Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

Summary: Gone With the Wind is a sweeping, romantic story about the American Civil War from the point of view of the Confederacy. In particular it is the story of Scarlett O'Hara, a headstrong Southern belle who survives the hardships of the war and afterwards manages to establish a successful business by capitalizing on the struggle to rebuild the South. Throughout the book she is motivated by her unfulfilled love for Ashley Wilkes, an honorable man who is happily married. After a series of marriages and failed relationships with other men, notably the dashing Rhett Butler, she has a change of heart and determines to win Rhett back.    (Summary from amazon.com and image from casablancaauthors.blogspot.com)

My Review:  After reading this novel I feel like I've read four, maybe five, books.  It is LONG--1024 pages to be exact.  Bear that in mind if you decide to read it. 

I hardly know where to begin.  Should I start with the way I was wrapped up in the storyline?  Or, should I write about all the ways the book bothered me in both moral and personal levels?  I guess I'll start with Scarlett.  She drove me crazy.  No, not slightly annoyed, not irritated, not even disgusted, which was a how I felt constantly while reading her thoughts.  CRAZY.  Understandably, she was spoiled, very young, beyond wealthy, impetuous, selfish, and honestly cultivated to be such.  Still, I cannot let that excuse her behavior or thought process.  While Scarlett has a period of time in her life--the worst days according to her--where I can almost stomach her, almost pity her, and almost like her, she eventually goes right back to her amoral and selfish ways.  It's amazing to me that the men around her didn't loathe her as much as the women did.  I don't want to ruin the story, but will name a few events vaguely that I felt were beyond understanding: what she did to her sister, what she did to Melanie, how she tried to steal Ashley away, how she treated Rhett, and how she treated practically everyone in the book.  Scarlett's obvious lack of interpersonal intelligence was probably the aspect I could fathom least about her.  If she could have stepped outside of herself for even one moment, she wouldn't have been such a despicable character.  I just kept telling myself: she's onlysixteen, she's only eighteen, she's only....wait!  That line of thinking doesn't work any more when she's twenty-eight. 

Rhett was harder for me to distinctly like or dislike.  There were times where I sincerely didn't like him, and yet others where his motives and actions were very clear and, for his circumstance, understandable.  How he could adore Scarlett as he did, again, is beyond me.  How he turned the rejection from his family into a personal victory was fascinating; it was cloaked in a screw the world attitude, but was actually his way of saying, "You can't reject me because I've already rejected you."  At the end of the story, the event that crushes him would have crushed me as well.  There were many moments where I felt his actions were heroic and chivalrous and others downright deplorable.  He was a flawed, yet captivating, character.

The race and slavery thread was one of the most disturbing.  The descriptions of the black characters was offensive and awful most of the time.  Still, it amazed me how southern families felt such a strong attachment to the people they didn't even view as completely human.  Mammy's character was one of my favorites.  Her loyalty went to the point of charity.  So much of this book was hard for me to fathom, hard for me to swallow, yet was written so nonchalantly, as if writing and thinking this way about another race was acceptable and normal.  That disturbed me the most.  It also amazed me how you could view someone of a different race as less than human, but then allow them to nurse your child.  I just don't understand that.  It's a contradiction in my mind to allow such a personal and intimate action to be done by someone you don't even treat as an equal.  Blows my mind.

While the above characters and depictions disgusted and disturbed me, there were characters that were noble...from a southern, slave-owning view point.  Melanie was the embodiment of humble strength.  Her character, although somewhat unrealistic to some, was very real to me.  There are still people as good, genuine, and charitable as she, and it's nice to be reminded how important they are and how they hold together a society.  Mammy was an amazing caregiver and stabilizing force.  Dilcey was hard work epitomized.  There are many good people throughout the story, flawed though their perspective on slavery may be.

While I won't be reading this book again, I did learn a lot.  I loved learning about southern culture.  Most of my education of the civil war was union focused, so I loved learning the history of that time period from a different view point.  I was swept up by a storyline that drove its characters into a world where they had no idea how to function.  I was also intrigued by Scarlett's determination to survive and thrive.  The societal rules that restricted women at the time, reinforced how blessed I am to live in the USA today.

Despite its length, I finished this book much faster than I expected.  While I could write more -- there's so much to cover in 1024 pages -- I'll save my comments on the over-done details, and the shrewd and intelligent mind of Rhett, for my book club night.

This wasn't my favorite book, nor was it the easiest to get through, but I'm glad I read it.  I won't be recommending this to my students, as I believe it's for a more mature audience that would be able to recognize it as a depiction of a specific time period, and why the opinions, attitudes, and sayings are not acceptable today.  I don't think an impressionable mind should pick it up just yet. 

My Rating: 4 Stars

For the sensitive reader:  Racist depictions typical of the era in which the book is set.

Sum it up:  A period piece from a Southern/Confederate/Female perspective during the Civil war and after.

The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin

Summary:  A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing's will.  And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger--and a possible murderer--to inherit his vast fortune, one thing's for sure: Sam Westing may be dead...but that won't stop him from playing one last game!  (Summary from back of the book and image from  http://4.bp.blogspot.com/)

My Review:  What a fast paced book!  I've had The Westing Game on my to-read pile for far too long.  I still don't know why I hadn't read it before.  Raskin is the opposite of wordy--every chapter, every description gave the reader just enough to stay engaged with new information, but just vague enough to cause a little confusion and keep the reader wanting more.  I felt like I needed the little paper slip you get when playing Clue to keep everything straight.  The whole time I was reading I kept getting the feeling I'd read this before.  Because I didn't intuit the ending, I believe this feeling came from the similarities it had to playing the game Clue as a child.  There were so many twists and turns, connections, and associations that by the end I felt a deep respect for Raskin and her story telling abilities, as well as the mystery element she wove so perfectly.  I'm not surprised in the least this was Newberry Award winner.  It's a fantastic Young Adult book, one should pick up for yourself if you haven't already.

WARNING: SPOILER!

If you look up the book online you'll find two inconsistencies: 1) Somehow, Grace Windkoppel is Sam Westing's niece despite the book clearly stating more than once that Westing was an only child of immigrant parents--I had noticed this, but figured Sam Westing had lied somewhere along the way in order to stay as anonymous as possible. 2) That the quick-diagnosing Dr. Deere did not diagnose a fairly clear case of Münchausen syndrome--this I did not catch.  Besides that, the book flows smoothly.

My Rating:  4.5 Stars


Sum it up: A great introduction to mystery books for young adults.

A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

Summary: This novella by English author Charles Dickens was first published by Chapman & Hall on 19 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visitations of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come. The novella met with instant success and critical acclaim. 

The tale has been viewed as an indictment of nineteenth century industrial capitalism and was adapted several times to the stage, and has been credited with restoring the holiday to one of merriment and festivity in Britain and America after a period of sobriety and sombreness. A Christmas Carol remains popular, has never been out of print, and has been adapted to film, opera, and other media.  (image from virgin media and summary from Wikipedia)

My Review:  Not only is this A Christmas Carol, it is THE Christmas Carol...a story that most Americans have seen in multiple movie recreations or plays and one referred to at Christmas time as often as any bible story or tale of reindeer.  But, have you read it?  I hadn't until it was the book club pick for December.  If you haven't read it, forget about picking up this year's NYT bestselling holiday tearjerker - get this instead.

At 100 pages this book is easily adapted into a movie.  The script is generally taken directly from Dicken's words and you will probably find no surprise plot twists.  It is simply the act of reading that gives this story a greater depth.  In fact, because the visual "imagination" of reading it is unnecessary (I pictured a cross between Mickey's Christmas Carol and Muppet's Christmas Carol...judge me as you may) as I read my mind wandered instead to the whys of the story.  Why did Dickens include certain details?  Why did the ghost of Christmas Present phrase it that way?  And of course the most interesting question of all...how does this apply to me?

The book club discussion was an excellent way to start to the holiday season.  Our discussion focused less on the caricature of hard hearted Scrooge and more on the reasons that young Scrooge turned away from life and towards money.  You see, not many of us are extremely wealthy and frugal business men.  If we are wealthy we spend the money, mostly on ourselves and family, and if we are poor...well, we may be frugal, or we may just be envious and equally self-serving.  And so we talked about how to avoid becoming obsessed with money and about how incredibly blessed we are to live in our luxurious 1st world homes (I say this with no sense of irony as I sit in my 850 sf condo after two years of my husband being partially employed).  We talked about how giving a gift gives you more dopamine than getting a gift.  We talked about wealth as a curse...or not.  We discussed the merits of Santa verses parents as the prime gift giver.  We talked about a lot more questions.  All of this, from 100 pages; from a story I've heard at least thirty times in my life.

This is a story you should READ once in your life...if not every year.  And then discuss it. 

Merry Christmas.

My rating: 5 Stars

Sum it up:  Discuss it over the Thanksgiving table next year in order to influence your gift giving and general Christmasy attitude in 2011.

The Color Purple - Alice Walker

Alice Walker published her award winning novel, The Color Purple, in 1982.  Shortly thereafter it began to attract criticism from many parents who believed the book was inappropriate.  It has been banned/challenged a number of times for sexual content, violence, and racism.

Summary:  This novel tells the story of two sisters--one a missionary in Africa and the other a child-wife living in the South--who sustain their loyalty to and trust in each other across time, distance, and silence. 

The principal voice is that of Celie, who has been raped by the man she believes to be her father, robbed of her two children, and married off to a man she hates.  Her sister, Nettie, escapes the same fate, and is befriended by missionaries who have unwittingly adopted Celie's children.  Separated for thirty years, the sisters live in ignorance of each other's circumstances.  Nettie's letters do not reach Celie, and so great is Celie's sense of shame that she can write only to God.  But life for Celie begins to change for the better when her husband's lover, a remarkable woman named Shug Avery, comes to live with them. 

Honest, poignant, vibrant, defiant, The Color Purple is a story of heroic lives, love, and the nature of God. (Summary from book - Image from life.arizona.edu)

My Review: **  Some books are classics because their story is so moving, so all encompassing, that they will be forever relevant.  Other books are classics because, when printed they were scandalous, groundbreaking literary works.  They were something that blew everything else out of the water.  Such is The Color Purple.

Alice Walker does not pull a single punch.  The very first page is a letter to God, written by a young girl, Celie, who tells of her brutal rape by a family member.  Celie continues writing about her turbulent adolescence -- taking care of her new husband's children from a first marriage and enduring beatings and frequent rapes at his hands.   Resigned to her lot in life, Celie cannot --will not-- imagine a way out.  To cope, she writes to God and shares her innermost thoughts about life in a poor black community.  Eventually, through letters written and the company of another woman (yes, that kind of company), Celie begins to navigate her own path.  Though the ending is neither perfect nor happilyever-after, she emerges completely transformed.

For me, Ms. Walker played the devil's advocate.  She used all the things that make me uncomfortable (graphic sexuality, offensive language, and racism) and with them, poked and prodded my sore spots to get a reaction. I suppose that was her objective -- to slap the apathy off my face and make me feel.  And I did.  At first, all I felt was revulsion.  I didn't want to read anymore about Celie's awful life.  I couldn't see a redeeming thing about it (Hey, I'm being honest).  However, once Celie began to receive letters from her sister, Nettie, who is on a mission in Africa, the book opened up for me on a more emotional level.  I reveled in the observations that Nettie made about the African people, the nature of God (however heretical), and the nature of man.  Though Nettie never received Celie's letters, the dialogue between the two sisters was touching and beautiful, as each struggled to make a life for themselves on separate continents.

I can understand why some parents objected to children of a certain age reading this novel.  Heck, I had a problem with me reading this novel.  There are a variety of topics that would make them squirm: graphic sexuality, sexual violence, homosexuality, offensive language, racial themes, and general misery.  That having been said, this book also allows for extensive dialogue on racial prejudice and it's use in literature, racial prejudice within ethnicities, women's rights and general inequality, as well as the nature of God, and highlights the importance of appreciating life, family, friends, and forgiveness in ways that I felt were uplifting.

While I can't say that the latter half of the book completely changed my opinion of the first half, I am glad that I read the book.  Ultimately, if you'd like to read this book, you're going to have to decide what you can handle.  Its good qualities are there, to be devoured and discussed, but you must get past all the muck on the surface.  One way or another, you cannot read this book and remain untouched. 

My Rating: 2.75 Stars.  For the sensitive reader:  This book is chock full of graphic sexuality and (to a lesser extent) crass language, violence, and some unorthodox theories about the nature of God. 

Sum it up: A classic fueled by powerfully raw emotion -- but it's not for everyone.

**This entire review was written at one in the morning with a severe head cold and zero meds (since you can't take jack squat when nursing).  So please, cut me some slack.  I'm seriously sleep deprived.

Naked Lunch - William S. Burroughs

Summary: In a convoluted and disturbing string of events, a drug addict flees from the police. His journeys take him across the United States and down into Mexico and beyond. On his travels, he meets up with various members of the underground drug and homosexual cultures. Alongside the twisted narrative runs a counter story about the uses of mind control by governments and psychiatrists to manipulate, destroy and direct the masses. Told in lurid detail that disturbs and disgusts many readers, the novel presents a glimpse into the emerging counter cultures of the 1950s and gives interesting insights into how these forces effect the ongoing development of modern society. (Summary from bookrags.com; cover image from powells.com)

My Review: Many of the books that end up on challenged and banned book lists leave people scratching their heads; few can find anything offensive enough about Harry Potter to comprehend banning it. Not so with Naked Lunch, perhaps the only masterpiece of modern literature ever to be banned from shipment through the U.S. Post Office. It has been burned. It has been banned in cities like Boston and Los Angeles and was the subject of a Massachussets Supreme Court obscenity case. Even today, it’s hard to imagine a school district even considering it for inclusion in a library long enough for parents challenge it.

What does a book have to do to get this sort of reaction? That’s the easy part. Naked Lunch has enough visceral violence, sex, sexual violence, general depravity, and drug use to make even the most jaded reader blanch. But Burrough’s masterpeice isn’t out for cheap shock value. Rather, the disturbing, surreal images serve to underscore the book’s cry for freedom from the invisible prisons of a culture that treats people as merely means to an end. It’s the revelation of our own everyday inhumanity, reflected back to us in grotesque and larger-than-life form, that makes this book hit home.

Naked Lunch is a great book. Not just a Great Book, but actually a fascinating, disturbing, mind-opening and gut-wrenching read. Naked Lunch is also a hard read. Much of it is written in Burrough’s signature “cut-up” style--the literary equivalent of impressionism, if Van Gogh were to paint his worst nightmares, tear the canvases to shreds, and glue them back together at random. Trying to trace the thin threads of theme and motif tying together words, sentences, and scenes quickly leaves the reader bewildered, mentally exhausted, and open to the full impact of the text’s delicate and dangerous poetry.

Star Rating: 5. Caution: This book doesn’t play nice; expect to be appalled.

Sum it up: If ever a novel begged to be banned by the powers that be, this is it. Strike a blow for your own freedom, and pick up a copy today! (Incidentally, the movie adaptation is no more understandable, but other than that it has little in common with the book. Give it a pass unless you're a fan of cinematic surrealism--in which case, you've probably already seen it.)

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

I think it only fitting that we begin Banned Books Week by reviewing one of the most popular books ever written about censorship. Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 in the basement of the UCLA Library in the spring of 1950. He paid just under ten dollars or so in dimes to rent the typewriter and it took him nine days to write the first draft. Since that day, over 4.5 million copies have been printed, devoured, and revered by book lovers around the world. In quite possibly one of the world’s most ironic objections, Fahrenheit 451 was challenged because of its’ use of some biblical swearing (of the H and D variety) and because, at one point, a German bible is defaced.

To this I can only respond: Seriously people? Seriously!?

_______________________________

Summary: Guy Montag was a fireman whose job it was to start fires…The system was simple. Everyone understood it. Books were for burning…along with the houses in which they were hidden. Guy Montag enjoyed his job. He had been a fireman for ten years, and he had never questioned the pleasure of the midnight runs nor the joy of watching pages consumed by flames…never questioned anything until he met a seventeen-year-old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid.

Then he met a professor who told him of a future in which people could think…and Guy Montag suddenly realized what he had to do! (Summary from book – Image from amazon.com)

My Review: I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love books to the point of distraction. There is something about the great ones -- the world they create and emotions they evoke that hold me transfixed until well past any decent sort of bedtime. In particular, books speak to me in a way that only Ray Bradbury could explain:

“Do you know why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality. And what does the word quality mean? To me it means texture. This book has pores. It has features. This book can go under the microscope. You’ll find life under the glass, streaming past in infinite profusion. The more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life per square inch you can get on a piece of paper, the more ‘literary’ you are. That’s my definition, anyway. Telling detail. Fresh detail. The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies. “

This book has pores. It is alive.  Put it under the microscope and you'll see.  On the surface, this book tells the story of a man who didn’t even know he wasn't happy -- didn’t even know anything was wrong, until something happened to open his eyes. Take the time to focus and you’ll find an insightful commentary on society’s obsession with electronic media, the instant gratification it offers, and the subsequent effect on individual expression and intellectual thought. Bradbury’s novel encourages contemplation of the world,  while theorizing about the dangers, impossibility, and ultimate stupidity of trying to make everyone in society happy with the realities of life. If that sounds boring to you, don’t worry, it wasn’t. Montag’s frantic search for what has been lost is as riveting and emotionally compelling as it is relevant.

This book didn't make me comfortable. It didn’t make me particularly happy either, but it demanded and willingly received my full and active participation. In short, Fahrenheit 451 made my brain sizzle, and in such a good way that I want to shout it from the roof tops. READ. THIS. BOOK. Now. Go get it*. I’ll wait. Let me know what you think.

My Rating: 5 completely un-edited Stars.  For the sensitive reader: Some instances of biblical swearing (of the H & D variety) and one part where someone tears a page or two off a Bible. Honestly, I didn’t think it was that big a deal.

Sum it up: As unsettling as it is predictive, Fahrenheit 451 will knock your socks off.

*Get the edition with the afterword and coda. The first gives further insight into Fire Chief Beatty’s character and history, and the second speaks more to the issues of censorship. Both were like party gift bags—not essential, but desirable nonetheless.

A final word from the author: “In sum, do not insult me with the beheadings, finger choppings, or the lung-deflations that you plan for my works. I need my head to shake or nod, my hand to wave or make into a fist, my lungs to shout or whisper with. I will not go gently onto a shelf, degutted, to become a non-book.” (Coda)

The Moonflower Vine - Jetta Carleton

Summary: A timeless American classic rediscovered--an unforgettable saga of a heartland family

On a farm in western Missouri during the first half of the twentieth century, Matthew and Callie Soames create a life for themselves and raise four headstrong daughters. Jessica will break their hearts. Leonie will fall in love with the wrong man. Mary Jo will escape to New York. And wild child Mathy's fate will be the family's greatest tragedy. Over the decades they will love, deceive, comfort, forgive--and, ultimately, they will come to cherish all the more fiercely the bonds of love that hold the family together.
Summary from book, photo from barnesandnoble.com

My Review: The story opens in the 50's with the grown Soames family back on the farm for their annual summer vacation where they are working hard to plan the perfect day, a day that was not in the cards as one thing after another pops up to ruin the carefully laid plans. All these plans center around the blooming of the Moonflower vine. As the novel progresses we are taken back to the late 1800's and the family's history is recounted through each members individual view point, though not in his or her voice. The theme of a plan going astray continues throughout the book, coming to a head in Matthew's (the father) life, who the tale seems most to belong to.

This is a story about love and loss, joy and struggles, deceit and victory all wound together. It's a tale of the turns life can take depending on our choices. It will leave you pondering how one choice effects various other dimensions of the future. This tale, such as life, is composed of triumphs and disappointments, sins and repentance, betrayal and consequence.

The Moonflower Vine is difficult to put down. It can be read as a simple enjoyable tale or one can peel back the layers to reveal multiple dynamics taking place. Much like a prism this story will change depending on the light you read it by. Many additional facets that were hidden during the previous reading will be uncovered during sequential readings. This is the perfect book for book club as each reader will discover something different. The book was so multi-dimensional that I decided to re-read it after book club and enjoyed it this time even more. I would have loved there to be a sequel but must admit that the end was really quite satisfying as it leaves it open to the reader to put your own finishing touches on a remarkable story.

My Rating: 5 Stars

To Sum it up: A hidden classic that begs to be read time and time again

The Harvester - Gene Stratton-Porter

Summary:  The millions of readers who have delighted in the wondrous touch of "wild woods magic" which distinguished Gene Stratton Porter's Laddie and Girl of the Limberlost have a fresh treat in store for them in this new edition of one of her best-beloved tales.  The Harvester.

David Langston, called The Harvester of the Woods, works long and diligently, after the death of his mother, to make a success of the business of raising and selling medicinal herbs which he and his mother had started together.  By dint of unswerving perseverance and diligence, he becomes very prosperous and is ready to consider marriage when he suddenly sees in a vision an exquisitely beautiful girl.  Convinced that she will become his wife, he builds a beautiful house in his beloved woods and begins a search for the girl of his vision.

Finally he discovers her--Ruth Jameson, by name--and learns that she has been living with an uncle who mistreats her shamefully.  He proposes to her and she accepts--more for the protection of his home than out of love for him.  Despite his attentions, he cannot kindle love in her heart and at length, she falls desperately ill.  How David's her potions save her life after all else has failed--including the attentions of a doctor to whom she had once been betrothed--and how David finally succeeds in kindling the spark of love make up the heart-tugging climax of this famous story.  (Summary from book and image from http://alledgesgilt.blogspot.com/2007/11/harvester-by-gene-stratton-porter.html)


My Review:  Reviewing this book is going to be difficult for me.  While I can appreciate it for its literary qualities, it was tedious to read.  Admittedly, I'm not a Dicken's fan or any other verbose writer who uses description to carry a story.  If the Harvester wasn't talking to a human being, meaning he was chatting with his dog, his plants, or even the stream, I tended to lose interest and fast.  There were parts of the story that held my attention and those were the highlights when there was some new plot twist or new information given about why the Dream Girl was just so very sick.

Here are the qualities I liked in the book: 1) I was told by a friend that her husband's view of how to treat a woman was shaped by this book.  I like that idea because even though the Dream Girl was irritatingly frail (almost like how Bella in Twilight is irritatingly clumsy), he always treated her with the utmost respect and consideration.  2) I can appreciate the metaphor of the harvest being a representation of how love grows.  It takes time, effort, care, work, and often pays off with great reward.  3) I could appreciate how the author, and likewise the Harvester, adored plants.  You can tell that each description meant something to the writer.  While this bored me at times and led me to skimming, I knew it was all stemming from a great love of the land.  4)  I loved seeing a man set a brutal man straight.  While the Harvester didn't actually finish her awful uncle off, when you learn what a horrid man he was you're sure hoping at times he would.  5) In the very beginning of the story the Harvester is ranting about how a woman would never be satisfied with what he could give her and therefore he felt all women weren't worth the time.  Then he has this life altering dream and does a complete 180.  It's hilarious and fantastic all at the same time.  It's fun to watch someone eat their words once in a while, especially when it doesn't hurt the person to do so.

Here's what drove me crazy about the book: 1) As stated above, the Dream Girl is ridiculously frail.  It seems as if this is a literary device of the times, and as such I can let it slide, but oh, was it annoying.  There were times I wanted to throttle the girl and say, "Do you even want to get better?  Because you sure don't seem to me to be trying!"  I do realize there are situations in life where someone's troubles begin to cause their health to falter, but this was just too extreme. 2) The detail.  Over the top detail.  It was mind numbing at times.  I like plants.  I like gardening.  I could care less about EVERY sunset and EVERY flower on EVERY vine that happened to be in his 9 acres of land!  AH!  Too much detail! 3) Maybe I'm jaded--I'd like to think of myself as realistic, but this really bothered me.  Porter writes the Harvester's character without flaw.  I kept searching for even one small, teensie-weensie flaw.  You can find none (well, maybe at the end of the story you could call one thing a flaw, but it really is a lack of knowledge and not a personal failing in my mind).  He's not real, therefore the story was not believable in my mind.  I apologize right now for comparing (again) this book to Twilight, but it seems most would understand my general idea by doing so.  Even Edward had flaws, and while they were minor, they were still flaws and I could still stomach the fact that he wasn't perfect.  The Harvester is literally written as the perfect guy.  Maybe that will appeal to you.  For me, it's an instant moment of cynical, "Yeah, right." 

Here's just a little information I thought readers mind find interesting.  At first I thought Gene was a man--nope.  Gene Stratton Porter is a woman with a fascinating life.  If you're ever curious and like her books, do a little research into her life.  You'll be interested to see how much she puts herself into her books.

If I was to compare this to other romantic books (clean ones) I think this would surpass all others in the area of romance.  Not that it's my favorite, but it is the ultimate chivalrous love story where the man does all, gives all, is all for the woman he loves--she isn't the perfect woman to me, but maybe she would be to others.  (Bella drove me nuts too--I know, I know, one more comparison...sorry!)  I personally like the banter better in Pride and Prejudice and the overall story better in Jane Eyre.  I don't think I've ever read a more romantic yet squeaky clean book.  Everything about The Harvester is focused on the absolute best in people (the main characters).  If you're needing an old fashioned, heart-warming love story, give this one a shot.

Rating: 4 Stars.  The overall story is great, but the overloading on detail brings it down in rating, at least for me.

Sum it up:  If you like clean romantic books, this should be your next read.

Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

Summary: Originally published in 1951 for adults, it has since become popular with adolescent readers for its themes of teenage confusion, angst, sexuality, alienation and rebellion...The novel's protagonist and antihero, Holden Caulfield, has become an icon for teenage rebellion.

The novel was included on a 2005 Time Magazine list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923. It has been frequently challenged in the United States for its liberal use of profanity and portrayal of sexuality and teenage angst. It also deals with complex issues of identity, belonging, connection, and alienation. (Image from Amazon.com - Summary taken from Wikipedia.com)

My Review: This was another book club assigned classic that I missed in high school. Written in the 1st person voice of a high school junior in the 1950s this book was among the first of the "stream of consciousness" narratives that are now so common.

I read the first few chapters of the Catcher in the Rye out loud as my family started out on a road trip. Because of the 1st person voice, and a juvenile one at that it was fun to read, despite my frequent need to substitute dang, heck and gosh.

The loose plot chronicles the downward spiral of a good-hearted troublemaker. It was full of outrageous events that remained believable. I read with trepidation, afraid the story would end with tragedy like so many 10th grade English reading books do. It didn't - although many moments are, by themselves, heartbreaking or tender.

Although Holden's inner dialogue tended to be repetitious it was written with such sincerity that it was endearing. Ultimately, the dialogue was familiar to my formerly 17-year old self. Although I have never hired, then rejected, a teenage prostitute, the rambling, doubt-filled, idealistic thoughts embodied the teen age years. Years where, even under the perfect circumstances, life and the pressure of choices weighs on each person.

A note on the controversial nature of this book. Um...I wasn't offended. This might be a commentary on me, or on society... or just on me. I only really noticed the language when I was reading it out loud and the teenage sexuality wasn't terrible shocking, frankly, it was nothing you wouldn't hear about on Oprah. Let me know if you disagree.

My rating: 4 stars - I'm going to vote with the English teachers and Time Magazine on this one.

Sum it up: Classic, timeless, smart, teenage angst.

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Window Classic

Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino, trans. William Weaver

Summary: In a garden sit the aged Kublai Khan and the young Marco Polo--Tartar emperor and Venetian traveler. Kublai Khan has sensed the end of his empire coming soon. Marco Polo diverts the emperor with tales of the cities he has seen in his travels around the empire: cities and memory, cities and desire, cities and designs, cities and the dead, cities and the sky, trading cities, hidden cities. Soon it becomes clear that each of these fantastic places is really the same place. (Summary from book; image from www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com)

My Review: There are some books that are hard to review because they are hideous literary messes, and one doesn't know where to begin panning them. There are others books that are hard to review because they push one's buttons, making a fair appraisal of them difficult. And there are some books that are hard to review because they are too carefully constructed, too subtly and delicately worded, too grand in insight and application, for one possibly to do them justice.

Italo Calvino's masterful Invisible Cities is one of the last sort of books. I could discuss the intricate, dream-like structure of the short episodes and reveries that build the book like the bricks of one of its cities; the jewel-like clarity and poetry of the language; and above all the way the author, like a skillful magician, peels back the veils of our prosaic reality to reveal something far more beautiful, dangerous, and alive--I can tell you about these things, but I'd rather shut up and let the book speak for itself.

My Rating: 5 stars. It's a mercy this book was originally in Italian, lest it be dragged through the muck of every English Literature course and ruined for everyone.

Sum it up: Poignant yet playful, and ripe with insight. Short enough to read in a night--but do yourself the favor of reading it slowly!

The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Emmuska Orczy

Summary: In 1792, during the French Revolution's Reign of Terror, an English aristocrat known to be an ineffectual fop is actually a master of disguises who, with a small band of dedicated friends, undertakes dangerous missions to save members of the French nobility from the guillotine. (Summary courtesy Amazon.com)

My Review: Dashing hero, dangerous setting, beautiful woman, a secret society, crafty viliian. Sigh...all the things needed for an action-adventure.

This book is filled with the delicious suspense of watching the heroine slowly discover who the Pimpernel is and realize how terribly she misjudged her actions. The process is terribly romantic and, if you strip away the "cleverest woman in Europe" and the rich dashing nobleman, the fateful misunderstanding between the two is easy to relate to (effective communication is key in any relationship!).

Wikipedia and I agree that the Scarlet Pimpernel is the Batman of the 1790s with the same gorgeous, arrogant and lazy cover that the newer Batman utilizes. (I'll let you guess who I was imagining as the Pimpernel :)

While not literature, this book is a classic and very worth reading. It is set during the French Revolution and describes the actions of the rebellion in a negative way (its hard to sugar coat the daily murdering of 100+ aristocrat men, women, and children). For that reason it was educational and a reminder that I know very little about non-US history. I am now adding "Tale of Two Cities" to my reading list.

My rating: 4 stars

Sum it up: A quick read if you want to snuggle down with a dashing hero for the evening.

Wallpaper Windows XP D'Dark

Wallpaper Windows XP Glass

Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

Summary: They are an unlikely pair: George is "Small and quick and dark of face"; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has a mind of a young child. Yet they have formed a "family", clinging together in the face of loneliness and alienation.

Laborers in California's dusty vegetable fields, they hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. For George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own. When they land jobs on a ranch in the Salinas Valley, the fulfillment of their dream seems to be within their grasp. But even George cannot guard Lennie from the provocations of a flirtatious woman, nor predict the consequences of Lennie's unswerving obedience to the thing George taught him.
Summary from back of book, cover photo from bookrags.com

My Review: George and Lenny make a good team. George stands up for Lenny, keeping him out of trouble whenever possible and Lenny works very hard, looking to George with the deepest admiration. It's a difficult life these men lead, traveling from farm to farm to work the land, having to run from the consequences of Lenny's careless mistakes. Lenny has the mind of a child, and this, in combination with his love for soft things, proves to be very troublesome. It's the dream of owning their own place that keeps these two going. The dream seems to be coming closer to reality. They only have to make it a month, but trouble seems to find this pair wherever they go. And when trouble results in a death and angry men start hunting for Lenny, George is forced to make a difficult decision, proving the power of his friendship.

I understand why so many love this book. This was a well-written book. The scenery is vivid, the characters are realistic and there is a heavy emotional pull. It's a story that will leave the reader breathless at times as the pages fly by. I can see the lessons of friendship, acceptance and loyalty threaded within the story. I just don't want to read about these lessons in this form. By the time I closed the cover on this book I felt sick. What I had expected to be a beautiful story of friendship ended up being one of the most depressing books I have read in a long time.

My Rating: 2 Stars; Memorable-Yes, Likable-Not so much

If I had to sum it up in one sentence: A classic for many valid reasons, just not one I'd like to read again.

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

Summary: Charlotte Bronte's impassioned novel is the love story of Jane Eyre, a plain yer spirited governess, and her employer, the arrogant, brooding Mr. Rochester. Published in 1847 under the pseudonym Currer Bell, the book heralded a new kind of heroine - one whose virtuous integrity, keen intellect, and tireless perseverance broke through class barriers to win equal stature with the man she loved. Hail by William Makepeace Thackeray as "the masterwork of a great genius", Jane Eyre is still regarded, over a century later, as one of the finest novels in English literature.
(Summary from book, cover photo from amazon.com)

My Review: The story begins with an orphan Jane, age merely ten, living a tormented life within her stepmother's home. Yet this strong willed young girl will not allow the reader to bestow sympathy upon her. Soon she is off to school where she grows into a determined, independent, passionate young lady. After completing her education Jane applies for a governess position and receives one at Mr. Rochester's estate. Here the timeless tale of romance begins.

Though I have seen the book mentioned in countless publications, this is my first reading of Jane Eyre. I was nervous at approaching a book sure to contain dated speech and subject matter, yet upon opening the first chapter I realized that this story is written in an ageless manner. Though I did have to slow my reading to account for language comprehension, the book was not a struggle as I had expected. I quickly became engrossed in the narration, adoring how the book addresses the reader throughout, making me feel as if the story would not be without my reading of it.

This is a beautiful, descriptive tale with depth and intensity. It's an all-encompassing tale - full of romance, mystery, humor, darkness, tears, suspense, and drama. It crosses many genres and is completely captivating.

Jane Eyre is a true classic. I can now see how other books have used this foundation. This is an infatuating tale that begs to be read time and time again. With each reading one would certainly gain additional pleasure.

My Rating: 5 Stars, I absolutely adore this book

If I had to sum it up in one phrase it would be: A truly timeless classic tale of romance that will delight reading after reading.