LES MISÉRABLES ONE-CHAPTER-A-DAY READ-ALONG : BOOK 2 COSETTE

UPDATE: Les Misérables One-Chapter-a-Day Read-along hosted by Nick over at One Catholic Life continues a pace! 

I have the second book “Cosette” of Les Misérables behind me which had TWO enormous hurdles: The first roadblock was the 19 chapters about the battle of Waterloo.  Normally I dislike abridged novels but honestly this section could have been cut without any sacrifice to the story at hand.  Although I am told it is an excellent depiction of the battle and the strategy therein, I am afraid its brilliance was lost on me. I have trouble reading action in books anyway. My ability to imagine spatial relationships is terrible. My biggest take away is that if it hadn’t rained when it did, it is possible that Napoleon would have been successful and European history might look a little different as a result.   

The second roadblock titled “Parenthesis“ was a screed on monastiscm and its applicability in (then) modern life.  Again, this could have been cut. It is very clearly a subject dear to Hugo’s heart but it is more of a newspaper editorial than a part of a novel.  It was more interesting to me than the battle of Waterloo, but Hugo also name checked quite a few philosophers and their ideas in this section which all went pretty much right over my head!

We still haven’t got to the digressions on the Paris sewer system which for some reason I think I am going to like. :)

Otherwise I am still enjoying the book when we are keeping to the actual story line. The action has finally moved to Paris and there have been two rather daring escapes which had me biting my nails! Next check in will presumably be mid-August.  A  bientôt mes amies!

Back to the Classic Challenge 2018: Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant

For the Classic in Translation category for the Back to the Classics Challenge 2018 hosted by Karen at Books and Chocolate, I read Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant.  I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. I only picked up this title last year because I had planned to buddy read it with a friend. As French authors go, I was aware of de Maupassant but never felt the urge to read any of his books; Zola and Balzac cried out to me more loudly, for whatever reason. But I am so very glad I did read this book because I loved it!

Bel Ami is chock full of despicable characters but I didn’t mind that at all. The story is about a young provincial named Georges Duroy who, when discharged from the French military moves to Paris to seek his fortune.  Georges is moderately intelligent but physically very good looking. When the book opens, he is so hard up he only has enough cash to see him through one meal a day until his next payday.  His luck turns, however, when he runs into a former acquaintance from his service days in Algeria, Forestier.  Forestier is a journalist working at an upstart broadsheet called La Vie Française run by a financier who largely uses the paper to launder money and promote politicians who support his financial dealings.  Forestier gets Georges a job on the paper too and there begins, in fits and starts, Georges rise in Parisian society as he learns, often the hard way, how to get ahead.

From the outset Georges is a venial character and the embodiment of the perfect anti-hero.  He is never satisfied with what he has and is ever eyeing others who are better off, envious of their good fortune. He is ignorant of social norms and affectations and consequently often puts his foot wrong, sometimes avoiding total embarrassment only by the skin of his teeth. Georges uses people, particularly women, to get ahead with no self-awareness or sense of shame.  With every stumble Georges made I wondered if NOW was the time he would get the comeuppance he so richly deserved.  I won’t give away whether he does or not! 

Is this book a satire?  I am not sure because the behaviors and events are not exaggerated but rather all too realistic. It is very critical of Parisian society and politics without ever overtly stating so.  In some ways the plot reminded me of The Red and the Black by Stendhal which has another amoral social climber and is set in an earlier generation, but I enjoyed Bel Ami so much more!

BACK TO THE CLASSICS CHALLENGE 2018: THE SCARLET LETTER

For the Back to the Classics 2018 Challenge hosted by Karen at the blog Books and Chocolate I opted to read that old chestnut, The Scarlet Letter for the category “Classic with a color in the title”. 

I think I may have read an excerpt from this book in high school although I am fairly sure it we did not have to read the whole book.  In any case, the “plot twist” as it were was known to me before I started the book but I had never read the story in full of Hester Prynne, a woman living in a 17th century Puritan community who is forced to wear a red letter “A” on her clothing as punishment for having an adulterous affair.  The liaison resulted in a child, Hester’s husband is AWOL and Hester refuses to reveal the name of the man with whom she had the affair. 

I certainly can see why this title is often selected for American High Schoolers to read and write essays on.  It is relatively short, deals with America colonial history and it is chock full of potential themes for essays. But, on the other hand, it is extremely verbose and melodramatic.  It took me a comparatively long time to read 250 pages. And the prologue, which had scant little to do with the actual book, was a dull distraction for me personally. Although it was interesting to note that what Hawthorne was satirizing  about American politics hasn't changed much in the past 160+ years. 

Despite my occasional struggles with the windy prose, I did like it. It was really forward thinking for its time. In fact, I would argue for many it would STILL be considered forward thinking. Hester is a very interesting female character to have been written in the mid 19th century, strong and principled in her way.  And it was wonderfully Gothic with lots of supernatural elements that I did not expect that at all, such as scarlet letters burning in the sky.

My favorite character in the book was the love-child Pearl.  She is and isn’t a “normal” child as portrayed in the book, but she was a breath of fresh air amid the dourness of the adult charachters.  I like how she represents all that the adults in the novel could not outwardly express; she is  living embodiment of Hester's shame but also her refutation of that shame.

The 1977 Club: Quartet in Autumn

My final book for The 1977 club hosted by Simon at Stuck in a Book and Karen at Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblins was Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym.  This is the fourth title of Pym’s that I have read.  I didn’t quite love it as much as Excellent Women and Less than Angels, but I highly enjoyed it nonetheless and was really glad for the excuse to read another book by her.

Quartet in Autumn is about four work colleagues in their mid to early sixties in London in the mid 1970s.  All four are solitary but not necessarily lonely.  They are: Letty, who has plans to retire to the country with her widowed friend Marjorie; Marcia who lives alone in a rather neglected row house after the death of her mother and the cat Snowy many years earlier; Edwin, a widower whose chief hobby is attending Anglican services in various different London neighborhoods and Norman, a rather grumpy fellow who likes complaining to the local council about cars that have been parked too long on his street.

Of course I have quite a few more Pym titles to read, but in many ways this book was typical Pym with its sly humor and sharp if sometimes sad observations.  Is "Pymsian" a term like Dickensian?  These four co-workers only have the slimmest connection to each other, but because their lives and orbits are so narrow, when Marcia and Letty retire, this change affects them all in subtle ways none could have anticipated.  There is a very bittersweet tinge to this novel and yet, without giving anything away, then ending is, if not hopeful, at least open-ended.  

The 1977 Club: A Morbid Taste for Bones

I read a second book for The 1977 Club hosted by the bloggers Stuck in a Book and Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings.  A Morbid Taste for Bones is the first Brother Cadfael mystery by Edith Mary Pargeter writing under the pen name of Ellis Peters.  Ultimately Peters wrote 21 historical mysteries set in 12th century Britain featuring amateur sleuth and monk Cadfael.  As an introductory novel I thought this was pretty good.  At less than 200 pages, Peters deftly set up the world and characters, providing a solid base for the future books.    

Cadfael is a Benedictine monk at Shrewsbury Abbey who came to the brotherhood late in life, which of course serves him well as a detective because it enables him to have knowledge his brethren and/or hoi polloi lack! In his secular life he was a soldier and a sailor and spent many years fighting in the Holy Land where he developed an interest in herbs and medicinal plants. 

In this first novel, Cadfael journeys with his Prior and a handful of other monks to Gwytherin, Wales to obtain for the broader glory of Shrewsbury Abbey the remains of St. Winefred who is buried there. Prior Robert is an ambitious man and wants to put Shrewsbury on the map, so to speak, by obtaining a reliquary.    Their goal is thwarted, however, when  local landowner Rhisart objects to the Saint’s bones being moved.  When the landowner mysteriously turns up murdered the game is afoot!  Did one of the Benedictines murder him in order to get their relics at any cost or did Rhisart have a local enemy who decided to take advantage of the controversy and take out a rival?

I really enjoyed the historical background of the story, the peek it provided into Welsh customs of the day vis-a-vis those of the English and Cadfael as a character. It is possible that there were anachronistic aspects in the book, but I didn’t notice any that took me out of the story. The mystery itself was a little weak. But considering this book is the first of 21, I can easily forgive this. 

Some of the books were adapted for television starring Derek Jacobi in the 90’s. I’ve seen bits and pieces of these, but never a full episode, but I expect they are pretty good.  

THE 1977 CLUB: STARRING SALLY J. FREEDMAN AS HERSELF

Its that time of year again! Actually, this is only my second time participating in The 1977 Club which is put on by Simon of Stuck in a Book and Karen of Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings. The idea is simple, just read a book published in the club year (they move decades, next time it is back to the 1920s) and blog about it.

Soooo, there are a couple of books I have out from the library that I am still reading and may post about later, but I think I will be the only blogger who read Judy Blume for this event. 😊

In 1977 I turned 12 and my Aunt gave me a signed copy of this book. I began junior high that year and actually was a couple of years too old for this book. At 12 I was just starting to read "adult" books and I remember thinking this was too childish for me.   I believe am actually better able to appreciated it now upon re-reading. I think this book was possibly (given the level of history taught to me in elementary school) my first encounter with the Holocaust as well as with segregation in the U.S. South. The miniseries "Roots" was first broadcast in 1977 and in 1978 "The Holocaust" miniseries (with Meryl Streep and Tovah Feldshuh who I loved) came out. Yes, I learned a lot of history from television supplemented by books!

I mentioned these historical events because these are things that young Sally is also grappling with, but in real time, as a 10 year-old Jewish girl moving to Florida from New Jersey in the late 1940s. She doesn't really know what a concentration camp is or why there are separate drinking fountains at the drug store.  Blume really gets children and how they are aware of but don't fully understand the adult world. Sally thinks that Adolf Hitler might be hiding out in her Miami neighborhood.  She dreams of being a spy in Germany and killing Hitler and rescuing her cousin Lila who did not survive the war. She also dreams of being discovered by Hollywood and starring in movies with her idols Margaret O'Brian and/or Esther Williams. I remember having equally ludicrous (but very real to me) fantasies as a 10 year old.

Blume is also not shy about showing Sally in a negative but realistic light. Kids are mean sometimes. The author is also frank about how kids are curious about sex and romance...even though they don't really know exactly what it is they are questing after. I do remember appreciating that as a child, in particular in Are You There God, It's Me Margaret which I did read when I was maybe 10 or 11.   

I don't think I would recommend this book to an adult unless they were a die-hard Judy Blume fan, but I think it would probably still entertain a ten year-old reader and might encourage them to delve in to history. I had a lot of fun re-visiting it.

MARCH MYSTERY MADNESS WRAP UP

I managed to read all of the books that I set out to read for March Mystery Madness.  I liked them all (some more than others), even the Elizabeth George title of which I was most wary.
 

• In a Strange City by Laura Lippmann was your standard PI novel with a nice dollop of Baltimore/Edgar Allen Poe history tossed in. It is the sixth book in an ongoing series featuring Lippman's detective Tess Monaghan who,like Lippman, is a former journalist and B-more resident.
• The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor is a debut novel that is heavily influenced by Stephen King IMO. So expect a bit of horror with the mystery and check out Lark's and Melody's excellent reviews as well if this sounds like a book you might like! 
• The Broken Shore by Peter Temple was good in a hard-boiled kind of way. It takes place in the aughts in Australia but definitely has its roots in classic noir detective fiction. 
• I listened to Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd written by Alan Bradley and narrated by Jane Entwistle. This is the first time I have tried any of the Flavia de Luce mysteries on audio and it really was a fun experience. I highly recommend the audio as performed by Ms. Entwistle if you are a fan of this series. 
• The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö was pretty cool. I would definitely class it as a procedural and I enjoyed that nuts and bolts aspect of it. I think it has aged very well considering it was first published in the 1960s. 
• Just One Evil Act by Elizabeth George did disappoint me somewhat, but I think in large part because she has written characters to whom I have really become attached. So, you know, kudos for that Liz. I have decided I will continue with at least the next book since I already own it and we'll see: the jury is still out.

I had a lot of fun reading mostly mysteries in March and will try to do this again next year.  Of the above listed, my favorite was Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd.  I love this series. It can be a bit twee and a little manic at times, but so much fun for readers who love Flavia as a character.