Frankenstein

I thought I would entertain myself after that wretchedly depressing Graham Greene novel with a little horror. Frankenstein might not have been the ideal choice. The horror movies of today have NOTHING on the Gothic horror novels of the 19th century. It's not about blood and guts, it's not about shock value--it's about life. Frankenstein is a scientist driven by his passions to create life from death. However, he never bothered to think about what would happen once he succeeded. Didn't he realize he would have a giant ugly monster walking around?? What the hell did he think would happen?? If you play God, you have to also play the father; you have to take responsibility for your actions. Frankenstein left his monster to his own devices--left him to figure the world out on his own, without a guide; without a parent.

Since this is a horror novel, the price for Frankenstein's neglect has to be grave. So tons of people are killed and Frankenstein has to feel the losses one by one until he can no longer withstand the tremendous amount of grief and guilt sustained with each one. It's not so much diverting as it is really freaking sad.

"Thus not the tenderness of friendship, nor the beauty of earth, nor of heaven, could redeem my soul from woe; the very accents of love were ineffectual. I was encompassed by a cloud which no beneficial influence could penetrate. The wounded deer dragging its fainting limbs to some untrodden brake, there to gaze upon the arrow which had pierced it, and to die, was but a type of me." -Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

That being said, it's a very well-written novel, and very well paced. And the lessons are laid out pretty clear for the reader: Curiosity killed the cat; be careful what you wish for; with great power comes great responsibility!

Next on the list: Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain. I might at least get a laugh out of this one!

I Heart Huckleberry

I finally finished The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Well, I actually finished it a few weeks ago but just haven't gotten around to blogging about it! Anyway, like I mentioned in my last post about Huck, I really admire the main character, although his good qualities are often hidden away by the funny accent and the overbearing supporting characters. His consistent moral attitude and his desire to do the right thing is truly a wonderful thing to see in someone so young. But he's not your typical hero. He believes himself stupid and unlearned when in fact he quotes history and language books all throughout the novel. He also does what he feels is right in his heart even though he knows society decrees it will eventually lead to his eternal damnation.

I also found it hilarious that the character of Tom Sawyer--Huck's hero--is built up to be this amazing, courageous and inventive kid but who is in fact a young man seeking attention and greatness by inventing ridiculously complicated boneheaded schemes. He's laugh riot!

Another great character is the superstitious but noble ex-slave Jim. And his friendship with Huck is such a beautiful thing to see unravel through their crazy adventures together. This friendship is a great example of Huck following his heart; society dictates that black people at that time were slaves and should be nothing more than that to the white man. But Huck gets to know Jim and comes to appreciate his company so much that when Jim is captured Huck risks everything to try and save him (with the--one could call it "help"?--of Tom Sawyer that is!).

Next on the list: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Not sure this one is gonna end as well as Huck...

The Adventures of Lhiadan Raghnall

I came, I saw, I conquered. And by conquered I mean I completed my first long, serious voice program in France. It was quite an experience. Being away from home was easier than I thought it would be, and coming back was harder than I thought it would be. But, honestly, I'm so happy to be amongst my Montreal friends and family and to be starting my first semester of my Master's program.


While I was away I actually didn't do much reading at all, which was a little shocking to me. But I already blamed this, and I still do, on the lack of a reading routine in Europe. Normally I read in the metro (hence "Metro Reader") and there ain't no metro in Périgord, France.


I did complete Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene (review to come) and half the short stories in Kurt Vonnegut's Welcome to the Monkey House. Now I'm half-way through The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. It's... good. But it's hard to read sometimes because Twain writes in the southern dialects of his characters Huck, Jim and the many... interesting... characters they meet on the way. I'm not a huge fan of reading phonetically so I can easily lose patience with Huck. Mind you, this is an incredibly smart book and is filled with Twain's usual "nuggets of truth"--the little political speeches given by peripheral characters which profess Twain's own views of things. Some of it is incredibly amusing and for all the crummy grammar and funny accent of little Huck he really is an admirable character and a very decent, intuitive young man. And his friend Jim, a runaway slave, is just awesome.


I shall keep everyone abreast of my reactions to Huck's adventures as they continue. So far my favourite parts of the book are when he cleverly escapes from his dad's cruel clutches, and when the duke recites his version of Hamlet's famous speech "To be or not to be".


Here's a little dialogue between Huck and Jim I thought quite amusing. Jim starts:

"Why, Huck, doan' de French people talk de same way we does?" "No, Jim; you couldn't understand a word they said--not a single word." "Well, now, I be ding-busted! How do dat come?" "I don't know; but it's so. I got some of their jabber out of a book. S'pose a man was to come to you and say Polly-voo-franzy--what would you think?" "I wouldn' think nuffn; I'd take en bust him over de head--dat it, if he warn't white. I wouldn't 'low no nigger to call me dat." "Shucks, it ain't calling you anything. It's only saying, do you know how to talk French." "Well, den, why couldn't he say it?" "Why, he is a-saying it. That's a Frenchman's way of saying it." "Well, it's a blame ridicklous way, en I doan' want to hear no mo' 'bout it. Dey ain' no sense in it." "Looky here, Jim; does a cat talk like we do?" "No, a cat don't." "Well, does a cow?" "No, a cow don't, nuther." "Does a cat talk like a cow, or a cow talk like a cat?" "No, dey don't." "It's natural and right for 'em to talk different from each other, ain't it?" "Course." "And ain't it natural and right for a cat and cow to talk different from us?" "Why, mo' sholy it is." "Well, then, why ain't it natural and right for a Frenchman to talk different from us? You answer me that." "Is a cat a man, Huck?" "No." "Well, den, dey ain't no sense in a cat talkin' like a man. Is a cow a man?--er is a cow a cat?" "No, she ain't either of them." "Well, den, she ain't got no business to talk like either one er the yuther of 'em. Is a Frenchman a man?" "Yes." "Well, den! Dad blame it, why doan' he talk like a man? You answer me dat!"

The Heart of the Matter

I've been very slack in my reading while I've been in Europe. I think this is mostly due to the loss of my reading routine as it relates to public transportation (ie no metro). But I have been steadily getting through one of the books I brought with me which is Graham Greene's novel The Heart of the Matter. Graham Greene actually is one of my favourite authors. An absolute master of words, Greene weaves together the most beautiful lines of prose. His story lines are always extremely well-planned; there is a very steady flow to their development. He explains his characters so well that after only a few lines I feel like I know them inside and out.


My only problem with his novels is that they're kinda depressing. I dislike watching movies and reading books that will depress me so I tend to stay away from drama. I prefer to be entertained!


The Heart of the Matter in particular is a pretty depressive romp of a book. It is about a policeman in a West African colony who is broke and unhappy. He and his wife lost their only child a few years previous and the sting of this loss is ever present. The main character, Scobie, looks at his wife and sees only the damage he feels he has inflicted on her over the years. Mrs. Scobie is actually a more interesting character than her husband gives her credit. But mostly she is just a mother who has lost her child and whatever she was before has been blurred over permanently by the event. The plot itself is all about political intrigue and sexual tension. I'm halfway done now and I think I've been reading so slowly because I'm trying to put off the inevitable shit storm that's going to hit the main character.


I also started The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and I think I'm gonna really love it! I'll finish Greene first though.

Status update: Heart part 2 chapter 3; Huck Finn chapter 7. Continuing Monkey House ever so slowly. I need to ration my Vonnegut!

Welcome to the Monkey House

The only Vonnegut I brought with me on my Europe trip is a book of his short stories called "Welcome to the Monkey House". I'm trying to read it in spurts so I don't run out of Vonnegut too soon (groupie much??). So far the stories range from funny little anecdotal vignettes to full-on heart-racing craziness! One of them, entitled "All the King's Horses", I swear I was so engrossed that I couldn't look up from the page. My heart was beating as if I were right there in the scene!

Vonnegut even includes what he calls a "sickeningly slick love story" into the mix. There aren't really any love stories to be found in Vonnegut's novels that don't end in some kind of tragedy. This story, entitled "The Long Walk to Forever", while refreshingly sweet and simple and with a pretty happy ending, is completely Vonnegutesque. It's nice to see the different sides of this great author through these short stories, even though he swears he only wrote them in order to finance his novels.

Northanger Abbey

I've always loved Jane Austen but this book makes me love her even more. It's such a fun read and it actually goes really fast compared to some of her other novels. As for the heroine; she is nothing like Austen's other ones. Austen actually warns her readers at the beginning that the protagonist will act quite stupidly sometimes. She's just a silly young girl looking for love. It's rather endearing actually! I would recommend this book to anyone, especially someone who's reading Jane Austen for the first time because it kind of eases you into the genre without blowing your mind too much. It actually makes me want to go back and read Sense and Sensibility :)

Status update: Started "The Heart of the Matter" by Graham Greene. So far it's a little depressing, but super well written.

Plane reader

Didn't think I would be updating so soon but I also didn't expect to get through most of Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey" during a 6 hr flight to Paris (and I slept away half the flight too!). What a fun read! It's like a lighter version of her other books. There's a fair amount of drama but it's packed in really tight and is incredibly tongue-in-cheek. Her books can be really frustrating at times because everyone is so polite that no one says what's on their minds even though doing so would prevent a lot of grief. Because of the manners of the time, the characters are constantly having to hang out with people they don't like and also the romance takes FOREVER to develop. One of the characters in "Northanger Abbey" is an 18th century cock-blocker who's neck I just want to wring! He's always pulling the heroine away from the man of her fancy. And I can tell she hates him as much as I do, but the manners her society demands prevent her from really speaking her mind. She does get a couple of shots in thankfully but how painful it was to read up until then! Anyway, this book isn't as slow-going as some of her others which is cool. So far so good.

Sidenote: I decided to leave Herriot at home for the summer which is really sad because I was super into it. But I didn't want to be lugging around too many books and the edition I have is a hardcover. It'll just have to remain in suspense until I get home! Something tells me everything turns out all right in the end...

Breakfast of Champions

I finished Breakfast of Champions the other day. It's one of those classic Vonneguts about a main character who is flat-out crazy and whose reasons for being so crazy are slowly revealed throughout the novel. It's actually an incredibly profound book that I would recommend to anyone. One literary device that Vonnegut uses a lot is integrating himself into his books as a character. I'm pretty sure that with any other writer this device would fail miserably. But there is something so ominous and funny and creepy in the way Vonnegut does it.

I've now lent it to someone so I can't give you any quotes but he says at one point that this book was his 50th Birthday present to himself. He says that he figured out that he preferred all characters to carry equal weight in the story; so he always includes comprehensive background stories whenever he introduces a character who would in any other novel be viewed as a minor character. I was trying to explain the storyline to my friend Van who has now borrowed it and I realized that the plot could only be explained as "Dwayne Hoover goes crazy after meeting Kilgore Trout". There's so much detail about characters' lives and so much psychology going on that the story doesn't get much more complicated than that. But it doesn't matter! It's one of the most interesting and thought-provoking novels I've read in a long time.

I'm still reading Herriot and I have to say I am now getting hooked. It's set up that each chapter is a tiny little story about his apprenticeship with his boss Siegfried Farnon. There are funny ones, sad ones, exciting ones, you name it. This book is such a feel-good that it has been a balm of sorts in light of some family stuff that's going on in my life. It would be a balm anyway for the crazy hectic lives we in big cities tend to lead. But especially when things are extra crazy a book like this can ground you and lift you up at the same time. No rush to get through this one; every little story goes for miles with me.

This is my last post from Montreal for a while as I am going to Europe for 2 months starting tonight. I also realized as I was in the metro yesterday that I won't be able to read on any metros in Europe for the first part of my trip because I'll be in small towns without subway systems! It's going to be weird...

How to spot a good writer

Like I mentioned before, my mother suggested I read "All Creatures Great and Small". Not sure that I would be interested in a book about the life of a veterinary surgeon, I picked it up only gingerly several months after the suggestion had been made. Lo and behold; I read the first page and a half and was instantly intrigued. I could tell right away that I liked James Herriot's writing style even though the subject matter wasn't one I usually preferred. I told my mom that I probably wouldn't get really into it because I'm not a huge animal person. She assured me that the book would make me into an animal person. Damnit, she was right. What are we? 2 for 2 now, Mom?

I think I've been in the same vicinity as a horse maybe 3 times in my whole life. I don't really get the hype. But when I was reading a section in the book about a horse that was suffering a twisted intestine (a completely incurable condition) my heart positively ached for that horse and for poor Mr. Herriot who had to put the horse down. The author doesn't go into great detail about what he was feeling at the time, but rather explains the reactions of the farmers upon hearing such news and describes the suffering of the animals. I tell you: What a writer!

Another great section was, again, one where an animal had to be put down. This one was about an old man and his aging, sick dog. I don't often think of my poor childhood dog who was very sick until we had him put down almost 3 years ago, but I read that section of Herriot's book and flat out cried my eyes out. Herriot, you bastard. This is the same writer who had me laughing my head off 2 pages prior. (I really do enjoy books with emotional rollercoasters, even if they're tiny rollercoasters. If it's too emotionally stagnant I get bored)

It's ok to like fluffy romance and action books but there are some amazing writers out there, people, who will give you a great story and deliver you that story with impeccable style and taste. Go for the good stuff!


Status Update: "All Creatures" chapter 8; "Breakfast" chapter 4.

New hole in my wallet, new love in my heart

I was super tired this morning because I had to get up early for my church gig. I was about to schlep my butt back home afterwards when I decided to stop in at this little used bookstore called Original on Sherbrooke in Montreal. I went a little nuts and got 10 books! Most of them were $2-$4 and a couple were $10 (Vonnegut's Welcome to the Monkey House and 2 super nice Mark Twain hardcovers!!). The complete list is over this-a-way and down -->

You better believe I was a happy camper after this shopping trip! Forget schlepping, I was practically skipping to the metro! (Wow I'm a loser...XD)

One book I'm actually mega excited about is Goethe's Faust which I got in its original form with an English translation by Walter Kaufmann. Since I'm an opera singer I'm fairly used to reading German poetry and Faust is a story I've always wanted to read.

Moral of the story: Go to used bookstores people! So worth it.


Status Update: Chapter 3 of All Creatures; Chapter 3 of Breakfast (Classic Vonnegut so far. Lovin' it.

Yankee: 4/5

Finished Yankee! Final score: 4/5. Wonderful book, I got a little bored near the beginning, so it lost points there. But I was super happy with it. It actually really touched me in some parts and made me laugh out loud in others. Fun times were had by all!

Multitasking

My mother decided to hold hostage at her house my comfort books until I had read 50 pages of "All Creatures Great and Small" by James Herriot. She gave it to me a while ago saying it was a light read but a very good one; very well written. I'm on chapter 3. Not 50 pages in, but I managed to get my books back anyway. :)


Also in my purse is the newly acquired "Breakfast of Champions" by Kurt Vonnegut. So far Vonnegut seems at his quirkiest. It's also illustrated by the author. Fun times! I was craving a Vonnegut, so I'm a happy camper.


I think these will be good books to read together. Vonnegut uses a snarky tone and tells lots of jokes to disguise an often broken heart, whereas I feel like Herriot is more honest. I like both styles! As long as the "honest" writer doesn't have a crummy writing style. Like every book written with a teenage audience in mind. Blegh. Herriot seems to be a gifted writer so far. He's also highly relatable as a character. And how is auto-correct telling me "relatable" isn't a word? It's in the dictionary!

Now to decide which comfort book to read at the same time... What's wrong with me?? :D

Good books and bad spelling

So it was recently brought to my attention (by guess who? my mother) that I don't proof-read my articles so much. It's never really a shock when my mother is right. I just found a "you're" when it should have been "your". The horror! I couldn't feel sillier.

Something that I was also discussing with my mom (She's an avid reader too) is whether it's cool or not to not finish a book. I used to be of the opinion that I should finish it if I got far enough along, but I'm 276 pages into "Mary Anne" and for the life of me I can't seem to get motivated enough to read the rest. My mom was telling me about some woman who decided when she turned 50 that if a book didn't catch her interest in 50 pages she would move on. This woman also said that as she got older she would reduce the amount of trial pages to 49, 35, 30 etc. She's now about 80 and says she gives a book about 20 pages. By the time you're 100, she says, you can pretty much judge a book by its cover!


I guess I'm 25, so 276 pages should be enough of a trial! I felt because I had spent the money on "Mary Anne" that I should finish it, but I'm not curious enough to keep going. Who cares! I don't have time to waste! Life is short! So read good books! :D

Status update: Still reading "Yankee". It's one of those books that's got small condensed writing on each page so you think you're getting to the end, but you're not. So! Didn't finish it yesterday. But it gets better and better! Loving in!

Mary Anne

I've had a gay old time reading "Yankee" and I will surely finish it today. Just before starting "Yankee" I was reading Daphne du Maurier's "Mary Anne". Daphne du Maurier's "Rebecca" is hands down the best book I've ever read so I was really looking forward to reading another of du Maurier's novels. Set just after the French Revolution, "Mary Anne" is about a woman who falls on hard times when her stepfather leaves her mother and then she herself marries a man who turns out not to have any money. She later leaves her husband and begins an obsessive social climb. She eventually becomes the mistress of a prince of England. It's sounds super cool but I'm not crazy about this one at all. Du Maurier is an amazing amazing writer but Mary Anne is not a very loveable or in fact a very relatable character by any means. She's one of those people who just keeps doing bad things and can't stop. I hate those people! I had such a hard time watching that movie "Blow" with Johnny Depp for the same reason. But, I'm told there's going to be a murder soon, so that's what's keeping me going pretty much.

In the meantime I've been re-reading "Fortune and Fate" by Sharon Shinn and soon I'll be planning my next book. I don't feel like reading anything too dramatic--doesn't fit with the upcoming summer (I say upcoming because it's been raining like a bastard every day in Montreal these days). Any suggestions?

Mixing it on up!

Miss Viv makes a good point in the comment section below. I find it super important to alternate genres/writers so that you don't get sick of always reading the same thing, and also so you're not stuck in the same frame of mind every day. If you're always reading fluff then your head will stay in the clouds. It's important to throw a good political suspense or historical fiction in there for some perspective. On the other hand, if all you read is Sylvia Plath, then for the love of God pick up Bridget Jones' Diary or something!


I find it difficult to stay in the same attitude constantly, so if I'm reading a heavier novel, then I will often pick up something light at the same time. When I was reading Graham Greene's The Quiet American, I was at the same time reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Sounds mental, I know. But who wants to feel depressed all the time! Sometimes to keep a level head you need a little period romance/zombie-fighting action!


Find The Quiet American on Amazon

Yankee continued

Even after reading only 3 books of his, I know Kurt Vonnegut's style very well. It is no wonder that he idolized Mark Twain. I was moseying along just fine, laughing at the jokes, pondering the social-political parallels, etc. and all of a sudden I get to a chapter entitled "The Smallpox Hut". I felt like I'd been hit by a brick of pure depression. I hate it when people say that "something" is "something" personified, but I tell you, reading these guys is as close to a personification of life as one can get. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's exciting, sometimes it's boring, and sometimes it sucks the hairy bird. I'm loving the ride, people. Here's an absolutely beautifully written excerpt from "Yankee": (To those of you not in the mood for anything super depressing, look away, I'm warning you)

"Dead?" "Yes, what a triumph it is to know it! None can harm him, none insult him more. He is in heaven, now, and happy; or if not there, he bides in hell and is content for in that place he will find neither abbot nor yet bishop. We were boy and girl together; we were man and wife these five and twenty years, and never separated till this day. Think how long that is, to love and suffer together. This morning was he out of his mind, and in his fancy we were boy and girl again and wandering in the happy fields; and so in that innocent glad converse wandered he far and farther, still lightly gossiping, and entered into those other fields we know not of, and was shut away from mortal sight. And so there was no parting, for in his fancy I went with him; he knew not but I went with him, my hand in his--my young soft hand, not this withered claw. Ah, yes, to go and know it not; how could one go peacefuler than that? It was his reward for a cruel life patiently borne." -Mark Twain, "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court"

Comfort Shelf:

I've found it super important for me as a crazy reader to have "comfort books". Books that you can go back and read anytime and that instantly lift the spirits. So, not War and Peace. On my shelf lately is pretty much any novel by Sharon Shinn. Her stuff is action/romance/fantasy. Her first series is called the Archangel series (about angels!) which sounds much lamer than it actually is. It takes place on another planet humans have colonized thousands of years after Earth. There's a lot of action and politics in it but in every novel she puts a love story. This is TOTALLY my favourite kind of stuff. I love action movies and I also like romantic crap, so Sharon Shinn pretty much makes up my comfort shelf. Her second series is called The Twelve Houses series and I think it's even better than the angel books. It's kind of a Lord of the Rings-type story. Point is, they're light reading and highly entertaining so I want to read them over and over again. I would recommend either of these series to my girlfriends, they're awesome. I recommended them to my mom and she can't put them down. Sucker!

Start with book 1 of Archangel at Amazon

Start with book 1 of Twelve Houses at Amazon

Pilot: Yankee

May 21st, 2011 (end of days)

I should have started this blog when I began reading in the fall. I just moved into an apartment where I would have to take the metro (subway, as it's called by non-montrealers) to get to work an school. I was kinda sick of listening to my ipod all the time on the metro. Instead I decided to pick up a book! Anytime you're in a rut you can put your own feelings on pause for 10 minutes and be transported to a completely different place. It's a great time!

Mark Twain

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

'When I came to... there was a fellow on a horse, looking down at me--a fellow fresh out of a picture book. He was in old-time iron armour from head to heel, with a helmet on his head the shape of a nail keg with slits in it; and he had a shield, and a sword, and a prodigious spear... "Fair sir, will ye just?" said this fellow. "Will I which?" "Will ye try a passage of arms for land or lady or for--" "What are you giving me?" I said. "Get along back to your circus or I'll report you."'

This is my first Mark Twain and I'm almost half-way through. I bought it at a used books store ($2.50 woot!). Mark Twain is the hero of one of my favourite authors, Kurt Vonnegut, so I was eager to get into his stuff.

Mark Twain was born in Missouri in 1835. He wrote also "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" two novels that I will definitely want to read after I'm done "Yankee".

"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" is exactly what it sounds like. A 19th Century American wakes up one day in 6th Century Britain just outside Camelot and is brought in as a prisoner of the court. The book is freaking hilarious. It's also a commentary on life in the Dark Ages in Britain. Twain makes the point that their fancy impressive-sounding language masks a profound ignorance. It is this ignorance that the protagonist sets out to change.

Tips for readers: For young people like myself the language is a little difficult to get through at times. But you can take comfort in the fact that, the protagonist is often confounded too! (That's kinda the point) However, if you can tackle Jane Austen you can handle Mark Twain.

I'll keep you updated as I read along!

Buy the book on Amazon