The Romance of the Forest

Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823) – It was a little hard for me to get into this book. The beginning seemed to have a slow start. The build up to the main events of the story were good background, but were very wordy and slow. At the start of the second volume things started to get interesting. The excitement of kidnapping, deceit and murder along side love, mercy and tenderness complete this tale of Gothic romance. I don’t have too much to say on this book. It was a good read. The ending was very perfect in its completion of the wrong-doers getting what they deserved. The twists of how the characters are all related to one another creates an interesting dynamic as the story progresses. The writing style of Ann Radcliffe is very flowery and full of description. Its fun to read when in an imaginative mood, but if you aren’t in the mood to read its difficult to get through. The actual plot of the story could be told in a much shorter book, but with all the detailed description it doubles the story. Over all it was a good book. But be prepared to get into the imaginative mind of a woman.

The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) – This was a very interesting read. I’m not sure why its one of the great American novels, but it has potential. I’m not too fond of Hawthorne’s writing style. It is very descriptive, but the wording was a little confusing to me at times. The storyline annoyed me also. I don’t think I quite understand the beliefs of the people at that time. If I were to study more into they Puritan lifestyle and know their laws and morals and such I would be much more sympathetic to the characters. This day in age it is nothing out of the ordinary for a woman to have an illegitimate child. And a priest as well. I was really rooting for them to run away. But that stupid husband of hers messed up their plan. The ending is sad, but they did have it coming. Sin always has a consequence. Unfortunately, as religious as that community was, they did not understand the true forgiveness that God grants when people repent. They were living in the past, only thinking of their one wrong doing. If they truly understood the way God works, their lives would have been much happier. Yes, there still would be consequences, but life would have been more joyful. And after that little rant, I suppose I would say this is a book most people should read. It’s a little hard to follow at times, but it’s a good story. One that people can learn from.

Persuasion

Jane Austin (1775-1870) – Jane Austin never fails to enlighten her readers with a book about love, social status and morality. As her last book, it was full of a more mature writing like others have said. But as far as story line goes, it is not my favorite. It seems rather drawn out and the course of events frustrated me. Some of the characters were annoying too. The main character, Anne, finds here self still in love with the man she was engaged to eight years ago. She broke it off then to please the advice of a family friend of great influence. When Captain Wentworth’s family rents Anne’s own home she comes back into contact with him and the feelings are renewed. She obviously likes him still, although she doesn’t admit it until halfway through the book. He is still angry towards her for splitting up, but later gets over it and comes back to her. It’s not a complicated story, but it doesn’t come without an entwinement of characters. Austin uses all her flowery language to describe places, people and character. The formality of the characters between one another was almost too much for me. I just wanted them to run into each other’s arms and proclaim their love. But that doesn’t happen with Jane Austin. She kept the strict rule of social classes intact and made sure that there was pride and deceit on the side of most of the characters. That is one reason I was annoyed. Although I did not like parts of it, this is one of the three Jane Austins that everyone should read. Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion. (At least this is the list of what I’ve read so far.)

Madame Bovary

Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) – Well this book was a little different than what I normally read. It contains a scandalous tale of a woman that has two affairs to satisfy her desire for love. The build up to the main story of the book helped me understand why she didn’t care for her husband. Although he really wasn’t a bad man. She was just blinded by the ideals of love and romance found in fiction stories. This book ends in suicide and a complete devastation of her family. It’s really quite sad to read. Every time she got bored of her life at home I was upset with her at her inability to accept the blessings she has. I don’t think I’ll ever read this book again, but it was a very interesting read. Apparently this book created an uproar when it was published because of the intimate details that were part of Madame Bovary’s affairs. Her adulterous behavior was not something that was to be published. But it was later accepted as a monumental book that change the way book were looked at. I did enjoy reading it because it was different and gave me a new story to read. The style of writing was a little difficult to read. It may be the translation I have or perhaps just Flaubert’s style. It’s in third person past tense but at the same time its revealing things only at the same time the characters find out. It’s interesting now that I think about it, but I was a little annoyed as I read. I had to reread some parts to understand what was happening. If you want something different to read then go for it. Its not bad.

Dracula

Bram Stoker (1847-1912) – Well this was one of the most thrilling books I have read. I could barely put it down and was done reading it in a week. The story itself is very interesting and is written in journal form from the perspective of all the different characters. There are a few particular people involved in the story and are all effected by Dracula in some form. Their main goal is to figure him out and destroy him. The fast paced action in this book creates a fascinating scene and I really wanted to find out what would happen. If you don’t particularly like reading classic novels this is a good one to read anyway. It brings you into the world of classic literature but is interesting enough to keep your attention. The author was genius in his creation of a creature that would last for many years to come. There has been so much done with the story of Dracula in years since that it is truly a hit. The contents of this book are thrilling and I just don’t have the right words to describe it. At times I felt like some of the characters weren’t very smart. They went about things in a very round about way and I wanted them to just explain their actions to one another. I believe part of that frustration I had was because it was in journal form. I only knew as much as the individuals knew. The story happened at the same pace as the journal and I was a part of the story. I liked it but sometimes I wish I was given the knowledge of a narrator. Overall it was great. I would definitely recommend this to anyone wanting a good book.

Great Expectations

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) – The title of this book carries much of the weight of the story. This novel tells of a poor orphan boy, Pip. He is not able to recognize happiness and stay a hard worker in the blacksmith shop with Joe. He strives for what he thinks will be a better life. Once he is there he doesn’t find the happiness he desires because he finds his riches come from one that is not worthy in his eyes. I find that Pip is very ungrateful throughout most of the story. It is true that he is mistreated as a child and doesn’t have anything to be grateful for, but later he is blessed with some opportunities and doesn’t know how to be thankful for them.
There is a strange connection between all of the characters in this book. They are somehow related to one another in some sort of way. If not by blood then by incident. The book gives some very interesting twists in the relation of people that keeps it interesting. I almost want to yell at some of the characters to figure it out and to just get along. But the nature of the characters is very strong and unchanging.
Dickens definitely uses a style of writing that gets at your emotions rather than your head. It is very easy to follow the heart of the main character and what he is feeling. It is also easy to get angry at certain characters when they take advantage of another’s position. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was well written and kept me interested. I will for sure read another Dickens book at some time or another.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain (1835-1910) – Mark Twain was a very well read and an imaginative author. He knew a lot about ancient texts and referenced to them in this book. Huck Finn was a boy that ran away down the river with his neighbor’s slave, Jim. The adventures that they encountered were well developed by the lies they told to get by. Huck went by more names than I can remember. Part of the imagination that he has must have been developed in Mark Twain’s previous novel, Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I did not read that but I think it would have helped to give me a better background on who Huck is. There was a very quick character development in this book and I feel like I missed something.
One thing that stood out to me throughout this book is the superstitions that the people believed in. Even the “Christian” people had strong superstitions and believed in spirits and witches. There was a strong superstitious belief among the slaves as well. Part of this comes from the illiteracy and ignorance of the people. The slaves were definitely uneducated, but even the common person was very un-learned. Huck heard stories about historical characters when he went to school. That was only for a very short amount of time and so he mixed them up a lot. There is one part where he talks about Henry VIII and confuses him with the Arabian Prince that is subject to the Thousand and One Nights. Also he accuses Henry VIII of being responsible for he Boston Tea Party. These of course are just mix-ups in a young boys mind.
With the low level of education comes a different set of moral beliefs. This book is set in the time of slavery and it is prevalent. At one point Huck feels guilty for helping to set a slave free. He also becomes confused when Tom Sawyer (who he catches up with late in the book) agrees to help him set Jim free. In the end of the book we find that Jim was already set free in the will of his owner and so Tom really is not infringing on his beliefs. In Huck’s eyes Tom is a good boy and would never do something as horrid as helping a slave get free.
The mindset of people that were slave owners was very different from those that weren’t. This is a good lesson in understanding what brought about the civil war and why the South would fight to keep slaves. They had no moral dilemmas with owning a slave. This book brings about many questions and thoughts and a lot can be said about it. Personally I didn’t care for Mark Twain’s style of writing. The entire book was written in southern-boy-dialect and was difficult to get the hang of. Eventually I was able to make it through and learned a lot from it. It is a classic that everyone should read. Mostly because it will help one understand slave owners and the people of that time period. It makes history a whole lot clearer.