Book Review

The Man In The Iron Mask, Alexander Dumas

Disappointing, but probably not in the way most people would be disappointed. I get it, that this is the swan song of the Musketeers. I wasn't even bothered by Porthos and Athos deaths. Porthos' death was actually pretty magnificent and heroic and just how one would expect it. Athos' was very sad and tragic, but it made sense. But D'Artagnan's death just seemed mean on the part of Dumas. Why do him that way? He's the protagonist and the only one with any sense. I actually expected all of them to die so I was even a little disappointed that Aramis lived.

But what bothers me about this is what bothered me about The Three Musketeers. I don't understand how the respect is won by the characters who were clearly the antagonists throughout the book. Richelieu in the Musketeers, and the king and Colbert in particular in this one. I chalked it up to my ignorance of French history since the narrative is tangled with real historical figures like the royalty. But twice in a row? Maybe it's just that the characters are all too damned honorable for their own good. Especially Fouqet.

Then there's the matter of loose ends. No follow up on Phillipe, who was pushed into the coup to begin with. I felt bad for him and he becomes a throwaway character after the first almost third of the book is devoted to becoming invested in him and his life story. And we never find out Madame de la Valliere's reasons for becoming the royal consort when she loved Raoul. Reasons that would have made her a more sympathic figure presumably. Or maybe I was expecting something that Dumas never intended to give. Rather that she was predicting that she would fall out of favor one day and that's why she'd be pitied. I don't know. 

Anyway, what a bummer. I'll just stick with the first book. At least it was fun even when it didn't make sense. The writing is spectacular though. Hard to put down. Loved the old characters while they lasted.

Book Review

Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë

One of my knee jerk reactions to this one is, Oh my goodness, everyone in this book has serious mental problems...lol. I think on the whole I liked Jane Eyre better, but that's not to say I didn't like this at all. It's a revenge tale after all, and I love revenge. 

I think it would have been a more satisfying revenge if Heathcliff's beloved Catherine was around to see the damage he inflicted on all her remaining family. I think I just didn't see the driving obsession after she was gone. I would've liked to have seen his descent into madness more closely documented but it wasn't possible with the pov used. I did enjoy the pov though. What a creative way to tell the story. Not just second, but third hand. All juicy gossip. Very clever. Ellen Dean was the observer character and the only one with any common sense. If I was her I'd have washed my hands of the whole family after the patriarch died. But if she had we wouldn't have the story. She and all the other characters seemed to suffer from a obstinate kind of tunnel vision that kept them set on their paths for years. It left little room for growth with the exception of Hareton and Catherine the younger. Consequently, Heathcliff's sudden disinterest in torturing everyone around him came as a surprise. It all had to do with his mind deteriorating from his madness and hallucinations of his Catherine and I was very interested in seeing this fleshed out. But from a second hand account all that can be conveyed is a mysterious tease. 

Still I don't have many complaints. The classics are still the best and this should be on everyone's classic reading list. If I had to rate it, I'd do 4 of 5 stars.

Book Review

The ABC Murders, Agatha Christie

*Kind of a big spoiler warning. I try to avoid them but I couldn't this time. *
I really loved this little mystery. The classics are still the best for mystery. I haven't read a lot of Poirot yet. In fact the only other one I have read was Orient Express in which he was traveling alone. So I didn't realize the similarities it shared with the Sherlock Holmes formula. He had his own "Watson" in the form of Captain Hastings and a relationship with local law enforcement like the the great Holmes. But these Poirot novels are unique and and different enough that they aren't really a rip off of Doyle. This one even takes a friendly jab at the Holmesian style of crime solving. It smirks at the standard clue hunting and takes a more psychological approach.
The perpetrator in this book, as indicated in the title, commits his murders alphabetically, not just by name but by town as well. Obviously. And a really creepy guy with a name to match the crimes is likely responsible. So obvious. Too obvious. And I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. I'm usually better at solving the mystery than that.  In fact, a remark made by Hastings at a pivotal part of the story that touched off Poirot's final deduction was my first thought as well, so my instincts were correct. But then it took a twist I never suspected. I think now that I should have expected it considering the unconventional ending of Orient Express. Being longer than most Holmes mysteries the pace can be slower and the misdirection can come from every character. Not everything Poirot notes is necessarily significant. It's a good trick.
And I'll keep it in mind because I do believe I'm hooked on the Poirot specific novels. I'll be checking more out and if anyone who has read more of them has any suggestions, I can't wait to hear them. 

Book Review

 

The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams

This one was a reading assignment in high school that I naturally ditched and completely ignored. But I've been on a mission since leaving high school to give some of these books a second chance. Books? Yeah, I thought this was a book. I was genuinely surprised to learn that this was a play and that Williams wasn't even a novelist but a playwright. Man, I really didn't pay attention in school...

But no worries. Like Eden, I was happily surprised that I liked this, making my adventures with American authors this year two for two. It's an extremely short, one-act play, which is why I've finished it within a few days of the last book so I decided to give my opinion of both today.

Another tragedy, I'm starting to notice a pattern among American classics. They're given to much metaphor. I noticed it when reading Bradbury a few years ago too. This seems like the simple story of an overbearing mother who is somewhat detached from reality and her two grown, miserable children as she tries to steer their lives in ideal directions and fails. But, again, the characters are caricatures of broader personalities, in this case because there is no time for development. The overarching themes are what a reader is meant to take in and process. Tom's frustration over an incomplete and unsatisfying lifestyle. Laura's fragility from crippling insecurities. Amanda's general fear of a lack of security. All appear to speak towards a fear of living life. Of course, because I'm me, I usually notice different aspects than most people do and I wonder if anyone else notices that the advice given by Jim, the gentleman caller, is actually sound in spite of the fact that he's kind of a cad in his behavior towards delicate Laura. All of them could've benefited from what he was saying if they'd tried it instead of being slaves to their emotions. But I suspect that this has become as popular as it has because of the feels and the bemoaning of Laura's broken heart. It's actually a lot deeper and more interesting than that. There's a lot of discussion material in there. I sincerely enjoyed the way it motivates a person to think, if it does. Another five stars for sure.

Book Review

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

I'd been feeling a little guilty because my classic literary interests usually lean towards European authors, so I decided to give the American authors another chance this last Christmas. I put this at the top of my to-read pile because I expected to like it the least. But I was happily wrong. It reminds me of why I decided to start reading classics to begin with.

It has a great hook - two families in California play out the stories of the Fall of Man and Cain and Abel. I'm still not sure how the fall of man works into this unless you're of the belief that it had something to do with sex. But the drama and dynamic of Cain and Abel was picked apart twice over the course of a couple of generations of characters. I really enjoyed watching the soap opera unfold throughout the lives of Charles and Adam, and Adam's sons, Caleb and Aron. Steinbeck's writing style is very absorbing. His descriptions of Salinas Valley at the turn of the 20th century are fascinating and he chose to make it partially autobiographical so he could speak to the reader as if telling them the story from personal acquaintance with the events. He is a close descendant of the Hamilton family whose patriarch is the grounding element of the story. Sam Hamilton and Adam's servant Lee provide the analysis and wisdom concerning the events of Adam's life.

I'm a little surprised that it was okay to publish it in 1952 since it tends toward the vulgar when discussing sexuality so openly and coarsely. And it appears to be a little uneven at times. I'm not certain why the devilish element of Cathy Ames Trask was followed so closely throughout the narrative. But I also don't really care because the psychology of the characters what really interested me the most. Most of them I would say are spot on. They're also extreme to the point of caricature since each character seems to be representative of a larger group of people altogether. They provide a setting for reflection and contemplation of your own personality and those of the people you know. So watching Cathy's growth, or lack thereof, was just as captivating as the close examination of the lives of the men. And it was ultimately necessary to keep her in the background as Caleb and Aron's mother and as the catalyst of so much tragedy.

It is a tragedy, seeming to build up from one sad event to another; one death to another. But it's a well written tragedy with touching moments of light and joy and humor thrown in to help balance it out. At first I thought that two suicides of characters was a little bit of an overkill but after having a week to ponder it, I've noticed that each death was a different vehicle for probing the psychological makeup of the characters and a commentary on how the death of certain types of people affect us.

Anyway I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to those seeking classic fiction to read.

Book Review

Letters From Father Christmas, J.R.R. Tolkien

This is a wonderful coffee table book that every Tolkien fan must own! It's just another display of his creativity and storytelling skills.

Beginning in 1926 and continuing through the childhood years of his four children, Tolkien would write letters to his children from Father Christmas . It's a unique little idea and I'm honestly surprised that more parents in general don't do the same sort of thing. You don't have to be a professional author to turn a letter to Santa into a back-and-forth, personal correspondence to extend the joy and excitement of the fairy tale. This book is a compilation of the letters he sent to his kids. Santa (Father Christmas in Britain obviously) would tell the children all about his adventures at the North Pole with his friends, most notably the North Polar Bear who assisted him in his workshop. There were elves too of course and he eventually worked in a named secretary elf that he relied on as much as the North Polar Bear.
Naturally, being Tolkien, Father Christmas and company were subject to goblin attacks and he gives comical accounts of how they had to bravely fight them off. Sometimes he was serious when explaining why Father Christmas couldn't get them exactly what they wanted during the years of WWII. It's a light hearted and heart warming tale spun over about 20 years that, I'm sure, made his children feel very special during the years they believed.
Included in the book is a photocopy of each letter next to the text. He had different handwriting for each character... Santa's being squiggly, Polar Bear's being blocky and the elf's being spidery. He also drew many pictures depicting the adventures being related and, again because it's Tolkien, a sample or two of elvish script. We'd expect nothing less.

This is one of the coolest things to have around to make you feel good any time of the year. You must buy it. 

Book Review

A Case For Christianity, C.S. Lewis
I've been slack in book reviews lately. I've been rereading old favorites over the holiday season but just before that I was given a Lewis book that I didn't have. This is a very short "book" and what it is actually is the transcript of a radio interview he'd once given laying out the case for choosing Christianity to the atheist or agnostic.
Lewis had the gift for keeping the subject matter plain and simple without dismissing any of the complicated material. Just like I've described Mere Christianity as "Christianity 101" for new believers, under the guidance of a knowledgeable pastor, A Case For Christianity is one of the very best pro-conversion arguments put to paper. Direct and non combative, his dissertation challenges the reader to think, the mark of any great debate technique. Not for people who have no interest on an intellectual level.
It's not only a persuasive discussion for the non believers, but to those who have become disillusioned and backslidden over the years.
Yet another brilliant piece of writing from my favorite author!