This is the shortest of all the Jane Austen novels, and perhaps also the most simplistic in its storyline and outlook. The novel centres around 17-year old Catherine Morland, the sheltered daughter of a country clergyman, with a very active (probably overactive) imagination.
If you have been looking for a way into the Jane Austen mini-genre, then I would recommend this as a good starter book-(mainly due to its length.) There are no real 'bad' characters, the worst feels quite fictionalised, and the rest naive and a bit bland.
Not a whole lot happens in this book, its a simplistic story with a few morals thrown in, but as it is written with the same wit and insight that marks all of Austens novels, this brings it higher than many that have a lot more going on plot-wise.
A light read.
Tuesday 1 June 2010
Sunday 16 May 2010
"Emma" by Jane Austen
A while ago, I made myself a list. I promised that I would read all 6 Jane Austen novels. "Emma" was number two on my list. Like all old favourites, this book has been televised on numerous ocassions, (my favourite one is the film with Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam, although the new one with Romola Garai and Jonny Lee Miller is really good too.)
The story is basically this; rich, spoilt, snooty Emma Woodhouse has a taste for matchmaking- but sadly no talent for it. She manages to mess up various relationships, and tries to create some where no attraction exists. Surprise, surprise, she ends up falling for someone herself! I'm sure you would have guessed that already though...
This isn't as easy to read as "Pride and Prejudice", but it holds its own charm. The story is fairly uneventful, and there are a few chapters with not a lot happening at all, but there is some humour, and the characters are clearly defined, and easy to imagine.
My second favourite Jane Austen novel, this is more realistic than the others, and trust me, Mr Knightly could definitely give Mr Darcy a run for his money!
The story is basically this; rich, spoilt, snooty Emma Woodhouse has a taste for matchmaking- but sadly no talent for it. She manages to mess up various relationships, and tries to create some where no attraction exists. Surprise, surprise, she ends up falling for someone herself! I'm sure you would have guessed that already though...
This isn't as easy to read as "Pride and Prejudice", but it holds its own charm. The story is fairly uneventful, and there are a few chapters with not a lot happening at all, but there is some humour, and the characters are clearly defined, and easy to imagine.
My second favourite Jane Austen novel, this is more realistic than the others, and trust me, Mr Knightly could definitely give Mr Darcy a run for his money!
Sunday 9 May 2010
"The complete poems" by Emily Bronte
Another short excerpt on poetry, this time from someone you wouldn't expect. Everyone knows about the bronte sisters, but not everyone knows that Emily Bronte wrote volumes enough of poetry to equal her book "Wuthering Heights."
The poems reveal a brooding, and perhaps unhappy person, who wrote to express, rather than with a wish to see them published. I'll include a couple of my favourite verses, as there is a whole book-full! (due to space, these are not necessarily in order)
Today, I will seek not the shadowy region;
Its unsustaining vastness waxes drear;
And visions rising legion after legion,
Bring the unreal world too strangely near.
What have those lonely mountains worth revealing?
More glory and more grief than I can tell,
The earth that wakes one human heart to feeling,
Can centre both the worlds of heaven and hell.
Vain are the thousand creeds
That move men's hearts, unutterably vain,
Worthless as withered weeds
Or idlest froth amid the boundless main.
There is not room for death
Nor atom that his might could render void
Thou, Thou art being and breath
And what thou art may never be destroyed.
These poems/verses give you the impression that they were extremely private, and not composed for the public appetite, which I think makes them all the more sincere and profound.
The poems reveal a brooding, and perhaps unhappy person, who wrote to express, rather than with a wish to see them published. I'll include a couple of my favourite verses, as there is a whole book-full! (due to space, these are not necessarily in order)
Today, I will seek not the shadowy region;
Its unsustaining vastness waxes drear;
And visions rising legion after legion,
Bring the unreal world too strangely near.
What have those lonely mountains worth revealing?
More glory and more grief than I can tell,
The earth that wakes one human heart to feeling,
Can centre both the worlds of heaven and hell.
Vain are the thousand creeds
That move men's hearts, unutterably vain,
Worthless as withered weeds
Or idlest froth amid the boundless main.
There is not room for death
Nor atom that his might could render void
Thou, Thou art being and breath
And what thou art may never be destroyed.
These poems/verses give you the impression that they were extremely private, and not composed for the public appetite, which I think makes them all the more sincere and profound.
Sunday 2 May 2010
"Villette" by Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Bronte's second most famous book, I read this after reading "Jane Eyre" (which I loved-a review will probably follow at some point!) I was in all-out Bronte mode, and wanted to get my hands on anything else written by them, which is how I came across this.
To be honest, I was confused! The story is centered around Lucy Snowe, who moves to Brussels to become a teacher. Hardly anything is told about Lucy's past, her appearance, her character...I get the feeling that this book was more like a public diary for Charlotte Bronte herself. I didn't even realise when one of the characters was supposed to be in love with another! That's how vague it was.
The story line is a bit depressing i.e. lots of bad weather, solitary walks, and unrequited love etc etc. The characters are neither likable nor dislikable- they just don't seem real, and even the end was a disapointment: even more vague, and open-ended than the rest of it. This book is only for hard core Bronte fans, but even they must not expect too much
(p.s the frequent use of french gets on your nerves too!)
To be honest, I was confused! The story is centered around Lucy Snowe, who moves to Brussels to become a teacher. Hardly anything is told about Lucy's past, her appearance, her character...I get the feeling that this book was more like a public diary for Charlotte Bronte herself. I didn't even realise when one of the characters was supposed to be in love with another! That's how vague it was.
The story line is a bit depressing i.e. lots of bad weather, solitary walks, and unrequited love etc etc. The characters are neither likable nor dislikable- they just don't seem real, and even the end was a disapointment: even more vague, and open-ended than the rest of it. This book is only for hard core Bronte fans, but even they must not expect too much
(p.s the frequent use of french gets on your nerves too!)
Sunday 25 April 2010
"North and South" by Elizabeth Gaskell
"North and South" probably falls within my top 3 books of all time. Margaret Hale is a southern girl, from rural Helstone in England, sheltered and spoilt, when suddenly she finds her life, prejudices, and opinions all topsy turvy, because of a move to the 'industrial north' (i.e. Manchester).
Gaskell was a great socialist, and this definitely comes across in her writing. She champions the rights of the poor, and asks the reader what it means to be educated. The characters are well developed, and the story has a lot more to it, than many others from its era. I won't lie, the story is a little sad at times, and made me cry more than once!
Incredibly romantic throughout, with a heart at its centre, be sure to check out the last page- one of the best endings I've read!
Gaskell was a great socialist, and this definitely comes across in her writing. She champions the rights of the poor, and asks the reader what it means to be educated. The characters are well developed, and the story has a lot more to it, than many others from its era. I won't lie, the story is a little sad at times, and made me cry more than once!
Incredibly romantic throughout, with a heart at its centre, be sure to check out the last page- one of the best endings I've read!
Sunday 18 April 2010
"Far from the madding crowd" by Thomas Hardy
This story is centered around a young girl, and her struggle to run a farm in a man's world, whilst dealing with the attentions of 3 very different men! I think Thomas Hardy has a thing for extravagant names, because the other characters include: Bathsheba Everdene, Gabriel Oak, and Sergeant Troy!
I must admit, Hardy can be a little bit difficult to read sometimes: lots of pages with whimsical descriptions of the countryside, and farming scenes....etc....etc...Not all of the characters are likeable at first, I didn't like Bathsheba in the beginning, but she gradually grows on you, Gabriel Oak's character is the only decent one in my opinion. The novel is a tragedy, but at times the plot line can seem a bit far-fetched, and the story-line a bit slow.
I've tried to read other Hardy books, and I must say this is one of the easier ones! So if you want to try a Thomas Hardy, give this one a go first, as the story is very touching, and the ending is worth the struggle!
I must admit, Hardy can be a little bit difficult to read sometimes: lots of pages with whimsical descriptions of the countryside, and farming scenes....etc....etc...Not all of the characters are likeable at first, I didn't like Bathsheba in the beginning, but she gradually grows on you, Gabriel Oak's character is the only decent one in my opinion. The novel is a tragedy, but at times the plot line can seem a bit far-fetched, and the story-line a bit slow.
I've tried to read other Hardy books, and I must say this is one of the easier ones! So if you want to try a Thomas Hardy, give this one a go first, as the story is very touching, and the ending is worth the struggle!
Sunday 11 April 2010
"Madame Bovary" by Gustave Flaubert
This famous story has been televised, criticised, analysed, and even banned until it is one of those stories that you've all heard about, but never read.
Let me then introduce you to it for the first time. Meet Emma Rouault, poor daughter of a farmer, desperate for love and something better in her life than raising cattle. She marries a comfortable and dependable doctor, to whom she means eveything. Two tempestuous affairs later, and with one daughter, she finally commits suicide by eating arsenic.
What went wrong? you may ask....well that is for you to read and find out! Flaubert writes poetically, sprinkling his words with touches of french in names and places (which can get a bit annoying), the story line is tragic but still realistic, and despite everything, I finished the book feeling desperately sorry for Emma and her lot:
"Everything, even herself, was now unbearable to her. She wished that, taking wing like a bird, she could fly somewhere, far away to regions of purity, and there grow young again....."
Let me then introduce you to it for the first time. Meet Emma Rouault, poor daughter of a farmer, desperate for love and something better in her life than raising cattle. She marries a comfortable and dependable doctor, to whom she means eveything. Two tempestuous affairs later, and with one daughter, she finally commits suicide by eating arsenic.
What went wrong? you may ask....well that is for you to read and find out! Flaubert writes poetically, sprinkling his words with touches of french in names and places (which can get a bit annoying), the story line is tragic but still realistic, and despite everything, I finished the book feeling desperately sorry for Emma and her lot:
"Everything, even herself, was now unbearable to her. She wished that, taking wing like a bird, she could fly somewhere, far away to regions of purity, and there grow young again....."
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