Jane Eyre

The quintessential Gothic romance, Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre has been on my reading list for some time. I'm a fan of her sister's infamous work, Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. Plus, with the new movie out, I had even more reason to start reading it.

At first glance, Jane's life is inherently depressing. Orphaned at a young age, she's taken under the care of her uncle. However, he dies shortly after and his haughty, jealous, and mean-spirited wife, Mrs. Reed, plays the role of Cinderella's stepmother and altogether makes Jane's life miserable. The haunting account of the "red room" is vivid and disturbing, as is the terrible treatment received by her bratty cousins. Unlike Cinderella, unfortunately, Jane is not eventually rescued by a prince, but is instead sent off to Lowood Academy, and so her dreary life continues.

Were the story told by any other character than Jane Eyre, it would more than likely be way too depressing to read. But Jane's optimistic and heavenward view of life and human nature seems to mature through her pitfalls and obstacles. I have to admit, I was impressed by her sense of theology and overall sense of God. In particular, her response to Mr. Rochester stood out to me:


"A wanderer's repose or a sinner's reformation should never depend on a fellow creature. Men and women die; philosophers falter in wisdom, and Christians in goodness: if any one you know has suffered and erred, let him look higher than his equals for strength to amend, and solace to heal."


In addition, Jane Eyre is filled with allegory: from the lightning-struck chestnut tree to attempted arson, the abundant symbolism and imagery provide even more room for thought. 


If you haven't already, go read Jane Eyre. It's a classic for a reason, and there's certainly never a dull moment (or page). 

The Great Typo Hunt

Let me say firstly, this post is way overdue. I started and finished The Great Typo Hunt last month and while I enjoyed it tremendously, never got around to blogging about it. 

Secondly, Jeff Deck and Benjamin D. Herson are my heroes.

The true account of two guys traipsing around the country in search of and correcting typos is the premise of this book, but it's also so much more. Before I get ahead of myself, here's the gist: Jeff Deck is a science fiction nerd (note: "nerd" is used as an endearing term) who decides one day, after being bombarded by spelling errors, punctuation gone awry, and article/noun disagreements displayed on public signs, businesses, and store fronts, that it's time for a change. He and Benjamin D. Herson traveled across the country fixing everything from restaurant signs to museums to National Park property -- where they meet friendly store clerks, stubborn cafe owners, and unhappy authorities. 

Deck and Herson discovered something very significant along the way: America wasn't just having trouble with grammar; our country was lacking in the communication skills department. After all, language is used to convey, transcribe, and send a message. If society doesn't have a firm grasp on the basics, how are we to thrive (both socially and economically)?

There you have it. The Great Typo Hunt is about more than just typos, it's about communication. I definitely recommend reading this one.

Bleak House

As of a little over a week ago, I finished Bleak House by Charles Dickens. My first college English professor  suggested I read it years ago, as it's regarded as Dickens' best work. I'll also have you know, it's regarded as his longest work as well (my copy weighed in at 965 pages - seriously, it's thicker than my Bible).

It's long.

Though it's composed of many side stories and characters, Bleak House revolves around Esther Summerson, an orphan with a dark past, whose life is well, bleak. Until she and two others: Ada Clare and her cousin, Richard Carstone, are sent to live with John Jarndyce. Jarndyce is involved in an long, ongoing Chancery Court case Jarndyce v Jarndyce. If successful, Jarndyce could win a great deal of money, but he's not hopeful and considers the case a burden more than anything else. Soon, Richard becomes involved in the case, eager to win some of the inheritance, but is dissuaded by his family and friends as he's known for being irresponsible with his finances. The case is a matter of disputed wills, and has run through generation after generation without settling. Not only is it seemingly pointless for Richard to become involved, but distracting from his love interest, Ada.

Bleak House is filled with numerous other characters, some are which described as his best ever: Lady Dedlock, Sir Leicester, Mr. George, and many others. Together, the characters and stories work to showcase some of the absurdities of 19th century English law and society. Dickens goes to prove that the legal system and those in it are corrupt and greedy and class divisions are not what they seem, with "do good" upper class attempting to fix the lives of others who have never asked for such help in the first place.


There are 40 illustrations in Bleak House, and all were done by Hablot Browne, better known as Phiz.

Remember the part about Bleak House being long? Well, it still is. But after reading it, I couldn't believe just how much Dickens fit into that one book. There are just so many interesting side plots and characters, that looking back on it, it doesn't seem as long as it could've been. But maybe this is just hindsight bias.

Overall, if you have a lot of free time (or even if you don't), read Charles Dickens' Bleak House.

2010: A Year of Excessive Reading

I'd like to think this past year has been productive. Somehow amidst knocking out 38 credits, getting a job, and still maintaining a social life, I managed to read 19 books this year. Am I bragging? Maybe. If you consider reading a plethoric amount of books a "cool" thing, well then, get ready for a lot of coolness, because I'm about to list them all:

1. Please Kill Me: The Uncensored History of Punk by Legs McNeil. From the Velvet Underground to the Sex Pistols - this book covers nearly every influential Punk band from the late 60's through the 80's. It's awesome, go read it. Now.
2. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. It's cute, it's chick lit, it's got candy and romance.
3. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. Equally cute and chick lit, but substitute candy with magical cooking.
4. Nightlight: A Parady by the Harvard Lampoon. I despise Twilight, therefore I love this.
5. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I will never spell his name right without looking it up beforehand, but I really enjoyed this regardless.
6 - 11. Scott Pilgrim 1 - 6 by Bryan Lee O'Malley. I refer to them as comic books, but for the sake of argument I'll call them graphic novels (even though they're totally synonymous, Micah). These, ahem, graphic novels are fun reads and were a great precursor to the movie.
12. Girls in Pants by Ann Brashares. Guilty pleasure? Yes. Nostalgic and memory filled? Yes and yes.
13. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. I love getting books as presents, especially when they're awesome like this.
14. Diary by Chuck Palahniuk. He's weird and twisted and writes weird and twisted books, simply put.
15. Anthem by Ayn Rand. I love Ayn Rand; I love this book.
16. Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare. Normally I don't like to count assigned reading as extracurricular reading, but since I read the whole play, I figured I may as well. Plus, I like Shakespeare.
17. The Riddlemaster of Hed by Patricia A. McKillip. I feel a little cheap putting this on my list since I haven't actually finished it yet. Yikes.
18. Hotel by Micah McFarland. Yes, this is totally going on the list. My boyfriend wrote a novel, and I read it and helped edit it. I can't wait to re-read it when it's finished.
19. Bleak House by Charles Dickens. Okay, so I haven't finished this one yet, but I plan on finishing it before school starts on the 10th. I'm currently at page 203 of 936. I can totally finish it in 10 days. Right?

So there you have it. I already have a few books lined up for 2011, and I can't wait to get started. Thanks to everyone and anyone who bothered to read my bibliomania-filled posts this year, look forward to future attempts in the new year.

Anthem

I have a bit of a crush on Ayn Rand.

It all started when I first picked up The Fountainhead when I was about 15. While most kids my age trudged through Atlas Shrugged as a school assignment, I was fascinated by Ayn right from the beginning (probably inspired by watching an episode of Gilmore Girls). And immediately after reading The Fountainhead, I discovered the 1949 film classic by the same name, starring Patricia Neal and Gary Cooper (and with a screenplay written by Ayn Rand herself). I was in love.

As shameful as it is, I had never read any of her other works. (With Atlas Shrugged weighing in at 1,368 pages, who wouldn't be a little intimidated?) So, when it was suggested by a particular someone that I read Anthem (a mere 100ish pages or so), I did. And despite its small size, it's brilliant.


Anthem, a novella first published in 1937, is about a dystopian, highly collectivist future in which mankind has entered another dark age, as a result of socialist thinking. The word "I" has completed disappeared from their language. Instead of names, everyone is referred to by numbers. Equality 7-2521 is the hero of the story, and is "cursed" with curiosity and an unwillingness to submit himself completely to others. Equality 7-2521's struggle for individuality is pretty similar to most of Ayn Rand's works, but it doesn't make it any less brilliant.


For the record, Ayn Rand is a political nut job. But she's also a literary genius. So, go make my day and give her a try. Seriously, you won't be disappointed.

Diary

"We're all of us a million bits put together in the right way..."

I like Fight Club. I like Chuck Palahniuk I like weird stories about slightly deranged struggling artists who are somehow connected to a ludicrous conspiracy. (I also like free books my sisters buys for me.)

So, I figured I'd like Diary. And it turns out, I do. Maybe not as much as Fight Club, but that's what I get when I read Palahniuk's best work first. Anyway, Diary is about Misty Wilmot, a once talented artist who ends up working as a maid in a hotel while dealing with her comatose husband's cryptically heinous messages left inside sealed walls of homes of angry owners. Eventually she takes up painting again - but she soon figures out this sudden burst of creativity is less inspired than it is
coerced.

The plot is definitely weird. The writing is great, and I love all the art jargon and art history references used throughout the story. Overall, it's a fun read, in a twisted sort of way.

A Clockwork Orange

It's apparent by the length of time since my last post that school, homework, best friends moving away, cars breaking down, and sleep are interfering with my pleasure reading. I hate when that happens.


But, I digress. I just finished A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, a gift I got for graduation. I admit, I didn't really know too much about it before reading it, but I quickly learned it's a very allegorical, political, and linguistically fascinating book. First off, the Nadsat slang. It's Russian-influenced which I find coincidental considering I just read Crime and Punishment. At first it's like reading a bunch of made-up words (probably because most of them are), but through context the slang makes complete sense. I love the correlation between the "brainwashing" use of Nadsat language and the government-issued brainwashing of Alex, the anti-hero and narrator of the story.


The main theme of the book is free will - is it better to have a choice and do wrong, or be forced to do good? Because the moral lesson is so apparent, Burgess dismissed A Clockwork Orange as too didactic to be artistic, which I disagree with. Maybe it's because I never tire of a good, satirical, dystopian novel about the fundamental importance of moral choice. Or maybe it's because now I want to use words like "droog" and "slooshy" in everyday conversation.


As for the title itself, it's supposedly Cockney in origin but I think Burgess defined it best as, "...the application of a mechanistic morality to a living organism oozing with juice and sweetness."


Fascinating, no?


-Lizzy