Prince Caspian

I just finished reading the fourth book in the Chronicles of Narnia aloud to my daughter. I love the movies versions of both The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. Though when I've recently read those two books, I've noticed how many differences there are between the books and the movies. But in this case, the differences aren't important because I think the movies capture the spirit and imagination and magic of the books.

I'm excited that we finished Prince Caspian because I know that we'll be able to get through Voyage of the Dawn Treader before the movie comes out this December. Which I'm excited about for more than just the fact that Ben Barnes, who plays Caspian, has a beard in the movie--but that helps.

Movie: Rebecca

When I found out that Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier had been made into a movie by Alfred Hitchcock, I had to check it out. Apparently it won the 1940 Academy Ward for Best Picture. It stars Joan Fontaine as the second Mrs. de Winter and Laurence Olivier as Max de Winter. While looking up details about the movie, I found out that Laurence Olivier also starred as Heathcliff in a 1939 version of Wuthering Heights. Looks like I have another old movie to check out. But I digress.

I liked the movie adaptation of Rebecca. There were many lines taken straight from the book, but it was obviously edited heavily for time's sake. You just can't get a 400 page novel into two hours. Since I felt that some of the middle of the novel was too slow, I liked that. If you like old movies, you'll probably like this one and I recommend it.

***Spoiler Alert***
The biggest changes to the movie made it more palatable for general audiences. Though the narrator loves Maxim no matter that he killed his first wife, it's still hard to swallow as an outsider, even when played by Laurence Olivier. So the movie version had Rebecca's death be an accident with Maxim there and no one would believe him that it was an accident, blah, blah, blah. Easier to forgive an accident than murder though. And the ending was much more dramatic and direct than the book was.

Top Ten Classics

How do you choose the top ten classics of all time? How do you even choose 100?

Well, Penguin Books made a list of their top ten, and of course, they had many people dispute their choices. So they're allowing people to vote for their top ten out of 100 that they chose.

I had a hard time choosing a top ten, and I haven't even read half of their 100 (I've read 46, a book nerd like me could not resist counting). And once I voted, I looked back and noticed books that I hadn't noticed and might have been in contention. Oh well.

Good luck, Penguin Books. There will always be controversy (and publicity!) surrounding any list of classics.

What are your favorite classics?

Review: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is a long book. And apparently a classic turned into a Hitchcock movie (which is waiting for me on hold at the library). I enjoyed it overall. But I found it tedious at times. It was a little melodramatic, a little predictable. But that just might be the genre and writing of the time.

It definitely could have been shortened--the middle bit was much longer than it needed to be. Besides lengthy landscape descriptions, the main character often spent a lot of time imagining how things might happen (and they never do).

The main character marries the much older Maxim de Winter whose first wife, Rebecca, recently died in a suspicious manner. The second Mrs. de Winter (who is never given a first name which drove me crazy because her first name was often alluded to and one of the reasons I finished the book was to find out her first name) is haunted by the memory of beautiful, charming, perfect Rebecca. Drama and intrigue ensues.

I called it predictable even though there were some plot twists that surprised me. But if the creepy housekeeper who adored the first wife and hates you makes a "friendly" suggestion that you have a dress made to look like the one in the painting in the hall for the fancy dress ball--don't do it! It's obvious that Rebecca wore that same dress at one point.

I felt very sorry for the second Mrs. de Winter at times. She is so young and timid. Her husband tells her that he has no problem with firing the creepy housekeeper if she wants. So fire the creepy housekeeper!

I suppose my frustrations with the book show that I ultimately liked it. I would not get so frustrated with a character that I didn't care for. So if you like a "classic tale of romantic suspense," I say go for it.

Censorship and Ratings

Book people tend to get very worked up about the “C” word—okay, I’ll say it: Censorship. We’re against it, no question. And we get very worked up about it: next week is devoted to anti-censorship called Banned Books Week. I love taking time to think about some of the amazing pieces of literature that have been banned through time, and sometimes surprisingly, even today. I encourage you to browse through some of the lists of the most frequently challenged books. One of my favorite books of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird, is near the top of the list.

I recently came across a website that I’d never heard of before. It’s called Rated Reads and its reviewers attempt to give ratings to books similar to movie ratings, including the language, sexual, or violence content. Among a community of book lovers, it’s easy to get worked up about anything that looks like censorship. But along with believing in the right for people to write, publish, and read whatever they want, we sometimes forget that belief includes the right of people to not read something, or to not allow their children to read it, based on its content. (Just so long as they don’t try to stop others from reading it or having access to it.)

I don’t think I would use this site for myself, but I might use it before choosing a book for my church’s book club again (that ended awkwardly the last time because as an English graduate, I’ve apparently become desensitized to content that makes other uncomfortable). And if I haven’t read a book, I might check out a “rating” on it before deciding if my child is old enough to read it or to know if there might be some content that I want to discuss with them.

As an avid reader, I’m more likely to read a book right along with my child to determine its appropriateness, but Rated Reads offers an alternative to those who don’t have the time or inclination. My children will probably hate me for reading their English assigned books along with them in high school, but I plan on doing it anyway. Just to annoy them.

Review: Wide Sargasso Sea

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys explores the character of the mad woman in the attic from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre.

I love Jane Eyre and mostly enjoyed Wide Sargasso Sea. The book helps you sympathize with the mad woman that was Rochester's first wife rather than just seeing her as an obstacle to Jane's happiness. It's also an interesting look at what it means to be crazy and almost, but not quite, asks the question of whether or not being treated like you're crazy can eventually make you crazy.

My one issue with this books was that I was occasionally confused about the point of view. The first section was easy enough to follow, but after that we get a few different characters' points of view, but at times, I wasn't sure who we were following.

You could probably read this book even if you haven't read Jane Eyre. But really, if you're going to read one of these books for the first time, you ought to be choosing Jane Eyre.

By the way, I love the 1996 movie version of Jane Eyre, and while I was looking up that link I found out that they are making another version to be released in 2011. Not sure how I feel about that. I will end of watching it I'm sure, but I'm skeptical. One of the appeals about the 1996 movie was that the actress who played Jane was actually plain; the actress for the upcoming version is far too pretty to be Jane.

Skimming: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

I used to feel like I had to finish any book I started. But these days, my reading time is too precious to spend on something that doesn't catch my attention quickly or promise to be worth my time.

I've wanted to read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver for a long time (her book Poisonwood Bible is one I remember the most from my women's lit class as an undergrad). In it, Kingsolver and her family move to a farm and live off the land. It discusses our culture of food and the benefits of eating locally and organically.

I got it from the library last week, read a couple of paragraphs and then abandoned it. I picked it up again today and skimmed through it. I mostly read the mini essays by Kingsolver's daughter which included recipes and some menu ideas for different seasons.

Even though I didn't finish this book, I'd still recommend it. In fact, I'm recommending it to my future self--it's right back on the TBR list and I'll probably keep my eye out for a used copy so that I can have it on my shelf to pick up and read someday when I have my own house and garden, maybe more money to spend at farmer's markets, or even just my own kitchen again. Since I have no means to make the changes I'd like to with gardening and cooking, I just felt that this was the wrong time for me to invest time in reading this book. But if you're there, definitely read this one. (I think my younger sister Beccah would especially like it.) If you want to dabble before you dive in, check out the website created for the book: AnimalVegetableMiracle.

Review: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman is a book for book people. And maybe for people who want to understand book people.

I was a tiny bit skeptical going into this book because the whole book about books thing can be a bit overdone. You love books? So do I! What more is there to say about it?

But I thoroughly enjoyed every one of Anne's essays. They made me feel not so alone in the world. It's been a few years since I've been in an English Lit class, where almost everyone there is as nerdy about books as you are. Out in the real world, you begin to feel a bit out of place. But reading these essays made me remember that I'm not alone in my bibliophilia. In fact, next to Fadiman's thousands of books, my hundreds look puny. (I might have to remind my husband of that the next time he has to move my hundreds of books--I love you, honey!)

Each of her essays could be a good jumping off place for discussions about books and reading. And since I had no one reading them with me to have these discussions with, this blog might be subjected to a few thoughts that Fadiman's essays stirred up in my mind.

Review: Gregor the Overlander

"Courage only counts when you can count."

Since I read the Hunger Games series, I decided to try out Suzanne Collins's first book: Gregor the Overlander. I found it interesting and entertaining enough, even though I am by no means its intended audience. I'm not about to run out and read the second book in the five book series, but I may pick it up another time when I want something entertaining and easy to read.

Like the Hunger Games series, this series is pretty scary and violent for a YA book. In some ways Gregor the Overlander was even scarier to me, probably because of my fear of spiders of any size, let alone enormous ones. I was more freaked out than any ten year old when the huge spiders chased Harry Potter and I spent a couple of years dreading the enormous spider from the Lord of the Rings (because I anticipated it in the second movie, but it didn't arrive until the third one).

One moment in this book seemed to echo one of my favorite YA books, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. Compare the two quotes:

“Despair settled like a stone in the pit of Meg’s stomach. She had been so certain that the moment she found her father everything would be alright. Everything would be settled. All the problems would be taken out of her hands. She would no longer be responsible for anything.” - A Wrinkle in Time

"This was the scariest part of all. Gregor had thought he would get a parent back when he found his dad. Then he could stop having to make hard decisions. He could just be a kid." - Gregor the Overlander

Both Meg and Gregor learn a hard lesson early on: your parents can't fix everything, and eventually you have to start making hard decisions for yourself whether your parent is there or not.

A Short Poem

I love local poet and editor Vinnie Kinsella. He says so much in such small bites of poetry. Check out today's offering, I think it's one of my favorites: When I Fall Apart