A little Satan goes a long way

Books on the list tend to fall into three categories:

1. Books of which nobody has heard. Likely, the majority of the books on the list actually fall into this category. Which means that often when people who know about the list project ask me what I'm reading and I tell them, they respond by saying that they've never heard of it (English majors skew this a bit).

2. Books everyone knows about but nobody has actually read. These are particularly fun, and are the most impressive to be able to say that you've read (Moby Dick, anyone?).

3. Books that most people have read and that it's a bit strange that I have not. My reading habits are capricious, and my high school reading did not exactly follow a traditional curriculum. This means that I have not read 1984 or Catcher in the Rye. Ah well. People are always shocked that I haven't read the particular book for ones in this category.

Which brings me to The Scarlet Letter, the lovely little tome that I read today. I was completely familiar with the story beforehand, of course, and I have read The House of the Seven Gables before. However, I've always wanted to avoid reading this one. Fortunately, it was short and now it is in the past. Yay!

I also recently finished Tipping the Velvet, which likely falls into the first category of books. That said, it's really worth a read. It's the funnest, most engaging one that I've read in awhile. I've been in a bit of a dry spell with enjoying my reads, so this was a welcome respite. It's sort of decadent and lush, really, in terms of the details and characters.

Seeing an Oscar Wilde and reading this one all on the same day definitely made for a rather intense Victorian England day. Fortunately, I rather enjoy Victorian England. Here's something a bit ironic, though: as I read it, I kept thinking how much it reminded me of Fingersmith, but it wasn't until after I had finished it that I clued into the fact that it was by the same author. Bright of me, I know.

Sense and Sensibility, The Moor's Last Sigh, The House in Paris, and Fingersmith

Well, I am extremely behind. Since my last post, I’ve read several. My run down n each will be short and sweet. It also won’t be chronological, since I want to save Fingersmith for last, given that it’s the most spoilerable one. As always, spoiler alert for the works mentioned in the post's title.

So, with that, let’s start with that, let’s start with Sense and Sensibility, since it’s not at all possible to spoil it. If you have read any Jane Austen, seen a movie based on any Austen novel, or heard a good joke about an Austen novel, you already know what happens. If you are a young, overly charming, and too good to be true male, you are a cad who will break the heart of one of our heroines on her path to getting with the wiser, quieter, older male who at first may appear rude. Like The Woman in White, my ships got off with this one. I would have had Elinor get with Brandon (and I guess put Marianne with Ferrars or given her a few years to grow up a little, since Ferrars was sort of a non character anyway).

I don’t know why, but I still have a minor fear of Rushdie. This is completely irrational, since once I start reading, I remember that I love his writing. It is so incredibly rich; every page is just overflowing. I don’t think you could ever describe his works as derivative, per se, but The Moor’s Last Sigh definitely re-explored similar territory to some of his other novels (particularly Midnight’s Children, I thought). That being said, the character of Aurora is probably one of my favorites of Rushdie.

The House in Paris had the most beautiful quote in it. “Good-byes breed a sort of distaste for whomever you say good-bye to; this hurts, you feel, this must not happen again. Any other meeting will only lead back to this. If today good-bye is not final, some day it will be.” Karen is an absolutely amazing character with such conflicting desires and loyalties. She certainly isn’t completely likeable, but she feels completely real. The quote captures the essence of the story’s themes, or at least the themes that struck a chord with me.

And now for Fingersmith. This novel had a number of twists, where you think you know what’s happening, and then the perspective shifts and you have to reevaluate what you thought you knew and understood, and the picture changes. In many cases multiple twists don’t work too well (not a high-brow example by any stretch of the imagination, but Titan AE anyone?), but in this case, they do work, mostly because Susan and Maud are excellent.

I guess the theme of this post would be, amazing female characters. I’ll save Persuasion, Watchmen, and The Three Musketeers for the next one (technically, I’m still reading that last one, but it moves super quickly).