I have decided that until I finish MADAME BOVARY I will not start another book. I am currently 1/2 way through the book. I must admit that the small print is driving my eyes absolutely nuts. The next book I am reading is also small print and I am trying to figure out away to save my eyes. Maybe I will get one of those handheld magnifying glasses from the Victorian Age. It would be appropriate for the books I am reading.
There is a comment on the back of my MADAME BOVARY book, it is from the introduction by Victor Brombert: "Madame Bovary is a surprisingly romantic and deeply moving text, as wellas a work of pioneering modernity... Flaubert's anti-heroic heroine in fact acquires a haunting nobility through her relentless quest for the absolute experience."
I have a problem with this thought, simply due to the last line: "through her relentless quest for the absolute experience." See so far in this book, she spends her time sitting in her room romanticizing about what it means to be in love, what she thinks should be love, knights in shining armor, good looking men, who save her from her dull life. She realizes that she is not in love with the good doctor, because he is tired at the end of the evening. She plays at both mother and wife, while secretly yearning to be away from both husband and child. To be with her current interest Monsieur de Leon, who is a clerk. She seems to be stuck in a rut of her own making, does she invite people over, no, some show up, but she never has a party. She expects others to throw parties and invite her. Granted she feels like they have no money, and they probably do not, however, she seems to feeding the town anyway, so why not come up with a party. Instead, like I said before that she bemoans her fate, a quest would indicate doing something, instead of pining away for what she believes she does not have from her husband.
Again I am only 1/2 way through the book, maybe in the second half we have a change.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Friday, March 27, 2015
AM note on MADAME BOVARY
I am really having a hard time getting into MADAME BOVARY, first their is a bossy widow wife and now she is gone and we have the young head in the clouds wife who is looking for Prince Charming. I love this time period when, women settle and then realize there is something better once they leave their family home. Also, the dad is like I do not need another mouth to feed, so let me help this process, the good doctor, does not even have time to formulate the question when her father is pretty much sealed the deal. We will see where this leads, there is suppose to be some very daring themes or thoughts in the book.
After this book, I will be reading the book SISTER CARRIE by Dreiser. I am thinking we will have the same theme, so I might compare and contrast. The book club selection for this month is called THE BOOK OF TOMORROW by Cecelia Ahern. Plus some side books, which have really been my downfall as I read those before I read MADAME BOVARY.
After this book, I will be reading the book SISTER CARRIE by Dreiser. I am thinking we will have the same theme, so I might compare and contrast. The book club selection for this month is called THE BOOK OF TOMORROW by Cecelia Ahern. Plus some side books, which have really been my downfall as I read those before I read MADAME BOVARY.
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Review: THE LEWIS MAN, by Peter May
THE LEWIS MAN by Peter May, first published overseas in 2012, my copy was published by Quercus in the United States, 2014.
My husband loves chess, so while I was dropping my daughter off to go to the University of Nottingham in England, I kept seeing the signs for Peter May's book called the THE CHESSMEN. I was immediately intrigued because of the reference to chess, I am a little crazy that way when it comes to finding books. I asked at all the bookstores, including the one at the Heathrow, they just looked at me as if I were nuts. So I was on my own. I came home looked at my local book store, nada. Went online where I did find it, but realized it was part of a series. In fact it was the third book in the series. If you are like me, you do not start a book in the middle or end of a series. So I set about finding the first book, THE BLACKHOUSE. It was not in the stores, I find that retail stores never seem to have the first book of any series. However, my library had the first book, one copy which I had to have shipped to my branch. The opening caught me and it was here that I met the Inspector Fin Macleod for the first time. An inspector who comes back to his hometown to solve a mystery. His visit brings up bad memories and bad relationships, but this crime committed is similar to a crime in Edinburgh that has been unsolved for years. After reading this book, I knew that I had to find the next book in the series. I however, could not find the book anywhere, not in bookstores, not in the library, only on-line being shipped from the United Kingdom. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.
Then about a week ago, I was in the bookstore and found THE CHESSMEN. Now I really had to find the second book, surely someone would have it. I looked in the bookstore and nothing. I looked online and still nothing in the States. Library, my last resource, boom, we have lift off. Only one place had it and so once again I had to order it to my local branch.
I love the way that Peter May opens a story, he kind of slowly pulls you into it and then you are hooked. In this story, we open up with a little girl heading into the bogs to help harvest the peat. We find her in the kitchen getting ready and we see what she sees, even what her father and brother do not wish her to see hidden in the bog. Then we jump headlong into the book who is this mysterious man, is he one of the bog men from hundreds of years ago that have been preserved in the peat, or something newer. Our Inspector Macleod has left his job in Edinburgh and has come back to fix up his family home, he is no longer with the police. But this does not stop him from looking into the body and asking some really important questions. Like who is Tormod, the father of his love interest Marsaili, and how is he related to the body in the bog.
This book deals with not only solving the murder, but also dealing with someone who has dementia. Trying to get a person who is lost in their memories, who cannot function or remember to even get up and go to the bathroom, how can they possibly aid in the investigation. Another topic brought up is teenage pregnancy, how do you deal with a baby when you want to go to school and the whole world seems against you. Lots of good topics wrapped up in one pretty good mystery.
I cannot wait to read THE CHESSMEN, and yes I know it is not about chess. But that title led me to a great read. Look Peter May up, he also has another series, which I am going to start to read.
My husband loves chess, so while I was dropping my daughter off to go to the University of Nottingham in England, I kept seeing the signs for Peter May's book called the THE CHESSMEN. I was immediately intrigued because of the reference to chess, I am a little crazy that way when it comes to finding books. I asked at all the bookstores, including the one at the Heathrow, they just looked at me as if I were nuts. So I was on my own. I came home looked at my local book store, nada. Went online where I did find it, but realized it was part of a series. In fact it was the third book in the series. If you are like me, you do not start a book in the middle or end of a series. So I set about finding the first book, THE BLACKHOUSE. It was not in the stores, I find that retail stores never seem to have the first book of any series. However, my library had the first book, one copy which I had to have shipped to my branch. The opening caught me and it was here that I met the Inspector Fin Macleod for the first time. An inspector who comes back to his hometown to solve a mystery. His visit brings up bad memories and bad relationships, but this crime committed is similar to a crime in Edinburgh that has been unsolved for years. After reading this book, I knew that I had to find the next book in the series. I however, could not find the book anywhere, not in bookstores, not in the library, only on-line being shipped from the United Kingdom. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.
Then about a week ago, I was in the bookstore and found THE CHESSMEN. Now I really had to find the second book, surely someone would have it. I looked in the bookstore and nothing. I looked online and still nothing in the States. Library, my last resource, boom, we have lift off. Only one place had it and so once again I had to order it to my local branch.
I love the way that Peter May opens a story, he kind of slowly pulls you into it and then you are hooked. In this story, we open up with a little girl heading into the bogs to help harvest the peat. We find her in the kitchen getting ready and we see what she sees, even what her father and brother do not wish her to see hidden in the bog. Then we jump headlong into the book who is this mysterious man, is he one of the bog men from hundreds of years ago that have been preserved in the peat, or something newer. Our Inspector Macleod has left his job in Edinburgh and has come back to fix up his family home, he is no longer with the police. But this does not stop him from looking into the body and asking some really important questions. Like who is Tormod, the father of his love interest Marsaili, and how is he related to the body in the bog.
This book deals with not only solving the murder, but also dealing with someone who has dementia. Trying to get a person who is lost in their memories, who cannot function or remember to even get up and go to the bathroom, how can they possibly aid in the investigation. Another topic brought up is teenage pregnancy, how do you deal with a baby when you want to go to school and the whole world seems against you. Lots of good topics wrapped up in one pretty good mystery.
I cannot wait to read THE CHESSMEN, and yes I know it is not about chess. But that title led me to a great read. Look Peter May up, he also has another series, which I am going to start to read.
Review: AS CHIMNEY SWEEPERS COME TO DUST, by Alan Bradley
AS CHIMNEY SWEEPERS COME TO DUST by Alan Bradley, published 2015 by Delacorte Press an imprint of Random House. I love this series, it is about precocious Flavia de Luce, who is a bit more than an amateur detective and has not yet come into her teens. She is the daughter of deceased Harriet de Luce. In this story she is away from her home in England and her family Dad, two sisters, her favorite person Dogger. She wants nothing more than to go home, but not before she solves the mystery of the body in the chimney that falls out the first night she is at Miss Bodycote's Female Academy in Canada. How did she get there, well you would have to read the first books in the series. Does she get her wish to go home? Well, that means you have to read this book. As with all the books, which are all different, no repeat plots except for finding a body in an unusual location. These books are funny and entertaining, with just a touch of sadness thrown in for Flavia. A wild chemist who dabbles with the idea of how to get back at her sisters or the people at school with just a smidge of chemistry. Her specialty is poisons.
I believe I wrote once before about this series, as a budding chemist growing up, I did not have a laboratory but a lavatory. I brewed all sorts of concoctions in my house. It is a wonder that I did not blow up the house or rot out the pipes. These books can be found in the adult mysteries, but I think a precocious 13 year old could handle them. I know I would have loved them. A quick read as you do not wish to put it down until you find out how Flavia deduces the murderer.
There are 7 books in this series so far, starting with THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE. There is also a story on Kindle, which I need to read yet called THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE COPPER CORPSE. Have fun reading.
I believe I wrote once before about this series, as a budding chemist growing up, I did not have a laboratory but a lavatory. I brewed all sorts of concoctions in my house. It is a wonder that I did not blow up the house or rot out the pipes. These books can be found in the adult mysteries, but I think a precocious 13 year old could handle them. I know I would have loved them. A quick read as you do not wish to put it down until you find out how Flavia deduces the murderer.
There are 7 books in this series so far, starting with THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE. There is also a story on Kindle, which I need to read yet called THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE COPPER CORPSE. Have fun reading.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Early morning post
I will be posting two reviews this afternoon, both fast reads. THE LEWIS MAN by Peter May and THE CHIMNEY SWEEPERS COME to DUST by Alan Bradley. I am still reading MADAME BOVARY by Flaubert.
Monday, March 9, 2015
Review: Scarlet Letter
Well, it is about time that I write this review, I had the book finished but needed to think about it for a bit. I read the THE SCARLET LETTER, by Nathaniel Hawthorn on my Kindle. As I mentioned before I loved the introduction, because I felt that we were getting a glimpse into the author's process of writing. After reading the book I discussed it with my husband who said it was required reading when he was nine. Maybe, nine year old children today can understand what happened in the opening of chapter 1 but I doubt it. How many nine year old children can grasp the concept of a baby in a woman's arms constitutes adultery? I do not believe in banning books, but I think maybe just a little older to tackle the concepts that start this book out. My husband said that when he read it, that he had trouble with this idea.
We have the lovely Hester put up in front of the town, infant in arms, fancy scarlet A, which Hester made herself, and the father of the baby hiding behind his position. Her crime having relations with a man when it is believed that the man who sent to her America has drowned at sea, it has been 2 years since she has seen her not very lovable husband. Then while she is on display, who should she see but her husband who has been living with the local tribe, saunter in and recognize her. This was a very effective scene. What suspense it must have held when this book was first written in 1850. Think of the scandal it must have caused. MADAME BOVARY was written in 1856, so maybe SCARLET LETTER, opened t, the door to non-puritanical thinking in books, that women actually had sexual thoughts.
But back to Hester and her daughter Pearl, the minister and her husband. The book progresses through years and we see Pearl who is a handful grow up. The people in the village do not know who the father is, but you do. The town loves the father and thinks the little girl is a demon, elf, or witch. We do have a cult in town, with the Mayor's daughter as a member. So it seems that witchcraft does not get you stoned, dunked or killed in Hawthorn's book. The husband who tells Hester not to reveal who he is, makes him seem a little slimy. He is also compared to the devil, because of his relationship with minister and the ministers decline. See the minister is always the hero with the town, no matter what he does.
So many wonderful concepts and ideas in this book. I remembered reading the book when I got to the end, but I do not think I enjoyed it when I read it before, maybe I was too young to get the nuances of the book. Wonderful read, can't wait to read MADAME BOVARY.
We have the lovely Hester put up in front of the town, infant in arms, fancy scarlet A, which Hester made herself, and the father of the baby hiding behind his position. Her crime having relations with a man when it is believed that the man who sent to her America has drowned at sea, it has been 2 years since she has seen her not very lovable husband. Then while she is on display, who should she see but her husband who has been living with the local tribe, saunter in and recognize her. This was a very effective scene. What suspense it must have held when this book was first written in 1850. Think of the scandal it must have caused. MADAME BOVARY was written in 1856, so maybe SCARLET LETTER, opened t, the door to non-puritanical thinking in books, that women actually had sexual thoughts.
But back to Hester and her daughter Pearl, the minister and her husband. The book progresses through years and we see Pearl who is a handful grow up. The people in the village do not know who the father is, but you do. The town loves the father and thinks the little girl is a demon, elf, or witch. We do have a cult in town, with the Mayor's daughter as a member. So it seems that witchcraft does not get you stoned, dunked or killed in Hawthorn's book. The husband who tells Hester not to reveal who he is, makes him seem a little slimy. He is also compared to the devil, because of his relationship with minister and the ministers decline. See the minister is always the hero with the town, no matter what he does.
So many wonderful concepts and ideas in this book. I remembered reading the book when I got to the end, but I do not think I enjoyed it when I read it before, maybe I was too young to get the nuances of the book. Wonderful read, can't wait to read MADAME BOVARY.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Less than 100
Okay I know that that title is non-informational does it mean number of books or number of pages and in what. So it means that I only have a few more pages in the SCARLET LETTER. I have been having trouble with the tablet that it is on, so I am not reading it as fast as I should. The problem with electronic books, for me, is that you have to remember to put them on the charger. SO I guess the problem is not in the tablet but in me. I will be finished by the end of the day, and then can write a better blog.
Next on the list: MADAM BOVARY plus a few fast reads. Since I finished my book club book, I am open for all possibilities. I will let you know what I decide.
Next on the list: MADAM BOVARY plus a few fast reads. Since I finished my book club book, I am open for all possibilities. I will let you know what I decide.
Monday, March 2, 2015
Review: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
I just finished UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand, paperback version, published by Random House, Trade Paperbacks. Originally published in 2010, this copy was published in 2014.
Wow, so many emotions went through me as I read this book. I thought I would pick it up, read a few pages, put it down and just finish it before book club at the end of the month. However, what happened is I picked it up this weekend and could not put the book down. I wanted to be there to support the men fighting for there lives. I cried several times throughout the book. Anger for the treatment of the POW's. Two days later and I was finished with the book, but there are pictures and stories that will haunt me, just as pictures of captives in Germany make me sad. So thin, so gaunt, so hungry.
We always hear about the tragedies in Europe, but this book brought information that I never realized, one being the amnesty granted to war criminals, for the price having allies. I knew that we did something, but I did not realize it was that. It makes me sad to think that these people were allowed to live their lives as if they did no harm. But I think all war time crimes are intolerable, no matter who participates. All the people who go to war do it for the reason they deem important, it is always one groups and in some instances one persons philosophy that pulls whole nations into war.
When we fight wars is there ever, really a clear winner. In this book we "won", but so many died, so many lost their way, so many families changed. But then we saved so many people. War is always a bitter pill to swallow. Thank you Laura for bringing this side of the WWII to the masses.
Wow, so many emotions went through me as I read this book. I thought I would pick it up, read a few pages, put it down and just finish it before book club at the end of the month. However, what happened is I picked it up this weekend and could not put the book down. I wanted to be there to support the men fighting for there lives. I cried several times throughout the book. Anger for the treatment of the POW's. Two days later and I was finished with the book, but there are pictures and stories that will haunt me, just as pictures of captives in Germany make me sad. So thin, so gaunt, so hungry.
We always hear about the tragedies in Europe, but this book brought information that I never realized, one being the amnesty granted to war criminals, for the price having allies. I knew that we did something, but I did not realize it was that. It makes me sad to think that these people were allowed to live their lives as if they did no harm. But I think all war time crimes are intolerable, no matter who participates. All the people who go to war do it for the reason they deem important, it is always one groups and in some instances one persons philosophy that pulls whole nations into war.
When we fight wars is there ever, really a clear winner. In this book we "won", but so many died, so many lost their way, so many families changed. But then we saved so many people. War is always a bitter pill to swallow. Thank you Laura for bringing this side of the WWII to the masses.
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