Archive | March, 2010

Monthly Roundup – March 2010

30 Mar

Here’s my round-up of books read during the month of March 2010

Reviewed

The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James
The Savage River Valley by Pamela de Leon

Read but not reviewed

Sanditon and the Watsons by Jane Austen (Will review Sanditon after I read the continuation by Another Lady)
Web Theory by Burnett and Marshall (read for class; a bit dated, but a very interesting read on the socio-cultural aspects of the Web).
Holding on to Reality by Albert Borgmann (another class read, an intriguing look at the history of information and information theory)

Currently Reading

Sanditon: Jane Austen’s Last Novel Completed by Jane Austen and ‘Another Lady’

A piece of history

26 Mar

As the end of the semester nears, I am finding myself spending more time reading academic writing, but I managed to squeeze in Pamela de Leon’s The Savage River Valley, which I received for review for the Historical Novels Review Online.

My official review will be published by HNR online, but here is a more personal reaction.

When I started reading The Savage River Valley, I did not think I was going to enjoy it. I found myself losing patience with the meandering tone of the preface/first chapter, but the narrative soon picked up after the second chapter. The blurb on the back cover makes the story sound like a paranormal historical novel–Clara, a woman from 21st century New York spiritually travels back in time to the year 1601 to witness a Mohican death ceremony.  However, Clara’s spiritual quest reads like a secondary subplot, rather than the focus of the novel. The narrative really comes alive when the reader is introduced to the Mohicans, particularly the children of Tah-neh-wa–Minnah and White Feather. The description of Mohican life is rich in detail and well-written. Minnah is an interesting and sympathetic character, her ability to see beyond the mundane allowing her to perceive the bonds that connect her family to the land and the danger that will come from across the great water.

De Leon also adds an element of mystery to the tale, shifting the narrative from life among the Mohicans to life aboard a Dutch trading vessel bound for the shores of the Hudson, the greed, scorn, and lust of the sailors a marked contrast to the Mohican’s harmonious, co-existence.

I have mixed feeling about the novel; I found myself engrossed by the historical plot, but felt that Clara’s part in the narrative seemed superfluous. I would have preferred the novel without the spiritual quest. It reminds me of when I watched “Julie and Julia,” I preferred the Julia without the Julie.

A secret desperate to be told

15 Mar

Do you mean to say, that if I believe in your story as you have told it, then it is as good as if it were true?

- from The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James

What if Jane Austen’s long lost memoirs were waiting to be discovered, tucked away behind an attic wall at Chawton Manor House? What if Austen’s romantic heros were inspired by someone who was dear to her? That is the premise behind Syrie James’s beautifully written, fictional memoir. Carefully weaving together details from Austen’s letters and novels, as well as early biographical accounts of Austen’s life, James makes the reader believe that this tale of love found and lost really was written by Austen herself in the months leading up to her untimely death.

—

I’m in a bit behind on school work at the moment, so this review is shorter than most.

The Lost Memoirs was a truly engrossing read and made me yearn to re-read Sense and Sensibility after reading about Jane’s struggle to edit what would be her first published novel. I was eager to read this book after reading The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë and I was just as pleased with James’s treatment of Austen’s memoirs as I was with Brontë’s diaries. Overall, a great tribute to the life of Jane Austen and a worthy addition to any collection of Austenesque works.

By the Seaside with Sanditon events

15 Mar

The Sanditon group read event has commenced at Austenprose! See the event schedule here.

The Belly of the Whale

9 Mar

Worlds collide aboard the Darwinist airship, Leviathan, a whale-like mashup of species fueled by the hydrogen produced in the beast’s innards. When Deryn Sharp decides to disguise herself as a boy and join the air service, she never expects that she will be drawn into the middle of a political battle. Joining the ranks as Dylan, she works hard to make sure she earns her place in the air. Meanwhile, young Alek, the disenfranchised heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire finds himself in a dangerous position, on the run to avoid becoming embroiled in a battle between the nations of Europe. A chance encounter brings these two together. Can a pair of Clankers and Darwinists work together to survive?

—

I so wanted to like this book. I was so excited when I first saw the book trailer and when I went to the author event at Books and Books, but while I found the concept intriguing, I just did not find myself caring for the characters or the retro-futuristic Steampunk Europe of the Clankers and the Darwinists.

Like I said, I wanted to enjoy this book, but there were certain elements that just turned me off the story. One was the idea of fabricated animals as weapons and vehicles. In theory, the concept sounded interesting, and the image that Westerfeld portrayed during his lecture was equally so, but reading about imaginary creatures being made to transport people into battle seemed unnecessarily cruel to me. I realize, yes, that horses and other animals were obviously driven into battle in the past, but the distinction between Darwinists and Clankers is specifically that they choose to fabricate creatures to perform these roles. The whale-thing is essentially an airship and that is it; that Deryn describes the creature as an intelligent being that knows what to do in order to serve its crew only adds to my inability to side with the Darwinists’ views on the rationality of choosing animals over machines as their main source of artillery and transport. Alek calls the fabrications “godless” several times in the novel; they’re the sort of creatures you would expect in a sci-fi B-movie about DNA experimentation gone wrong. I can’t explain it very well, but this whole scenario just didn’t seem quite right to me.

Another thing that bothered me about the story was the need to turn write Deryn as a girl. I generally like novels about girls who do things and dress up as boys and go to battle, but there is nothing to hide about Deryn so far as I can tell. Other than the few instances where some reference is made to her sex–Deryn pretends to shave, or Deryn must make sure the medics never disrobe her–Deryn could very well be a boy. Of course, it would throw a wrench into the very obvious feelings she seems to be developing for Alek, but it just seemed a bit gimmicky to me, like an effort to attract girls to the book.

And lastly, the illustrations. The images are wonderful, but the depictions of Deryn and Alek really do affect my interpretation of their characters. At first, I thought Alek was about 10 or 11; he seems so small and young. Turns out he’s 15. Then there’s Deryn, who I could not help but compare to Draco Malfoy, she always seems to be sneering in the illustrations; it might have added to my inability to really like her as a character.

I am not saying I did not enjoy the book at all–it certainly had its moments–but I don’t think I care enough about the story to read the next two installments in the series.

Wuthering Heights 2009

7 Mar

My final selection for the Brontë Challenge was Masterpiece Theatre’s loose adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (2009). This film rendition of the tale does away with the narrative quality of the story, reducing Nellie’s part as narratorand forcing the plot into a more linear storyline. There is a lot more romance, and less Gothic drama, which makes the Bronte’s tale of mad passion and revenge seem more mainstream. I found that this version tries to rationalize Heathcliff’s cruel tendencies by emphasizing the rivalry between him and Hindly, and showing glimpses of his happy, free-spirited childhood with Cathy. Tom Hardy does provide a compelling portrayal of Heathcliff, but I find most of the other characters a bit bland. Heathcliff is portrayed as a deranged, though slightly sympathetic character in this version, which is very different from my understanding of his character in the text. The relationship between the second generation of Earnshaws and Lintons is thrust into the background; the three young cousins are present but their part is minimal in the development of the tale.

Overall, not my favorite adaptation of the novel, but not terrible. It has its moments. I gave it a three-star “Liked It” rating on my Netflix queue.

On a side note… This is my 100th post!!!

The Grand Sophy has arrived

4 Mar

Though I have been meaning to read her works for a while, The Grand Sophy is my first time reading Georgette Heyer and it certainly won’t be my last. After browsing several reviews and blurbs, I finally settled on The Grand Sophy from Heyer’s many novels and was not disappointed.

When Sir Horace Stanton-Lacy prepares to journey to Brazil, he leaves his darling Sophy in the care of her aunt, Lady Ombersley, but little do the Ombersleys know that the “Grand Sophy” will soon turn their quiet home life upside down! Unapologetically wilful and intrepid, Sophy arrives in a house turned dismal by debt and ill-chosen matches. Sophy’s eldest cousins, Cecilia and Charles have made up their minds to marry persons who are all wrong for them, as Sophy soon discovers. There is nothing else for it, it is up to Sophy to make things right and restore her family’s former happiness.

—

Reading Georgette Heyer’s Regency romance is often said to be the next best thing to reading Jane Austen and I can now see why. Sophy is definitely a young lady who would be right at home among the Bennet sisters, her humor and candid nature making her fit fight in with Austen’s heroines. I loved Sophy’s personality and her seeming naiveté; she comes across as entirely unassuming but somehow manages to make everyone do exactly what she wills. Her rollicking, yet carefully planned [mis]adventures with her cousin Charles and Lord Charlbury are some of the funniest moments in the novel, and the ending is sweet and fitting.

Sanditon Group Read at Austenprose

2 Mar

Announcing ‘By the Seaside with Sanditon’ at Austenprose.

The Monthly Roundup: Feb. 2010

1 Mar

I decided that it would be a good idea to post a monthly round-up of the books I’ve read (because I’m an obsessive organizer).

So here they are for the month of February 2010. Titles link to the reviews.

The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James

East by Edith Pattou

The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

The Mermaid Summer by Mollie Hunter

The Mermaid Summer

1 Mar

The Mermaid Summer by Mollie Hunter

Everyone knows that nothing displeases the mermaids that haunt the Drongs (a stone formation off the coast of the village) more than humans who ignore their hold over the seas, but Eric Anderson, a jovial fisherman with little regard for the legendary creatures of the sea disregards the power of the mermaids, he finds that his self-assurance leads him into a whirlpool of trouble. When an enchantingly beautiful but deadly mermaid lures his fishing fleet into the dangerous waters that surround the pointed Drongs, Eric Anderson is certain the end has come. When his life and that of his companions is spared, Eric’s shame at bringing the mermaid’s curse upon his men and their families forces him to leave the village and take the curse upon himself, but Eric’s granddaughter, Anna refuses to believe that her Granda Eric will never return.

When Eric begins to send his family gifts from the many lands he journeyed to, his family is pleased, but worried. For his grandchildren, he selects gifts are more meaningful than he suspects: a conch shell and knife for Jon; a jade comb,  a silver mirror, and a multi-hued fabric that shines with all the colors of the sea for Anna. Do these gifts have the power to break the mermaid’s curse? And will Anna and Jon be brave enough to use them?

—

For years, I remembered reading a book about a mermaid when I was in 5th grade, but I never could recall the title. This was in 1995, that’s a long time to remember a book. Thanks to a LibraryThing tag search, I was finally able to track down the book–it was The Mermaid Summer by Mollie Hunter, the image of the book’s cover on LT had the same haunting mermaid that caught my eye when I was a tween. I didn’t actually finish The Mermaid Summer that time; I remember that I checked it out during the last few weeks of the school year and had to return it to the school library before I could read it through because classes were ending and I would be moving on to middle school after the summer holidays. I never found it again after that because neither my city nor my school library had a copy; eventually, I gave up on ever finding it–I had so little to go on except that it was a mermaid book with an interesting cover. I was so thrilled to finally track it down after so long!

The novel reads like a sea legend; the tale of a vengeful mermaid and a pair of cunning children in a Scottish fishing village. The mermaid is portrayed as a dark and powerful creature, in the tradition of the Sirens, her song allowing her to charm and destroy those who dare deny her. It’s an interesting, fairy-tale like tale, but the feminist in me had some trouble with the portrayal of women(girls) as vain, flighty, and impulsive. It is clear that this is Anna’s story; her actions are the ones that drive the story to its end, but these are depicted as unwise choices resulting from a foolish, stubborn girl’s curiosity. The mermaid, while a powerful creature, is nevertheless portrayed as a vain and self-centered girl, her actions arising as a result of her desire to be revered and exalted as the most awe-inspiring mermaid. The story almost carries the caveat so often associated with the old tales of seafaring men–”Ay, keep yer women-folk off yer boats and out of the seas. Nothing but trouble do they bring.”

However, I can now understand why I was so fascinated by this story when I was a kid; there weren’t that many children’s books that featured dark fantasy. Most mermaid books were of the Ariel variety–lovelorn girl wants to become a human. The Mermaid Summer is definitely not about a sweet, lovelorn mermaid who likes to sing. She’s cruel and takes pleasure in riddles; while Jon and Anna are no innocent children swayed by the magic of a beautiful mermaid.

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