Pygmalion By George Bernard Shaw “The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she’s treated.” Alright, I admit it- I'm not a fan of Audrey Hepburn. Therefore, I've only seen part of My Fair Lady (she doesn't even do the singing AND she got the part over Julie Andrews. JULIE ANDREWS!), and I had not read Pygmalion until now. I definitely prefer novels to scripts, and I felt the story line was actually rather choppy- Shaw skips over character development and moves the plot along by simply opening on a new scene further down the time line. I agree with the point Shaw was making with the story, but felt it was less impactful because he placed more importance on entertaining than on substance. So now I've angered the Audrew Hepburn fans and the George Bernard Shaw fans. I did, however, love his passionate disdain for apostrophes: "The apostrophies [sic] in ain't, don't, haven't, etc., look so ugly that the most careful printing cannot make a page of colloquial dialogue as handsome as a page of classical dialogue. Besides, shan't should be sha"n't, if the wretched pedantry of indicating the elision is to be carried out. I have written aint, dont, havnt, shant, shouldnt and wont for twenty years with perfect impunity, using the apostrophe only where its omission would suggest another word: for example, hell for he'll. There is not the faintest reason for persisting in the ugly and silly trick of peppering pages with these uncouth bacilli. I also write thats, whats, lets, for the colloquial forms of that is, what is, let us; and I have not yet been prosecuted." :) The Jane Austen Project by Kathleen A. Flynn This is the kind of book that people will read cover to cover because it is about Jane Austen even though they'll be disappointed by the plot holes and frustrating clash between the Regency era and more modern customs. I can absolutely see how they came up with the idea- how can we get a Jane Austen fan to actually MEET Jane Austen? Bringing to life this time period of Jane Austen's life and telling it through the eyes of Jane Austen fans experiencing it first hand made the story fun to read. I've read Jane's biography and watched BBC's Miss Austen Regrets, so the historical aspects and characters of the book felt well researched and factually based. However, accepting the necessity of a time travel mission that could disrupt the course of history in order to see what was in the letter's Cassandra burned (and possible to diagnose Jane's fatal illness) seemed rather weak. And then there was the main character, Rachel, who I loved as a contemporary of Jane but despised as person and peer of my own- It's through Rachel that the author tried her hand at adding crude modern language and suggestive scenes that I would deem Fifty Shades of whatever a gentleman's trousers are made of to an otherwise proper romance. It added nothing to the plot or the characters and ultimately proved to be a distraction and a disappointment. But if you can get through that, you do get to imagine what it would be like if you could go back and befriend Jane (which made it worth it to me in the long run). A Bridge Across the Ocean by Susan Meissner I enjoyed the book- but I wish the book summary had warned me that the plot would rely so heavily on a paranormal element. It took me a while to get used to the Sci-Fi twist to the story when I was expecting pure historical fiction. I kept reading because the WWII and Queen Mary plot lines were well-researched, engrossing stories with strong characters. By the end of the book, I could enjoy the interwoven stories for what they were, but it never stopped feeling like the introduction of the phenomenal was a shortcut that ultimately hampered the overall success of the book.
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Just one for this month! Don't get me wrong- it's not that I haven't been reading (heaven forbid)- it's just that I've been taking a break from reading for pleasure and started trying my hand at reading that will challenge me. So far, it's nothing worth reporting, but a teacher on summer has to find a way to keep her mind busy! One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus
could at times be tiresome, the story and characters and landscape all came to life (even with such an unbelievable premise). Through the eyes of a woman not unlike myself, I felt I could see what it would have been like to leave civilization behind and come to know a new way of life. I developed an even greater sense of respect for this ancient culture and learned a lot about the struggle of the Plains Indians during this turbulent time period. It is a rich text that presents a bright new perspective.
As a teacher, May felt like a mad dash to the finish line. If it weren't for the fact that I had had to wait on the hold list for weeks for my first two books or for the fact that my third book was so short, I highly doubt I would have done so much reading! The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead I kept seeing this book and hearing about this book. It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2017 and was the Historical Fiction Goodreads Choice Award winner in 2016. And then a friend recommended it. And still, I hesitated to give it a try. I've read several other historical fiction books set during the time of slavery in the deep south, such as The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. In that review, I wrote how "it was well written, but relied heavily on tragedy to keep the story going. The author was unapologetic and relentless in her attempts to be eye-opening and appeal to our sense of hopelessness," and I often find that to be the case with books about this time period because it is a dark time in our country's history and the stories are riddled with terrible atrocities that are so distressing as to leave you feeling shaken. And yet, I read a lot of books that portray the Holocaust, which has made me wonder why I am so adverse to reading about slavery. Is it because of the terrors of slave ships? Is it because of society's compliance and acceptance of the peculiar institution? Is it because slavery was a life long sentence endured by generations of men, women, and children? Is it because slavery is part of our past and still holds great influence in our present? What I appreciated most about The Underground Railroad was how the author was able to provide powerful literary descriptions without being "unapologetic and relentless." Without being overly graphic, he drew attention to the cruelty and abuse through his literary descriptions, purposefully and without vulgarity. By NOT focusing heavily on the unspeakable abuse endured during this time, he created a powerful reminder of the complacency and normalcy of these horrors without diminishing their brutality. The book covers a variety of settings, providing context to a very diverse and divided country. The only thing that left me a bit wary was the fictitious portrayal of the underground railroad as an actual railroad. Even though I knew this was part of the narrative, it made me question the rest of the story- how factual events and reactions were to the time period- because I the line between real and imagined was unclear. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman Here is another one everyone keeps talking about. The waiting list to read it at the library has consistently been in the triple digits, so I originally tried reading My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by the same author. And I didn't like it. But when Ove finally came up on my eBook hold list, I decided to give Backman one more try- this time with his best known and best selling novel. While it took me a while to get into the book, I fell in love with Ove like everyone else. He is just the most endearing old curmudgeon- once frustrating and brusque and impossible- but these very traits somehow also make him kindhearted and loyal and true. He becomes your neighbor and grandpa and friend, and reminds you of the people you love in spite of their shortcomings. And he's not the only character that makes the book so worthwhile. The author depicts so well how strangers with their differences and quirks and annoyances become a sort of family when you share a sidewalk or a view or a street and make their own community. A Room with a View by E.M. Forster With a goal to read more classics, I stumbled upon this short option with a great back cover summary and dove in. As I read, I had flashbacks to middle school and high school, when I would read great literature and try to understand what the big deal was (or even just try to understand what was going on!). I found myself 100 pages in and thinking that this book was not even well written, which naturally made me question my taste and my very understanding of literature. So I confided in a friend who has been work on his PhD in English, and much to my relief he explained that Forster is a Realist and it is entirely acceptable to dislike his writing style. THAT explained why I didn't feel any strong connections with the characters and why I felt like the author made odd choices about which details to include and which to ignore. I was expecting a romance and ended up with a realist. Definitely not my cup of tea, but I'm glad to have expanded my views.
It was back in Texas that I rediscovered the library. During our childhood summers, Mom would take us to our local library for the summer reading program, and the magic of getting to take home as many books as I want for a few weeks at a time has never left me. During medical school, we couldn't afford the number of books I wanted to buy, and so I ventured out to get my own library card. I walked out with my first pile of books, knowing I wouldn't read them all but grateful for the options, and thought of what a wonderful thing libraries are. His & Hers Book Piles For how much I read, library books make a lot of sense and have been a real blessing. They have saved us money, taught us about the word, and brought us hours of relaxation and enrichment. I now have library cards with three different counties here in Minnesota. I use their apps with ebooks and audiobooks, and always have a stack of potential books to read on my bedside table. Matt picks out his books too, and we've enjoyed many evenings together reading and listening to music or sitting by the fire. Sometimes, when a book really affects me, it's hard to give it back. Those are the books I buy and keep with me, to remind me of their stories and what they taught me, to lend to friends, and (only sometimes) to reread. So I've got a lot to thank the library for- for new favorites and old classics, for new "it" books waiting on hold, and even for the books I try but abandon simply because they are there for the taking. For the feeling you get when you wonder about how many other readers will experience the book in your hands and for when you think of all that the book in your hands has seen, heard, and experienced for itself. The Lady of the Lakes by Josi S. Kilpack Because I loved Julieanne Donaldson's "Proper Romances" Edenbrooke and Blackmoore, I thought I should give this "Historical Proper Romance" a try. It's based on the true love story of Sir Walter Scott, the Scottish poet, and while it was more historical fiction than chick-lit, it was still a well-told story with insight into the makings of enduring relationships. The book begins and ends with this quote from Sir Walter Scott: "Scare one person out of twenty marries his first love, and scare one out of twenty of the remainder has cause to rejoice at having done so. What we love in those early days is generally rather more a fanciful creation of own than a reality. We build statues of snow, and weep when they melt..." The story unfolds in such as a way that it perfectly captures the differences between love and flirtation, novelty and substance. It is not always fire, but often candlelight, not always in words, but more so in actions, and requires each individual to know themselves before they can really know and love another. The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell I came across this book in a rather roundabout way. Chatsworth is one of the great British estates used as Pemberley in an adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, and the previous Duchess of Devonshire (seated at Chatsworth) was one of these famed Mitford sisters. I learned a bit about them, and their family story is intermingled with many of the most important events of the early 19th century, so naturally, I was intrigued. In their time, they each in turn appeared regularly in the gossip columns with their weddings "of the season," and novels based in part on their lives, and their escapades with Nazis and Communism. They're quite an interesting group! Their stories, intermingled with some of histories greatest stories make for pretty good reading. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie Truth be told, I almost gave up on this book. It took a while to get started, is primarily dialogue, and was not a thrilling mystery. However, once the story really gets going, it's fun to see it all unfold and come together. Plus, I had to preserver on my first attempt at a book that wasn't nonfiction or historical fiction set in England! I went with this book because it is a classic that I'd never read, I love a good mystery, AND they've made it into a movie with a pretty fabulous cast.
The British books continue! And this time, I ended up reading two books that centered on the upstairs-downstairs relationship in British estates during the early 20th century. It was interesting to compare and contrast fiction to nonfiction and to feel like a bit more of a period expert while reading historical fiction. Servants by Lucy Lethbridge I read this book for all the wrong reasons. That cover is so appealing, and the title just screams "Read me if you enjoyed Downton Abbey!" I realized after I started reading it that a lot of period pieces have portrayed this delicate balance between upstairs and downstairs with incredible accuracy. Unfortunately, that meant it didn't feel like a lot of new information. I also realized that I usually read nonfiction with at least some sort of biographical plot. As a strictly informational book, I missed having an overarching story and strong characters to follow. I read it all though, a chapter at a time- It was a well-written and researched (but not a can't-put-down or compelling) read. Cavendon Hall by Barbara Taylor Bradford I haven't read a novel in a while, and I certainly didn't pick this one for its literary acclaim. I just wanted an enjoyable, light read, even if that meant relying more on the setting than on the writing. Cavendon was riddled with unnecessary repetition due to the author's seemingly innate belief that the reader can't remember even the most essential details from previous chapters. The writing style also erred heavily on side of telling instead of showing, creating very little imagery and very obvious descriptions. And most puzzling of all, the story seemed to take on too many story arcs and characters, conveniently wrapping up significant developments of the plot and completely forgetting side stories so that the story could move on without a sense of finality or satisfaction. This book has all of the abhorrent drama of Downton Abbey, but all of the glamor and intrigue as well. And so I ignored all of its shortcomings and just enjoyed having a book to read. But I don't think I'll be reading the rest of the series! While I was reading Servants, I was reminded of other books and shows set in this time period. Tyneford deals with the influx of Jewish refugees who came to Great Britain looking for work during WWII, and Upstairs Downstairs, set during the same time period, touches on the increasing difficulty of finding good servants leading up to and during WWII. Upstairs Downstairs revival (Netflix) I came upon this unexpectedly while browsing through Netflix. I recognized Claire Foy, who plays Queen Elizabeth in The Crown (wasn't that a good one?), and once again let the WWII rich and poor description pull me right in. Upstairs Downstairs is a revival of an original BBC show mentioned in Servants that ran under the same name in the 70's. It's only two seasons, but it's certainly entertaining! The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons (2012 review) As soon as I reached the end, I seriously considered picking it up and starting it all over again. It's Downton Abbey with The Guernsey Literary Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society and Sound of Music all bundled together. I loved the style of writing- every time I picked it up from the very beginning, I was there. Elise, a young Jewess bourgeois from Vienna must leave her family and life of luxury behind to seek refuge in England as the Nazis rise in power. She is granted a work visa and offered employment as a maid at Tyneford House, a large estate by the sea. The war progresses and Elise finds strength and love through her heartache as the fate of her family is uncertain and the residents of Tyneford feel the war edging closer and closer. It's somewhat based on true events, the author having gained her inspiration from Tyneham House (an actual estate on the Dorset Coast in England requisitioned during WWII) and stories from her own Great-Aunt who, like Elise, managed to escape Nazi Europe by becoming a “mother’s help” in England. I loved all of the characters- Elise especially. She is a strong, resilient woman. And the story was powerful, providing perspective of the lack of communication and information during that time period, the tragedy of war for a Jew rejected by her own country, and also a glimpse into how changes brought on by the war were forced upon British high society and changed their way of life forever. And after all of this British overload, it's still the genre I'm most drawn to! The next two books on my to-read list fit the same build. I'll branch out soon, but not quite yet- where reading is concerned, I'll heed that old adage about "too much of a good thing" :)
For the past few years I have tried to read a wide variety of genres on a wide variety of topics... Not so much lately! It has been harder and harder to find books that interest me, so for now I'm sticking to what I know and love: historical fiction and nonfiction/biography. Anything WWII or British history immediately piques my interest. Nothing else is doing it for me right now. At some point I know I need to broaden my horizons. But not today :) Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave Everyone Brave is an excellent portrayal of the Blitz in London, or rather the people who endured or succumbed to those long nights and the ensuing aftermath. The author showed the destruction and its impact while also showing how even the terror of that bombardment did not stop new relationships from blossoming. Or the strict racial divide. Or the distinction between rich and poor. The author also crafted an insightful portrayal of the insecurities of new love and the guilt that comes from surviving when others do not. I did feel, however, like the author's inclusion of an episode of drug addiction and recovery was out of place and unnecessary- one portrayal too many of human conflict. The story also ended a bit abruptly, but I think that was purposeful- the author's way of showing how the Blitz may have ended, but the story was far from over. Victoria by Daisy Goodwin Since I finished The Crown on Nextflix, I've been looking forward to the new BBC miniseries Victoria. I had some hesitations- Jenna Coleman, the actress who plays Victoria, was such a convincing Lydia in Death Comes to Pemberley, that I was honestly concerned about seeing her in another role. But the story of Queen Victoria and her beloved Prince Albert is so sweetly romantic, and the Victorian era so foreign to me, that such a silly little thing wouldn't keep me from watching. While writing the miniseries, author Daisy Goodwin was also writing a book by the same name. After watching the first episode, I got a hold of the book. I've read one other book by Goodwin-The American Heiress. Wasn't a big fan. And unfortunately, this book was not what I had hoped. First of all, the first episode of Victoria covered 75% of the book exactly. Then, when I finally got to an unfamiliar part of the story, the writing was disappointing. So much time was spent on developing Victoria and Lord M, that it felt like a rush to wrap up the story and get Victoria and Albert engaged. She goes from never wanting to marry and hating Albert to proposing with very little development.
I'm hoping the miniseries will be more entertaining. As far as the book goes, I'm wishing I had just started with her biography. |