Bleak House

That's right.  I finished Bleak House.  It only took me a few months...but in my defense, I'm not a slow reader; I just got distracted by other reading while in the midst of Bleak House.  However, my distraction should not imply Bleak House wasn't a good novel because it was excellent.

I should admit the book was a bit intimidating at first; most books a few inches thick usually are (why is that, anyway?  I think one of my goals as a parent is to make sure my children don't miss out on great literature just because the length scares them away).  And as usual with Dickens, the first chapter or so left me yawning a bit and urging good ole' Charles to just get on with it and head straight to the meat of the book.  But once I actually allowed myself to simply read instead of rushing through the novel, I thoroughly enjoyed the story.

Bleak House constructed around three themes: that of the murkiness and almost unethical institutions in England in the nineteenth century (namely, the court system), misplaced children, and mystery.  Each theme is developed fully with different stories intertwining to address them as they unfold the surrounding story.

Jarndyce and Jarndyce- one of the oldest cases in endless litigation in English law- is where the novel begins, and in a sense, where the novel ends.  Two wards- Richard and Ada- have some stake in the case, which follows the dispute of a will of a very wealthy man, but after Richard and Ada's custody is transferred to a kind relation after both sets of their parents die, their guardian urges them to flee from involvement in legal case as it seems nothing is ever resolved, procuring bitterness for all parties involved.  Their ward is Mr. Jarndyce, who determined after watching his father battle through the courts in hope that he might obtain some of the inheritance from the Jarndyce and Jarndyce case, hires Esther to be Ada's companion when Richard and Ada move to Bleak House to live with their guardian.

Esther, a kind and gentle young woman, had been raised as an orphan by her aunt but was never told of her parental lineage.  Throughout the novel, Esther wonders at just who her parents might have been, and in a most unexpected moment, the truth is revealed to her.  She can have no cause for celebration, however, as her newly-found knowledge must remain a secret.  And when a a high-profile murder occurs, it is difficult not to assume that Esther's mother is indeed the murderess, and her mother's involvement with the victim could lead to the downfall of one of the greatest English families.

Bleak House is often touted as Dicken's most beloved masterpiece (although, really, I'm sure most of his works are referred to in the same manner), and indeed, Bleak House is now probably higher on my list than Great Expectations.  The character development, the integration of each an every one of the characters, the plot and subplots, the little intricacies throughout the novel- all of those aspects make the book a delightful read.  Several parts of the novel read more like a suspense-thriller while other points feel as though the entire novel is a stately romance.  Honestly, my thought at several times throughout my Bleak House experience: "Dickens is a genius".  My thought at the end of my Bleak House experience: "Dickens is a bloody genius".  Seriously, I'm pretty sure I said that aloud to Isaac as I put down the book for a final time.  So, do yourself a favor, go check out Bleak House from the library, refuse to be intimidated by its thickness and small font, and jump right in.  Trust me, you'll thank me for it...and so will that soddingly brilliant genius Dickens.

And oh yes, the BBC adaptation was fairly accurate and very well-played.

Wuthering Heights

Good Golly, Ms. Molly! How in heavens I made it through four years of intense English classes at good 'ole Booker T. and never read Emily Bronte's classic, I will never know. Seriously. I have half a mind to call up those teachers (uh...I still keep in contact with some of my high school teachers...yes, I am quite a dork) and chew them out about this...or rather not. They did a wonderful job of introducing me to some of the finest literature ever penned, and I am very grateful for them. Truly, I had awesome English teachers, and I can freely say that now without others assuming I'm just looking for brownie points.

And how in the world it has taken me this long to read this novel, I will never know either. Man, what is wrong with me? Seriously, Wuthering Heights is true literature. Before I began this classic, my friend Jess mentioned that the obsessive love between Cathy and Heathcliff may very well have been the basis for the relationship between Bella and Edward in the Twilight saga. You can read all those Twilight books all you want, but characters like Heathcliff never fade.

Set in the brooding moors of Yorkshire (that's in the north of England, for those of you who don't wish you were born a Brit, like Jess and I do), Bronte tells the story of a young orphan boy found on the streets and brought home by a wealthy father of two children, Hindley and Cathy. Cathy and Heathcliff form an unbreakable bond, while Hindley tortures Heathcliff at every opportunity. As Cathy and Heathcliff face the expectations of society, they find themselves being torn apart. As the events unfold, Heathcliff plans his revenge on the world, and the innocent are involved at their own price.

Interestingly enough, apparently the Bronte sisters did not enjoy Jane Austen's works (they both published after her). Their styles are very different from one another, but I do appreciate both. Authors don't seem to produce works like these anymore, so it's important to appreciate them to their fullest extent.  There are also several film adaptations of the book. I watched this one a few weeks ago; it's pretty well done, although the screenplay does not follow the novel precisely.

Winnie-the-Pooh

I am ashamed to admit I had never actually read the original Winnie-the-Pooh book.  Seriously.  How did I never encounter this book as a child?  I am going to have to broach this subject with my mother- let's hope I don't need therapy after learning why we never read A.A. Milne's classic.

Is it ridiculous that a full-grown adult still reads children's books?  Not just young adult literature, but actual children's books?  Whenever I see a Berenstain Bear book, it's a lost cause; I am faithful to Mama, Papa, Sister and Brother Bear- even after more than twenty years since our first introduction.  The American Girls books?  Don't even get me started.  I have to steer clear of their section in the bookstore or else I will be sitting there for hours reading every last one of them.  And Dr. Suess?  Pretty sure I can recite One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish in its entirety.  And yes, I still read How the Grinch Stole Christmas every year- even if it's just to myself.

And I know there are others like me out there.  Don't deny it.  There is something wonderful about reading children's books as an adult; it doesn't matter if you've read the story hundreds upon hundreds of times in your life or if you somehow never got the chance to experience the magic of the story as a child.  For me, Winnie-the-Pooh was one such book.  I don't feel the need to give you a synopsis of the book because it really isn't one story; it's a collection of short stories involving our favorite Pooh Bear and his friends Piglet (my personal favorite), Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, Eeyore, Owl, and of course, Christopher Robin.  I will, however, mention one thing I learned and include one brief excerpt.

First, what I learned was this: children's books have a remarkably calming effect, even if the characters are in danger at that particular moment.  Case in point: last weekend, my husband went out of town and I was left all alone.  I'm not a particularly fearful person, but I do fall victim to having an overly active imagination.  Thursday night, as I was enjoying the hilariousness that is 30 Rock, a trailer for that new movie about aliens came on the television. 

And I didn't mute it in time. 

My eyes were glued on the screen, and I started freaking out.  Not freaking out like jumping up and down and screaming, but I sat there on my couch and stared at the images flashing before my eyes as my imagination began to produce evidence that one of these horrific aliens was waiting in my bedroom to abduct me.

Not cool.  I turned on as many lights as I could, got settled into bed, and immediately grabbed Winnie-the-Pooh.  All I have to say is thank you A.A. Milne for saving my sanity that night.  I was transplanted into Hundred Acre Wood where I could laugh at the silly old bear and his adventures with his friends and his obsession with his honey.  Reading the stories made me feel innocent and naive again- what a remarkable experience.  And obviously, there was no alien lurking in my bedroom and I did not get abducted by aliens, for which I am very thankful.

My favorite part of the book is the following exchange between Pooh and Piglet:

"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh.  "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what 's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Indeed, Piglet.  Indeed.  What exciting thing will happen today?

(I only hope that exciting thing is not an alien abducting yours truly...)

Rebecca and The Handmaid's Tale

I chose to read Rebecca because of its place on both the BBC Big Read Top 100 and the I'm-not-so-sure-exactly-where-this-list-originated-but-it-seems-to-be-everywhere-list.  I checked it out from our library with no clue as to what the plot of the novel is or its significance in terms of literary achievement.  I was scared it was going to be some crap romance (not that romance in and of itself is crap, but the romance genre often is little more than crap), but I figured that it couldn't simply be crap and also be chosen as one of the best-loved novels of the British people, so I decided to go ahead and take the plunge.  The result?

I.love.this.book.  I think I read it cover to cover in less than three days; I'd get home from work and simply bury my nose in this book- it was that good.  Maxim DeWinter has been a widower for almost a year when he meets the young, naive, and quite shy narrator of the story while in Monte Carlo.  In a very short amount of time, the two are wed, honeymoon in Italy and return to his English estate at Manderly.  But upon their arrival, our narrator finds the adjustment difficult; the servants are style loyal to Rebecca (Maxim's first wife), and the neighbors always compare her to Rebecca.  Rebecca is every day implied, but never absolutely discussed.  The following weeks reveal to our narrator the true character of several key players, and one tragic event leads to the discovery of a horrendous secret. 

I can easily see how this book ranked as the 14th-most beloved novel of the British people.  DeMaurier's ability to engage the readers in her story is exceptional; her writing style flows easily, and the readers find themselves so engrossed in the story that they look up after what seems like only a few minutes to discover they've been reading this exceptional novel for more than a few hours.  Read this book- you will love it, I'm sure.  I recently checked out the film from the library as well, but the DVD was so badly scratched that I couldn't make it through the entire film...but from what I saw, the film does a good job of telling the story.

A while back, I heard a few people talking about Margaret Atwood and her genius work that is The Handmaid's Tale and when I saw the book on the list-of-unknown-origin, I was reminded I still had not read it.  So of course, I went to the library.  Side note: every time I think about the library, I am sad for my friend Tracie...you see, she does not have a library within 45 minutes of her home- and that one, as I understand it, isn't very good at all.  So I am making a determination to be positive about the Louisville library system, even if they don't have a few of the items I want...

Back to Atwood and her novel.  Her story is a classic presentation of the future as dystopia.  Much like other famous futuristic novels like 1984 and A Brave New World, Atwood describes a world of potential futures- one in which women are reduced utterly and completely in their status as individuals.  They are divided into few specific groups which each have strictly regulated codes of conduct and roles in the society.  The novel is set in the near future, and radiation poisoning from nuclear plant meltdowns have left a vast majority of the population sterile and unable to produce children.  In order to ensure their survival, the nation of Gilead has forced those women who have birthed as least one child into the role of handmaid; there only job is to reproduce (although they do not necessarily do this easily or successfully).  Each handmaid is assigned to a Commander, a high-ranking official in Gilead's regime, for a specified period of time.  Her name is completely stripped from her; if she is assigned to a Commander with the given name of Fred, the Handmaid's name is simply "Offred".  If after one year she is moved to a Commander named Glen, her name then becomes "Ofglen". If conception is not successful during her tenure at the Commander's household, the Handmaid is transferred to another Commander to pursue the same goal, and another Handmaid is assigned to the previous Commander.  You can imagine the complexities that arise when individuals have no personal liberty.

My summary is definitively oversimplified, but I think it would be best for you to read the book in order to fully understand the plot and message Atwood conveys.  Though there is definitely some mature and awkward content, as well as some language, I generally find that for the most part, I enjoy futuristic novels explaining the impending dystopia of our society (not that I am necessarily a 'doom and gloom' kind of gal- I just find them rather interesting).  I also think I will read more of Atwood's work, as I have heard so many good reviews.

The BBC Big Read

A few months ago, I posted about a list making its way around the internet through various social networking sites and blogs.  This list contained one hundred books; apparently the BBC determined the average adult has only read six of the one hundred books listed.  What I couldn't figure out is exactly how the list came about- the books were so varied from one another that is was difficult to determine the criteria for admittance to this list.

I did some more research and found out more about the BBC Big Read, which differs from the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read here in the States.  In 2003, the BBC (oh, how I love thee) began its search for the nation's (meaning Great Britain) best-loved novel and asked for patrons to nominate their favourites (because they did indeed ask for 'favourites' and not 'favorites', being British and all).  By the end, over three quarters of a millon votes were received, and The Lord of the Rings officially became the best-loved novel of the British people.  You can see the list of the top two hundred novels here.

This list differs somewhat from the list I posted about before.  I never could find out where that list originated, so if you happen to determine the source, please let me know.  At any rate, I thought I would post the correct top one hundred novels from the BBC's Big Read for you today.  I used the same system as with the previous list, bolding the books I've completed and starring those I am currently reading or have partially read.  Which do you think is the better of the two lists?

1 The Lord of the Rings* by JRR Tolkien
2 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
3 His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
4 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
5 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling
6 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
7 Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
8 Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
9 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis
10 Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
11 Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
12 Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
13 Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
14 Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
15 The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
16 The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
17 Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
18 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
19 Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
20 War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
21 Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
22 Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling
23 Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets by JK Rowling
24 Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban by JK Rowling
25 The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
26 Tess Of The D'Urbervilles* by Thomas Hardy
27 Middlemarch by George Eliot
28 A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving
29 The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck
30 Alice's Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
31 The Story Of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson
32 One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
33 The Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follett
34 David Copperfield* by Charles Dickens
35 Charlie And The Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
36 Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
37 A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
38 Persuasion by Jane Austen
39 Dune by Frank Herbert
40 Emma by Jane Austen
41 Anne Of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
42 Watership Down by Richard Adams
43 The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
44 The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
45 Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
46 Animal Farm by George Orwell
47 A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
48 Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
49 Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian
50 The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
51 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
52 Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck
53 The Stand by Stephen King
54 Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
55 A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
56 The BFG by Roald Dahl
57 Swallows And Amazonsby Arthur Ransome
58 Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
59 Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
60 Crime And Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61 Noughts And Crosses by Malorie Blackman
62 Memoirs Of A Geisha by Arthur Golden
63 A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
64 The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCollough
65 Mort by Terry Pratchett
66 The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
67 The Magus by John Fowles
68 Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69 Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
70 Lord Of The Flies by William Golding
71 Perfume by Patrick Süskind
72 The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
73 Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
74 Matilda by Roald Dahl
75 Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
76 The Secret History by Donna Tartt
77 The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins
78 Ulysses by James Joyce
79 Bleak House by Charles Dickens
80 Double Act by Jacqueline Wilson
81 The Twits by Roald Dahl
82 I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith
83 Holes by Louis Sachar
84 Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
85 The God Of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
86 Vicky Angel by Jacqueline Wilson
87 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
88 Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
89 Magician by Raymond E Feist
90 On The Road by Jack Kerouac
91 The Godfather by Mario Puzo
92 The Clan Of The Cave Bear by Jean M Auel
93 The Colour Of Magic by Terry Pratchett
94 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
95 Katherine by Anya Seton
96 Kane And Abel by Jeffrey Archer
97 Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
98 Girls In Love by Jacqueline Wilson
99 The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
100 Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

Honestly, there were a lot more of novels on this list that I haven't heard of before, and I don't know how the voting process worked from beginning to end.  There seem to be quite a few children's books on the list as well, so if the BBC determined any qualifications or particulars for a book to make it to the list, I'm not sure.  I wonder if we did a project like this in the States, what would be our nation's favorite novels?