Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

This novel has been a big hole in my reading history, having never read it at school or university, so when the opportunity came up to go to Haworth and have a Bronte's weekend at the end of this month, it was a good excuse to get this one under my belt at last. Plus Jane Eyre by sister Charlotte is one of my favourite books ever.
I had only seen clips of the Laurence Olivier film, and my only other experience was the Kate Bush song. I felt it was a dark and passionate love story, atmospheric and intense. This was all I knew beforehand.
Telling the story of two houses in the remote moorland of Yorkshire and the families that reside in them over two generations. Mostly it is told in retrospect by the previous housekeeper to a new tenant of Wuthering Heights after he arrives, to a frosty welcome, at the main house and meets the master, Heathcliff, and the other degenerate occupants.
The housekeepers story recounts the history of Heathcliff, an urchin brought up as his own by Mr Earnshaw, along with his other two children. His son Hindley hates Heathcliff who is a sullen little boy, but Cathy and him share a special bond from childhood. When the father dies and Hindley inherits the estate he deliberately treats Heathcliff with contempt, reducing him to a servant and humiliating him where possible. Cathy becomes friends with the children of Thrushcross Grange so when Heathcliff runs away and is gone for 3 years, Cathy entertains a flirtation with Edgar Linton and eventually agrees to marry him. Heathcliff returns with one thing on his mind...revenge.
I have to say that my expectations of a passionate love story were quickly dashed. There is a love story, but it is obsessive and melodramatic, and not convincing as anything genuinely based on love. This only forms some of the story though. Revenge is the flavour of this novel, a really base and immoral form of it, that waits its time, calculating major catastrophe on all of those in its vicinity, seeking to destroy even its possessor and reaching those who were not even born when it began.
This is where I had my problem with this novel. Almost everone in it is vile, not just dislikeable but truly vile. We have a collection of sadistic, unfeeling, selfish, game players. Most of the women are spoilt and the men are either manipulative to the extreme or weak, or both. My despair at reading about this horrible lot and their to-ing and fro-ing between the houses over rode any sympathy or feeling I may have had. They all got what they deserved and I wanted to be free of them. The one or two that are not outwardly horrible, like Edgar or even the tenant telling the story, are flat and unmemorable. With the others there was too much gnashing of teeth and debauchery for me.
I did enjoy the setting, the remoteness of the lives in the story (I deliberately picked this edition because of the effect of the cover picture), and the compelling descriptions of the more eccentric characters at Wuthering Heights, like Hareton and Joseph. At times it felt like a 19th century classic novel version of the Addams family and did have some comedy elements. Indeed on talking to others who hold the novel in high esteem these parts were some of their favourites and I did pick up on that. Sadly though I just hated them all and this is what dominated my impressions of the novel.
I am glad that I have read it and I look forward to talking about it in Haworth in a few weeks, and I do appreciate that this was never meant to be a comfy read about nice people living in the countryside, and it is this that emulates it in the affections of so many. Also I didn't want to abandon it at any point and I am sure the images of the residents of Wuthering Heights, sniping and bickering at each other in that sulky, miserable house were etched indelibly on my imagination. I cannot say I wholly liked it though.
An essential but not always enjoyable read that was nothing like Jane Eyre, and I guess therein lies the appeal of the Bronte sisters.
For discussion questions about Wuthering Heights use the link.
To read an interesting Online Guide to Wuthering Heights use the link which includes some of the more obscure questions about Wuthering Heights.
For information about the Brontes at Haworth in England use the link.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

This was one of the titles I received on the Book Blogger Holiday Swap from last Christmas. Annabel Gaskel from Gaskella was my Secret Santa and the book was one of a number of goodies that made their way to my house. I started it while I was on holiday in Sweden and I have wanted to read it for some time.

Set in New York during the late 19th century, the novel follows the tightly knitted and highly constrictive society of the rich and privileged, governed by manners, etiquette and duty. This is a world where nothing is said outright, communication is subtle and with few surprises. Their lives are mapped out for them, and their biggest fear is any kind of discrepancy that would mean a blight on their families good name.

The narrator explains the intricate hierarchy of families while introducing us to the main players while attending the opera. Our main character, Newland Archer, handsome, successful and from a respected family, is soon to announce his engagement to May Welland, pretty, dutiful and from another good family, when the arrival of her cousin Ellen, throws a cat among the pigeons. The Countess Ellen Olenska, beautiful with bohemian leanings, was a childhood friend of Newland's, but has lived in Europe after marrying a Russian Count. Ellen's return, after the breakdown of her marriage, causes the New Yorkers tongues to wag, especially as her ways are not those of the families she had left behind. As her family try to support her, while limiting the damage her presence can do to them, Newland and May agree to bring their engagement forward in order to deflect public opinions of Ellen. Newland, however, has begun to question the constraints of duty and longs for a freer view away from duty. When he is asked, as a lawyer, to advise the Countess against seeking a divorce, an act that would do untold damage to her and taint her family, Newland finds himself becoming helplessly drawn to Ellen, and she to him.

I started this book not knowing how I would find it. I saw the movie with Daniel Day Lewis and Michelle Pfeiffer years ago, so I knew it was not an action packed affair, relying on the agonies of restraint, suppressed passion and the unsaid. A few people have said that they had to suffer its boredom on college literature courses, so I was very pleasantly surprised to find a lot of humour right at the beginning, while the narrator gives us a wry view of the great and the good. I found myself reading passages out to friends because I found it unexpectedly funny. The names are fantastic...Newland Archer, Lawrence Lefferts, Sillerton Jackson, and there seems to be a constant twinkle in the eye of the storyteller.

The sumptuous interiors of the houses and the expectations in behaviour are fascinating, and as alien as an anthropological study of an ancient tribe from a rainforest. Where this novel shone for me was the breathless intensity of forbidden feeling between Newland and Ellen, and the stifling lack of honest expression between Newland and May.

There were times where this compression of feeling was painful. On leaving Ellen after a brief meeting, where his feelings, as yet inexpressed and new, threaten to engulf him, this is a man who is surrounded by those who frown on feeling anything much,

'He bent and laid his lips on her hands, which were cold and lifeless. She drew them away, and he turned to the door, found his coat and hat under the faint gas-light of the hall, and plunged out into the winter night bursting with the belated eloquance of the inarticulate.'

The language is elegant and succinct, and I enjoyed reading this book very much because of it. I am guessing it was the suppression of feeling that made you, the reader, feel so much when it was alluded to. It is clear that Newland adores Ellen, it is shouting out of him, silently. His examination of his feelings for May are equally painful.

This is not a book for those who like pace and movement. It is populated by detail and stiff characters, dictated to by endless tradition. I can see why some, who are made to read it, view it with dread and boredom. I however really enjoyed it. Its lack of outer feeling made me feel so much. It reminded me of Jane Austen's witty and detailed examinations of the well off. I liked the historic setting, in a world changing so fast and desperately hanging on to their values for fear of any alternative.

Recommended for classics fans and those who enjoy historic society novels, and Jane Austen fans looking for something different.

For discussion questions on The Age of Innocence use the link.

The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy

The old hardback version of this book that I have, not dissimilar to the copy pictured here, is a 1939 edition and it came in a box of old books given to me by a friend. It has a preface written in it by Thomas Hardy himself in April 1912. It is my third Hardy novel, the others being Far from the Madding Crowd (studied twice, read at least 3 times, much loved), and Jude the Obscure (read once which was enough, very good but hard going), although I feel as if I have read more having seen many TV and film versions of his novels. This title is the set Hardy novel for my literary holiday in Dorset in a few weeks.

Set in the deep woods of 19th century England, this story tells of the inhabitants of Little Hintock, their interactions with each other and their essential relationship with the woodland around them. We have Giles Winterbourne, stalwart and loyal, respected by those around him, a worker in the woods with a unique understanding of the trees that he works on. Giles loves Grace Melbury, daughter of George Melbury, who had sent her to an expensive school to learn how to be a lady and better herself. Edred Fitzpiers is the unconventional young doctor from a rich family, Felice Charmond is the rich widow inhabiting the nearby manor house with a taste for young men, and Marty South is the poor young worker, who stays on the sidelines but plays a central part in the plot.

This is a story about relationships, promises, marriage and thwarted love. It is also a contemplation of the beauty of old woodlands and the tiny microcosm of society within them. All of Hardy's novels explore a disappearing way of life, rural traditions practiced away from the towns and cities, but this one seems even more so. It is as if the people in this novel are entirely seperate from any other society, and the trees close up around them, sealing them in.

Hardy's novels are not known for their cheeriness, although to say they are without humour would be misleading, and this story has its fair share of tragedy and heartbreak. Hardy is most memorable when exploring missed love affairs through circumstance or bad timing, and all of the agonies of the 'what ifs?...' that he evokes in the reader, and this one uses all of this to excellent effect.

I really enjoyed inhabiting their woodland haven with them, following their days as they walk among the trees. The woods are a tangible character throughout and form some of the most memorable imagery. The story was easier than Jude with a well rounded feel to it, very moving and beautiful to read. The last few paragraphs touched a nerve and had me gulping back tears. Grace is not like Hardy's stronger females such as Tess or Bathsheba, but I really liked Giles, and I think Marty gets my favourite character award due to the skillful writing as she is not in it very often.

One of the easier Hardy novels, though not without sadness, and a must for English classic fans or those who love rural novels as I do. I look forward to discussing it on holiday.

The Thomas Hardy Society is a good place to call in on for Hardy fans.

There is also an interesting article titled Hardy's Romanticism in The Woodlanders if you wish to read further.

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

What a lovely cover to this book! It is the Oxford's World Classics range. I read this famous book because a friend in work and I have issued each other a challenge, of 3 titles, to each other. We only need to have read one of the three by the end of the year, and this was one of the titles he chose for me, being one of his favourites. It was my first Fitzgerald novel. I have no idea why, but I have always thought this story was about a car, or a racing driver. Bizarre, but anyway...

Narrated by Nick Carraway just after WWI, in the early 1920's, we follow his observations of some of his wealthy neighbours living around Long Island, near New York city. Nick starts with his old college acquantance Tom Buchanan, an egotistical bully, now married to Nick's distant cousin Daisy, and their terminally bored and unimpressed golfing friend Jordan Baker. Nick is invited to their fashionable gatherings, and becomes privy to the knowledge of Tom's extra marital affair, along with how low Tom's behaviour can go. Nick then also becomes fascinated by the mysterious Gatsby who lives next door, throwing lavish parties for the rich and famous elite of Long Island and New York. Many stories and rumours abound about Jay Gatsby, his background and the legitimacy of his fortune. When Nick does meet him, he finds a complicated but generous man who has courted hopes for a lost love affair with a woman from 5 years before. As the story progresses, all of these characters lives become entwined, unforgettably for Nick.

The most compelling element in this book for me, was the passion that Nick Carraway has in telling this story. He is constantly attracted and repelled by the people he describes. The sense of place, the 'Jazz Age' in America between the wars, is so palpably created, even for a Brit like me, that you fall into this novel and into another age with ease. I was as fascinated and also repelled by the characters with Nick, while enjoying being enveloped by the era. Possibility, privilege and feigned boredom.

The descriptions throughout are wonderful, and one of the most enjoyable aspects of the novel. Rich descriptions of the great and the good...

' "Perhaps you know that lady," Gatsby indicated a gorgeous, scarcely human orchid of a woman who sat in state under a white plum tree.'

The writing was a total pleasure and I will read another of Fitzgerald's books on this alone. The last few paragraphs are some of the saddest and meaningful that I have come across.

I think that non-Americans will approach the book much differently, as I did, as a romp through a definable era, written with skillfully beautiful prose. I think a lot of Americans have the added personal exploration of American identity, the American dream, its definition and disputable loss. Wherever we come from, this is a quality piece of writing. Fully realised you can see why it is considered to be the writers masterpiece.

I totally recommend this book, generally because it is a skillful comment on an American post WWI state of mind, and for book groups because there is loads to talk about.

LitLovers do a guide, including discussion questions for The Great Gatsby. Just use the link.

For those of you interested in visiting the F Scott Fitzgerald Society website, use the link.

I now want to see the film with Robert Redford.

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

I got this one from a box of old books that a friend gave me some time ago. After seeing the brilliant series by the BBC a couple of years ago, starring Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins, Philip Glenister and so many other famous names (for full BBC Cranford Cast click here), I wanted to read the novel and see how closely it had been adapted. I also set it as one of my directional reading challenges in January, to read another novel by this author. This is my 3rd Gaskell novel having read Cousin Phyllis and North and South previously.

Written and set during the 19th century this story is essentially a character study of the genteel ladies who inhabit the small Cheshire town of Cranford throughout a series of happenings and local events. Narrated by a young lady called Mary Smith on her many visits to Cranford, she is privy to all the gossip while she stays at Miss Matty's, an old friend of the family as well as a respected and loved member of the community. A paucity of males in the town due to war, illness or old age means that the Cranford ladies have free run to visit, gossip and also to support each other. There are some men, but this story is about early-Victorian middle aged women of certain social standing.

The tone of the book is one of subtle and gentle humour that never fails to hit its mark. After a briefing on town etiquette as regards visiting others and acceptable topics of conversation, we are introduced to the ladies who form the bulk of Cranford society as they prepare for such things as a visiting magician, the protocol regarding a certain Lady Glenmire as a guest, contact from a former suitor of Miss Matty's and the threat of robberies in the local area.

Those who like a substantial meaty plot which progresses at a fast pace will be disappointed with this book. It is gently paced, about small happenings and the interest lies in getting to know the characters who are portrayed with warmth and more than a little satire in a small setting. It is all in the detail.

I really liked it. It is clever, witty and acutely observational. The time period is palpable and a delight. I grew very fond of the ladies, particularly Miss Matty, who lives in her older sisters formidable shadow even after her death. I also liked Miss Pole with her concrete belief in her own exaggerations. It is the kind of period setting that becomes very comfortable very quickly. I felt as if I was there with them, through the various interiors, taking part in town life.

An English classic which would be great for those who love the study of 19th century manners and lots to talk about for reading groups.

There is a free online version of Cranford if you click the link.

The Gaskell Society website can be visited by clicking the link.

There is even a Cranford walk around Knutsford in Cheshire.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I must be one of only a handful of book bloggers who have not read this book...until now. We did do some chapters at school, but not the whole book. It was time to correct this and complete my 'read another American classic' category in my directional reading challenges for this year.

The story is told through the point of view of 2 children, Scout and Jem in the Deep South during the 1930's, and the lead up, during and aftermath of a trial where there father, Atticus, is defending a young black man accused of raping a white girl. Racism, class and childhood are all explored during this episode of their lives.

The story is told with warmth and humour, and a lot of the first part of the book follows their childhood games, curiosities, schooldays, friendships and rivalries. Because it is told from the childrens point of view, particularly Scout the youngest daughter, we are given a nostalgic take on the other characters, quirky neighbours, poorer class mates and the tales and adventures we all recognise from when we were younger. The adult world of court rooms, prejudice and politics are recounted as an interjection in their lives, and with an incomprehension that we as adult readers can share with them. Their simplistic view of the proceedings makes the adult complexities seem absurd at some points. However, the wisdom and kindness of their father, a literary hero of famous proportions, is a joy.

Like so many other readers, I loved this book. I was surprised by how much of a back seat the trial took, especially during the first part. I enjoyed the humour and the Deep South accents, and those important times during a young persons life where games overtake reality, in a way that makes them just as real. I also found that the lessons within it were not rammed down your throat.

While reading around the internet about this book, obviously most people speak with affection about it, but I found more than a couple of comments saying it was the most racist and unsavoury book ever written. I am glad that there are a variety of views but I feel these people have missed the point and I cannot agree. The story contains the views of some racist characters during a much earlier era, to which the book is sympathetic and consistent. In highlighting the racism that was rife at the time, where black Americans were easy targets for abuse and exploitation, the book brings attention to the injustices of the past in a balanced way, and this is important historically as well as a sociologically. It is also entertaining and very human and it is clear to me why this book is so highly regarded.

This year celebrated the 50th anniversary of this influential and much loved novel and there is a dedicated website for To Kill a Mockingbird 50th anniversary, just click the link.

There are To Kill a Mockingbird book group questions here.

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

When I said that I wanted to 'read another Russian' at the beginning of the year, a kind person e-mailed me with this book as a recommendation. I liked the sound of it so it joined my wishlist and a friend then bought it for me. It sat on my TBR pile for a few months until I saw that it was the favourite novel of Sjon, the author of The Blue Fox (review here), so it was time to give it a go.

Written just before Bulgakov's death in 1940, but not published until 1966 this novel follows the events affecting some of Moscow's literary elite when the devil and his motley band of followers (including a big black cat called Behemoth and a naked lady) pay them all a visit, resulting in carnage and chaos in the city. Posing as a magician and calling himself Woland, the devil takes over someones flat, causes several people to be admitted to the local mental hospital, undertakes a show at the Variety theatre causing the audience to strip naked and run out of the theatre with fists full of paper that they are convinced are money and lots of other mischief. The only people resistant to Woland are The Master, currently residing in the same mental institution previously mentioned, since his disappointment over his own novel about Pontius Pilate, and his ex-lover Margarita. Woland invites Margarita to a ball where history's most macabre characters are due to attend. But beforehand, she is transformed into a witch and flies over Moscow and Russia to a lakeside. This is one of the novel's more fantastical scenes, as well as the ball itself where Margarita is guest of honour and has to receive the bizarre and the wonderful while sitting naked. Margarita manages to pull this off and is rewarded by Woland. Interspersed with all of this are sections from The Master's book about Pontius Pilate and the events of the day of the trial and execution of Yeshua Ha Nostri, or Jesus of Nazareth as we know him more commonly.

The language of this translation and the literary style of the novel is not difficult to read, and certainly the narrator in my version resembled the chirpy, friendly voice that reminded me of the narrator in Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (which I never completed). This constantly cheery voice may possibly be to convey humour but the resemblance to a Blue Peter TV childrens show presenter seemed to totally belie the subject matter. This is probably personal to me, and could be a voice I have concocted in my own mind, but it is one of the reasons I stopped reading the Susanna Clarke novel.

I have found the review of this book to be one of the hardest ones I have had to write, not only for the complicatedness of the novel, it's story and themes, but also because of how I feel about it. When I told a work colleague, who has also read it, that I was writing this review, he said, 'Where are you going to start...?'

There were parts of this novel that I enjoyed immensely. Mostly the beginning few chapters, and the sections about Pontius Pilate as an alternative view of an ingrained story from the Bible. I also liked it that Woland was not your conventional kind of devil, showing a generous and also a compassionate side. However there were other sections where I was aware of my attention waning. Hordes of more naked women ended up boring me. I like fantasy realism a lot (see my review of The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue) but some style of fantasy may just not be to my taste I guess.

When I was trying to think of what to say in this review I realised that I have probably enjoyed the novel more afterwards, while reading about it's innovative stance on social and literary issues in Russia at the time, rather than during the actual reading of it. There is another author, a hugely loved and inspirational writer, who has had the same effect on me, and that is Virginia Woolf. I can see the reason why they are important, I can admire their forward thinking and talent, I enjoy learning about them and their work and some parts are memorable, but the reading of the book itself was hard work.

This book is an excellent choice for reading groups however. There is such a lot to talk about both with the story and also its literary and social context and it will probably raise a whole array of opinions. I am glad I read it, some of it will stay with me, even though I didn't find all of it enjoyable.

There is a dedicated site for The Master and Margarita, click the link.

Penguin does a Master and Margarita reading guide if you click the link.

Emma by Jane Austen

The edition that I read of this classic was a lovely Hamish Hamilton Novel Library edition that was published in 1952. It was in a box of second hand books that a friend gave to me some time ago, and has a fresh green cover not unlike the one to your left.

As I have mentioned previously about my Jane Austen holiday coming up in August, this is one of the books set for the trip. It is my fourth Jane Austen (I have previously read Mansfield Park, Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey), and also completes my personal directional reading challenge for this year to 'read another Jane Austen'.

For those of you who are not familiar with the novel and have not seen any of the film or TV adaptations, this tells the story of the well-to-do families residing in the fictional town of Highbury in Surrey in the earlier part of the 19th century during the period of one year. The main character of the title, Emma Woodhouse, is 'handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition...and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.' So says the first sentence in the whole book. The trouble is, Emma has a high opinion of herself and fancies herself as a bit of a matchmaker for those around her.

For herself she claims she will never marry, but as we are introduced to the other members of this genteel society, Emma, with kindness in her heart, tries to predict matches and cajole them into reality. In doing so, she gets herself and others into pickle of dashed hopes and unpredictable preferences.

We accompany Emma on her journey from bright and intelligent young girl, oblivious to her own vanities, to a more mature and balanced young woman who retains all of her warmth and generocity but in a much more balanced and attractive way.

We are also introduced in detail to the other friends and residents of Highbury, not only by character, but their all important social standing within this close knit society. The many characters and their interactions are the bulk of this story. We rarely step outside the comforts of this. It is their subtleties of manner and interaction that drive this novel, centering around Emma.

Austen's style is known well enough for her books to be a surprise these days. Many love her enclosed worlds of the higher classes of early 19th century England, the measured behaviour, the concentration upon marrying the right man and bettering your position. You can read between the lines about gender roles and the essentials of health and securing your future, but rarely does anything more topical or gritty infiltrate her stories, and this is her strength for some, and her weakness for others.

Personally I welcome the little holiday from the harsh realities of life that her stories provide. I know that there are wars, poverty, prostitution and child cruelties all just beyond the covers of the novel, and widely covered by other great novelists, many of whom I also love reading. But sometimes Jane Austen provides an enjoyable alternative. Her books are not without talent or importance, and the concerns of her characters are very real.

I really enjoyed reading Emma. I found her suitably naive and slightly annoying at first and therefore enjoyed her development. I grew fond of many of the other characters too, the dependable Mr Knightley, the warmth of the Westons, the intrigue of Jane Fairfax, the ridiculous Eltons, the comedy and sadness of Miss Bates. As the preface of my edition says, 'Jane Austen's laughter is of the quiet and private kind, mocking but sympathetic, sometimes genteel, often sly, seldom unkind and never cruel. And of all her books Emma has the most of this gentle gaiety'.

I have certainly found it the lightest of Austen's novels that I have read.

Jane Austen herself said, 'I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.' I think many, including myself, have and will enjoy reading about her, as well as indulging their need to enter Emma's world for a while. I am looking forward to discussing this book with my friends on holiday to Hampshire in August.

A reading group guide to Emma can be found by clicking the link.

To read an essay written by the Australian Jane Austen society entitled Emma -Understanding Jane Austen's World click the link.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Having enjoyed 2 other Steinbeck novels I was pleased that this one was on the reading list for the course I am on in the new year, about how American history is depicted in its literature. I already had a lovely 2nd edition hardback from 1940, that a friend had given to me, so it was great to be able to pick up this American classic as my next read.

This famous depiction of the great Depression during the 1930's follows the Joad family, generations of which have worked the land near Oklahoma as tenant farmers, and who now find themselves (along with all of the other farmers from the neighbouring states) losing their home to corporate land owners, who turf them out with no work or home. Like everyone else for miles, they all head west on route 66 to California where more corporate companies have advertised work on the fruit and cotton farms. Sadly there are many many more workers than jobs, a deliberate calculation to keep wages down by the companies, so instead of a bountiful place where you can eat all the fruit you want and make a good living, there are shanty towns of desperate hungry people, oppressed and abused by the police, hated and mistrusted by the locals. There is little work and little hope.

We follow the Joad's, decent and hard working, from their farm, piling their resourses, leaving a life that had worked over generations, on their journey west, losing family members, making friends, surviving with others on the same journey. Their incredible migration fills the first half of the story. The second half is their attempts to do everything they can to find work and survive in California, through the dreadful Hoovervilles, the better government camps where a sense of civility returns, and being forced to leave to work on a peach plantation surrounded by strike pickets protesting about pay cuts, forcing them to live in near prison conditions. They finally settle picking cotton and living in a box car, but the family have fragmented, the work is drying up and their future is uncertain. The last chapters depict their desperate situation with maximum drama.

Steinbeck depicts his characters in such a way that you feel as if you know them, you care about them, spend time with them, understand them. I always feel as if Steinbeck loves his people and it makes you love them. This made this story really hard because you know that things will not go well for them and you worry. The family however seem to hold on to hope despite the worst conditions. Their dignity and resoursefulness is inspirational and heart warming. I rooted for all of them.

Steinbeck intersperses his chapters about the Joad's with short commentaries about the wider picture, some of which incited disgust and fury in me while reading them, while recognising the relevance of those affected by similar organisational giants and their railroad tactics today. I particularly found the chapters about the faceless tractors mowing down their land and houses very moving, and the one about the abundance of fruit while people starved, the rotting mountains of peaches, the vegetables tipped into the river causing people to literally fish for potatoes to feed themselves and their families. In fact I found the entire story very moving on lots of levels.

I loved Ma Joad, the character that is depicted the most, the matrarch who increasingly finds herself making the decisions for the family. I loved it when she stood up to the jobsworth shopkeeper telling him that when you are struggling, it is only other poor people who will help you out, others with nothing.

I really enjoyed this book because I connected wholly with the characters and worried for them all the way through. The disturbing last chapters and last scene in particular will stay with me. I am not sure I could emotionally survive the film version with Henry Fonda. This is not the most harrowing story I have read (that award goes to Germinal by Emile Zola), but it is certainly a very memorable roller coaster, and an important book that I highly recommend.

For a readers group guide to The Grapes of Wrath click the link.

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

While chatting to a friend recently about another book (The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale) which is on my TBR pile, she said that it mentions 2 other classics, The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, which I have read, and The Turn of the Screw by Henry James which was on my TBR pile thanks to our recent Book Swap in work. Being only 94 pages long I decided to pick it up.
Written in 1898 it is about a governess taking up a position at a large country house, taking care of 2 children who are under the charge of their uncle who lives in London. Their parents are dead. One of the clauses of the contract is that the governess does not contact the uncle and is to take sole charge. She is clearly attracted to her employer and excited at the rise in her position so she agrees even if a little overwhelmed with the responsibility. She is to share the house with Mrs Grose the housekeeper, the children, Flora who is the youngest, and Miles, who is to come home from school later in the week, and a few other servants.
Very soon after arrival the governess learns that Miles has been expelled from school, and no reason is given immediately, but on meeting him she finds he is a model pupil and perfectly behaved, like his sister and she quickly becomes attached to them. However, very soon after taking the position she finds strange things happening in the house and in the grounds, and she believes that the children are in grave danger from a supernatural influence.
The beginning has more than a flavour of Jane Eyre arriving at Thornfield Hall half a century before and references it clearly. It also mentions Anne Radcliffes Mysteries of Udolpho, setting the scene for another gothic mystery, and the house and grounds are a very atmospheric base for such a story. I have read Portrait of a Lady by Henry James and so have encountered his writing style before, and it can seem very long winded and evasive as to what the characters are thinking or even communicating to each other. This story I found particularly so. There are long sections of dialogue where nothing is actually said but only vaguely insinuated. This suits the main character very well, as it is her that is telling the story in the first person, and she jumps about 10 paces ahead of everything that happens to her, fixing her own meaning to everything, sometimes wildly, as she becomes more obsessed with the children, citing that they are hers alone.
Although not strictly a sensationalist novel, there are definitely elements of such that James has used here it seems to me. It is also deliberately ambiguous and so anyone who likes their stories straightforward will find this one frustrating. The introduction by Dr Claire Seymour from the University of Tokyo concludes that "The dilemma for the reader is how to preserve James' ambiguity while also locating its 'meaning' ". I agreed with this statement.

I have to say that I quite like ambiguous writing, for example Toni Morrison’s Beloved, which does not explain the whole meaning but leaves it for your own conclusions. However in this case it drove me nuts. I think it was because I did not find our story teller too credible. Apparently there are 2 camps of readers for this story, those who believe it to be a supernatural mystery, and those who believe it is a story about an emotionally fragile woman who starts hallucinating. I fall into the 2nd camp. I thought she was deranged.
Ghost stories scare the pants off me, very easily, and I tend to avoid them. This story did not scare me at all, and disappointed on that level. Maybe that was James’ intention, to make a joke of those who like to be spooked. Especially as the whole tale is related as a Christmas Eve ghost story by someone called Douglas at the beginning. Is James playing with our expectations and love of a good mystery? I don’t know, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. Maybe my own expectations were too high. I found the discussion about its meaning more interesting than the actual reading of it, and so it is probably a good choice for readers groups.

You can download a free eBook version of the story here.
There is also an interesting article called Ghost story, or study in libidinal repression by Sumia S. Abdul Hafidh

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

This was one of those books that I had always heard of but never got around to reading, so when I saw a copy for sale at Reid of Liverpool last year, I bought it. I was also in the unusual and fortunate position of not having seen the film or knowing the story beforehand.
Our unnamed narrator tells us the story in retrospect, about the early months of her marriage to Maxim de Winter, a wealthy aristocrat, during the 1930's. They meet in Monte Carlo and after a long honeymoon, return to Maxims beautiful and imposing mansion in Cornwall to live.
The new Mrs de Winter is very different to the first, much younger, inexperienced, shy and also of lower class, and she is overwhelmed with uncertainty and low self esteem. Her insecurities are pushed to paranoia almost as she constantly feels measured by Rebecca, her predecessor, who drowned in a boating accident the year before. She was supposed to be very beautiful, confident, outgoing and exceptional at everything she did. In fact, it seems that everyone loved her, not least her old house keeper, the formidable Mrs Danvers, who makes sure that the new mistress knows that she will never be up to Rebecca's standards. However, not all is what it seems, as the story unfolds.
This book is frequently compared to Jane Eyre, being a story about the 'other wife', with a Gothic setting and the narrator being the central female character. It is not identical though and brings its own innovations with it, enabling this novel to stand on its own, as it has for decades.
There are 5 major characters, and lots of sub characters. Alongside our narrator, whose growing uncertainties and feelings of inadequacy shape our perception of the plot, we have Maxim, older, secretive, and so wrapped up in his own thoughts he fails to meet his young wifes needs. We also have Mrs Danvers, 'someone tall and gaunt, dressed in deep black, whose prominent cheek-bones and great, hollow eyes gave her a skull's face, parchment white, set on a skeleton's frame.' Unforgettable!
The other two major characters are where du Maurier has come into her own with their unconventionalities. We have Rebecca, who we know is the crux of the book because it is named after her. Although dead, she is present on every page. We almost feel her presence more solidly than the narrator, because by her own self deprecating nature, she invites us to see herself only in beige, and Rebecca in glorious technicolour, even to the sophisticated scent of Azaleas left on her handkerchief, long after she has gone.
Lastly we have Manderley, the legendary house which is also a major character. Imposing and huge, it forms the claustrophobic, but compelling backdrop for the whole tale from the very first famous sentence...'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.'
Although less obviously Gothic than its 19th century comparisons, this novel has all of the elements subtly woven amongst a richly atmospheric story (the rambling mansion with unused rooms and corridors, a ghostly presence, an old crone, a threatened younger girl, an older man, secrets and mystery, death, atmospheric weather, lots of doubling). I became involved with the story and characters almost immediately and found it a pleasure to read and find out its secrets. At times I wanted to slap the narrator for constantly putting herself down, frequently describing herself as unattractive and awkward. I also wanted to slap her husband whose self interest dominates all of his thoughts as his young wife is almost imprisoned within her bewhildering marriage. I loved it for these reasons too. We are supposed to be exasperated by them, to want to scream at them to open up. The 'jolly-hockysticks' language was also entertaining, evoking a whole other England that is rich in atmosphere and setting.
I really enjoyed this book as so many others have done. I am also very fortunate to have not known the story beforehand.
This completes #12 of the 2009 mini challenges, to read a classic, defined as anything written before 1970. Rebecca was first published in 1938 but more than that its popularity has ensured its continual publication since then. You will find it among many lists of great novels being widely read and enjoyed for generations.
Here is a reading group guide...
http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-rebecca/