The Grapes of Wrath, or Lessons Never Learned

A perennial favorite on those "lists of American novels everyone should read", I knew that Grapes of Wrath would speak to the singularity of the American experience.  What I didn't know going in was that it would speak to the American experience right now the same way it speaks to the American experience during the Depression.

Steinbeck's masterpiece (and I don't use that term lightly) follows the Joad family on a journey from Oklahoma to California in search of work, and as a result from independent to dependent, from settled to homeless, from self-determining individuals to victims of chance, from a simple existence to crushing poverty.  When they lost their farm during the droughts of the 1930s, they set off cross country in search of work in California, otherwise known as the Promised Land.  Setting off hopefully because of the handbills they've seen advertising for workers, they soon realize the sad reality of their situation, and the situation of the hundreds of thousands of others on the same journey.  The poor are powerless to control the whims of the ruling class, who can choose who to hire, what to pay, where people can live, what they can eat, and where they can sleep with impunity in a system where the laws are written in their favor.  Slowly, the family and their life is eroded, starting with the old folks, eventually affecting the sons and daughters, until the family literally has nothing left but their own bodies.

This novel is infuriating, and unfortunately all too familiar sounding.  America was changing, from a farming economy to a manufacturing economy.  Small farmers were no longer able to make a living from their farms because the banks demanded payment on loans that they had no way of paying after years of bad crops.  When the banks took the land, they knocked down the houses so the people had to leave.  Sound familiar?  In the early 21st century, we have changed from a manufacturing economy to a service economy, people who used to have decent paying manufacturing jobs (or associated jobs) are now out of work, not able to pay their bills, leading to the housing crisis, when many people are losing their homes.  Why have we not learned from the past?

Oh, wait, that's right-because those who have the wealth and power will do anything they can to hold onto it, even at the expense of lots of other people.  It may sound like I judge them for that, but in the grand scheme of things I understand.  Banks and business owners have a responsibility to make money-that is their role.  So how do we protect the average person from overreaching by banks and businesses in their quest for profits?  Well, that is the role of government, right?  Not in today's current climate...

Steinbeck makes a strong case for government intervention in the book.  The only place that the Joads felt safe and secure after leaving home was a government-run camp they stayed in for a few weeks in California. There, the people governed themselves, making up their own rules, developing work schedules for camp chores, and helping each other stay fed and healthy, whether they were working outside the camp or not.  In contrast, Steinbeck describes the "Hoovervilles", migrant camps that sprung up around large farming towns all over California.  There, the people slept in tents, distrustful of each other and the people from the town.  The townies rarely wanted the migrants anywhere near, so they would periodically burn out the camp, causing people who had already lost to much to be left with literally nothing, not even their lives.

Steinbeck also makes a strong argument for labor organizing-you know, that thing that conservatives now bash as some sort of liberal take-over of business.  To hear most conservatives tell it, labor unions are jack-booted thugs who come in and intimidate the business owners into giving away the store, sort of like gang members demanding protection money.  Because we apparently never learn the lessons of history in America, the vast majority of people seems to have forgotten that it was by organizing that workers got us the weekend, the end of child labor, the minimum wage, overtime pay, employer health coverage, and work safety regulations.  Steinbeck makes it very clear that there is power in numbers, and that the system has a harder time beating down a group than an individual.

Obviously I agree with the politics of the novel, but what makes this book so powerful is the masterful way it is written.  Steinbeck intersperses the story of the Joad family with poetic chapters where he describes various parts of the migrant experience-from the decision to leave to the buying of the car to the making of camp to the search for work.  The story feels biblical, and in fact the journey of the Joad family and thousands of other families from the central US to California has been compared to the story of Exodus, in which the Israelites wander the wilderness for a generation.   Steinbeck perfectly captures of the feel of the times, the cadence of the speech, the struggle against despair and the moments of hope that describe the migrant experience in the 30s.  The Grapes of Wrath shows the contrast of the inhumanity that man can show towards his fellows, and the saving power of family-both the kind you are born with and the kind you make through shared experiences and kinship.  It shows the depths to which the soul can descend when a man feels beaten down, and the dignity he feels when he channels his wrath to fight for his rights.  People who like tidy endings will not like the way Steinbeck leaves the Joad family.  There is no resolution to their journey.  But in ways large and small we as a country are still on that journey, still trying to find the balance between people and profit, still trying to ensure the rights of the weakest among us, still looking for the Promised Land.

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Good morning, fellow Monday Morning Readers!  It's been a long time since I have been able to participate in a weekly meme of any kind, so welcome to Book Addict Reviews any fellow bloggers who have not been here before!  I'm glad to be back!

This week, I finished When She Woke by Hillary Jordan.  Amazing speculative fiction a la The Handmaid's Tale about a woman's place in society and reproductive choice.

I am also reading The Latte Rebellion, by Sarah Jamila Stevenson.  This young adult novel tells the story of a group of mixed race friends who start a website to sell t-shirts to people with latte-colored skin as a way to raise money for a summer vacation.  What starts as a joke about their shared experiences as people of mixed racial backgrounds becomes a social justice movement, leading to serious consequences for the girls when their school labels them terrorists.

I'm about to start My Name is Mary Sutter, a historical fiction novel about a woman fighting to be recognized for her medical skills in the mid-18th century.  I guess I must be on a feminist fiction kick right now, since the last few things I have read are falling in that theme.  Given the current state of political discourse about women in this country, I guess maybe that makes sense...

Finally, I am listening to The Grapes of Wrath on audiobook.  I'm glad that I decided to listen rather than read it, because I really feel like the narrator is doing a wonderful job with the character's voices and emotions.  It is the tale of the Joad family-chased off their land during the Depression by the landowners and their tractors, the family takes off west in a converted jalopy, hoping to find work and prosperity in the promised land of California.  Heartbreaking, infuriating, filled with moments of quiet grace, this American classic is a must read.

Have a wonderful reading week, everyone!

How I Was Defeated By Middlemarch

I will admit it- hell, I have admitted it.  A rather large (too large?) part of my identity is wrapped up in not just being a reader, but in being well-read.  Sure, I've lied about reading books that I really only started and couldn't finish because they are high-faultin' classics that make me sound smart...haven't we all? (please, don't judge).  But just this once I am going to come clean-I was defeated by George Eliot and her classic Middlemarch.

There is nothing about Middlemarch that I shouldn't love as a reader and a feminist.  Female author fools the world by writing as a man to get her novel about a young woman  bucking the system taken seriously.  With themes of a women's role in society, religious hypocrisy, and political reform-if this book was tea I would want to drink it.  But apparently the book itself is better for me in the abstract than in the reality.  I simply could not get through it.

I first tried to read it in college, during a summer when I was determined to read the classics-with-a-capital-C.  I re-read Jane Eyre that summer, as well as Wuthering Heights, The Old Man and The Sea, and A Tale of Two Cities.  But when I tried to read Middlemarch, I found myself putting it down in favor of doing things like, oh, scrubbing the grout with a toothbrush or hand-waxing my 10 year old Renault.  I was relieved when it came time to go back to school and have an excuse to put it aside "for the semester"-you know, if a semester lasted 20 years.

OK, enter the advent of digital audiobooks.  Surely, if I could listen to a really good narrator read the words aloud, I would be able to get invested in the emotional life of the characters and not be distracted by the old-fashioned language.  Surely, the voice of the narrator would bring to life the long passages where Dorothea is rhapsodizing about Mr. Casaubon in her head, all he's-so-righteous-so-what-if-he-is-pedantic-and-old-and-not-that-attractive.  "And the audio version is 30 hours long, so I will certainly get my money's worth!", thought I.  Well, there's $14.95 wasted...I couldn't even get through the first two hours.  I listen as I drive, and I found my thoughts drifting to such an extent that I would realize I was home and could not list one event from the preceding 25 minutes.  So, I hereby admit defeat.  Go ahead and feel smug, all you Smarty McSmartypants who actually read this book.  Hmmmm, or did you?

A Book Geek's Dream

It has become more and more obvious to me, in part thanks to a thought-provoking series of posts from The Reading Ape, that there is a very clear culture of reading among serious readers, and a strong subculture specific to book bloggers.  We have our own jargon, common practices, etiquette...all of it built on a foundation of love for books and storytelling.  So it comes as no surprise to me that I had to find the book blogger community to find Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series.  Fforde's books are a treasure trove of literary references and inside jokes any serious reader, especially of classic literature, should feel right at home in what is a decidedly strange world.

I just finished The Eyre Affair.  It is the novel that introduced Thursday Next, a SpecOps agent on the LiteraTec squad-that is, the group that is responsible for protecting the great books from harm.  While this includes rather ordinary things like verifying manuscripts for authenticity, it also includes some decidedly unusual things-like traveling into the book in pursuit of an evil villain out to destroy the great works of literature.  The Eyre Affair is a rather strange combination of literary discussion and science fiction, all rolled up into a thriller format.

I will admit that the structure of the novel didn't always sit well with me, and I'll have to read more to see if the rules that govern his particular universe stay consistent.  There are a lot of moving parts in this novel-Thursday herself and her past, a time-traveling father, a giant corporation (named Goliath-not the most subtle name I'll admit) that secretly runs things behind the scene, and a bullet-proof super-villain who can't be seen on camera and can apparently change the molecular structure of glass.  Intrigued yet?

What I loved about this novel is the creation of a world where literature is so important to everyone that an entire arm of the government is dedicated to it.  In Fforde's world, the Marlovians and Oxfordians feel so strongly about their positions they go door to door like Jehovah's Witnesses trying to get converts, as though Shakespearean authorship study is a religion (frankly, there's just as much evidence for some of the authorship theories as their is for some religious beliefs, namely not much)  Some literary movements actually took up arms to fight for their literary theory, though that does seem like taking it a bit too far.  Imagine a world where people cared that much about reading and books.  That's not to say I thought this book was without its problems-the characters were not that well developed, and the action jumped around a bit.  But as fun, escapist reading for readers, this book was a winner.

The Literary Blog Hop: To Like or Dislike the Hype

The Literary Blog Hop is hosted by the brilliant bloggers at The Blue Bookcase.  This week's question is:

Do you find yourself predisposed to like (or dislike) books that are generally accepted as great books and have been incorporated into the literary canon? Discuss the affect you believe a book’s “status” has on your opinion of it. 

 I think that my feelings on this topic have changed over time.  When I was in high school and college I was much more likely to assume that whatever classic literature they were asking us to read must be of great value, because otherwise why would we be asked to read it.  So I searched for nuggets even in things I hated, like The Scarlet Letter or The Old Man and the Sea.  But as I've gotten older, and I've learned more about the history of teaching reading and literature in our schools, I've come to realize the many, many, many voices that were never heard.  Women, people of color, gays and lesbians-all, with the notable exceptions of the Brontes and Jane Austen, were either left out of the literary conversation all together or had their stories told by others (most often not very authentically).  So, as the years have gone on, I've been less likely to read something that is strictly from the cannon and choose other, more diverse voices instead.  I suppose if I'm not careful I'll swing too far the other way, but for now I'm content to stay away from some of the capital A authors in favor of looking at life through the eyes of a more diverse group of small a authors.

Capital A Authors:

 Small a authors:

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Children's Books I DID Read

Thanks to the women at The Broke and the Bookish for hosting Top Ten Tuesdays.  Being a list-lover as I am, I am always excited for a new topic.

Excited, that is, until this week.  This week's topic is "books I wish I had read as a child", and the happy fact is that I can't think of one.  I've read most of the children's classics, and plenty more besides.  I even tried looking at other people's list to see if maybe I was just blocking out titles that I felt ashamed to say I'd never read, but nope...I'm actually thrilled as can be with my childhood reading selections.

But I love lists!  What's a list-loving book blogger to do? Why, chan...er....modify the topic slightly, of course.  So here, rather than book I wish I had read as a kid, I will revisit a past topic I did not get to participate in-my favorite childhood books.  There were so many I'm going to have a hard time narrowing it down to just ten. 

Bridge to Terebithia, Katherine Paterson-I love this story of Jess and Leslie and their unlikely friendship.  This is also the first time I understood that children can die.  I can't read this aloud to my classes today because I sill cry every time.

Are You There, God?  It's Me, Margaret, Judy Blume-I'm pretty sure that there are women about my age all over the country who would choose this coming of age story as one of their favorites.  I was so disappointed to read Blume's adult works later in life.  They just didn't hold a candle to her young adult books.

Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O'Dell-This was my introduction to strong female characters.  I so admires Karana and her ability to keep herself alive, and never to lose hope.  Plus, I've sort of always wanted to live on an island, though preferably not alone in a hut.

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, Judith Kerr-This may have been the first book I read about the Holocaust, and it started a life-long interest in the subject.  The thought that your whole life could be stolen away from you in the blink of an eye was frightening, and as I got older I appreciated how Kerr used Anna's story to introduce young readers to the idea of oppression.

Jacob, Have I Loved, Katherine Paterson-I so identified with Louise in this book.  As a quiet kid who was pretty shy, I often felt misunderstood by my peers and I understood her jealousy of the ease with which her sister lived in the world.. Louise was another strong female character that I adored.

The Narnia series, C.S. Lewis-My first fantasy series, but certainly not my last.  I had the rare and intense pleasure of watching the first book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe turned into the story into a movie that was EXACTLY like I had imagined reading it all those years ago.

Across Five Aprils, Irene Hunt-I've always been a fan of historical fiction, and this is probably one of the first ones I read.  It was unusual for me to find strong connections with male characters when I was a girl, but I did with this one.

The Secret Garden, Francis Hodgson Burnett-Oh, how I cried when Colin stood up and walked to his father for the first time.  And as hateful as Mary can be, you can't help but feel sorry for the poor orphan living in that cold, looming house.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betsy Smith-Francie was one of my favorite characters growing up, and I still reread this one every few years.  Historical fiction meets coming of age story-two of my favorite things all rolled into one.

Rutabaga Stories, Carl Sandburg-I checked this book out of the school library so many times the librarian offered to get me my own copy.  A collection of humorous short stories, Sandberg's gift for language and down-home sort of humor was a hit with me.

 

The Cay, Theodore Taylor-When my teacher read this aloud to us in fifth grade, I was captivated.  Living in an all white suburb of Chicago in the 70s, I had never really had any exposure to issues of race or racism.  This book opened my eyes to the absurdity of separating ourselves from each other on the basis of the melanin content of our skin.

A Summer to Die, Lois Lowry-Like many a pre-teen, I was a bit of a tragedy junkie.  This book by Lois Lowry fit the bill.  The story of a young girl whose sister gets cancer and dies is still a tearjerker.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry,  Mildred Taylor-Taylor's writing is a masterpiece of historical fiction and character development.  While The Cay may have been my first exposure to racism, Taylor's works certainly helped me put what I learned into a historical perspective.

Seriously?

 Classic?!?








Just found Michel Crichton in the "classics" section on Goodreads.  Really, Goodreads?  Even if I were guessing which authors from the late 20th century would eventually be classics, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have chosen Michael Crichton.  Don't get me wrong, I love his books, and the hot docs on ER got me through many a lonely night, but in the classics section?  Next to Picture of Dorian Gray, Heart of Darkness, and To Kill a Mockingbird?  I don't think so!  Forgive my bluntness, but it takes more than for the author to be deceased to make their works classic.  If I wasn't addicted to your bookswap, we'd be on a break!  Damn you, almost-free books!

Literary Blog Hop-Required Reading

This week's topic for the Literary Blog Hop, hosted by The Blue Bookcase, is one that is near and dear to the hearts of every person ever to take a literature class.  Near and dear, that is, if you like to talk about books that you hated.  Here's the question:

Discuss a work of literary merit that you hated when you were made to read it in school or university.  Why did you dislike it?

Anyone who reads this blog even semi-regularly already knows of my hatred of all things Joyce (I'm looking at you, Portrait of the Artist!), so I will skip my usual diatribe against narcissistic stream-of-consciousness.  However, that means I can't really think of a book I had to read for one of my classes that I disliked enough to qualify for this question.  So, let's discuss a different but related question near and dear to my heart-why are certain works chosen over others to teach in high school and basic college classes?

This question occurred to me while thinking about books that I could write about for this post because in going through the ones I remember in my head, I realized that almost all of them have male protagonists or were written by men or both.  Now, granted, I was in high school and college in the 80s, but you'd think somewhere along the line I would have read a few women.  Let's examine the list of titles I can remember:

• To Kill a Mockingbird
• A Separate Peace
• Lord of the Flies
• Julius Caeser, Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet
• A Tale of Two Cities
• The Iliad
• 1984
• Jane Eyre
• Heart of Darkness
• Death of a Salesman
• J.B. (Archibald MacLeish)
• L'Etranger (The Stranger)
• La Peste (The Plague)

From that list, which spans mostly high school, there are only two female authors, and two female protagonsists-Jane Eyre and Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird-though Lee certainly goes out of her way to make sure we know that Scout is a tomboy, not one of those prissy girls.  Even the books I read in my French classes were male-centered.  While I enjoyed and appreciated most of these books well-enough, some diversity would have been nice.  After all, I enjoy vanilla ice cream too, but if all I ever ate was vanilla ice cream I'd never get to know flavors like rocky road or triple chocolate fudge ripple.

I thought that maybe this lack of female voices in my high school English classes was just a function of my age, so I decided to check out the books being taught the most today.  While my research is in no way scientific or exhaustive, by looking at the most popular SparkNotes I can say that students are looking for information on the following books more often than others.  And they are:

• To Kill a Mockingbird
• The Great Gatsby
• The Adventures of Huck Finn
• Lord of the Flies
• The Scarlet Letter
• Of Mice and Men
• The Crucible
• Catcher in the Rye
• Frankenstein
• The Odyssey

Seems like American high school students are still be treated to vanilla ice cream an awful lot of the time.

Now I can hear some of you saying, "Those are just the high school books.  You can read so many more diverse books in college."  Which is true-if you go to college.  And if you are in a major that requires more than basic English classes, where some of the above titles are actually repeated in more depth. So, why has so little changed in the 22 years since I graduated from college?  With the wide range of excellent literature out there, why are American high schools still stuck in a dead-white-guy rut?  Anyone have suggestions for title we could add to these old standbys? 
 

Literary Blog Hop-Contemporary Classics?

Welcome, literary hoppers!  I'm excited to participate in the Literary Blog Hop hosted by The Blue Bookcase this week, since I am not working and actually have time to string together coherent thoughts in the Question of the Week.  More on that in a moment.  And now for a word from our sponsor:

This blog hop is open to blogs that primarily feature book reviews of literary fiction, classic literature, and general literary discussion.
How do I know if my blog qualifies as "literary"? Literature has many definitions, but for our purposes your blog qualifies as "literary" if it focuses primarily on texts with aesthetic merit. In other words, texts that show quality not only in narrative but also in the effect of their language and structure. YA literature may fit into this category, but if your blog focuses primarily on non-literary YA, fantasy, romance, paranormal romance, or chick lit, you may prefer to join the blog hop at Crazy-for-books that is open to book blogs of all genres.

Now, on to the main event...can a contemporary novel be considered a classic?  Not that I want to necessarily align myself with the Catholic Church, but I think that a novel can only be called a classic once its merits have stood up against scrutiny and it's been thoroughly vetted by readers over a rather significant period of time, much like candidates for sainthood are in Catholicism.  In order to be a classic, I believe that a novel must do one of two things-it must either present such a clear cultural snapshot of a time and place that it comes to represent that time and place, or it must have themes that continue to resonate long after the actual time period in which it was written.  It must either be completely time-bound or have that indefinable quality of timelessness (or both, a la Jane Austen-completely captures Victorian England and presents timeless themes).

That said, the Catholic Church may take years to do it, but we all know Mother Theresa is going to be a saint.  I think that the most we can do as contemporary readers is determine the authors and novels we believe will be classics, and hopefully live long enough to see if we are right.  I think it is safe to say that if the critics get to pick, then I'm pretty sure the Jonathans (Franzen and Safran Foer) will be there.  This is easier done with children's books, since their generations are shorter.  Harry Potter has already been through a few generations of kids, and it continues to captivate them.  The Giver by Lois Lowry is another example, though that one is a crossover, since I know just as many adults as children who love that book.

As for adult novels, here are a few I hope will stand the test of time.  First, anything written by Margaret Atwood, but especially The Handmaid's Tale.  While I would love to envision a day when a woman's reproductive status does not define who she is, I'm gonna put my money on needing feminist writers like Atwood well into the future.  I also think that Toni Morrison's books will hold up to the passage of time.  While most people find Beloved her best work, I think that Paradise is a masterpiece of narrative structure.  Her fluid sense of time creates this wave of connection that really forces you as a reader to become engaged in a way that straightforward narratives do not.  A Thousand Splendid Suns is so powerful, and so moving, that if Hosseini's work is not remembered in 50 years it will be a tragedy.

Underlying this week's question, and most questions about English language fiction, is that the novels we read and find so powerful today only get into our hands because someone on an editorial staff in some publishing house decided that we get to read it.  While I think there is plenty of variety (and diversity) in the publishing world in general, I do notice a decided lack of authors of color or female authors in most of the discussions of "serious" contemporary authors.  I am not disputing the masterfulness of Franzen or Safran Foer or McCarthy or McEwan-I just think it makes sense to be mindful of the other voices not being heard as loudly.  Stay tuned for more on that topic later in the month, when I explain my theory of reading as social justice.

Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster

ISBN-13: 978-0140374551
Publisher: Puffin Classics
Published: September 1995
185 pgs
Source: Personal Library

When I first heard of Daddy Long Legs it was during my Secondary School days. I hate to admit it, but at that time I was not really interested in reading the book. I read the book title and that was it; I never made it a point of reading the blurb until I read Nymeth's lovely review she posted in January this year. Though I know it is never too late to read it (or any other things for that matter), imagine what I have missed during all these years!

Anyway, Daddy Long Legs centers the life of an orphan called Jerusha Abbot (but she called herself 'Judy') and how her life change after an orphanage's trustee decided to sponsor her education. As much as Judy is thrilled and touched by her benefactor's kindness and generosity, she didn't have the chance of meeting him in person though she did get a quick glimpse of him and knew he is skinny and tall. He has asked to remain anonymous and wanted Judy to write to him instead and telling him about her progress in school, but then she would not expect any response from him.

Though intrigued by his anonymity, Judy adheres to his 'rules' and consistently write him letters, and she will address him as 'Daddy-Long-Legs' due to his physique, or sometimes Mr John Smith if she wants to be formal. In any way, Judy's letters are a sheer delight to read if you ask me, because most of the times they are packed with humour and a little sarcasm (though they are mostly her ramblings rather than mean). I could not count the number of times I actually grin or chuckle while reading her letters to Daddy-Long-Legs, and another thing I liked about those letters is she will sometimes include illustrations alongside with them and most of the time they amused me in a good way.

In short, Daddy Long Legs is a book that featured Judy's letters to Daddy-Long-Legs and oh, what a wonderful gem it is to my keeper's shelf. Aside from Judy's letters, I loved her voice and not to mention her personality and her outlook on life. I know I want to be her friend because she is fun and intelligent, sympathetic towards others, always willing to learn things (it made me smile when I knew her dream is to become a writer) and most of all she is never afraid to voice out her opinions, in which I most admire.

Daddy Long Legs is definitely one of those books that will bring delight not only to the young readers but adults alike. It left me a warm fuzzy feeling even after I closed the book and I hope anyone of you who has not read this book will pick it up soon. Now I will add Dear Enemy on to my wishlist and I hope my experience of reading this book will be the same (or hopefully will be much better) after reading Daddy Long Legs.

Other reviews:

Alita.Reads.

Bibliolatry

BookLust

Books I Done Read

Kay's Bookshelf

Things Mean A Lot

YABookNerd

(Let me know if I missed yours.)

Persuasion by Jane Austen

ISBN-13: 9780486295558
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: April 1997
224 pgs

Persuasion is the third Austen's book I read, after Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey and I wish I had read all her completed works earlier because they are such a delightful read.

In Persuasion, our heroine is a twenty-seven year old Anne Elliot and I have to say she is the sweetest heroine I have read among Austen's heroines I had read so far. Oh, she is equally charming as compared to the other heroines, but unlike the others I feel she is too good as compared to the others. She is always putting other people's needs before her, which I feel is a great quality but not when it concerns her happiness. You see, she has a fancy with Frederick Wentworth, a naval officer eight years before the story begins, but regrettably she has to break off the relationship because her father and Lady Russell, a family friend think he is not worthy of her at that time.

Though saddened by the breakup, Anne moved on with her life although the thought of Frederick strikes her mind once in a while. Later, when Frederick returns being a rich and successful captain, they crosses path once again but this time, Anne's family is having financial problems and she has to seek tenancy in Kellynch Hall.

There is nothing more I want to say about this book as this story, after all it is a romance story between Anne and Frederick and Austen always end her stories with a happy ending. You will have to read it yourself to find out how Anne get reunited with Frederick again, for I do not want to spoil it for you. However, I can say Anne is a likeable character. She may not be as opinionated as Elizabeth Bennet in P&P, but she has her own strengths and I respect her for it. I liked how she treats things positively, and she is always helping her family members even though their attitude towards her sometimes put me off. Others characters such as Sir Walter Elliot (Anne's father) and Lady Russell are equally engaging too.

All in all, Persuasion is an enjoyable read. I adore Austen's writing style; her books are filled with humour and intelligence. In fact, I would say this is my other favourite Austen's book besides P&P.

Have you read all the books by Jane Austen? Which one is your favourite?


Other reviews:

Becky's Book Reviews

Musings of a Bookish Kitty

(Please let me know if I have missed yours.)

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

ISBN: 9780140621679
Publisher: Penguin Group (Penguin Popular Classics)
Published: 1995
154 pgs




I chose this book as a kick off for the Classics Challenge hosted by the lovely Trish.

Dorothy is our heroine in this story, and I have to say she is one determined young lady who would not allow anything to defeat her and she would grit her teeth and face any challenges that are thrown towards her way.

It all begins when a cyclone blew her house away but unfortunately Dorothy had no time to hide the way her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry did. The strong wind carried the house away before it finally landed onto none other than the Wicked Witch of the East. The people at the land of the Munchkins are very grateful to Dorothy for getting rid of the witch but Dorothy is more interested of finding a way home in Kansas! When she understand from the Munchkins that the Great Wizard of Oz might have a solution to finding her way home, she set her journey to The City of Emeralds where he lives, despite the journey is long and she might encounter something dark and terrible along the way. She wore the silver shoes left by the wicked witch, for the Munchkins believed there is some charm connected with them.

Along the way, she gets to meet the Scarecrow who wishes for a brain, a Tin Woodman who wishes for a heart, and finally a cowardly lion who wishes for courage. Each of them has a story to tell and they have became good friends quickly. Together with her three newfound companions, Dorothy will follow the Yellow Brick Road towards the City of Emeralds but they will soon encounter several challenges that will exercise each of their special quality and have their dreams fulfilled in a few unexpected ways but one would think the experiences they have been through are worthwhile and so meaningful.

Reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz had made me feel like a young girl all over again. Although I have yet to watch the movie, but I have vague memories of the animations I had seen when I was a child. I remember I was really in awe of Dorothy, and I had a special fondness for her three non-human companions as well; each has his special skills and talents but it took some experiences before they gained their confidence and be their true self again.

I am simply amazed by the story premise and felt every plot is so cleverly planned and are interconnected. I love reading stories that have lessons learnt along the way, yet not in a preaching manner. This book is one of them, and another best thing is it brought me fond memories of my childhood days. It is no wonder this story is a favourite classics of all time.

Favourite quotes:

Experience is the only thing that brings knowledge, and the longer you are on earth the more experience you are sure to get.

There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. True courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.

(Let me know if you have a review of this and I will add your link onto mine.)

Northanger Abbey

ISBN-13: 9780307386830
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Published: September 2007
241pp


First Sentence: No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be an heroine.


This is the second book I read by Jane Austen. After reading and watching the movie adaption of Pride and Prejudice, the characters and the premise had imprinted on my mind; thus I am not sure if Northanger Abbey will live up to expectations as compared to Pride and Prejudice. However, I find such thoughts to be unncessary, for Elizabeth Bennet and Catherine Morland are heroines in each of her own way.

Since young, Catherine was fond of all boys' plays, and does not have much interest to music and art but that all changed when she reaches fifteen. However when she reached the age of seventeen, she has yet to catch a young amiable man fancy. But opportunity calls on her when she is asked to visit Bath with the Allen family, whom are friends of the Morland family. There she meets Henry Tilney and she falls in love with him, and at the same time she also befriended a young lady by the name of Isabella.

When General Tilney, Henry's father, invited Catherine to spend some time at Northanger Abbey, She is delighted for she has a passion for reading gothic novels and naturally, she is fascinated with the atmosphere of the old mansion. Imagine her thrills when she found locked cabinets and explored the dark passengers in the mansion; and adding to this mystery is the death surrounding the late Mrs Tilney as she let her imagination runs wild. As I read further, I came to realize that the things she discovered in the end is none of the supernatural sort.

Northanger Abbey starts off a little slow in the beginning, but the pace picks up towards the middle. I liked it that Austen created a gothic feeling in this novel; and the exchanges between Isabella and Catherine's brother, James, is also a joy to read. I was intrigued with some of the words being phrased though, particulary the word 'shew' as I had seen this being used several times throughout the novel. It then came to me that it is a variant of 'show' after reading the passages for a second time. Is it not amazing to find some words changed along with the time?


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