What I Saw and How I Lied

After Evie's father (step-father) returns home from WWII, everything is suppose to be idyllic. But the war has changed everyone. Tired of his hum-drum life, Evie's dad decides to take the family (minus the harping grandma) on a vacation to Florida. There Evie will see and lie, just as the title promises.

The bad: Evie seduces a guy. And then she, you know, lies (duh). About what she saw (duh x2). But even I was surprised about how exactly the title described the book.

The good: Evie does her best to get what she needs out of a bad situation. In my opinion (which this is) this is a good thing, but no one else is looking out for her best interests, that's for sure.

My view: This was a gripping and unusual book, writtin with a no-nonsense yet poetic style. The whole thing just fills you with dread. I appreciated the interest this book sparked in me, but I don't think there was really anthing worth reading in this book.

So I thought of this new thing that seemed kinda fun, and that is using one word at the end of my review to sum up the book, so let's give it a try:

Dread

Cold Mountain

Towards the end of the Civil War, Inman leaves the Confederate army and heads home to the mountains of North Carolina. Disillusioned by the bloody chaos of the war, he longs to return to the mountains of his happier youth, and to Ada. Along the way he encounters many dangers, companions, enemies, and hungers. Ada, left behind, faces her own journey.

The bad: Why do I always start with the bad stuff? Probably because I just want to get it out of the way. Anyhow, I would say that the worst thing (to me) was the fact that none of the dialog was in quotations, which made it hard to read. But it did give it a distinct flavor. There is no lack of mild swearing and a detailed description of a woman very explicitly throwing herself at Inman. Also Inman and companions get dead drunk a couple of times. And he isn't afraid to kill to get back to his mountain.

The good: No matter what Inman says about being ruined by the war, he maintains his honor on the road. He is fair to those he meets and helps those who he can.

My view: I first saw the movie Cold Mountain, which then inspired me to read the book. And since I loved the movie, I can be completely objective about the book. Some would call this book boring and vague, and if I was being my normal harsh self, I would have to agree, but I found this book gripping, fascinating and understated. The one complaint I have about it is that (being the hopeless romantic that I am) I liked the romance in the movie better. I didn't feel like the book really highlighted it enough, until the end.

The Book Thief

In WWII Germany, books are becoming rarer and rarer. Originally troubled by letters, words, sentences, paragraphs and books, Liesel discovers a passion for them that causes her to steal books. Observed and narrated by Death, The Book Thief is the story of Liesel's experiences during WWII punctuated by stolen books.

The bad: Everyone is always swearing at each other, mostly in German, but often not. Also, Liesel is, you know, a thief. I thought this was going to be some heroic, "save the knowledge" type of thing, but she just steals them because she can. And she steals other things too, like food, because she is hungry. A bad thing? Some might consider a book narrated by Death to be, I don't know, just generally a evil book, but it's not. Death is just a different point of view.

The good: I liked Liesel's dad. He was kind and understanding.

My view: I got this book out of the library like three years ago, because even then I had heard of it, but I just really couldn't persuaded myself to read it. But it was recommended to me, so I got it again. Really, I can't see it. This is one of those books that thinks if it is stark and strident about something bad, it is good. The really sad thing is that everyone else seems to believe it! I found this book dull. Very dull.

Mr. Darcy's Diary

Everyone knows the story of Pride and Prejudice (except my dad, he lived for years thinking that it was a study of pride and prejudice, ha ha), and now it's time to hear it from Mr. Darcy's view point. We travel through his journal starting with Georgiana's near miss with Mr. Wickham and going through Mr. Darcy's ups and downs concerning Miss Elizabeth Bennett.

The bad: hmmm, nada

The good: It's Pride and Prejudice... So true love! There is also of course both Mr. Darcy and Lizzy's realizations that they have been prideful and prejudiced.

My view: Whenever I go into B&N I'm always confronted by a multitude of books using a Pride and Prejudice theme to help them sell, and to be honest, a lot of those books look pretty scary and leave me thinking What have you done to Mr. Darcy and Lizzy? Thankfully Mr. Darcy's Diary preserves the feelings and integrity of the original story (and if anyone should know, it would be me, yes, I've done a report on Jane Austen, yes, I've seen the 5 hour movie version more than three times, yes, I have read Pride and Prejudice, and yes, I own two copies of the book and two different movie versions). Also, this book has balanced the characters really well, making both Mr. Darcy and Lizzy imperfect but lovable.

Gaudy Night (Lord Peter Wimsey Series), A Favorite!

This book really represents all the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries (though Gaudy Night is actually my favorite, you shouldn't just jump in here). So what you're really getting is a Lord Peter series review! Lucky you!
So the story is, Lord Peter is a wealthy British aristocrat with keen intelligence, a bumbling manner which hides his ruthlessness and a faithful manservant. So basically, he's the coolest. Jilted by his fiance (who isn't even in the stories, which is good, because who in their right mind would dump Lord Peter?), with a sense of public duty and a drive for truth Lord Peter investigates cases with aplomb and sophistication.

The good stuff: These books are full of fascinating ideas and interesting principles (which is pretty much a different way of saying the same thing). I've read them many times, and I still don't understand all of the things they're talking about, in a good way. And all the subject manner of the mysteries is not icky or anything.

The not so hot stuff: These books were written in the twenties and thirties for a twenties and thirties British audience. Even I (I consider myself to have a pretty good grasp on British culture, I mean, I watch BBC) sometimes have a hard time understanding quite what they are saying. Especially the references to literature! I've given up on those. Lord Peter isn't exactly a moral person, he admits freely to having several mistresses (in succession, not all at once).

Why I love it: the Lord Peter books are witty and amusing, with lots of memorable characters. The writing is delightful and full of my kind of humour (hehe). Lord Peter himself is fascinating, with strange combination of flippancy, urbanity, gravity and education. These delightful books are for any lover of British fiction, mysteries or aristocracy!