Book Review | Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Rebecca is a gothic classic by Daphne du Maurier.

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again . . .

The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage. Orphaned and working as a lady's maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives--presenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave.

I read Rebecca last year as part of the first Ladies of Horror Fiction readalong. It was so good and so fun to read it along with the community. I joined a brand new (in person) book club a couple of months ago, and the first book they voted on to read last month was Rebecca! I'm taking that as a very good sign.

It was really great to revisit Rebecca all over again (even though it had only been a year!) I really love Daphne du Maurier's writing. I enjoyed the characters even more this time around since I already knew who was a nitwit and what decisions everyone would make. Their transformations were easier to see this time around, and I just really enjoyed it.

Rebecca is a beautiful book. There's mystery and suspense and surprises, and I highly recommend it.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Book Review | The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a classic horror novel by Oscar Wilde.

Written in his distinctively dazzling manner, Oscar Wilde’s story of a fashionable young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty is the author’s most popular work.

The tale of Dorian Gray’s moral disintegration caused a scandal when it first appeared in 1890, but though Wilde was attacked for the novel’s corrupting influence, he responded that there is, in fact, “a terrible moral in Dorian Gray.” Just a few years later, the book and the aesthetic/moral dilemma it presented became issues in the trials occasioned by Wilde’s homosexual liaisons, which resulted in his imprisonment.

Of Dorian Gray’s relationship to autobiography, Wilde noted in a letter, “Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks me: Dorian what I would like to be—in other ages, perhaps.”

Wow. I see why The Picture of Dorian Gray is so loved. I partially want to be mad at myself for waiting so long to read it, but I also feel lucky to be reading it for the first time.

My only regret in listening to this one on audio is I didn't get the chance to highlight the text. This book is so quotable, I'd even give thought to highlighting a print copy. Sacrilege, I know.

The writing is witty and amazing, but the story is amazing, too. I'm not sure how I managed to shield myself from what this story was really about all these years. It makes me hesitant to share too many details because the revelations in The Picture of Dorian Gray were the best part for me.

Even though The Picture of Dorian Gray is a short book, I think it could have been even shorter. Every revelation made each new tangent worth it, though.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is an amazing look at society, youth and beauty, and the arts. It's a "horror" novel in the way that Shelley's Frankenstein is a "horror" novel. There are supernatural things at work, but it's much more about the social commentary than the actual monsters. The horror elements are fantastic, but there is appeal for a much wider audience.

I want to point out the version I listened to was narrated by Simon Prebble. There are several audios available for The Picture of Dorian Gray, but Simon Prebble reminded me of Jim Dale which is the highest compliment I can give a narrator. If you decide to give this one a listen, I would seek out the Simon Prebble version.

My goal in life is now to hunt down the 1945 movie adaptation starring Angela Lansbury as Sybil Vane.

9/10: Highly Recommended

Review | The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

First published in 1892, "The Yellow Wallpaper" is written as the secret journal of a woman who, failing to relish the joys of marriage and motherhood, is sentenced to a country rest cure. Though she longs to write, her husband and doctor forbid it, prescribing instead complete passivity. In the involuntary confinement of her bedroom, the hero creates a reality of her own beyond the hypnotic pattern of the faded yellow wallpaper--a pattern that has come to symbolize her own imprisonment. Narrated with superb psychological and dramatic precision, "The Yellow Wallpaper" stands out not only for the imaginative authenticity with which it depicts one woman’s descent into insanity, but also for the power of its testimony to the importance of freedom and self-empowerment for women.

I was completely unaware of this little gem until last week. Now that I've read it and perused my Goodreads, I see that several of my friends have read and loved it, and it's one of the "1001 Books to Read Before You Die" selections.

So how did I stumble upon this story? I was looking to see if I could get my hands on a cheap copy of House of Leaves. House of Leaves completely defeated me earlier this year. I had to return the copy I was reading back to the library, but it's one that I don't want to give up on. As I was searching Amazon, I noticed that the results list for House of Leaves reads like a giant list of horror recommendations. All of the books listed were the ones you always see on the "best of" lists. Listed amongst these horror staples was "The Yellow Wallpaper".

Ooh, what's this?

The Yellow Wallpaper was written in 1892 and has since entered the public domain. You can get the Kindle version free on Amazon or download a free ebook off of Project Gutenberg. What also caught my eye was the audible version for $.97 (after my membership discount). How's that for cheap entertainment?

So I gave the audiobook a listen. My initial reaction was not good toward the narration. The narrator was actually a really great narrator, but this story is a feminist story. It's a first person narrative of a woman told through her diary. A male narrator was the wrong way to go here. Correction: It seems the narrator may in fact be a woman. (I'm so sorry!)

But the story! The story is about one woman's descent into madness. After being diagnosed with nervous depression, she's locked away to "rest" in this bedroom with yellow wallpaper. We've all been around a pattern in cabinets, flooring, wallpaper, what have you, that starts to look like a face. (Right?) This woman is kept from her work which makes her feel useless, she's anxious and depressed, and she's stuck looking at this yellow wallpaper all day.

I can imagine my sanity would dwindle, too.

The Yellow Wallpaper turned out to be an awesome story to stumble upon, and I highly recommend it. It's a short story so if you're interested, you hardly even need to set aside time for it. Just go read it.

9/10: Highly Recommended

Book Review | All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

All Quiet on the Western Front is a classic novel from Erich Maria Remarque.

Book Description

This is the testament of Paul Bäumer, who enlists with his classmates in the German army of World War I. These young men become enthusiastic soldiers, but their world of duty, culture, and progress breaks into pieces under the first bombardment in the trenches.

Through years of vivid horror, Paul holds fast to a single vow: to fight against the hatred that meaninglessly pits young men of the same generation but different uniforms against one another... if only he can come out of the war alive.

The real reason I read All Quiet on the Western Front was to listen to Frank Muller’s narration, but it turned out to be a beautifully written, thought-provoking novel.

It’s a war novel, but it’s not about the war. It’s about its effects on the men who go to war.

“This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war.”

I feel quite devastated by All Quiet on the Western Front, really. A great book leaves an impact, and there are definitely scenes in this one that will remain with me always. It’s a remarkable read.

“We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces.”

If you’re into audiobooks, I highly recommend the audio version. Frank Muller was an exceptional narrator.

8/10: Great Read

(Banned) Book Review | The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

In honor of Banned Books Week, I'm taking part in Book Journey's Banned Book Week Celebration.

For my Banned Books Week selection I decided to read a classic that has been on my to-read list forever: The Great Gatsby.

Book Description

In 1922, F. Scott Fitzgerald announced his decision to write "something new--something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned." That extraordinary, beautiful, intricately patterned, and above all, simple novel became The Great Gatsby, arguably Fitzgerald's finest work and certainly the book for which he is best known. A portrait of the Jazz Age in all of its decadence and excess, Gatsby captured the spirit of the author's generation and earned itself a permanent place in American mythology. Self-made, self-invented millionaire Jay Gatsby embodies some of Fitzgerald's--and his country's--most abiding obsessions: money, ambition, greed, and the promise of new beginnings. "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning--" Gatsby's rise to glory and eventual fall from grace becomes a kind of cautionary tale about the American Dream.

It's also a love story, of sorts, the narrative of Gatsby's quixotic passion for Daisy Buchanan. The pair meet five years before the novel begins, when Daisy is a legendary young Louisville beauty and Gatsby an impoverished officer. They fall in love, but while Gatsby serves overseas, Daisy marries the brutal, bullying, but extremely rich Tom Buchanan. After the war, Gatsby devotes himself blindly to the pursuit of wealth by whatever means--and to the pursuit of Daisy, which amounts to the same thing. "Her voice is full of money," Gatsby says admiringly, in one of the novel's more famous descriptions. His millions made, Gatsby buys a mansion across Long Island Sound from Daisy's patrician East Egg address, throws lavish parties, and waits for her to appear. When she does, events unfold with all the tragic inevitability of a Greek drama, with detached, cynical neighbor Nick Carraway acting as chorus throughout. Spare, elegantly plotted, and written in crystalline prose, The Great Gatsby is as perfectly satisfying as the best kind of poem.

Who knew reading about wealthy people having affairs and throwing lavish parties could be so boring?

I feel so guilty that I chose to read The Great Gatsby in honor of Banned Books Week. I want to stand up and shout "How could you want to keep this masterpiece from our youth?" but instead I'm quietly asking "Do we still make our children suffer through this?"

Jay Gatsby - the GREAT GATSBY - has more money than sense I suppose. He lives in a mansion and throws lavish parties, but Gatsby himself doesn't even care about those parties. All Gatsby really cares about is reuniting with his past love. In my opinion, she's not even worth the trouble, but their relationship is symbolic of Gatsby's success so he has to have her back. I do better as a reader when I care about the characters. In this case, I couldn't care less who Daisy chose, I just wanted her to choose somebody already.

I decided to read The Great Gatsby this year because I kind of always assumed I'd love it. It's F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece and a highly acclaimed work of American literature. It's not a horrible book, but it's not exceptional either.

If it's on your list of classics to read one day, go ahead and read it. I don't want to stop you from joining the club. Even though I was kind of bored out of my gourd, I'm happy to have my membership card.

4/10: Not My Thing

Have you read The Great Gatsby? I'm sure my opinion is in the minority! Did you love it? Are you reading anything special for Banned Books Week?

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells | Book Review

I read The Time Machine as part of my quest to widdle down my reading bucket list. It appears on both Flavorwire's 50 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Novels That Everyone Should Read and NPR's Top 100 Science Fiction And Fantasy Novels.

Book Description

“I’ve had a most amazing time....”

So begins the Time Traveller’s astonishing firsthand account of his journey 800,000 years beyond his own era—and the story that launched H.G. Wells’s successful career and earned him the reputation as the father of science fiction. With a speculative leap that still fires the imagination, Wells sends his brave explorer to face a future burdened with our greatest hopes...and our darkest fears. A pull of the Time Machine’s lever propels him to the age of a slowly dying Earth. There he discovers two bizarre races—the ethereal Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks—who not only symbolize the duality of human nature, but offer a terrifying portrait of the men of tomorrow as well.

Published in 1895, this masterpiece of invention captivated readers on the threshold of a new century. Thanks to Wells’s expert storytelling and provocative insight, The Time Machine will continue to enthrall readers for generations to come.

Review

The Time Machine was a very unexpected read for me. By unexpected, I mean awesome. The Time Machine is not the first book by Wells I have read. I loved The War of the Worlds when I read it. I was actually surprised by how much I loved that one, too, since I had seen the 1953 movie a few times and had an idea of what I would encounter.

I will jump right to the best part of The Time Machine - it was a scary read. I assumed it would be all science fictiony, maybe a little boring at times. No. The Time Machine made me down right giddy as a reader. The time traveler in The Time Machine goes almost a million years into the future, and Wells offers a lot of consideration towards how humans will evolve and why. It's an amazing read for something published in 1895.

I need to quit making assumptions before reading anything by Wells because apparently I'm a huge fan.

Another thing I really loved about The Time Machine was seeing exactly where pop culture gets its representation of time travel today. We see it all of the time in movies - the days and nights and the scenery progressing around the person doing the time travel. Wells describes it so perfectly in The Time Machine, it's become a standard mechanism for displaying time travel on the screen.

There are so many reasons I would recommend The Time Machine so if you are interested in scifi, horror, or simply classics in general, The Time Machine is a quick, surprising read. It's in the public domain so you can download it for free pretty much everywhere. I think The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds are the only two books I have read by Wells, but I have got to change that. The Island of Dr. Moreau is on my bucket list as well so I will be reading that one next.

9/10: Highly Recommended

The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan | Book Review

The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
Publication Date: October 1915

Book Description

When Richard Hannay returns from a long stay in Africa, he becomes caught up in a sensational plot to precipitate a pan-European war.

After the discovery of a corpse in his flat, Hannay flees the attentions of both the conspirators and the forces of the law, and the pursuit turns into a thrilling manhunt.

Set against the hot summer which precedes the outbreak of the First World War, The Thirty-nine Steps is one of the finest and most highly admired thrillers ever written.

Review

I went into The Thirty-Nine Steps thinking I had seen the Hitchcock movie, but now I'm pretty sure I haven't. I think I own that movie and everything, but my hoarding problems are another discussion altogether.

As you can see from the book description, The Thirty-Nine Steps is one of the "most highly admired thrillers ever written". It made it's way onto my reading bucket list after appearing on NPR's Top 100 Thrillers list.

The Thirty-Nine Steps probably won't appear on my personal top 100 recommended thrillers list, but I can see why this is an important classic. It gave birth to the innocent man on the run trope of which I happen to be a big fan.

I'm glad to have read this book; I think anyone who wants to visit the roots of the genre will get some enjoyment out of it. I don't think it can compete with modern thrillers in terms of action and twists, but it is certainly my kind of classic novel.

6/10: Good Read

I downloaded The Thirty-Nine Steps for free from Project Gutenberg. You can also download an audio version for free from LibriVox or the Kindle edition for free from Amazon.

Happy New Year! Reading Resolutions and Challenges

Happy New Year everyone! Reading has been a resolution of mine for as long as I can remember. Every year I resolve to read at least 50 books. I think roughly a book a week is an active and considerable amount. This past year I managed to read 76. There is no doubt that blogging is a fantastic tool to meet that goal.

This year I'm going to join a few challenges that line up with my personal reading resolutions.




I joined the Goodreads challenge again this year. I realize that I read 152% of my goal last year, but I'm going to keep my goal at 50 again this year. My intent isn't to read more and more each year, it's to remain an active reader.




Evie from Bookish is hosting a TBR pile challenge. This is a challenge I need. I own so many books I haven't read yet. A lot of them were purchased as "must reads", too. I know this challenge will be even tougher for me now that I am blogging and seeing new books every day that I want to read.

The truth is - I suck at challenges. Midnyte Reader's Dusty Volumes challenge did actually help me last year, though. I try to mix in the classics each year, and last year I had to challenge myself. I didn't read all the ones I had planned since I reread The Lord of the Rings instead, but it did keep me on task for Frankenstein at least.

I haven't decided which Dusty Volumes I will read yet. Last year I meant to read A Stir of Echoes and I Capture the Castle. Maybe I'll get to those. I do plan to reread To Kill a Mockingbird again this year.

How about you? Do you set reading resolutions for yourself each year?

Book Review: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein is a classic horror novel written by Mary Shelley.

Book Description

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is one of the masterpieces of nineteenth-century Gothicism. While stay-ing in the Swiss Alps in 1816 with her lover Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and others, Mary, then eighteen, began to concoct the story of Dr. Victor Frankenstein and the monster he brings to life by electricity. Written in a time of great personal tragedy, it is a subversive and morbid story warning against the dehumanization of art and the corrupting influence of science. Packed with allusions and literary references, it is also one of the best thrillers ever written. Frankenstein; Or, the Modern Prometheus was an instant bestseller on publication in 1818. The prototype of the science fiction novel, it has spawned countless imitations and adaptations but retains its original power.

Frankenstein was a surprising read for me. I've never particularly expected to like Frankenstein, but it has always been on the list of books I've intended read. I decided it would make a great pick for the Dusty Volumes challenge.

As it turns out, I really enjoyed Frankenstein. I see why the image of Frankenstein's monster is so widely used in relation to "mad science". Victor Frankenstein concocted a huge man out of various human (and who knows what else's) body parts. This concoction truly was a monster, but I felt such pity for him. Pity for his hideousness, pity for his being unwanted by his creator, pity for his need of companionship.

In the beginning of Frankenstein, I found lines like "No word, no expression could body forth the kind of relation in which she stood to me - my more than sister, since till death she was to be mine only." to be very creepy and foreboding. I also enjoyed Victor Frankenstein's disturbing obsession, but I didn't fall in love with the story until after Frankenstein created and abandoned his monster.

Frankenstein wound up as a suspenseful and satisfying read. If you enjoy reading classics and you haven't read Frankenstein, now is a great time to change that. If you are a fan of the horror genre, Frankenstein is pretty much a must read. I'm thankful to have finally read it!

7/10: Recommended Read

I downloaded Frankenstein for free from Project Gutenberg.

Dusty Volumes Reading Challenge

My reading style usually dictates I skip genres from book to book.  It is always my intension to mix in some classic reads throughout the year.  So far this year I have only read Little Woman (which I blogged about here) and A Tale of Two Cities (which I did not blog about because no one wants to hear about a classic I didn't particularly enjoy).

When I heard about Midnyte Reader's Dusty Volumes Challenge, I thought it would probably be a great challenge for me.  I'll be the first to admit I suck at reading challenges, but looking at my current to be read list, I don't see any classic reading in my near future unless I challenge myself to do so.

Since it is already August and I've only read two so far this year, I'm going to challenge myself to read three more by the end of the year.

My choices for the challenge:

  I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith because it has been sitting right here on my shelf for 8 years.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley because somehow I have never read it. 
A Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson.  I've had this one longer than I Capture the Castle.

Reading: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Little Women was one of my favorite books when I was a young girl. I'm currently revisiting this classic, and I'm finding it to be enjoyable in different ways than when I was a young girl.

I find more joy now in Marmee and the relationships built by the older girls. I related much more to the young girls growing up and remembered far more details about their youth. After this read, I know my lasting impressions will dwell more with Marmee's teachings and the homes these women are building with their own families as adults.

Book description for Little Women (Signet Classics):

In picturesque nineteenth-century New England, tomboyish Jo, beautiful Meg, fragile Beth, and romantic Amy come of age while their father is off to war.

If you haven't read this classic, it's one I'd recommend you check out.