BLEAK HOUSE

by Charles Dickens



"In Bleak House Dickens presents a critical picture of England in 1853. He condemns the insidious power of a hideous legal system which creeps like London fog into the lives of every character in the book. Dickens ingeniously links characters from all backgrounds from Esther Summerson, an orphan given support by the kindly Mr. Jarndyce, owner of Bleak House, to Lady Dedlock who lives with a secret she can't reveal. Tulkinghorn, the ruthless lawyer, Krook the shopkeeper and Jo, the pathetic crossing-sweeper, are all finely drawn characters that enrich this story of the unravelling of Lady Dedlock's secret by Inspector Bucket, whose appearance in this novel can give it a claim to be the first English detective novel." (From the CD container.)

While in the end I liked Bleak House quite a bit, it is my least favorite of the four Charles Dickens books I've read. The tone is much more A Tale of Two Cities, than, say, Nicholas Nickleby, but that wasn't a problem. A Tale of Two Cities is, after all, my favorite Dickens book so far. My issue was that it took a long time for Bleak House to come together for me. I was having trouble keeping track of characters and what anyone had to do with anything or anybody. Once I started to grasp it all, though, I ended up being just as enthralled with this work as I was with the rest.

I am one of those readers who would rave endlessly about the amazing characters in Dickens' writing. They come to life in a manner that most authors can only wish for. They stay with me when the story is over, and that isn't normal for me. My mind tends to move on to the next book quickly. And being a Dickens newbie, his artful phrasing of words is still a delight for me. I'm very pleased to have many of his books yet to explore.

I have a Teaching Company lecture on this book waiting for me when I get back to my Classic Novels course, so I will be revisiting Bleak House in the future with a more analytical eye. For now, I just wanted to let you know if you can get past the scary size of the thing and push beyond the confusion of so many seemingly unrelated characters and events in the beginning, it is worth it in the end.



Other Charles Dickens related posts on Books 'N Border Collies:

A Christmas Carol
Nicholas Nickleby
A Tale of Two Cities

A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN

by James Joyce



"Follow along with Stephen Dedalus, an exuberant Irish boy, as he grows into manhood. Throughout his childhood and youth he alternates painfully between the demanding religious beliefs he is taught and troubling periods of doubt. Finally as an adult, firm in his own view of nature and himself, he steps out into the world to take on the solitary life of an artist." (From the CD container.)

When I decided to tackle James Joyce's Ulysses, I chose to listen to the audio version. It turned out to be the perfect way for me to experience that book for the first time. When I moved on to A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, I assumed audio would serve my purposes here also. I was wrong.

With the plethora philosophical musings that occur in this little novel, I needed to be reading the physical book. I thought all was going well until I would hear something intriguing and I would suddenly realize I had no idea what was going on or what anyone was talking about. Or even who the people were that were carrying on the conversation! This occurred a number of times, which is not normal for me when listening to books. I don't think it's because the work itself is terribly confusing. How could it be more confusing than Ulysses? I think it's simply that this one did not work in this format for me. There was too much to think about.

I did not consult a reader's guide either, a decision which served to compound my error. I'm sad about that because I really, really liked what I did manage to glean from listening, which lead to my repeatedly pondering one concept at length while missing the next two scenes. I made a mess out of this one, and I have every intention of coming back to it sooner than later -- next time with the book in my hand and the reader's guide close by!

ULYSSES

by James Joyce



According to Jack Murnighan, author of Beowulf on the Beach, and I'm paraphrasing here, James Joyce was far too intelligent for his own good and puts it on gaudy display in Ulysses to the point where he might be the only one who actually gets all the jokes. I have no reason on earth to dispute that conclusion. Thankfully, my goal was not to understand the book, but to get a feel for it. I wanted to have a "big picture" when I was finished and an idea as to whether or not I would like to potentially revisit the book in more detail sometime in the future or if a passing familiarity is good enough. I've waffled between both of those answers a number of times during the book, but I believe I will ultimately come back to Ulysses in the future. It's a weird piece of work, no doubt about it. However, even though large portions of it were lost on me, I think I can see why it has attained the place it has in the world of literature. It will never be my favorite classic, but I respect it. And if the truth be told, I liked it in a currently-inexpressible kind of way.

It was a lot like reading The Faerie Queene in that I had times of complete lucidity and I was thinking, "Wow! This is really good!" Then all of a sudden I was mired in long passages where I had no clue at all what was going on. As long as I stayed focused on my goal of "the big picture", I was good. I do admit to serious frustration during some of the more difficult chapters. Remember the episode of I Love Lucy when she went to work in the chocolate factory?



That was how I felt sometimes. The thing was just getting away from me. But then the chapter (aka "Episode") would be over, I'd read more Sparknotes, I'd get a fresh grip, and I did okay. My method was to read the Sparknotes for an Episode before the actual book so I had a preview of what it was about. That was the correct way for me to handle it. It gave me the ability to pick up bits of the story even in the midst of utter confusion.

It's difficult to know what to say about Ulysses, what other potential readers may be curious about. In light of that, here are a few of the random notes I jotted during the reading:

Do you ever starting thinking about one thing, then minutes later you're thinking about something completely different and wonder how on earth you got to that subject? Ulysses is just like that!

Keeping track as well as you can of which parts of The Odyssey Ulysses is paralleling does help with the more difficult episodes. They didn't make a ton more sense, but at least I felt I could understand why they were presented in the manner they were. The Sparknotes Reading Guide was very helpful with this.

(Thoughts From Episode Six: Hades) I loved all the distracted thoughts during the funeral! Unless the deceased is someone close, I'll bet that's what's going on in most of our brains during funeral services.

I didn't realize that Ulysses was written in so many different styles. For example, I knew about the stream-of-consciousness aspect that permeates the entire work, but there is one episode written in a manner that follows the development of the English language beginning with early English and ending with what at the time was modern slang. Another is written entirely in "question and answer" format.

If any of you have a question about reading Ulysses, please ask! I'll answer the best I can. This was the book I feared above all others, and maybe I can make it a bit less scary for other readers. Maybe. :-)

MADAME BOVARY

by Gustave Flaubert



"Emma Bovary, the beautiful young wife of a French country doctor, yearns for romance with such fervor that she is willing to risk anything for its magic. Bored by her provincial life and the clumsy attentions of her husband, she is drawn toward a more sophisticated world, developing desire that will ultimately command a terrible price." (From the CD container)

Madame Bovary reminded me a lot of Anna Karenina, even though it's been many years since I read the latter. Like 20 or there about. I would be willing to bet there have been reams of scholarly papers produced comparing Emma and Anna. I'd like to go back and read Anna Karenina again with Madame Bovary in mind.

That little observation aside, I have to say I was not bowled over by Madame Bovary. Somewhat like when I read Wuthering Heights, I thought Flaubert's writing was absolutely gorgeous, but I didn't care for a single character. I didn't detest them all the way I did Heathcliff and company. I simply didn't have any feelings for them, good or bad. Except maybe for Emma. I thought she was a whiny simpleton whom I badly wanted to slap on numerous occasions. (I am detecting anger management issues. Hmmmm . . . ) Yes, I am aware that I completely lack that girl-bonding thing that drives women to feel empathy with Emma Bovary and many other classic heroines. I need to work on that.

THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA

by Philip Roth



"What if Charles A. Lindbergh, a noted isolationist and anti-semite, had defeated Franklin Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential election?

When aviation hero Lindbergh wins on the Republican ticket, fear sweeps across America and into the homes of every Jewish family. In Newark, the Roths wonder what Lindbergh as president will mean to them. Before being elected, he had publicly lambasted the Jews for selfishly championing the war against Nazi Germany -- and now he's agreed to a 'nonaggression' policy with Hitler. Things take an even darker turn when all Jewish American communities are targeted for separation and relocation." (From the CD container)

The Plot Against America made me uneasy, because parts of it reminded me of things that were seen and heard during the last presidential election. If someone believes things like this could not happen in our more enlightened modern society, he or she may have to think again after reading this book.

As seems to be the case with most of Roth's work, the obvious concept is not the only one at work in the novel. The Plot Against America is often less about politics and more about overcoming personal fears, about the dynamics of family and community, about helping those who are in need no matter your own situation. If you've never read Philip Roth, this would be a good place to start.

WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS

by J.M. Coetzee



"I should never have allowed the gates of the town to be opened to people who assert that there are higher considerations than those of decency." Waiting For The Barbarians, p. 79.

"Set in an isolated outpost on the edge of a great Empire, Waiting for the Barbarians is a startling allegory of the war between the oppressor and the oppressed. The Magistrate, the novel's fascinating narrator, has been a loyal servant of the Empire, running the affairs of the frontier settlement, dabbling in antiquarianism, and ignoring constant reports of a threat from the "barbarians" who inhabit the uncharted deserts beyond the village. But when military personnel arrive with captured barbarians, he becomes witness to a cruel and unjust defense of the Empire." (From the front flap of the Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century edition)

Wow. I'm not even sure what to say about this one. It is something of a coincidence that I read this during the current torture controversies, especially concerning the ethical message of who we, the U.S., are as a country. That was on my mind the entire time I was reading and made many of the scenes and discoveries in the text that much more penetrating.

I can't say that I fully understood the more subtle aspects of Waiting for the Barbarians, but it was a stealthily provoking story even if one only skims the surface. I will be contemplating a later visit to the murkier depths.

THE GOLDEN ASS

by Lucius Apuleius



"Apuleius's The Golden Ass is a unique, entertaining, and thoroughly readable Latin novel--the only work of fiction in Latin to have survived from antiquity. It tells the story of the hero Lucius, whose curiosity and fascination for sex and magic results in his transformation into an ass. After suffering a series of trials and humiliations, he is ultimately returned to human shape by the kindness of the goddess Isis. Simultaneously a blend of romantic adventure, fable, and religious testament, The Golden Ass is one of the truly seminal works of European literature, of intrinsic interest as a novel in its own right, and one of the earliest examples of the picaresque." (Description from Amazon.com)

I'm not a connoisseur of ancient literature, but I had fun with this one! Many stories were ribald and silly, but many were familiar myths that were cool to read in the context of this larger piece of work. There were even some good lessons in ethics given in a manner reminiscent of Aesop's Fables.

Because I know I have trouble sticking to things like this, I decided to tackle it via DailyLit. That turned out to be an excellent plan! The style of multiple embedded narratives (remember "embedded narratives" from our Class Notes?) made this a perfect candidate for those bite-size chunks of morning reading before work.

AMERICAN PASTORAL

by Philip Roth



"Growing up, Seymore has to deal with the violent history of his country's background. Being a laid-back, local sports star and all-around great guy, he is unhappy when the war sweeps him and his family into complete chaos." (From the CD container)

American Pastoral has so many themes running through it that what the reader takes from this book will be highly influenced by what is going on in his or her life at the time it is read. At this moment in time, what I kept thinking about was our celebrity-worshipping society and how we idolize and expect so much from them. Then, when their lives are exposed as less than perfect, or worse, we're nearly giddy with excitement watching their fall from grace in every form of media we can get our sensation-loving paws on.

I'm going to stop there, because I feel a soapbox rant coming on if I continue with that thought. However, that is certainly not all this book as to offer. It forces thoughts about war and caring what happens to people and places far from you. It wants to know who is responsible when a child turns out bad and if we can make other people happy or if true happiness is really only found within ourselves. Not enough to think about? Good. Because there is more. A lot more. This is a thinker's novel, and it will keep you busy with philosophical questions for days.

CHOKE

by Chuck Palahniuk



"Victor Mancini, a medical school dropout, finds a way to pay for his mother's medical care. He pretends to choke on food at high class restaurants, allowing other customers to save him. He then convinces his rescuers to send support money to him. When he's not unleashing his scam, he goes to sexual addiction recovery meetings in search of his next conquest. It's all a far cry from his day job at a theme park." (From the CD container)

Excellent isn't the right word, but it's the first word that comes to mind. The problem is that I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this book to anyone. Choke is ridiculous, crude, highly offensive, and hilarious. This book will flat-out disgust a lot of readers, and I'm not sure what it says about me that I enjoyed it so much. The only other book I've read by Palahniuk is Snuff so I'm not sure if all his books are loaded with repulsive sex references and foul language, but the two I read were. And I liked them both quite a bit! Weird. Maybe when you're bombarded with it from the opening scenes, it becomes transparent and you focus on the emotional desperation and absurdity of the situations rather than what is actually being done and said.

What gave the book extra depth was an explanation from the author regarding how he came up with the idea for the book. This section is not in the print version I have but is on the audiobook. Listening to the story of his sex addicted sister-in-law, the murder of his father and his search for reason in the aftermath, I saw Choke in a completely different light. I'm surprised Palahniuk writes at all, scandalously or otherwise, and is not an inmate with a padded room somewhere.

I will without doubt be reading more Chuck Palahniuk in the future. I would tell you to read him, too, but I don't want to be responsible for the outcome. Go ahead and give Choke a shot it you're feeling crazy and don't offend easily, but don't say I didn't warn you! ;-)

THE HEART OF THE MATTER

by Graham Greene



"Scobie is a highly principled police officer in a war-torn West African state. When he is passed over for a promotion he is forced to borrow money to send his despairing wife away on holiday. In her absence he falls hopelessly in love with Helen, a young widow, and his life is transformed by the experience. With a duty to repay his debts, and an inability to distinguish between love, pity and responsibility, to others and to God, Scobie moves inexorably to his final damnation." (from the CD container)

As I was listening to this book, I had the oddest sensation of tranquilly watching a semi-turbulent stream flow by. I don't know if it was the reader, the writing or a combination of both, but there was a dream-like aspect of watching poor Major Henry Scobie desperately wrestling with his conscience.

The Heart of the Matter is a beautiful, sad book. Not in a heart-wrenching way, but you find yourself feeling sorry for the well-meaning Scobie whose only real desire is to live a quiet life. And now you've fallen into the trap, because one of the themes in the novel is how pity for others, as opposed to compassion, is a destructive form of pride. It gives one pause to consider the true, underlying motivations and possible outcomes of actions we think are benevolent.

I was also drawn into Scobie's problems with religion. He claims to not believe, but then intellectually torments himself over things such as consequences for going to mass and communion with his wife while claiming to not believe in them and the Catholic views on adultery, divorce and suicide.

This is only my second Graham Greene novel, but it has fueled my desire to read many, if not all, of his others. He has a mesmerizing way with words, making simple statements that mask the deep complexity of characters and scenes. I'm going to enjoy working my way through his bibliography.

SURVIVAL IN AUSCHWITZ

by Primo Levi



"[B]ecause the Lager was a great machine to reduce us to beasts, we must not become beasts; that even in this place one can survive, and therefore one must want to survive, to tell the story, to bear witness; and that to survive we must force ourselves to save at least the skeleton, the scaffolding, the form of civilization. We are slaves, deprived of every right, exposed to every insult, condemned to certain death, but we still possess one power, and we must defend it with all our strength for it is the last - the power to refuse our consent." (p. 41)

Primo Levi was at the German death camp of Auschwitz for ten months, and that was the advice given to him from another prisoner when he was teetering on the brink of giving up hope. Survival In Auschwitz is the story of the survival of both his body and his humanity. It does not dwell on the deaths, the gas chambers and ovens. It shows the reader how he and a number of others endured sickness and deprivation, cheated "selections", and sometimes just through sheer "dumb luck" lived to tell their own stories.

I will let the quote stand alone as a testament to the heart, soul and courage you will find in the pages of this remarkable memoir.

THE POISONWOOD BIBLE

by Barbara Kingsolver



"The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them all they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it -- from garden seeds to Scripture -- is calamitously transformed on African soil." (From the CD container)

I really liked this book. The telling of the story from multiple perspectives is almost always a technique I enjoy, and it is done wonderfully here. Each took away very different lessons from her experiences in Africa, and I loved being able to see close-up how each was changed as those experiences were interpreted and reinterpreted as time passed.

I found one of the most memorable scenes to be when Nathan is arguing Biblical translation and interpretation with the former missionary of the village, Brother Fowles. Not only was it interesting in light of my recent reading of Misquoting Jesus, but the way Brother Fowles was able to relate Bible passages to native spiritual beliefs of the Congolese was breathtaking. It gave me a unique and beautiful perspective to consider next time I am reading it.

Like Dances with Wolves, this was one of those book that made me want to scrub the white from my skin so I didn't have to associate myself with the people and politics of Western culture that participate in the exploitation that so devastates other countries and cultures. I love the way of life I am blessed to be able to live in America, but does that mean it's the way everyone should live? Just because I like it doesn't make it a good idea.

WUTHERING HEIGHTS

by Emily Brontë



"In this classic romance, Heathcliff, a young destitute boy, is brought to the home of Mr. Earnshaw, on the Yorkshire moors. As Heathcliff grows, and slowly falls in love with Mr. Earnshaw's daughter, Catherine, he begins a series of events that will have implications for generations to come." (From the CD container)

Here are my honest initial reactions: The writing is absolutely gorgeous and kept me going long after I decided I despised every person in this book. The whole lot of them are a study in the worst kind of dysfunction. Heathcliff is an unhinged ass, and why this character is ever loved and described as a hero is beyond my comprehension, Catherine embodies everything I abhor in spoiled, self-centered women, and their children elicited no more sympathy in me than did their parents. As a good friend said the other day, I need at least one character I can cheer for in order for me to really like a book. There were none here.

Now that I got that out of my system . . . :-) I listened to Wuthering Heights at this time because it was available at the library, and I thought to get a jump on some of the reading for my Teaching Company course. It is probably at least a month or two in the future, but I can't wait to get to the section on this book! I'm curious to see how my opinion is molded by a good lecture on its merits. I can feel in my bones that it will be, because while I couldn't stand any of the characters, I was still enthralled with the story. Why is that? I wonder if I should listen to the lectures out of order. . . . No. I'll mull it over on my own for a while.

In the meantime, have you read Wuthering Heights? What was your gut reaction to it?

2009 1% Well-Read Challenge

Yay! With all the classics I'm reading this year for my "classes", this should be a breeze! There are three choices for participation, and I'm going for Option Three: Thirteen books from the combined lists of the original and 2008 editions of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. So, will that make me 1.3% well-read? :-) I won't make my list now but will fill it in as I go along.

Complete: 13/13 as of Aug. 10, 2009
**FINISHED**

1. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
2. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
3. The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene
4. Survival In Auschwitz by Primo Levi (Original title: If This Is A Man)
5. Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
6. American Pastoral by Philip Roth
7. The Golden Ass by Lucius Apuleius
8. Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee
9. The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
10. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
11. Ulysses by James Joyce
12. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
13. Bleak House by Charles Dickens


Check out the rules and sign yourself on up here.