Kate's Queen City Notes

Blundering through Cincinnati, laughing all the way

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100 Books by 40: Little Women is a Stupid, Stupid Book

Wow. I really hated Little Women. Quite a bit of the plot revolves around romance, and I don’t enjoy romance when it’s the focus of the plot. But that’s not what really drove me nuts about this book. It was all the heavy-handed moral lessons. It was so simplistic. When the characters took action that was deemed morally good, they were rewarded almost immediately. When the characters took action that was deemed morally wrong, they were punished, with the exception of what happens to Beth.

There were several instances of the mother, teaching her daughters a lesson by allowing them to engage in behaviors that were unfavorable and magically the universe always instructed them perfectly. It was so patronizing. There are at least 6 instances of this sort of lesson-learning.

This would all be enough to make me hate this book. But there is more. One of the characters, Jo, seems to be based on Alcott herself. Alcott never married and once said that she thought she was born with the soul of a man because she had fallen in love with many pretty women but not one man. She did have one documented relationship with a man, but I think it’s safe to say she probably had some homo tendencies.

***************SPOILER ALERT*************************************

Jo, the character that eschews gender norms, gets married at the end of the book. It’s pretty remarkable that this character existed at all in 1868. It’s even more remarkable that this was accepted as a children’s book. Regardless, I would have preferred that Jo remained single at the end of the book just as Alcott did. That wouldn’t have been scandalous, but more true to the character. It also wouldn’t have made for a marketable happy ending.

My partner pointed out that perhaps this was the way Alcott wished that her life had gone. I know I spent a lot of my teens and twenties wishing that I wasn’t gay. I am sure that I am not alone in this; being outside the norm in this regard is isolating and much more so for those that are raised in intolerant or unaccepting environments.

I intellectually understand the argument that engaging in a homosexual relationship is a choice. It doesn’t resonate on an emotional level though. The canyon that  exists between living authentically and living in the closet is vast. This brings me to the core of why I didn’t enjoy this book. It made that silent desperation that is living so close and yet so far from the bond that we all crave palpable and close.


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100 Books by 40: Great Expectations and Birdsong

I am reading Little Women right now. I hate it. I am not very keen on romance novels. This particular preference becomes important later when I write about Birdsong and Great Expectations. So Little Women has that strike against it. The author is so heavy-handed in her moral lessons, I can barely stand it. I will hold off on ranting more until I actually finish the book. On a bright note, I am liking Gone With the Wind so far.

Great Expectations wasn’t that great. I don’t know what I was expecting, but that wasn’t it. Here’s what I did find interesting about the book. The episodic writing that Dickens employs is reminiscent of TV show plot lines. I’ve read Dickens before, but I learned just prior to picking up Great Expectations that he was often writing chapter by chapter for publication in periodicals. I enjoyed the short story arcs to keep readers coming back mixed with the broader story arcs. Seriously, TV writers could take a lesson.

As mentioned earlier, I don’t really appreciate romance. So, the Pip/Estella story line was less than enthralling to me. The setting, 1800’s England, was super cool. The descriptions around the ambient culture was also super cool. Would I read it again? No. Would I suggest that others read it? Only if they want to write TV scripts. Would I read other novels by Dickens? Probably.

Birdsong. This book bounces across different times starting prior to WWI and ending in the 1970’s. This is a romance novel. By now you should know how much I appreciate that. The storytelling in this book was well executed. Some pivotal plot points hang around the characters and their relationship to WWI. There are several scenes in the book that describe WWI battles. I loved the WWI parts of this book. LOVED THEM. The large story arc is about a women getting to know more about her grandfather and learning about herself in the process.

*****SPOILER ALERT***** Do not read on if you want to read this book.
I was ok with the romance driving the book. Then I got to the end. The end of the book has the main character giving birth in a farm house. Pure cheese, I wanted to punch the book. After the bloody chapters describing WWI, this ending felt really trite. This woman who was seeking herself could only be found by becoming a mother? Like adding that complication is going to clarify what one wants out of life. I would have not started the book had I known how aggravating the ending would be. Would I read it again? NO! Would I suggest that others read it? If the person in question loves romance novels. Would I read other novels by Faulks? NO.

And since I haven’t provided you with an updated reading list in a bit, here it is.

Reading now:
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

Finished reading:
1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier – this will need to come from the library or second hand books
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger – – this will need to come from the library or second hand books
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
53. The Stand, Stephen King
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens *I read this when I was too young to appreciate it; I would like to read it again as an adult. I will do so if I have time.
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding *I’ve read this twice. I will read it again if I have time.
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac *I’ve read this twice. I will read it again if I have time. I have the unabriged unedited version and will probably take on that if time allows.

Pending reading:
19. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie


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100 Books by 40: Rebecca

I am sitting here with my cup of French-pressed Ethiopian Harrar, trying to isolate why I didn’t enjoy Rebecca. As is often the case, a combination of effects is at play. The narrator is a sniveling child for a large portion of the novel. I would find this irritating regardless of other ambient factors. I happen to be reading Great Expectations and Catch-22. The whiny narrator of Rebecca cast against the arbitrary slaughter of war and the crushing effects of abject poverty is so shrill.

This effect has made me ponder the unavoidable comparisons that I will make on my journey to 100 books by 40. It gives me pause to consider if this method of consuming books is a favorable one. My reading experiences aside from this effort have been much more haphazard. I would go so far as to say that books found me at pivotal moments and not vice versa. This structured approach to reading seems to demystify my experience; I haven’t any clue if this evolution is positive or negative.

Regardless of my distaste for the narrator, I enjoyed Mrs. Danvers. Daphne du Maurier makes the mundane feel ominous. Plus, Du Maurier sticks the landing on the final plot twist and the end of the book. I will not read Rebecca again, but I am happy that I read it.

Here’s a sneak preview of my thoughts on my next book. Catch-22 has far more political and personal relevance than I anticipated. While I will write more on this topic when I finish the book, I will leave you with a quote that is so relevant in today’s politics.

“Major Major’s father was a sober God-fearing man whose idea of a good joke was to lie about his age. He was a long-limbed farmer, a God-fearing, freedom-loving, law-abiding rugged individualist who held that federal aid to anyone but farmers was creeping socialism. He advocated thrift and hard work and disapproved of loose women who turned him down. His specialty was alfalfa, and he made a good thing out of not growing any. The government paid him well for every bushel of alfalfa he did not grow. The more alfalfa he did not grow, the more money the government gave him, and he spent every penny he didn’t earn on new land to increase the amount of alfalfa he did not produce. Major Major’s father worked without rest at not growing alfalfa. On long winter evenings he remained indoors and did not mend harness, and he sprang out of bed at the crack of noon every day just to make certain that the chores would not be done. He invested in land wisely and soon was not growing more alfalfa than any other man in the county. Neighbors sought him out for advice on all subjects, for he had made much money and was therefore wise. `As ye sow, so shall ye reap,’ he counseled one and all, and everyone said, `Amen.’

Major Major’s father was an outspoken champion of economy in government, provided it did not interfere with the sacred duty of the government to pay farmers as much as they could get for all the alfalfa they produced that on one else wanted or for not producing any alfalfa at all. He was a proud and independent man who was opposed to unemployment insurance and never hesitated to whine, whimper, wheedle, and extort for as much as he could get from whomever he could. He was a devout man whose pulpit was everywhere.”

Reading list update:

Reading now:

11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller

17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks

 

Finished reading:

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien

2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman

4. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling

6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne

8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell

9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis

10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë

12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë

14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier – this will need to come from the library or second hand books

15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger – – this will need to come from the library or second hand books

16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame

20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy

22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, JK Rowling

23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling

24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling

42. Watership Down, Richard Adams

43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald

46. Animal Farm, George Orwell

53. The Stand, Stephen King

60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky

63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens *I read this when I was too young to appreciate it; I would like to read it again as an adult. I will do so if I have time.

70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding *I’ve read this twice. I will read it again if I have time.

87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac *I’ve read this twice. I will read it again if I have time. I have the unabriged unedited version and will probably take on that if time allows.

 

Pending reading:

18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

19. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres

21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien

26. Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy

27. Middlemarch, George Eliot

28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving

29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck

30. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson

32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez

33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett

34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens

35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl

36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson

37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute

38. Persuasion, Jane Austen

39. Dune, Frank Herbert

40. Emma, Jane Austen

41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery

44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas

45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh

47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy

49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian

50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher

51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck

54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth

56. The BFG, Roald Dahl

57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome

58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell

59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer

61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman

62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden

64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough

65. Mort, Terry Pratchett

66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton

67. The Magus, John Fowles

68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett

71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind

72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell

73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett

74. Matilda, Roald Dahl

75. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding

76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt

77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins

78. Ulysses, James Joyce

79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens

80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson

81. The Twits, Roald Dahl

82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith

83. Holes, Louis Sachar

84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake

85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy

86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson

88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons

89. Magician, Raymond E Feist

91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo

92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel

93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett

94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

95. Katherine, Anya Seton

96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer

97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez

98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson

99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot

100. Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie


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100 Books by 40: The Catcher in the Rye

I finished The Catcher in the Rye last week. I have been avoiding writing about it. Partially, I grew accustomed to hearing Holden Caulfield’s voice in my head. I miss him. Plus, his discomfort with human behavior felt personal enough that I don’t have words to write about it.

The whole time I was reading I was wondering when it would become obvious why this book inspired someone to shoot John Lennon. That didn’t happen. What did happen is I saw the John Lennon edition of American Masters a couple of days ago. I only caught the end. There was a recording of John, in the recording studio, saying good night to Sean. It was so personal. It made him so very human.

Yoko talked about the night that he was shot. When the Dr approached and said that John was dead, she simply couldn’t fathom that he was gone. They asked if they could release it to the press. Contrary to logic, she asked them to wait for a few minutes because that awful truth could be avoided. Hundreds of people gathered outside their building that night. They sang John’s songs all night under their apartment. Yoko said hearing them through the night was heartbreaking.

Her way of letting John go was to sit in the studio where they had just recorded. She asked the engineers to play the recordings. She said his voice surrounded her.

I never found why The Cather in the Rye inspired a man to kill. I did find the human in a rock and roll legend.


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100 Books by 40: Jane Eyre

I’ve made it past the Brontës. I have also made it past the top 10 books. I will recap my feelings about the top 10 after I comment on Jane Eyre. **SPOILER ALERT**I WILL TALK ABOUT THE END OF JANE EYRE**SKIP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU PLAN ON READING IT** With Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice I learned that I enjoy Brit Lit. I liked Jane Eyre for all the gymnastics my brain did to keep up with the use of the language, but I didn’t care for the story that was told nearly as much as I enjoyed Wuthering Heights. The ending of Jane Eyre was just a little too tidy. I was already felt a little sick from the sweetness of Jane returning to Mr. Rochester but his sight returning really amped up my tummy ache. If his physical condition was the price he had to pay to relinquish his pride, I think he should have kept his handicaps. Otherwise, I enjoyed Charlotte’s us of the English language.

I unequivocally suggest reading every book in the top 10 with the exception of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I am certain that I didn’t enjoy Hitchhiker’s because I typically don’t enjoy Sci-Fi. The other nine books are as wonderful as they are different. Enjoying great books isn’t the only benefit that I’ve noticed since starting this challenge. My ability to concentrate for long periods of time has been improved, and I am certain that I am reading faster than I did at the outset. I tested myself at eyercize.com. I can comfortably read at 400 words a minute. Average Americans read around 250 words per minute. Net, thus far, this challenge has been amazing. I am already happy with the time I have invested in it.

I am only at the beginning of all three of the books that I am reading. Thus far I am loving Catch-22. More on that in my next blog.   

Reading now: 11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

Finished reading:
1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
53. The Stand, Stephen King
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens *I read this when I was too young to appreciate it; I would like to read it again as an adult. I will do so if I have time.
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding *I’ve read this twice. I will read it again if I have time.
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac *I’ve read this twice. I will read it again if I have time. I have the unabriged unedited version and will probably take on that if time allows.

Pending reading:
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks 
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger – – this will need to come from the library or second hand books
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie


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100 Books by 40: The Wind in the Willows and Wuthering Heights

I could have titled this My Dread of the Brontë Sisters. I read A Tale of Two Cities when I was a teenager. It scarred me against all British Literature. So, when I saw the over-representation of Brit Lit in the 100 best books list, I was dismayed. I just finished The Wind in the Willows and Wuthering Heights and am happy to report that my dislike of Brit Lit is unfounded. Really, I appreciate it much more as an adult.

Good writers have two distinct skills in varying degrees. Some writers are master artists with the English language, using it to paint a mental portrait so lush that a visual representation will simply fail to adequately convey it. Some writers are skilled storytellers. Stephen King is story teller. His sense for the sequence in which to reveal plot details is keen. I would not say that he is an artist with language though. Emily Brontë (Wuthering Heights) and Kenneth Grahame (The Wind in the Willows) are both, good storytellers and language artists. Grahame’s descriptions of the subtle changes that indicate summer giving way to fall are so precise as to take my five senses there. His descriptions resonate so deeply that I cannot do the experience justice in writing about it. Brontë has a gorgeous way of describing relationships and their propensity to destroy or create. The interactions she describes between her characters are micro stories that most of us have seen play out in small and large ways.

I loved both of these books. The Wind in the Willows is a wonderful, light-hearted read. Wuthering Heights is heavy, but gorgeous.

I started The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Jane Eyre. I’m afraid The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy seems like Kool Aid against the fresh-squeezed orange juice of Jane Eyre. I’m telling myself to be less critical because they were written in different times. I’m telling myself that Douglas Adams need not be an artist with language to be an excellent storyteller. I confess that I don’t enjoy Sci-Fi as a genre. There are exceptions. I liked The Hunger Games and Star Wars; I have a soft spot for dystopian futuristic settings. The conclusion to this is to come in my next blog post. In the meantime here’s a quote from the foreword of Jane Eyre that speaks to me and a refreshed version of my reading list.

“Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee, is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns.” – Charlotte Bronte

I’m not underlining these titles. I think it’s pretty obvious they are books. Lazy, I know.

Reading now: 4. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë

Finished reading:
1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
53. The Stand, Stephen King
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens *I read this when I was too young to appreciate it; I would like to read it again as an adult. I will do so if I have time.
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding *I’ve read this twice. I will read it again if I have time.
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac *I’ve read this twice. I will read it again if I have time. I have the unabriged unedited version and will probably take on that if time allows.

Pending reading:
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier – this will need to come from the library or second hand books
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger – – this will need to come from the library or second hand books
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie