Book Kaleidoscope 2014 - Day 1: Top Five Book Boy Friends

This is the first day of Book Kaleidoscope 2014, the rewinding of bookish aspects of books we have read this year. I did not find many perfect heroes this year; most of the male protagonists were average. So, these are five of my best picks for book boyfriends, and the actors who best played (or will best play) them:

#5.  Edward Ferrars

in

Sense and Sensibility

Okay, maybe Edward Ferrars is not a distinguished fiction character. I admitted that he is here, more, because Dan Stevens plays him in the 2008 mini-series adaptation…! *blushing* But an ordinary man as he is, Edward has quite an interesting side—quietly interesting. Edward is not ambitious, but honorable. What distinguished him is his principle to be fair and good to others. He is willing to sacrifice his own happiness (to marry Elinor) because of his promise to Lucy. He doesn’t seem quite strong, however he is brave enough to disobey his mother and reject fortune. Shy, honorable, brave, humble; just an interesting combination in a boyfriend, eh?

Dan Stevens (2008 – TV miniseries)

#4.  Mr. Rochester

in

Jane Eyre

I don’t think I would have liked Jane Eyre if there was no Mr. Rochester! Now this is an eccentric man with strong personality, whom you could hardly forget if he ever… ehm… enters your life. Edward Rochester is not handsome, but has a vigorous and temperamental character. His morality was perhaps a bit loose, but he does not hesitate to sacrifice his life when others are in danger. He could be a better man if his past don’t overshadow his youth, but sometimes, a rebellious man is more attractive than a perfect one…as a boyfriend at least. Do you agree? ;)

Toby Stephens (2006 – TV miniseries)

#3  Uncas

in

The Last of the Mohicans

Uncas is an Indian native from Mohicans tribe. He is not the main protagonist, and though the number of his dialogs is not significant (you know how little Indians talk!), yet the power of his soul covered the whole story. He is brave, honest, pure-hearted; and as a man, he is tender and attentive. Uncas loves without a need to express it—he is very shy—but once he loved a woman, he would give his life to protect her, without slightest doubt. And without slightest doubt, a man with Uncas’ quality would be a great boy friend; if not husband. Do you agree? ;)

Eric Schweig as Uncas (1992)

#2.  Philip Carey

in

Of Human Bondage

Thanks to Maugham’s vivid portrayal of this character, I felt like I have known Philip for years. Although I disliked him at first, my fondness for him grew while he was developing throughout the story. Philip might not be a very pleasant friend to have, but you can’t resist loving him. Deep down, he is a loving man; he is easily touched by his friends’ sorrows, and he gives helps even when he is in difficulty. The problem is, he has suffered too much from lack of affection and humiliation, that he always creates invisible walls to protect himself from being hurt. Philip would be one of the best boyfriends you’d like to have after he got through al his obstacles! Though Of Human Bondage has been adapted into movies before, I would love to watch Eddie Redmayne as Philip. Actually, during the reading, I was always imagining Philip as Redmayne! :)

Redmayne as Philip Carey...what do you think?

....and the award goes to.....

#1.  Lawrence Selden

in

The House of Mirth

In Selden I found most of the qualities I like in a real man. He is a representation of balance and stability. There is no exaggerating in his manner or mind; he is not too kind, nor he is too sensitive or ambitious. He is distinguished because of his self-possession; he knows what’s best for him, and cannot be dictated by the society to do otherwise. But the most important is, Selden can understand Lily Bart very well, and can guide her. He never forces her to love him, but always be there for her. Who can resist this kind of man? And that’s why I crowned him as my….

Eric Stoltz as Selden (2000)

So, who are yours? Share in the linky below!

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Merry Christmas 2014!

History Reading Challenge 2014 – Wrap Up

The year 2014 nearly comes to its end…..and so does our sail to the past: History Reading Challenge 2014. This post is my final harbor where I would disembark to the present time. For you who is still catching us up, take your time, the linky will still be opened for at least 18 more days (from the date of this post). You are not required to do a wrap up post, but doing one would be very good to let us know how you have enjoyed our sail.

For my part, I have completed all six books I have intended to read:

Roman Lives by Plutarch

Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician by Anthony Everitt

The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon

The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown

Surprisingly, I have enjoyed all of them; especially Cicero, Decline and Fall, Professor and Madman, and Bury My Heart. Roman Lives were a bit tedious, but as I love the topic, I enjoyed it nevertheless. The Prince was very interesting; I have even had a good time analyzing it for my WEM project.

In short, every history I have read was a blissful moment for me. I didn’t really expect to love history after this challenge; my first intention was to encourage myself to learn to like history, but I ended up loving it! So, I am very grateful for doing this challenge in the first place, and I also want to thank you all who have been taking this journey with me. It’s been a fun year of challenge!

Don’t forget, there will be two giveaways at the end of the challenge. I decided to extend the deadline for submitting reviews and analysis to January 4^th, 2015. I will pick two winners randomly on the 5th. For all of you, who have not posting your reviews and or analysis, please do it when there is still time.

UPDATE

The two winners of the giveaways are:

1. Listra (for review post no. 39 - on linky)

2. Ruth (for analysis post no. 6 - on linky)

Congrats for both winners!

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Last but not least, please share your feelings about this challenge, and books you have read!

Back to the Classics Challenge 2015

I hope this would be the last reading challenge I’d participate in 2015! No more temptation, please… Being one of my most favorite reading challenges so far, this time I decided to follow all categories (twelve) for Karen’s Back to the Classics Challenge 2015. Fortunately, I will be reading so many classics next year for my own Literary Movement Challenge anyway, so it’s not too hard to cross-list it with this challenge. I believe next year would be so much fun, and I can’t hardly wait! Yay…

The rules are here, and here are my choices:

1. A 19th Century Classic – Far from a Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
2. A 20th Century Classic – Howards End by E.M. Forster
3. A Classic by a Woman Author – Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 
4. A Classic in Translation – Père Goriot by Honore de Balzac
5. A Very Long Classic Novel – Bleak House by Charles Dickens 
6. A Classic Novella – The Stranger by Albert Camus
7. A Classic with a Person's Name in the Title – Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
8. A Humorous or Satirical Classic – The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde 
9. A Forgotten Classic – The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas
10. A Nonfiction Classic – The Dreyfus Affair: J’Accuse and Other Writings by Émile Zola
11. A Classic Children's Book – Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift  
12. A Classic Play – Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe

Would you participate too?

Little House on the Prairie

I remember…. When I was a child, our family lived in a rented house, and our television was still monochrome. Every Sunday afternoon we (me, my mom, and dad) would sit calmly in front of our TV, and excitedly waiting for one familiar theme song, and the scene of a prairie with its long grass, where from afar came a little girl with her dog ran across. Yes, it was the famous TV series of Little House on the Prairie. It was my family’s favorite, and it always sent warmth to my heart to see one family that was bound together by love and kindness. Thirty years after, I still remember that scene, that exciting anticipation, that theme song, and that warm feeling, all over again while reading the original book at last.

Little House on the Prairie (number three) is one of eight Little House series Laura Ingalls wrote about her childhood as pioneer in the 19^th century. It covers the period when the Ingallses move from the “Big Woods” of Wisconsin to Indian Territory of Kansas. Pa Charles Ingalls has received information that the government would soon open settlement for the whites, and so he immediately packs their belongings on the wagon, takes a long way to Kansas, and finally settles on the prairie before anybody else, so they can pick the best part. The family (Pa Charles, Ma Caroline, Mary, Laura, and baby Carrie) must start all over again to have a comfortable home. Laura tells us in details how his father builds their log house literally alone, the stable, and the furniture, and is only occasionally helped by their neighbors: Mr. Edwards and Mr. Scott.

Throughout the book Laura describes beautifully how she sees the prairie’s nature. My favorite scene is the nightingale song; it’s so serene and majestic! But their life is not always peaceful; there were the wolves which scare them at night. But the more dangerous is the presence of the Indians. Pa Ingalls’ confidence proves to be wrong; the land where they have built the house is actually the Osage tribe’s reservation. After reading how the Indians have been cruelly treated by the whites at Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, it was interesting to read about them from the white settlers’ perspective.

There are mixed feelings among the pioneers. Mr and Mrs Scott seem to believe “the only good Indian is the dead Indian”. Ma and Mr. Edwards might not be that strict, but they dislike the Indians very much. Only Pa is sensible enough to try to make good relationship with them. At one occasion, he even sits and smokes with an Indian in front of the fireplace. And the Indian then saved them when other Indian tribes want to harm the whites. In the end of the chapter about the horrible war cry of the Indians, which makes everybody sleepless at night, Laura tells us that ‘no matter what Mr. Scott said, Pa did not believe that the only good Indian was a dead Indian’.

I too have mixed feelings about this book. Had I read this in childhood, it might have been my favorite, and I would have praised it very high. But, as an adult, and because I have just read an awful history of the Indians and the whites, well… in the end I was troubled as much as I was entertained by this book. Pa Ingalls is kind enough to not make the Indians his enemy, but on the other hand he is just the same as those white settlers, who, knowing that they have settled on an Indian Territory, still claim the land as theirs. They just don’t want to think about the Indians; it’s enough that they don’t harm their families.

Laura’s discussion with her Pa echoed my thought:

Pa: “White people are going to settle all this country, and we get the best land because we get here first and take our pick. Now do you understand?”
Laura: “Yes Pa. But, Pa, I thought this was Indian Territory. Won’t it make the Indians mad to have to—“
Pa: “No more questions, Laura. Go to sleep.”

The way Pa sharply interrupts Laura’s phrase only shows that his conscience actually troubles him, but he shuts it up to justify his decision to settle there. He knows that it is only rumors that the government will open settlement, but he hurries up there in order to get the best land. It is only another proof how the whites are greedy by nature, although some of them are good and kind-hearted as Charles Ingalls.

But…. enough of the dark atmosphere of human injustice! Let’s talk about love, because (almost) throughout the book, Laura always speaks about love; the warmth of family life. I admire Mr. Edwards, their bachelor neighbor, who on Christmas day takes troubles within the thick freezing snow, only to get to the city’s store to buy presents for Mary and Laura. How sweet and touching is that scene! The Christmas spirit is really there….

And for all that…. I granted four stars for Little House on the Prairie.

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I read Harper Trophy (Harper Collins) paperback edition

This book is counted as:

13^th book for 2014 TBR Pile Challenge

83^rd book for The Classics Club Project

3^rd book for Twelve Months of Classic Literature 2014: freebie (Children Lit)

Back to the Classics 2014 - Wrap-Up

DONE!  Back To The Classics 2014 (by Karen)

Required:

• A 20th Century Classic: Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
• A 19th Century Classic: Nana by Émile Zola
• A Classic by a Woman Author: The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
• A Classic in Translation: Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
• A Wartime Classic: The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper 
• A Classic by an Author Who Is New To You: The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

Optional Categories:

For the optionals, I only picked these three categories (of five), as the other two do not fit my reading schedule for 2014.

• An American Classic: Tender is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• A Classic That's Been Adapted Into a Movie or TV Series: Greyfriars Bobby by Eleanor Atkinson
• Extra Fun Category:  Write a Review of the Movie or TV Series adapted from Optional Category #4: The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby (2005)

Thanks to Karen for this challenge, and I am really anticipating the next year challenge announcement soon!

Jane Eyre: Final Review

After Wuthering Heights about three years ago, this year I finally got a chance to read another Brontë’s. Charlotte’s Jane Eyre was definitely more enjoyable than Emily’s WH, but I think WH was more intriguing than JE. From the books, we could recognize the different personalities of both sisters; Emily is more passionate, while Charlotte is much reserved. As Jane Eyre has been taken as Charlotte’s autobiographical novel, we can assume Jane’s voice is Charlotte’s own voice.

Jane Eyre is an orphan who is adopted by her uncle, Mr. Reed. After he died, Mrs. Reed dislikes her, and with her children, treats Jane with hostility of being so sensible for a child her age. Jane is quite relieved when she goes to a charity school of Lowood Institute. But there she is also tortured by the poor accommodation. She endures it however, and even becomes a teacher for several years, before finally leaves it forever when she gets a job as governess in Thorfield hall.

Thornfield Hall belongs to an eccentric landlord, Mr. Rochester—Jane’s pupil is his ward. Mr. Rochester lived alone in his big house with the housekeeper, Mrs. Fairfax, and his ward, Adele. Even if you haven’t read this book, you would guess that soon the master and the governess would fall in love to each other. When there is a love story, there must be an obstacle to their relationship. Firstly, their age difference and their social status; but love is more sensible than social laws.

But then, it is revealed that Mr. Rochester is actually still married to his lunatic wife, whom he has secretly been hiding on the house’ attic. This fact gives the couple an immense blow. Mr. Rochester might think that he is eligible to marry another woman, as his present wife is practically lifeless. But to a sensible girl like Jane Eyre, who is a reverend’s daughter and has been educated in strict Christian morality, to become a married man’s mistress is not possible. So she runs away from Thornfield Hall, from happiness, and from her dear Mr. Rochester, to avoid degradation and humiliation. Is that the end of the story? Of course not, Charlotte then takes us to follow Jane’s new life. Whether she will or will not meet Mr. Rochester again, is a question you must keep in your mind while reading on this book to the end. I won’t give you any spoiler, if you have not read it. :)

To me, Jane Eyre is rather dull, especially when Mr. Rochester was absent, or have not yet appeared (in the first part). It is perhaps typical of Victorian women’s character of narration: emotionless and submissive. Or maybe it’s Charlotte’s own personality which was reflected to this story. Either way, I remembered that I have almost thought to put this book down, when Mr. Rochester appeared. Then, this book was not so colorless as before. He is so vigorous and full of energy, that the pace of second part suddenly felt much faster than before. Jane Eyre too, seems to become more alive everytime she converse with Rochester. Their dialogues are always witty, and are actually the best part of the book!

In Jane Eyre, I sensed the struggle of balancing the freedom (for happiness) and the principle (of conscience). In marriage, unlike most Victorian women, Jane seeks love, because marriage without love can’t guarantee her happiness. That’s why she refused St. John Rivers’ proposal, despite of the honor and security he can provide. If Jane could not marry Rochester, and won’t marry other men whom she doesn’t love, what would she get? Yes, she is now a quite rich woman, but I think not that rich that she can support her entire life without having to work. For a woman in that era, I believe this is a difficult choice. But Jane takes it confidently. Maybe this is what the readers see as early feminism: the courage to be herself; to follow her own principle, and not to bow down to the customs.

[spoiler alert] Actually, the feminism theory could be justified if the story ends up there. However, when Charlotte made Rochester fell completely (physically as well as mentally), to open a way of bringing a happy ending to this love story, then I began questioning whether Charlotte saw feminism as woman overpowering man. Is that what she really thought? Of course we would never know, and we would be wondering over and over again, what this novel is really about. Maybe….this is, after all, just about the power of love and a struggle of a woman….

Three and a half stars for Jane Eyre.

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I read Penguin Red Classics paperback edition

This book is counted as:

2^nd book for Twelve Months of Classic Literature:2014 (Victorian Lit)

82^nd book for The Classics Club Project

80^th book for 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die