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/144668-manga-classics" target="_blank">Manga Classics</a> in this series, and I am particularly eager to get my hands on the manga adaptations of <i>Emma</i> and <i>The Scarlet Letter</i>. <br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79;">This book is</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #a64d79;">gorgeously-drawn faithful irresistible </span> </span><br />
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<br />Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-43797881399616252612016-07-12T00:00:00.000-04:002016-07-12T00:31:21.808-04:00Ten Facts About Me<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This week's Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by <a href="http://www.brokeandbookish.com/" target="_blank">the Broke and the Bookish</a>) asks bloggers to list ten facts about themselves, so here are ten facts about me, my blog, and some of my eccentricities!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1. I <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">started blogging here at A Myriad of Books when I was fifteen </span>(that's six years ago including a long hiatus or two!) When I reached high school, my fellow book geeks in "real life" seemed to become fewer and fewer. (I think most of them transformed into band geeks.) So, I started blogging so that I could share my opinions about books with other people who appreciate books. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2. I am a <span style="color: #3d85c6;">first-year doctoral student</span> in the field of women's and gender history. Historical writing involves lots of agonizing and footnotes, but I love the historiography and research aspects of it. To me, reading through people's old diaries is extraordinarily cool. When one writes about forgotten people in particular, it is as though one conjures them up from the dead and convince readers to pay attention to them, perhaps for the first time in centuries. I think that is a kind of magic. </span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3. I'm a very picky eater. My absolute favorite food is peanut butter, and that is also my sister's favorite. We have about ten jars of peanut butter in our pantry right now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4. I <i>loove </i>watching <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">"ghost hunter" television shows</span> where paranormal investigators spend the night locked up in a spooky basement or wandering around dark rooms with flashlights, saying, "Ohmygod, did you hear that?" </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have never seen a ghost, and I don't particularly believe in ghosts. I just like the idea of ghosts and the jump scares--especially the jump scares! My favorite show from this genre is called <span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><i>Paranormal Witness</i>. </span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5. I worked for three years as <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">a grocery store cashier.</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6. I am <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">fluent in French</span> as well as English (obviously), so bilingual. Supposedly Charlemagne said, <i>"Avoir une autre langue, c'est posséder une deuxième âme." </i> Speaking another language is like possessing a second soul. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7. I have lived my entire life in <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">the southern United States. </span> I like fried chicken and sweet tea, and I do have an inescapably strong Southern accent. I'm terrified of the very idea of driving in the snow and I wave at strangers. It is pretty humid here in the South right now! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8. I recently student-taught <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">high school English. </span> The texts I taught were <i>Oedipus Rex, Julius Caesar, Night,</i> and <i>All Quiet on the Western Front</i>. I probably would have chosen different books if the choices had been up to me, but I do like <i>All Quiet on the Western Front</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9. Bookish fact... So far this year, I have read <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">147 books and 42, 992 pages.</span> Last year I only read 164 books and 51,123 pages. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">10. Another bookish fact...I really like <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Penguin classics,</span> the ones with the black spines. I cannot resist buying a Penguin edition, even if I have already the book. It's a problem... it's just that they look so darn nice on my bookshelf and I love the images that Penguin chooses for their covers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thanks so much for stopping by my Top Ten Tuesday. Please leave me a link to your post when you comment and I will return each and every visit!</span><br />
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Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-48576254715800526422016-07-09T19:22:00.000-04:002016-07-09T19:22:33.888-04:001984 by George Orwell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Genre: dystopia<br />
Pages: 290<br />
Published: 1949<br />
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-size: large;">"War is Peace"</span><br />
<span style="color: #e69138; font-size: large;">"Freedom is Slavery" </span><br />
<span style="color: #e69138; font-size: large;">"Ignorance is Strength"</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">--the motto of the Party</span><br />
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<i>1984 is a 1948 dystopian fiction written by George Orwell about a society ruled by an oligarchical dictatorship. The Oceanian province of Airstrip One is a world of perpetual war, pervasive government surveillance, and incessant public mind control. Oceania is ruled by a political party called simply The Party. The individual is always subordinated to the state, and it is in part this philosophy which allows the Party to manipulate and control humanity. In the Ministry of Truth, protagonist Winston Smith is a civil servant responsible for perpetuating the Party's propaganda by revising historical records to render the Party omniscient and always correct, yet his meager existence disillusions him to the point of seeking rebellion against Big Brother.</i><br />
<br />
Like many readers, I became a fan of the dystopia genre and the recent dystopian trend in YA after reading <i>The Hunger Games</i> a few years ago. <i>1984</i> is something like <span style="color: #e69138;">the granddaddy of dystopian fiction </span>and I had heard a lot about it. Some phrases which Orwell coined in the book, like <span style="color: #e69138;">"Big Brother is watching''</span> is part of popular culture, and many people know that the society Orwell wrote about was inspired by Stalinism. However, 1984 is more than the few things about it which have become part of popular culture; I now think that <span style="color: #e69138;"><i>1984 </i>is an amazing book that everyone should read for themselves.</span><br />
<br />
<i>1984</i> is different from many YA dystopias I have read, in that while the teenage characters in books like <i>The Giver</i> and <i>The Hunger Games</i> do not usually get to see the inner workings of their dystopian societies, Winston is a part of the Party that seeks to control every aspect of citizens' lives. <span style="color: #e69138;">Winston's job is basically to eradicate and "edit" information. </span> For example, if the mysterious Big Brother made a prediction in the newspaper that never came to pass, Winston would go back and change the prediction so that it matches what actually happened. Though he comes to loathe this job, Winston literally rewrites history. <span style="color: #e69138;">He reflects that in this society, "all history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary." History is constantly altered to justify and vindicate the present--a historian's worst nightmare. </span> While the endless work hours, uniforms, telescreens that watch everyone's every move, and proscriptions against divergent thought were more standard dystopian fare, I was most intrigued by this more psychological aspect of Oceania's control over its citizens. <br />
<br />
One of Winston's colleagues is hard at work on furthering the development of <span style="color: #e69138;">Newspeak, the official language of Oceania. As he tells Winston, this is not so much a process of creating new words as destroying "unnecessary" words to par English down into its simplest form. </span>The concept is that nobody "needs" words like "exquisite," "extraordinary," "brilliant," "wonderful," "fantastic," when they can simply say "doubleplusgood." And if there is no word for "liberty," then how can anyone yearn for liberty? The limits of one's language prescribe the limits of one's mind, after all. The people of Oceania are warned to never even let themselves think that the Party may be wrong-- doing so would constitute what in Newspeak is called <span style="color: #e69138;">"thoughtcrime."</span><br />
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While Orwell was doubtless inspired by Stalinism, it would be a mistake to write this book off as "political commentary on Stalinism" or other totalitarian governments. Some of the phenomena which <i>1984</i> describes are very relevant to capitalist societies, such as the Lottery system which provides hope to the disadvantaged in the society that they may rise economically and the way governments wage war abroad "on behalf" of the folks at home. The book also introduced to me the <span style="color: #e69138;">concept of doublethink, "the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them."</span> An example of doublethink that came to my mind immediately was, <span style="color: #e69138;">"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..."</span> The people who wrote that believed that "all men are created equal," yet they also consciously believed that people of non-European descent were inferior--classic doublethink! <br />
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While I was clearly fascinated by the philosophy and the world of <i>1984</i>, <span style="color: #e69138;">characters aren't really the book's strong suit. </span> <span style="color: #e69138;">Winston is a rebel, but that doesn't mean he's a particularly exciting rebel. </span> His co-worker Julia, who also isn't buying what the Party are selling, seemed promising. <span style="color: #e69138;">Julia initially freaks Winston out, because she seems to be stalking him outside of work and he fears she's an agent of the Thought Police who has discovered his "thoughtcrime" by watching his expressions. </span> (Even "facecrime," making incriminating expressions which suggest disapproval of the Party, is a no-no in Oceania.) <span style="color: #e69138;">Instead, Julia abruptly declares her love for Winston and the two of them begin a passionate relationship which they must hide from the eyes of Big Brother and the Thought Police.</span> However, Julia also wasn't an extremely likable character; the book really isn't character-driven, but more a book about ideas.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #e69138;">I highly recommend <i>1984</i> to those who, like me, may have had it on their tbr lists for ages but have hesitated to read it because they think they know the story already. </span> <i>1984</i> was actually the oldest book on my Goodreads to-read shelf. I added it in 2010 and just now got around to reading it, but I'm so glad that I did.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #e69138;">Another favorite quote:</span><br />
<span style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #e69138;">"Perhaps a lunatic is simply a minority of one."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #e69138; font-size: large;">This book is</span><br />
<span style="color: #e69138; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #e69138; font-size: large;">riveting thought-provoking unsettling</span>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-80797430857010893492016-07-07T10:46:00.000-04:002016-07-07T10:46:01.584-04:00Alcestis by Euripides (trans. by Ted Hughes)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh03kcicYbH1w_H6mX2pInab4JDIxge7-z2xIFxt8VnmwCu6Vh_03Bd3rE3H4Lpak9mX2Lvg53YU90EsCI6OFFtlRK2R95lE3hE_DDiFNQ15d8gTpPxx-8PUuBvIWzv4zTwL4zQF5J9Ypg/s1600/alcestis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh03kcicYbH1w_H6mX2pInab4JDIxge7-z2xIFxt8VnmwCu6Vh_03Bd3rE3H4Lpak9mX2Lvg53YU90EsCI6OFFtlRK2R95lE3hE_DDiFNQ15d8gTpPxx-8PUuBvIWzv4zTwL4zQF5J9Ypg/s400/alcestis.jpg" width="272" /></a></div>
Genre: play, tragedy<br />
First performed: 438 BCE<br />
This version published: 2000<br />
Pages: 96<br />
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3;">Alcestis's husband Admetos is the ruler of Pherae and is widely lauded as a great hero who has brought peace and prosperity to the Greek city-state, "a savior of his people, an inspired prince." Unfortunately, he is also doomed to die young. The sympathetic god Apollo intervenes and informs Admetos of his fate, which can be avoided only if Admetos finds someone who is willing to die in his place. The king begs both of his parents to die for him, but only his young wife Alcestis volunteers to perish in her husband's place. </span><br />
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The play begins on the eve of Alcestis's death, as Apollo provides this backstory. <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">He is joined in the prologue by none other than Death, who has come to claim Alcestis's life. Death's words made me shiver and re-read them, then shiver and re-read again. </span><br />
<br />
"...I am not a god.<br />
I am the magnet of the cosmos. <br />
What you call death<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Is simply my natural power,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The pull of my gravity. And life</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Is a brief weightlessness--an aberration</div>
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From the status quo--which is me...</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
[Human] lives are the briefest concession,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
My concession, a nod of permission.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
As if I dozed off and dreamed a little.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I take a dream--and Admetos calls it his life. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
When I awake in the body of Admetos,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He dies." </div>
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However, Apollo refuses to be cowed (probably because he is immortal and, you know, cannot die). <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">He acknowledges Death's power, but vows, "Somebody in this universe can pull the darkness over your eyes too. And today you are going to meet him." </span><br />
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Following this eerie, fascinating prologue,<span style="color: #8e7cc3;"> the play moves on to the human characters. The whole household is in premature mourning for Alcestis, who is lying on her deathbed. </span> Her husband Admetos grieves and moans that he would do anything to save her. He promises her the one thing she requests, that he will not remarry, and also promises to mourn her for the rest of his life. Alcestis herself is not particularly talkative (admittedly, this is her death scene), but Admetos laments that nothing will ever be able to fill the void made by her approaching death. <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">Just before Alcestis dies, he dares to think of how he might rescue her from the underworld as Orpheus tried to rescue his dead wife: </span><br />
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"Thinking about Orpheus--in the thick of all this.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Thinking of the impossible.</div>
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How he went down there,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Into the underworld, into the dead land,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
With his guitar and his voice--</div>
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He rode the dark road</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
On the thumping of a guitar,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A horse of music. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He wrapped himself in his voice,</div>
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Death-proof, a voice of asbestos,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He went</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Down and down and down." </div>
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What with phrases like "a voice of asbestos" and Orpheus having a guitar instead of a lyre, I was reminded that <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">this version of the play was actually "adapted" as well as translated by Ted Hughes. However, I really have no complaints with that, since the essence of the story is left intact and the modern turns of phrase are striking and lyrical rather than overly intrusive.</span> While I have not read Euripides' original and cannot truly compare it, I think Ted Hughes' "adaptation" is pretty remarkable in any case. <br />
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Scarcely has Alcestis died and Admetos lamented that he is not like the demi-god Orpheus, when <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">a demi-god shows up on Admetos' doorstep! This is none other than Heracles, who is in the middle of completing his twelve labors. </span>High on his recent triumphs over a slew of human-devouring monsters, Heracles is ready to dine with his old friend Admetos and have a few drinks. He does not know that the house is in mourning, and Admetos conceals it from him so as not to be a poor host. <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">S</span><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">o, Heracles proceeds to get extremely drunk. He recounts the stories of his labors, forcing the servants to act the parts of the monsters he wrangles (ouch!), and this in a palace where the queen has just died. </span> However, Heracles finds out what has happened and apologizes to Admetos, who still seems stunned and absolutely defeated by Alcestis' death. <br />
<br />
I cannot <i>not</i> comment on the irony of Admetos' reaction, because it annoyed me. <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">While I understand that his wife volunteered to die in his place, he might as well have just asked her the way he asked his parents, and for all his vocal lamenting he never tried to stop Alcestis from sacrificing herself. </span> But it gets worse. When Pheres, Admetos' father (his father is still alive, a "retired" king), comes to mourn Alcestis at her funeral. He offers funeral gifts and some kind words to Admetos, who in turn absolutely lambastes his father. He vows that he will throw his father's corpse and that of his mother to the dogs after they die, since they would not give their lives for his instead of Alcestis though they are old. Admetos' father replies, "My life might not be much in your eyes. For me it is all I have." <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">He points out that Admetos is like a cannibal, living thanks to the death of another. Admetos is hypocritical towards his father and annoying as hell, eaten up with guilt and grief. </span><br />
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However, Heracles also feels guilty for having made a drunken scene while Alcestis lies newly dead. He approaches Admetos in the company of a veiled woman, who he says he won as a prize in an athletic competition(!), and begs Admetos to look after this woman for him. Admetos refuses, saying he will not dishonor Alcestis by having this woman in his house. <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">Finally, Heracles tells Admetos to look at the woman's face behind her veil--and it is Alcestis! It turns out that, to atone for his rudeness, Heracles surprised Death while he bent over Alcestis' body and so saved her from the underworld. </span> Alcestis must be silent for three days (no big loss, I guess, since Euripides didn't give her much interesting to say in her one scene earlier in the play!), but after that she is free to live out the rest of her natural life. So Apollo's prophecy has come true! <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">Someone, Heracles, was able to pull the darkness over Death's eyes. </span><br />
<br />
I really enjoyed this play. I began it thinking that it might extol the virtues of Alcestis in supposedly being a good wife and dying for her husband, but to the contrary we see the utter selfishness and cowardliness of Admetos far more than we actually see Alcestis herself. <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">While the subject matter of the play is dark and it is primarily a meditation on death, it is also a timeless meditation on life and what makes life worth living in spite of the presence of death. </span><br />
<br />
Although I never thought of Heracles as a characteristically wise figure, <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">I loved the words he used to console Admetos: </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
"But any one of us can be killed tomorrow.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We don't ruin today with worrying about it.</div>
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Death can come in a twinkling, any second.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Up to that second, every second is precious,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Precious, precious life.</div>
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Death has to be ignored.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Then when it comes--mourn. Acknowledge it.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
But not before it comes." </div>
<br />Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-76897533680107069922016-07-04T23:56:00.001-04:002016-07-04T23:56:49.174-04:00Top Ten Books That Have Under 2,000 Ratings on GoodreadsTop Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by <a href="http://brokeandbookish.com/" target="_blank">The Broke and the Bookish</a>. Most of the fiction I read tends to have more than 2,000 ratings on Goodreads, so this list is a pretty eclectic one. There is a little YA, a little popular culture, a few biographies, and a couple of history books (of the interesting variety!)<br />
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<b><u>1.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>The Kingdom of Little Wounds</i> by Susann Cokal (1,563 ratings)</b></div>
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A YA historical fantasy set in medieval Scandinavia (Denmark, I think?), about two young servant girls who unexpectedly become involved in a lot of royal intrigue and deadly political machinations. I loved this book, and have never read anything quite like it before or since. It has the feel of a twisted fairy tale, very rich in metaphor, with many shocking plot twists. I can only compare it to Angela Carter, though that's not quite right...anyway, just read it! </div>
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<b><u>2.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>The Art of Neil Gaiman</i> by Hayley Campbell (and Neil Gaiman) (496 ratings)</b></div>
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If you are, like me, a fan of Gaiman and want to read the story behind every single thing he has ever written from Doctor Who episodes to a very early biography of the band Duran Duran, then you are in luck. This book is also just right for a coffee table book!</div>
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<b><u>3.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>Daughter of Xanadu</i> by Doris Jones Yang (515 ratings)</b></div>
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How does this book only have 515 ratings?? I read and reviewed it a few years ago, and even got to <a href="http://amyriadofbooks.blogspot.com/2011/01/interview-giveaway-with-dori-jones-yang.html" target="_blank">interview the amazing, adventurous author Dori Jones Yang</a>. It's the story of Emmajin, a talented granddaughter of Kublai Khan who longs to ride in his army as a soldier and also meets a young Marco Polo.</div>
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<b><u>4.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion</i> (237 ratings)</b></div>
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I bought this for the section on <i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</i>, my all-time favorite TV series. It also includes interviews, episode guides, and analytical essays for <i>Firefly, Angel, Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog</i>, <i>The Avengers</i>, etc. The book turned out to be very useful for a class I took on Joss Whedon...I feel like I am always mentioning slightly strange-sounding classes I have taken, so one day soon I will have to post a top ten list of my most unusual university courses!</div>
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<b><u>5.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>The Blazing World </i>by Margaret Cavendish (585 ratings)</b></div>
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Margaret Cavendish wrote one of the earliest works of science-fiction in the year 1666. I read <i>The Blazing World</i> for a class on British women writers and really enjoyed it. Margaret was indefatigable in trying to get into the Royal Society (when women were strictly prohibited from joining this elite scientific boys' club) and her imagination was just striking.</div>
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<b><u>6.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>The Match Girl and the Heiress </i>by Seth Koven (24 ratings)</b></div>
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This recent double biography is highly readable and one of my favorite reads from last year. Koven's research and his characteristically empathetic way of writing make the stories of his two philanthropic heroines really compelling. </div>
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<b><u>7.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>For Her Own Good: Two Centuries of the Experts' Advice to Women </i>by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English (1,648 ratings)</b></div>
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I just finished reading this, and found it enlightening as well as fascinating and a little disturbing! It definitely deserves more ratings.</div>
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<b><u>8.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>Cut These Words into My Stone: Ancient Greek Epitaphs </i>(trans. by Michael Wolfe) (16 ratings)</b></div>
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I found this collection of epitaphs fascinating. If you like Greek lyric poetry, epitaphs, or just want to read something really and truly different, then this is perfect. It is also fairly short.</div>
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<b><u>9.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>Edgar A. Poe: A Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance </i>by Kenneth Silverman (257 ratings)</b></div>
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Do the last two books on this list make me look mildly morbid? I think they might, but I do love practically everything ever written by Edgar Allan Poe. There are many incorrect and damaging rumors and "myths" about Poe himself floating around in popular culture today, so it would seem that the directors of some recent films and TV series need to read this interesting biography!</div>
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<b><u>10.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>The Irish Princess</i> by Karen Harper (815 ratings)</b></div>
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A few years ago, I read a ridiculous amount of historical fiction and Alison Weir books about the Tudors. This novel, told from the perspective of "Gera," one of the Irish Fitzgerald family who suffered a lot at the hands of Henry VIII and his crew, is refreshingly different and well-written.<br />
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Wow, those were ten very different books! Thanks for stopping by, and feel free to leave a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post when you comment.</div>
Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-79613912663891122142016-07-04T09:42:00.000-04:002016-07-04T09:43:05.167-04:00Claymore by Norihiro Yagi, Volumes 10-11<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Genre: manga, fantasy<br />
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<span style="color: cyan;"><i>Claymore</i> is the story of Clare, a half-human, half-monster warrior who is sworn along with her sister Claymores, "silver-eyed slayers," to protect humans from the flesh-eating Yoma who roam her world.</span><br />
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Though I have been reviewing this manga three volumes at a time, <i>so much happened </i>in these two volumes that I think reviewing volume twelve here as well would be absolute overkill.<br />
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So, volume ten! First of all, I have to say that I love the cover for this volume even more than any of the previous gorgeous ones. <span style="color: cyan;">This volume continues where the ninth left off, with Clare and twenty-three of her fellow Claymores on a suicide mission to defend a northern village from what seems to be dozens of monstrous Awakened Ones </span>(powerful former Claymores who have lost their human side and become Yoma, monsters). The warriors are divided into teams and must immediately learn to adjust to each other's different fighting styles and techniques, as well as their various personalities. As usual when Claymores meet, there are hostilities--even when they are fighting for their lives! <br />
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<span style="color: cyan;">Many new Claymores are rapidly introduced, but despite the dominance of fight scenes in this volume, I felt that I was able to get to know and distinguish them very quickly.</span> We learn some of their traumatic backstories and, before very long, see some of them die fighting the Awakened Ones. <span style="color: cyan;">These death scenes are always gut-wrenching in <i>Claymore</i>, which says a lot considering that the series has tons of characters; the characters are such that one immediately becomes invested in their fates</span> and usually strongly likes or despises them (for the latter category, that awful Ophelia comes to mind!) <br />
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On the other hand, <span style="color: cyan;">there are many morally ambiguous characters.</span> Clare's former companion Raki (reportedly sold into slavery in the north in the last volume) has ended up traveling <span style="color: cyan;">in the company of Clare's archenemy Priscilla and Isley, one of the most powerful Awakened Ones in this country. </span><br />
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Although we last saw Priscilla as a monster and know Isley to be trying to destroy the Claymore Organization, <span style="color: cyan;">the two of them appear human in front of Raki and behave humanely towards him, taking care of him. Isley even begins teaching Raki to fight with a sword. </span>While I somehow did not gather from the first few volumes that featured Awakened Ones that they can retain a human appearance (even though Riful appears as a young girl in the last few volumes I reviewed), it seems that she is not the only one who can. (On the other hand, some Awakened Ones never appear to be humanoid, which is a bit confusing! Perhaps the mythology changed as the series progressed, or perhaps I just wasn't paying attention and missed something.) Anyway, <span style="color: cyan;">Raki is determined to grow stronger so that he help Clare fight and it is revealed that Isley is planning a major attack on the Organization while half of the Claymores are engaged fighting in the north.</span><br />
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The eleventh volume made me gasp and groan aloud more than a few times as I read it. <span style="color: cyan;">It is a brutal, brutal continuation of the <i>Claymore </i>epic which honestly I did not at all anticipate. Here there be climactic last stands and character deaths, the deaths of likable and major characters. The battle in the north between Claymores and an army of Awakened Ones continues in the village of Pieta, which fortunately has been evacuated.</span> Clare pushes herself to her absolute limits and alternates between despair and fierce anger as her comrades die in droves around her. <br />
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<span style="color: cyan;">Meanwhile, the Organization have gathered their strongest warriors to defend their base in the south. </span> This includes Galatea, no. 3, who, despite her privileged position as a powerful fighter, has grown to resent the Organization's abuse of her fellow Claymores. Galatea learns the extent of the Organization's callousness when one of their leaders explains that the Organization does not expect any of the weaker and "habitually disobedient" Claymores in the north to survive that battle. <span style="color: cyan;">She also meets warriors nos. 1 and 2, Alicia and Beth.</span> The two are actually twins, and are different from any of the other Claymores. <span style="color: cyan;">They have been brainwashed to be completely obedient to the Organization </span>and are able to transform into Awakened forms (this generally means monstrous, with predatory animal features such as giant claws, tentacles, teeth, etc) without fully losing their humanity and becoming Yoma.<br />
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<span style="color: cyan;">In yet another part of the country, Isley faces Luciela of the South, one of his rival Awakened Ones, in battle. This is an awesome fight scene</span> which promises to continue into the next volume. Isley's Awakened form is extremely cool, and looks like a centaur. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-64IcZ5R5jkdlp2sVkD2g8GJJxkMEc8v0gTTHBcZ2PgsxFC-UxNklMR7ovU-TsIo5hhLCk7F3SX9mLKzNoAWNMVg-951KSG45OXJPuKMLJ3JskxeQKtWco0qrCstHiiTc85OdvZk3ng/s1600/isley+i.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-64IcZ5R5jkdlp2sVkD2g8GJJxkMEc8v0gTTHBcZ2PgsxFC-UxNklMR7ovU-TsIo5hhLCk7F3SX9mLKzNoAWNMVg-951KSG45OXJPuKMLJ3JskxeQKtWco0qrCstHiiTc85OdvZk3ng/s200/isley+i.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isley's awesome Awakened form</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Once again, <span style="color: cyan;">the eleventh volume in particular was a slightly soul-crushing read for me. </span> I didn't realize that I had become attached to so many of these characters until they died! The fact that the Claymores die fighting because the Organization essentially decided to use them as disposable shock troops while they prepare their obedient, stronger warriors for battle makes their deaths particularly disturbing, and I begin to see <span style="color: cyan;">certain themes of questioning and rebelling against corrupt power and institutions emerge more strongly and potently in these last two volumes.</span> This manga has really come a long way as far as complexity since the first volume! <br />
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Update for <a href="http://amyriadofbooks.blogspot.com/2016/05/2016-horror-reading-challenge-graphic.html" target="_blank">the 2016 Graphic Novel/Manga Challenge</a>: I have now read 17 of 24 of the graphic novels/manga that I had hoped to read for this challenge.<br />
Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-59106208361907588722016-07-01T20:28:00.000-04:002016-07-01T20:28:12.067-04:00Lysistrata by Aristophanes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Genre: play, comedy<br />
Published: 411 BCE<br />
Translated by Douglass Parker<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">The Peloponnesian War has raged between Athens and Sparta for many years. Lysistrata, an Athenian woman, becomes fed up with the devastating war and her husband's refusal to even speak with her about the possibility of peace:</span><br />
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<i>Lysistrata: "...When the War began, like the prudent, dutiful wives that we are, we tolerated you men, and endured your actions in silence. (Small wonder--you wouldn't even let us say boo.) </i><br />
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<i>Too many times, as we sat in the house, we'd hear that you'd done it again--manhandled another affair of state with your usual staggering incompetence. Then, masking our worry with a nervous laugh, we'd ask you, brightly, "How was the Assembly today, dear? Anything in the minutes about Peace?" And my husband would give his stock reply. </i><br />
<i>"What's that to you? Shut up!" And I did." </i><br />
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So Lysistrata comes up with a simple yet ingenious plan. <span style="color: #999999;">She summons the war-weary women of Athens and some from Sparta as well and announces that they are going to force their husbands and lovers to end the war by refusing to have sex with them until they call an armistice. </span>In the meantime, they will dress and perfume themselves as seductively as possible, wearing thin gowns and such, and <span style="color: #999999;">the older women of Athens will seize and occupy the Acropolis.</span> <br />
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I had somewhat high expectations for this play, having known it by reputation for a long time. When I was younger, I imagined it must be a sort of Grecian "battle between the sexes," which in a way, it kind of is. <span style="color: #999999;">As I grew older and became more self-consciously a feminist, I assumed <i>Lysistrata</i> must be a feminist play, since it features women mobilizing together and wielding what power they have over men in a patriarchal society to bring about peace. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">However, <i>Lysistrata</i> is first and foremost a <i>comedy. </i>It is not at all a feminist (or more accurately, proto-feminist) work.</span> Although women are the agents of conflict and change in the play, none of Aristophanes' characters are what one might call proto-feminist. <span style="color: #999999;">In fact, even the women in the play decry their own gender at times; Lysistrata laments that her comrades in the strike are so weak and useless. That said, she also does have a few stirring lines which assert her dignity and the dignity of her cause. </span> "What did you expect?" she asks an Athenian commissioner who comes to try to persuade her and the other women to leave the Acropolis,<br />
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<i>"We're not slaves; we're freeborn Women, and when we're scorned, we're full of fury. Never underestimate the Power of a Woman."</i><br />
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Other than this disappointment, which I perhaps should have been better prepared for (Ancient Greek playwrights are not known for having had a high regard for women), I did somewhat enjoy <i>Lysistrata</i>. <span style="color: #999999;">Some scenes were funny,</span> as when Myrrhine teases her husband by pretending to get everything ready for them to sleep together (bed, pillows, blankets, perfume, a better perfume, etc) and then running away. I also have to commend the translator (Douglass Parker, in the edition I read) for translating all of these sometimes obscure Greek sexual puns and double entendres into English, which cannot have been an easy task. That said, I avoid sex comedy films like the plague and <span style="color: #999999;">found some of the humor here to be crude. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">While the play is not itself feminist, I do think it is one that feminists and those who are interested in gender studies, gender and power, etc, should check out. Lysistrata and the other women are adamant that war affects everyone, not just warriors and not just males but also women and children and communities. While the story is a myth, the play demonstrates that anyone can change the course of history by promoting peace, even if one works to do so by means of apparently simple or, er, unorthodox methods.</span> Also, phallic jokes are apparently timeless. <br />
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I was excited to see that one of my favorite fin-de-siècle artists <span style="color: #999999;">Aubrey Beardsley </span>actually created some striking illustrations for this play, but decided not to include any of them in this review because most of them are bordering on pornographic. I do not really know the age range of this blog's vast audience (haha), but back in the day I did have many younger readers. Anyway, though, I digress...<br />
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I am going to try reading another Aristophanes comedy, possibly <span style="color: #999999;"><i>The Frogs,</i> which I have heard good things about.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999; font-size: large;">This play is</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;">bawdy raunchy (yes, I realize that is a synonym for "bawdy," but it bears repeating) </span> </span> <br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">This play was on my <a href="http://amyriadofbooks.blogspot.com/p/classics-club.html" target="_blank">Classics Club list</a>! </span><br />
<br />Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-3611068390669659952016-06-30T07:31:00.000-04:002016-06-30T07:31:54.391-04:00Claymore by Norihiro Yagi, Volumes 7-9<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Genre: manga, fantasy<br />
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<span style="color: #76a5af;"><i>Claymore</i> is the story of Clare, a half-human, half-monster warrior who is sworn along with her sister Claymores, "silver-eyed slayers," to protect humans from the flesh-eating Yoma who roam her world. </span><br />
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I definitely have a new manga obsession. While <i>Claymore</i> started out as a fairly simple tale about a female warrior and her companion, a boy she rescued from the Yoma, it has by the seventh volume expanded into <span style="color: #76a5af;">a full-blown epic saga, complete with a complex mythology, larger objectives, and many, many more characters!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #76a5af;">The seventh volume continues with the showdown between the sadistic Claymore Ophelia and the monster that I simply call "the most terrifying thing I've ever seen in my life." </span> (See <a href="http://amyriadofbooks.blogspot.com/2016/06/claymore-by-norihiro-yagi-volumes-4-6.html" target="_blank">my review of volumes 4-6 </a>for some images.) This is another freakishly beautiful fight scene. Meanwhile, Clare and Raki try to get as far away from Ophelia as possible. Clare sends Raki on to a village where he will be safe, and just after they part ways (with a kiss!), Ophelia shows up to kill Clare. The other warrior is so much more powerful that Clare has little hope of defeating her, so she tries to trick her...unfortunately Ophelia figures out what is going on. <br />
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<span style="color: #76a5af;">Clare is badly, permanently injured and saved from death only by the appearance of another very powerful Claymore. </span> This Claymore, Ilena, helps Clare to regain her strength and as a parting gift presents her with the single strangest present I have ever heard or read about. However, Clare has barely said goodbye to Ilena when she encounters Ophelia again (!). Now Ophelia has awakened into a monster, having used too much of her Yoma power during her last battle against Clare and so lost her human half. Battle ensues between her and Clare again, continuing into the next volume.<br />
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<span style="color: #76a5af;">The eighth volume features the finale of Clare's battle with Ophelia, and we learn something by Ophelia's past which makes her seem a little more human.</span> Er, even though she is now <span style="color: #76a5af;">a gigantic snake monster with a woman's head. </span> The next arc sees Clare searching the nearest village for Raki. However, while there she sees a party of her comrades leaving the village to hunt yet another Awakened One. (Exactly many Claymores have gone crazy and turned into monsters over the years??) Her search for Raki is unsuccessful, and Clare is interrupted by the appearance of one of the Claymores from the hunting party. <br />
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The girl is bloody and looks half-dead. She pleads with Clare to rescue her comrades, who are trapped in a nearby cave with not one, but <i>two</i> very powerful Awakened Ones. <span style="color: #76a5af;">Clare finds the other Claymores being tortured by an enormous, hideous monster called Dauf and a pretty young girl. The girl says she wants to force the Claymores to awaken and join her army of monsters to lead an assault on another Awakened One's army in the north. </span>Clare must then fight Dauf, against whom she is very outmatched. And, then, as if things were not bad enough, one of the most powerful Claymores in the organization, Galatea, arrives to take Clare back to the organization because she disobeyed their orders in fighting Ophelia instead of working with her. (As if Ophelia were a team player, right??) Under the circumstances, however, Galatea joins Clare in the battle against the monster. <br />
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In the ninth volume, the fight continues. The powerful Galatea distracts Dauf, while Clare manages to save Jean, one of the Claymores who has been chained up and tortured to the point of awakening. <span style="color: #76a5af;">Jean is a cool character, one of my favorites of the many Claymores we have met in the series so far. With the help of Jean, ranked no. 9 in the organization, Clare and Galatea are able to defeat Dauf.</span> They are prevented from killing him, however, by the pretty girl who has been sitting in a corner of the cave commentating on the fighting all this time. <span style="color: #76a5af;">The girl shows her true face and turns out to be Riful, a very dangerous Awakened One indeed. </span> However, instead of fighting, she and Dauf disappear, though not before Riful reveals a tantalizing hint to Clare about the <span style="color: #76a5af;">location of Clare's greatest enemy, Priscilla--the Claymore who killed Clare's beloved friend Teresa. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #76a5af;">The volume continues with a new arc, "the Battle of the North." Clare and twenty-three of the organization's most troublesome Claymores (hmm, suspicious much?) are sent to quell an army of Awakened Ones and Yoma in the north of the country.</span> The organization promises to forgive Clare for her disobedience if she goes and, furthermore, Clare learns that Raki has been captured and sold into slavery in the north in her absence. (<i>Tsk tsk</i>, Clare can't leave the kid alone for five minutes without something happening.) Jean, no. 9, has declared that since she owes her life to Clare, she will follow the other Claymore until she is able to repay the debt. Clare and Jean therefore report to the north together, joining the other Claymores who have gathered to prepare for battle.<br />
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<span style="color: #76a5af;">There is a lot of tension between the assembled Claymores, some of whom threaten to turn violent. Though they are all exploited by the organization, they are all eager to fight one another to prove a point or perhaps improve their number ranking. The dynamics between the different warriors are endlessly interesting and one of the main reasons that I am enjoying this series so much.</span> I will doubtless review the next three volumes, featuring a gigantic battle between half of the Claymores in existence and hordes of monsters, very soon!<br />
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Update on my <a href="http://amyriadofbooks.blogspot.com/2016/05/2016-horror-reading-challenge-graphic.html?showComment=1466561556568" target="_blank">2016 Graphic Novel/Manga Challenge</a>: I have now read 15 of 24 of the graphic novels/manga that I had hoped to read for the challenge. Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-19598074257457321222016-06-29T12:02:00.000-04:002016-06-29T12:02:20.968-04:00The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Pages: 225<br />
Published: 1851<br />
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<i>This is a tale of a house cursed through the centuries by a man who was hanged for witchcraft--a house haunted by the ghosts of its dead and the terror of its living inhabitants. The blighted house controls the fates of four Pyncheons: Hepzibah, an elderly recluse; Clifford, her delicate brother; Phoebe, their young country cousin; and Jaffrey, a devil incarnate whose greedy quest for secret wealth is marked by murder and terrible vengeance from a restless grave. </i><br />
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I always intend to read more American literature. This week I have done pretty well, having read both a book of poems by Emily Dickinson and <i>The House of the Seven Gables</i>. The Dickinson poems were <i>sublime</i>; a gushing review of those is in the works. As for <i>The House of the Seven Gables</i>...<br />
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3;">I loved Hawthorne's lovely way of writing, his skill in telling stories about the past inhabitants of the titular house and weaving them into the present story. I found the stories about the presumed witch Matthew Maule who cursed the Pyncheon family before his execution and the young, doomed Miss Alice Pyncheon to be mesmerizing,</span><span style="color: #674ea7;"> </span>among the best parts of the book. I appreciated Hawthorne's great attention to detail in painting the images and personalities of the <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">characters, who are few but memorable</span>. I could just <i>see</i> Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon swinging his cane and smiling benevolently at Phoebe while malice lurks in his eyes, see Hepzibah fluttering nervously around her shop as she prepares to open her new business, a penny shop that the old gentlewoman is forced to start up in a desperate attempt to escape her impending poverty. <br />
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3;">I loved the characters, loved the setting of the decrepit old house, loved the ancestral curse, and the connection with Hawthorne's own family history.</span> (Hawthorne's ancestor Judge Hathorne was one of those who condemned "witches" during the Salem Witch Trials, just as Colonel Pyncheon does in this book. Hawthorne was so disturbed by his familial legacy that he changed the spelling of his name a little, adding a "w.") <br />
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<i>The House of the Seven Gables</i> is Gothic in that it deals with <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">a decaying house, reclusive aristocrats, an ancestral curse passed down through the generations</span>--in terms of themes alone, it closely resembles more straightforward Gothic tales like <i>The Fall of the House of Usher</i>. However, there are no ghosts in the traditional sense, no dead maidens buried alive. <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">The horror in <i>The House of the Seven Gables</i> is more subtle, more delicate, and ultimately much less overpowering.</span> The characters of Phoebe, Hepzibah's teenage cousin who comes to stay with her and her brother Clifford, and Holgrave, an idealistic young daguerreotypist and lodger in the house, provide some contrast for the doom and gloom atmosphere of the House of the Seven Gables. I liked Holgrave in particular; he is certainly my favorite character in the book. <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">Unlike Hepzibah, Clifford, and Judge Pyncheon, all of whom dwell incessantly on the past and their ancestral woes and money troubles, Holgrave supports social change and progress. He resents the grip that the dead still have on the living, the chains of old customs. He complains to Phoebe, <i>"Shall we never, never get rid of this Past?"</i> </span>and goes on a bit of a rant:<br />
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<i>"A dead man sits on all our judgment seats; and living judges do but search out and repeat his decisions. We read in dead men's books! We laugh at dead men's jokes, and cry at dead men's pathos! We are sick of dead men's diseases, physical and moral, and die of the same remedies with which dead doctors killed their patients!...Whatever we seek to do, of our own free motion, a dead man's icy hand obstructs us!...we live in dead men's houses; as, for instance, in this of the Seven Gables!" </i><br />
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Later in the book, Holgrave declares that he has become positively conservative almost overnight, but I preferred the original Holgrave, an angry radical who believed that the world must and will change for the better. It is easy to see that he scorns the aristocratic Hepzibah and Clifford somewhat for their helplessness and fear of the outside world, when after all Holgrave has worked in various eccentric occupations since he was very young. He says that he only lives in the House of the Seven Gables so that he may better learn to hate it and all that it stands for. On the other hand, he also shows compassion towards Hepzibah in particular and is more than a little mysterious. I also am fascinated by <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">daguerreotypes</span> and liked the role that the daguerreotype of Judge Pyncheon played in the story. <br />
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<i>The House of the Seven Gables</i> has a "flaw" in common with <i>The Scarlet Letter</i>, Hawthorne's best-known book and the bane of millions of high school students. I write "flaw" in quotation marks because I think that this is <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">mostly a deficiency ascribed onto Hawthorne's style of writing by those who read his work today.</span> In the era of James Patterson and, more importantly, films, readers expect books to tell their story rapidly, to include lots of dialogue and cliffhangers at the end of most chapters. <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">Meanwhile Hawthorne invested pages and pages in creating a very particular sense of place and describing the daily habits of his characters. And he went too far, at times. </span> He did! I read a lot of nineteenth-century prose without suffering much boredom or annoyance; in fact, I enjoy the fruits of earlier authors' labors in creating mood, complex characters, and setting--I love a strong sense of place in a book. However, at one point Hawthorne actually felt the need to write<br />
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<i>"The author needs great faith in his reader's sympathy; else he must hesitate to give details so minute, and incidents apparently so trifling, as are essential to make up the idea of this garden life." </i><br />
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3;">When the author refers to the incidents he is describing as "trifling," that is a sure sign that they are less than riveting!</span> That chapter which describes the Pyncheon family's garden and Clifford's fondness for flowers is indeed the most wearisome part of the book; I struggled to hold my eyes open. <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">The beginning is also slow, but the last few chapters are positively fast-paced in comparison.</span><br />
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Though I don't want to give anything away to those who haven't read the book, I will say that I was really struck by chapter eighteen, "Governor Pyncheon." I never expected that plot twist and loved Hawthorne's uncanny style of narration in that chapter. <span style="color: #8e7cc3;">All in all, I feel I profited a good deal from reading <i>The House of the Seven Gables</i>. Reading it was not always enjoyable, but since then I have thought about</span><span style="color: #8e7cc3;"> the story and the characters many times--always the mark of a good book!</span><br />
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Another favorite quotation:<br />
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<i>"But these transparent natures are often deceptive in their depth; those pebbles at the bottom of the fountain are farther from us than we think." </i><br />
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3;">This book is</span><br />
<span style="color: #8e7cc3;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">eloquent thought-provoking slow-paced</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #8e7cc3;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #8e7cc3;">P.S. This book was on my <a href="http://amyriadofbooks.blogspot.com/p/classics-club.html" target="_blank">Classics Club list</a>!</span><br />
<br />Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-71082389870704678502016-06-27T21:59:00.000-04:002016-06-27T21:59:03.260-04:00Top Ten Favorite Heroines (and Anti-Heroines)It's time for another <a href="http://www.brokeandbookish.com/" target="_blank">Top Ten Tuesday</a> post, and this week is a freebie! It was difficult to pick among so many intriguing past topics, but I finally decided to list my top ten favorite literary heroines. I have also included three anti-heroines, because these not-so-good women are simply too good to leave off the list.<br />
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<b><u>1.</u></b></div>
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<b>Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series</b></div>
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What a no-brainer! Every bookish girl who reads <i>Harry Potter </i>wants to go to Hogwarts and be top of their class, just like Hermione. </div>
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<u><b>2.</b></u></div>
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<b>Elizabeth Bennett from <i>Pride and Prejudice</i> by Jane Austen</b></div>
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My favorite Austen book is actually <i>Emma</i>, but I much prefer Elizabeth to Emma Woodhouse. She is witty, poised, strong-willed, and, yes, a bit proud and prejudiced. </div>
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<b><u>3.</u></b></div>
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<b>Éowyn from <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> by J.R.R Tolkien</b></div>
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"<i>I am no man!</i>" At least the very few female characters in T<i>he Lord of the Rings</i> are pretty kick-ass. Everyone in Rohan sort of leaves Éowyn alone in the hall of her forefathers to look after her cursed, ill uncle while Grima Wormtongue, Saruman's creepy henchman, haunts her footsteps. After she is left behind yet again when the men of Rohan go off to fight, Éowyn breaks free of the "cage" she so fears and takes action. She disguises herself as a male soldier and ends up defeating the Witch-King of Angmar, who can be killed by no man... </div>
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<b><u>4.</u></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKhyphenhyphenWxlDtteMTUgQQ2pX1mYrXXNV2aDt-_HRndh7gtwMkMLLzpCjOmcw7h6qpIIyfqYzqCJA8YhWNXEc9KMBNt-IUwGKeP_R8L4oT_OJrfZCnKtDTE9YmgUQqBB-qSVo5-CBeljFJyQA/s1600/nimona.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKhyphenhyphenWxlDtteMTUgQQ2pX1mYrXXNV2aDt-_HRndh7gtwMkMLLzpCjOmcw7h6qpIIyfqYzqCJA8YhWNXEc9KMBNt-IUwGKeP_R8L4oT_OJrfZCnKtDTE9YmgUQqBB-qSVo5-CBeljFJyQA/s200/nimona.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b>Nimona from <i>Nimona</i> by Noelle Stevenson</b><br />
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Nimona is an exuberant shapeshifter who practically forces her supervillain hero Lord Ballister Blackheart to make her his evil sidekick. The two clash often and hilariously, as their styles of evil-doing are sometimes incompatible. However, this graphic novel also has a darker, more serious side. I highly recommend it; you will love getting to know Nimona, Blackheart, and the rest of the characters! </div>
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<b><u> 5.</u></b></div>
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<b>Jane Eyre from <i>Jane Eyre</i> by Charlotte Bronte</b><br />
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Plain and quietly strong-willed, Jane grows up oppressed as an orphan in the house of her unkind aunt and then in a harsh boarding school. Even after she becomes a governess and falls in love with her employer, Jane's happily-ever-after is still far from straightforward. I admire Jane's resolve and independence.<br />
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<b><u>6.</u></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj33K1eiVd_N-1olVuc7lgQkhMvuuzkuvTZhQxYHePQWvD8a0PMxd-nZUbeVaarcqEEZ3Vpq7Q3pP7uqraHaGmHe-c0r_4Y5y0kZWv1Mcj5ZCPzB-CBqN9l1frn-nfJqJiKZQ8QotZM_LA/s1600/alana+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj33K1eiVd_N-1olVuc7lgQkhMvuuzkuvTZhQxYHePQWvD8a0PMxd-nZUbeVaarcqEEZ3Vpq7Q3pP7uqraHaGmHe-c0r_4Y5y0kZWv1Mcj5ZCPzB-CBqN9l1frn-nfJqJiKZQ8QotZM_LA/s200/alana+3.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b>Alana from the Saga series by Brian K. Vaughn</b></div>
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I love Alana from <i>Saga</i>. She is flawed and very funny at times. She would do anything to save her little family from the assassins and corrupt intergalactic governments that are always trying to do them in.</div>
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<b><u>7.</u></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwT8K6sM_n0wrdnkgk8m6P-wn6p7eXgLU1mu3gaByLw9t6a_u4Qn3uUAL-nvsuEQ-KB3fxWIDTITKvsHENYfNVBqCaRQy-OSvw7Iq9pDGskgyEx4LmO0XywPjAN-20VQEiZ16YB6_vcfM/s1600/lyra+belacqua.jpe" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwT8K6sM_n0wrdnkgk8m6P-wn6p7eXgLU1mu3gaByLw9t6a_u4Qn3uUAL-nvsuEQ-KB3fxWIDTITKvsHENYfNVBqCaRQy-OSvw7Iq9pDGskgyEx4LmO0XywPjAN-20VQEiZ16YB6_vcfM/s1600/lyra+belacqua.jpe" /></a></div>
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<b>Lyra Belacqua from the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman</b></div>
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Though I couldn't not include her, I have already discussed my love for Lyra in <a href="http://amyriadofbooks.blogspot.com/2011/07/top-ten-tuesday-rebels-in-literature.html" target="_blank">another post!</a></div>
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<b><u>8. </u></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic2090oGV0MxCozR0cHilnFRtEtC90Vlvcmx8ceGX7iAWsCcWMwVJ9xoemesYf44X9bexMpjfbzNHCAvXrKryJNSaOLx_mPLaOZkRzaPj6vZqQZ-yhsQUvz97Py_hmkc04jpQvdRjpqa8/s1600/alice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic2090oGV0MxCozR0cHilnFRtEtC90Vlvcmx8ceGX7iAWsCcWMwVJ9xoemesYf44X9bexMpjfbzNHCAvXrKryJNSaOLx_mPLaOZkRzaPj6vZqQZ-yhsQUvz97Py_hmkc04jpQvdRjpqa8/s200/alice.jpg" width="148" /></a></div>
<b>Alice from <i>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland</i> by Lewis Carroll</b><br />
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<b><u>9.</u></b></div>
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<b>Clare from the Claymore manga series by Norihiro Yagi</b></div>
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My enthusiasm for the kick-ass female heroines in this series, which I'm in the midst of binge-reading and reviewing, partially inspired me to pick heroines as my topic this week. Clare is a half-human, half-monster slayer sworn to protect humans from flesh-eating monsters called Yoma. She is part of a sisterhood of forty-seven such "Claymores."</div>
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<b><u>10.</u></b></div>
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<b>Marian Halcombe from <i>The Woman in White</i> by Wilkie Collins</b></div>
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I just <a href="http://amyriadofbooks.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-woman-in-white-by-wilkie-collins.html" target="_blank">recently reviewed <i>The Woman in White</i></a>, one of my favorite Victorian Gothic novels. Marian is a brilliant and determined young woman who must protect her rather helpless half-sister from her sister's greedy husband and her husband's friend, the diabolical Count Fosco.</div>
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And...the anti-heroines!</div>
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<b><u>1.</u></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS9F2828e_Bvap2yix2Z5qHftpB9Kj2vm6HfaH3k6v-6egU8_mzhnJQwN_sGCxEiIHAxtbzLDNGCMtfcH3pJ6Ay7px4RFduq4bYVhldQcTlBVz_j_l23SbRLbumbWBGqctOW5l5V1F4Zw/s1600/madame+bovary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS9F2828e_Bvap2yix2Z5qHftpB9Kj2vm6HfaH3k6v-6egU8_mzhnJQwN_sGCxEiIHAxtbzLDNGCMtfcH3pJ6Ay7px4RFduq4bYVhldQcTlBVz_j_l23SbRLbumbWBGqctOW5l5V1F4Zw/s200/madame+bovary.jpg" width="121" /></a></div>
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<b>Madame Bovary from Gustave Flaubert's <i>Madame Bovary</i> </b></div>
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The infamous Madame Bovary is a fascinating character, sympathetic in a sense, but also probably not someone one could consider a "heroine." </div>
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<b><u>2.</u></b></div>
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<b>Miss Jean Brodie from <i>The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie</i> by Muriel Spark</b></div>
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Miss Jean Brodie, a teacher at a girls' school, gathers a small group of students around her and initiates them into the ways of, well, Jean Brodie. She is not a woman to be summed up in a few words. Her fascist beliefs and secret affairs draw the attention of the school administration, but her devoted group of girls would never betray her... would they? This is a very short novel, and just excellent! </div>
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<b><u>3.</u></b></div>
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<b>Hedda Gabler from Henrik Ibsen's<i> Hedda Gabler</i></b></div>
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I love <i>Hedda Gabler</i>! It is probably my favorite Ibsen play, which is high praise. The title character is the daughter of a decorated general, a woman with a flair for the dramatic and a great violence in her soul. She has boundless energy and longs to do something important, something exciting. Bored with her husband, her in-laws, and her life as a housewife, Hedda settles for playing with the love lives and careers of her friends. If you enjoyed Ibsen's <i>A Doll's House</i>, then definitely read <i>Hedda Gabler.</i> Hedda is a different kind of dissatisfied housewife than Nora, but, wow, is she a memorable character!<br />
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I hope you enjoyed this list and picked up a few new reading recommendations! Thanks for stopping by and leave me a link when you comment so that I can check out your top ten list as well!<br />
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Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-51671944894757247222016-06-26T09:13:00.000-04:002016-06-26T09:13:52.218-04:00Claymore by Norihiro Yagi, Volumes 4-6<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVuDFKxrGhukrasLGKEcP_ISuZCwdPSuaG1xqgNAPMdx6ibXxKVry1xVoouVpgn-DCOkvd-QejLt5an8SmnVE9h5dkwBYR_norrg6RQBJnNp4w19cnVZwVfav5vh8m8a_bpyXgjOZlPds/s1600/claymore+4.jpe" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVuDFKxrGhukrasLGKEcP_ISuZCwdPSuaG1xqgNAPMdx6ibXxKVry1xVoouVpgn-DCOkvd-QejLt5an8SmnVE9h5dkwBYR_norrg6RQBJnNp4w19cnVZwVfav5vh8m8a_bpyXgjOZlPds/s400/claymore+4.jpe" width="266" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #f1c232;">Genre: manga, fantasy</span><br />
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<span style="color: #f1c232;"><i>Claymore</i> is the story of Clare, a half-human, half-monster warrior who is sworn along with her sister "silver-eyed slayers" to protect humans from the zombie-like Yoma who roam her world. </span><br />
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I read these next three volumes of this exciting and action-paced series with <span style="color: #f1c232;">a rabid eagerness </span>and, at the end of volume six, once again encountered <span style="color: #f1c232;">an evil cliffhanger</span>. Oh, Norihiro Yagi, you are the most malevolent of manga-kas! <br />
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First things first, though; I'll start with volume four. <span style="color: #f1c232;">This volume continues the story arc about the powerful Claymore Teresa and her new companion, a young girl who Teresa saved from a Yoma a few villages back, a young girl who turns out to be the human Clare. </span> Teresa tries to leave Clare with kind villagers so that she can have a normal, human life, but ends up having to double back and save Clare from the same bandits who threatened and had planned to rape Teresa in the third volume. The bandits are brutal men, though no match for Teresa. <span style="color: #f1c232;">Furious at their slaughter of some villagers and their mistreatment of Clare, Teresa kills one of them in a fight. In doing so, she violates the most sacred rule of the organization who hires (and creates?) Claymores: their job is to slay Yoma and protect humans, not kill them. </span> <span style="color: #f1c232;">Teresa and Clare go on the run from the organization, but in the meantime four of the strongest Claymores are summoned together and ordered to hunt down and execute Teresa for her crimes. </span>The character of Priscilla, one of these Claymore who appears to be only a little girl, is particularly interesting and she promises to be an important part of the series.<br />
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I had been hoping the series would introduce more Claymores, and my wish definitely came true with these next three volumes! In fact, so many new Claymores are introduced that it is a little difficult at times to tell all these beautiful, fair-haired young woman apart. <span style="color: #f1c232;">I loved this story line that focused on Teresa and "human Clare" and their strong friendship, since they are still my favorite characters even with the introduction of some others. The fight scenes between Teresa and her Claymore comrades who are under orders to kill her are very well-done and I liked that the drawings increasingly emphasize the monster or Yoma side of the girls as they are fighting. For example, their faces change and their eye colors shift and their limbs grow longer as they draw on more of their Yoma power during tough battles.</span><br />
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If the third volume clearly marks the point where I began to become emotionally invested in the series, then <span style="color: #f1c232;">the fifth volume is really where the "feels" kicked in!</span> There is a new story line, titled "The Slashers," which focuses on Clare in the present day. <span style="color: #f1c232;">She and some of her fellow Claymores are instructed to hunt down and slay an "awakened one," an extremely powerful creature which is actually the remnant of a Claymore who has lost their humanity and fully transformed into an inhuman monster.</span> This monster varied from the typical, zombie-like Yoma and I have to say that it was creepy! I liked seeing the interactions between Clare and the other Claymores. We learn among other things that Clare is in fact ranked as the least powerful Claymore currently alive, and once again we meet some interesting new characters. It is impressive that the manga-ka has managed to endow each of the twelve (and counting!) Claymores who have been introduced so far with a unique and remarkable personality. They do have similar designs, though, and I usually have to rely on hair styles to distinguish them during the fight scenes. Speaking of which, <span style="color: #f1c232;">there are <i>a lot</i> of fight scenes in this fifth volume, but also some emotional depth. Something happens in this volume which shocked and saddened me.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #f1c232;">The sixth volume boasts the most absolutely horrifying, pee-your-pants scary manga monster I have ever seen.</span> Let's just go ahead and put that out there. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuKrj_TPPDZUXgVAXyoxom2ISUWVNbAgt5-oWURqf2qau0p73VY9UH0JnP2ocCN80ENSvbk3LweNfvZboIqa_uBA8kqKyF9bKB-edXiJwZz5gvkVH0QURSHWqqIOEykvKwKHRh-_Mb7T8/s1600/monster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuKrj_TPPDZUXgVAXyoxom2ISUWVNbAgt5-oWURqf2qau0p73VY9UH0JnP2ocCN80ENSvbk3LweNfvZboIqa_uBA8kqKyF9bKB-edXiJwZz5gvkVH0QURSHWqqIOEykvKwKHRh-_Mb7T8/s320/monster.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I placed a picture there to present a rough idea, but that one panel does not really do this creature justice. It has the face of a human female, because it is another "awakened one" who was once a Claymore before she released too much of her Yoma power. The way this monster moves her wings and hair and her neck, and the way she looks when she opens her mouth...just <i>ugh</i>! I nearly dropped the manga and ran away screaming. <span style="color: #f1c232;">Forget fighting her, I would just take one look and instantly die of terror. </span><br />
<br />
Anyway, in volume six the organization orders Clare to kill this lovely monster which has been terrorizing a village. <span style="color: #f1c232;">She is supposed to have assistance to kill the monster, in the form of Ophelia, the fourth-strongest Claymore (they are all ranked precisely in order of strength). Miria, no. 6, had warned Clare about Ophelia and the other powerful Claymores in the last volume. Because Clare is sort of semi-awakened, having unleashed too much Yoma power and almost become a monster forever during the episode in the cathedral city, Ophelia becomes suspicious that Clare is already a monster. </span><br />
<br />
She torments Clare and Raki and seems on the verge of killing at least one of them when the "awakened one," pictured above, makes her entrance. She first attacks Clare but then turns on Ophelia, sensing her arrogance, and Clare and Raki are able to temporarily escape while Ophelia battles the monster. <span style="color: #f1c232;"> The volume leaves off as they are running, trying to get as far away as possible before Ophelia comes after them. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXZT2HtWvLZdORx8z4GQg2qfu0uspfh6JMLnrWHNVB5yxb4KJE-AP16OXJ2ByjgQeyAO1QYG1H-3J0KraGQ9Arc72CkvJXGRu5k4NVbYS9lmPAcbTvSTQmWVcir6Paj41v4xdona0AYVw/s1600/Ophelia_vs_Former_single-digit_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXZT2HtWvLZdORx8z4GQg2qfu0uspfh6JMLnrWHNVB5yxb4KJE-AP16OXJ2ByjgQeyAO1QYG1H-3J0KraGQ9Arc72CkvJXGRu5k4NVbYS9lmPAcbTvSTQmWVcir6Paj41v4xdona0AYVw/s1600/Ophelia_vs_Former_single-digit_3.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ophelia vs the monster</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Ophelia is one scary, sadistic bitch. I am actually not sure whether I would prefer to face her or that freaky, winged hair monster. Oh, wait...just kidding, I'd take Ophelia! <br />
<br />
It practically goes without saying that <span style="color: #f1c232;">I adored these three volumes and will be starting on volume seven as soon as possible! </span> I have grown used to the style of art and now think it is really quite beautiful, so no complaints there. <span style="color: #f1c232;">The story has really taken off in lots of different directions </span>since the fairly straight-forward first and second volumes, and I cannot wait to find out what happens next. While I realize not many people read reviews of later volumes in a manga series, I will continue writing these reviews for every three volumes if only so that I can reflect upon what I read and because I enjoy writing about <i>Claymore</i>!<br />
<br />Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-86937541246777601922016-06-25T09:58:00.000-04:002016-06-26T10:12:47.244-04:00Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirxTwQdZqlKyFCr3iLyEL1DpZwRAWC6jTrx9DnbNBjmVzRRcwTlSFX_fUvmznL5f6QQxY74OhyorfHdiQGa3B_3xUbEKw59xt7bLyXXlFxueoCLPArTFXo6Jd7MF-T0vyeYANWrJ2t_rs/s1600/murder+on+the+orient+express.jpe" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirxTwQdZqlKyFCr3iLyEL1DpZwRAWC6jTrx9DnbNBjmVzRRcwTlSFX_fUvmznL5f6QQxY74OhyorfHdiQGa3B_3xUbEKw59xt7bLyXXlFxueoCLPArTFXo6Jd7MF-T0vyeYANWrJ2t_rs/s400/murder+on+the+orient+express.jpe" width="262" /></a></div>
Genre: mystery<br />
Published: 1934<br />
Pages: 322<br />
<br />
<i>Just after midnight, a snowdrift stopped the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train was surprisingly full for the time of the year. But by the morning there was one passenger fewer. A passenger lay dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside...</i><br />
<br />
This is only the second Agatha Christie I've had the pleasure of reading--the first was <i><a href="http://amyriadofbooks.blogspot.com/2016/05/and-then-there-were-none-by-agatha.html" target="_blank">And Then There Were None</a></i> a few weeks ago--and I think I am already becoming hooked on her books. Her style of writing is bare bones, she does not dwell on long descriptions of setting or characterization apart from what is necessary to tell an excellent, plot-driven mystery story. Nevertheless, I found myself staring at the book's open pages for far longer than it should take me to read the text as I mentally ran through possible clues and racked my brain as to the identity of the murderer. Well, Christie fooled me, so all my deliberation and reflection turned out to be for naught! <br />
<br />
<i>Murder on the Orient Express</i> stars one of Christie's two famous detectives, the Belgian Hercule Poirot. Poirot is rather like Sherlock Holmes in that he is a well-respected detective known for cracking the cases which elude others and the police. While he is also a bit arrogant--er, <i>very sure of his powers of deduction</i>--, Poirot differs from Holmes in his methods. If Sherlock Holmes had been asked to solve a murder which occurred in one carriage on a snowbound train, he would likely pace up and down the corridor examining the crime scene, the floor, and the sleeves of all the passengers for suspicious substances which would in some complicated way allow him to deduce the identity of the killer. <br />
<br />
Poirot, on the other hand, plants himself in a room and has each of the passengers (the only possible suspects, as the train is snowbound) come in for an interview. He uses psychology to determine their guilt or lack thereof and, surprisingly, a bit of guesswork. For example, Poirot asks some of the passengers questions which are intended to startle them into revealing something they may be trying to conceal. He also analyzes phrasing and word choice... when he asks a woman if she owns a scarlet kimono (because the murderer may have been seen wearing one), she replies, "No, that is not mine," suggesting she may know whose it <i>is</i>, though she insists otherwise. Poirot also rapidly alters his persona and method of questioning so as to best provoke answers or cooperation from the suspects according to their personalities. <br />
<br />
The murder occurs fairly early on, as an unlikable American gentleman is murdered in his room at night. Poirot begins his investigation the morning after the murder and interviews each of the passengers to obtain their alibis and any information they might have in the way I described above. Among the suspects are a countess, the dead man's secretary, a conductor, a noisy American matron, and an English governess. After interviewing each of these people and examining the clues (a handkerchief is found in the victim's room and a woman in a scarlet kimono was sighted in the corridor), Poirot finally lays out the solution to the friend who is helping him with the investigation. I could be wrong, but I don't think the identity of the murderer is one that many people would be able to guess. I changed my mind about who I thought the killer was at least four times, and by the end I did not have a clue! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The next Agatha Christie that I read will be <i>The Murder of Roger Ackroyd</i>.<br />
<br />
This book is<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #45818e; font-size: large;">brilliant diverting surprising</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">This review was one for <a href="http://amyriadofbooks.blogspot.com/p/classics-club.html" target="_blank">my Classics Club list</a>! </span>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-22928046599829548062016-06-23T22:03:00.004-04:002016-06-23T22:03:46.081-04:00Claymore by Norihiro Yagi, Volumes 1-3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Genre: manga, fantasy</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><i>Claymore</i> is the story of Clare, a half-human, half-monster warrior who is sworn along with her sister "silver-eyed slayers" to protect humans from the zombie-like Yoma who roam her world. </span> I was attracted to this manga series by the beautiful covers and that premise, which reminded me of <i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer </i>if Buffy were set in a fantasy world which closely resembles medieval Europe. While I was initially not impressed by the art and worried that it might turn out to be a typical shounen manga--lots of fighting and half-naked girls, little characterization or thematic depth--I quickly realized that <i>Claymore</i> is more <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">complex and interesting</span> than that. <br />
<br />
The first volume opens with a village in distress. Six people have been gruesomely murdered and everyone knows that the killings are the work of a Yoma. Yomas are <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">flesh-eating monsters</span>, much worse than the sort of zombies you see in <i>The Walking Dead</i> because they are cleverer, more powerful, and much, much faster. In addition, they <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">can take on human form to disguise themselves.</span> Raki, a local teenage boy, soon encounters Clare, a Claymore who has been sent to hunt down and slay the Yoma terrorizing his village. <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Claymores are dreaded and despised in this society</span> despite their function as monster slayers, because they are half-monster themselves and <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">may lose their human selves</span>, allowing the monster to take complete control at any time. However, Raki is fascinated by Clare (and more than a little enamored of her). He is cheerful and naïve and treats her like an ordinary girl, which disconcerts solemn Clare. She has come to this village to do one thing and one thing only: destroy a monster that feeds on human flesh, armed only with her <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">claymore blade</span>. After further tragedy strikes his village, Raki ends up travelling with Clare against her better judgment. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">This volume is immediately exciting </span>and does a good job setting up the story and the universe. There is also <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">a lot of gore and plenty of fighting scenes</span> which were well-drawn and well-paced. I was less than captivated by the art in some of the panels. <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">The style is efficient rather than extravagant</span> and extremely detailed, like in some of my favorite mangas, but on the other hand I have seen shounen manga with much uglier drawings. And the covers for the whole <i>Claymore</i> series are gorgeous! <br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">The second volume was my least favorite</span> of the three I have read so far. The arc about Clare and Raki's journey to <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">investigate Yoma killings in a cathedral city</span> is an interesting premise, but I felt that one fight scene dragged on literally for several chapters, even running into the next volume. On the other hand, we do get to learn a little more about Clare and witness her chameleon-like acting skills as she disguises herself as an ordinary girl travelling with her brother in order to seek out the Yoma without being thrown out of the city by monks. There is little dialogue in this volume due to all of the <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">action scenes</span>; I breezed through it in about a half hour!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">The third volume, subtitled <i>Teresa of the Faint Smile</i></span>, was the one that made me eager to get my hands on the next, um, <i>twenty-four</i> volumes of this series <i>now</i>! The first two chapters finish up the "Darkness in Paradise" arc from the last volume, in which Clare and Raki hunt a particularly powerful Yoma in a holy cathedral city. The rest of the volume begins a new arc about another Claymore, called Teresa. <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">I immediately liked Teresa! </span><br />
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And I was happy to meet her, because I had been wondering about the other Claymores and whether they resembled Clare. While Teresa does superficially resemble Clare--she is a beautiful, blond young female--<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">they actually are quite different</span> both in their designs and their personalities. Clare is serious and solemn and very willing to sacrifice herself to protect the humans who despise her from Yoma. But Teresa is not afraid to bend or break the rules of the mysterious organization for which she and the other Claymores work. <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">She is fierce</span> and has a bit of an attitude going on; I liked her a lot! The first few chapters of this new story line about Teresa involve her seeking out a Yoma hiding among villagers and <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">being followed through the woods </span>after she finishes her job there, first by <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">a strange, mute girl and then by a group of bandits</span> intent on humiliating Teresa. Yeah, needless to say, they've got another thing coming!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">I<i> love</i> this series so far</span>. Honestly, I half-wish I had not picked the first volume up, because now I will become addicted to the series and have to read the next twenty-four volumes in the next week or so. Then, I will have to watch the anime and obsess over it when I should probably be doing preparatory reading for graduate classes next semester. Oh well!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">I am keen to learn so many things about the characters, their backstories, and the world of <i>Claymore</i>. </span> Are all Claymores female? How does one become a Claymore, and what is this organization that sends Claymores to different villages to kill Yoma? I cannot wait to read the next volume and am considering breaking into the library tonight to get it a few hours early! <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">This manga has</span><br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">strong female characters lots of action gore monsters </span><br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: medium;">These three manga volumes count towards my goal in the <a href="http://amyriadofbooks.blogspot.com/2016/05/2016-horror-reading-challenge-graphic.html?showComment=1466561556568" target="_blank">2016 Graphic Novel/Manga Challenge</a>!</span><br />
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Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-86201083849119849362016-06-22T10:08:00.000-04:002016-06-22T22:26:52.989-04:00The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;">Genre: Gothic romance</span><br />
<span style="color: #6aa84f;">Pages: 650</span><br />
<span style="color: #6aa84f;">Published: 1794</span><br />
<br />
<i>"'But my dearest Catherine, what have you been doing with yourself all this morning?--Have you gone on with </i>Udolpho<i>?'</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>'Yes, I have been reading it ever since I woke; and I am got to the black veil....I am delighted with the book! I should like to spend my whole life in reading it. I assure you, if it had not been to meet you, I would not have come away from it for all the world.' </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
--<i>Northanger Abbey </i>by Jane Austen<br />
<br />
I had wanted to read <i>The Mysteries of Udolpho</i> for a long time, ever since reading the passages in <i><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Northanger Abbey</span></i> where Catherine and her ridiculous friend Isabella discuss how perfectly scary it is. I tried for the first time nearly a year ago, but was unable to make it past the first hundred pages. My initial impression was that the book was hopelessly dull and<span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><span style="color: white;">long-winded</span>. Radcliffe spends pages describing the picturesque landscapes which Emily and her father experience during an extended journey by carriage. Very little of importance happens in those first hundred pages. Emily herself is<span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">a somewhat dull protagonist</span>, not exactly unlikable but so stiff and formal and helpless as to be irritating at times.<br />
<br />
Now, having said all that...<br />
<br />
I was not so put off by <i>Udolpho</i> that I didn't eventually return to it. I sensed that maybe it had not been the right moment to read this book. I tried again a couple of weeks ago, taking the book along on a long road trip so that, I thought triumphantly, I would be forced to read it out of sheer boredom! As it turned out, I need not have worried. During my second (and successful) reading of <i>The Mysteries of Udolpho</i>, <span style="color: #6aa84f;">I am happy to report that I found my inner Catherine Morland. After those uninspiring first hundred pages, I became swept up by this sentimental story and very invested in finding out what horrible fates or happy endings might befall the characters. Far from having to force myself to read it, I could barely put Udolpho down!</span> <span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"> </span></span>Once I stopped inwardly scoffing so much at the more wooden dialogue or rolling my eyes at the lengthy descriptions of scenery or Radcliffe's poems extolling the virtues of nature (inserted liberally throughout the book, even during otherwise frightening or suspenseful parts), I began to understand why this Gothic romance was heralded as such <span style="color: #6aa84f;">a thrilling sensation, a bestseller of its day.</span><br />
<br />
The setting is sixteenth-century Europe and the premise is classically Gothic. <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Teenage Emily St. Aubert has to leave her peaceful family home in the French countryside after her beloved parents die. After enduring another painful separation from her beloved Valancourt, who would marry her if her aunt allowed it, Emily is forced to leave France and everything that she knows. She must move with her aunt and her aunt's sinister new husband, a certain Montini, to Montini's isolated Italian castle, which appears to be haunted by at least one mysterious ghost, if not several. In addition, Emily's captivating beauty and youthful innocence are such that nearly every man she encounters seems to want to marry or kidnap her. She is subjected to the unwanted attentions of several remarkably persistent suitors and, at the castle of Udolpho, surrounded by bandits, Venetian prostitutes, and cavaliers who have turned to banditry to make a living. </span><br />
<br />
Emily's chamber at Udolpho is down the corridor from a room which all the servants are terrified of, a room from which she thinks she can sometimes hear beautiful music being played. In one corner of Emily's room is a sinister old door which leads down an unknown passage and which might permit anyone to force their way into her chamber as she sleeps at night. And then there is <span style="color: #6aa84f;">the infamous black veil</span>, the black veil which hangs over something extraordinarily gruesome, something utterly horrid... <i>er, what is it? </i>Emily faints not once but twice after having pulled back the veil and seen what lies behind it, but Radcliffe does not tell us what it was that terrified her heroine until nearly the end of the book!<i> </i><span style="color: #6aa84f;"> </span>I found this strange and very vexing, because like Catherine in <i>Northanger Abbey </i>I felt I had to know what was behind that veil. Reading about Udolpho did give me a strong desire to visit some ruins and castles in the Gothic style, though <i>not</i> to spend the night in one of them! <br />
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Emily's guardian Signor Montini is no guardian at all, but rather wants to steal Emily's family fortune, and <span style="color: #6aa84f;">vows that he will torture or kill the young heiress if she does not sign over her estates to him. </span><br />
<br />
Emily, while a rather uninteresting heroine in some respects and never what one might call "strong," nevertheless does have a strong response to Montini's demands:<br />
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<i>"'You may find, perhaps, Signor,' said Emily, with mild dignity, 'that the strength of my mind is equal to the justice of my cause; and that I can endure with fortitude, when it is in resistance of oppression.'</i><br />
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<i>'You speak like a heroine,' said Montini, contemptuously; 'we shall see whether you can suffer like one.'"</i><br />
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I liked Montini's sinister threat there! It made my inner Catherine Morland gasp, 'Oh my, what next?'<br />
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Emily is <span style="color: #6aa84f;">the quintessential Gothic heroine</span> who would inspire many others in the next century of literature, and she certainly does suffer in each setting she encounters (though the book is called <i>The Mysteries of Udolpho</i>, there are also a number of scenes in Venice, southern France, and at a monastery among other places). <span style="color: #6aa84f;">She is oppressed and punished for her attempts to lead the sort of moral life she thinks her mother and father would have wanted for her, separated from the only person in the world who loves her (Valancourt), and mistreated by the people on whom she is legally dependent. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;">The theme of the importance of fortitude and inner strength</span> resonates throughout the book. Another reoccurring theme is <span style="color: #6aa84f;">the superiority of the life of the mind and the quiet admiration of nature over the corrupting influences of the city, material wealth, and vice</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span>which have made Madame Cheron (Emily's aunt) so frivolous and Montini so vicious. Emily's father, a gentle and intellectual nobleman who gave up his life at Paris and other European capitals to retire to his country estate with his family, instills a love for nature in Emily, a love which is shared by her beloved Valancourt:<br />
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<i>"'These scenes,' said Valancourt, at length, 'soften the heart, like the notes of sweet music, and inspire that delicious melancholy which no person, who had felt it once, would resign for the gayest pleasures. They waken our best and purest feelings, disposing us to benevolence, pity, and friendship.'"</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Landscape with Travelers</i> by Salvator Rosa</td></tr>
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While I found Radcliffe's nature poetry to be mediocre and rather intrusive upon the story, <span style="color: #6aa84f;">I did appreciate some of her scenery descriptions and I concur with Emily that nature and simple pleasures such as friendship, family, and good books are some of the greatest things in life, far superior to those material and industrialized things touted by some as indispensable.</span> I understood where Radcliffe was coming from and felt that this book helped me to better understand the times in which she wrote. <br />
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This was <span style="color: #6aa84f;">during the Industrial Revolution</span> in England. As cities and their populations expanded and industry grew, many people saw cities as centers of vice and inhumanity and longed for simpler times in the countryside before the time of enclosure and the building of railways. The nostalgia for "medieval times" is far from new, but was a key part of <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Romanticism</span>. Like other British Romantic writers and artists, Radcliffe was enamored of landscape paintings like those of <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Salvator Rosa</span>. Salvator painted nature at its most gorgeous but, like Radcliffe, he also liked to create some seriously creepy scenes! This beauty at right is entitled "Witches at Their Incantations." It reminds me of some of Goya's darker paintings. <br />
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This combination of <span style="color: #6aa84f;">strong admiration for nature and fear of primeval darkness, barbarities of antiquity, and/or the supernatural </span>is very evident in Udolpho. At one point Emily comes across an old instrument of torture and, imagining the gruesome work it might have done in the not so distant past, she swoons. <br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;">Did I mention that Emily faints quite a lot?</span> I think everyone who has heard of <i>Udolpho</i> knows that the heroine faints all the time, and I did start the book knowing that much. While she may be strong in fortitude and resistant to oppression, <span style="color: #6aa84f;">she is depicted as physically frail and easily overwhelmed. I took the liberty of counting how many times Emily faints in the book, and I came up with eleven.</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span> (I saw another reviewer on Goodreads said it was ten times, but I think they must have overlooked one scene where Emily fainted and then immediately fainted again upon reviving.) <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three Panel Review of <i>Udolpho</i> by Kate Beaton</td></tr>
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While the fainting is a bit silly, Emily is somewhat justified in that she does end up in <span style="color: #6aa84f;">some truly harrowing situations. The suspense</span><span style="color: #6aa84f;"> </span>as Emily approaches the dreaded black veil or goes to plead with Montini on the behalf of her aunt is palpable, and once again I had difficulty putting the book down after I got through the first hundred pages.<i> </i><br />
<i><br /></i><span style="color: #6aa84f;">I was less thrilled with the last fourth or so of the book,</span> which introduces many new characters all at once and contains a very silly plot twist, along with a pointless subplot about some secondary characters' adventures in a cave filled with bandits. However, I did not find my attention lagging! Another pet peeve is that we do not find out the fates of all of the characters, a few of whom disappear from the pages entirely. Certain things are inconsistent; certain plot revelations are disappointing and others seem too incredible. <br />
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I did end up really enjoying <i>Udolpho,</i> though, and am very glad that I finally read it. I would recommend to it any fan of Jane Austen and <i>Northanger Abbey</i>, which parodies many elements of this book, but also to anyone interested in the Gothic genre. I am feeling brave enough to add Radcliffe's <i><span style="color: #6aa84f;">The Romance of the Forest</span></i><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"> </span>to my to-read list and I may even try another of her bestsellers, <i>The Italian.</i> </span>What did Ann Radcliffe have against Italians, anyway?<br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;">This book is</span><br />
<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">verbose melodramatic suspenseful chilling</span></span>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-43819821141814343402016-06-20T23:13:00.000-04:002016-06-20T23:13:20.126-04:00Top Ten Favorite 16th Century ReleasesI absolutely love creating top ten lists for the weekly meme Top Ten Tuesday, hosted over at <a href="http://www.brokeandbookish.com/p/top-ten-tuesday-other-features.html" target="_blank">the Broke and the Bookish</a>. This week's topic, "top ten favorite 2016 releases so far this year," made me gulp. A quick consultation of my Goodreads stats confirmed that I have not actually read any new releases from this year. New releases are always difficult to get from the library, and I simply cannot afford to dish out the money for new hardcovers, lovely though they are! So instead of listing my top ten favorite releases from 20<i>16</i>, I have decided to stray from the topic and list my favorite reads which were hot off the printing press in the 16th century!<br />
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<b><u>1.</u></b><br />
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<b><i>Julius Caesar</i> by William Shakespeare</b></div>
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I taught this play to three classes of tenth graders this year, and I think most of them enjoyed it despite being a little scared of Shakespeare when we first started reading.<br />
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<b><u>2.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>Edward II </i>by Christopher Marlowe</b></div>
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This play is a-mazing! Despite his good intentions, Edward II of England is a weak king. His wife Isabella and her treacherous lover Mortimer plot to overthrow him and get rid of Edward's boyfriend Gaveston, who is what thou might call a gold-digger. </div>
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<b><u>3.</u></b><br />
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<b><i>The Faerie Queene</i> by Edmund Spenser</b><br />
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Admittedly I have only read small excerpts, but Spenser's genius blew me away! I intend to return to this and read the entire book, someday...<br />
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4.</div>
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<b><i>Utopia</i> by Sir Thomas More</b></div>
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More's quixotic and highly influential description of Utopia, a civilization more egalitarian than those of early modern Europe.<br />
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<b><u>5.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>Astrophil and Stella</i> by Sir Philip Sidney</b></div>
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I recently <a href="http://amyriadofbooks.blogspot.com/2016/05/astrophil-and-stella-by-sir-philip.html" target="_blank">reviewed</a> this collection of romantic sonnets and really enjoyed them! <br />
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<b><u>6.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>Essays</i> by Montaigne</b><br />
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My copy of Michel de Montaigne's essays is more than a thousand pages; I'm not sure if I will ever finish every essay! I have read quite a few in English and struggled through a few in Middle French. I love his essays on libraries and reading, and his opinions seem incredibly "modern" for the time that he wrote.<br />
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<b><u>7.</u></b><br />
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<b><i>Much Ado About Nothing</i> by William Shakespeare</b><br />
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I have a hard time picking a favorite Shakespeare play, but <i>Much Ado</i> is my favorite comedy. It has been the source material for endless romantic comedies since. I particularly like the character of Beatrice.<br />
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<b><u>8.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>Doctor Faustus</i> by Christopher Marlowe</b><br />
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Another great Marlowe play, about an overambitious scholar who seeks to conquer death and encounters devils. I have also read <i>Queen Dido</i>, but did not care for it as much.<br />
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<b><u>9.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>Titus Andronicus</i> by William Shakespeare</b></div>
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In my junior year of college, I chose <i>Titus</i> as the text for my final paper for a class on Shakespeare and Ecofeminism. (Yep, there is a class about that and it was <i>awesome</i>!) I have a fascination with <i>Titus</i>, and think it is an excellent and intriguing play once you get past the knee-jerk reaction of "gross, people unknowingly eating their own children!" For a long time scholars were so mortified by the gore of <i>Titus</i> that they tried to argue that Shakespeare did not even write the play. However, it is one of my favorites and rich in deeper meaning and symbolism! I definitely recommend everyone give it a shot.</div>
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<b><u>10.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum</i> and other poems by Aemilia Lanyer</b><br />
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While she is probably best-known as a possible candidate for Shakespeare's Dark Lady in his sonnets, Lanyer was an excellent poet in her own right. In a time when misogyny was rampant in literature and women almost entirely unrepresented, Lanyer made a strong case for women as poets and for women as, you know, human beings. She was a feminist long before the word was ever used, and I particularly like her poem "The Description of Cookham."<br />
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Making this list was fun, but aggravating because I kept thinking of a favorite writer only to realize that they wrote in the seventeenth century! Anyway, thanks so much for stopping by. Feel free to leave me the link to your Top Ten Tuesday post when you comment and I will check out your list as well!<br />
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Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-21400752206568009652016-06-20T10:33:00.000-04:002016-06-20T10:33:15.989-04:00Dark Places by Gillian Flynn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Genre: mystery/thriller<br />
Pages: 350<br />
Published: 2009<br />
<br />
Synopsis:<br />
<br />
<i>Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice" of Kinnakee, Kansas.” She survived—and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club—a secret secret society obsessed with notorious crimes—locates Libby and pumps her for details. They hope to discover proof that may free Ben. Libby hopes to turn a profit off her tragic history: She’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club—for a fee. As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer.</i><br />
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All of the characters in <i>Dark Places</i> (including the narrator) are entirely unlikable and <span style="color: #741b47;">the subject matter is dark </span>to say the least. However, I found the book to be <span style="color: #741b47;">utterly intriguing and surprisingly excellent! </span><br />
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I devoured this one, my first Gillian Flynn, in a space of a few hours while sitting on the deck of a <span style="color: #741b47;">cruise ship</span> this past week. Whilst frighteningly pale people lounged around drinking martinis and frighteningly red people attempted to ease themselves into a hot tub without visibly cringing, I sat in the shade and indulged in <span style="color: #741b47;">this wild, expertly-crafted tale of murder, devil worship, and family skeletons.</span> <br />
<br />
From the moment I "met" the narrator Libby Day, I wanted to know more about <span style="color: #741b47;">her bleak life and her bleaker past</span>, why she calls herself an "unlovable adult" and why in the world her brother Ben, now in prison, murdered the rest of her family when Libby was seven. Libby is a very interesting character. On the surface, she is a thirty-four year old woman who has never had a job or any dreams or real achievements, unless you count trying to pay the bills by writing a memoir about her murdered family. She mentally beats herself up for relying on her gruesome celebrity status as the only survivor of the massacre to skate by without actually doing anything, yet it is impossible not to pity her for the horrors she has suffered. In addition, Libby is <span style="color: #741b47;">pretty funny at times</span>. Her biting observations about certain characters and self-deprecating humor do a lot to lighten the mood of the book.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYUR75N_mUME_X7OLYp0CBLa8aqkLZSwbUgY5nWgfRehMBFOImpm5lj_iQ5BnZTL1xwUf6QdNK4h80GausJYEV4xZAF_3u85Qa6fZRg7856FrFkPnE6AMsIMlQeEA-UnwN2ta37iW2ayQ/s1600/dark+places+iii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYUR75N_mUME_X7OLYp0CBLa8aqkLZSwbUgY5nWgfRehMBFOImpm5lj_iQ5BnZTL1xwUf6QdNK4h80GausJYEV4xZAF_3u85Qa6fZRg7856FrFkPnE6AMsIMlQeEA-UnwN2ta37iW2ayQ/s320/dark+places+iii.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Libby describes her soul.</td></tr>
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Libby's voice has the power to completely suck the reader into her little world, to let you see the things she saw and the emptiness she feels vividly. However, the novel is not entirely in first person, because <span style="color: #741b47;">the chapters alternate</span> between Libby's first-person POV in the present and flashbacks from the POVs of <span style="color: #741b47;">her mother, Patty, and her brother Ben</span>. So, the story unfolds rather like a film. The author gives us little bits and pieces of what happened "that night" when Libby's family were killed, meanwhile Libby is trying to piece together everything in the present, sometimes working a bit more slowly than the reader thanks to our privileged insights from Patty and Ben's chapters, and sometimes having <span style="color: #741b47;">startling epiphanies</span>. <br />
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I loved the way <span style="color: #741b47;">the characters kept me guessing</span>, though I didn't really like any of the characters themselves. However, my one complaint about <i>Dark Places </i>concerns its conclusion. I felt that the big reveal of what happened to Libby's family that horrible night was a little, well, not <i>deus ex machina</i>, but rather<span style="color: #741b47;"> </span><i><span style="color: #741b47;">diabolus ex machina</span>, </i>a devil from the machine, a cop-out on the author's part. Those who have read it (more than 300,000 people on Goodreads alone!) will know what I mean by that. To avoid spoiling anything, though, it suffices to say that I was <span style="color: #741b47;">not quite satisfied with the way the mystery turned out</span>, although I loved every moment of Libby's investigation and the way it all unraveled.<br />
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I did feel a bit cheated, but on the other hand I put this rather disturbing tale aside without suffering from any lingering feeling of melancholy or despair at the way people sometimes treat each other in this world--a symptom I commonly have after finishing contemporary crime novels or watching thriller movies like <i>Taken</i>, etc. <i>Dark Places</i> does indeed <span style="color: #741b47;">alight upon the dark corners of people's psyches, but ultimately the story is more hopeful</span> than I had anticipated based on its beginnings. Of course, it didn't hurt that there are few dark places or melancholy thoughts to be found on a cruise ship sailing leisurely through the Caribbean!<br />
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This book is<br />
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-size: large;">mesmerizing gloomy immersive</span>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-48770028348995070012016-06-08T20:08:00.002-04:002016-06-08T20:08:59.317-04:00The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Genre: classic novel<br />
Published: 1859<br />
Pages: 670 (paperback)<br />
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<u>Synopsis:</u> <i>The Woman in White famously opens with Walter Hartright's eerie encounter on a moonlit London road. Engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie, Walter is drawn into the sinister intrigues of Sir Percival Glyde and his 'charming' friend Count Fosco, who has a taste for white mice, vanilla bonbons and poison. Pursuing questions of identity and insanity along the paths and corridors of English country houses and the madhouse, The Woman in White is the first and most influential of the Victorian genre that combined Gothic horror with psychological realism.</i><br />
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<u>Review:</u><br />
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I recently gave in to re-reading temptation and revisited <span style="color: #0b5394;">one of my all-time favorite novels</span>, <i>The Woman in White</i>.<br />
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I first picked up the book after one of my professors showed our class five minutes of a clip from the film version which stars Andrew Lincoln (Rick from <i>The Walking Dead). </i>In the scene we watched Marion Halcombe, looking wan yet determined in her rain-soaked pale nightgown, climbs across a narrow ledge outside her second story window in order to <span style="color: #0b5394;">eavesdrop</span> on the conversation of her sister's cruel husband Percival Glyde and his friend, the Italian Count Fosco, on the patio below. Marion edges along the ledge past a window and only just avoids being spotted by a severe-looking woman who appears in the window to draw the curtains. She then manages to overhear enough of Glyde and Fosco's conversation, despite the noise of the rain, to ascertain that her sister Laura is in <span style="color: #0b5394;">terrible danger</span> from some scheme the two men are planning in order to steal her inheritance. Fosco drinks two glasses of sugar water and the rain increases so that Marian can hardly hear what the men are saying or keep from slipping on the ledge... A rattled Marian eventually manages to return to her bedroom, but alas falls ill from having been so long out in the rain. <span style="color: #0b5394;">Caught in a feverish sleep</span> for days, she is unable to warn Laura of the danger she faces. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBuOmEvdRgwzSUwR6KtMLcgVDtuV6VFALW8uDk6Bo9tqdJE5FJC898M4U1g6ZkHw9oYjYTt7WZ1vbQ5ab16Vx4j9fsuHgoWreHGP132CDUsny6g1BPsKeUVw2vgXFR4TYgp94xwHqgDJ8/s1600/woman+in+white+drawing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBuOmEvdRgwzSUwR6KtMLcgVDtuV6VFALW8uDk6Bo9tqdJE5FJC898M4U1g6ZkHw9oYjYTt7WZ1vbQ5ab16Vx4j9fsuHgoWreHGP132CDUsny6g1BPsKeUVw2vgXFR4TYgp94xwHqgDJ8/s320/woman+in+white+drawing.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walter Hartright encounters the woman in white</td></tr>
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While the film is in many respects different from (and inferior to!) the book, this scene was more than enough to pique my curiosity. I wanted to read about this <span style="color: #0b5394;">brave and almost reckless heroine Marian</span>, who seemed so different from the passive women in some other Victorian novels, and to find out about this <span style="color: #0b5394;">diabolical scheme</span> to steal her sister's fortune. I also wanted to learn more about the machinations of Count Fosco and his incongruous love of sugar. <i>The Woman in White</i> was therefore a book that I commenced reading both with <span style="color: #0b5394;">very high expectations</span> and a strong feeling that I was going to love this book. Approximately three years and four re-reads later, I can confirm that the powers of this<span style="color: #0b5394;"> suspenseful "sensation novel,"</span> written in 1859, have indeed <span style="color: #0b5394;">stood the test of time</span>. <br />
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Like <i>Dracula</i>, which it predates by several decades, <i>The Woman in White</i> is <span style="color: #0b5394;">an epistolary novel.</span> The story is told through the written accounts of different characters, chiefly Walter Hartright and Marian Halcombe. However, Laura Fairlie's family lawyer, her hypochondriac and misanthropic uncle Frederick, and even one of the villains also take their turn at narrating. Each of the characters has a unique and engaging style of narration and, like his better-known colleague Charles Dickens, Collins did not scruple to give them all<span style="color: #0b5394;"> interesting quirks or to pair humor with dire situations.</span> <br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">Count Fosco</span> is one of my <span style="color: #0b5394;">favorite Victorian villains</span>. A far cry from the archetypal Gothic villain who twirls his mustache and rides a black horse, Fosco is an elderly and extremely fat Italian gentleman. He delights in taking care of his beloved pets, <span style="color: #0b5394;">little white mice and parakeets</span>. His wife seems to adore him, he stands up for Marian and Laura on several occasions, has impeccable manners, and absolutely loves the opera. His words and his character are such that at times even the reader, like Marian, wonders if they haven't terribly misjudged the Count.<br />
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I adore that <span style="color: #0b5394;">very forthright and intelligent Marian Halcombe</span>. She is not merely determined to win or be won by a suitor, or to passively survive the machinations of the villains, but to protect her sister and foil the schemes of those who would threaten her. She is fearless and determined when facing villains who can wield all the advantages, granted to them by their gender, of education, power, and wealth against her.<br />
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Said schemes and the <span style="color: #0b5394;">plot twists of the novel are masterfully executed</span>. While I own that I am <i>the worst</i> at guessing plot twists or mystery murderers, <i>The Woman in White </i>is<span style="color: #0b5394;"> riddled with surprises</span>. Even while reading it for a fourth time, I found myself wondering "How in the world are the heroines going to get out of this situation??" The mysterious and titular woman in white is also not who I expected her to be. Though this is not a ghost story, she and the other characters are certainly <span style="color: #0b5394;">haunted by their pasts</span>. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wilkie Collins</td></tr>
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I really cannot recommend <i>The Woman in White</i> enough. Marion is one of my <span style="color: #0b5394;">favorite narrators </span>in any novel, and <span style="color: #0b5394;">she and the other characters greet me like old, eccentric friends </span>whenever I revisit this book. <span style="color: #0b5394;">Wilkie Collins' writing style</span> is one that never fails to <span style="color: #0b5394;">engage and delight </span>and he succeeds in creating the <span style="color: #0b5394;">eerie Gothic mood</span> one might expect from this sort of novel. The novel is from start to finish so <span style="color: #0b5394;">suspenseful </span>that I imagine any reader would have difficulty putting it down for more than a few minutes at a time. My only complaint is that it tends to overshadow other classic thrillers that I read. Just as I and many other readers are still searching for the next best fantasy series to Harry Potter, I am still searching for the Victorian thriller that is <i>nearly</i> as good as <i>The Woman in White</i>!<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">Some favorite quotes:</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394;">"The best men are not consistent in good--why should the worst men be consistent in evil?"</span><br />
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"Any woman who is sure of her own wits, is a match, at any time, for a man who is not sure of his own temper."<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">...and the best of Frederick Fairlie (Laura's hypochondriac uncle): </span><br />
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"I sadly want a reform in the construction of children. Nature's only idea seems to be to make them machines for the production of incessant noise."<br />
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"I am a bundle of nerves dressed up to look like a man!"<br />
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This book is<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">suspenseful, extremely well-written, populated with memorable and likable characters</span><br />
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Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-33210020957935335752016-06-07T00:15:00.000-04:002016-06-07T01:10:51.297-04:00Top Ten Reasons Why I Love ReadingTop Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted over at <a href="http://www.brokeandbookish.com/" target="_blank">The Broke and the Bookish</a>. This week's theme is quite open-ended, asking bloggers to post the top ten reasons why we love absolutely any subject, hobby, book series, or etc. I have decided to do perhaps the most obvious thing for a book blog and blog about why I have been an avid--not to say <i>obsessive</i>, though one might say that!--reader since childhood. Here are the top ten reasons why I love reading, accompanied by quotes about being bookish by bookish people:<br />
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<u><b>1.</b></u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
"Libraries are fascinating places: sometimes you feel you are under the canopy of a railway station, and when you read books about exotic places there's a feeling of traveling to distant lands." --Umberto Eco, <i>The Prague Cemetery</i></div>
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I love books that describe scenery and faraway countries so vividly that I can visualize them and begin to scheme about visiting the settings of my favorite books. Of course, with fantasy and science fiction we can also visit places far more exotic than one can reach via a railway station or a plane.</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><u>2.</u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
"A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us." --Franz Kafka</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><u>3</u></b>.</div>
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"Learning of all enterprises is alone immortal and divine." --Plutarch</div>
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No one can take your education away from you, and books are the best teachers in that we get to interpret them for ourselves.</div>
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<b><u>4.</u></b></div>
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"O blessed Letters, that combine in one</div>
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All ages past, and make one live with all;</div>
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By you we doe conferre with who are gone,</div>
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And the dead-living unto councell call:</div>
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By you th' unborne shall have communion</div>
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Of what we feele, and what doth us befall." --Samuel Daniel</div>
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Pictured above is the grave of John Keats, one of my favorite English poets who died when very young. Although I did get to see the Keats House while in Rome last summer, I sadly did not get to visit his grave. The vibrant red flowers speak to what Samuel Daniel was talking about in his Renaissance-era poem: reading is an act of communion with people we have never met and, often, with the dead. We feel as if we know our favorite authors and cherish them and their words. Writers and readers alike are in a sense able to overcome the barriers of time and even death.</div>
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<b><u>5.</u></b></div>
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"I lived in books more than I lived anywhere else." --Neil Gaiman, <i>The Ocean at the End of the Lane</i></div>
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When one's day-to-day surroundings are oppressive (or perhaps simply mundane), books can provide us with a happy second home or a bit of escapism. </div>
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<b><u>6.</u></b></div>
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"A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge." --George R.R. Martin, <i>A Game of Thrones</i></div>
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Reading keeps you sharp!</div>
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<b><u>7.</u></b></div>
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"Books continue each other, in spite of our habit of judging them separately." -- Virginia Woolf</div>
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When one reads and likes one book, that can open up hundreds of other avenues, like newly-discovered aisles in the library. We might decide we absolutely have to read everything else by a certain author, discover a new genre, or want to read a book that an author or character references to better understand what they are talking about. All writers are obviously strongly influenced by earlier writers, and it helps to understand where their ideas, style, and inspirations originated.</div>
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<b><u>8.</u></b></div>
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"We live for books. A sweet mission in this world dominated by disorder and decadence." --Umberto Eco (again!), <i>The Name of the Rose</i></div>
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Apparently, this is a photograph of Umberto Eco's personal library. As a graduate student in the humanities, I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to call reading and writing my vocation, like the monks in <i>The Name of the Rose</i>. </div>
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<b><u>9.</u></b></div>
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"Books are not about passing time. They're about other lives. Other worlds. Far from wanting time to pass, one just wishes one had more of it. If one wanted to pass time, one could go to New Zealand." --Alan Bennett, <i>The Uncommon Reader </i></div>
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I have not read <i>The Uncommon Reader</i> yet, but saw this great quote on Goodreads. No reader ever has enough time to read all the books in their tbr pile, because it only ever grows taller! </div>
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<b><u>10.</u></b></div>
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"If you have enough book space, I don't want to talk to you." --Sir Terry Pratchett</div>
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I love the aesthetic side of reading as well, and don't know what I would do without my overflowing bookshelves and my beautiful Penguin Classic editions!</div>
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All of these quotes are from my <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonplace_book" target="_blank">commonplace book</a>, to which I'm always adding new quotes about the joys of bookishness, among other things. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post, and would love to know why you love reading! Leave the link to your top ten list when you comment and I will be sure to return the visit!</div>
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Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-47845174122573019422016-06-04T23:38:00.001-04:002016-06-07T12:47:59.028-04:00Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Genre: play<br />
Pages: 160<br />
Published: 1923<br />
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I really enjoyed this play, the first I have ever read by George Bernard Shaw. Set in fifteenth century France during the Hundred Years War, it is Bernard Shaw's interpretation of the story of Joan of Arc, revered as both <span style="color: #e69138;">a French heroine and a saint </span>(but only since 1920, nearly 500 years after she was burnt at the stake as a heretic!) I will make a very strange comparison and say that the play reminded me a bit of a particularly brilliant episode of <i><span style="color: #e69138;">Game of Thrones</span>. </i>It is a series of fascinating, sometimes philosophical and sometimes funny and always confrontational conversations. Bernard Shaw foregoes writing any bloody battle scenes and instead concentrates on developing Joan's character and those of the people who condemned her as a heretic, as well as her supposed allies who essentially stood by and let her be condemned. <br />
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I liked that Bernard Shaw <span style="color: #e69138;">portrays Joan as a human being</span>, complete with a very stubborn nature and a propensity for lightly making fun of her supposed social betters to their faces. Honestly, desperate though he might have been, would the dauphin have listened to just any country girl who told him that he could only win back French territory and be crowned if he let her lead his army against the English? No, divinely inspired or not, Joan of Arc must surely have been one tenacious, determined, and even slightly arrogant young woman. She was certainly <span style="color: #e69138;">bold, even reckless</span> enough to suddenly and a bit <span style="color: #e69138;">mysteriously </span>recant her confession at her trial when she had might have been imprisoned for life rather than burned at the stake. Bernard Shaw portrays her as all of these things, as very human. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPJNiHQ5ymMdq6vsdPDOxiRwTGYB9LSepmjerNZiCLXAaNnhK6NriTUuZ631RVzAltk0cXT9OHRh__0FuogqFzy681xqWrCqya6k14vnz3kWNan_Jib3xGPl7j9W4RrJOCEdF2TiQMj3g/s1600/Saint_Joan_%2528play%2529.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPJNiHQ5ymMdq6vsdPDOxiRwTGYB9LSepmjerNZiCLXAaNnhK6NriTUuZ631RVzAltk0cXT9OHRh__0FuogqFzy681xqWrCqya6k14vnz3kWNan_Jib3xGPl7j9W4RrJOCEdF2TiQMj3g/s1600/Saint_Joan_%2528play%2529.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First printing of <i>Saint Joan</i></td></tr>
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Joan was burnt not as a witch, as is sometimes thought, but as a heretic. She was tried by a Church tribunal not only for political reasons, but because the Church officials perceived that she felt <span style="color: #e69138;">her direct divine connection to God</span> meant that she must obey Church authority only if it did not go against what her "voices" told her was God's will. Cauchon, the preceding bishop, is actually sympathetic to Joan in the play, not the kind of heartless Catholic monster that a less thoughtful Protestant playwright might have written him as. He tries hard to convince Joan to submit to "the considered wisdom and experience of the Church," but she refuses to believe her spirits could be wrong. So, Joan was maybe a bit of a<span style="color: #e69138;"> Protestant</span>. Bernard Shaw actually uses the word "Protestantism" several times in the play, though it is an anachronism, to drive home this point. Though his subject is medieval, the play is <span style="color: #e69138;">very much a product of the 1920s</span>, especially as it reflects on Joan's recent canonization as a saint in 1920.<br />
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In the epilogue, a surreal scene in which Joan and those who condemned her reflect on her legacy as ghosts, King Charles VII (formerly the dauphin) says:<br />
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"...But I will tell you this about her. If you could bring her back to life, they would burn her again within six months for all their present adoration of her."<br />
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In short, Bernard Shaw means that Joan is revered as a martyred saint, but was ridiculed and mistreated during her life. People, whether religious or not, are happy to think of her as a misunderstood "woman ahead of her time," a martyr and a national heroine. But people like Joan--<span style="color: #e69138;">a cross-dressing, sharp-tongued woman</span> who rode into battle and claimed she regularly spoke to Saint Catherine and knew what was best for everyone better than they themselves did--are often better-loved after they are dead, and treated as <span style="color: #e69138;">outcasts or lunatics</span> while they are alive. This was <span style="color: #e69138;">a fascinating perspective</span> on Joan that I had never considered before.<br />
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This play is also very <span style="color: #e69138;">funny </span>at times. Bernard Shaw's dialogue reminded me of that of Oscar Wilde, to whom he is sometimes compared, in that he is good at writing aphorisms and witty remarks. Here are a couple of the quotes that I particularly appreciated:<br />
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Charles: "If we could only have a treaty, the English are sure to have the worst of it, because they are better at fighting than at thinking."<br />
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"Poulengey: <span style="color: #e69138;"> "...We want a few mad people now. See where the sane ones have landed us!"</span><br />
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This play is:<br />
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-size: large;">poignant, engrossing, surprisingly funny</span><br />
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P.S. I have decided to phase out my old rating system, which basically uses the Goodreads system and substitutes unicorns for stars. One of the benefits of writing reviews is that I can assess books in a more qualitative fashion, and I often cannot even explain to myself why I gave a book four stars instead of five or vice versa. It seems to depend largely on my mood at the moment, so I am going to try using adjectives to sum up my feelings towards and perceptions of books instead.<br />
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...This review is part of my <a href="http://amyriadofbooks.blogspot.com/p/classics-club.html" target="_blank">Classics Club project</a>!<br />
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Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-21942856435087713712016-06-02T12:27:00.000-04:002016-06-05T08:06:21.711-04:00Locke & Key by Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodríguez (Series Review)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Dos31D58EfJq4BXfoe_IR6eaXaK-a0rZbNex2NnRqkkkopp78R5TO3NODeCz-TDpgn2e6uPBPOa-IWlakz6KbhrrrsXVqmPeVZ4qCLNG5u0Y6ABTFJ7oqZNFioq7yugPh8zFHB_npjA/s1600/locke+%2526+key.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Dos31D58EfJq4BXfoe_IR6eaXaK-a0rZbNex2NnRqkkkopp78R5TO3NODeCz-TDpgn2e6uPBPOa-IWlakz6KbhrrrsXVqmPeVZ4qCLNG5u0Y6ABTFJ7oqZNFioq7yugPh8zFHB_npjA/s400/locke+%2526+key.jpeg" width="263" /></a></div>
Genre: graphic novel, fantasy/horror<br />
Pages: 6 volumes, about 180 pages each<br />
Published: 2014<br />
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<u>Synopsis: </u><i>Locke & Key tells of Keyhouse, an unlikely New England mansion, with fantastic doors that transform all who dare to walk through them. Home to a hate-filled and relentless creature that will not rest until it forces open the most terrible door of them all...</i><br />
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<u>Review:</u><br />
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I originally intended to review this series volume-by-volume, but I think a series review will be better. <i>Locke & Key</i> has a plot with so many twists and different characters introduced in each volume that I don't think I would have much to say about each individual volume without revealing tons of spoilers. <br />
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I started reading the <i>Locke & Key</i> series because I love, love, love anything to do with <span style="color: #741b47;">haunted mansions on mysterious islands</span>. The title of the first volume, <i>Welcome to Lovecraft</i>, also caught my eye because I recently read a ton of HP Lovecraft stories and really enjoyed them. Because the individual volumes are unreasonably exorbitant at $25 each, I made a gamble and bought <span style="color: #741b47;">the box set</span> with all six volumes to save about $100. I love gorgeous box sets!<br />
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<i>Locke & Key</i> is the story of siblings <span style="color: #741b47;">Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode</span>, who move with their mother to a family property on the East Coast after their father, a school guidance counselor, is tragically murdered by a deranged student. Keyhouse is enormous and <span style="color: #741b47;">filled with mysteries</span>, as six-year-old Bode finds out when he discovers that there is a serious echo in the estate's well-house. Not merely an echo that repeats what Bode says, but an echo that speaks back to him and seems to know a lot about his father and his troubled family...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "echo" in the well begins to emerge.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">The echo</span> bides Bode to find a key in the house which will set it free. Meanwhile, <span style="color: #741b47;">Sam Lesser</span>, the boy who killed the Locke kids' father also hears the voice of the thing that lives in the well while in prison on the other side of the country. Sam manages to escape from jail and sets off to finish murdering the rest of the Locke family at the "echo's" behest. <br />
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The k<i>eys </i>hidden around Keyhouse prove to be the Lockes' only defense against the<span style="color: #741b47;"> incredible numbers of deranged killers and shadowy monsters</span> that seek to destroy them and open a gateway to another, more brutal world in the town of Lovecraft. These are extraordinary keys forged by Keyhouse's former inhabitants from an otherworldly substance and which can do virtually anything they are designed to do. One key can <span style="color: #741b47;">unlock someone's head</span>, permitting all of their memories to be removed or new ones planted. Another can transform a person into an animal, another can give them <span style="color: #741b47;">wings</span>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kinsey Locke trying out her wings</td></tr>
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I cannot really write much more about the various supernatural threats which the Lockes encounter without spoiling at least the first volume. However, I can say that it is not simply the fantasy elements or the <span style="color: #741b47;">simply gorgeous full-color illustrations</span> that caused me to read all six volumes within about a week. (To clarify, for many years the only graphic novel type books that I read were manga, which are largely inked in black and white, so I still find myself somewhat impressed upon reading full-color graphic novels. My reaction would probably be comical to devoted readers of Western-style comics, but I catch myself thinking, "Wow, they colored in everything?!")<br />
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My favorite aspect of <i>Locke & Key</i> is the characters, especially the major characters <span style="color: #741b47;">Tyler and Kinsey</span>. These teenagers confront bizarre, catastrophic, and possible apocalyptic circumstances like...well, like most teenagers would! Tyler feels an extraordinary amount of guilt about his father's death and tries to adjust to his new school by joining the hockey team, though he doesn't like hockey, and spending most of his time with <span style="color: #741b47;">Zach Wells</span>, a smooth-talking guy whose history he knows very little about. Kinsey is also dealing with her fair share of <span style="color: #741b47;">guilt and grief</span>. She is quick to use the magical keys to attempt to solve her problems, literally removing all her fears and insecurities from her head with the "head key" and giving herself wings to fly far away from Keyhouse and the school where she has trouble deciding where (or if) she fits in. The fact that Kinsey has a different hair style in almost every volume is, to me, so reflective of the transitional and confusing place that she finds herself. Some of my other favorite characters are Kinsey's friends Scot, Jackie, and Jamal. They are very visibly the outsiders at preppy Lovecraft Academy, and provide a lot of the series's humor. Did I mention <i>Locke & Key</i> is <span style="color: #741b47;">hilarious</span>? Because it is.<br />
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Ironically Joe Hill, the brilliant writer behind <i>Locke & Key</i>, is the son of that other renowned horror writer whose book <i>Bag of Bones</i> I just wrote a very meh review of, Stephen King. While his horror novels seem to be as enormous as his father's, I do hope to try reading one of Joe Hill's books, perhaps <i><span style="color: #741b47;">NOS4A2</span></i>. Apparently it is both a vampire book and Christmas-themed??? OK, because we are talking about the author of <i>Locke & Key</i>, I will give it a shot!<br />
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Series Rating:<br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;">Update to 2016 Graphic Novel/Manga Reading Challenge:</span> with <i>Locke & Key</i>, I have now read <span style="color: #741b47;">6 of the 24 </span>graphic novels I hope to have read by the end of this year!</div>
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<br />Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-83853869357625778982016-06-01T10:21:00.000-04:002016-06-05T08:07:32.979-04:00Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Genre: classic<br />
Published: 1817<br />
Pages: 250<br />
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In her first novel <i>Northanger Abbey</i>, Jane Austen <span style="color: #cc0000;">defends fiction</span> in a manner that any ardent reader can not but highly approve of and applaud:<br />
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“It is only a novel... or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humor, are conveyed to the world in the best-chosen language.”<br />
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<i>Northanger Abbey</i> is definitely such a novel, though it seems to be sadly underrated compared to other Austen novels. What it may lack a little in page count and dynamic secondary characters, in displaying "the most thorough knowledge of human nature," it more than makes up for in <span style="color: #cc0000;">"the liveliest effusions of wit and humor."</span> Here Austen employed<span style="color: #cc0000;"> her usual candid wit</span> to satirize not only certain elements and stock figures of English high society, but also the <span style="color: #cc0000;">lurid Gothic romances</span> like <i>The Monk</i> that were the bestsellers of her day. The result is <span style="color: #cc0000;">marvelously entertaining to read and often very funny.</span><br />
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Seventeen year old<span style="color: #cc0000;"> Catherine Morland</span> is considerate and vivacious, a devoted reader of Gothic romances and a life-long country dweller. When she has the opportunity to travel to Bath with family friends and spend a few months taking tea in gathering rooms and dancing with eligible young men, Catherine jumps at the chance, though she knows little of the manners of high society. However, as Austen's omniscient narrator explains, <span style="color: #cc0000;">Catherine's unworldliness </span>can only work to her advantage in the game of attracting a suitor:<br />
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"She was heartily ashamed of her ignorance. A misplaced shame. Where people wish to attach, they should always be ignorant. To come with a well-informed mind, is to come with an inability of administering to the vanity of others, which a sensible person would always wish to avoid. <span style="color: #cc0000;">A woman</span> especially, <span style="color: #cc0000;">if she have the misfortune of knowing any thing</span>, should conceal it as well she can."<br />
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One can easily imagine Jane's sardonic smile as she put that last line to parchment.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sketch of a pump room or gathering room in Bath</td></tr>
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Catherine initially feels as if she knows no one in Bath, but luckily makes the acquaintance of a certain <span style="color: #cc0000;">Mr. Henry Tilney</span>, a clever and charming young man whom she quickly falls in love with. Like any heroine, however, Catherine is <span style="color: #cc0000;">beset by countless obstacles</span>. Isabella, another of her new friends in Bath must insist on carrying on in an embarrassing way with Henry's less pleasant elder brother, though she is engaged to marry Catherine's brother! Likewise, Isabella's odious brother John has made up his mind that he is going to marry Catherine, despite the latter's indifference to his <span style="color: #cc0000;">pathological lying and scheming</span>. Happily, Catherine is able to escape this intricate and embarrassing situation in Bath after Mr. Tilney and his sister invite her to sojourn at their family home, <span style="color: #cc0000;">Northanger Abbey</span>. Catherine is delighted with the abbey and with her hosts...except for <span style="color: #cc0000;">General Tilney</span>, Henry's father. As she learns more and more about the sudden death of the late Mrs. Tilney at Northanger Abbey, Catherine begins to suspect that the highly suspicious General poisoned his wife, or else is hiding her away in some secret passage...<br />
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Some readers have complained that the love interest Mr. Tilney is no Mr. Darcy or that he is a bit of a 2-D character, but I actually found him to be pretty nearly as well-written as Catherine and just...<span style="color: #cc0000;">likable</span>. Fancy that, a love interest being kind and likable instead of going to incredible pains to convince the heroine that he hates her in order to disguise his great passion, or being some "bad boy" that the heroine has to work to redeem! It makes for a nice change. I particularly like his first conversation with Catherine, in which he ironically recollects after talking with her a while that he has forgotten to ask her all the <span style="color: #cc0000;">stereotypical small-talk questions</span> about how she likes Bath:<br />
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"...forming his features into a set smile, and affectedly softening his voice, he added, with a simpering air, "Have you been long in Bath, madam?"<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Catherine and Henry Tilney in the 2007 <i>Northanger Abbey</i> film</td></tr>
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"About a week, sir," replied Catherine, trying not to laugh.<br />
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"Really!" with affected astonishment.<br />
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"Why should you be surprised, sir?"<br />
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"Why, indeed?" said he, in his natural tone--"but some emotion must appear to be raised by your reply, and surprise is more easily assumed, and not less reasonable than any other." <br />
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I also enjoyed the conversations in which Henry playfully parodies Catherine's expectations that Northanger Abbey will be a haunted Gothic monastery filled with relics of the horrible murders which have taken place there, inventing a whole story about her frightening discovery of a secret passageway. However, I guess I cannot quote every passage that I loved here!<br />
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Just as Catherine Morland must eventually confess to having been influenced by her insatiable love for reading Gothic romances to judge people before getting to know them, I must confess to having been<span style="color: #cc0000;"> influenced by my love for <i>Northanger</i> </span><i><span style="color: #cc0000;">Abbey</span>!</i> After reading it for the first time a few years ago, I determined that I absolutely must read some of these <span style="color: #cc0000;">"horrid novels"</span> that Catherine and her friend Isabella thrill over in the book. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvxDXdSWv8QYWrxkQAMnvc0pB6rgoR1lKQRla5jVIXag1pSzTcmR-tSMLwKh1zWwRarM2tPZsg392swoQLkLAotu4M3ouLRvUv65tSxVa8ZjUt81OA_uI2WY5CLy6GOB2HQZQfvplmu7U/s1600/the+monk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvxDXdSWv8QYWrxkQAMnvc0pB6rgoR1lKQRla5jVIXag1pSzTcmR-tSMLwKh1zWwRarM2tPZsg392swoQLkLAotu4M3ouLRvUv65tSxVa8ZjUt81OA_uI2WY5CLy6GOB2HQZQfvplmu7U/s320/the+monk.jpg" width="204" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delightful Penguin cover for <i>The Monk</i></td></tr>
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I haven't managed to get through the infamous <i>The Mysteries of Udolpho</i>, whose beginning didn't inspire a lot of interest. However, I have read Matthew Lewis's <i>The Monk</i>, Horace Walpole's <i>The Castle of Otranto</i>, <i>Lady Audley's Secret</i> by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, and a number of Gothics by Wilkie Collins, primarily to see if they were as silly as Austen suggests in<i> Northanger Abbey</i>. <br />
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My verdict is that yes, Gothic romances can be ridiculous and long-winded, but they are also <span style="color: #cc0000;">thrilling and suspenseful and delightfully convoluted</span>, a bit like soap operas. I have no trouble understanding why Catherine and Henry might burn the midnight oils to finish these <span style="color: #cc0000;">tales of wronged ghosts seeking revenge, wide-eyed heroines, wicked foreign counts, and unpleasant housekeepers, all set in the most imposing and medieval of architectural structures</span>. Austen's book is a satire of the Gothic thriller, certainly, but as an unabashed fan of the much-maligned genre, I also appreciate her homage to it by way of <span style="color: #cc0000;">clever parody</span>. I hope to read more Gothic romances of the sort that Catherine might have encountered soon. As a graduate student studying that period, I can half-convincingly claim them as necessary reading, and I really want to give Ann Radcliffe another chance!<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">5/5 stars</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">This book is one I selected for my<a href="http://amyriadofbooks.blogspot.com/p/classics-club.html" target="_blank"> Classics Club challenge list</a>. Fortunately, I am off to a pretty good start and have not neglected reviewing the books I read thus far. I am still working on my review for <i>The Awakening</i>--it is turning out to be a difficult book to review!</span></div>
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Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8146807812241034464.post-19502813143927511842016-05-30T23:07:00.000-04:002016-06-05T08:08:00.792-04:00Top Ten Tuesday: Beach Reads<div style="text-align: center;">
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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by the bloggers at <a href="http://www.brokeandbookish.com/" target="_blank">The Broke and the Bookish</a>. This week, we are listing our top ten favorite beach reads. While I <i>love</i> the beach and my home state is home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the US, I only very rarely get to travel to the coast, much less relax and read there. I also do not read many breezy, beach-friendly books. So, my top ten list includes my favorite books which are set at the beach, on an island, or at sea!</div>
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<b><i>Along for the Ride </i>by Sarah Dessen</b></div>
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While I don't usually read a lot of contemporary young adult novels, I absolutely adore Sarah Dessen. She is a native of my native state, North Carolina, after all, and I love to read her compelling books set in small towns along the <i>beautiful </i>NC coast. <i>Along for the Ride</i> is one of my favorite Dessen books.<br />
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<b><u>2.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>And Then There Were None</i> by Agatha Christie</b></div>
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<a href="http://amyriadofbooks.blogspot.com/2016/05/and-then-there-were-none-by-agatha.html" target="_blank">I recently read and reviewed <i>And Then There Were None</i></a>, and was truly captivated by it! This Agatha Christie novel is a suspense story in which ten people are invited to a small, picturesque island as the party guests of an unknown host. One by one, the guests are mysteriously murdered. It becomes clear that someone thinks they all deserve to die, but why and will the murderer succeed in dispatching all of the stranded guests? <br />
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<b><u>3.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>The Awakening</i> by Kate Chopin</b></div>
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I am writing my review for <i>The Awakening </i>right now, and hope to have it posted soon. This novella, set in French Louisiana, is the story of Edna Pontelier, a married woman who embarks on an affair and a process of self-discovery. Chopin definitely invokes the sea, as in this beautiful quote: “The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude; to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation. The voice of the sea speaks to the soul."<br />
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<b><u>4.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>Beauty Queens</i> by Libba Bray</b></div>
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<a href="http://amyriadofbooks.blogspot.com/2011/06/beauty-queens-by-libba-bray.html" target="_blank">I reviewed this book </a>a few years back and gave it 4 of 5 stars. The story involves 50 American Junior Miss beauty pageant competitors who end up stranded on a desert island after their plane crashes and must cooperate in order to survive. It's a bit on the longer side as far as YA novels go, but lots of fun and not without its more insightful character moments.<br />
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<b><u>5.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>Moloka'i </i>by Alan Brennert</b></div>
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I often have a difficult time convincing people to read this book. It's about a young girl in Hawaii who, along with some of her family and many of her community members, discovers she has Hansen's Disease (leprosy) and has to live for many years on the isolated island of Moloka'i with the rest of her fellow sufferers. Yeah, can't imagine why people often seem reluctant to read this book! It is by no means uplifting, but the characters and their incredible courage, heart, and love for one another make <i>Moloka'i</i> an amazing read. I really give Alan Brennert credit for writing so beautifully about a place and people which even historians are often ignorant about. If people think of Moloka'i at all, they probably think of Saint Damian de Veuster, the European priest who worked and ministered on the island until he himself also contracted Hansen's Disease. In this book, the largely forgotten Hawaiian people who lived and essentially waited to die on Moloka'i are the focus.<br />
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<b><u>6.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>The Ocean at the End of the Lane </i>by Neil Gaiman</b></div>
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Everything Neil Gaiman writes is gold, in my humble opinion. This book is a short one, perfect if you haven't the time to tackle <i>American Gods</i> or the complete<i> Sandman</i>.<br />
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<b><u>7.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>Rebecca </i>by Daphne du Maurier</b></div>
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"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." This is one of my favorite novels, though du Maurier's <i>My Cousin Rachel </i>may be even better. The newly-married Mrs. de Winter, a shy young woman whose first name we never learn, arrives at Manderley, the beautiful estate by the sea owned by her husband Max. She finds that Manderley is haunted by an exceedingly unpleasant housekeeper and the overpowering memory of the first Mrs. de Winter, a certain Rebecca. I could not recommend this one enough! <br />
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<b><u>8.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>The Sea of Trolls</i> by Nancy Farmer</b></div>
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I would locate this historical fantasy book and its two sequels somewhere along the blurry borderlands of young adult and middle grades. Young Jack is kidnapped from his home by brutal and half-mad Vikings, including the valiant but equally brutal shieldmaiden Thorgil. In Jack's world, all the creatures from Norse mythology--including everyone's favorite, trolls!--are all too real. It is nice to see a series that focuses on Norse beliefs and cosmology, since most fantasies seem to overwhelmingly borrow from Greek myth. <br />
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<b><u>9.</u></b></div>
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<b><i>The Tempest</i> by William Shakespeare</b></div>
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<i>The Tempest </i>was probably Shakespeare's last play and includes his farewell to his audience and to playwriting through words spoken by the magician Prospero, who has spent many years stranded on an island. The cross-dressing comedy <i>Twelfth Night</i> also begins with a shipwreck, and I cannot forego mentioning it because it's one of my favorites!<br />
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<b><u>10.</u></b></div>
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<b><a href="http://amyriadofbooks.blogspot.com/2013/02/classically-readable-3-treasure-island.html" target="_blank"><i>Treasure Island </i>by Robert Louis Stevenson</a></b></div>
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Yet another mysterious island, this one supposedly the location of a marvelous buried treasure! Before I read it, I thought I already knew the story of Jim and Long John Silver like the back of my hand from having seen so many series and movie adaptations. I was wrong, of course. As usual, reading the original book even if you think you know the story proved to be more than well-worth the effort, for there are psychological depths in this book that are not present in many of the adaptations. <br />
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I hope you picked up a few ideas for your TBR from my list, and would love to read yours. Feel free to leave a link to your Top Ten when you comment!<br />
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Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18414324160166322024noreply@blogger.com13