Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road: classic

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Sunday, April 07, 2024

Persuasion 5Stars

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Title: Persuasion
Series: ----------
Author: Jane Austen
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic
Pages: 193
Words: 85K

This is my 4^th read of this novel since 2003. Suffice to say that I really enjoy it.

It is shorter than Pride and Prejudice as well as Sense and Sensibility and is significantly shorter than Emma (which comes in around the 340page mark). Unfortunately, it “feels” shorter too. While I am a big fan of a short novel, sometimes it isn’t the best. I think the interactions between Anne (with an “E”, hahahaha) and Wentworth could have been longer and more drawn out. Or even more of them. It’s not that they didn’t meet and interact, it just felt rushed. Which ties into the shortness of the novel. But that is my only complaint.

I have always liked this novel because of the age of the protagonists. Anne is 26/27 and Wentworth is 30something? (an OLD man if you listen to Marianne Dashwood ;-) ). Mrs B was younger than Anne when we got married. The calm and collected way that Anne and Freddie (I am not typing Frederick more than once!) went about reconnecting was enjoyable to me. There was very little drama and they proceeded pretty calmly and rationally and allowed their minds to be in control instead of their emotions. They allowed their emotions to influence them, but the emotions weren’t in control. I really, really like that aspect. I see too much of people giving their emotions sway over their lives and then bad things usually happen, either to them or the people around them. So seeing a maturity in the romance is just refreshing.

Despite having read this four times (now), I never can remember which Austen novel it is where a young girl gets head strong and jumps and gives herself a concussion. It is this novel. The scene has always made a strong impression on me but for some reason I simply cannot keep it attached to Persuasion. I’m always convinced it is one of Austen’s other novels and I keep waiting for that scene in other books and am always disappointed it isn’t there; but that only enhances my enjoyment of it when I DO read it here :-)

I did notice that I no problem getting into the story or the manner and style of writing. Reading S&S last year was a bit of a chore as my mind had to switch mental gears for the 1800’s literary style. But now that I’ve got three of Austen’s novels under my belt (the three mentioned at the start of this review), my mental gears are all well oiled and I sailed through this with nary a hiccup or stickage. That’s always a good feeling and it is how this book made me feel, ie, good.

★★★★★

From Wikipedia.org

The story begins seven years after the broken engagement of Anne Elliot to Frederick Wentworth: having just turned nineteen years old, Anne fell in love and had accepted a proposal of marriage from Wentworth, then a young and undistinguished naval officer. Wentworth was considered clever, confident and ambitious, but his low social status and lack of wealth made Anne's friends and family view him as an unsuitable partner. Anne's father, Sir Walter Elliot, and her older sister, Elizabeth, maintained that Wentworth was no match for a woman of Kellynch Hall, the family estate. Furthermore, Lady Russell, a distant relative whom Anne considers to be a second mother to her after her own died, also saw the relationship as imprudent for one so young and persuaded Anne to break off the engagement. Sir Walter, Elizabeth, and Lady Russell are the only family members who knew about the short engagement, as Anne's younger sister Mary was away at school.

Several years later, the Elliot family are in financial trouble on account of their lavish spending, so they decide to rent out Kellynch Hall and settle in a cheaper home in Bath until their finances improve. Sir Walter, Elizabeth, and Elizabeth's new companion, Mrs Clay, look forward to the move. Anne, on the other hand, doubts she will enjoy Bath, but cannot go against her family. Mary is now married to Charles Musgrove of Uppercross Hall, the heir to a respected local squire. Anne visits Mary and her family, where she is well-loved. As the Napoleonic Wars are over, Admiral Croft and his wife Sophia (Frederick's sister) have become the new tenants of Kellynch Hall. Captain Wentworth, now wealthy from his service in the war, visits his sister and meets the Uppercross family, where he crosses paths with Anne.

The Musgroves, including Mary, Charles, and Charles's sisters Henrietta and Louisa, welcome the Crofts and Captain Wentworth, who makes it known that he is ready to marry. Henrietta is engaged to her cousin, clergyman Charles Hayter, who is absent when Wentworth is introduced to their social circle. Both the Crofts and Musgroves enjoy speculating about which sister Captain Wentworth might marry. Once Hayter returns, Henrietta turns her affections to him again. Anne still loves Wentworth, so each meeting with him requires preparation for her own strong emotions. She overhears a conversation in which Louisa tells Wentworth that before marrying Mary, Charles Musgrove first proposed to Anne, who turned him down. This news startles Wentworth, and Anne realises that he has not yet forgiven her for letting herself be persuaded to end their engagement years ago.

Anne and the young adults of the Uppercross family accompany Captain Wentworth on a visit to see two of his fellow officers, Captains Harville and Benwick, in the coastal town of Lyme Regis. Captain Benwick is in mourning over the death of his fiancée, Captain Harville's sister Fanny, and he appreciates Anne's sympathy and understanding, helped by their mutual admiration for the Romantic poets. Anne attracts the attention of Mr William Elliot, her cousin and a wealthy widower who is heir to Kellynch Hall despite having broken ties with her father years earlier. On the last morning of the visit, Louisa sustains a serious concussion after jumping from the Cobb seawall expecting to be caught by Wentworth. Anne coolly organises the others to summon assistance. Wentworth is impressed with Anne's quick thinking and cool-headedness, but feels guilty about his actions encouraging Louisa's attraction to him. This causes him to re-examine his feelings for Anne. Louisa, due to her delicate condition, is forced to recover at the Harvilles' home in Lyme for months. Captain Benwick, who was a guest as well, helps in Louisa's recovery by attending and reading to her.

Following Louisa's accident, Anne joins her father and sister in Bath, with Lady Russell also in the city, while Louisa stays at the Harvilles' in Lyme Regis for her recovery. Captain Wentworth visits his older brother Edward in Shropshire. Anne finds that her father and sister are flattered by the attentions of their cousin William Elliot, thinking that if he marries Elizabeth, the family fortunes will be restored. William flatters Anne and offhandedly mentions that he was "fascinated" with the name of his future wife already being an "Elliot" who would rightfully take over for her late mother. Although Anne wants to like William, the attention and his manners, she finds his character opaque and difficult to judge.

Admiral Croft and his wife arrive in Bath with the news that Louisa is engaged to Captain Benwick. Wentworth travels to Bath, where his jealousy is piqued by seeing William trying to court Anne. Captain Wentworth and Anne renew their acquaintance. Anne visits Mrs Smith, an old school friend, who is now a widow living in Bath under straitened circumstances. From her, Anne discovers that beneath William's charming veneer, he is a cold, calculating opportunist who led Mrs Smith's late husband into debt. As executor to her husband's will, William has done nothing to improve Mrs Smith's situation. Although Mrs Smith believes that William is genuinely attracted to Anne, she feels that his primary aim is to prevent Mrs Clay from marrying Sir Walter, as a new marriage might mean a son for Sir Walter, displacing William as heir to Kellynch Hall.

The Musgroves visit Bath to purchase wedding clothes for Louisa and Henrietta, both soon to marry. Captains Wentworth and Harville encounter them and Anne at the Musgroves' hotel in Bath, where Wentworth overhears Anne and Harville discussing the relative faithfulness of men and women in love. Deeply moved by what Anne says about women not giving up their feelings of love even when all hope is lost, Wentworth writes her a note declaring his feelings for her. Outside the hotel, Anne and Wentworth reconcile, affirm their love for each other, and renew their engagement. Lady Russell admits she was wrong about Wentworth and endorses the engagement. William leaves Bath; Mrs Clay soon follows him and becomes his mistress, making it more likely that he will inherit Kellynch Hall as the danger of her marrying Sir Walter has passed. Once Anne and Wentworth have married, Wentworth helps Mrs Smith recover the remaining assets that William had kept from her. Anne settles into her new life as the wife of a Navy captain.

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Pride and Prejudice 5Stars

Title: Pride and Prejudice
Series: ----------
Author: Jane Austen
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic
Pages: 275
Words: 124K

This will be a bit different from my usual review. Lashaan and I did a buddy read of this and we used a series of questions I found online to help us talk about the book. There were 11 questions in total and I chose to answer 7 of them. I found the other 4 stupid, insipid, insulting or just plain not a subject I cared one whit for. After the questions I have some general thoughts. And I’ve included a link to Lashaan’s review at the end. Please visit his review when it goes live to see another whole take on this book :-D

1. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune,

must be in want of a wife.” This first line has become one of the most famous in English

literature. In addition to setting the narrative in motion, how does this line alert us to the

tone of the novel and our role, as readers, in appreciating it? What does the line imply

about women?

I'll work backwards on this. Addressing that last question first.

When you talk about the opening line, you have to also use the second to put it into context:
"However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters."

So what the opening implies about women, and then about men, is that they are both playing pieces for their elders. It's not about gender (despite what the questioner is trying to force into this). Both are pawns are on the chessboard of marriage.

The role of the reader is whatever the reader wants it to be. It doesn't matter what the author thinks, or tries to do. The reader is an independent being and a good author acknowledges this and simply writes their story without forcing their reader into the slavery of being "in a role". Only Message writers do that.

As for the tone of the novel, I'd say it it sets a jolly good tone! Funny, amusing and yet acknowledging the foibles of the culture the author is living in.

So there we go. My first set of ranty answers to the first question :-D

2. Elizabeth is upset to learn that Charlotte has accepted Mr. Collins’s marriage proposal. Do

you think Charlotte should have married Mr. Collins? Did she choose him or did he choose

her? What do you think influenced her decision to accept him? Is Charlotte a romantic? Is

Elizabeth?

At 27, being plain, poor and unconnected, Charlotte didn't have much choice if she didn't want to end up being a burden to her family. While I suspect she will regret in the future her choice of Mr Collins, tempermentally she seems fit to deal with his particular brand of pride and false-humility. And now she is mistress of her own establishment with greater things to come. Her children won't be in her circumstances and thus will hopefully be able to have more choices open to them.

I'd say Charlotte definitely chose Mr Collins. He was just wafting around like a butterfly, looking for the first open flower. She saw him coming a mile away. Besides, Mr Collins seems to stupid to do any real choosing :-D

I think my answer to the first question also answers this. Material stability goes a long way towards making a relationship stable. Charlotte knew what her future held and so she did what she had to to change it, for the better.

I don't see Charlotte as romantic at all. She's just super realistic. Elizabeth on the other hand is fully infected with the "Love is Our Guiding Light" idea. Of course, given what Elizabeth sees between her father and mother, one can forgive her for wanting some genuine love in a relationship.

3. How does Pemberley play a role in Elizabeth’s change of heart? Does she really fall in

love with Darcy after seeing his estate? Trace the development of her feelings for him.

Why is Darcy attracted to Elizabeth? Trace the development of his feelings for her.

I think this question is a bit too "school report" like for my taste. Plus, you know, feelings. Seeing Pemberley was just another check mark in the positive side for Darcy. Not because it was all big and rich, but because of the character it displayed and thus by extension, Darcy's character. You can tell a lot about a person by their living quarters. And by the people they keep around them. So it simply helped Elizabeth begin to change her feelings towards Darcy. She saw another side of him displayed through Pemberley. She was discerning enough to see that and to look beyond the wealth itself.

4. What might have happened if Elizabeth had accepted Darcy’s first proposal? Do you think

he really expected her to accept? How does the first proposal change their feelings for, and

opinions of, each other?

I think their marriage would have ended in disaster. He wouldn't have respected her and she never would have loved him him. They both needed to change themselves and see the other in a more accurate light before their marriage could have worked.

I do think Darcy expected an acceptance. I'm pretty sure when they are talking about it later he says something like "you had everything to gain and nothing to lose by accepting my proposal. At least that is how I saw it at the time".

I think Darcy's proposal opened Elizabeth's eyes to the fact that Darcy did love her. He wasn't just attracted to her, but he loved her. That allowed her to realize that her feelings of prejudice might need to change. And Darcy got a good earful from Elizabeth and he needed that to set him on the path of seeing her as an equal in any marriage endeavor and not just an emotional and sexual outlet.

7. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet do not agree on very much, especially when it comes to their

daughters’ futures. Who is the better parent—Mr. or Mrs. Bennet? What role does family

play in this novel?

Neither of them is the better parent. Mr Bennet is the least worst though. Lydia is exactly like her mother, so it shouldn't have come as any surprise to anyone at her running away with Wickham and not caring at all about getting married. Mr Bennet could have helped guide his wife's character growth at the beginning of their marriage but chose not to fight that battle and he reaped the harvest with a selfish, vain, silly woman for a wife.

Family plays a huge role! The Bennetts. Darcy's sister and Aunt. Mr Bingley's sister. Elizabeth's Aunt and Uncle. Even Wickham is a pseudo-family of the Darcy's. You can't go very far without a family interaction.

8. Darcy says that Wickham tried to elope with Georgiana for revenge. Does revenge play a

part in his elopement with Lydia?

I don't think it does at all. I think Wickham needed an out and Lydia provided the easiest and most comfortable out. I have to admit, Wickham running away with Lydia still puzzles me.

11. Why is this novel so popular? Why do readers keep coming back to it, even after the

original suspense is gone and they know how it ends?

Because it's a girly romance and there are more women in the world than men.

Is my off the cuff, flippant remark, hahahahaa.

My serious answer would be that the Initially Thwarted Romance between Jane and Mr Bingley and the Enemies to Lovers Romance between Elizabeth and Mr Darcy speaks to a lot of women. "I" like it because it's a romantic story that shows some real human foibles and it's some very fine writing.

I skipped a bunch of questions because they pissed me off. I hate social media so wanted to nothing to do with that question. I dlsliked the leading question about Irony because I don't like being led down a certain path by somebody else. finally, I don't care two figs for what it might have been originally titled. It is called Pride and Prejudice and that' that. It's overthinking things for the sake of overthinking to do any more on the title.

Bookstooge’s General Thoughts:

I must admit, I did not like this format of Question and Answer. I felt stifled, hemmed in and like I was back in highschool with a teacher looking over my shoulder. While it made writing a review much easier (I pasted/copied the questions and my answers from my emails to Lashaan), I totally did not enjoy the reading process itself. My brain did not have the freedom to wander down the byways because I was focused on trying to "pay attention" to the story so I could answer the questions.

It's not that the Q&A is a bad way of doing things, especially for younger people who haven't been trained to think for themselves yet. It gives them a framework within which to work, otherwise they'd be left floundering and their thoughts would be "I liked this" or "I didn't like this" without any further explanation. But I am not a kid any more. Sadly, I haven't been for a long time and I have much vaster reading experience now than I did back when I was a teenager (even as well read as I was then). For me, the reading experience itself is part of the process. I simply flow into the story, absorb it and let it knock around my brain like a pair of dice. Then I release it and see what happens. That's how I read and review now. It's been quite the revelation to me to come to that realization.

I am also glad that "I" am the one that chose the questions, that way I have nobody but myself to blame, hahahaahahaa.

Overall, while this Q&A was quite the different approach, and one that I’m happy to have applied, it won’t be happening again.

★★★★★

Lashaan’s Review

Complete Set of Questions:

1. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” This first line has become one of the most famous in English literature. In addition to setting the narrative in motion, how does this line alert us to the tone of the novel and our role, as readers, in appreciating it? What does the line imply about women? (From the Chicago Public Library’s One Book, One Chicago pamphlet on Pride and Prejudice, 2005)

2. Elizabeth is upset to learn that Charlotte has accepted Mr. Collins’s marriage proposal. Do you think Charlotte should have married Mr. Collins? Did she choose him or did he choose her? What do you think influenced her decision to accept him? Is Charlotte a romantic? Is Elizabeth?

3. How does Pemberley play a role in Elizabeth’s change of heart? Does she really fall in love with Darcy after seeing his estate? Trace the development of her feelings for him. Why is Darcy attracted to Elizabeth? Trace the development of his feelings for her.

4. What might have happened if Elizabeth had accepted Darcy’s first proposal? Do you think he really expected her to accept? How does the first proposal change their feelings for, and opinions of, each other?

5. Several letters are reproduced in full in the text. What is the effect on you as a reader when you read a letter instead of getting the information contained in it from the 3rd person narrator? Why do you think Austen might have used letters so often in this novel? (There are 59 references to letters in the book.)

6. How does the title Pride and Prejudice relate to the original title Jane Austen used for the novel, First Impressions? Do you think Pride and Prejudice is a better title? Why? How does it relate to Elizabeth? Darcy? Does it relate to other characters in the novel?

7. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet do not agree on very much, especially when it comes to their daughters’ futures. Who is the better parent—Mr. or Mrs. Bennet? What role does family play in this novel?

8. Darcy says that Wickham tried to elope with Georgiana for revenge. Does revenge play a part in his elopement with Lydia?

9. Lady Catherine’s visit to Elizabeth to persuade her not to marry Darcy actually has the opposite effect and propels them toward the final conclusion, their marriage. What is it about this use of dramatic irony that is so appealing to readers? What other examples of irony do you find in the novel?

10. The novel has many universal themes that make it relevant today and inspire contemporary spin-offs and adaptations. Imagine the Facebook pages of each of the Bennet daughters. Who would be most active on Facebook? How would their entries differ from each other? Would any of them choose not to be on Facebook?

11. Why is this novel so popular? Why do readers keep coming back to it, even after the original suspense is gone and they know how it ends?

From Wikipedia.org

In the early 19th century, the Bennet family live at their Longbourn estate, situated near the village of Meryton in Hertfordshire, England. Mrs Bennet's greatest desire is to marry off her five daughters to secure their futures.

The arrival of Mr Bingley, a rich bachelor who rents the neighbouring Netherfield estate, gives her hope that one of her daughters might contract an advantageous marriage, because "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife".

At a ball, the family is introduced to the Netherfield party, including Mr Bingley, his two sisters and Mr Darcy, his dearest friend. Mr Bingley's friendly and cheerful manner earns him popularity among the guests. He appears interested in Jane, the eldest Bennet daughter. Mr Darcy, reputed to be twice as wealthy as Mr Bingley, is haughty and aloof, causing a decided dislike of him. He declines to dance with Elizabeth, the second-eldest Bennet daughter, as she is "not handsome enough". Although she jokes about it with her friend, Elizabeth is deeply offended. Despite this first impression, Mr Darcy secretly begins to find himself drawn to Elizabeth as they continue to encounter each other at social events, appreciating her wit and frankness.

Mr Collins, the heir to the Longbourn estate, visits the Bennet family with the intention of finding a wife among the five girls under the advice of his patroness Lady Catherine de Bourgh, also revealed to be Mr Darcy's aunt. He decides to pursue Elizabeth. The Bennet family meet the charming army officer George Wickham, who tells Elizabeth in confidence about Mr Darcy's unpleasant treatment of him in the past. Elizabeth, blinded by her prejudice toward Mr Darcy, believes him.

Elizabeth dances with Mr Darcy at a ball, where Mrs Bennet hints loudly that she expects Jane and Bingley to become engaged. Elizabeth rejects Mr Collins' marriage proposal, to her mother's fury and her father's relief. Mr Collins instead proposes to Charlotte Lucas, a friend of Elizabeth.

Having heard Mrs Bennet's words at the ball and disapproving of the marriage, Mr Darcy joins Mr Bingley in a trip to London and, with the help of his sisters, persuades him not to return to Netherfield. A heartbroken Jane visits her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner in London to raise her spirits, while Elizabeth's hatred for Mr Darcy grows as she suspects he was responsible for Mr Bingley's departure.

In the spring, Elizabeth visits Charlotte and Mr Collins in Kent. Elizabeth and her hosts are invited to Rosings Park, Lady Catherine's home. Mr Darcy and his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, are also visiting Rosings Park. Fitzwilliam tells Elizabeth how Mr Darcy recently saved a friend, presumably Bingley, from an undesirable match. Elizabeth realises that the prevented engagement was to Jane.

Mr Darcy proposes to Elizabeth, declaring his love for her despite her low social connections. She is shocked, as she was unaware of Mr Darcy's interest, and rejects him angrily, saying that he is the last person she would ever marry and that she could never love a man who caused her sister such unhappiness; she further accuses him of treating Wickham unjustly. Mr Darcy brags about his success in separating Bingley and Jane and sarcastically dismisses the accusation regarding Wickham without addressing it.

The next day, Mr Darcy gives Elizabeth a letter, explaining that Wickham, the son of his late father's steward, had refused the "living" his father had arranged for him and was instead given money for it. Wickham quickly squandered the money and tried to elope with Darcy's 15-year-old sister, Georgiana, for her considerable dowry. Mr Darcy also writes that he separated Jane and Bingley because he believed her indifferent to Bingley and because of the lack of propriety displayed by her family. Elizabeth is ashamed by her family's behaviour and her own prejudice against Mr Darcy.

Months later, Elizabeth accompanies the Gardiners on a tour of Derbyshire. They visit Pemberley, Darcy's estate. When Mr Darcy returns unexpectedly, he is exceedingly gracious with Elizabeth and the Gardiners. Elizabeth is surprised by Darcy's behaviour and grows fond of him, even coming to regret rejecting his proposal. She receives news that her sister Lydia has run off with Wickham. She tells Mr Darcy, then departs in haste. After an agonising interim, Wickham agrees to marry Lydia. She visits the family and tells Elizabeth that Mr Darcy was at her wedding. Though Mr Darcy had sworn everyone involved to secrecy, Mrs Gardiner now feels obliged to inform Elizabeth that he secured the match, at great expense and trouble to himself.

Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy return to Netherfield. Jane accepts Mr Bingley's proposal. Lady Catherine, having heard rumours that Elizabeth intends to marry Mr Darcy, visits her and demands she promise never to accept Mr Darcy's proposal, as she and Darcy's late mother had already planned his marriage to her daughter Anne. Elizabeth refuses and asks the outraged Lady Catherine to leave. Darcy, heartened by his aunt's indignant relaying of Elizabeth's response, again proposes to her and is accepted.

Thursday, December 28, 2023

Emma 4Stars

Title: Emma
Series: ----------
Author: Jane Austen
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic
Pages: 341
Words: 160K

This is my least favorite of Austen’s body of work, including her unfinished stuff. Emma as a character embodies everything that I most dislike about young women. I didn’t care for the character back in 2006 when I first read this and I didn’t care for her this time around either. I think my biggest problem is how Emma is a busybody and thinks herself superior to everyone around her.

With that being said, I still enjoyed this book quite a bit. It was very much a “Manners Romance” story and the changes in society in regards to manners made me smile. In one instance, Mrs Elton (a new to the area woman who married and is trying to be the social queen) is talking to a single young woman and calls her “Jane”, which is her name. Emma and Janes’s secret fiance overhear and both are outraged that Mrs Elton would presume to talk to Miss Fairfax so familiarly on so little acquaintance. For me, it was like reading about them being outraged because Mrs Elton said “Purple Elephant” while wearing white shoes. It just struck my funny bone, thankfully.

Much like Edward from Sense and Sensibility, Mr Knightley as a romantic lead does not make up a large part of the story. He’s there to support Emma and is busy doing real life stuff. I fully support that. He’s not swanning off writing goopy poems about her eyes and letting his own business go. This was a second instance of Austen writing about a young woman (Emma is 20 when the story starts) getting romantically involved with an older man (Mr Knightley is 37) and things working out. Was this because Austen was into that or because “Society” itself liked that and so she wrote about it to sell her stories? Most of the married couples I know are within 0-10 years in age of each other. I’ve known a few other couples with great age disparities, but they all tended to be at a stage in life when that didn’t matter (if one is 45 and the other 70 for instance) nearly so much. I know if I had a friend who was in his mid-30’s and he was interested in some cute young thing, I’d caution him about a lack of common cultural relevancies. It might seem small, and in all fairness it CAN be overcome, but something as little as knowing the same movies and the same books can ease the friction of being with another person. You don’t even have to LIKE them, just knowing about them is a common tie. Once you move beyond a certain amount of time, you don’t have those common ties to help bind you to another person. The faster a society moves, the less time those ties have to cement, and vice versa. So in Austen’s time things moved slower so the commonality had many more years to exist, which would make it much easier for a greater age disparity in a marriage to work.

Austen’s prose still makes me work. I had to just slow down to engage with this. One sentence, with multiple commas, could carry on multiple thoughts concurrently and I had to follow them all or I’d miss something, like who was even present in the room. There was one instance where Emma was talking to someone and suddenly Mr Knightley interjects a comment and I couldn’t figure out for the life of me when he had come onto the scene. I had to go back about two paragraphs, and buried in the middle of a long paragraph was a short sentence obliquely referring to him having entered the room. I love and hate that. I love it because it shows skill and I hate it because I’m lazy.

It has been over 17 years since I first read Emma and I suspect it will be that long, if not longer, before I read it for a third time.

★★★★☆

From Wikipedia.org

Emma Woodhouse's friend and former governess, Miss Taylor, has just married Mr. Weston. Having introduced them, Emma takes credit for their marriage and decides that she likes matchmaking. After returning home to Hartfield, Emma forges ahead with her new interest against the advice of her friend Mr. Knightley, whose brother is married to Emma's elder sister, Isabella. She attempts to match her new friend, Harriet Smith, to Mr. Elton, the local vicar. Emma persuades Harriet to refuse a marriage proposal from Robert Martin, a respectable young farmer, although Harriet likes him. Mr. Elton, a social climber, mistakenly believes Emma is in love with him and proposes to her. When Emma reveals she believed him attached to Harriet, he is outraged, considering Harriet socially inferior. After Emma rejects him, Mr. Elton goes to Bath and returns with a pretentious, nouveau-riche wife, as Mr. Knightley expected he would do. Harriet is heartbroken, and Emma feels ashamed about misleading her.

Frank Churchill, Mr. Weston's son, arrives for a two-week visit. Frank was adopted by his wealthy and domineering aunt and has had few opportunities to visit before. Mr. Knightley tells Emma that, while Frank is intelligent and engaging, he has a shallow character. Jane Fairfax also arrives to visit her aunt Miss Bates and great-aunt Mrs. Bates for a few months before starting a governess position due to financial situation. She is the same age as Emma and has received an excellent education through her father's friend, Colonel Campbell. Emma has remained somewhat aloof from Jane because she envies her and is annoyed by everyone, including Mrs. Weston and Mr. Knightley, praising Jane. Mrs. Elton takes Jane under her wing and announces that she will find a governess post before it is wanted.

Emma decides that Jane and Mr. Dixon, Colonel Campbell's new son-in-law, are mutually attracted, and that is the reason she arrived earlier than expected. She confides this to Frank, who met Jane and the Campbells at Weymouth the previous year; he apparently agrees with Emma. Suspicions are further fuelled when a pianoforte, sent anonymously, arrives for Jane. Emma feels herself falling in love with Frank, but it does not last. The Eltons treat Harriet poorly, culminating in Mr. Elton publicly snubbing Harriet at a ball. Mr. Knightley, who normally refrained from dancing, gallantly asks Harriet to dance. The day after the ball, Frank brings Harriet to Hartfield, as she fainted after a rough encounter with local gypsies. Emma mistakes Harriet's gratitude to Frank as Harriet being in love with him. Meanwhile, Mrs. Weston wonders if Mr. Knightley is attracted to Jane, but Emma dismisses the idea. When Mr. Knightley says he notices a connection between Jane and Frank, Emma disagrees, as Frank appears to be courting her instead. Frank arrives late to a gathering at Donwell, while Jane departs early. The next day at Box Hill, a local scenic spot, Frank and Emma are joking when Emma thoughtlessly insults Miss Bates.

When Mr. Knightley scolds Emma for insulting Miss Bates, she is ashamed. The next day, she visits Miss Bates to atone for her bad behaviour, impressing Mr. Knightley. During the visit, Emma learns that Jane has accepted a governess position from one of Mrs. Elton's friends. Jane becomes ill and refuses to see Emma or receive her gifts. Meanwhile, Frank has been visiting his aunt, who dies soon after his arrival. He and Jane reveal to the Westons that they have been secretly engaged since autumn, but Frank knew his aunt would disapprove of the match. Maintaining the secrecy strained the conscientious Jane and caused the couple to quarrel, with Jane ending the engagement. Frank's easygoing uncle readily gives his blessing to the match. The engagement is made public, leaving Emma annoyed to discover that she had been so wrong.

Emma believes Frank's engagement will devastate Harriet, but instead, Harriet says she loves Mr. Knightley, and though she knows the match is too unequal, Emma's encouragement and Mr. Knightley's kindness have given her hope. Emma is startled and realises that she is also in love with Mr. Knightley. Mr. Knightley returns to console Emma about Frank and Jane's engagement, thinking her heartbroken. When she admits her foolishness, he proposes, and she accepts. Harriet accepts Robert Martin's second proposal, and they are the first couple to marry. Jane and Emma reconcile, and Frank and Jane visit the Westons. Once the mourning period for Frank's aunt ends, they will marry. Before the end of November, Emma and Mr. Knightley are married with the prospect of "perfect happiness."

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Virgin Soil (The Russians) 5Stars

Title: Virgin Soil
Series: (The Russians)
Author: Ivan Turgenev
Translator: RS Townsend
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic
Pages: 305
Words: 94K

We follow a group of young people, but mainly one named Nezhdanov, who are trying to change the face of Russia by stirring up peasants and getting them to revolt. I believe this was the precursor to Lenin’s 1917 successful Revolution. Either way, this story is about the failure of it all, mainly because the agitators are young idiots with more ideals than common sense in their heads. Apparently none of them had read history or knew what Revolutions do to most countries. They thought there would be a titanic bloodbath and then everyone would immediately settle down to love and brotherly unity. What a bunch of dumfkophs! And to top it off, the group that Nezhdanov is involved in does start a revolt, but the peasants themselves turn against the agitators and so it’s a complete failure. Nezhdanov then goes and kills himself.

Nezhdanov was the quintessential picture of a sentimental, idealistic young man with the spine of a jellyfish. He doesn’t marry the girl he loves, he doesn’t commit to the cause wholeheartedly, he doesn’t do anything (even writing his own poetry) wholeheartedly. He waffles and whines and feels bad for himself and questions why life is so unfair, blah, blah, blah. In fact, he sounds an awful lot like a lot of young people I hear today. And that scares the tar out of me. Because someone like Lenin was born to that generation, so what’s this new generation going to give birth to?

With all of this doom and gloom, you might wonder why I’m still giving this 5stars.

That is simple. This captured the spirit of the Russians people at that time, like a photo engraved into titanium. While I thought Nezhdanov was a spineless, cowardly, stupid, sentimental idiot, I saw some of the same characteristics that I had in my early 20’s. Now, my idealism wasn’t channeled into advocating violent revolution, but I was just as idealistic as he was. I just wasn’t a stupid jellyfish (at least, so I hope). The story showed the thinking that was going on between the peasants, the Revolutionaries and the Aristocracy. You couldn’t have asked for a better representation, warts and all. While I didn’t sympathize at all, or even intellectually agree in any way, with the Revolutionaries, seeing how they affected those around them was quite eye opening. Upon reflection, I am afraid the US is following a similar path to the one shown here. Social Justice Warriors are the new Nihilists of our day age. They want what they want and they want it NOW and if you die in the process, well, it was for the Cause, Comrade!

This was Turgenev’s last novel and I shall be diving into his novella’s upon my next foray. I hope they are as good as this.

★★★★★

From Wikipedia.org & Bookstooge.blog

The novel centres on a depiction of some of the young people in late nineteenth century Russia who decided to reject the standard cultural mores of their time, join the Populist movement, and 'go amongst the people', living the lives of simple workers and peasants rather than lives of affectation and luxury. The novel has a number of central characters around whom the action revolves. It explores, for instance, the life of Alexey Dmitrievich Nezhdanov, the illegitimate son of an aristocrat, who seeks to radicalise the peasantry and involve them in political action. He is given a job as tutor to Kolya, the nine-year-old son of Sipyagin, a local politician, and goes to live on his country estate. Whilst working there he becomes attracted to Marianna, the niece of the family.

Another central character is Vasily Solomin, who manages a local factory and is also a Populist, though one with less optimism about the potential of the movement to effect fundamental socio-economic change.

The novel ends with several of the characters trying to create a peasant uprising and it’s failure. One of them is sent off to Siberia, another kills himself and another marries a girl and works hard.

Sunday, December 03, 2023

A Christmas Carol 5Stars

Title: A Christmas Carol
Series:
Author: Charles Dickens
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic
Pages: 89
Words: 29K

Yep, good stuff. Having listened to this in various audio editions for the last 2 years, I decided that it was time to actually re-read it. Last time I read it was back in ‘13. A decade. One of the boys at church was just being born then and several of the girls weren’t even a gleam in their daddy’s eye yet. Measuring my book reading by peoples’ lives is kind of scary. Because it makes me feel powerful and wise and like I can do anything, such as read a book. Again ;-)

Because this is my umpteenth time, I specifically looked for little details that I hadn’t noticed on earlier reads. I found them. It helped that I sat down one evening and just read this from beginning to end. At 89 pages that’s not a big chore. I didn’t take note of the little things, but as I read them, I mentally said to myself “Bookstooge old fellow, we don’t remember THAT detail do we?” and I nodded sagely to myself for my perspicuity.

I suspect that after this year I’ll let this story rest for a couple of years before I try again. Hopefully not another full decade, but a couple at least, maybe even a couple of couples. I don’t want the enjoyment and fun and goodness of a story to be squeezed out because I was so greedy and grasping in my literary hunger. Just as eggnog is meant to be consumed in a small portion of the year, so too must certain stories be consumed in a measured pace.

This was a good start to my Christmas Carol on Sunday’s for December. Please look forward to next Sunday when I review the movie version of A Christmas Carol starring Patrick Stewart.

★★★★★

From Wikipedia

The book is divided into five chapters, which Dickens titled "staves".

Stave one

A Christmas Carol opens on a bleak, cold Christmas Eve in London, seven years after the death of Ebenezer Scrooge's business partner, Jacob Marley. Scrooge, an ageing miser, dislikes Christmas and refuses a dinner invitation from his nephew Fred. He turns away two men who seek a donation from him to provide food and heating for the poor and only grudgingly allows his overworked, underpaid clerk, Bob Cratchit, Christmas Day off with pay to conform to the social custom.

That night Scrooge is visited at home by Marley's ghost, who wanders the Earth entwined by heavy chains and money boxes forged during a lifetime of greed and selfishness. Marley tells Scrooge that he has a single chance to avoid the same fate: he will be visited by three spirits and must listen or be cursed to carry much heavier chains of his own.

Stave two

The first spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Past, takes Scrooge to Christmas scenes of Scrooge's boyhood, reminding him of a time when he was more innocent. The scenes reveal Scrooge's lonely childhood at boarding school, his relationship with his beloved sister Fan, who died young while giving birth to Fred, and a Christmas party hosted by his first employer, Mr Fezziwig, who treated him like a son. Scrooge's neglected fiancée Belle is shown ending their relationship, as she realises that he will never love her as much as he loves money. Finally, they visit a now-married Belle with her large, happy family on the Christmas Eve that Marley died. Scrooge, upset by hearing Belle's description of the man that he has become, demands that the ghost remove him from the house.

Stave three

The second spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, takes Scrooge to a joyous market with people buying the makings of Christmas dinner and to celebrations of Christmas in a miner's cottage and in a lighthouse. Scrooge and the ghost also visit Fred's Christmas party. A major part of this stave is taken up with Bob Cratchit's family feast and introduces his youngest son, Tiny Tim, a happy boy who is seriously ill. The spirit informs Scrooge that Tiny Tim will die unless the course of events changes. Before disappearing, the spirit shows Scrooge two hideous, emaciated children named Ignorance and Want. He tells Scrooge to beware the former above all and mocks Scrooge's concern for their welfare.

Stave four

The third spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, shows Scrooge a Christmas Day in the future. The silent ghost reveals scenes involving the death of a disliked man whose funeral is attended by local businessmen only on condition that lunch is provided. His charwoman, laundress and the local undertaker steal his possessions to sell to a fence. When he asks the spirit to show a single person who feels emotion over his death, he is only given the pleasure of a poor couple who rejoice that his death gives them more time to put their finances in order. When Scrooge asks to see tenderness connected with any death, the ghost shows him Bob Cratchit and his family mourning the death of Tiny Tim. The ghost then allows Scrooge to see a neglected grave, with a tombstone bearing Scrooge's name. Sobbing, Scrooge pledges to change his ways.

Stave five

Scrooge awakens on Christmas morning a changed man. He makes a large donation to the charity he rejected the previous day, anonymously sends a large turkey to the Cratchit home for Christmas dinner and spends the afternoon at Fred's Christmas party. The following day he gives Cratchit an increase in pay, and begins to become a father figure to Tiny Tim. From then on Scrooge treats everyone with kindness, generosity and compassion, embodying the spirit of Christmas.

Saturday, November 04, 2023

Sense and Sensibility 5Stars

Title: Sense and Sensibility
Series: ----------
Author: Jane Austen
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic
Pages: 258
Words: 120K

What a difference 17 years makes. When I first read and reviewed this back in ‘06, I gave it 3 stars. Whether that was because it didn’t have the same emotional impact on me as did Persuasion, or if it was simply because I was a callow youth of 28 (oh, how the character of Marianne in this book would laugh at that. At 17, anyone over 25 is ancient and already just waiting for the grave) or some other reason, I do not know. But this time around, I could not only appreciate the story from a different perspective (having gotten married in ‘08 changed my perspective on a lot of things) but also the writing itself.

The writing was complex, almost, but not quite, convoluted. It was not a ten lane highway but a back country road that is still gravel, has hairpin turns and occasionally washes out at the creek. In other words, the writing had character and it wasn’t just about getting the reader from Beginning to Middle to End. That being said, at first I still tried to read this like I was in my Porsche 911. After banging up the oil pan and puncturing one of the tires, I gave that up and jumped into my Model T and tut tutted down the road, at just the right speed. As it was meant to be read.

My initial reaction back in ‘06 was that Elinor, the older sister who showcases “Sense”, was the better of the two sisters. While I think that Austen is advocating for self-control with the character of Elinor, I also felt that she was inadvertently showing the downsides to that. As an uptight, self-controlled kind of person myself, I have found that throwing off the traces every once in a while is very good for me. While emotions DO need to be controlled, they should be guided into their proper channels, not just controlled for control’s sake (or for culture’s sake, as Elinor seems to do). That is not a slam on Elinor’s character at all, as she is all of 19 or 20 and most young people need MORE control of their emotions, not less, at that time of life. They’d make a fool of themselves a lot less anyway and save themselves and others a world of hurt and pain.

Starting to look at things that way, I found myself (now at the wise, old and ancient age of 45) agreeing with Marianne’s viewpoint a lot more. She doesn’t care what other people, or “society” thinks. The older I get, the less I care what you think. Doesn’t mean I want to be a jackass and trample all over you, but in many areas, I have my ideas firmly set and I won’t give way on them and if that hurts someone feelings, that’s too bad. Maybe they should stop being a pansy and put on their boot cut jeans instead of wearing those girly skinny jeans. Ooops, see, that is being a jackass. You go right ahead and wear those girly skinny jeans. I won’t mock you at all, at least not if you’re a woman.

The only downside to this story, which wasn’t much so I didn’t even bother to knock a half star off of my rating for it, was that Marianne’s falling in love with Colonel Brandon happened like that:

~snaps fingers~

In my Currently Reading and Quote post from last month, Marianne made it evident what she thought of “older” men. Of course, in that post I laughed my head off because Colonel Brandon is all of 35. But to have Marianne change not only her opinion but her feelings so drastically and so quickly, while not out of the realm of possibility at all, didn’t ring quite true to me. It felt very “Authorial Fiat”.

I actually ended up reading this novel twice, within a week. The first time I was trying to drive that Porsche I mentioned and while I switched to the Model T partway through, I felt like I had lost something at the beginning, so I waited a week and then re-read it using the Model T from the get-go. Part of that, I must admit, was because I had formed the idea of watching four different screen adaptations and I wanted a SOLID grounding in the text, so that I wouldn’t get things from the movies and miniseries mixed into this book review. I feel that I have done that more than adequately. So prepare yourselves, the next four Sunday’s will be filled with more Sense and Sensibility than you can shake a stick at.

Finally, the synopsis hidden away by the details arrow is almost 1500 words long. Open that at your own peril.

★★★★★

From Wikipedia.org

Henry Dashwood, his second wife, and their three daughters live for many years with Henry's wealthy bachelor uncle at Norland Park, a country estate in Sussex. That uncle decides to leave only a life interest in the Norland Park estate to Henry, so that upon Henry's death the property must pass to John Dashwood, Henry's son by his first marriage, and thence to Harry Dashwood, the four-year-old son of John. The uncle dies, but Henry lives just a year after that and is unable in such short time to save enough money for the future security of his second wife Mrs Dashwood, and their daughters, Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret, who are left only a small income. On his deathbed, Henry extracts a promise from his son John to take care of his half-sisters. But John's wife, Fanny, persuades her husband to renege on the promise, appealing to his concerns about diminishing his own son Harry's inheritance, despite the fact that John is already independently wealthy thanks to both his inheritance from his mother and his wife's dowry. Henry's love for his second family is also used by Fanny to arouse her husband's jealousy, and persuade him not to help his sisters financially.

John and Fanny move in as the new owners of Norland, where the Dashwood women are treated as unwelcome guests by Fanny. Mrs Dashwood seeks somewhere else to live. Meanwhile, Fanny's brother, Edward Ferrars, visits Norland and is attracted to Elinor. Fanny disapproves of their budding romance, and offends Mrs Dashwood by implying that Elinor must be motivated by his expectations of coming into money.

Mrs Dashwood moves her family to Barton Cottage in Devonshire, near the home of her cousin, Sir John Middleton. Their new home is modest, but they are warmly received by Sir John and welcomed into local society, meeting his wife, Lady Middleton; his mother-in-law, the garrulous but well-meaning Mrs Jennings; and his friend, Colonel Brandon. Colonel Brandon is attracted to Marianne, and Mrs Jennings teases them about it. Marianne is not pleased, as she considers the thirty-five-year-old Colonel Brandon an old bachelor, incapable of falling in love or inspiring love in anyone.

While out for a walk, Marianne gets caught in the rain, slips, and sprains her ankle. John Willoughby sees the accident and assists her, picking her up and carrying her to her home. Marianne comes to admire his good looks and his similar tastes in poetry, music, art, and love. His attentions, and Marianne's behaviour, lead Elinor and Mrs Dashwood to suspect that the couple are secretly engaged. Elinor cautions Marianne against her unguarded conduct, but Marianne refuses to check her emotions. Willoughby engages in several intimate activities with Marianne, including taking her to see the home he expects to inherit one day and obtaining a lock of her hair. When the announcement of an engagement seems imminent, Willoughby instead informs the Dashwoods that his aunt, upon whom he is financially dependent due to his debts, is sending him to London on business, indefinitely. Marianne is distraught.

Edward Ferrars pays a visit to Barton Cottage, but seems unhappy. Elinor fears that he no longer has feelings for her, but she will not show her heartache. After Edward departs, sisters Anne and Lucy Steele, vulgar cousins of Mrs. Jennings, come to stay at Barton Park. Lucy informs Elinor in confidence of her secret four-year engagement to Edward Ferrars that started when he was studying with her uncle. Elinor realises Lucy's visit and revelations are the result of her jealousy and cunning calculation. This helps Elinor understand Edward's recent sadness and behaviour towards her. She acquits Edward of blame and pities him for being held to a loveless engagement to Lucy by his sense of honour.

Elinor and Marianne accompany Mrs Jennings to London. On arriving, Marianne writes several personal letters to Willoughby, which go unanswered. When they meet by chance at a dance, Willoughby is with another woman. He greets Marianne coldly, to her distress. She leaves the party distraught. Soon Marianne receives a curt letter enclosing their former correspondence and love tokens, including the lock of her hair. Willoughby is revealed to be engaged to Miss Grey, a young lady with a large fortune. Marianne is devastated. After Elinor reads the letter, Marianne admits to her that she and Willoughby were never engaged. She behaved as if they were because she knew she loved him and thought that he loved her.

As Marianne grieves, Colonel Brandon visits and reveals to Elinor that Willoughby seduced, impregnated, then abandoned Brandon's young ward, Miss Eliza Williams. Willoughby's aunt subsequently disinherited him, and so, in great personal debt, he chose to marry Miss Grey for her money. Eliza is the illegitimate daughter of Brandon's first love, also called Eliza, a young woman who was his father's ward and an heiress. She was forced into an unhappy marriage to Brandon's elder brother, in order to shore up the family's finances, and that marriage ended in scandal and divorce while Brandon was abroad with the Army. After Colonel Brandon's father and brother died, he inherited the family estate and returned to find Eliza dying in a pauper's home, so Brandon took charge of raising her young daughter. Brandon says Marianne strongly reminds him of the elder Eliza for her sincerity and sweet impulsiveness. Brandon removed the younger Eliza to the country, and reveals to Elinor all of these details in the hope that Marianne could get some consolation in discovering Willoughby's true character.

Meanwhile, the Steele sisters have come to London. After a brief acquaintance, they are asked to stay at John and Fanny Dashwood's London house. Lucy sees the invitation as a personal compliment. It is actually a slight to Elinor and Marianne who, being family, should have received such an invitation first. Too talkative, Anne Steele betrays to Fanny Lucy's secret engagement to Edward Ferrars. As a result, the sisters are turned out of the house, and Edward is ordered by his wealthy mother to break off the engagement on pain of disinheritance. Edward, still sensitive of the dishonour of a broken engagement and how it would reflect poorly on Lucy Steele, refuses to comply. He is disinherited in favour of his brother, Robert, which gains Edward respect for his conduct and sympathy from Elinor and Marianne. Colonel Brandon shows his admiration by offering Edward the clerical living of the Delaford parsonage, to enable him to marry Lucy after he is ordained.

Mrs Jennings takes Elinor and Marianne to the country to visit her second daughter, Mrs. Charlotte Palmer, at her husband's estate, Cleveland, on their way back to their home in Devonshire. Marianne, still in misery over Willoughby's marriage, goes walking in the rain and becomes ill. She is diagnosed with putrid fever, and it is believed that her life is in danger. Elinor writes to Mrs. Dashwood to explain the gravity of the situation, and Colonel Brandon volunteers to go and bring Marianne's mother to Cleveland to be with her. In the night, Willoughby arrives and reveals to Elinor that his love for Marianne was genuine and that losing her has made him miserable. He elicits Elinor's pity, but she is disgusted by the callous way in which he talks of Miss Williams and his own wife. He also reveals that his aunt said she would have forgiven him if he married Miss Williams but that he had refused.

Marianne recovers from her illness, and Elinor tells her of Willoughby's visit. Marianne realizes she could never have been happy with Willoughby's immoral, erratic, and inconsiderate ways. She values Elinor's more moderated conduct with Edward and resolves to model herself after her courage and good sense. Edward later arrives and reveals that, after his disinheritance, Lucy jilted him in favour of his now wealthy younger brother, Robert. Elinor is overjoyed. Edward and Elinor marry, and later Marianne marries Colonel Brandon, having gradually come to love him. The two couples live as neighbours, with sisters and husbands in harmony with each other. Willoughby considers Marianne as his ideal but the narrator tells the reader not to suppose that he was never happy.

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

The Insulted and Humiliated (The Russians) 4.5Stars

Title: The Insulted and Humiliated
Series: (The Russians)
Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Translator: Garnett
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic
Pages: 534
Words: 145K

This was probably the most Russian of the Russian novels I’ve read to date. A fiance dumps the guy for some rich prince, but not because he’s a prince but “because she loves him”. And the main character helps them both. He becomes the shoulder for the woman to cry on when things go hard, he listens to the princeling when he is at his stupidest (all the time), the princeling has zero will of his own and completely lives his life in the moment and by his emotions, the parents of the girl and princeling are suing each other and the main character finds and befriends a sick orphan girl, who dies in the end. The princeling marries someone else and the girl and the main character are left knowing too much has happened for them to ever return together.

Oh man, how can you NOT love something like that? It was distilled misery, like Grade AAA Maple Syrup, but Misery instead. It was glorious and I found myself, on several occasions, pumping my fist in the air and mentally exclaiming, YES, that’s a new low, how can you beat that? And Dostoyevsky must have heard me from the grave, because he kept one upping me.

The story itself is very slow and this was all about the characters interacting. If you want interesting characters, read this. Dostoyevsky knew people and what’s more, he knew how to translate that to the written word. This reminded me very much of a Dickens’ story and I daresay that Dostoyevsky is just as good as Dickens about creating characters and situations.

While I am not sure I would recommend this as an introduction to someone who wants to get into Classic Russian Literature, I would recommend it just to see if they can handle the misery. This book is like a stress test to see if someone can handle CRL in general and not necessarily a test to see if they like CLR. There’s a difference and you need to be able to differentiate between what you can handle and what you like.

★★★★✬

From Wikipedia.org

Natasha leaves her parents' home and runs away with Alyosha (Prince Alexey), the son of Prince Valkovsky. As a result of his pain, her father, Nikolai, curses her. The only friend that remains by Natasha's side is Ivan – her childhood friend who is deeply in love with her, and whom Natasha has rejected despite their being engaged. Prince Valkovsky tries to destroy Alyosha's plans to marry Natasha, and wants to make him marry the rich princess Katerina. Alyosha is a naïve but lovable young man who is easily manipulated by his father. Following his father's plan, Alyosha falls in love with Katerina, but still loves Natasha. He is constantly torn between these two women, too indecisive and infatuated with both to make a decision. Eventually, Natasha sacrifices her own feelings and withdraws in order for Alyosha to choose Katerina. Meanwhile, Ivan rescues an orphan girl, Elena (known as Nellie), from the clutches of a procuress and learns that her mother ran away from her father's (Jeremy Smith's) home with her sweetheart, a man who abandoned her when Nellie's mother gave birth. It is later revealed that Prince Valkovsky is Nellie's father. Her parents were legally married, but Prince Valkovsky persuaded his young and innocent wife to rob her father, Jeremy. After moving to Petersburg, Nellie's mother asks her father for forgiveness, but he rejects them. Before dying, Nellie's mother makes Nellie promise to never go to her real father, whose name is on a document she leaves her daughter. In an attempt to make Nikolai (Natasha's father) reconcile with Natasha, Ivan persuades Nikolai and his wife to adopt Nellie. By telling them her life story, Nellie makes Nikolai's heart soften and he forgives Natasha and removes his curse, and they are reunited. Natasha's family plans to move from Petersburg, but just before they leave Nellie dies from a chronic heart condition; the little girl makes it clear to Ivan she does not forgive her father for his cruel treatment of her mother. She also tells him he should marry Natasha. The story ends with Nikolai and Natasha considering what a waste everything has been to that point and how they can never be together.