Don't Bother!

I recently read the Divergent series. Don't waste your time. The premise seems far fetched at times and is just another post-apocalyptic romance. The writing wasn't anything special. You have been warned.

Anna Karenina

Okay. We're reading Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. But only because I couldn't renew the Moonstone  from the library and I own Anna K. Haha. First time in a long time that I haven't been able to finish a book I've borrowed. Happy reading...

Lost Horizon

Lost Horizon by James Hilton, ever heard of it? I hadn't, but it was a book I'd randomly snagged at my mom's house at some point (I don't even remember when), and I needed a quick read that was outside of my usual sphere of interest. It did indeed end up becoming a quick read in comparison to other books read this year and last. It's about Shangri-La. I felt rather silly as I had at one point thought Shangri-La was a real city. So did my husband though so I felt a little better, but in case you didn't know, Shangri-La was invented by Hilton. I found it refreshing to read a book that I knew absolutely nothing about and discover it all for myself. It was a fun, quick, and somewhat thought provoking read. If you have the time, and nothing better to read, I recommend it. It is after all (unbeknownst to me until recently) a classic. A movie was made in 1937 in case you wanted to know... which you probably didn't, but there you are.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

I just finished a book called "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," by: Betty Smith. It was unexpectedly good. I recommend it. I was really struck by the power of struggle and hardship present in the book, but it wasn't unpleasant, sympathizing with the characters drew me into the story. It's mix of very human, weakness filled, but beautiful characters made the book interesting even though it is one of those books where not a lot happens.

MP versus P&P {Spoiler Alert}

I came to Mansfield Park without knowing the story beforehand, which was intentional.  Do you ever read Pride and Prejudice and wonder what you would have thought of all the characters and all the happenings if you didn't already know exactly what happened?  Would I have believed Wickham? Would I have hated Darcy?  How shocking would Lydia's elopement have been?  I wanted to know what it was like to experience Jane Austen with no preconceived notions.  I did that with Persuasion this past summer, and it was lovely.


This time, it was an...interesting experience.  I found it a little stressful actually, not knowing what I wanted to happen, not knowing what I was supposed to want to happen.  After a while, and before any scandal broke out, I finally decided that I wanted Fanny to end up with Henry Crawford--and yet by then I knew it was a silly thing to hope for.  I think I know Austen's style well enough that I knew something else would happen.


Obviously, as soon as all the scandal broke out, I didn't want Fanny to be with Crawford anymore.  But I still didn't really want her to end up with Edmund.  He was at least as bad as Crawford.  And like Katie, I was more impressed by Crawford's turn-around {even if it didn't last} than Edmund's tardy turn-around.  I too believe in the transforming power of love, I believe people can drastically change themselves for the better, and I believe that even a true change of heart can be reversed if there is nothing to keep the change strong.  I think Crawford's change was sincere, but Fanny didn't give him the encouragement he needed to keep working so hard at it.  Crawford chose to improve himself, while Edmund only changed his mind about Mary Crawford when her character was blatantly revealed.  He knew and ignored all along that she was a bit loose in her morals, but he only turned to Fanny's goodness when he had no other option.  He deserved Mary, I think.


So why were Crawford's earlier flirtations unforgivable while Edmund was forgiven for his at the drop of a hat?


I thought it interesting that Fanny was upheld as the pinnacle of goodness, loyalty, and wisdom all throughout the book.  She really never changed throughout the entire book, which I think is strange for a protagonist {I wouldn't be surprised if Fanny was Austen's favorite heroine, as this could explain why Fanny was the same from start to finish.} I, for one, was particularly annoyed by her attitude towards her natal family when she went home for a visit.  I kept expecting Austen to teach her a lesson of true family loyalty.  But it never happened.  She was stubbornly ashamed and disgusted by all but two of them from start to finish.


I was a little worried as to how everything would work out in the end.  Just a few paragraphs before the scandal broke out, I was afraid that nothing could happen that would make me totally happy with the way everything turned out.  But trust that Jane Austen to throw a scandal in the air and have everything fall into place rather nicely because of it.  Everyone basically got what they deserved in the end, right?  More or less?


Well, now I have a little peek of what it may have been like to read Pride and Prejudice without knowing the story beforehand.  I may have rooted for Wickham.  I may have despised Darcy.  Lydia's elopement would have been so shocking!  Elizabeth's frustration with her family members may have frustrated me {but I don't think so; her family really was bad.}  I prefer Pride and Prejudice so much over Mansfield Park in terms of characters and story, but I still liked MP well enough.  It was well-written, of course, and almost all of the characters were lovable at one point or another throughout the story.


So it wasn't my favorite either, but I still enjoyed it.

Oh, Fanny.

After finishing this book, Mansfield Park, I felt a little bit let down. Not because it wasn't a good story, or well written, or engaging but because I was rooting for Henry. Yes, I know a few of you might be gasping (or wondering, how I could root for him already knowing the outcome of the story from the movies), but I have reasons. I want to believe in the changing power of love. Henry's heart was good and generous, though his fault of vanity and poor upbringing brought him down, he truly loved Fanny. He loved her for her goodness and knew that if he could secure her affections he would be tamed and influenced for good by her. Also, even though I know it was not uncommon for cousins to marry in those times I was still a little bothered by it, I mean come on, FIRST cousins? A little too near incest for my taste. I knew it was hopeless but reading about the change in Henry's affections and actions made me hope for the impossible. 
I disliked Fanny at times for her unbending nature. It is supposed to be her greatest virtue but being stalwart and true to her own affections kept her from saving a man from himself, a man who I believe she would have grown to love if she'd been able to let go of her feelings for Edmund. I was reading an afterward in the copy I had borrowed from the library and in it the author points out that Fanny is probably Austen's only character that doesn't undergo a change of heart. To which opinion I agree. I will give her some credit for being so unchangeably moral. She was always in the right but for that very reason I found her to be somewhat boring.  
My very favorite relationship in the book actually became Fanny's relationship with her uncle. It was very gratifying to see her gain his esteem and get some of the attention she was deserving of all along. Well, that's about all I can say at the moment, I waited a little too long to write my review and find the book not quite so fresh on my mind. To end, I think it is worth the read though not a personal favorite. 

My Mansfield Post

Here's my response to Mansfield Park, lovely ladies!

I was surprised by how much I liked this book.  I wasn't expecting to like it as much as Austen's other books--but I do!  It's just so different from the other ones that it's hard to compare them, but I do like it in its own way.  I think this is Austen's most philosophical, and in some ways, dramatic novel.  It is also her most religious (of what I've read...and wait...I think I may have read them all  now?  Am I missing one?).  I felt like I got a better flavor of the things that Austen thought and believed from this book, than any of her others.

For some reason I got the sense from her other books that there were social conventions that she agreed with, and others that she didn't.  For example, she felt the disgrace of having a sister, like Lydia, elope and live with a man before properly married; she did not agree with conventions about marrying for money, or for the sense of inequality between rich and less rich (she didn't seem as opposed to the disparity between gentleman and working class though).  But from this book I got the sense that her principles about things, particularly those of great importance such as morality, originated in deep personal feelings and convictions, not just conventions.  She scorned Mary though Edmund (sorry hope this isn't a spoiler) for thinking what Henry and Mariah was a problem largely because of lack of discretion, not from the inherent immorality they committed.    

The discussions about clergymen, true piety, appreciation of nature, and principles were all fascinating to me.  There are so many interesting themes in this book: morality, independence, nature vs. nurture, integrity, strength, meekness.  It's amazing.

I think it's also her most dramatic.  The most socially intense events happen in this book (e.g. adultery), and some of the most human and emotional too (did any of her other heroines cry as much as Fanny?).  Speaking of Fanny, I heard somewhere that Fanny was actually her favorite heroine (someone have a source for that?). Anyone surprised by that?  I was a little, until I read the book.  Fanny is a wonderful paradox: meek and retiring, painfully shy, but also completely stalwart in following her principles and feelings.  Her uncle calls her unbending, which seems like a farce considering how subservient she has been to her uncle's family and their lives and wishes, but in some ways it's true.  She won't bend on what she really feels.  I think the problem with Fanny may be somewhat our modern sensibilities about assertiveness and the independence of women--but much more I think it is a problem of...drum roll please...that movie from the 80s.  Yes, I really think that.  I saw that movie before I read the book, and my view of Fanny was distorted by it when I read the book.  I'm sorry, but the actress in that one drives me crazy.  I'm still trying to pinpoint exactly what grates on me.  A few times in the book I was able to disassociate the Fanny I was reading from that one and it was refreshing.  I imagined someone fresh, and shy, and meek, even subservient, but not annoying.  I was excited to watch more recent versions to hopefully revamp my view of Fanny.  But they failed.

I watched them both.  The PBS series one (remember when we all watched those together?), and the other one.  The PG-13 one.  Do not watch that one.  It was horrible.  Really.  I watched it with high hopes, but they utterly slaughtered it.  Don't watch it.  I liked the PBS one--and a great relief after the other one.  But...I don't feel like anything I've seen really captures Fanny Price.  It's like our modern mind can't really conceive of a woman that is so extremely meek, without making her a flinching mouse.  That's what it is.  That one actress seems like she's creeping around waiting to be slapped or something.  Fawning.  Ya, that's the other one.  She's fawning.  It's like we can't conceive of someone simultaneously strong and submissive.  Thoughts?

Maybe because this is her most philosophical, it is also her least romantic.  Is there really any romance is this book?  Not really.  The most is actually between Henry and Fanny, strangely enough.  This is not a romantic book.  If it is disappointing my guess would be it is for this reason.  I mean, really, Fanny and Edmund finally get together in the very last chapter, and it rather glosses over it.  Nope, no romance, but I think it makes up for it in substance on other counts.

So, what are all y'all's thoughts?

Mansfield Park

Dear ladies,


If you would like to join in we're going to be reading Mansfield Park by: the tried and true Jane Austen. I think we should attempt to finish in a month (or maybe two). If Austen isn't your cup of tea, or you have drunk your fair share of her lately, try Rebecca by: Daphne Du Maurier. Or if you're super picky check out this website and plug in a book you liked and see what comes up.


Happy reading.


-k.