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Moonstone

I’ve mentioned before that I thought detective books ought to be longer than a simple short story, such as how Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote some of Sherlock Holmes’ adventures. I imagined that a great detective story would require many more pages to allow the story a chance of developing fully. Compared to one of Doyle’s short stories, I was certain a full-length detective novel would similarly provide the necessary enjoyment and intrigue that goes along with the genre, but that those feelings would be even more powerful because of the extra detail that a longer story allows. I had all this in mind when I began reading The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. With over four hundred pages, one which quotes T. S. Eliot declaring it to be the best and longest detective novel, I started off with great expectations.

The story is told by a handful of characters as they recollect their memories involving the disappearance of the famous moonstone diamond. The first half of the book is told from the perspective of Gabriel Betteredge, a most loyal house-steward. His narration drew me into the story; I was deeply entertained by his odd, yet witty character. I also enjoyed this section because, compared to the last half of the book, it actually felt like a detective story. The missing moonstone was investigated by Sergeant Cuff, a detective well-known for solving incredible mysteries, who was convinced that the diamond was never actually stolen. He claimed that Rachel, the owner, wanted to make it appear as if it were stolen so that she could discreetly sell it in order to pay off some of her debt. Betteredge’s narrative ended with Rachel fleeing from her home after Cuff declared her suspected guilt.

At this point it seemed to me as though the story was ending, yet there still remained the last half of the book. The novel could have, and in my unwarranted opinion should have, ended after Betteredge concluded his narration. Maybe I just didn’t have enough patience to wait for the big reveal, but I found that the novel was actually quite hindered by its length. Perhaps I got too used to the short adventures of Sherlock Holmes, but The Moonstone just seemed needlessly long. Furthermore, I also want to note that I was gravely disappointed in the ending. The reveal of the mystery didn’t sit right with me; it seemed to lack the usual resolve and excitement that detective stories bring forth. Mainly, the fact that the character who actually stole the diamond wasn’t even aware they did it, really got on my nerves.

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This book has become very dear to my heart. I will admit that the tragic story of Oliver Twist made me the saddest I’ve ever felt for a fictional character. I’m positive the hardships of that poor little orphan child would bring tears to even the mightiest of men. The main feature of Oliver Twist that I absolutely loved was the fact that even though Oliver was placed in the direst of situations, he still managed to stay the sweetest character from beginning to end.

Needless to say, I was captivated by Oliver’s story from the very start. In no way did he, with his immensely kind-hearted soul, deserve any of the cruel things that just kept happening to him. I nearly completed the novel in one sitting simply because I didn’t want to stop reading until any sort of good fortune went his way. Then, however, I didn’t want to stop reading because Oliver’s happiness is what dreams are made of.

The entire time I just wanted to give him a big ol’ hug and tell him that, even though life has been utterly unjust to him, he needs to keep his head held high, stick to his morals, and never lose hope of becoming the amazingly happy person he has every right to be.

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Honestly, I don’t really know what to say about this book… But it most definitely won’t be nice.

I first read The Catcher in the Rye in high school. However, that being close to a decade ago, I had almost completely forgotten what it was about. The novel is considered extremely popular, so I was slightly eager to read it once again. Therefore, when a member of the online book club I’m a part of (The Reading Frenzy) suggested I read it, I was glad to.

That eagerness quickly ceased after only a couple of pages. I began to recall some aspects of the book, mainly the narrator, that really irked me when I first read it. Mainly, I can’t stand the main character, Holden. I fully understand that he suffers from mental illnesses, but his personality, and the excruciating way he talks, gets on my nerves. He repeats everything, like a goddam hundred times. Hell, it damn near killed me and all. Plus, he feels sorry for anyone and everyone cause they’re goddam phonies and all and don’t even know it.

See what I did there? If not, just read a few pages, you’ll understand in less than five minutes. Honestly, every time he said the words “goddam” and “phony” I wanted to karate chop him in the neck. Furthermore, to me at least, I found the story a bit pointless. Holden seemed to start to do something only to quit it soon after. Granted, there were some funny moments, but they were grossly overshadowed by Holden’s dark thoughts that were usually suicidal and sometimes even murder-y. Which reminds me of the main reason I dislike The Catcher in the Rye: the fact that it played a role in the murder of John Lennon. That is simply unforgivable!

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My Adventures with Sherlock Holmes

I have become completely and utterly addicted to the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous character, Sherlock Holmes. Almost every hour of the last couple of days have been consumed by some form of Sherlock medium. It started off innocent enough; I only planned on buying one or two books that contained some of Doyle’s short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes and his adorable partner against crime, John Watson. First, I ended up purchasing The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which is a collection of 12 short stories, because it just seemed like the right place to start. I should mention that, beforehand, I had very little knowledge of the original stories; like many people who still breathe today, I hadn’t gotten around to actually reading them. Therefore, my knowledge of (and love for) the brilliant consulting detective simply arose from the BBC television series Sherlock, staring the amazing actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.

When I got home I immediately began reading; I was immensely excited to read the stories that started it all. After the first story, “A Scandal in Bohemia,” I was hooked. Honestly, I was a bit skeptical at first. I haven’t really read many mystery or crime stories, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Plus, I kept thinking that a mystery would probably need to be longer than a short story in order to be truly great. Yet, somehow, Doyle created these clever little stories that provides the reader with the satisfying feeling of complete accomplishment even though they are but a handful of pages. Furthermore, I was very pleased to find out that the Sherlock television series tries to stay true to Doyle’s original stories. Obviously, there are major differences, but the show actually included a lot of little characteristics from the books. Catching those little pieces from the original work always puts a smile on my face.

Anywho, a few days later I somehow ended up buying five more books. I just couldn’t get enough. I spent most of my day reading. Then, when my fiancé came home, we would watch a couple episodes of Sherlock and then read in bed for a while before bedtime. After we turned off the lights, however, I would plug in my headphones and fall asleep listening to the audiobooks. Like I said, I’ve become addicted. There were even some nights where the audio would seep into my dreams and take me on some pretty strange adventures with Sherlock Holmes and John Watson.

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Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, ‘It will be happier’

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (via literalisha)

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Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow! What a Ride!’

Hunter S. Thompson, The Proud Highway  (via literalisha)

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The Young Adult’s Story

I’ve always had one major problem with short stories, especially great ones, and that is the fact that they are too short! The short story written by Elizabeth Gaskell, “The Old Nurse’s Story,” is but one notable example of a story that left me wanting more. In this case, the “more” I wanted was of the chilling story that caused me to read with every single light in my home turned on. Now, compared to many other horror stories, this one is nowhere near the scariest. Still, if I’m being completely honest, I was very nervous before reading it because, frankly, scary things scare me. I won’t deny that I am definitely a scaredy-cat. I can’t watch horror movies by myself because I get very afraid; even some thrillers are too much for me. Therefore, because reading is typically a solo job, I haven’t really read many scary books (except Frankenstein, but I didn’t find that book scary at all). That being said, I read “The Old Nurse’s Story” as confidently as possible, hoping I wouldn’t get too afraid.

I love Gaskell’s short story for many reasons. One being that it starts off sort of slow. Gaskell does a great job creating the back story and character developments in the first half of the story, while also building up an uneasy tension in the reader. I knew beforehand that this was a ghost story, so I tried to prepare myself. However, whenever anything even a little spooky happened, I was terrified. The organ playing itself, mixed with the knowledge of the suspicious east wing and the creepy old ladies, is what nightmares are made of. Then, all of a sudden, Miss Rosamond goes missing, Hester rescues her, and all hell breaks loose. The last half of the story is jampacked with hauntingly spooky accounts and explanations that tie the story together perfectly. Miss Rosamond’s encounters with the ghosts, the increasingly aggressive organ playing, and then finally the reveal of Miss Grace and Miss Maude’s story was, in my opinion, perfectly executed.

Learning that the actions of a young Miss Furnivall were the cause of all the horror the characters experienced provided a surprisingly shocking ending, as well as, the moral of the story. To clarify, Miss Furnivall, known back then as Miss Grace, had a sister named Miss Maude. They were both in love with the same man. Secretly, he chose Miss Maude and they had a baby together. Miss Grace found out and told their father. Their father was extraordinarily mad when he confronted Miss Maude; he hit the child with his cane and then kicked them out into the cold where they died during the night. Miss Furnivall began to regret her part in it and became haunted by her regretful past. Later, when the ghosts are strong enough they replay those events while the old Miss Furnivall desperately, and pointlessly, tries to stop them. In the end, her regret won, and she ended up getting palsy. The story ends with Miss Furnivall muttering the moral of the story: “what is done in youth can never be undone in age!” (Norton Anthology, vol. E, p. 1274).

Elizabeth Gaskell’s cautionary tale warns readers to think twice about their actions because regret is a tricky thing to overcome. However, one thing I don’t regret is reading Gaskell’s ghost story. It has made me determined to read more horror stories from this day forth!

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This book is absolutely amazing. It is a novel about war, time travel, and aliens; every sci-fi nerd’s dream. One thing I love about this book is that it is loosely based on Vonnegut’s experiences from World War II. Instead of writing a grim story about the disasters of war, Vonnegut decided to use science fiction, along with crude humour, to successfully write a book about war that doesn’t leave the reader feeling empty and sad.

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New Favourite Poet?

This week, for my Victorian Literature class, we had to read a few poems by Christina Rossetti. Rossetti was an extremely important poet from the nineteenth century. Furthermore, there have been debates on whether she or Elizabeth Barret Browning was the greatest female poet of their time. They were both amazing poets who bettered the world one way or another. For instance, each helped a great deal in changing the way people viewed women and their roles in society, which was a huge accomplishment during their era. However, unlike Browning who was greatly influential through her poems about political issues, Rossetti is famous for her remarkable lyric skills. Between Rossetti and Browning, and solely based on the very few poems I’ve read by each, I would say that Rossetti was the better poet for two main reasons.

The first is because she somehow tells full stories in such short poems. One example of this is her poem “Promises Like Pie Crust.” In only twenty-four lines, Rossetti tells a story about rejecting a marriage proposal. In this case, the “promises” are the marriage vows that the narrator doesn’t want to exchange because she knows they are as easy to break as a pie’s crust. Moreover, she wants to be free of the confinement that comes along with marriage, especially because there is no way to completely know, and trust, another person. In the end, she just wants to be friends. I’ve obviously simplified the poem quite a bit; there are many more aspects to it. Still, even that brief description composed into a poem with only twenty-four lines is mind-blowing, at least to me.

The second reason is because her poems aren’t always what they seem. Obviously, Rossetti isn’t the only poet who wrote poems with double meanings, that’s kind of what poems are. I just mean that Rossetti wrote some of her poems in a way that seem to exclusively be about one topic (but, it might just be me, like I’ve said before I suck at deciphering poems). For instance, “An Apple-Gathering” appears to only be about apples, yet, there are whole other meanings to the poem. Honestly, I seriously thought it was just a story about apples and a boy who rejected her because she had none… After some research, however, I learned that this poem might be about a woman who gets shamed because she had sex out of wedlock. Clearly, Rossetti was extremely good at saying one thing but meaning another. A story about apples and a story about sex are worlds apart, yet Rossetti somehow made them one.

There are many more reasons why I love Christina Rossetti’s poems. Her lyrical poetry is inspirational; it is clearly well thought out with the most perfect diction. She may be my new favourite poet. I can’t wait to read more of her poems and learn more about the way her wonderfully creative mind worked.

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Finally all caught up in the Song of Ice and Fire series! It only took me many, many years, but I did it! I am so very proud of myself, sort of.

Just over a month ago I decided it was time I finished reading A Storm of Swords. I only had about 200 pages left when I stopped reading it a couple years ago, so it didn’t take long to read the rest of the book. I wasn’t planning on starting A Feast for Crows, because I have a lot of things I need to read for school, but I couldn’t stop myself; the stories were just too good. The same thing happened with A Dance with Dragons, and before I knew it, I had no more to read.

It only took about two and a half weeks to read the last two books because, during those days, all I wanted to do was read or sleep. I wasn’t even going to school or anything.. Honestly, I was barely even getting out of bed. This, however, provided me with a lot of time to read! I guess that’s one good thing about depression..

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Dramatic Monologues… and not Understanding Them

Robert Browning (1812-1889) helped popularize the dramatic monologue, a form of poetry that used to be judged for not being poetic enough. Apparently, Browning started writing dramatic monologues because he was embarrassed to write about anything too personal; they helped distance him from the narrator of the poem. I have read a few dramatic monologues written by other poets, but this was my first time reading something from Browning himself. Some of the poems I read include, “Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister,” “The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed’s Church,” and “Fra Lippo Lippi.”

Browning’s dramatic monologues changed how people viewed poetry, so I was pretty excited to finally read some of them. However, if I’m being completely honest, it did not go so well. Let me just start off by saying that I am the absolute worst when it comes to dissecting a poem (or, in this case, even just understanding the damn thing), especially if the poet used words or phrases that aren’t necessarily around anymore. Unfortunately, for me at least, Browning has been known to use “grotesque rhymes and jaw-breaking diction” (Norton Anthology, vol. E, p. 1275). Therefore, my first time reading these poems was just a complete and utter disaster.

I had no idea what was going on, especially in “Soliloquy of a Spanish Cloister.” In that poem, it felt like the narrator was spewing out nonsense just for the hell of it and hoping it would rhyme in the end. Plus, I found out (after my second reading when I got fed up of being confused and finally read a summary) there is more than one voice in the poem! That really messed me up because it’s supposed to be a monologue, right? Anyway, “The Bishop Orders His Tomb” and “Fra Lippo Lippi” were easier to grasp. Mainly because they were actual monologues; meaning there was obviously only one person speaking. Overall, the poems were pleasant… once I understood them. I’m sure most people are way better at reading poems such as these, but I was completely lost. I actually had to listen to audio recordings of each poem in order to understand them better. But, hey, whatever works, right?

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A Sad Realization

The other day I read “Dover Beach,” a short poem by Matthew Arnold. It was amazing. First, however, I just want to start this off by reminding you that every reader interprets poetry in their own, personal way. Moreover, a lot of that interpretation can be based on how their life is at that point in time. Now, I don’t want to go into my personal problems, but it might help to know that life hasn’t been very easy for me lately. Nonetheless, Arnold’s poem really struck a chord within me, and I believe my current state is the reason why. To me, the messages “Dover Beach” offered were powerful and so important. I love this poem because it helped me process through some of the stressful situations I’ve been dealing with. To be honest, I probably read it more times than was necessary, but I feel like I learned something new every time. There are many ways to interpret this poem and I think it’s very important to find meaning in it that suits you. Anyhow, I should probably just start talking about the poem already; I feel like I may have put too much pressure on the little guy…

In his poem, Arnold wrote about a grim topic: human sorrow or suffering. However, I highly doubt that anyone suffered while reading that poem. Even though the subject matter might have been darker than what some readers may prefer, the lyrical writing was absolutely beautiful, and the stanzas were clearly well thought out.

Arnold did an amazing job using sights and sounds from nature to help explain the suffering of mankind. The first stanza introduced a beach landscape that, at first, appeared calm and peaceful. However, the tone quickly changed from tranquil to one full of melancholy when the narrator decided to focus on the sounds coming from the beach. He stated that the waves “bring the eternal note of sadness in” (Norton Anthology, vol. E, p. 1387, ll. 13-4). The second stanza revealed that the “eternal note of sadness” is actually a representation of human misery. Human sorrow, like the note, is timeless. The narrator got that point across by declaring that people of past generations have also heard the note of sadness. In the second half of the poem, the narrator seemed to come to terms with his reality. Nevertheless, that does not mean that the poem got any happier. On the contrary, nearing the end, the poem dove deeper into the sad and grim-infested hole it dug for itself. The third stanza was all about how faith and religion used to be this huge part of life. Yet, during the poem, the narrator came to grips with the fact that faith, just like the waves, was withdrawing; leaving only a note of sadness in it’s wake. In the fourth stanza, the narrator confirmed his realization that mankind was being left in the dark to suffer by stating that the world “hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain” (Norton Anthology, vol. E, p. 1388, ll. 33-4).

The tone of the poem is obviously deeply sad. At first, it was hard for me to read because it reminded me of certain things I’ve been dealing with recently. It made me think of personal issues that I would rather have avoided but, in the end, I’m grateful for it. Being forced to focus on those things helped me start to work through them. So, I guess, the most important message I got from “Dover Beach” is that focusing on your own sorrow can help you realize what you truly need in life.

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Just finished reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. It’s a book about a dystopian/utopian (depending how you look at it) society where the concepts of family, religion, and pain are almost obliterated. The story is extremely weird, and sometimes uncomfortable, but I couldn’t stop reading. It was just so good. If you like science fiction, then definitely read this book! It’s amazing.

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my reading partner, thor, always with me when I have a book in my hands.

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I read Frankenstein for the first time this summer and completely fell in love with it. The story is absolutely amazing. So, when I learned that I had to read it for my science fiction class, I was very excited. I might even write a paper on it for this class, though I’m not exactly sure what the topic of the paper would be.. Maybe something about how Mary Shelley blurs the line between good and evil?

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[x] Jensen Ackles at ComicCon2012