The Lost Hero

I don't think I need to do any more gushing about Rick Riordan on this blog. But in case you've never heard me rave about his books before....

READ THEM!

I love them. Every single one. The Lost Hero is the first book in Riordan's "Heroes of Olympus" series - the series that comes after the Percy Jackson books. I reread it because Son of Neptune, its sequel, was just released yesterday and I'm dying to get it in my hands (except we're a bit poor to be buying books at the moment so I'm going to have to wait). I love these books - the adventure, the magic, the mythology, the humor, the bits of romance, the plots... everything about Rick Riordan's writing is fantastic. There's something for anyone to enjoy out of these books.

And I'm so excited because he just announced that after Heroes of Olympus and his Egyptian series, he'll be publishing a series based on Norse mythology!!

So, if you haven't read this book, pick it up. But read the Percy Jackson series first (which you won't regret). But don't watch the movie. And be glad that you won't have to wait long to read the sequel to The Lost Hero, especially because of its last sentence. I have never read a last sentence that made me more desperate to read a sequel than the last sentence in The Lost Hero.

The Killer Angels

From the back cover:

In the four most bloody and courageous days of our nation's history, two armies fought for two dreams. One dreamed of freedom, the other of a way of life.

Far more than rifles and bullets were carried into battle. There were memories. There were promises. There was love. And far more than men fell on those Pennsylvania fields. Shattered futures, forgotten innocence, and crippled beauty were also the casualties of war.

The Killer Angels is unique, sweeping, unforgettable--a dramatic re-creation of the battleground for America's destiny.

Wow. You know, I'm not much for war, but this was a brilliant book. I thought it would be boring; instead, it was the most engrossing thing I've read all year. Jon's been telling me to read it for ages - I should have listened to him a long time ago!

I hate war and I find the civil war so frustrating. Why? Why did so many people have to die? Why was the south so stubborn - claiming that their cause was so noble? They said it was their rights they were fighting for, but in hindsight, it was obviously just one right that caused the war: the right to own slaves. I don't consider myself an extreme feminist, but sometimes when I look at wars like this I think, honestly... put men in charge of the world and how do they solve their differences? swords, guns, cannons, and mass slaughter... someone doesn't agree with you? the solution is to go on a killing rampage until the only people left standing are the ones on your side.

Rant over.

Anyway, this book helped me understand not only the Battle of Gettysburg (which I now consider myself an expert on - the important generals, the landscape, the turning points, the big battles and charges - I know them all) but the entire war. I was there. Michael Shaara's writing is so present, so alive and descriptive that I understand the emotions, the politics, the sights and sounds and smells, and most importantly, the people. And the writing is clever, witty, and funny at times. Some of the conversations the men have are riotously funny. And some of the events brought me to tears. I was completely caught up in the drama of this important battle. I feel like I have a better understanding of why the war happened and the mentalities behind both sides. And I'll concede that it's not totally fair to generalize that it only happened because the people in charge were men. :D

This is a compelling novel. I especially loved the very personal stories of men from both sides. There were many who fought against each other who were friends or even brothers before the war. The civil war is a complex and tragic thing and I feel like studying it has been a fascinating study in human nature. One thing's for sure; this book is anything BUT boring.

And to top it all off, after reading it, I watched Gettysburg with Jon, the movie based on this book. It's incredible. The emotions from the book are all captured on film, which was done entirely on location with authentic re-enactment groups from all over the country as the hundreds of extras. If you've never seen it, I highly recommend it. And the music is incredible!!!

One other civil war related thing I watched after reading this book was an episode of American Experience (Jon's favorite tv show - shows what a cool history nerd I married :D) about General Robert E. Lee (which you can watch online here). Proof that General Lee maybe wasn't the perfectly pious grandfatherly figure he's portrayed as in the book. The Killer Angels, however well researched, is still a work of historical fiction after all. The facts and events are all correct, and many letters and journals were used to find specific dialogue, but most of the character's personalities were fictionalized.

So, I've been long-winded on this subject, haven't I? To sum up, this is a compelling book which helped me understand Gettysburg, the Civil War, and human nature better. I believe it fully deserved the Nobel Prize it won. If you haven't read it, put it on your to-read list.

Esperanza Rising

Summary: Esperanza Ortega possesses all the treasures a young girl could want: fancy dresses; a beautiful home filled with servants in the bountiful region of Aguascalientes, Mexico; and the promise of one day rising to Mama’s position and presiding over all of El Rancho de las Rosas. 

But a sudden tragedy shatters that dream, forcing Esperanza and Mama to flee to California and settle in a Mexican farm labor camp. There they confront the challenges of hard work, acceptance by their own people, and economic difficulties brought on by the Great Depression.  When Mama falls ill from Valley Fever and a strike for better working conditions threatens to uproot their new life, Esperanza must relinquish her hold on the past and learn to embrace a future ripe with the riches of family and community.

I thought this was a beautiful book! It's a sweet story about accepting what life throws at you without complaining and I loved all the historical elements. This is also based on the true story of the author's own grandmother. I thought the characters were all well-drawn, which made the story even more compelling. I wish it had been longer, actually, because I really enjoyed the whole reading experience. It's gone on my to-buy list (which, *sigh* is getting so long I've begun filling up an entire notebook with it, organized by genre).

Gone With the Wind

There is so much to say about Gone With the Wind that I'm not sure where to start. This book has it all: history, romance, family, compelling plot... It may be a long book, but I was completely engrossed the whole way through. There's no slow pacing or long, dull passages. I really should have read this years ago, because it is one of the best books I've ever read. Certainly in my top 10.

I've always been interested in the civil war, but I'm used to viewing the south as the bad guys. I think this book opened up my mind a bit. It was fascinating to put myself in the south and view the war and the changes they went through from their eyes. Now, I'm not saying that the south was purely the victim, that they didn't do anything wrong. I'm just saying that now I have a little better perspective on how the Civil War affected the whole country. I'm getting the bigger picture, which, surprisingly, even included a little better understanding of the Klu Klux Klan (which I don't approve of!!! I just think I have a better appreciation for why it existed). Anyway, if you'll forgive me for being an English nerd for two seconds, it reminds me of a literary theory I studied called New Historicism, which believes that it's important to try and understand history from all sides. The more stories you read about one event or time period, the closer you'll get to actually discovering the truth of what really happened. I think I might go on a Civil War kick and see what else I can find to read in this genre. Also, I plan to watch Gettysburg with Jon and a documentary PBS did on General Lee.

Moving on, the writing was gorgeous. I loved Margaret Mitchell's style and her dialogue. Rhett and Scarlett could be so funny at times, and at others so completely heart-wrenching. Mitchell paints a beautiful portrait of the South in this book (which may have been maybe a teensy bit romanticized, I thought). There are a lot of racist issues in here, but I thought Mitchell did a good job of trying to be fair-minded and see things from all sides. Mostly, I just enjoyed being there and experiencing everything, the good and the bad. The realities of war, soldiers, giving birth back then (oh horror), dealing with carpetbaggers and Republicans, adjusting to free blacks, all of these were portrayed with the good and the bad.

Now, Scarlett is a bit of a difficult character; she's kind of hard to like. She's such a mercenary, selfish creature for most of the book, and she's a horrible mother, which made it hard for me to empathize with her. I don't think the point is to like her, though. And I did find myself empathizing more and more with her as the book went on. Scarlett completely changes as the South changes, and I don't know that I can blame her for all her ruthlessness. What would I have done in that situation? If my loved ones were starving, wouldn't I bend a few rules of decency? I think the more I tried to understand her, the more I found her fascinatingly complex. She's shallow on the surface, but there are some surprises lurking under that shell.

And as for Rhett, well, I liked him. Tons. He's very much the classic Byronic hero: dark, troubled, a bit of a bad boy, no respect for authority, self-serving... but at the same time, loveable and honest and sympathetic. There's something irresistible about an unrequited love character. My heart went out to him. And you know, I thought one of the interesting ironies of the book comes from Rhett. At the beginning of the war and during the war, whenever Rhett would make remarks about how the South was going to lose and how the war was pointless everybody in the South would hate him. He was ostracized for being a Yankee sympathizer. Well, every time he'd talk, I'd think, "Ummm.... you guys better listen to him... He's right!" I think Rhett is a fantastic character. Fully-drawn and fully-enjoyable to read.

There were lots of other great characters too: Mammy, Melanie, Gerald O'Hara, Ashley (even though I thought he was a bit insipid at times). Really, I just loved the whole book. The ending left me wishing for a sequel, which actually exists. It's called Scarlett, but I've read dozens of reviews saying it's one of the worst books ever written and doesn't live up to the original. It wasn't written by Margaret Mitchell, but was published after her death. So, I think I'll just imagine up my own ending, and let this classic live as it is.

I also had to get the movie from the library and may I just say, "Frankly, my friends, I don't give a ... well, you know." Ok, just kidding. I had to find some way to work the most famous movie quote of all time into this post. I actually really liked the movie. It's a testament to the quality of this film that even though Jon and I often snickered at the cinematography, we both enjoyed it. There were a few scenes that were supposed to be dramatic that made us laugh, but besides that, the acting was truly great. I was most impressed by the pacing. Sometimes old movies can be so slow, but not Gone With the Wind. It's really no wonder that this got 10 academy awards. It's an awesome movie. Now if only Clark Gable were just a bit more attractive. Oh well. He was funny and quotable and that made up for it. I thought Scarlett was much more likeable in the movie than in the book too. Anyway, I'd love to see a modern remake of this story. I can just imagine how awesome it would be with modern cinematography.

Have I said enough? Probably. You're probably thinking, "Sheesh. No need to write a novel about a novel, Emily." So I'll stop, but not before recommending that you read Gone With the Wind. It's completely worth your time.

Three Plays by Thornton Wilder

Love this sooo much! I don't usually read plays, but I needed to read The Skin of Our Teeth for my American Lit class, and this anthology of three plays is what I got from the library. I'd read Our Town before, and decided to give it a second try, and I discovered that The Matchmaker is actually the play that the musical, Hello Dolly is based on. I loved reading all three. I'm a big Hello Dolly fan, so it was fun to read this play. Most of the best lines from the musical came straight from Thornton Wilder. Such a genius. Our Town is very touching and unexpected. Wilder had a very honest way of viewing the world, and Our Town was surprisingly spiritual. I loved this quote:

Stage Manager (p. 81): Now there are some things we all know, but we don't take'm out and look at'm very often. We all know that something is eternal. And it ain't houses and it ain't names, and it ain't earth, and it ain't even the stars...everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings. All the greatest people ever lived have ben telling us that for five thousand years and yet you'd be surprised how people are always losing hold of it. There's something way down deep that's eternal about every human being.

Our Town is definitely a good "make you think" kind of play, but it's not heavy. It's light and funny at times and isn't always trying to hit you over the head with its message. Very good.

The Skin of Our Teeth is bizarre, but I thought it was hilarious. It has to be the strangest play I've ever heard about. For one thing, the play can't decide whether or not it takes place in the New Jersey of the 1950s, the ice age, or the time of Noah's Ark. It keeps jumping back and forth. The other thing that took me by surprise is a character named Sabina is constantly breaking out of character and addressing the audience, telling them how much she hates the play and how it doesn't make any sense. She'll suddenly break out of character and say things like, "Oh, let's skip this scene. It's awful," or, "I can't say that line; it'll hurt the feelings of a friend I have in the audience." But it's all part of the play. I had a good time reading this and digesting all the symbology and archetypes in it. Not for everybody, but I have to confess that I completely loved it.

As I Lay Dying

Talk about de-press-ing. I won't lie to you; I hated reading this book. It's the story of a family that crosses Mississippi to bury their mother/wife in the town where she was born. This is not a happy book. Definitely not, as my American lit professor puts it, "comfort food lit." I'm not likely to curl up with this on a snowy day with a cup of cocoa. Frankly, I'm not likely to ever read it again ever. After studying it in class I can grudgingly admit that it has some good qualities. I won't knock Faulkner's writing abilities; I perfectly accept that he was a genius. On the other hand, why did he have to write about such horrible subjects? By the end of the book, one character is less a leg, one is in a mental institution, one is convinced that his dead mother is a fish, and one (who tries unsuccessfuly to get an abortion) ends up being taken advantage of by a pharmacist. Lovely. Not to mention, the dead wife's husband gets remarried to the woman he borrows a shovel from to bury his wife's corpse with. Not much else to say about As I Lay Dying.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

It's a new semester! I'm in an American Realism class this fall, which is good for me because it's not really my go-to genre and I'll be reading all sorts of books I haven't read before. I'm excited to expand my horizons a bit! Starting off with a familiar friend, though, is Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. It's been years since I've read this book. It's amazing the way a book can change from childhood to adulthood. When I read this as a teen I remember thinking it was funny. And it is funny. It made me laugh out loud and frequently share portions with Jon. What I never realized before is what seriously clever satire this is! As an adult I can see the commentary that Twain is making on his own society and the way romanticism is being attacked. It made me think twice (or thrice or more) about a few aspects of our own society. I really enjoyed this on every level, from intellectually to emotionally. I'm so glad that taking this class made me buy this book, because I think it's a must have for any library.