This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Doctor Syn Returns Series: Doctor Syn #3 Author: Arthur Russell Thorndike Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: Historical Fiction Pages: 154 Words: 74K
Syn is not so bloody thirsty and hypocritical in this one, but I still had serious issues with the liqueur smuggling going on. While I’m not a fan of the government taxing the soul out of us (one of the reasons America kicked the Brits ass back in ‘76 after all), I don’t feel that the smuggling of alcohol is in any way justified. Alcohol is almost as evil as drugs and I’ll go so far as to say that it IS a drug, as bad as meth, crack or marijuana. While we have the God given right to defend ourselves (why I AM in favor of gun running, ghost guns and other such libertarian ideals that are opposed to a tyrannical dictatorship run by a woman who was not actually elected), He did NOT give us the right to get shit faced drunk. So do yourself a favor and get rid of it.
This was the story where The Scarecrow is given life and while we only see him in action once or twice, he’s as great a character as Captain Clegg was. Considering they are both Syn, it’s no wonder.
I’m still on the fence about this series. I can see myself waffling about it right up until I finish it and I can see myself just throwing it away in disgust and dnf’ing at a moment’s notice. Taking this one book at at time.
Even if I do finish the series, it’s not one I’ll ever recommend.
★★★☆☆
From Wikipedia & Bookstooge.blog
Synopsis – click to open
It tells the story of Syn, who has tired of piracy, tries to settle down as the vicar of the little town of Dymchurch in Kent, England.
Syn’s attempt to live an obscure life fails when he is drawn into the local smuggling trade. To protect his parishioners from the agents of the King’s Revenue, Syn becomes the masked Scarecrow of Romney Marsh and becomes leader of the smugglers.
During this time, he falls in love with the oldest daughter of his best friend only for her to die. He also finds his wife, who is on death’s door. She has a daughter by her lover. Said lover pretends to be the Pirate Captain Clegg and dies so that Syn will take care of his baby daughter.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Mary Poppins Opens the Door Series: Mary Poppins #3 Author: Pamela Travers Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: Middlegrade Fiction Pages: 256 Words: 55K
Same old, same old. Mary Poppins comes back, has adventures with the Banks family and then leaves, only for good this time around.
It is very formulaic, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the age group this is aimed at. Mary Poppins takes the children to meet an eccentric family member of hers. Mary Poppins takes the children out and they have an adventure. The children go to a dream party of sorts where they find out Mary Poppins is the guest of honor. Thankfully this time around none of the children felt naughty and acted out, thus bringing the wrath of Mary Poppins down on their heads.
It really was the same as the previous two books, so if you liked those, you’ll like this and conversely, if you didn’t like the previous books, you won’t like this either. It’s also a natural ending place if you are on the fence and don’t want to continue reading any more in the series. I’ve got an omnibus of the first four stories, so I’ve got one more and I have enjoyed my time enough that I think I’ll go ahead and read it. But I won’t be seeking out the next four books.
★★★☆☆
From Wikipedia
Synopsis – Click to Open
On Guy Fawkes Night, Mary Poppins arrives in the wake of the last fireworks display by the Banks family. The Banks children, Michael, Jane, the twins, and Annabel plead with her to stay. She reluctantly agrees to do so “till the door opens.” When an anxious Jane points out that the nursery door is always opening, she clarifies “the other door.”
Mrs. Banks has Mary and the children find a piano tuner, who happens to be Mary’s cousin, Mr. Twigley. When Mary and the children visit, Mr. Twigley tries to unburden himself from seven wishes given to him when he was born. Besides pianos, Mr. Twigley also specialises in songbirds such as nightingales, one of which he releases when he’s finished. He also provides music boxes for Mary and the Banks children to dance to. When they return home later, the drawing room piano is playing perfectly, and when the Banks children ask Mary what happened, she sharply rebukes them.
Other adventures in the book include Mary telling the story of a king (implied to be Old King Cole) who was outsmarted by a cat (known as “The Cat That Looked at a King”), the park statue of Neleus that comes to life for a time during one of their outings, their visit to confectioner Miss Calico and her flying peppermint sticks, an undersea (High-Tide) party where Mary Poppins is the guest of honour, and a party between fairy tale rivals in the Crack between the Old Year and the New. When the children ask why Mary Poppins, a real person, is there, they are told that she can be considered as a fairy tale that has come true. The next morning, Jane and Michael find definite proof of the last night’s adventure, and this time she does not deny it, simply telling them that they too may end up living happily ever after.
Finally, after Mary and the children have a non-magical (but nonetheless wondrous) afternoon playing on the swings at the Park, the citizens of the town as well as many other characters from the previous two books turn out in front of the house to have a farewell party. Before going inside, Mary urges the children to be good and remember everything she told them, and they realise that it is Mary, not the other characters, who is departing. They rush to the nursery to see her open and the nursery door’s reflection in the window. Mary Poppins then opens her parrot headed umbrella, and it soars up into the sky, taking her with it. The Banks Children are happy she kept her promise by staying till the “door” opened. Mrs Banks arrives afterwards, and sees the children alone. Mrs Brill tells her that Mary Poppins has left again, and she is distraught about what she is going to do without a nanny for the children. Mr Banks is distracted by the music playing outside, and encourages his wife to just forget about it and dance with him.
When he has finished dancing with his wife, he sees what he thinks is a shooting star, (though it is really Mary Poppins flying away on her umbrella) and they all wish upon it. The children wish to remember Mary Poppins for the rest of their lives, and they faintly make her out in the star. They wave and she waves back to them. The narrator remarks, “Mary Poppins herself had flown away, but the gifts she had brought would remain for always.”
They promise to never forget her, and she hears this and smiles and waves to them, before the darkness hides her, and they see her and her umbrella for the last time ever.
The Banks Family sigh that Mary Poppins has gone, but happily decide to sit by the fire together. (This presumably meaning that the parents have decided to spend more time with their children thanks to Mary’s lessons).
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Mary Poppins Comes Back Series: Mary Poppins #2 Author: Pamela Travers Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: Middlegrade Fiction Pages: 304 Words: 59K
A couple of teens in our church had done the play/musical Mary Poppins Jr and had to read the original book so they had the full story. I was talking to them and when they mentioned it, that was how I got the idea to read at least the first couple of books. I thoroughly enjoyed Mary Poppins and after their play was done, hunted them down and asked them what they thought of the book. They had a VERY different take on the original and one that I suspect was more about age and experience difference than actual literary evaluation difference. But their comments stayed in my head as I went into the next book and yeah, I see what they meant. I shall expound in a later paragraph.
When I did the Currently Reading & Quote post earlier this month, I said I was looking forward to Mr Banks’ old nanny, Miss Andrew, striking sparks with Mary Poppins. Well, there was a confrontation but there weren’t many sparks, mainly because Mary Poppins so overpowered Miss Andrew that it would have been like asking a log of wood to strike sparks from an axe. Mary Poppins eventually got so fed up with Miss Andrew, that when she found out Miss Andrew kept a singing lark prisoner in a cage, she put Miss Andrew in the cage and had the lark fly all over the sky with it, thus scaring the stuffing out of Miss Andrew.
In this book, it is Jane, the eldest, who has a “bad” day and is naughty, naughty, naughty (in the previous book it was Michael). She ends up inside a magic vase, trapped by an evil “grandfather” who wants new grandchildren and for them to never change. Mary Poppins rescues her but Janes’ takeaway is that it wasn’t really her who was being so naughty, but some other “Jane”. I have noticed this author doesn’t believe in the fallen nature of humanity. Everyone is basically good. Which is so much complete balderdash that you have to be deliberately ignoring the evidence in front of your eyes. Children ARE naughty and bad. They need to be corrected. They need to come to the realization that they are bad in and of themselves and that they will never be “perfect’ on their own. Until a person realizes that, they can never admit that they need Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Ok, so back to my reading. When I was talking with the teens from church, one of their complaints about Mary Poppins was how she gaslit the children and that really annoyed them, hence their dislike of the first book. I had to laugh, because it happens just as much this time, if not more. Jane and Michael will see something, like Mary Poppins coming down at the end of Michael’s kite (how she came back) and when they mention it to her, Mary Poppins acts outraged and like it couldn’t possibly have happened. Being children, they are not so sure of themselves, but the author always has them see some bit of evidence at the end of the chapter so they KNOW they did see what they thought they saw. I found it extremely amusing but I guess from a teenager’s view point I could understand why they wouldn’t like that. Getting older has brought me so many benefits that sometimes I forget and it takes talking to someone who hasn’t gotten to my place yet to remember just how blessed I am.
I also found out there are EIGHT Mary Poppins books. I just have the omnibus collecting the first four. Depending on how the next two go will determine if I try to track down the other four.
★★★☆☆
From Wikipedia
Synopsis – Click to Open
Nothing has been right since Mary Poppins left Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane. One day, when Mrs. Banks sends the children out to the park, Michael flies his kite up into the clouds. Everyone is surprised, when Michael reels his kite in, to find that Mary Poppins is at the end of the string. She takes charge of the children once again (though she’ll only stay “’til the chain of her locket breaks”). This time, Jane and Michael meet the fearsome Miss Andrew, experience an upside-down tea party, and visit a circus in the sky. In the chapter “The New One” a girl, Annabel, is born into the Banks family, and concludes the family of now five children: three daughters and two sons. As in Mary Poppins, Mary leaves at the end (via an enchanted merry-go-round, throwing her locket towards the children as she disappears), but this time with a “return ticket, just in case” she needs to return.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Cossacks Series: (The Russians) Author: Leo Tolstoy Translator: Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars Genre: Fiction Pages: 230 Words: 66K
A story of a young man without a guiding hand trying to figure out the best way to live. Olenin is a rich young man who leaves the city life, with all of it’s problems, including his debts, both monetary and social, to join up with the army and be stationed in some Cossack village. He is an outsider, not knowing how to fit in with the Cossacks, or his army buddies or himself for that matter. He makes a friend of an older cossack and falls in love with the beautiful daughter of the headman of the village. The story ends with her refusing to marry him, him leaving the village and nobody caring at all that he is leaving.
What a roller coaster this was to read. I went from being totally disgusted with Olenin and his thoughts and behavior (not that he did anything bad, but he was so unsure of himself and everything) to feeling sorry for him to thinking “Boy, this guy is going to have to grow up fast if he wants to survive”. The biggest issue is that Olenin is by himself in trying to figure out how to live life in a way that suits him. He’s tried the “idle rich” of Moscow lifestyle and it didn’t work. Now he’s trying the “simple life” of a cossack peasant and by book’s end, he realizes that isn’t for him either. It made me incredibly thankful for all the mentors I had throughout the years growing up, from my teens and up into my 20’s. It’s not that I didn’t have questions, but people who had already gone through those same questions could tell me their experiences and what they found out. I didn’t need to repeat all the same mistakes, if I was willing to learn from others. But I had to be around them, I couldn’t be by myself. And that is the thing, Olenin was by himself. It was sad to see.
I found the ending to be truly sad though. He’s leaving the village and the guy who he thought was his friend just ignores him, because he’s gotten everything from him that he could. Since Olenin is leaving, there’s nothing more to be got from him and so he is no longer worth paying attention to. The issue with the headman’s daughter did leave me confused. I was under the impression that she was willing to marry Olenin, but then suddenly, she’s not. There’s a lot of unsaid stuff alluded to and I couldn’t tell if that vagueness was in the original writing or the translator’s fault. Either way, it felt like walking into a brick wall when you were expecting an open door.
Glad to have read this but I doubt I’ll ever attempt to re-read it.
★★★✬☆
From Wikipedia
Synopsis – Click to Open
The young idealist Dmitry Andreich Olenin leaves Moscow, hoping to start a new life in the Caucasus. In the stanitsa, he slowly becomes enamored of the surroundings and despises his previous existence. He befriends the old Cossack Eroshka, who goes hunting with him and finds him a good fellow because of his propensity to drinking. During this time, young Cossack Luka kills a Chechen who is trying to come across the river towards the village to scout the Cossacks and in this way gains much respect. Olenin falls in love with the maid Maryanka, who is to be wed to Luka later in the story. He tries to stop this emotion and eventually convinces himself that he loves both Luka and Maryanka for their simplicity and decides that happiness can only come to a man who constantly gives to others with no thought of self-gratification.
He first gives an extra horse to Luka, who accepts the present yet doesn’t trust Olenin on his motives. As time goes on, however, though he gains the respect of the local villagers, another Russian named Beletsky, who is still attached to the ways of Moscow, comes and partially corrupts Olenin’s ideals and convinces him through his actions to attempt to win Maryanka’s love. Olenin approaches her several times and Luka hears about this from a Cossack, and thus does not invite Olenin to the betrothal party. Olenin spends the night with Eroshka but soon decides that he will not give up on the girl and attempts to win her heart again. He eventually, in a moment of passion, asks her to marry him, which she says she will answer soon.
Luka, however, is severely wounded when he and a group of Cossacks go to confront a group of Chechens who are trying to attack the village, including the brother of the man he killed earlier. Though the Chechens lose after the Cossacks take a cart to block their bullets, the brother of the slain Chechen manages to shoot Luka in the belly when he is close by. As Luka seems to be dying and is being cared for by village people, Olenin approaches Maryanka to ask her to marry him; she angrily refuses. He realizes that “his first impression of this woman’s inaccessibility had been perfectly correct.” He asks his company commander to leave and join the staff. He says goodbye to Eroshka, who is the only villager who sees him off. Eroshka is emotional towards Olenin but after Olenin takes off and looks back, he sees that Eroshka has apparently already forgotten about him and has gotten back to normal life.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Mary Poppins Series: Mary Poppins #1 Author: Pamela Travers Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars Genre: Middlegrade Fiction Pages: 159 Words: 43K
An absolutely delightful book. Absolutely delightful! I had seen the Disney movie/musical way back when and enjoyed it as a child but even then I felt that Julie Andrews was simply too saccharine sweet and thus had no desire to ever explore the books, as I figured they would be more of the same, if not even sweeter. But as the years have gone by and I have learned just what “Disneyfied” means, I wondered if perhaps the books weren’t quite what the movie portrayed. Then some people I know were doing an amateur play production and I decided that now was the time to check things out.
I am very glad I did. Mary Poppins was not the saccharine character in the movie. She was extremely competent and yet, she was sharp as glass and boy, could she cut. She was vain, always looking at herself in mirrors or windows. She was sulky, refusing to talk to the children if they had done something she didn’t like. She was vindictive, giving the children “exactly” what they wanted when she didn’t want to. It was wonderful seeing an adult treat the kids like kids instead of acting like they were helpless snowflakes who would melt at one hot word.
Each chapter was one adventure. It was perfectly paced and when the story was done, it was done. I like that kind of finality. Also, Mary Poppins literally blew in on the wind and then the book ends with her blowing away. Perfect book ends.
It was just plain invigorating to read this and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.
★★★✬☆
From Wikipedia
Synopsis – Click to Open
The first book introduces the Banks family from Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane, London,[a] consisting of Mr and Mrs Banks, their children Jane and Michael, and baby twins John and Barbara. When the children’s nanny, Katie Nanna, storms out in a huff, Mary Poppins arrives at their home, complete with her travelling carpet bag, blown in by a very strong east wind. She accepts the job (agreeing to stay “till the wind changes”), and the children soon learn that their nanny, though stern, vain and usually cross, has a magical touch that makes her wonderful. Among the things Jane and Michael experience are a tea party on a ceiling with Mr Wigg, a trip around the world with a compass, the purchase of gingerbread stars from the extremely old Mrs Corry, a meeting with the Bird Woman, a birthday party at the zoo among the animals, and a Christmas shopping trip with a star named Maia from the Pleiades cluster in the constellation Taurus. In the end, in what is perhaps the most iconic image associated with Mary Poppins, she opens her umbrella and the west wind carries her away. She leaves behind a note letting the children know that they will meet her again someday.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Doctor Syn Series: Doctor Syn #1 Author: Arthur Russell Thorndike Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars Genre: Historical Fiction Pages: 209 Words: 69K
This was NOT at all what I was expecting, not one tiny bit. I remembered vague bits of an old Disney show called “The Scarecrow’, a Zorro’esque creature fighting evil and righting wrongs. And that is what I expected here, a man in disguise fighting corrupt authority figures while Robin Hood’ing it for the little guy.
Ha!
This is the final book, chronologically, in the Dr Syn series. It is however, the first published book. I suspect Thorndike wrote this as a standalone story and then just went back and wrote all the rest of the prequels when he needed money.
Dr Syn, a clergyman of all things, is also the Scarecrow, a leader of the smugglers in the Romney Marsh area. He’s smart, well organized and not above sending anyone who gets in his way to an early grave with a bullet in their heart. We also find out that he was an infamous pirate captain that roamed the seas pillaging and looting with the worst of them.
I kept waiting for the redemption arc, but it didn’t happen. Every revelation about Dr Syn just makes him out to be worse and worse and there is no repentance on his part at all. While he has embraced the lifestyle of a clergyman, he has in no way taken to heart anything he apparently preaches on. Complete and utter hypocrisy. I kept waiting for the curtain to come down and his good intentions to be revealed. And it just never happened. It actually shocked me at the end when he is captured and then killed by a harpoon, because he’s in full on pirate mode at that point.
I really wondered if I wanted to read more. I think I will though. I want to see how Syn got the point he’s shown at in this book. In many ways, Syn is a Vader without a Luke and I want to see if the downward trajectory was the same. Redemption, or the lack thereof, is something I’m always interested in when I’m reading a story.
★★★✬☆
From Wikipedia
Captain Collyer, a Royal Navy officer assigned to smash the local smuggling ring, uncovered the deception and Dr. Syn’s true identity, thanks in part to the tongueless mulatto (who had been rescued by Collyer years before and who had been serving Collyer as a “ferret” seeking out hidden contraband) who recognized Syn as Clegg. Syn evaded capture while at the same time making sure that Imogene and Squire Cobtree’s son Denis (who had fallen in love with Imogene) would have a happy life together (they were eventually married), but was murdered in revenge by the mulatto, who then mysteriously managed to escape, leaving Syn harpooned through the neck. As a last mark of respect, Collyer ordered that Syn be buried at sea, rather than have his body hung in chains.
Mipps escaped in the confusion of Syn’s death and disappeared from England, but it is said that a little man very much like him is living out his days in a Buddhist Monastery somewhere in the Malay Peninsula, delighting the monks with recounting the adventures of Doctor Syn and the eerie stories of the Romney Marsh and the mysterious Scarecrow and his Night Riders.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Diary of a Superfluous Man Series: (The Russians) Author: Ivan Turgenev Translator: Garnett Rating: 4 of 5 Stars Genre: Fiction Pages: 88 Words: 21K
I was fully expecting to straight up hate this novella by Turgenev. With a title like that, I figured I was in for some sort of complete existential crisis. Instead, I got an Alpha Edge Lord who doesn’t know how to interact with people socially and blames everybody but himself for his social inadequacies. So I was STILL expecting to hate read.
Instead, I pretty much just laughed my way through the book. The narrator is a Special Snowflake and reminded me of 90% of the young people I meet today. Truly, there is nothing new under the sun. The absolute incongruity of it all is that it is funny. You have a guy who knows he only has days to live and the one thing he fixates on is a failed love interest from years ago. And the old servant woman. He rants on and on about her drinking too much tea. It was truly from the fevered mind of a dying, irrational man. And it made me laugh 😀
Nothing makes me happier than when someone is utterly miserable. If that misery is self-inflicted, so much the better. If they deserve that misery, that is the best of all! This is why I like Russian literature so much. They are miserable son of a guns, who make themselves miserable and they know they deserve it. How can you not love that? Hhahahahaha.
★★★★☆
From Bookstooge.blog
A young man is dying and he sets out to tell his life’s story in the few days he has remaining. He ends up getting hung up on a failed romantic incident years ago and whines and whines and whines. Then he dies.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Notes from Underground Series: (The Russians) Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky Translator: Garnett Rating: 1 of 5 Stars / DNF@10% Genre: Fiction Pages: 186/19 Words: 50K/5K
I cannot stand when authors write nonsense and expect the readers to parse sense out of it. Dostoyevsky was writing this novel in response to some other popular philosophy book/idea at the time but he couched it in a way that I hated.
So I’m not going to waste my time wading through deliberate nonsense when he could have just stated “Reason X because of reasons 1, 2 and 3”. I dnf’d this at the 10% mark when it became evident what a sham this was. If you would like to waste your time deciphering this, be my guest.
★☆☆☆☆
From Wikipedia.org
The novella is divided into two parts. The title of the first part—”Underground”—is itself given a footnoted introduction by Dostoevsky in which the character of the ‘author’ of the Notes and the nature of the ‘excerpts’ are discussed.
Part 1: “Underground”
The first part of Notes from Underground has eleven sections:
Section I propounds a number of riddles whose meanings are further developed as the narration continues.
Sections 2, 3, & 4 deal with suffering and the irrational pleasure of suffering.
Sections 5 & 6 discuss the moral and intellectual fluctuation that the narrator feels along with his conscious insecurities regarding “inertia”—inaction.
Sections 7, 8, & 9 cover theories of reason and logic, closing with the last two sections as a summary and transition into Part 2.
The narrator observes that utopian society removes suffering and pain, but man desires both things and needs them in order to be happy. He argues that removing pain and suffering in society takes away a man’s freedom. He says that the cruelty of society makes human beings moan about pain only to spread their suffering to others.
Unlike most people, who typically act out of revenge because they believe justice is the end, the Underground Man is conscious of his problems and feels the desire for revenge, but he does not find it virtuous; the incongruity leads to spite towards the act itself with its concomitant circumstances. He feels that others like him exist, but he continuously concentrates on his spitefulness instead of on actions that would help him avoid the problems that torment him. The main issue for the Underground Man is that he has reached a point of ennui[7] (boredom) and inactivity.[8] He even admits that he would rather be inactive out of laziness.
The first part also gives a harsh criticism of determinism, as well as of intellectual attempts at dictating human action and behavior by logic, which the Underground Man discusses in terms of the simple math problem: two times two makes four (cf. necessitarianism). He argues that despite humanity’s attempt to create a utopia where everyone lives in harmony (symbolized by The Crystal Palace in Nikolai Chernyshevsky’s What Is to Be Done?), one cannot avoid the simple fact that anyone, at any time, can decide to act in a way that might not be considered to be in their own self-interest; some will do so simply to validate their existence and to protest and confirm that they exist as individuals. The Underground Man ridicules the type of enlightened self-interest that Chernyshevsky proposes as the foundation of Utopian society. The idea of cultural and legislative systems relying on this rational egoism is what the protagonist despises. The Underground Man embraces this ideal in praxis, and seems to blame it for his current state of unhappiness.[9]
Part 2: “Apropos of the Wet Snow”[edit]
The title of Part 2 is an allusion to the critic Pavel Annenkov’s observation that “damp showers and wet snow” were indispensable to writers of the Natural School in Petersburg.[10] Following the title there is an epigraph containing the opening lines from Nekrasov’s poem “When from the darkness of delusion…” about a woman driven to prostitution by poverty. The quotation is interrupted by an ellipsis and the words “Etc., etc., etc.”[10]
Part 2 consists of ten sections covering some events from the narrator’s life. While he continues in his self-conscious, polemical style, the themes of his confession are now developed anecdotally.
The first section tells of the Underground Man’s obsession with an officer who once insulted him in a pub. This officer frequently passes him by on the street, seemingly without noticing his existence. He sees the officer on the street and thinks of ways to take revenge, eventually borrowing money to buy an expensive overcoat and intentionally bumping into the officer to assert his equality. To the Underground Man’s surprise, however, the officer does not seem to notice that it even happened.
Sections II to V focus on a going-away dinner party with some old school friends to bid farewell to one of these friends—Zverkov—who is being transferred out of the city. The Underground Man hated them when he was younger, but after a random visit to Simonov’s, he decides to meet them at the appointed location. They fail to tell him that the time has been changed to six instead of five, so he arrives early. He gets into an argument with the four of them after a short time, declaring to all his hatred of society and using them as the symbol of it. At the end, they go off without him to a secret brothel, and, in his rage, the underground man follows them there to confront Zverkov once and for all, regardless if he is beaten or not. He arrives at the brothel to find Zverkov and the others already retired with prostitutes to other rooms. He then encounters Liza, a young prostitute.
The remaining sections deal with his encounter with Liza and its repercussions. The story cuts to Liza and the Underground Man lying silently in the dark together. The Underground Man confronts Liza with an image of her future, by which she is unmoved at first, but after challenging her individual utopian dreams (similar to his ridicule of the Crystal Palace in Part 1), she eventually realizes the plight of her position and how she will slowly become useless and will descend more and more, until she is no longer wanted by anyone. The thought of dying such a terribly disgraceful death brings her to realize her position, and she then finds herself enthralled by the Underground Man’s seemingly poignant grasp of the destructive nature of society. He gives her his address and leaves.
He is subsequently overcome by the fear of her actually arriving at his dilapidated apartment after appearing such a “hero” to her and, in the middle of an argument with his servant, she arrives. He then curses her and takes back everything he said to her, saying he was, in fact, laughing at her and reiterates the truth of her miserable position. Near the end of his painful rage he wells up in tears after saying that he was only seeking to have power over her and a desire to humiliate her. He begins to criticize himself and states that he is in fact horrified by his own poverty and embarrassed by his situation. Liza realizes how pitiful he is and tenderly embraces him. The Underground Man cries out “They—they won’t let me—I—I can’t be good!”
After all this, he still acts terribly toward her, and, before she leaves, he stuffs a five ruble note into her hand, which she throws onto the table (it is implied that the Underground Man had sex with Liza and that the note is payment). He tries to catch her as she goes out to the street, but he cannot find her and never hears from her again. He tries to stop the pain in his heart by “fantasizing.”
And isn’t it better, won’t it be better?… Insult—after all, it’s a purification; it’s the most caustic, painful consciousness! Only tomorrow I would have defiled her soul and wearied her heart. But now the insult will never ever die within her, and however repulsive the filth that awaits her, the insult will elevate her, it will cleanse her…
He recalls this moment as making him unhappy whenever he thinks of it, yet again proving the fact from the first section that his spite for society and his inability to act makes him no better than those he supposedly despises.
The concluding sentences recall some of the themes explored in the first part, and he tells the reader directly, “I have merely carried to an extreme in my life what you have not dared to carry even halfway.”
At the end of Part 2, a further editorial note is added by Dostoevsky, indicating that the ‘author’ couldn’t help himself and kept writing, but that “it seems to us that we might as well stop here”.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Woman in White Series: ———- Author: Wilkie Collins Rating: 1 of 5 Stars / DNF@10% Genre: Fiction Pages: 900 / 90 Words: 246K / 25K
If you read the synopsis down below, you’ll see this sounds like a great story and I would fully agree with you.
But Collins writing and his choice of characters is beyond what I can stand. Hartright is another young spineless jellyfish and the prose is purple enough that I immediately thought of The Boy and the Peddler of Death, a book I excoriated back in ‘15. There was NO WAY I was going to force myself to read 810 more pages of this drivel.
This one star rating is not for the story at all. I almost feel bad in fact because I think the story could have been really interesting and something I would have loved. But this Rating is Bookstooge’s Final Judgement on Wilkie Collins. He has been judged, found wanting and I assign him to the dreaded Authors to Avoid limbo where he will languish until I die, knowing he was a complete failure. Writhe in agony you miserable excrescence on the literary world, for one day you will be completely forgotten and nobody will have to suffer dealing with your complete tripe anymore.
★☆☆☆☆ DNF@10%
From Wilkie-Collins.info
Click to Open
Walter Hartright, a young drawing master, has secured a position in Cumberland on the recommendation of his old friend Professor Pesca, a political refugee from Italy. While walking home from Hampstead on his last evening in London, Hartright meets a mysterious woman dressed in white, apparently in deep distress. He helps her on her way but later learns that she has escaped from an asylum. The next day he travels north to Limmeridge House. The household comprises Mr Frederick Fairlie, a reclusive valetudinarian; Laura Fairlie, his niece; and Marian Halcombe, her devoted half-sister. Hartright finds that Laura bears an astonishing resemblance to the woman in white, called Anne Catherick. The simple-minded Anne had lived for a time in Cumberland as a child and was devoted to Laura’s mother, who first dressed her in white.
Hartright and Laura fall in love. Laura, however, has promised her late father that she will marry Sir Percival Glyde, and Marian advises Walter to leave Limmeridge. Anne Catherick, after sending a letter to Laura warning her against Glyde, meets Hartright who is convinced that Glyde was responsible for shutting her in the asylum. Laura and Glyde marry in December 1849 and travel to Italy. Hartright also leaves England, joining an expedition to Honduras.
After their honeymoon, Sir Percival and Lady Glyde return the following June to his family estate in Hampshire, Blackwater Park. They are accompanied by Glyde’s friend, Count Fosco, who married Laura’s aunt, Eleanor Fairlie. Marian Halcombe is also living at Blackwater and learns that Glyde is in financial difficulties. Sir Percival unsuccessfully attempts to bully Laura into signing a document which would allow him to use her marriage settlement of £20,000. Marian now realises that Fosco is the true villain and is plotting something more sinister, especially as Anne has reappeared, promising to reveal to Laura a secret which will ruin Glyde. Marian eavesdrops on Fosco and Glyde but is caught in the rain. She collapses with a fever which turns to typhus. While she is ill Laura is tricked into travelling to London. Her identity and that of Anne Catherick are then switched. Anne Catherick dies of a heart condition and is buried in Cumberland as Laura, while Laura is drugged and placed in the asylum as Anne Catherick. When Marian recovers and visits the asylum hoping to learn something from Anne Catherick, she finds Laura, supposedly suffering from the delusion that she is Lady Glyde.
Marian bribes the attendant and Laura escapes. Hartright has safely returned and the three live together in obscure poverty, determined to restore Laura’s identity. Exposing the conspiracy depends on proving that Laura’s journey to London took place after the date on the death certificate. While looking for evidence, Hartright discovers Glyde’s secret. Several years earlier, Glyde had forged the marriage register at Old Welmingham Church to conceal his illegitimacy. Glyde attempts to destroy the register entry, but the church vestry catches fire and he perishes in the flames. Hartright then discovers that Anne was the illegitimate child of Laura’s father, which accounts for their resemblance.
Hartright hopes that Pesca can identify Fosco but to his surprise finds that the Count is terrified when he recognises Pesca as a fellow member of a secret society. Hartright now has the power to force a written confession from Fosco and Laura’s identity is restored. Hartright and Laura have married and, on the death of Frederick Fairlie, their son becomes the Heir of Limmeridge.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Innocent Series: ———- Author: Harlan Coben Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: Fiction Pages: 338 Words: 105K
This wasn’t nearly as complicated as Gone for Good, and I’m very thankful for that. But at the same time, it is very obvious that Coben has a list of “include these plot points” and he just rolls a couple of dice to figure out which ones to put into the story. While not exactly recycled, there are just too many similar points for such a reader as myself. Not to brag (which usually means the person is about to brag), but I’ve read enough books, both good, bad, really good and really bad, to see this kind of thing coming from a mile away. And I wear glasses. ~buffs nails
At the same time, I’ve decided that I will start reading a series with a central main character instead of these standalone stories. They might work fine for those who read 5 books a year, but I’m sorry, I’m way out of those peoples’ league. And I need Coben to write at my level, not theirs. ~buffs nails again
Yep, letting my reading snob show here. I don’t care. I have standards. I really do my best to keep that snobbery from showing when it comes to other people, but when it is about the books “I” read on “my” blog, well, I get sick and tired of holding it in all the time. Darn this curse of good taste, it is a real burden on my shoulders. ~buffs both set of nails
Ok, I’m done now. The snobbery can go back in its box for another year or two. Maybe three if I can get on a good roll.
★★★☆☆
From Wikipedia.org
Matt Hunter is a seemingly ordinary man in suburban New Jersey with a pregnant wife, Olivia. But Matt’s past is not so ordinary. In his late teens, Matt tried to break up a fight involving his friend, and wound up unintentionally killing the other fighter. While his friends spent time in college, Matt was behind bars serving time for negligent manslaughter. Now nine years after being released from prison, Matt is a paralegal in his brother’s law firm and his life is looking up. However, the past won’t seem to go away. As Matt and Olivia try to buy a house in his old neighborhood, neighbors and local authorities make it clear he is not welcome. After Matt receives disturbing photos from his wife’s phone, a man who is tailing Matt ends up dead. Matt soon learns that Olivia also has a past that she’d like to forget. Unable to trust anyone, Matt and Olivia are forced to work outside the law to save themselves and their future.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
For anyone who doesn’t know, Wilkie Collins is known for writing The Moonstone, sometimes called the first detective novel. He was also a contemporary and friend to Charles Dickens. As you should know, Dickens was known as quite the wordy author, always using 5 or 6 words where 1 would have sufficed. Some find this trait of his insufferable, some love it. I happen to love it. When it is done by Dickens. This was also Collins’ debut novel and in it he tries to out-Dickens Dickens. If 1 word would suffice, Collins crams in 10-15. Usually of the most purplish prose possible too. I found it insufferable.
What is worse, this was also boring. Rome is surrounded by a barbarian horde of goths and everyone just sits there and starves to death. Collins can barely be bothered to scare up some drama for us.
The struggle between Paganism and Christianity, as portrayed, also betrayed Collins inherent apathy for either. He was no believer in anything. It should have had some real pathos, some “zing” instead of two old men living their lives out according to their principles.
This was the first book in one of those “Complete Author X” collections. Bad choice, even though I know they’re going alphabetically. If I hadn’t already read Moonstone and had my interest whetted by that, and this was my first Collins, I’d have tossed it into the rubbish heap and not read anything more by him. Really hope the next book is a little more interesting.
★★☆☆☆
From Wilkie-Collins.info and Bookstooge.blog
The plot revolves around two separate but related struggles. That of the old pagan and new Christian religions, seen as equally destructive, embodied in the opposing characters of Ulpius and Numerian; and that of the strong figure of the Goth, Goisvintha, (modelled on Norna in Scott’s The Pirate) seeking revenge against the weak heroine, Antonina.
In the Rome of 408 AD, the young Antonina lives with her father Numerian, zealous in his aims to restore the Christian faith to its former ideals. Numerian’s steward, Ulpius, brought up in the old religion, secretly lives only to restore the forbidden gods of pagan sacrifice. Vetranio, their wealthy neighbour, has designs on the innocent Antonina. When they are surprised by Numerian in an apparently compromising situation, Antonina flees outside the city walls just before Rome is blockaded by the encircling army of the Goths.
Antonina is captured by the chieftain, Hermanric, who falls in love with her. His sister, Goisvintha, was the sole survivor of a Roman massacre in which her children perished and has vowed revenge on Rome and its people. She attempts to kill Antonina but is prevented by Hermanric who allows Antonina to escape. During the weeks of the siege, she lives in a deserted farmhouse, visited nightly by Hermanric. Goisvintha betrays her brother to the Huns who kill him, while Antonina escapes for a second time.
Ulpius, meanwhile, has discovered a breach in the city wall and attempts to betray Rome to Alaric in exchange for his destruction of the Christian religion. Alaric is interested only in humbling his enemies into surrender and seizing a large tribute of gold. Returning towards the city, Ulpius discovers Antonina and accompanies her to Rome where she finds her overjoyed but starving father. Antonina begs the last morsels of food from Vetranio at a macabre and suicidal ‘Banquet of Famine’, preventing him from making a funeral pyre of his palace.
Antonina is stabbed but recovers, her father stays alive, Ulpias dies, Goisvintha goes completely insane and Vetranio retires to the country side.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Gone for Good Series: ———- Author: Harlan Coben Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars Genre: Fiction Pages: 319 Words: 120K
My goodness, this was more jam packed than a mexican soap opera. Let me see if I can summarize the utter madness.
We start out with the Main Character’s mother dying from cancer.
The main character’s brother, 12 years in the past, sleeps with his girlfriend and then either kills her or is killed and removed from the scene. The main character thinks he is innocent and alive, but has no proof.
MC’s current girlfriend disappears without a trace.
Her fingerprints are found at a double murder scene
Her body is subsequently found by the side of the road and identified by her parents
When the MC goes to the funeral, the body in the casket is not his girlfriend
the Girlfriend is alive but somebody else
The MC investigates things with the younger sister of his murdered previous girlfriend (12 years ago GF)
they uncover that the brother is alive and that some of his associates are high rollers and one is a big time assassin.
Witness Protection is involved
The older brother cut a deal, then ran to protect his current girlfriend and newborn baby
The assassin is after the older brother
WitSec is after the older brother
The Mob Boss is after the older brother
MC just wants to see and protect his older brother
MC and younger sister girl are kidnapped but escape, thus crushing the plans of both the Assassin and the Mob Boss
Everyone is happy
Everyone meets up for a secret meeting to welcome back the older brother.
IT’S A TRAP!!!!!!
The older brother turns out to be a murdering rapist
Who stole the MC’s baby from the old girlfriend
it was all witnessed by the younger sister
Assassin was in love with Older Sister and had vowed to protect her
Assassin then kills Older Brother
MC has a girlfriend who he doesn’t know much about and a 12 year old daughter who thinks he’s her uncle
TADA! No hablo burrito taca el grande mucho. Mucho mucho mucho grande taco burrito!!!
See, more drama than you can shake a big taco at. I was ready to quit this about 10 times, every time a new revelation happened. It didn’t help that the main character was a fething pansy. He couldn’t protect himself, much less anybody else. But he still kept bleating platitudes about protecting his girlfriend or the younger sister, while failing spectacularly every time. When it’s revealed at the end that he has a 12 year old daughter, maaaaaan, did I feel bad for her. Her daddy is a big fat wuss and she better learn to protect herself real quick!
And yet I will read more by Coben. Of course, if he keeps using pansy wussies for main characters, I suspect I won’t last many more books. He better write some better characters pronto. Mucho pronto in fact.
★★✬☆☆
From Wikipedia.org
As a boy, Will Klein had a hero: his older brother, Ken. Then, on a warm suburban night in the Kleins’ affluent New Jersey neighborhood, a young woman—a girl Will had once loved—was found raped and murdered in her family’s basement. The prime suspect: Ken Klein. With the evidence against him overwhelming, Ken simply vanished, spending the next decade as the elusive subject of rumors, speculation, and an international manhunt. When his shattered family never heard from Ken again, they were sure he was gone for good.
Now, eleven years have passed. And Will, who always believed in his brother’s innocence, has found evidence that Ken is alive—even as he is struck by another act of betrayal. His girlfriend suddenly disappears, leaving behind compelling evidence that she was not the person Will thought she was. As the two dark dramas unwind around him, Will is pulled into a violent mystery, haunted by signs that Ken is trying to contact him after all these years. Will can feel himself coming closer and closer to his brother… and to a terrible secret that someone will kill to keep buried. And as the lies begin to unravel, Will is uncovering startling truths about his lover, his brother, and even himself.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
First off, this was the book that the movie Die Hard was based on. And let me say, the movie adaptation is a FAR superior action/adventure/thriller story than this book could ever hope to be.
This was a bitter, bitter book. Leland’s wife is dead, his daughter is working in LA for a big company and has 2 kids and is divorced. She’s sleeping with her boss and they’re both snorting coke like it’s 1980. Which it almost is. The company has made a huge massive deal with the Chilean government and has a vault full of millions in cash. The problem is, the deal is just a cover for the company to smuggle military grade weapons down to the Dictatorship. And some german terrorist group wants to put a stop to it AND steal all the money. So Leland has to fight the badguys all by himself, watch helicopters explode and good cops get killed by bad leadership and then watch as his daughter is dragged to her death by the leader of the terrorists as he falls out of the building from the 40th story.
Leland is bitter, cynical, disillusioned and spouting off like a Democrat every step of the way while acting like “a good guy with a gun” (which is a myth according to democrats but a real thing in reality). It was very schizophrenic.
And while it was 1/3rd the length of the first book, it was still just as filled with navel gazing bull kaka as the first one. This was a literary novel filled with self-loathing, hatred and despair desperately trying to pretend to be an action thriller. And it flipping failed. If this hadn’t been turned into such a block buster of a movie, nobody would know this book or probably this author. Which might just be for the best. Thorp is (was?) a pretentious wanker and I hope he got a lot of beating from life. Self-pitying assholes who do nothing but whine like him deserve a good beating.
Now I’m off to watch Die Hard to wash the disgusting taste of this disgusting book out of my mind.
★★☆☆☆
From Wikipedia.org
Retired NYPD detective Joe Leland is visiting the 40-story office headquarters of the Klaxon Oil Corporation in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve, where his daughter Stephanie Leland Gennaro works.
While he is waiting for his daughter’s Christmas party to end, a group of German Autumn–era terrorists take over the skyscraper. The gang is led by the brutal Anton “Little Tony the Red” Gruber. Joe had known about Gruber through a counter-terrorist conference he had attended years prior. Barefoot, Leland slips away and manages to remain undetected in the gigantic office complex. Armed with only his Browning pistol and in communication with Los Angeles Police sergeant Al Powell and his belligerent supervisor, Dwayne Robinson, Leland fights off the terrorists one by one in an attempt to save the 74 hostages, his daughter, and grandchildren.
Gruber and the terrorists kill Mr. Rivers, the CEO of the Klaxon building, and proceed to steal documents that will publicly expose the Klaxon corporation’s dealings with Chile’s junta. They also intend to deprive Klaxon of the proceeds of the corrupt deal of $6,000,000 in cash by attempting to access a safe. Leland interferes with this plan by stealing explosives and progressively killing terrorists and receiving multiple injuries in the process.
Leland kills most of the terrorists and, despite no help from the police, faces off with the leader of the terrorist group, Anton Gruber, who is holding his daughter hostage. Gruber falls to his death after being shot by Leland, taking Stephanie with him. Blaming Klaxon for the terrorist attack and his daughter’s death, Leland throws the cash out of the window himself. Once Leland is back on the street, the last terrorist, Karl, who was presumed dead earlier, returns and starts a shooting rampage, killing several police officers (including Robinson) and a doctor in the process, before Sgt. Powell finally kills him, allowing Leland to receive medical care.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Detective Series: Joe Leland #1 Author: Roderick Thorp Rating: 2 of 5 Stars Genre: Fiction Pages: 487 Words: 220K
Inner monologueing that, psycho-sexualization this, belly button lint beyond belief. I mean, some of the characters went on for pages and pages blabbing and blabbing and then they’d blab some more. The author would make very odd conversation connections that weren’t obvious to me as a reader and I really struggled to follow the thought processes. At the beginning Joe gets very upset that his wife left him a note asking some questions that they’d gone over the night before. It made zero sense to me why he was upset about it and it’s not explained, that I could see, why he was upset about it. Everything was referred to obliquely instead of head on. This book typifies everything I hate about books from the 60’s and 70’s. Bunch of pretentious, self-absorberd author replacement wankery.
The ONLY reason I read this is because the sequel is the novel on which Die Hard was based and I want to read that book. So when I learned it was the second book about Joe Leland, of course I had to read the first book. What kind of sicko only reads the second book in a duology, amirite? Those people might exist, but I am not one of them. After reading this, I almost wish I was though!
After I read the next book, I’ll never read another thing by Thorp if I can help it. I haven’t even looked up his body of work just so I can avoid it. I don’t care that much about him.
The final nail in the coffin was the ending. They figure out why the husband is dead and it’s a big fat reason and the book ends with the investigation just starting. Feth that! You don’t drag me through almost 500 pages and then just stop. That’s total bull caca in my opinion. So I’m giving this the “trash” tag.
★★☆☆☆
From Wikipedia.com
Joe Leland, a private detective, begins investigating a case for the recently widowed Norma MacIver. Norma requests that Leland find out everything he can about her deceased husband. Norma requests Leland personally because her husband had mentioned knowing him in the past.
It turns out that Leland and Colin MacIver served in the same military unit during World War II, but at different times. Leland interviews Colin’s first wife, Colin’s mother, and the security guards at the track where Colin supposedly killed himself.
Norma introduces Leland to her neighbor and former therapist, Dr. Wendell Roberts. During their conversation, Wendell reveals that he knew Leland’s wife Karen. It is revealed that Wendell was friends with the man with whom Karen Leland had had an affair.
As Leland’s investigation deepens he uncovers evidence of corruption and murder. Eventually, Leland discovers that Colin was connected to a homicide during Leland’s earlier life with the police department as a detective. During the investigation of Teddy Leikman’s death, a confession was obtained from Felix Tesla, Leikman’s roommate. Tesla was subsequently executed by electric chair. It turned out that Colin MacIver was the true murderer. Joe’s partner, Mike Petrakis, managed to decipher Colin’s coded notes and reveal a paper trail of corruption.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Cause of It All Series: (The Russians) Author: Leo Tolstoy Rating: 4 of 5 Stars Genre: Fiction Pages: 20 Words: 5K
From Bookstooge.blog
A 2 part play about russian peasants and alcohol. The first part is about a husband spending the family’s money on drink instead of buying the stuff his wife asked for.
The second part deals with a thief who stole some food and blames his descent in life on drinking alcohol. The husband and wife get into an argument and the husband ends up giving the thief the food he stole anyway, just to spite his wife.
Being a teetotaler myself, I had zero issues with this morality play. I think drink causes more problems than any comfort or enjoyment it brings. I also believe that impairment begins with the first drink. Which is why I don’t think Christians should drink at all. We are specifically forbidden to get drunk and as such, I’ll err on the side of caution on this issue.
Not much else to say really. Tolstoy makes his feelings on the issue of alcohol pretty clear so it’s not like I have to try to interpret what he’s secretly saying.
I liked this better than Shakespeare’s plays, that’s for sure. Much shorter 😉 And honestly, that cover is pretty cool too. If I had cheekbones and a chin like that, I’d probably be ruling the Social Media World right now. And then I’d be led astray into drinking which would lead to wild debauches and eventually I’d end up on the street, a penniless homeless diabetic, one insulin shot away from death. Man, that was a close call!
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Fathers and Sons Series: (The Russians) Author: Ivan Turgenev Translator: Unknown Rating: 5 of 5 Stars Genre: Fiction Pages: 295 Words: 80K
From Wikipedia:
Arkady Kirsanov has just graduated from the University of Petersburg. He returns with a friend, Bazarov, to his father’s modest estate in an outlying province of Russia. His father, Nikolay, gladly receives the two young men at his estate, called Marino, but Nikolay’s brother, Pavel, soon becomes upset by the strange new philosophy called “nihilism” which the young men, especially Bazarov, advocate.
Nikolay, initially delighted to have his son return home, slowly begins to feel uneasy. A certain awkwardness develops in his regard toward his son, as Arkady’s radical views, much influenced by Bazarov, make Nikolay’s own beliefs feel dated. Nikolay has always tried to stay as current as possible, by doing things such as visiting his son at school so the two can stay as close as they can, but this in Nikolay’s eyes has failed. To complicate this, the father has taken a servant, Fenechka, into his house to live with him and has already had a son by her, named Mitya. Arkady, however, is not troubled by the relationship; on the contrary, he is delighted by the addition of a younger brother.
The two young men stay over at Marino for some weeks, then decide to visit a relative of Arkady’s in a neighboring province. There, they observe the local gentry and meet Madame Anna Sergevna Odintsova, an elegant woman of independent means, who cuts a seductively different figure from the pretentious and conventional types of the local provincial society. Both are attracted to her, and she, intrigued by Bazarov’s singular manner, invites them to spend a few days at her estate, Nikolskoye. While Bazarov at first feels nothing for Anna, Arkady falls head over heels in love with her.
At Nikolskoye, they also meet Katya, Anna Sergevna’s sister. Although they stay for just a short time, Arkady begins to find himself and become more independent of Bazarov’s influence. Bazarov, in particular, finds falling in love distressing because it runs counter to his nihilist beliefs. Eventually, prompted by Odintsova’s own cautious expressions of attraction to him, he announces that he loves her. She does not respond overtly to his declaration, though she is drawn to Bazarov; she finds his devaluation of feelings and of the aesthetic side of existence unattractive. Anna cannot open herself to him because she does not see the possibility of a good future with him. After his avowal of love, and her failure to make a similar declaration, Bazarov proceeds to his parents’ home, and Arkady decides to accompany him.
At Bazarov’s home, they are received enthusiastically by his parents, and the traditional mores of both father and mother, who adulate their son, are portrayed with a nostalgic, idealistic description of humble people and their fast disappearing world of simple values and virtues. Bazarov’s social cynicism, invariably on display with outsiders, is still on display as he settles back into his own family’s ambience. He interrupts his father as the latter speaks to Arkady, still claiming the center of attention. Arkady, who has delighted Bazarov’s father by assuring him that his son has a brilliant future in store, reproves his friend for his brusqueness. Later, Bazarov almost comes to blows with Arkady after the latter makes a joke about fighting over Bazarov’s cynicism. Arkady becomes more openly skeptical of Bazarov’s ideals. After a brief stay, much to the parents’ disappointment, they decide to return to Marino, stopping on the way to see Madame Odintsova, who receives them coolly. They leave almost immediately and return to Arkady’s home.
Arkady remains for only a few days and makes an excuse to leave in order to go to Nikolskoye again. Once there, he realizes he is not in love with Odintsova, but instead with her sister Katya. Bazarov stays at Marino to do some scientific research, and tension between him and Pavel increases. Bazarov enjoys talking with Fenechka and playing with her child, and one day he kisses her, against her will. Pavel observes this kiss and, secretly in love with Fenechka himself and in protection of both Fenechka and Nikolay’s feelings for her, challenges Bazarov to a duel. Pavel is wounded in the leg, and Bazarov must leave Marino. He stops for an hour or so at Madame Odintsova’s, then continues on to his parents’ home. Meanwhile, Arkady and Katya have fallen in love and have become engaged. Anna Sergevna Odinstova is hesitant to accept Arkady’s request to marry her sister, but Bazarov convinces her to allow the marriage.
While back at home, Bazarov ceases to pursue his experiments, turning to help his father’s work as a country doctor. He cannot keep his mind on his work, though, and while performing an autopsy fails to take proper precautions. He cuts himself and contracts blood poisoning. On his deathbed, he sends for Madame Odintsova, who arrives just in time to hear Bazarov tell her how beautiful she is. She kisses him on the forehead and leaves; Bazarov dies from his illness the following day.
Arkady marries Katya and assumes the management of his father’s estate. His father marries Fenechka and is delighted to have Arkady home with him. Pavel leaves the country and lives the rest of his life as a “noble” in Dresden, Germany.
When I originally read this back in ‘15 (link below), I was quite favorably impressed. So much so that I seriously considered skipping re-reading this and just kind of letting it have a free pass. Plus, you never know with a re-read how things will go. But I fixed my gaze on the goal and read this and was very glad I did.
I was just as favorably impressed this time around, but for very different reasons. I noticed a lot of the cultural shift going on between the generations this time around that I hadn’t before because I didn’t have the same weight of Russian Literature under my belt like I do now. I’m no expert, but simply immersing myself since the end of ‘21 into all of this really has helped.
Nikolay not marrying the young woman who has his second son, because of class issues, not moral issues, and Arkady’s complete dismissal of such a reason, really stood out to me. It just goes to show that a Class Structure was prevalent world wide at this time and not restricted to one set of countries.
This time around, I was able to savor Bazarov’s destruction a bit more too. He wanted complete control over everything (hence his love of the Nihilist movement and its belief that power over something is ultimately the ability to destroy it) and when he falls in love and it is outside of his control, it ruins him.
The Fathers, just like last time, bothered me with their non-assertiveness. I could understand them not wanting to be in conflict with their sons, but their whole attitude was one of “because we’re older, we’re useless and our ideas are useless”. It comes from a worldview that is progressive (ie, we are constantly getting better through knowledge and self-knowledge) instead of one that prizes Wisdom above Knowledge. I definitely had more sympathy for them though. The older I get the less conflict I want with others too.
I just enjoyed this story. As awkward as some parts were and as much as I just didn’t understand certain things (why do russian serfs refuse progress and destroy themselves with drink?), something about it all resonates with me. Maybe it’s because I’ve been the young man part of the story and am now starting to transition to the next generation and thus can appreciate both sides of the story? Of the stories I’ve read so far, of any of the Russian authors, this is the one I’d choose above the others so far.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
In so many ways this reminded me of the Mapp & Lucia series by EF Benson if there was only Lucia with a daughter. In this story, Mama is trying to get a rich match for her daughter and a rich, but old, sick and partly crazy, Prince is the target. The Mama has the entire village under her thumb and they chafe and so do what they can to upset the plans. And the daughter is horrified but goes along and the other, younger suitor, acts like an idiot and hurts the feelings of the daughter and thus extinguishes his own chances. Eventually, the Prince, thinking it is all a dream, escapes from the village and the Mama is a laughing stock and the daughter eventually marries some high ranking politician.
I guess this was a commentary on the people of the times. Of course, that’s not much different than the people of today. Selfish, back stabbing, irresponsible, greedy, etc, etc. Thankfully, Dostoyevsky uses humor so it’s not grim and horrible but by the time the story was done I was ready to leave that little Russian village.
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Title: The Vicar of Nibbleswick Authors: Roald Dahl Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars Genre: Childrens Fiction Pages: 6 Words: 1K
I have no idea how this story got to be on its own instead of being folded into some sort of collection. Be that as it may, this feels like a good ending to my Dahl re-read. Short and sweet and amusing.
The Vicar says words backwards and Dahl has a blast figuring out language tricks to make things sound not just nonsensical but actually correct grammatically while being totally wrong in what the poor Vicar is trying to say. One funny instance is him trying to tell the congregation not to “park” their cars alongside the front of the church but to use the back parking lot. I laughed, as it comes out like telling them to not krap in front of the church, hahahhaa. Good stuff!
Having started my Dahl re-read back in December of ‘21 with Matilda, which is close to being one of his longest books, like I mentioned at first, this short story felt like a great way to finish things up. I’ve enjoyed this almost year and a half journey of exploring Dahl all over again but I’ve realized that I probably won’t do it again on my own. I feel like Dahl has a magic circle that his books work in and I’ve simply aged out of that circle. They are still wonderful and amusing stories and I’ll remember them very fondly, but I am now done.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
While I enjoyed this, I am at the same time glad it is over. Both Mapp and Lucia were so petty and small minded that it stopped being fun part way through it. In one instance Lucia is so taken up with presenting an “image” that she even freezes out her husband Georgie, who has been used to seeing her in private as she really is and loves that side of her. That was unpleasant to read about. Then Mapp. She becomes the Mayor’s Woman (a post to empower females) AND becomes a Town Councilor and her only goal is to stymie and undercut Lucia. The level of backstabbing and bickering jumps to a whole new level too.
There are still flashes of the humor from previous books but it wasn’t as prevalent. Definitely not a series I ever plan on re-reading and it really put the kabosh on me seeking anything else by Benson.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Boyhood Series: (The Russians) Author: Leo Tolstoy Translator: Unknown Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: Autobiographical Fiction Pages: 98 Words: 28K
A quick sketch of Tolstoy’s tween and teen years. I believe this is the middle part of a trilogy (childhood, boyhood and youth) and as such, should have been read together. This just abruptly ends after a chapter and that makes it obvious this was chopped up into the 3 volumes for no good reason. Also, this “complete collection” of Tolstoy’s works are put together alphabetically and thus it will be a little bit before I get to Childhood and VERY long time before I hit Youth.
This was a bit of a tough read because Tolstoy is honest about portraying himself as a teenager and man, I always forget what self-absorbed twat-heads teenagers are. There’s a reason I don’t even attempt to help out with middle or highschool sunday school 😀 It doesn’t help that there is a good bit of class awareness going on here and that is so foreign to me that it’s very jarring. I also don’t know how much is straight biography and how much is fictional.
The ironic thing is I can identify with a LOT of what he writes, even from the teenage perspective. Self-absorbed introverts have a lot in common, no matter the country, the culture or the time they lived. Of course, I’m not going to go on and become a world famous author whose works live on to shape the future, but you know, I’m really ok with that. That would be a lot of pressure and I don’t mind saying I ain’t got no time for dat!
Judging this portion, Boyhood, on its own, I wouldn’t like Tolstoy as a person. But that’s true of most teens, so it doesn’t surprise me, hahahahaa 😀
On a final note, that cover is totally misleading. This book records him from about 12-15 or so. He’s not a child in this and I find the cover set my mind down a path of him being a child. Of course, the only other covers I could find showed him as a full adult with the big white russian beard, so that was even worse in my opinion.
