Hiatus Interruptus

Hello everyone! Thank you, all of you, for your wonderful notes while I've been away, I have missed you guys!!!

I'm just interrupting this hiatus to share with you what I won as second prize from Booklogged's "Winter Classics Challenge" : it's a wonderful miniature sheet of British Jane Eyre postage stamps. These stamps were issued on the 150th death anniversary of Charlotte Bronte who died in March 1855. They are just beautiful and I will treasure them so much, booklogged, thank you!

This lovely gift has prompted me to start a collection of memorobilia from the classics with an emphasis on leading female characters and women writers. There will be ample to choose from,I am excited! :)

I also received a fab "Last Line" bookmark in purple and gold and some copper page markers...they are just wonderful and soooo useful,thank you again, booklogged!

Hope to be back early April...so see you all then!

Completed the Winter Classics Challenge!

Hooray for me, I have completed the Winter Classics Challenge

The books I read were:

Umrao Jan Ada by Mirza Muhammad Hadi Ruswa

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll

Some Prefer Nettles by Tanizaki Jun'ichiro

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Here are short write-ups for the last two:

Some Prefer Nettles by Tanizaki Jun'ichiro

Interesting story of a young Japanese married couple who grow out of love with each other and instead of the usual tears, accusations or stony silences, they sit down and decide they need to get a divorce. Not too shocking today maybe, but when you consider this book was written in the 1920's in a country known to be rigidly traditional, it is. The wife goes on to take a lover with the knowledge and approval of the husband who feels no passion whatsoever for her.

Although separation has been spoken about,neither husband nor wife seem to want to do anything concrete about it. At first they claim they are still together for appearances sake and for the sake of the son they had together. But as time goes by, the reader senses that they are, both of them, procrastinating about making the divorce final. What one doesn't get is why. Do they fear the unknown? Is it just apathy? Passiveness? This theme of indecision runs through the entire book, which made for very strange (I would hesitate to use the word, disturbing) reading.

While there is nothing outstanding in this story or in the writing, I would say there are some rather nice side stories of kabuki dances, puppet shows, clove-scented baths,love suicides of Chikamatsu and other aspects of Japanese culture.

I guess this was just a mediocre read for me. I realize I just haven't learned to appreciate or understand Japanese literature the way it should be appreciated, oh, Nessie, do help me!

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Listened to this on audio and it was gripping! I really cannot afford to give anything away for fear it will spoil your experience of the book. I'll just say it makes the suggestion that we all possess the dual natures of good and evil within us, as well as the underlying suggestion that evil is potentially more powerful than good.Though it was written in 1886, the language isn't that old fashioned. THis is an immensely enjoyable read or listen!

Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll

Publishers: Parragon Publishing, U.K.

Text: Unabridged

Pages:287

Illustrations: June Goulding

First Published: 1865

This Edition: 2006








I just finished reading the very weird, but extremely wonderful "Alice in Wonderland" and its sequel, "Through the Looking Glass" by Lewis Carroll for booklogged's "Winter Classics Challenge". My edition includes an unabridged text and is published by Parragon Publishing in the UK, with illustrations by June Goulding. I think "Alice In Wonderland" is one of those books that must always be accompanied by illustrations or pictures, because, as Alice herself said: "And what is the use of a book, without pictures or conversations?"

I have always maintained that everyone should read "Alice in Wonderland" atleast twice in the their lives, once as a kid to enjoy the nonsensical tale with its wonderful characters,poems and jokes and once as an adult to enjoy the satire, the puns and the cultural references. Having said that however, I wonder if kids are still reading "Alice in Wonderland" today?

I'm sure almost everyone here has read Alice in Wonderland,but to refresh the memory, here's a tiny synposis:

Alice, a little girl with bright blonde hair and a blue dress with a white apron, is sitting with her sister who is reading a book. Having nothing to do she pursues a White Rabbit (wearing a waistcoat and carrying a pocket watch) passing by down a rabbit hole. She falls a long, long way and lands in Wonderland. Whilst there, she experiences a host of puzzling changes and meets some very strange characters who guide her through Wonderland:

(Alice plays crouquet with the Red Queen on the most curious croquet-ground ever)

The Cheshire Cat, who is always grinning and vanishing and reappearing mysteriously.To say a person looks like a Cheshire Cat is to say that he or she is grinning from ear to ear, looking mysterious and feeling quite pleased with himself or herself.

The Mad Hatter, The March Hare, and the sleepy Dormouse whom Alice joins uninvited at a Tea Party. They make her dizzy with their riddles, their conversations filled with puns and other delicious nonsense. Carroll did not invent the term "Mad Hatter", it was already in existence. Truth is, Hatters really did go mad. The chemicals used in hat-making included mercurous nitrate which caused mercury poisoning. Victims developed hallucinations and other psychotic symptoms. In the case of our Hatter, time has stopped working for him so he is always on tea time!

The curmedgeonly, but wise, Caterpillar who smokes a hookah and gives Alice the valuable gift of the mushroom (one side making her bigger, and the other making her small), which gives her control of her size in Wonderland.

The Queen of Hearts who when crossed in any way, screams "Off with his head!" or "Off with her head!"!!!

The Mock Turtle, a very melancholy character. The Mock Turtle is always crying, and he and the Gryphon tells stories loaded with puns.

In Alice Through the Looking Glass, the sequel, written by Carroll seven years later, Alice wonders what life must look like through a mirror and is able to climb through it to find a world in reverse. Interestingly, Alice's adventures in "Through the Looking Glass" are like a game of chess, in which she starts as a white pawn and finally comes out a queen "in the eighth square" where she gives a very mad dinner party in honour of the event.

Some of the well known characters from the sequel include:

Alice with Tweedledum and Tweedledee

Tweedledum and Tweedledee: The two brothers that Alice meets in the forest. They are pictured as fat twins who are identical in speech, attitude, and appearance. Today Tweedledum and Dee have come to mean two people who are so alike they are indistinguishable.

"Don't you think you'd be much safer down on the ground?" Alice went on.."That wallk is so very narrow".

Humpty Dumpty: Yes, the same guy from the Mother Goose nursery rhyme. He and Alice have a wonderful discussion about semantics, also, Humpty Dumpty claims to be able to interpret all kinds of poetry.

The White Knight: is the kindliest of Alice's guides and advisers, indeed the truest hero of her story; and it is their encounter, we are told, that she will always remember most clearly. Some experts say that Lewis Carroll meant for the White Knight to be him.

Alice and the kindly White Knight

Through the years, critics and psychologists believing the work to have many levels of interpretation, have dissected "Alice in Wonderland" in a quest to decipher its hidden, deeper meanings. However, as a result, this work is now surrounded by so much mystery and hoopla that it is a difficult book to traverse on one's own, without the aid of interpreters. I found myself constantly referring to the Alice page on Wikipedia. It's a useful guide on the plot summary, the character allusions and for the interpretation of the songs and poetry.

However, if you just want to read it as a tale of inspired nonsense, go ahead, suspend disbelief and enjoy it. I guarantee it will make you laugh and if you don't, well, "Off with your heads!'

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

# Paperback: 368 pages

# Publisher: Washington Square Press; (September 15, 2004). First published: 1931

Music to listen to as you read: (clicking on the links takes you to the mp3 recording)

Autumn Moon Over a Quiet Lake
(composed in the 1920's by Lu Wencheng)

Slow Liu Ban
(composed by Jiang Nan)

An Dun part 2




With gratitude to Angela in Europe for reading this book with me and for the wonderful discussion that ensued via e-mail. Thanks, Angela, you made the rereading of this book so enjoyable with your fresh perspective and insights.


Introduction:

What can one say, I wonder, about Pearl Buck's immensely popular and well read novel that hasn't already been said? I read "The Good Earth" when I was in Grade 10 and remember it being such a powerful story that when booklogged announced her Classics Challenge, I felt bound to do a re-read. I am not finding it all that powerful this time around which certainly lends credence to the theory that a book speaks differently to you depending upon what
stage of your life you read it in, but it is no less enjoyable and still very,very moving in parts.

Synopsis:

The story in a nutshell, centers around Wang Lung, a peasant living in abject poverty in the Chinese north in the early part of the 20th-century. When he reaches a marriageable age, O-Lan, a slave girl from the rich Hwang House is given to him as a bride.Together they toil his land and build a family and with her resourcefulness and his hard labor Wang Lung slowly becomes a prosperous landowner, even buying out the lands once owned by the great Hwang family.

Wang Lung's fortunes change more than once, and as he acquires more wealth you see his priorities start to change - he dresses like a rich man, sends his sons to school (he himself was illiterate); he buys a concubine (Lotus) and builds her her own quarters with her own slaves; he starts to find fault with his wife, O-Lan "...who plodded in silence . . . her features were too large . . . and her feet were large and spreading." (her feet had not been bound); he no longer toils the land himself but employs men to work on his fields. While his attitude to everything changes the one thing that appears to remain a constant in his life, is his love for the land, his appreciation of it and the awareness that he would have been nothing had it not been for "The Good Earth".

What I liked about the novel:

The narrative is simply written and very easy to read. The language employed is quaint and sweet. It's the kind of novel you could read anywhere, but, be warned, its impact can send you reeling. Pearl Buck writes about ancient China like none of her contemporaries, I'm sure there were Chinese writers also writing about China in that period, but sometimes local writers do not describe social customs and traditions in detail (they expect it is understood). Pearl Buck knew she was writing for an American audience and writes in glorious detail taking the reader into the heart of the place sharing the customs, tradtions, history and the thinking of the time (the 1920's)

What I learned:

I was most appalled by the gender inequality and how women were treated. In 20-century China, women were not daughters, they were borne simply to be a man's slave, they were even referred to as "slave" or "maid".

"...she was a like a faithful, speechless serving maid, who is only a serving maid and nothing more. And it was not meet that he should say to her, "why do you not speak"? It should be enough that she fulfilled her duty"

Along with this serfdom they had to put up with foot binding, a husband's many concubines and looking after his extended family's every whim, it certainly made feel so lucky to be born a woman in this era and this part of the world. I cannot help but question, however, if much has changed for the women of China. If you have read Xinran's book "The Good WOmen of China" you will know why I ask.

Also, I was most impressed with the filial piety practised by the Chinese. As much as Wang Lung hated his uncle (his father's brother) he was compelled to look after him and his family until they died, providing for all their needs, like food, lodging and even their recreational smokes.

Conclusion:

I think Pearl Buck meant the land to serve as a metaphor for one's value system, one's traditions. As long as Wang Lung stayed close to the land and tended to it himself, he was a morally upright man, but the minute he strayed away from it or handed over the tending to outsiders, his morals started to waiver. I think Wang Lung always knew that deep down inside and that's why he clung to his land

update: Les from Lesley's Book Nook has a wonderful, wonderful review of the same book. Check it out!