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2 March 2004

• Elizabeth Gaskell, My Lady Ludlow and Other Tales: a collection containing eight stories: "My Lady Ludlow", "An Accursed Race", "The Doom of the Griffiths", "Half a Lifetime Ago", "The Poor Clare", "The Half-brothers", "Mr. Harrison's Confessions", and "The Manchester Marriage". The stories show Gaskell's versatility, ranging in style from the humorous, Cranford-esque "My Lady Ludlow" and "Mr. Harrison's Confessions" and the melodrama of "The Doom of the Griffiths" to the chilling Gothic tale of "The Poor Clare"  and the sociological essay, "An Accursed Race".  Perhaps the best of a good collection is "Half a Lifetime Ago", the moving story of Susan Dixon, who sacrifices her lover for her family and is redeemed by new love years later.
  
  This particular collection is out of print, unfortunately, although "The Poor Clare" and "The Doom of the Griffiths" are included in Gothic Tales, an excellent Penguin collection of Gaskell's darker stories which is currently in print.

Books read: 1

3 March 2004

• Thomas Sowell, The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late: Sowell's book focuses on two studies of exceptionally intelligent children who start talking late: one is an older study done by the author and presented in his earlier book, Late-Talking Children; the other is a newer, ongoing study being done by Stephen Camarata of Vanderbilt University. At the age of 21 months, Liam isn't talking much yet, so I'm doing some research in this area before taking him in to see our pediatrician for evaluation, since I like to be as informed as possible.
  
  Sowell's book presented a convincing case for the existence of this type of delayed development, and many of the described qualities of children with Einstein's Syndrome did remind me of Liam (stubbornness, puzzle-solving ability, good memory, close family who work in analytical fields like engineering or computers). I'll be continuing my research, but this was a useful and illuminating book.
  
  
• Timothy Zahn, Star Wars: Survivor's Quest: Zahn's Star Wars books are generally regarded as some of the best, and this one is a worthy follow-up to his Thrawn trilogy and later Hand of Thrawn duology. It continues the story of Luke Skywalker and his Jedi wife, Mara Jade Skywalker, and their encounters with the alien Chiss, who have discovered the remnants of the lost colonizing expedition Outbound Flight, launched fifty years before and destroyed by pirates and the renegade Chiss, Admiral Thrawn. The Chiss invite Luke and Mara to investigate the wreckage on behalf of the New Republic, along with representatives from other groups, and together, they slowly unfold the enigma of Outbound Flight. The mystery is intriguing and the action fast-paced; Mara is one of the best characters created for the Star Wars novels, and Zahn does a good job developing her relationship with Luke and her development as a Jedi.

Books read: 2

6 March 2004

• Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White: an excellent Victorian mystery/sensation novel; it was originally classified as the latter, but it seems clear that Collins was beginning to develop the mystery genre. It's almost impossible to go into the plot in any detail without ruining the novel - when it was published, Collins especially requested that reviewers not include spoilers in their review. It's terrifically convoluted, but briefly, it's the story of Laura Fairlie, a young heiress, and her friends' attempts to rescue her from a nightmare of intrigue: mistaken identity, kidnapping, insanity, poison....
  
  The novel is narrated by a succession of different characters, who are superbly delineated. Each section is long enough for us to get to know the narrator, and the styles are subtly and believably different. Two of the characters in particular are memorable: the flamboyantly sinister Count Fosco, one of the villains, and the downright, vivacious Marian Halcombe, Laura's half-sister and rescuer. Strikingly, Marian is described as being sensual of form, but dark and ugly of face (the notes suggest that her physical description is based on George Eliot), unlike the vast majority of Victorian heroines (and Laura herself, who is fair and pretty), but her vivid, courageous personality is such that she wins over the other characters and the reader upon meeting her.
  
  I'm certainly looking forward to reading Collins's other novels, if they're anywhere near as good as The Woman in White.
  
  
• Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities: reread - this was the novel serialized in All the Year Round immediately before The Woman in White. The story is unusually taut, without the humor, multiplicity of plot threads and characters that typify other Dickens novels. Although a trifle melodramatic, it's a thrilling and absorbing read.
  
  
• Daniel Pool, What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist - The Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England: reread - a useful and amusing companion to 19th-century English literature.

Books read: 3

8 March 2004

• Patricia A. McKillip, Alphabet of Thorn: Nepenthe is an orphan girl who was raised by the librarians of the kingdom of Raine; she lives in the great library below the palace and translates difficult texts in unknown languages. When a mage gives her a text written in an alphabet of thorns, a chain of events begins that affects not only Nepenthe, but the entire kingdom. I always enjoy McKillip's elegant, lyrical writing, but I sometimes find her plots a little difficult to follow. For a change, Alphabet of Thorn boasts a fairly straightforward plot, and the writing is just as beautiful as usual, making this one of my favorite McKillips in a while.

Books read: 1

10 March 2004

• Anthony Trollope, Miss Mackenzie: an overlooked small gem of a novel. Margaret Mackenzie is a spinster in her mid-thirties who receives a large inheritance when her brother dies and must then deal with what comes with the inheritance, including several suitors, who may or may not simply be after her money. Trollope depicts Miss Mackenzie with his usual unsparing honesty, and although in his autobiography he called her "a very unattractive old maid", her modesty, charity, and dignity endear her to the reader. I found myself so sympathizing with her that I found the rather everyday plot quite engrossing.

Books read: 1

11 March 2004

• Rayford Clayton Reddell, The Rose Bible: a beautifully illustrated, highly opinionated overview of roses. It includes an excellent short history of roses, descriptions and examples of the various classification, and a guide for growing roses. Reddell grows roses in Northern California, which is sufficiently similar in climate to my Washington State home that I suspect his book will be particularly useful to me in choosing roses for my growing rose garden - in fact, I'm having to resist rushing right out to buy far more roses than my garden can hold, after having my appetite whetted by the gorgeous full-color photographs in the book.

Books read: 1

12 March 2004

• Katharine Weber, The Music Lesson: an intriguing psychological thriller mixed together with meditations on art. It's in the form of a journal by Frick art historian Patricia Dolan, alone in a cottage in Ireland with a priceless painting by Vermeer (the fictional "The Music Lesson" of the title). As the story unfolds, more and more details of Patricia's life and how she and the Vermeer came to Ireland are slowly revealed. The writing is deceptively simple, yet thoughtful and elegant, and the suspenseful plot keeps the reader involved all the way.
  
  
• George Eliot, Selected Critical Writings: Eliot is perhaps more famous nowadays for her novels, but before she started to write fiction, she was a well-known translator and critic. This is a collection of her non-fiction writings, including excerpts from the works she translated, articles and reviews from various publications, and even an excerpt from her diary on "How I Came to Write Fiction". I must admit that I skipped freely during some of the weightier pieces, on philosophy and religion (not exactly my areas of interest), but I quite enjoyed the literary reviews and the article on Richard Wagner. Perhaps my favorite piece was "Silly Novels by Lady Novelists" (reading this was actually why I bought the book), a scathingly witty indictment of the vapid, poorly written novels popular at that time.

Books read: 2

14 March 2004

• M.J. Simpson, Hitchhiker: A Biography of Douglas Adams: a minutely detailed and engrossing biography of the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Having read Neil Gaiman's Don't Panic fairly recently, I hoped that Simpson's book wouldn't duplicate that too closely, and happily it doesn't; Simpson's focus is more on Adams' life, while Gaiman investigates his work (particularly the various iterations of The Hitchhiker's Guide). Simpson examines closely and objectively many of the legends and stories that have sprung up around Adams, while making clear his own deep respect for the man. This is a must-read for any fan of Adams.
  
  
• Douglas Adams, Mostly Harmless: This is the first time I've read Mostly Harmless (the fifth book of "the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker's Trilogy, as it says on the front cover of my copy), although I've read the other books in the series multiple times. I had read many reviews when it came out about ten years ago saying that it didn't fit with the other books and that the events of Mostly Harmless might actually spoil rereading the other books, so I purposefully avoided. However, after reading a couple of biographies of Douglas Adams and practically all of his other work, I decided that I really had to try Mostly Harmless.
  
  Did I like it? I really don't know. The tone is very different from the other books: surprisingly serious and grim, with only occasional flashes of the zany humor we've come to expect from Adams. On the other hand, the novel is perhaps more thought-provoking than the earlier ones and shows more of the breadth of the author's knowledge and ideas. I think I'll have to read it again before I know what I really think (perhaps with a reread of the first four books, which I didn't do this time).
  
  
• Patricia A. McKillip, The Changeling Sea: The heroine, Peri, hates the sea that has drowned her father; Kir, the prince, is strangely drawn to the same sea. When Peri tries to hex the sea's magic, a sea-dragon appears, whose fate is inextricably bound with Peri, Kir, and the mysterious magician Lyo. Peri is a refreshingly different heroine - unkempt and often sullen, but clever and direct - and McKillip's writing is elegant as always. This is another hauntingly beautiful novel by one of my favorite fantasy authors.

Books read: 3

19 March 2004

• Anthony Trollope, North America: a combination travelogue and social commentary from Trollope's visit to the United States during the Civil War. I read the abridged Penguin edition (didn't know it was abridged when I bought it), so I imagine that I can't really judge the book fairly. Trollope had some interesting comments on the causes of the war and on American society, but this really didn't hold my attention nearly so well as his novels do. Also, his racist and sexist biases were far more apparent and somewhat bothersome, so I'm not sure I'm going to bother seeking out more of his travel writing.
  
  
• Wilkie Collins, Armadale: I can't imagine why Armadale isn't as well-known as The Woman in White and The Moonstone - wow, what a fabulous book. The plot is even more tortuous than The Woman in White and thus fairly indescribable (particularly without spoilers) but it turns largely on issues of identity, with no less than five characters named Alan Armadale - happily, only two of them appear for any length of time, and one of those goes by an alias.
  
  Easily the most compelling character in the book, though, is the villainess, Lydia Gwilt, a woman of intelligence, charisma, and daring, superbly drawn by Collins. Much of the book is told through her diary entries, so that even though she's wicked and clearly the villain of the book, it's easy to sympathize with her - in fact, I don't think it would be easy not to sympathize with her, given her history and personality. Lydia surpasses even the lively Marian Halcombe of The Woman in White (see entry for 6 March).
  
  I have a definite feeling that this book will wind up on my favorites list after I've read it again, and I'm glad I've got a big pile of more Collins to read.
  
  
• Robert B. Parker, Bad Business: a reasonably good entry in his Spenser mystery series - this is the 31st book in the series, if I'm counting correctly. The plot is somewhat involved and not as emotionally engaging as in Parker's best Spenser novels (like Early Autumn or A Savage Place), but the witty dialogue, lucid style, and fast pace are as enjoyable as always.

Books read: 3

22 March 2004

• Daniel Pool, Dickens' Fur Coat and Charlotte's Unanswered Letters: The Rows and Romances of England's Great Victorian Novelists: Pool's previous book, What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew was essentially a reference for Victorian literature, containing sections on topics from marriage to money to politics as well as a glossary; this book, however, is a cultural history of the period, making it more interesting to read straight through than What Jane Austen Ate.
  
  Pool uses the lives and works of great Victorian authors to trace the rise of the Victorian novel. He focuses mainly on Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, William Makepeace Thackeray, and George Eliot (the pen name of Marian Evans). I found myself wishing several times that there were more about lesser-known authors like Anthony Trollope, Wilkie Collins, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon, but overall this was an enjoyable, informative book and would be very good as background reading to a course of Victorian fiction.
  
  
• Mary Elizabeth Braddon, The Trail of the Serpent: Braddon's style is not as polished as in later books, and the coincidences come not single spies but in battalions, but Braddon's first novel is a campy and enjoyable melodrama, as well as one of the first detective novels. I didn't like it as much as Lady Audley's Secret or The Doctor's Wife, but it was more fun to read than John Marchmont's Legacy.

Books read: 2

24 March 2004

• Diane Johnson, Le Mariage: I rather liked Le Divorce (while not quite understanding the rave critical reviews), so I was disappointed to find that after about 10 chapters, I just wasn't interested in finishing Le Mariage. It has a similar "American culture vs. French" theme, but the characters weren't interesting, neither was the plot, and it wasn't worth wading through it to find the occasional witty observation.
  
  
• Joan Aiken, The Five-Minute Marriage: a delightfully frothy Regency: witty and full of memorable characters: the heroine, Delphie, a sensible but charming music teacher; her slightly feckless mother, whose illness forces Delphie to contact her long-lost relatives, thus setting the plot in motion; and Gareth Penistone, the hero, with whom Delphie contracts a marriage which is meant to be a sham but turns out to be more real than they thought. I got this from the library, and it's sadly out of print, so I'll have to start trying to find a copy.
  
  
• Mirabel Osler, A Breath from Elsewhere: Musings on Gardens: an insightful and inspirational book on gardening. This is a book of essays, rather than an instructional book, a kind of gardening book I find I'm liking more and more. Osler encourages both novice (which I am) and experienced gardeners to follow their hearts when it comes to their gardens, rather than to follow gardening fashions slavishly, and discusses her gardens as well as many gardens she's visited. I jotted down a few ideas, but mostly I just reveled in Osler's lyrical prose and encouraging ideas.

Books read: 2 (I don't think Le Mariage counts, since I didn't finish it)

25 March 2004

• Peg Kerr, Emerald House Rising: a charming fantasy set in an intriguing world. I liked Kerr's conception of magic and her world's political structure - both were original and interesting - as well as her memorable characters.
  
  
• Laurie R. King, The Game: the newest entry in King's excellent Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes mystery series. I think I'm going to have to read Kipling's Kim very soon now, as The Game is in the nature of a tribute to it. (I didn't feel as though not having read Kim detracted from reading The Game, but it seemed as though it might have added something.) It seems Kim, the boy hero of Kipling's book, grew up to be a British Intelligence agent in India, and when he disappears, Holmes's brother Mycroft sends Holmes and Russell to locate him.
  
  King's books are exactingly researched and vividly described, and thus very convincing in atmosphere and environment; this one beautifully evoked the sights, sounds, and smells of India. In addition, her characters are a pleasure to read about, and her storytelling is dramatic and perfectly paced. The Game is one of the best of a fine series.

Books read: 2

26 March 2004

• Michael Pollan, Second Nature: A Gardener's Education: a collection of essays on various aspects of gardening, from down-to-earth considerations of composting to more philosophical meditations on man's relationship to nature. Second Nature was largely interesting and very funny in parts (particularly his witty analyses of different gardening catalogs and their cultural biases), but I ended up wanting more gardening and less philosophizing.
  
  
• Cornelia Funke and Kerstin Meyer, The Princess Knight: I got this from the library thinking that it would be a young adult fantasy, like Funke's excellent Inkheart. Actually, it's a short but delightful picture book, telling the tale of a princess who would rather be the winner of a jousting tournament than the prize. Meyer's delicate and charming illustrations remind me a little of Quentin Blake (though rather prettier) and complement Funke's simple text very well.

Books read: 2

29 March 2004

• Anthony Trollope, Later Short Stories: I've been gardening too much lately to have much time for reading, so a volume of short stories was the perfect thing to read in the short intervals I've been able to spare. Trollope's Later Short Stories comprises all of his stories from 1866 until his death in 1882; it includes fifteen stories from three collections published in his lifetime (Lotta Schmidt and Other Stories, An Editor's Tales, and Why Frau Frohmann Raised Her Prices and Other Stories) as well as four stories published in magazines but not gathered into a collection until after Trollope's death.
  
  Though many of the stories are fairly standard love tales, there is a large range of subject and tone, from the very funny "Christmas at Thompson Hall" (involving a mustard plaster which goes astray) to the much darker "Catherine Carmichael" and "The Spotted Dog". Trollope regarded the latter as one of his best stories, and I have to agree; although this tale of a scholar who sinks into poverty and wretchedness is far more horrifying than Trollope's usual domestic or society tales, it is powerfully written and imagined - there is a description of the scholar, Mackenzie, lying "stretched in the torpor of dead intoxication" in his filthy rooms, surrounded by his starving, naked children, that is as dire as anything in Dickens.
  
  Another standout is "The Telegraph Girl", which although in the end a love story, deals interestingly with women's employment in the late 19th century through the experiences of Lucy Graham, who takes a job as a telegraph girl for the post office. The collection ends with a charming Barsetshire story (the last Trollope set in his fictional county), "The Two Heroines of Plumpington".

Books read: 1

31 March 2004

• Joan Aiken, Lady Catherine's Necklace and The Smile of the Stranger: I normally don't read Austen sequels, but Aiken's are usually quite good (Jane Fairfax is my favorite), so I gave Lady Catherine's Necklace a try - a sequel to Pride and Prejudice, focusing on Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Darcy's aunt) and her family. It was a decent read, but not up to Aiken's usual standards, I thought; there were a few errors of language (Charlotte saying "the devil") and at least one major inconsistency with Pride and Prejudice (Maria Lucas apparently not knowing Mr. Bingley). I got it from the library and won't bother to buy it.
  
  The Smile of the Stranger is an out-of-print Regency (like The Five-Minute Marriage, which I read earlier this month) and a good one, with a charming and intelligent heroine, a dashing hero, and lots of action, including an escape from revolutionary France in a hot air balloon.
  
  
• Allen Lacy, with photographs by Christopher Baker, The Glory of Roses: nicely photographed coffee table book, with chapters on gardening with roses, names of roses, the uses of roses, and the meanings of roses. I wished that more of the roses in the photographs had been identified in captions or the text, though.
  
  
• Catherine Louisa Pirkis, The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective: seven stories from the late 19th century featuring a female detective, Loveday Brooke (charming name, isn't it?). Pirkis was writing at about the same time as Conan Doyle was writing Sherlock Holmes stories (at a popular time for detective stories), and although her plots aren't nearly as interesting as Conan Doyle's, her main character is certainly worthy of notice. Loveday Brooke is "altogether nondescript", "neither handsome or ugly", but highly intelligent and logical. There's not much emotional connection with the character, but it's pleasant to encounter a Victorian female who uses her brain (and gets paid for it).
  
  
• Rayford Clayton Reddell, All-America Roses: a short book detailing Reddell's 40 favorite All-America rose selections. Nicely photographed, but too short for me to want to add it to my collection (I got this copy from the library).
  
  
• Graham Stuart Thomas, The Art of Gardening with Roses: a lovely and useful out-of-print book on gardening with roses, focusing on old roses and companion plantings.
  
  
• Katharine Weber, The Little Women: inspired by Louisa May Alcott's classic, The Little Women tells the tale of the Green sisters, Meg, Joanna, and Amy (their parents wisely skipped Beth), in the form of an autobiographical novel written by Joanna about the sisters' response to their mother's affair and their father's apparently too easy forgiveness of her. The sisters are largely similar to their Alcott counterparts - Meg is the nurturing one, Jo writes and loves to eat apples, Amy paints and frequently gets words wrong - but the plot is not a straight retelling of Little Women, though there are some incidents in common (for instance, an episode in which Amy brings California rolls to school for her friends, like the original book's lime incident).
  
  What makes the book really stand out is the format: Joanna is the writer, but in order to get her sisters' consent to her novel being published, she has agreed to let them interject comments into the text. As Meg and Amy constantly question Joanna's fictionalization of their lives, their comments and her responses form a fascinating dialogue, interwoven with the narrative, about the nature of fiction and the truth of Joanna's novel.

Books read: 7

Total books read this month: 33
Total books read this year: 123

Last updated 29 November 2005. All text and photographs © George Mitchell and Margaret Johnston, unless otherwise noted Comments, questions, suggestions to margaret@lonelymountain.net.