Classics Challenge: Mrs. Mike

I found Mrs. Mike in my books while I was sorting for the move. I'm know it came from my mom was she passed a bunch of books on to me but I can't remember if I had read it before. I think I had because I knew it was about young girl marries a mountie and has to learn to adapt to a much harder life than she's accustomed to.. But I decided to read it again. 

 (Side note: After reading this, I did finally give in an watch When Calls the Heart after ignoring Netflix's suggestions for months. Apparently winter in quarantine made me long for Canadian and Alaska themed stories?)

 That was back in March. Today in December - I remember its about a young girl who marries a mountie and has to learn to adapt to a much harder life than she's accustomed to. That's it, that's all I've got. I did like it because I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads and even more importantly, lent it to a friend because I thought she would like it. So apparently I think its worth reading but not worth remembering? Or maybe its been a rough mental year. Probably that. 

Okay, with further time I do remember thinking that I wish it had handled her interactions with the local people with the same skill as Catherine Marshall did in Christy. I can't think of any examples to back that up because - memories. I guess I didn't really think Mrs. Mike was awful or I wouldn't have recommended it to others but I know Marshall did such a wonderful job balancing the truthfulness of someone's feelings coming into a new experience with her desire to know and love and care for people and get to know them and the Freedman's lacked that skill. Christy is probably in my top 10 books list thought so that might be too high of expectations and  I don't discount books because of issues like this because the author's viewpoint is as much a part of the story when reading historical fiction written in the past...but I can still wish it was done better! 

Mrs. Mike is my Back to the Classics "Classic with a Person's Name in the Title" pick for the 2020 challenge. 

Classics Challenge: Laddie

I did a lot of re-reads this year, a lot of Austen and cozy mysteries. If I did venture into new books they were typically 1) well vetted or 2) an author who was reliable. In other words, I wanted to know what I was getting. 

You definitely know what you're getting with a Gene Stratton-Porter book. They are sweet, old-fashioned (maybe a bit "dated" in some regards so keep that in mind) and sentimental novels focused on nature and relationships. They also have a bit of an mystical/romantic fairy tale land façade over top. I don't think I'm describing that well but its the best I can do.

 This one was very family centered. Laddie is narrated by a young girl but the main story focuses on her brother Laddie and his growing relationship with the neighbor's daughter "The Princess" (okay, side note, I find GSP's use of nicknames like this really annoying. She does it in other books too and it was just as annoying then. Maybe that adds to the other wordly feel I mentioned above but I still don't like it. Okay, end rant) I did think Laddie was funnier than many of her others, probably because it was family-centered so we get the kid hijinks along with seeing things from Little Sister's view. It wasn't my favorite GSP novel but definitely worth the read. 

Yes, GSP books are sometimes slow and a bit wordy with too many amazing coincidences and all the bows tied on all the happy endings. But underneath that, there are some great glimpses into life back then - the parenting, the values, the slow life. And sometimes, especially during a pandemic, its nice to read a well written book with a happy ending and some beautiful descriptions of nature and love along the way.

Laddie is my Back to the Classics "Classic by a woman author" selection.  

Classics Challenge - Adaption - 2 for 1 deal! Sanditon/Emma

My plan was to read and review Sanditon. I did read it. And I liked it. Of course, it's greatest flaw is that it is unfinished. I read it in the form of this  which was completed by another author. The Austen part was a great set-up and I have no doubt she would have finished it well. Some of the secondary characters like Parker siblings are just classic Austen figures. I loved them. So much potential, why did she had die so young!

And while for the purposes of this review, I'm pretty much sticking to the classic part, the ending which I believe was added in the 70s, was not horrific. Unlike the PBS series which started out promising with a few odd sections (like what is going on with those "siblings" and why does the heroine never wear her hair up!) and within a few episodes was cring worthy. Then the ending made a bad situation worse. Just don't. Don't. It was so bad I just couldn't even make it my Classics Challenge selection because I need to pretend that adaption doesn't exist.

So because that was so vile, I had to get the taste of bad Austen out of my mouth and started re-reading some of her other works. Some in written form, some in audio. While I often struggle with audiobooks for initial reads, I find them great for re-reading books I love and know well. Because I'm not totally lost if it gets loud for a second or I zone out and it prevents me from skimming and forces me to really take in the story at a slower pace. And with the quarentine, I went ahead and got Emma. so now I can at least have a good adaption to ponder for my real Classics Challenge selection.

Emma. My first Austen. My favorite Austen for many years . It might be surpassed by Persuasion now. But nostalgia comes back when I read or watch it so I'd actually have to say its a tie and whichever I'm currently reading is my favorite.

It really does hold up to repeated reads. It's so witty and funny. The characters are both amusing but also not dickensian. You can imaging actually meeting these people.  A lot of time you might not want to, but you can! I was struck by how different Emma feels from other Austen's works in that it was so very home centered. Emma didn't travel to Bath or London. It's all about her home and community which seemed very relevant right now.

I've heard others say it isn't the best introduction to Austen but I think for teens, it's great. At least it was for me. I totally felt like Emma as a teen. I wanted to do something, to be somebody and at times, I thought it all figured out. As does Emma. But as a teen (or 30-something) when you figure out that maybe the world still wouldn't be perfect if everybody just acted the way you want them to and you don't have all the answers, it's nice to have the idea of Emma and the family and community that still love her, faults and all, to depend on.

Now onto the movie. It was surprisingly good. I'll admit I was skeptical.

I knew it would be beautiful. And it was.

I knew the costumes would be aamzing. And (with a few oddball pieces as exceptions - Why was Frank Churchill wearing stretchy pants?), they were.

It was just so enjoyable to see onscreen. And hear, the music was delightful. It features a bit more prominently than I was expecting but I did like it.

 But my worries were that the previews had portrayed it almost farsical. And besides knowing Miranda Hart would make an excellent Ms. Bates, I wasn't so sure about some of the casting.

Johnny Flynn did not strike me as Mr. Knightley. But, it was kind of amusing but at the time I was watching it, I was also reading Mansfield Park and it struck me as similar - although I'm not sure that's a compliment to myself!

Her brother was not handsome: no, when they first saw him he was absolutely plain, black and plain; but still he was the gentleman, with a pleasing address. The second meeting proved him not so very plain: he was plain, to be sure, but then he had so much countenance, and his teeth were so good, and he was so well made, that one soon forgot he was plain; and after a third interview, after dining in company with him at the Parsonage, he was no longer allowed to be called so by anybody. He was, in fact, the most agreeable young man the sisters had ever known, and they were equally delighted with him. 

So he did grow on me. It's a very different sort of telling of Mr. Knightley's part of the story than Gwenyth Paltrow version that I am also fond on, I really liked him in the role. He played the line between showing his emotions and frustrations and being a bit more privately bumbling and still being the dignified gentleman in public. He might have been my favorite actor to play him which is saying a lot because Mr. Knightley is my favorite male book character. Yes, he beats Mr. Darcy. Now, I still really like the Jeremy Northam's Mr. Knightley a lot too. Neither is quite the book Knightley but there is room in my movie life for both versions.

Ms. Bates and Mr. Woodhouse were as expected, wonderful although they didn't get a lot of screen time. In fact, I can't say I disliked any of the cast. Emma herself wasn't my favorite part of the movie but she did a good job and Anya Taylor-Joy does a good job with her faces.

But my one disappointment was that it really did rely on the facial acting and the scenery and costume to tell a lot of the story. They did the job well but I found it didn't have the verbal wit I love about Austen's works. I am pretty flexible with my views on adaptations in that I don't mind them changing lines or scenes as long as they stay true to the book's ideas and don't stray towards obnoxiously anachronstic. I like both the the movie and the books endings of North and South for example. I didn't mind the nosebleed nor have a problem with Mr. Knightley's tuches making an appearance and I don't really fault this version for not having the verbal wit because it just went a different direction, I just missed it. On of my favorite scenes is when Emma and Mr. Knightley have there little verbal spat over Harriet and I think it is so because its on of the few where the words are really flying in a way that reminds me of the book.

Emma/Sandition is (are?) my Adaption Classics for the Back to the Classic's challenge. 

Classics Challenge: How the Heather Looks

Wrote this post in June and forgot to post it (hence the "going there soon" part - although soon wasn't as soon as we expected)

How the Heather Looks is a travel memoir about a family with two young kids who explores Britain by visiting places they know for children's literature. It's also an Ambleside Online book from Year 7.  I liked this but not as much as I expected too. It just felt uneven. Some chapters were lovely and some were a bit draggy, I did enjoy hearing about the way one traveled 50s. The lack of information and pre-planned stops would have given me a heart attack before we even got there! As much as I love books, I felt like they didn't really experience the best of Britain in their travels, or maybe the author just didn't record them. 

And part of it might just be personality. As much as I love books and Britain, I don't really focus on setting in the way the author does. I'm perfectly happy to imagine Toad Hall and leave it at that and while I am excited about traveling to specific spots to learn about certain authors but I wouldn't have thought to look for the Hundred Acre woods. Although perhaps that is a benefit of the book, thinking about how author's locations and the scenery of the life becomes a part of their stories. I do think reading this knowing I'm going there soon may have put me in a different frame of mind reading it than my kids will have when they reach year 7 so it will be interesting to discuss it with them.

(And for goodness sakes, don't read the afterward. Enjoy the slice of life of the family for what it is. And that's all I'll say about that!)

How the Heather Looks is my Back to the Classic Challenge selection for the Classic with Nature in the Title category. 

Classics Challenge: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

I'm sure I've read this in the past but I have no idea when that was. This time I read this to the two big kids (8 and 10 yrs old) and I know I enjoyed it more as a read-aloud than I would have by myself. For one, the dialogue is a lot of fun and I really like doing voices. 

 It's also fun to be able to read it and see the bigger pictures of what Twain is trying to say (less so in this than Huck Finn but he still has his points to make) while the kids are enjoying it on a more face-value, but no less enjoyable, level. They just fell apart laughing at the school-teacher episode or the playing pirates chapter and were wide-eyes when Tom and Becky were in the cave.

Also, boys have been boys from the beginning of time. Having my own boy who does not see the point in showers or full sets of clothing and who is kind hearted and hard working but also completely willing to trick his sibling into doing his work for him brought a motherly level of humor to this selection - especially read to said boy and watching him scoff at the same antics in others. 

Overall, it reminded me that before classics were "classics" they were just books that people liked. Ones kids read because they wanted to not because they were supposed to. I'd be a bit sad to leave it behind but we have A Christmas Carol and some Tolkien's Christmas letters to get to so I don't have time to miss it. But I'll put in back on the shelf to be read again to all the kids in a few years.

The Adventures of Tom Saywer is my Back to the Classics 19th Century Classic selection. 

Classics Challenge - Death on the Nile

I love a good mystery. And Agatha Christie does write good mysteries. I always feel the answer is within my grasp and I'm starting to figure it out but I can't get quite there. Which is really what I want my mysteries to do - find that perfect balance between too hard to solve and too easy. This one did exactly that. And she often has some deeper ideas in there to ponder which I enjoy from a mystery as well. Makes me feel better about using them as light/escape reading. In this specific novel, I also enjoyed several of her side characters quite a bit and found the set-up and setting intruguing. It was a great quick and fun mystery for quarenting times.

I only wish I liked her mystery solvers a little better. Poiret is not my favorite. I like Tommy and Tuppence a bit more but Poirot is much easier for me to get from the library so I keep returning to him. But I'm also re-reading Peter Wimsey and I just enjoy him so much more. I do find the mystery part of Dorothy Sayers a bit more convuleted than a Christie novel but liking the detective goes a long way to overcoming that obstacle.

Of course, there is room in my life for many mystery writers so it need not be a competition.

Death in the Nile is my Back to the Classics Place in the Title selection.

Classics Challenge - The Odyssey

So I just wrote a whole post about my experience reading The Odyssey only to get to the end and realize I didn't really talk about the actual poem at all. So that's this post's job.

It's not an easy job. I normally love talking about books and putting up my Back the the Classics mini-reviews. But it does feel a tad ridiculous at times when the book your are talking about is such a classic - like when I read a Shakespeare play or this poem and say "yep, it's good." The idea that my opinion of the quality of a piece of literature that has stood the test of time this long just makes me laugh. So I won't "review" it but I will talk about what I found surprising.

- The pacing was so different from what I expected! I knew some of the basics going in but it takes a while to even meet Odysseus. Then once we do, he gets home surprisingly quickly (in terms of pages of the book, not chronology of the poem!), then it slows down again. I actually loved this. I'm sure there were lots of deep reasons for it all and I will ponder that for a while but I just find it enjoyable when a book surprises me and I get to the point in the story where I'm expecting it to end but I know it can't because I'm holding it in my hand and I see there are more pages. It's a thrill. Like pulling up grubs in a cucumber patch!*

- The references to greek stuff that I'm starting to get because of my other readings. Understanding things that I know I wouldn't have recognized is another thrill. So anytime a name popped up that I recognized (mostly from the D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths I read the kids last summer and the Age of Fable Lucy and I are reading now), I got pretty excited. Don't get me wrong, I got lost a lot and tried not to get too bogged down with exactly who all the individuals were but I was also pretty surprised at how often I  recognized a name!

- How the repetion of certain phrases starts to stick in your brain. I read the Fagles version because I happened to find it on our library's free shelf (and tried to read it but gave up before trying again this spring - hence putting this one in my Abandoned Classic catagory) but I've heard really good things about Emily Wilson's translations and I'd like to try my hand at that one but I've heard that she doesn't use the same phrases over and over again as much as other translations and I think I would find that sad. Those repetative ones are the parts that stick. I was reading something that suddenly had the word Dawn and immedietely my mind when to "rose red fingers" and it made me smile. Smiling over poetry, me? Who knew!

*catch the reference? Anyone?

The Odyssey is my Back to the Classic Challenge - Abandoned Classic selection.

Trent's Last Case

Ah, I just love a good mystery. They are my first loves when it comes to book genres. This is an early mystery and I think its considered the first detective novel (although I'm pretty sure I've heard that about other books and this was written after the Moonstone so take that for what it is - random old book gossip I heard). This is my first E. C. Bentley story and I hadn't ever heard of him until recently which is surprising given that he was president of the Detective Club and G. K Chesterton even dedicated The Man Who Was Thursday to him (although I had to spend all my time trying to figure out the basics of what was happening in that story that I had none to spare for the dedication).

It starts off like your run of the mill amateur detective story - not a bad one but nothing particularly special. I had heard that Dorothy Sayers was a fan of this story and while I was enjoying it, I was a but perplexed as to the great love....then about the half way point, the plot starts to thicken and the second half is just great fun. I never like to say too much about detective stories because I like to read them with very little prior information myself but I think anyone who considers themselves a classic mystery buff would enjoy this one. Just know if you try it, make sure you stick with it.

Trent's Last Case is my Genre Classic for The Back to the Classics Challenge.

Silence

This was on my Back to the Classics List last year but I didn't get to it. I chose Dante instead and I can't really feel bad about that but I am glad I did get to this. In fact, this came at just the right time for me.

It's not at all my normal type of book. I always hear people say "Oh, it was agonizing and heart-wrentching and I loved it" and all I can think of is "Ugh, why?!" Telling the story of a Portugeuse Jesuit priest who responds to the news of his former mentor apostasizing in Japan by going there himself to minister to the Japanese and face temptation himself, Silence is agonizing and heart-wrenching and I loved it! I told Craig he should watch the movie. I know I can't though!

So if you are looking for a well written, thought provoking book that makes you wrestle with hard ideas, I'd definitely recommend it!

(Spoilers ahead as I brain dump my thoughts on the book. You have been warned)

Besides being just the right timing for me for some personal reasons, it was also good timing as far as themes and other things I've been thinking about. I'm leading our youth Sunday School through James this year. We're taking the slow and steady approach but thinking about James and the idea of trials and growth and the connection between faith and actions really worked with this book. And then while I was reading this, a friend was reading Kristin Lavrasdattar and while in many ways, those books are completely opposite, thinking of my response to that book was surprisingly relevant to my response to this one and my mind has spent the last few weeks pondering those ideas.

Faith and the life of a follower of Christ - is it about how I live my life in obedience to Him and follow Him? Well, yes, and no.

Of course, ideally yes. As a Christian, I know that placed in unspeakable hard circumstances, I would want to respond like Corrie Ten Boom or Deitrich Bonhoeffer. I know they're admirable. I'd want my actions to be a mirror pointing those around to me Christ because they know I could only do what I am doing through His power.

But also no, its not about my response to God but His towards me. Because would I really respond that way? Can I know? And how should we feel about those that aren't capable of that, those with a weak faith but still faith.

There is no pit so deep that He [God] is not deeper still - Corrie Ten Boom

I'm a black and white thinker. I know exactly what I think Father Rodrigues should have done. And he didn't do it. But does that mean I think he didn't have faith? Shusako Endo sets the story up so perfectly having us judge certain people and their actions as the story progresses. But he ends up with, at least in my case, I feel like I'm right there with them making those poor decisions - and then feeling the joy that comes with knowing that doesn't mean my relationship with God is over just as I don't believe Rodrigues is over either.   Rodrigues failed God in that moment but I think the point  is more that God didn't fail him. Now the ending is sorta left open so those are all based on my view of the ending. But have you read it? Care to share your thoughts?

Silence in my Back to the Classics Challenge Classic in Translation Selection.

It will also count as my Foreign/Non-Western Book for the Lit Life 20 for 2020 Challenge and a novel for the Schole 5x5 challenge.

These book lists, they're killing me!

I didn't think I wanted to do any reading lists this year. I wanted a no-pressure, read what I want, do what I want year of reading. I wanted to tear off the shackles of my, uhm, I don't know. I picked the books on my list last year so I'm not sure what I wanted but I was pretty sure it would invovle a lack of book challenges. But then, well, they started popping up. And now, I've completely changed course and am reading for 3 different challenges.

Well, you know what they say about a woman's perogative. So what are the three?

#1 - Karen's Back to the Classics Challenge.

I think this is my 4th year. It's such a good one! Just enough limits that I'm challenged but enough flexibility that I'm not normally stuck reading something I don't want to. It pushes without being pushy. I am not picking all my books in advance this time, for any of the catagories, just a few to start with and I'll go from there. I'm sure some of the books I select for other catagories will work here too. And I'm going to be okay if I only get 6 or 9 catagories done. Enough with the overachieving.

Here are the Categories for that and my selections if I've picked on.  

1. 19th Century Classic.

2. 20th Century Classic. 

3. Classic by a Woman Author.

4. Classic in Translation. Silence (Spoiler, I just finished this! In a little under a week! Review coming soon.)

5. Classic by a Person of Color. 

6. A Genre Classic. Probably one of the many mysteries I'll read this year. Although I could probably be convinced to try a different genre if you have one you'd highly recommend. 

7. Classic with a Person's Name in the Title.  Emma? I think it needs a re-read before/after the movie comes out. 

8. Classic with a Place in the Title. Death on the Nile. 

9. Classic with Nature in the Title. How the Heather Looks - This is an AO Year 7 selection I didn't get to, because I was limiting myself to books I owned or could get from the library, but I'm going to buy in this time because I really really want to read this before the big move. I'm pretty sure I'll love it. 

10. Classic About a Family. This classic should have multiple members of the same family as principal characters, either from the same generation or multiple different generations.  Updated: Family members in the title are also acceptable.Examples include Sense and Sensibility; Wives and Daughters; The Brothers Karamazov; Fathers and Sons; The Good Earth; Howards End; and The Makioka Sisters.

11. Abandoned Classic. Choose a classic that you started and just never got around to finishing, whether you didn't like it at or just didn't get around to it. Now is the time to give it another try.

12. Classic Adaptation. Would Sanditon count I wonder? It's unfinished and fairly short but I've never read it and I'm watching the PBS version (Parts of which I like a lot - parts of which I DO NOT). If not maybe I'll put Emma here and do a different Person's name book. 

#2 - The Literary Life's 20 for 2020 Challenge

This one is also really flexible too but a few catagories will stretch me.

I'm tentatively planning to read The Odyssey so that will definitely count for intimidating (Oh, I just realized it would count for #11 with the B2CC too! If I don't abandon it again.) I just finished On Reading Well so that's my Book about Books, Northanger Abbey was my satire, An Emily Dickinson Poetry book and Lucy and I are reading Hamlet together so that will be my Shakespeare. I'm halfway through Trent's Last Case for my detective novel. I'd also like to do some Chekcov short stories for the short story one. Any ideas for Essays? Please don't say Wendell Barry, I have read and liked some of his essays but other times I just feel bogged down so the idea of a whole book of him is too much. Why don't I like him the way I should? I feel it's burden I must bare alone because Everyone Loves Wendell! Except me. And I have no idea for a Ancient Play. I've done Oeidpus Rex and once was enough but that's honestly the only one I can name!

#3 Schole Sisters 5x5 Challenge

This one is interesting because it's only 5 catagories but you pick them and read 5 things in each. 

My Catagories are

Poetry 

1) Emily Dickinson

2) The Odyssey

3)

4)

5)

History

1) Undaunted Courage

2) Churchill's History of English Speaking People #3 (I'm over half way through this 4 book series. I can't stop now!)

3) 

4)

5)

Novels - An Easy catagory of me but also important as I don't want all my must read for my reading list books to crowd out what I enjoy reading for its own sake. 

1) Something by Elizabeth Goudge

2) Heaven Tree Trilogy

3)

4)

5)

British Related - I need help here. What else would work well in this catagory? Could be fiction or non-fiction just things that give me inspiration when I'm overwhelmed with the moving process - or when I'm feeling homesick post-move. 

1) How the Heather Looks

2) The Wild Places

3)

4)

5)

Teaching Inspiration - some of these will probably be repeats but I need to revist them as my kid's are getting older and hitting new stages. 

1) The Living Page 

2) Mind to Mind

3) 

4)

5)

Whew, typing this all out has me half exhausted and half inspired. I think I could solve both those "problems" by curling up on the couch with a good book for a while. Better get to it before nap time ends.