Besides Silas Marner, Agnes Grey, and Pinocchio, I read a couple of other books this month that I didn't get around to reviewing. Here they are:
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Prereading for when the Dragon Slayer reads it for school next year. I've only read the kids version by Zeman, which are beautiful. The adult version is for mature audiences. I am fascinated by the history of how we found this Epic. It was found carved into hundreds stone tablets in Sumeria. It's the first written tale we have found. It's the story of King Gilgamesh and his adventures in search of immortality. The translation I read, from Penguin Classics, was very dry so I plan to read a different version. Consider this poetry, history, and a classic.
The Thirteenth Tale
I loved it! Why didn't I review it? Because it has been reviewed by every book blogger in blogdom and I haven't read a bad review yet. There are several different stories going on at once that are all tied up nicely at the end. It's a Victorian ghost story reminiscent of Jane Eyre. Definitely a keeper. Warning-it does deal with some nasty subjects but in such a way that you barely even notice. It adds to the story instead of making it unpleasant. It's way less offensive than all of the detective dramas currently running on TV. Very Highly Recommend!!
January 31, 2007
Review: Pinocchio
Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi
This title was coming up on Goldilocks' reading list for school so I decided to read it aloud to all the kiddos. It was a treat for me since I had never read it myself.
The first thing I noticed was how rough it was. Geppetto has a bad temper. When the cricket appears with good advice for Pinocchio, he throws a hammer at it and kills it. (What a shock that was!) The Fox and the Cat disguise themselves as assassins and hang Pinocchio from a tree until he is almost dead(if a puppet can be almost dead). And Pinocchio is not a lovable character at all. I think it is the first time ever that I prefer the Disney version to the real thing.
The next thing I noticed was that the chapter titles were mini summaries. Sometimes I read them and sometimes I didn't. The kids asked me not to read them near the end because it gave too much away.
While I felt blindsided(how could they kill off Jiminy Cricket like that? How brutal!) and disappointed, two of my three kids loved it. They begged me to read it each night and begged me not to stop when it was bedtime. They thought it was great fun and enjoyed making up jokes and play acting the scenes when they could.
I don't know if I would recommend it for a family read aloud. It is always interesting to read the originals of the stories we grew up loving but this story was very different. It would have been a difficult read for Goldilocks on her own. The vocabulary was extremely challenging. And the moral lessons are unforgiving and unrelenting. As I stated before, I was very disappointed in it myself but I don't regret having read it. But stick with the movie.
by Carlo Collodi
This title was coming up on Goldilocks' reading list for school so I decided to read it aloud to all the kiddos. It was a treat for me since I had never read it myself.
The first thing I noticed was how rough it was. Geppetto has a bad temper. When the cricket appears with good advice for Pinocchio, he throws a hammer at it and kills it. (What a shock that was!) The Fox and the Cat disguise themselves as assassins and hang Pinocchio from a tree until he is almost dead(if a puppet can be almost dead). And Pinocchio is not a lovable character at all. I think it is the first time ever that I prefer the Disney version to the real thing.
The next thing I noticed was that the chapter titles were mini summaries. Sometimes I read them and sometimes I didn't. The kids asked me not to read them near the end because it gave too much away.
While I felt blindsided(how could they kill off Jiminy Cricket like that? How brutal!) and disappointed, two of my three kids loved it. They begged me to read it each night and begged me not to stop when it was bedtime. They thought it was great fun and enjoyed making up jokes and play acting the scenes when they could.
I don't know if I would recommend it for a family read aloud. It is always interesting to read the originals of the stories we grew up loving but this story was very different. It would have been a difficult read for Goldilocks on her own. The vocabulary was extremely challenging. And the moral lessons are unforgiving and unrelenting. As I stated before, I was very disappointed in it myself but I don't regret having read it. But stick with the movie.
January 22, 2007
Review: Agnes Grey
Agnes Grey
by Anne Bronte
I pulled this off the shelves for the Classics Reading Challenge. It looked easy, with only 145 pages, and by a Bronte. I knew it was bound to be good. I was a little disappointed.
This was Anne's first book, written under the alias of Anton Bell. It was largely autobiographical. The intent of the book was to expose the poor conditions under which most governesses of this period were expected to work. Given no authority to discipline or correct their charge in any effective manner; receiving no respect from parents, children, other servants, or the rest of society; being blamed for the children's own failings(because she hands were tied by the first restriction); and doing it all for little pay. It was an isolated and frustrating job.
Anne also included a love story into the tale. I'm not sure whether it was a good idea or not. She does a good job developing this part of the story and it brings about a happy ending so I tend to think it was an improvement but it seemed a bit out of place. I thought this book was about the mistreatment of governesses?
But the part that really bugged me was the main character, Miss Grey, who seems rather whiny and goes overboard in the "pity me" department. She complaints about and criticizes every single thing that her employers, charges, and others in house and society subject her to in the smallest detail without any grace while she places herself, and those few whom she respects, in the best of lights, minimizing and excusing their faults. I acknowledge this as a very human instinct, one that is common to almost everyone, but if you are going to publish a book about real people and want to present it for the betterment of all mankind then be careful of how much bitterness is included in the text.
I haven't given up on Ms. Bronte. Her writing style is good. Her storytelling is not bad at all. Maybe by removing some of the personal from her stories she can get on with an engaging and rich tale. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall looks a bit more promising.
by Anne Bronte
I pulled this off the shelves for the Classics Reading Challenge. It looked easy, with only 145 pages, and by a Bronte. I knew it was bound to be good. I was a little disappointed.
This was Anne's first book, written under the alias of Anton Bell. It was largely autobiographical. The intent of the book was to expose the poor conditions under which most governesses of this period were expected to work. Given no authority to discipline or correct their charge in any effective manner; receiving no respect from parents, children, other servants, or the rest of society; being blamed for the children's own failings(because she hands were tied by the first restriction); and doing it all for little pay. It was an isolated and frustrating job.
Anne also included a love story into the tale. I'm not sure whether it was a good idea or not. She does a good job developing this part of the story and it brings about a happy ending so I tend to think it was an improvement but it seemed a bit out of place. I thought this book was about the mistreatment of governesses?
But the part that really bugged me was the main character, Miss Grey, who seems rather whiny and goes overboard in the "pity me" department. She complaints about and criticizes every single thing that her employers, charges, and others in house and society subject her to in the smallest detail without any grace while she places herself, and those few whom she respects, in the best of lights, minimizing and excusing their faults. I acknowledge this as a very human instinct, one that is common to almost everyone, but if you are going to publish a book about real people and want to present it for the betterment of all mankind then be careful of how much bitterness is included in the text.
I haven't given up on Ms. Bronte. Her writing style is good. Her storytelling is not bad at all. Maybe by removing some of the personal from her stories she can get on with an engaging and rich tale. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall looks a bit more promising.
January 19, 2007
Poetry: Not Waving But Drowning
I thought this funny and yet sad and true when I first read it.
Not Waving But Drowning
by Stevie Smith
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.
Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he's dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.
Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.
Not Waving But Drowning
by Stevie Smith
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.
Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he's dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.
Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.
January 11, 2007
Review: Silas Marner
Silas Marner
by George Eliot
This is a book off the home library shelves. I probably picked it up at the library's used book store that I'm so fond of. I've never read anything by George Eliot before so I didn't know what to expect.
Imagine a man who is good to the core. Now accuse him of a terrible theft. Let him know that it was his best friend who actually committed the theft and that it was his best friend that accused him of the theft. Now make the man watch as the ex-best friend marries the ex-fiance(she left him after the theft incidence). Give the man 15 years in a new town where everyone thinks he's not right in the head but they use his services anyway because he's good at what he does. Watch the man fall in love with his money(what else does he have, after all?) and then take the money away from him. My heart ached for Silas. Couldn't just one person see the worthiness of this man?
Now give the man a baby with no known parentage. All that love and goodness that has been beaten down in him for years will bubble up to the surface. He will raise a daughter with a beautiful spirit who loves Silas and loves all that he represents. So when the real father of the child comes to raise the girl for himself, the girl will choose to stay with the man that has been her heart and soul for 16 years.
I kept waiting for the ax to fall. I kept waiting for the spark of treachery to take one more thing from Silas; to break him for good. I was so glad when it never came. I was relieved to see a true reformation in a character who started out wicked.
It seems that Ms. Eliot and I live in the same world. A world where terrible and heartbreaking things happen to people but ultimately the good will reward perseverance. Now I can look forward to picking up Daniel Deronda, Middlemarch, and the Mill on the Floss, all of which are 600+ pages long(Silas was under 200), and sitting conveniently on my shelf.
That's one book marked off my Classics Challenge list. Yeah!
by George Eliot
This is a book off the home library shelves. I probably picked it up at the library's used book store that I'm so fond of. I've never read anything by George Eliot before so I didn't know what to expect.
Imagine a man who is good to the core. Now accuse him of a terrible theft. Let him know that it was his best friend who actually committed the theft and that it was his best friend that accused him of the theft. Now make the man watch as the ex-best friend marries the ex-fiance(she left him after the theft incidence). Give the man 15 years in a new town where everyone thinks he's not right in the head but they use his services anyway because he's good at what he does. Watch the man fall in love with his money(what else does he have, after all?) and then take the money away from him. My heart ached for Silas. Couldn't just one person see the worthiness of this man?
Now give the man a baby with no known parentage. All that love and goodness that has been beaten down in him for years will bubble up to the surface. He will raise a daughter with a beautiful spirit who loves Silas and loves all that he represents. So when the real father of the child comes to raise the girl for himself, the girl will choose to stay with the man that has been her heart and soul for 16 years.
I kept waiting for the ax to fall. I kept waiting for the spark of treachery to take one more thing from Silas; to break him for good. I was so glad when it never came. I was relieved to see a true reformation in a character who started out wicked.
It seems that Ms. Eliot and I live in the same world. A world where terrible and heartbreaking things happen to people but ultimately the good will reward perseverance. Now I can look forward to picking up Daniel Deronda, Middlemarch, and the Mill on the Floss, all of which are 600+ pages long(Silas was under 200), and sitting conveniently on my shelf.
That's one book marked off my Classics Challenge list. Yeah!
January 04, 2007
Found: Treasure
One of my favorite stores is the Salvation Army. I love hunting through their shelves of used books to find some treasure. I am fortunate to live within 15 minutes of two large stores. So the other day I considered myself extra lucky when I came across some very homeschool friendly choices.
Detectives in Togas by Winterfeld
Mummies in the Morning by Osborne
The Classical Greeks by Grant
Better Handwriting for You
The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body(hardback) by Cole
Images of Beauty (two books in one: The Ugly Duckling by A.A. Milne and Beauty and the Beast by Mayer)
All of these books can be used in our school next year when we study ancient history. Even the Beauty book since we will be reading folk tales from around the world.
Oh, and for myself I also found Antigone by Sophocles and Hard Times by Charles Dickens. I love a good treasure hunt!
Detectives in Togas by Winterfeld
Mummies in the Morning by Osborne
The Classical Greeks by Grant
Better Handwriting for You
The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body(hardback) by Cole
Images of Beauty (two books in one: The Ugly Duckling by A.A. Milne and Beauty and the Beast by Mayer)
All of these books can be used in our school next year when we study ancient history. Even the Beauty book since we will be reading folk tales from around the world.
Oh, and for myself I also found Antigone by Sophocles and Hard Times by Charles Dickens. I love a good treasure hunt!
January 03, 2007
The Coming Year
Coming in with the new year I have some goals for myself, for my reading life and my role as the headmistress of our little private school. I don't call these resolutions because I am not resolute about them. In fact, they could change on a whim; but for today these are a few of the things I'd like to accomplish this year:
- Poetry-the next list of titles I'd like to get through in The Well-Educated Mind by Bauer is the poetry list. I have been looking forward to this for a year.
- History-I will be reading through some of the books my kids will read throughout the course of the next school year. As the kids will be in K, 5th and 9th grades I have a whole gamut of material for all levels. I don't think I can read all of them but I would at least like to read what the high schooler will be reading. Since he is the fastest reader I've ever met I have already gotten started.
- Classics-this goes hand in hand with history. I thoroughly enjoyed reading some of the classic novels and want to continue, reading some other books by the same authors and some new authors that didn't make it onto the original list, like George Elliot.
- Music-I want to spend more time listening to instrumental and classical music than rock and pop, without completely ignoring the latter. I want to surround myself with beautiful tunes that get my emotions moving in the right direction.
- Religion-I want to study more of my Bible and the great theologians of my branch of Christianity. I hope to read some Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Lewis, and Sproul.
- Routine-I am not a greatly organized person but I've built up a routine over the years. I'd like to hone it a bit so I can accomplish more of the above items. Perhaps I'll have a better chance of success this way.
- Family-I list this last to give it prominence. I want to build tighter relationships with my husband and each of my kids. I want us to grow together as a family unit. I will do what I can to create an environment of respect and peace in my home.
This sure looks like a lot now that it's written down but if I work on these goals a little each day before spending time with, say, Sudoku or Zuma then I believe my year will have been productive and generate a feeling of calm in me that has been missing for a few years. Here's to a joyous New Year, for you and for me too.
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