The Home of a Bookaholic

Victorian Literature Challenge 2011 Review #9: The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope

2011-09-03T12:05:00.000-07:00

First published: 1875
Country of origin: United Kingdom

I don't want to brag, but I'm proud of myself for finishing this book, since it's 769 pages long! Nevertheless, I rarely, if ever, got bored while reading this. That's the beauty of using multiple plot lines to keep your readers' attention, even if many of the characters in those plot lines are deeply flawed and generally obnoxious. However, that was Trollope's point - that "the way we live now" rewarded greed and dishonesty above any redeeming traits a person has.

The book begins with Lady Carbury, a trashy fiction writer who would have made George Eliot's head spin if she were actually alive. She and her two children are people of rank who can't sustain themselves financially because they don't know how to do anything very useful. Really, if she just lent less money to her good-for-nothing son Felix - who is basically a walking lesson in how to be a jerk, Victorian-style - finances wouldn't be such a huge source of concern. That doesn't cross her mind, though - the key to getting her family out of poverty, she firmly believes, is to get Felix married off to an heiress. This heiress handily comes his way in the form of Marie Melmotte, daughter of a controversial and (apparently) wealthy businessman who has recently established himself in London. Unfortunately for Marie, she falls in love with Felix, who - unbeknownst to her - only cares about her money. At the same time, Felix is secretly seeing a working-class girl named Ruby, who has fooled herself into thinking that he will marry her in the end.

Meanwhile, Felix's younger sister Hetta - the only character I could really bring myself to root for in any way - has rejected a proposal from her much older cousin Roger, much to her mother's dismay. She, unlike Felix, is not the favourite child, and Lady Carbury seems to view Roger as the best possible means of getting her out of the way. Instead, Hetta falls for the bright but somewhat indecisive Paul Montague, a handsome young engineer who harbours way too many secrets to fit into one blog post. Their romance isn't the most convincing part of the book, but I still managed to enjoy it, because it's very easy to sympathize with Hetta.

There are many more subplots I could describe here, and that is both a fact and a warning. This is a very rewarding read if you have the determination to pull through it. While you need to pay attention because of all the shifts in characters and setting, Trollope's writing style is very fluid and easy to follow. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a long, high-quality read.

5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge Review #5: The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway

2011-09-02T16:11:00.001-07:00

I remember that when this book came out a little while ago, there was a whole lot of fuss. On one hand, I heard some readers raving about how incredible it was. On the other hand, I heard about the controversy surrounding the author's use of a real individual's story. Either way, it seemed that plenty of people had plenty to say about it.

I, too, have a lot that I could say about it, but alas, I'm afraid that if I were to share all of my thoughts on this book, I would hurt the author's feelings too much - because the truth is, I couldn't get myself too excited about it as I read it. I found it rather repetitive, and the parts involving the sniper woman, Arrow - whom I initially really liked - reminded me of that movie with George Clooney in it called The American. In that movie, there is way too much time spent discussing guns - how to build them, how to select targets, how to shoot with them, etc. I think the same could be said about Arrow's chapters in this book, with very little actually spent on character development. Furthermore, I like the characters in the books I read to learn something - it doesn't have to be grand or beautiful or even politically correct; it just has to be something. By the end of the book - with the possible exception of Arrow - I'm not sure that they have.

Maybe I wasn't reading into this deeply enough. Maybe the occasional repetition of descriptions and even whole paragraphs was meant to symbolize the monotonous repetition of destruction in daily life. However, even amidst this kind of ugliness and brutality, I look for a writer - not just a character - to make something beautiful out of the situation and setting.

Let's face it - Sarajevo in the early 1990s was not a pleasant place to be. I'm not disputing that for even one second. I just hope that sometime in the future, it is handled more effectively.

Victorian Literature Challenge 2011 Review #8: Adam Bede by George Eliot

2011-08-24T14:15:00.000-07:00

First published: 1859
Country of origin: United Kingdom

In an era where there were so many debates going on - social, philosophical, religious, and political - George Eliot sure knew how to dive right into them. In case you didn't already know, George Eliot was the pen name of the brilliant Mary Anne Evans, who adopted a man's name in the writing world (and kept it even after her true identity was made public) so that her work would be taken seriously. Women writers of her time were largely expected to confine themselves to novels that we might describe as "fluff" - a trend that Eliot famously attacked in her essay "Silly Novels by Lady Novelists" - but it would be a literary sin to apply that label to Adam Bede.

The story focuses on a "love rectangle" - the kind of device that endeared me to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream many years ago - involving the protagonist Adam Bede, the gorgeous but vain and materialistic Hetty Sorrel, the well-intentioned but impulsive aristocrat Arthur Donnithorne, and the compassionate, deeply religious Dinah. The interactions of these characters address a number of significant questions regarding philosophy, religion, sexuality, the roles of women, the social hierarchy, and even the novel itself. Eliot zealously defends realism in art and literature in Chapter 17, and she practices what she preaches. The actions of the characters, and their consequences, are incredibly believable. She does not tell the reader what ought to be, but rather, simply what "is." In particular, Hetty Sorrel's trial for the murder of her illegitimate child is unflinching to the point that I, as someone reading the novel in 2011, got somewhat annoyed that the irresponsible father got off without a scratch. Nevertheless, this was the reality that many young women - particularly of Hetty's marginalized social class - faced in the Victorian era, let alone at the end of the 18th century, at which time the novel is set.

When it comes to gender and sexuality, this novel certainly isn't as "radical" as Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles, which is intensely sympathetic towards its victim of rape/seduction (however you perceive it - it's deliberately vague). However, it's certainly more progressive than any eighteenth-century text that I've read so far. If you're willing to accommodate a moderate Victorian voice on these subjects and enjoy realism in your fiction, Eliot's Adam Bede is a great place to start.

5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge Review #4: Unless by Carol Shields

2011-08-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

I must admit that after I read this book, I was very disappointed that it wasn't more widely embraced during Canada Reads 2011, especially since Carol Shields's work has become so respected both at home and abroad. I suspect that one of the reasons that Unless didn't win was because it tackles questions that make us very uncomfortable. What is goodness? What does it mean to be a good person? Is it even possible to be a good person in a very unequal world? And, perhaps the least appealing question of all - is feminism's work really done?

Most people nowadays hear the word feminism and groan. I've heard it associated with every radical trick in the book, from bra burning to political lesbianism to the use of animal hosts for pregnancies - none of which, in my view, are worthwhile. I think it's important to acknowledge that women, at least in North America, have made enormous gains in the past century or so. It's awfully nice to have things like the vote, pay equity, maternity leave, and independent bank accounts. Nevertheless, women still have a way to go; after all, we still make up a minority of authority figures and decision-makers in society. Men still hold most positions of power, and Carol Shields argues, in Unless, that this, among other things, limits the amount of goodness that can exist in the world.

There are tons of other things that Shields has to say about goodness, a key theme in the novel. Needless to say, it's a very challenging theme to take on, because everybody has something to say about it, and most of our individual answers vary widely. Nevertheless, in this book, Shields is reminding us that it's important to have these conversations about goodness - not just regarding its relationship to gender, but also to class, political affiliations, and even literature, since all of these things can be strongly impacted by power dynamics. I thought that her use of a writer as a protagonist was particularly effective in making this clear. However, what I believe to be the most profound thing about this book - and I hope you read it, if you haven't already - is that you will be wondering about the nature of truth itself. I believe that you will never think of literature, power, or goodness in the same way again.

Victorian Literature Challenge 2011 Review #7: Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell

2011-08-07T08:47:00.001-07:00

First published: 1848
Country of origin: United Kingdom

Elizabeth Gaskell, from what I know, was one of those writers that was often in the shadow of more prominent Victorian writers of her time, such as Charles Dickens, George Eliot, and Charlotte Brontë, who was a good friend of hers. Gaskell, like Dickens, was deeply concerned with class conflict, but as someone who moved in bourgeoisie circles, she was always trying to find a balance between pleasing people of that class while calling attention to the plights of workers. So, in Mary Barton, you won't find the scathing social satire that you see in books like Oliver Twist - although some scenes, such as that of three young bourgeoisie women who are bored out of their minds, are both amusing and thought-provoking. You will, however, uncover a portrait of a deeply conflicted writer who projects this class conflict onto her title character.

What I found especially disturbing were her frequent descriptions of despicable living conditions for Manchester's poorest citizens, followed by justifications that probably aimed to make the book more appealing to bourgeoisie members, such as "I know this is not really the case...I simply wish to impress upon the reader how the working man feels and thinks." My first instinct was to think, "Why bother with that? Of course it's really the case!" Nevertheless, Gaskell, unlike Dickens, could not afford to include too much shock value - at least, not without some softening material around the edges. Even with such "justifications" in place, the bourgeoisie did not receive this book kindly, because it essentially argues that the rich and the poor need to cooperate more effectively and make more of an effort to understand the other social group's problems.

In the mid-nineteenth century, you have voices like Engels, who want to establish a socialist nation, on one hand, and the wealthy business class, which doesn't want to give up its new social privileges, on the other. In the middle, you have people like Gaskell, who understand that capitalism can't just be thrown out the window. She really is a moderate voice in an era that didn't really appreciate moderate voices as much as it should have. I don't know how well-received her work was by the general public, but I sure hope they listened to her then-centrist views and gave them some thought. Perhaps even today, we ought pay more attention to moderate voices than we currently do.

Victorian Literature Challenge 2011 Review #6: Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

2011-08-03T14:19:00.000-07:00

First published: 1838
Country of origin: United Kingdom

This was the second novel that Charles Dickens wrote, and while it has its weaknesses, it's a very good introduction to his character and plot development. As much as I've loved Victorian literature for the past couple of years, I hadn't actually sat down to read anything by him up until now. So, slightly ashamed of my neglect of one of the most popular writers of the era, I read this book.

From what I know about his body of work, this probably doesn't compare well with his later masterpieces like Bleak House and A Tale of Two Cities. Nevertheless, Oliver Twist deals with some very important issues that I find quite interesting, both as a 21st-century reader and as a human being, like poverty, prostitution, organized crime, and capital punishment. Indeed, his frank social commentary is one of the reasons that I'm looking forward to reading more of his novels. However, this book disappointed me somewhat in terms of character development. The only complex character - and my favourite one - was Nancy, whose life as a prostitute would certainly have been considered a sinful one by the book's 19th-century readers, but who is also incredibly compassionate towards children, especially Oliver himself. Every other character is unmistakably "good" or "evil," with no moral or psychological ambiguity whatsoever. What is especially disturbing to me is that the "good" characters are all either middle-class or somehow cheated out of an inheritance. Maybe this is Dickens appealing to his middle-class readers, but if it's a signal of his personal beliefs about the relationship between money and character, then that makes me a little uneasy.

I know that Dickens tends to like his characters to get what they deserve in the end, kind of like those you get to know in fairy tales. That's just the problem, though - fairy tales aren't like reality. Sadly, in the world that you and I live in, there are lots of very good, hardworking people who don't get everything they deserve, and similarly, there are plenty of people who do awful things and don't get punished for them. I'm pretty sure that's the world Dickens lived in, too, but I think that for commercial reasons (and perhaps other ones as well), he didn't acknowledge that. At any rate, maybe he pulls off a happy ending more effectively in Great Expectations - for which I, not coincidentally, have great expectations!

Victorian Literature Challenge 2011 Review #5: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

2011-07-30T16:42:00.000-07:00

First published: 1890
Country of origin: United Kingdom

For the most part, aside from some lengthy (but, admittedly, necessary) passages about the extent of the protagonist's materialism, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. One reason why - which is common to a lot of 19th-century novels that I read - is because it was so controversial in its time. In fact, it was considered so perverted by so many critics (among other people) that prosecutors didn't hesitate to use it against poor Oscar Wilde when he was put on trial for "indecent acts" - in other words, for being gay. Wilde, as you may know, was found guilty of committing "indecent acts," and was given the maximum penalty of two years in a hard labour camp.

It's true that you can see some homosexual overtones in some parts of the book, and Dorian Gray's sexuality remains ambiguous. Nevertheless, he commits what are, in my view, far greater sins after selling his soul to the devil in exchange for eternal youth, such as vanity, greed, and even murder (sorry if you haven't read the book yet). Furthermore, he lives a lie - he gives false impressions and information everywhere he goes. Sadly, his wishes and approach to life are typical of his time. Beautiful appearances can mask ugly souls, even if your soul doesn't take the form a painting carefully hidden from view.

Now that I think about it, I'm not sure things have changed much. Our society still puts plenty of emphasis on appearances, after all. So, is everyone a Dorian - or, perhaps, are we all less extreme versions of him? That I leave for you to decide.

Victorian Literature Challenge 2011 Review #4: The Awakening by Kate Chopin

2011-07-27T11:29:00.001-07:00

First published: 1899
Country of origin: United States

I think it would be pretty accurate to call this book "small but mighty." It's quite short - especially by 19th-century standards - but it is loaded with ideas which, as much great literature does, made a lot of people very angry. Even today, many readers consider it shocking and immoral, and it is frequently banned from American high schools.

Now, I have loved Kate Chopin's work for some time. I read several of her short stories prior to cracking open The Awakening, and I quickly came to adore both her style and her subject matter. Hence, I will freely admit that I was biased in her favour from the beginning. However, even if that wasn't the case, I would still recommend this book to anyone who isn't a hardcore social conservative. As a feminist text - among the many other labels that this book has acquired over the years - it's bound to make at least some men uncomfortable, but I still think that it's important for them to read all the same.

The Awakening is about the life journey of Edna Pontellier, who is tired of the traditional labels of wife and mother, and seeks to establish a life for herself outside of those boundaries. Along the way, she is sexually attracted to men other than her husband. This predictably scandalized Victorian-era readers, even though sexual desire is only mentioned explicitly one time, and sexual activity is never described, but only vaguely hinted at. While I don't think there's anything sexy or ethical about adultery by either partner in a marriage, I couldn't help but feel sorry for Edna, who was cooped up in her Louisiana home all day and expected to be satisfied with, even happy about, leading an extremely domesticated life, while her husband got to experience the world. Sadly, this expectation extended to the lives of most women of this era, and in many parts of the world, it persists to this day.

So, is Edna immoral? Bored? Desperate? A combination of the three? Something else that I haven't listed? The debate over this novel's supposed obscene content lives on. I encourage you to read it, and let me know what you think. It just might change you for the better.

5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge Review #3: The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy

2011-07-25T11:30:00.001-07:00

By reading The Jade Peony, I realized that Wayson Choy and I have something in common: We both believe that family is about people who love you. Hopefully, this love is provided to us by our relatives, but if not, then we must go looking for it elsewhere. In various ways, that is exactly what each of the three children in this novel - Sook-Liang, Jung-Sum, and Sek-Lung - must do, in the politically and socially uncertain setting of Chinatown during the 30's and 40's. These children may live in the same home, but the families they form are very different. Sook-Liang must look outside her home for an ally - which comes in the form of the elderly and friendly Wong Suk - because of the neglect that she faces as a girl, Jung-Sum must adapt to life as an adopted child after the suspicious deaths of his parents, and Sek-Lung must turn chiefly to his paternal grandmother for support after his mother shuns him for, in her words, "having no brain." Love isn't completely absent from their home, of course, but it is overshadowed by questions of identity and loyalty that have no easy answers. Sometimes these questions take amusing turns, like Sek-Lung's extensive discussion of how and why Chinese forms of address drive him crazy. Others, such as one young Chinese-Canadian woman's secret romance with a young Japanese-Canadian man in the wake of Pearl Harbor, are much darker, and force readers to recall the limitations and inner turmoil that many people have historically faced - and still do face - when it comes to love.

This book serves as an important reminder for each and every one of us. The family that you are born into is not the only one that matters; the family that you build is just as important. This lesson is what made Wayson Choy's approach to a favourite genre of mine - the family saga - so captivating.

Victorian Literature Challenge 2011 Review #3: Washington Square by Henry James

2011-07-23T12:59:00.000-07:00

First published: 1880
Country of origin: United States

This is the first Henry James novel that I have read, and it was a very interesting introduction to his work. The book is not jam-packed with events like Fugitives (a very different Canadian book that I recently read and reviewed here); rather, it is deeply psychological, which probably doesn't surprise any of his modern-day aficionados. The indecision of the four main characters had the power to occasionally drive me crazy. Nevertheless, I surprised myself by realizing that I had plenty of sympathy for the novel's heroine, Catherine Morland.

Catherine is not especially pretty, intelligent, or outgoing - or so it seems to everyone around her. In spite of her apparent shortcomings, she is expected to inherit a fortune upon her father's death. This fact, among others (or not, depending on your point of view), leads a handsome but not very wealthy or career-oriented man named Morris Townsend to try and win her over. The only problem, in a 19th-century twist on Romeo and Juliet, is - you guessed it - her father. He is convinced that Morris is only after her money, and thus does everything he can to keep them apart, after Catherine has fallen in love with the young man (whose feelings towards her remain ambiguous). He resorts to methods as calculating as they are cruel, but by the end, Catherine ends up beating him at his own game.

I agree with Henry James, who said that the only good thing about the novel is Catherine. Most of the other characters are insipid, selfish, and desperately in need of entertainment, which Catherine quite accidentally provides for them. Furthermore, they routinely underestimate her; her father is particularly apt to do this. However, Catherine's quiet strength and heroism are astounding. She is not perfect - nobody is, except in a novel that is badly written - but as the story moved along, I began to feel both empathy and admiration.

Given the reputation of novels such as The Portrait of a Lady and The Wings of the Dove, I'm not sure I'd place Washington Square among his strongest novels, because I don't have enough experience with James's writing. However, if you read this novel, do it for the sake of Catherine and all other real-life girls like her.

5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge Review #2: Fugitives by Suzanne Jacob

2011-07-21T10:54:00.001-07:00

If you don't know Suzanne Jacob, she's a Montreal writer who has won the Governor General's Award not once, but twice (although not for this novel). Furthermore, Sheila Fischmann, who translated this novel out of French, has done some fabulous translations before, most notably (in my view) for Roch Carrier. Those facts combined with my partiality for family sagas, and that's how I decided to give this novel a shot.

I am new to Suzanne Jacob, but I adore her writing style; to me, it bears strong resemblances to Virginia Woolf, gracefully moving in and out of the characters' thoughts. Both of these writers are also concerned about the events that define women's lives. In Fugitives, we meet four generations of women from the same family - from oldest to youngest, we have Blanche, Fabienne, Fabienne's daughters Émilie and Stéphanie, and finally the great-granddaughters, Alexa and Nathe. All of these women have been scarred by traumas that reveal frightening gender-linked inequalities, such as adultery, rape, and physical and sexual abuse, although because they are at different stages in life, their ability to understand these traumas varies widely. I'm quite used to reading about very serious subjects like this, although I definitely would not recommend it for people who aren't ready and willing to deal with them.

The only problem that I have with this book is that, at times, the novel seems to overdo the family's experiences in ways that aren't altogether realistic. I can't help but wonder how realistic it is to contain all of the above-mentioned tragedies, coupled with some other surprising discoveries, within this one family, but perhaps that's because, thankfully, my family isn't at all similar to the one in this novel. Nevertheless, there were a number of reasons why I kept reading this book. One, as I have said, is my love of Suzanne Jacob's writing style. Another is the fact that this novel is coming out of Québec, which likes to pride itself on gender equality, with its great child care services and high representation of women in government. However you or I feel about the plausibility of the "density" of events in this novel, the problems that the novel's female characters face are part of reality - even in the legally and socially liberal place in which we live.

Despite her heavy subject matter, I look forward to reading more work by Suzanne Jacob whenever I get the chance.

Victorian Literature Challenge 2011 Review #2: The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy

2011-07-21T10:45:00.000-07:00

First published: 1889

Country of origin: Russia

This novella scared almost all of its readers - including me. The jealousy that takes hold of the main character is so vile that it made me cringe, and yet so plausible that I had to keep reading it. I enjoyed it not because of its plot, but because of how it deals with issues that were very relevant in Tolstoy's time - marriage, sexuality, and the position of women in society. Of the many interesting ideas that Tolstoy presents, I will focus on two.

First, he argues that since Jesus Christ never "demeaned himself" via sexual intercourse, all good Christians simply shouldn't have sex, even if they are married to each other. Sex within marriage is socially sanctioned because it is assumed that no man will ever succeed at becoming Christlike in this way. Furthermore, he says, sexual intercourse prioritizes the carnal lusts of men over the desires of women. While I can see where he's coming from with the latter argument, I think that the former is, to put it nicely, pretty "out there."

Second, he argues that as long as men view women as sexual objects - and as long as women are okay with being viewed as sexual objects - women will never be equal to men, no matter how many laws are changed. This, in my view, is frighteningly relevant. Women in North America have won a lot of rights for themselves in the last century or so, and yet today, many are viewed as sexual objects. And that doesn't seem to be a big deal to many people. I say to those people, it should be a bigger deal than it is. We may have the vote, maternity leave, independent bank accounts, and many other great things, but until we all realize that sex appeal isn't the best, let alone only, way to empower ourselves, there will be an imbalance of power between the sexes. It's scary to think about, but I believe that even though this argument is being made in a violent, brutal nineteenth-century novella, it still has some applicability today.

Japanese Literature Challenge 5 Review: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

2011-07-16T10:33:00.001-07:00

This book revolves around losses - some self-imposed ones and some beyond human control. One of the first losses of the book was a self-imposed one that drove me a little crazy, up until the final page: the main character, Toru Okada, quit his job. I understand that without this decision, barely any of the book's action would have taken place, but at some points, when his imagination is taking him to brutal and dangerous places, I simply wanted to scream at him to get out of the house and get a job already.

The next loss was definitely one beyond his control, and was the one which I found the most fascinating: that of his wife's cat, who mysteriously disappears. This, as an animal lover, was what initially drew me to the book. Once this conflict was resolved, however, the lines between fantasy and reality became ever more blurred, so much so that I could barely keep track of which was which. Toru's experiences are definitely a testament to the power of the human imagination, but this power, Haruki Murakami seems to be warning us, doesn't always take us to the places that we would like it to. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but wonder at some points: Would this be happening to Mr. Okada if he just went out and got a job?

I'm not saying that a boring job is necessarily a good idea. However, something has always irked me about characters (and real-life people, too) that lack any kind of ambition. For this reason, I found myself rooting for secondary characters - such as the witty, sarcastic May Kasahara - instead. If Mr. Okada's life were in the hands of someone less skilled than Murakami, I would have only gotten frustrated and thoroughly confused. However, because this was a Murakami novel, I can say, despite my own personal biases, that is one of the strangest yet most beautiful books that I have ever read.

Victorian Literature Challenge 2011 Review #1: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

2011-07-13T13:28:00.000-07:00

First published: 1885
Country of origin: United States

Although Mark Twain was American and thus isn't a "Victorian writer" in the strictest sense of the word, his book was published during the Victorian era, and it also deals with issues that were widely debated in that time period - notably racism, justice, and the definition and purpose of family. It has often been the victim of controversy and censorship, even today. Recently, a publisher defended substituting the n-word - used quite frequently in the novel - with the word "slave." That way, he argued, the novel won't offend anybody in a school setting. While I can see both sides of the issue, I think that what is being overlooked is the need to remind students that racism in many forms - including racist language - was a reality in the time period in which Twain was writing, let alone that which he was writing about.

However, over the course of this classic novel, Huckleberry Finn comes to understand Jim's humanity, and learns that no matter what race a person may be, every person is entitled to be treated as a human being. The two of them form a family of their own - united not by blood, but by compassion and shared experience. I absolutely despised the ending of this novel, but at least by that point, Twain has made his own views clear when it comes to the hypocrisy that dominated the mid-19th-century American South. For that reason, I believe that the claim that this novel condones racism is unfounded at best.

So, while I think this novel filled an important gap in my reading career, I feel I should warn readers to be completely dissatisfied and unpleasantly surprised by the revelation that occurs near its end. At first, you will likely wonder if Twain has played a brutal joke on you, as a reader. Then, hopefully, you will remember that this novel has much to teach us, and has been perceived as a turning point in American literary history for many years - and with good reason, too.

Victorian Literature Challenge 2011

2011-07-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

I adore Victorian literature. In my opinion, the writers of that period are more talented, when it comes to addressing social issues in creative and meaningful ways, than anyone before or since. It was an era of drastic transformations, which in my opinion, make for fascinating literature.

Which is precisely why I am the latest "late bloomer" to join the Victorian Literature Challenge for 2011.

I have only started this blog recently, and did so because I want to share my love of books in many different eras with anyone who is willing to listen (although talking is always great fun, too!). If you would like to take this journey with me (and many other Victorian novel fans), the sign-up page is here:
http://subtlemelodrama.blogspot.com/p/victorian-literature-challenge.html

I myself will be shooting for the Desperate Remedies level, even though it is quite late in the challenge and that I am rapidly becoming a huge reading challenge fan.

Happy reading :)

5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge Review #1: Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje

2011-07-07T17:10:00.000-07:00

I've sorely neglected Canadian literature in the past, and ever since I stumbled across this reading challenge (not too long ago), I decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to read the unopened Canadian books on my shelves. To start off, I picked up a book - Divisadero - by a very talented writer that I know I ought to pay more attention to: Michael Ondaatje. As the winner of the 2007 Governor General's Literary Awards, I thought that this would be an excellent way to begin catching up on my Canadian reading.

I could go on and on about what I found interesting in the plot, setting, etc., because on those kinds of scores, there are plenty of things I could say in the book's favour. However, what I found most interesting was actually a quote that Ondaatje includes twice: once on the first page, and once a few pages away from the end. It is from Friedrich Nietzsche, and it reads, "We have art so that we shall not be destroyed by the truth." Indeed, the truth threatens to destroy the lives of many of the novel's characters. It is a constant reminder of their shortcomings and their mistakes; their personal truths are things to be escaped, not embraced. The best-adjusted character in the novel - in the spirit of the Nietzsche quote - is the writer Lucien Segura, whose story takes up most of the third part of the novel (it is written in 3 parts). His complicated attraction to the married woman living next door, while trying to maintain good relations with her husband, is a force that does not destroy him, because by the end of the novel, it becomes the source of some of his most brilliant work. By contrast, the three main characters of the first half of the novel - Anna, Claire, and Coop - are transient, eager to escape their own pasts in whatever ways they can. However, I don't think that any of them ever fully come to terms with the tragic event that shattered their youth (I won't give it away in case you haven't read the book). Because they are not artists, they cannot manipulate the past events of their lives in ways that make sense to them.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel; it was an excellent way to begin my return to the wonderful world of Canadian books.

In the beginning...

2011-07-05T05:22:00.001-07:00

No, I don't mean to make fun of that very well-known story. I just think it's a fitting title for my first blog post!

First and foremost, you should know that I am a huge reader, which is mostly why I created this blog: to talk about books. So, you can expect to find my views on plenty of them - especially Canadian books, which I am trying to read in greater numbers. Of course, if you either love or vehemently disagree with what I say (or anything in between!), please tell me! I adore literary conversations; just hearing my own virtual voice can get pretty boring, after all :)

Enjoy!