Review: Much Ado About Nothing

I'm not quite sure how it's already February, but here we are. I've been thinking that this month is perfect for some love stories. There's quite a bit to choose from in that arena, and I went with one of my favorites.

I'm a big Shakespeare fan. Always have been, probably always will be. There are two of his comedies that I enjoy above all the others. For this review, I'll be looking at one of them.

Much Ado About Nothing gives us the story of Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero.

We watch Benedick and Beatrice as they engage in a battle of wits and attempt to convince everyone that they are not interested in love, and certainly are not interested in each other. It's clear from the very beginning that their true feelings are the opposite of what they proclaim.

In contrast to their refusals of love, we also watch the development of love between Claudio and Hero. This sweet young couple are the exact opposite of Benedick and Beatrice and can't seem to get enough of love. Much of the plot centers around their courtship and the effects of gossip that lead Claudio to believe Hero has been unfaithful. He publicly denounces her at the altar, and the rest of the play is spent righting the wrongs that have caused the misunderstanding. In the end, we see Hero and Claudio happily wed, while Benedick and Beatrice finally reveal their true feelings.

I always like the scheming, the mistaken identities and the revelations that Shakespeare works into his plays. That's part of why I think so many people still read what he wrote, and why people are still so enamored with his plays and their film counterparts. I've got the 1993 movie version of this play starring Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson as Benedick and Beatrice. I love it. I watch it all the time when the Big Guy is travelling for work. Their portrayal of these two characters has become so entwined with the story for me, that I can't picture the characters any other way.

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Lolita

To follow up to Reading Lolita in Tehran, I read Lolita. I don't know that I would have picked it up otherwise, but I wanted to see for myself what could make this story a classic and a frequent topic of study.

This story is unsettling. There are so many things that turn the reader off from the main character,almost from the beginning. For many current readers, I think this actually starts before reading anything. Many of us know that the story is about the seduction/abduction of a twelve year old girl. A lot of people can't get past that, and to be honest I can't blame them. It's difficult to read, knowing that the reality is far away from what Humbert sees from his perspective.

From that standpoint, the story is about his obsession and his delusion. It's about completely losing control by trying to take the ultimate control of another person. That's what I think draws people back to this book. Nabokov provides so much depth and so many layers to the depravity that makes up Humbert. It's possible to be taken in by his delusions and see the seduction he imagines is taking place. 

I wonder if there's a part of all of us that has the capacity for living under delusion. Not that I think most people would make it to the level Humbert does, but we all have a tendency to think of ourselves as right in all circumstances. Self-awareness is scary, and sometimes it's easier just to blame other people for the bad decisions we make.  

Please do not take anything in this review as condoning sexual abuse, or abuse of any kind. It's not OK. If you or someone you know are being abused, please don't be afraid to seek help.
 

Reading Lolita in Tehran

Curiosity is insubordination in its purest form.- Vladimir Nabokov

I am frequently reminded how lucky I am to live where I do. This is not to say that any place can be absolutely perfect, but there are so many opportunities and advantages available to me as a female in America that simply wouldn't exist if I were somewhere else. That thought struck me many times while I was going through Reading Lolita in Tehran.

I can't imagine what it would be like to wake up one morning and find that the leadership of my government has determined that I must dress, behave, and think a specific way. Do I agree with everything my government does? No, but I have the opportunity to disagree and vote for those who share my opinion.

That's a fairly idealized version of what we have, but when one stops to consider the alternatives there are many reasons to be happy with the potential inherent in our government. I find myself to be far too independent to accept being told what to do. That's not to imply that I have a terribly rebellious nature, please believe me when I say that I don't.

I am struck by the bravery and encouraged by the rebellious spirit of the women who join this literature professor in her home to continue reading and discussing and learning. I can't imagine an existence without books, so the premise of the memoir draws me in right away. Throughout the book, Azar Nafisi weaves a complex and compelling narrative of what she and her students had to endure both inside and outside her makeshift classroom.

There's a comment Nafisi makes in the opening pages of the text where she describes the women who made up the group and she talks about those who were not there at the end. Her comment is that  the absences had become more real than the presences. That's something I think we can all relate to. Whether it's a place or a person or a particular time in our lives there is something that defines us as much if not more by no longer being there.

There's also something that we internalize about each of our experiences making them uniquely our own, even when they've been shared with other people. I often feel like every choice I've made, every experience I've had combined in an almost impossible way to bring to where I am at this very moment. Even though I didn't enjoy or appreciate all of them at the time, I believe that there was a reason for all of them. I don't have to understand it right away, but I do trust that it's there. I have faith in the notion that everything happens for a reason.

Another aspect of the story that resonates with me is the power these books have to bring these women together. It doesn't always have to be books, but I think we all need those things that provide reasons for creating and sustaining connections. We all need something, especially in difficult times, that gives some kind of affirmation that life can not only continue against all backdrops and all kinds of trials, but that there can be improvement. It's the power to find hope in the darkest of experiences that really characterizes the women in this story for me.

It's the idea that things can get better, that we can get better.

Orlando

I just finished reading Orlando by Virginia Woolf. I thought this was an appropriate book to follow up yesterday's post about judging a book by it's cover.

One of the aspects of Orlando's story that I enjoyed most was the way that Woolf tackles the perceived notions of right and wrong for the sexes.

For those of you that haven't read Orlando, one of the central events in the story is that midway through the life described by the writer the main character changes gender. Orlando begins life, and this story as a male and becomes female around the time of her thirtieth birthday. The story is a fanciful twist on a traditional biography for this reason as well as many others. For example, during the years we watch Orlando while she ages from childhood to the age of 36, close to 400 years pass.

So not only do we see the differences between the sexes highlighted, but also the differences of the ages. Among all this change and transition, we also see the ways in which many things remain the same. This introduction also goes into the relationship, ie the affair, between Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West. The character Orlando is based off Vita in temperament, travels, and Orlando's home is even modeled off Vita's. The book is in many ways a love letter to Vita.

We see Orlando win the favor of Queen Elizabeth and develop a love for writing through an early interaction with Shakespeare. We watch as Orlando chases a beautiful Russian princess and has his heart broken when he finds her to be unfaithful. We lose ourselves in his writing of the Oak Tree poem as he does. We feel his frustration with the Archduchess as he does not return her affections. We follow Orlando as he leaves England behind to become the King's Ambassador to Constantinople. We wake up with her when she finds herself suddenly, but not surprisingly a woman. We travel through the hills with her and the gypsies. We join her on her voyage home to England and watch as she begins life in a new era. We watch her run away from love and finally embrace it.

It's interesting to see the way even as her physical gender shifts, her psychology stays the same. The Lady Orlando frequently goes about in men's clothing and finds herself engaging in affairs with women. There's nothing that the Lord Orlando would want to do or experience that the Lady Orlando does not embrace with equal fervor and abandon.

I enjoyed the way the book tackled the behaviors that are expected for men and women and the way our attitudes can be shaped towards another person based solely on their gender. Even though the book was written close to a century ago, many of those notions remain with us, and are things some of us will struggle with even today.

Whether it's being teased for being an effeminate man or rebuked for being too strong willed as a woman, society still tries to put us each in a little box and tries to define us. What's appealing about Orlando's character then is her refusal to be defined and her acceptance only of her own definition of self.

The Nutcracker

The refrigerator is full of turkey and other leftovers. The decorations on the mantle have been changed up again. Lights are popping up all over the neighborhood. It feels like everything has shifted and the new focus is on Christmas. Like a lot of people, this is my favorite time of year.

One of my favorite Christmas memories is being little and getting all dressed up to go into Chicago. My mom and I took the train in from Geneva and met my dad at his office. He took the afternoon off and the four of us went around the city. The first stop on the list, and my favorite, was Marshall Fields. Their holiday window displays were pure magic. One of the best displays they did was the holiday classic The Nutcracker.

I think most of us are familiar with the story, but just in case here's my quick synopsis of this version. (Like so many classic stories, there area lot of small variations among them.) It's Christmas Eve and a little girl named Marie is given a nutcracker by her godfather. Her godfather is an eccentric man who makes all sorts of marvelous toys and clockwork things. During the night, the nutcracker comes to life and defeats the King of the Mice with Marie's help. After the King of the mice is defeated, the Nutcracker is transformed into a handsome prince. He takes Marie to his kingdom in the land of sweets and she and her nutcracker live happily ever after.

I love the magic in the story. I love the strange world that Marie and her prince visit, and the things that they see there. It's easy for me to get lost in the imagery and pulled into the beautiful world that is created by Marie's imagination, or perhaps in some fashion by her godfather.

Wuthering Heights

This book is not everyone's cup of tea, but I like it. There's also something about it that makes me want to curl up under a soft, cozy blanket with an actual steaming cup of tea. It's the description of the moors- it's like I can feel the winds. I have to admit I also feel a little cold because of the relationships in this book.

I know that a lot of people consider this to be a romance, and while I do see some aspects of a romance, it strikes me more as a power struggle. Heathcliff and Cathy are more interested in getting their way without compromising than actually finding a way to be together. They spend so much time and energy trying to win and then punish the other that they miss out on so much. They're mutual obsession becomes the source of so much unnecessary pain and torment not to only to themselves but to everyone around them. No one in this world is allowed to experience happiness.

Everyone is inextricably linked, and as much as they might want to break away from each other and from this place, they can't. Or they won't. I think that distinction is different for each character and is something that changes throughout the story.

Healthcliff goes from being welcomed into the Earnshaw household by Cathy's father, eventually being preferred by the older man to his own son, Hindley. It takes some time, but he wins Cathy over as well and sets himself up as the target for Hindley's rage when her returns home with a wife and son of his own. He remains close with Cathy, though their friendship is challenged from many directions. I think there's a time when they do truly love each other, but it doesn't last, or maybe it can't.

While she is staying at Thruscross Grange, the house closest to Wuthering Heights, recovering from a dog bite, some readers will say that she becomes infatuated with Edgar Linton. I think it's more likely that she becomes infatuated with the Linton's lifestyle. Cathy is materialistic. She wants to be surrounded by luxury and pretty things. Edgar is a means to an end; a very different end than one she could ever hope to have with Healthcliff.

Heathcliff can't take being second best to Cathy after spending so much of his life being so far below second best in everyone else's. He runs away, and stays away for three years. He returns after Cathy and Edgar are married, and embarks upon a series of actions that are motivated by revenge and a desire to prove that he's become the gentleman no one thought he could be.

He lends money to Hindley to cover the other man's debts and becomes the owner of Wuthering Heights, stealing it out from under the other man, who is far too drunk to realize what's actually going on. He marries Isabella, Edgar's sister, and treats her so horribly she takes their son, Linton, and leaves Heathcliff, spending her remaining days as far away from Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights as she dared to go. Upon her death, Linton returns to his father where he is unloved and forced into marriage with Cathy and Edgar's daughter, Catherine. Edgar dies without his daughter, as she's basically being held prisoner at Wuthering Heights, and shortly after Linton dies as well. Catherine stays at Wuthering Heights and slowly finds herself in love with Hindley's son Hareton, who has in many ways been brought up exactly as Heathcliff was.

It's interesting to consider how hard Heathcliff fights to gain control over Wuthering Heights, and in the process over Cathy and perhaps most importantly himself. While he ultimately achieves that control, it's fleeting. He won't be able to keep Wuthering Heights forever, memories of Cathy haunt his days, and he slowly reverts to the animal he tried so hard to prove that he no longer was.

All of this is driven from his need for revenge and his need to control everything and everyone around him. In the end all of that control was just an illusion. He fought for the legal right to both Wuthering Heights and Thruscross Grange, and both fall to Cathy's daughter and Hindley's son upon Heathcliff's death and their marriage.

In the end there is a small sense of hope that Catherine and Hareton will find some true happiness in their lives. There's so much loss and hurt in the story, it's hard to imagine anyone finding something that makes them happy, but there has to be some hope. The two of them are almost a second chance, they can see what might have been for Cathy and Heathcliff if they'd only given their love a chance.

Frankenstein

I read this book while we were on the plane. It's short, so very doable even on a flight that lasts less than nine hours. I'd never read it before, but was pretty familiar with the story through the many Hollywood adaptations. Even with some familiarity there were a few things that surprised me.

I didn't find Victor Frankenstein to be a very sympathetic character. He spent more time than I would have expected hiding from or whining about his creation rather than dealing with the problems he created head on. I had more sympathy for the monster, though even there not as much as I thought I would. That makes it sound as though I didn't enjoy the book when I did.

I was pleasantly surprised by the intelligence of the monster. I expected a slow, lumbering giant, but instead the monster is incredibly agile, fast, and smarter than I think even Frankenstein could have imagined while he was working in his lab.

There are a variety of things that I think are smartly addressed, though not with completely answered questions, that make this a good read. The first is the most obvious- bioethics. At what point should Frankenstein have stopped himself? At what point should he have stopped trying to figure out if he could complete the experiment and asked whether it should be attempted at all? What responsibility did he have to the monster after it's creation? Surely there had to be a better reaction to the monster than hiding from it and leaving it to find its own way through the world.

That brings me to the next topic addressed, and one that's been covered many times before. There are so many things that we see in the way the monster is treated and repeatedly rejected that tell us about the negative effects of isolation. It's human nature to want acceptance, to want to have a. Place in society. I'm not sure that you can call the monster human, but I think the same basic desires apply to his nature.

One of the things that strikes me in the story is how cowardly Frankenstein really. Is. He never tells anyone about his connection to and his role in so much senseless violence. I think the argument can be made that in some way he is the cause for everything that happens, but I don't think you can remove all the blame from the monster. Making Frankenstein the cause implies that the monster couldn't be accountable for his own actions, and I think he's too smart for that. It would be like absolving all of us for what we do and instead punishing our parents for our actions. It's unfair to them and offensive to us.

There are a lot of things not to like about the characters in this book, and a lot of questions that may or may not be answered to every readers satisfaction. With that in mind, I think it's worth the read, especially if there's an opportunity to discuss the ideas presented and the implications that something written nearly 200 years ago still has today.

The Turn of the Screw

There's something about October that makes me want to read scary stories. I love Halloween and I find that I get in a spooky sort of mood pretty early on in the month. Since I was also in the middle of prepping for a trip to the UK, it made sense that I'd be drawn to a story that took place in England.

A man has been given charge of his niece and nephew, Flora and Miles, after their parents die. He hires a governess to look after them at an estate in Essex. He leaves them completely in her care and makes it very clear that he doesn't want to be disturbed with the details of their care. She meets the children and is quickly charmed by both of them. The boy has returned from boarding school along with notice that he's actually been expelled. This is the first of several situations that has no full explanation. The governess develops a theory that it must be a horrible circumstance leading up to the expulsion, and she begins to look at the children differently.

The governess begins to see and hear things that don't make sense. Figures appear at windows and in hallways, even on the balconies of the house. they seem  to have some sinister connection to the children. What makes them sinister is their ordinariness. It's the every day nature of the ghosts that makes them frightening. The ghosts are the previous governess and one of the male employees who had a relationship with each other, and both passed away. Again, nothing is spelled out entirely, but there are many implications made about these two people, their relationship with each other, and their conduct towards the children and the other members of the household.

The governess convinces herself that these ghosts are after the children and mean to take them away. She confronts Flora about seeing her with the ghost of the former governess and Flora denies any sort of contact with or existence of a ghost. She turns against the governess and says she never wants to see her again. The governess and the housekeeper agree that the girl should go be with her uncle for a time. The governess and Miles are alone later that night and the other ghost appears. The governess tries to persuade the boy that he's not under the ghost's control only to find that he has died in her arms.

The thing I enjoyed most about The turn of the Screw by Henry James is the same thing that many readers don't like. You just never know if what the governess sees is real. There's no explanation at the end, there's no nice tying up of the loose ends, there's no tidy closure. You as the reader are left guessing whether everything the governess thinks she saw actually happened or if she had some sort of breakdown and put the children in danger herself.

I have to be honest when I say that I'm not sure which answer I think is real. I like the idea of the governess going insane or even just starting off that way. The more I think about it, the more I like that it isn't completely answered. I think what makes the work stand out from so many other stories and still interesting over 100 years after it was written is that the mystery is left unsolved. Solving it would take away something essential to the story.

Orange is the New Black

I have to admit, I watched the TV show first. After the first few episodes I was hooked. I loved the portrayal of each woman as a unique individual, made up of so much more than just the actions that wound up putting her in prison. I think it's easy to see only the crime and not the whole person- especially with the women in this story.



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That same tone and approach carried through the book as well. Obviously not all of the people and the stories are the same as what was portrayed on the TV show, but there's so much heart in each of them. I was struck by the need for belonging that everyone had. Whether you're known mostly by your name or a number, you're still a human being with all the same needs and desires. It came across through the book as though the most frightening aspect of prison is the prospect of losing that humanity. It can't be an easy experience, and I won't insult anyone who's been through it by trying to pretend that I understand.

Now that's not to say that I disagree with the need for some sort of system that punishes those who commit crimes. I think consequences are important. I also think they need to be the right consequences. Some of the women in the prison, and arguably the author herself, weren't given the right consequences for their crimes. I think it's difficult to know what is the right consequence in each case, but I do think that the system should be built more on rehabilitation and providing the tools necessary so that no one becomes a repeat offender.

One of the things that really stood out to me was the myriad of ways these women were forgotten. Whether it was by their friends and family, or in most cases by the system itself, there was a striking lack of attention paid to providing the services and the resources that the women needed. So many things that most of us take for granted are so hard to find. Things like education, proper training, mentoring, guidance and counseling were just not available. Or the version that was available was so subpar it may as well not have been offered. That's part of why so many inmates, men and women alike, find themselves back in the system in some way after they're released.

I definitely enjoyed this book, and I was impressed with all the resources listed at the end for those who want to contribute and make a difference for inmates. It's more than just a memoir in that aspect.

The Crucible

It's Fall, which is my favorite time of year. The leaves are changing, it's time for cozy sweaters, football is back, and we're getting close to starting the holiday season. Other seasons are starting as well, including the season at the Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT). The Big Guy and I have season tickets again this year and we went to our first play this past weekend.

Since the IRT is starting off their season with The Crucible, I figured it was a good time for a re-read. Plus I hadn't read this since high school and I'm usually interested in how my opinions may have changed with time. I liked it then, and I still like it.

I'm fascinated at the way things completely spiral out of control as more people start listening to the girls and taking everything they're saying as fact. It's almost as if the lies begin to take on a life of their own and everyone is afraid to stop and tell the truth because of all the damage that's already occurred. That's pretty clear in the final scenes where the judge refuses to grant any additional time or leniency because others have already been hanged. No one can risk looking weak or uncertain so they all press on, full force to save face almost as much as to uphold justice.

It's well known that the play is a mirror of everything that was going on in the US around suspicion of communist activity. The McCarthy proceedings were very similar to the Salem witch trials with people turning on each other and making false confessions just to save themselves. It's sad, but I think it's something we're all capable of doing. Self-preservation can be a pretty powerful motivator.

That's not to say that we're all bad. Clearly at the end of the play John Proctor has found his strength of character and he and the others go to their deaths bravely knowing that the judgment that has been passed on them by the court is not the real judgment that will impact their eternal souls. They know the truth is on their side and have comfort in that.

I love the evolution of John Proctor throughout. We see all of his flaws early on, and yet he's still likable, it's still easy to see him as a good man; or at the very least as a man who is trying to be better than he was. He never puts the blame for his actions on anyone other than himself and is willing to accept the full consequences of what he's done.



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The Ocean at the End of the Lane

I loved this book. This latest book by Neil Gaiman tells the story of a grown man returning to his childhood home for the first time after many years away. As he looks over the new home that's taken the place of the house where he was a child, a strange series of events comes back to him. These memories take him back to a time and place that he'd forgotten.

As a young boy our narrator is introduced to Lettie Hempstock, her mother and her grandmother who live on the farm at the end of his street in Sussex. Through them he see for the first time the magic that exists in the world around us, the magic that most people will never see. In some cases that's probably a good thing as not everything in this magical view of the world is beautiful or kind. The boy brings a piece of this world back to his home without realizing it and is forced to face the monster.

The pond in Lettie's backyard is so much more than it seems. He doesn't believe her when she tells him it's an ocean. He does learn that she's telling the truth and goes into that ocean himself. The ocean has healing powers and allows him to see everything as it truly is,  though only for a short time. When Lettie puts herself in front of him to protect him from the monsters, her mother and grandmother put her into the ocean knowing that someday it will send her back fully healed.

The man quickly forgets the details of this visit to Lettie's farm and her ocean as he has countless other visits over the years. He goes back to his normal life, never remembering all the magic that surrounds him.

I loved this book. I love the worlds that Gaiman creates and the way he describes them. Nothing is ever completely spelled out or defined in this book, and that's really part of what I like about it. It adds to the magic for me as I'm reading. Not everything can be easily described.

Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster

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I just finished this book after reading it off and on for almost two years. Not because it wasn't a good book, but it was that book sitting on the night stand waiting to be read only a few pages at a time and it was pretty easy to go between since much of the detail was unique to each section.

What drew me to this book was the author's premise: as luxury brands become more accessible to those of us not in the elite and wealthy segments of society and embrace mass production, do they actually lose what made them luxury in the first place.

My first thought was that yes, they would have to, but after reading, it's not really that simple. There's a fine line between expanding to new customers and alienating the customers who helped you to build your brand. Not an easy feat, especially when you're looking at brands that has been traditionally run by artisans and their families but are now under the direction of more traditional-minded business people. It's not impossible, but it does present a unique set of challenges.

Personally, I love the idea of sitting in a designers atelier and working with them to plan a look from their collection to fit your big event. I love the idea of the event that used to be the luxury experience. Not that I would ever have experienced that first hand, but I still find it very appealing. I like the idea of taking time and care to make each piece perfect. I have a lot of respect for the skill, not to mention the patience, involved in that level of craftsmanship.

Having said that, I think the expansion into new markets is necessary. Not just because of the impact on the bottom line but because we have a much more image-oriented society. It's easier to see the pictures of the fashion and other luxury items and more people are going to want a piece of that dream, of that lifestyle. While there was a time for cultivating an exclusive experience, too much of that is now just elitism. The storefronts used to be minimal and more like waiting areas and now it's a showcase for everything the brand has to offer.

I do think that expansion must be done carefully, though. This book did a great job explaining the research and the planning that goes into that expansion. Sacrificing quality for automation and increased production shouldn't be an acceptable option. There's something to be said for adding to the product offerings rather than completely replacing what was previously available. I might have the Louis Vuitton wallet, but there are also people out there with hand-made steamer trunks. I like the idea of degrees of luxury. It's less about trying to fit into the dream and more about finding the dream in your size.

I would recommend this book to anyone who's interested in luxury brands and shopping.

Burning

** I received this book as part of a giveaway from a fellow book blogger. I received a free copy of the book for my participation. I was not compensated for this review, nor was any review of the book required for my participation in the giveaway.

Sometimes I read books that can be found in the Young Adult section of the library. I know that a lot of people don't think very highly of Young Adult novels, but I think they're missing out on some great stories and some amazing writing. It's come a long way since I was actually in the intended demographic. That could easily be a post on its own though, so I'll just leave it at that.

As I noted at the beginning of this post, I won a copy of Burning by Elana K. Arnold through a giveaway from another book blogger. It's a story about Ben and Lala, a boy and girl from two very different worlds who happen to meet in the desert outside Burning Man in the series of days that will lead to some big changes for both of them.

Ben's town is shutting down. Not figuratively- the town was built around a mine and with the mine closing everything is shutting down and everyone must move out of their homes. Ben is getting ready to go off to college on a track scholarship and is dealing with the guilt of moving on to a real future when his friends and his family are moving into uncertainty.

Lala is a gypsy. She and her sister are telling fortunes outside of the festival. She's good at it- able to read people and help give them the information they want to hear. The trouble is she's not able to go after what she wants. She's set to be married and will live out the rest of her life within the strict rules set out by her family's culture. Where Ben seems to fear and pity uncertainty, she sees it more as adventure and possibility.

Some of the story is predictable in so much as there will be an attraction between the two and they'll hit obstacles as they try to find a way to be together. What I didn't expect was the ending.

Spoiler coming...

There's a bit of a twist to the way the relationship goes. Instead of ending with the couple deciding to stay together and make it work, which is what Ben wants, Lala sets off on her own to find her own way in the world.

Part of me found that terrifying- a 17 year old girl with no family out on her own? There are too many horrible things that could happen. Another part of me, though, was impressed with her courage. I'm sure at one point or another we've all wanted to start fresh and go somewhere new to be someone new, and here's a character that has that chance and isn't afraid to take it.

Vampires in the Lemon Grove

I usually don't go for short story collections, but this was written up in a magazine I was reading last month and the review was really good, so I thought I'd give it a try. That's probably something to keep in mind for this review. It's kind of like asking someone who doesn't like chocolate what they thought of a batch of brownies.

I wanted to like it, but I was not impressed. It was just weird and kind of unsettling. One story where girls physically transform into silk worms, an old vampire watching lemons fall, seagulls picking up debris from the future. Some interesting concepts and some interesting perspectives, but all in all not a book I'd recommend. I only gave it two stars on Goodreads, which is pretty low and rare for me.

Having said that, there are a few things that had they been longer and more in depth, I think I would have really liked them. The language was beautiful, and descriptions were wonderful. I felt like I could picture everything just as the author did. That might be enough to get me looking for something else by this author.



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Gone Girl

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I'm a little late to the party when it comes to reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Chances are you've heard the buzz about this book already. Let me just say that all the buzz is well deserved.

I didn't want to step away from the story. The characters had so much depth and so much of that depth was various levels of crazy. I loved reading them while at the same time I didn't like them. I find that to be a very difficult balance and I'm always impressed with an author who can manage to make it happen.

I opted to listen to this book instead of reading it and I think the narrators did a fantastic job bringing Amy and Nick to life. I actually looked forward to cleaning out my closets over the weekend because I knew it would be my chance to finish the story and I couldn't wait to see how Ms. Flynn was going to end it.

It should go without saying that there are going to be spoilers in this and any review I do, but just in case...

I loved her critique on the roll the media plays in the news and defining what's true. Everything gets sensationalized so much and we look for a good story more than the truth sometimes. At first I just thought Nick was awkward and had some unfortunate moments in front of the camera. I quickly started to think that there was more to his actions than what he was letting on in his narrative since withholding information seemed to be so much of what he was doing.

My jaw hit the floor when I finally grasped the extent of Amy's plan and her repeated pattern of completely destroying those who got in the way of what she wanted and wouldn't force themselves to fit into the role she had designed for them. To take so much time to plan out all the details of the disappearance and to leave so many open options as back up is so far beyond anything that I could imagine. It's like everyone was disposable to her once they no longer fit into her vision.

Poor, Desi. I mean he wasn't exactly a night in shining armor, but I don't think he deserved what Amy did to him. Plus I loved the idea that she was going to fake her own murder and then wind up as Desi's prisoner. Payback being a bitch and all. What I liked about him was that he clearly wasn't afraid of Amy and was willing to make her pay for what she did to him unlike the others from her past. In reality their responses of just moving on and keeping their distance were the right choice, but that doesn't make for very exciting reading.

Not that Nick was perfect. I wanted to like him, and I did for a while. But then we found out about his affair and he was much less likable. I kept waiting for there to be more to it, or for him to turn the tables and actually kill Amy. I like the way it was written much better than what I had in mind, though.

I may be the only one I know who liked the ending. It left me a little disturbed and almost physically feeling cold, which is exactly what I liked about it. Neither one of them is truly happy with how things ended up, and I'm going to assume that both will continue plotting against each other for as long as they can.

I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads- something I haven't done in a long time.

Inferno Thoughts

This is the fourth, and the most recently released book in Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series. In this installment, Robert wakes up in an Italian hospital recovering from being shot, but with no memories of why he was shot and why he's in Italy in the first place. He can't work out the details of his situation on his own so must rely on his doctor, Sienna, to help him first escape the assassin who comes back for him in the hospital and then to evade more pursuers in black SUVs. No one trustworthy ever drives around in black vans or SUVs in mystery novels, have you noticed that, too?

Throughout the chase and the clues and the discovery, one thing really stood out for me. I want to go to Florence. I am more than a little interested in seeing the places and the artwork described in person. It sounds amazing.

Back to the story. Here's where I get a little upset with things. It came too easily again. There was more of a struggle, but not as much as I think there should have and could have been for the plot to be a bit more realistic. I liked the addition of the Provost and his organization aboard the ship The Mendacium. It gave a very 007 feel to what was going on. Modern-day mercenaries are always interesting to me. Their role also gave me multiple instances where I found myself questioning whether I knew who the "bad guys" really were.

As Robert and Sienna move through Florence into Istanbul, they are trying to save the world from a plague that's been developed by our mad-scientist/humanist villain- Zobrist. The driving force behind Zobrist's work is that he sees a need for a major change in humanity and how we treat the planet if we as a species are to survive. His desire is to somehow change the rate at which new people come into the world. He thinks we're breeding to quickly and at a rate that is not sustainable. His plague would put an end to that. It would actually make 1/3 of the world's population sterile. Sterile.

Here's where I got mad at the book. I actually think there is some danger of people causing irreparable damage to our world. However, I think that there are a lot of things we can do that will help mitigate this damage that fall well short of mass-sterilization. What right does someone else have to decide whether or not I should be able to have children? How can someone else dare to assume they know what decisions I would make if given all the options that I have now? At the risk of oversharing, this issue hit a little too close to home for me. The Big Guy and I are trying to expand our family and it's not going quite the way we expected. We thought it would be easier than it is, and it's been the source of a lot of frustration and a lot of tears for me. He's amazing and absolutely my rock in everything, but especially in this. So to think that some lunatic in a lab would make the choice about whether I can have a baby without my knowledge and without my consent makes my blood boil.

Langdon doesn't win this time, the plague is released and the world will forever be changed and I can't say it's for the better. I gave this book 3 stars out of 5 possible on Goodreads.

As much as I disliked what happened, there were a variety of passages that I did like. A few of those that stood out to me are below.

"The decisions of our past are the architects of our present." p20

"Nothing is more creative ... nor destructive ... than a brilliant mind with a purpose." p163

"Only one form of contagion travels faster than a virus. ... And that's fear." p428

"Remember tonight, for it's the beginning of forever." p457

"Dante's poem, Langdon was now reminded, was not so much about the misery of hell as it was about the power of the human spirit to endure any challenge, no matter how daunting." p463

The Lost Symbol

In the third book of the Robert Langdon series, we're taken through the streets of Washington DC while the symbology professor solves another mystery. This one felt like a bit of a stretch to me, and it was actually hard for me to put the thoughts together I needed for this review. I couldn't really remember the story line as well as I wanted to, if we're being completely honest. So I went back to the book and did a little research.

One of the things I did like was the transition of the setting from Europe to Washington, DC. I know it's not quite the same, but I do appreciate the links and ties to our American history. The incorporation of the Masons was good too, I felt like it added an interesting level to the details of the story. Secretive groups are always fun to add to mysteries.

As with the other books in the series, there is a religious aspect to the search. The search is not only for the missing man but for the meaning behind what is happening in the moment and what's happened to lay the foundation in the past. There's also a point where the discussion turns to whether or not the Bible can be taken as a literal text or if it's really just an allegory for how people should behave and what they could achieve if they were able to reach their full potential.

It's interesting how the things that happened a few hundred years ago can still resonate with people today. Really it's not like our motivations have changed that much. Sure the specifics have, but the underlying emotions and needs are the same no matter where or when you happen to be.  

I didn't see the twist at the end coming. I totally should have- it's the type of thing I can usually spot in the first chapter or two. Spoiler alert- he's the supposedly dead son of the man he's taken captive. 

Having said that, again this one was a little too far fetched for me. I didn't get a good sense that there was any real logic behind the actions of the main characters. Things just fell into place too easily. It felt like a stretch and it felt like Langdon was able to put things together too quickly. I know that he's good and all, but some of the things he figured out wouldn't have come without copious amounts of research and access to some of the best libraries.

Something kind of interesting that I didn't realize about this book- it was released on 9-15-09, which when added together equal 33. Also the highest level with the Masons, as referenced in the book. Well played Dan Brown and publisher, well played.