Austenland

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a thirty-something woman in possession of a satisfying career and a fabulous hairdo must be in want of very little, and Jane Hayes, pretty enough and clever enough, was certainly thought to have little to distress her.  There was no husband, but those weren’t necessary anymore.  There were boyfriends, and if they came and went in a regular stream of mutual dissatisfaction – well, that was the way of things, wasn’t it?  But Jane had a secret.”

My best friend has been recommending this book ever since she discovered it.  She’s a librarian, so that was probably immediately after it came out two years ago.  She knows me pretty well, especially when it comes to books.  And she was dead on with this recommendation.

Jane Hayes has had (in her mind) 13 boyfriends in her life, none of whom have met her expectations as to what a boyfriend should be.  Unfortunately, her ideal man is none other than Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice.  And not only Mr. Darcy, but the Colin Firth version of Mr. Darcy.  She has a hidden copy of the mini series on DVD which she pulls out regularly to get her Darcy fix.  And she’s nearly resigned herself to the fact that she will never find Mr. Darcy and should just settle for whatever comes along next when a distant relative passes away and leaves her an all-expenses-paid trip to Pembrook Park.  Pembrook is an English resort which caters to the Austen-obsessed, fully immersing them in the world of Regency period England; complete with costumes and etiquette requirements.  Jane is face to face with her lifelong obsession with all things Darcy and, not sure what’s real and what isn’t when it comes to relationships at Pembrook, grows more and more exasperated with the men there.

This is every woman’s dream come true.  Well, every woman who has ever found themselves longing for their own Mr. Darcy (especially the Colin Firth Mr. Darcy!).   Jane provides the perfect everywoman as a character – the rational mind trying to outdo the emotional heart, second-guessing her every decision, and allowing her fancies to get the best of her at times.  We travel along with her as she tries to escape her obsession and relationship issues, finally coming to terms with her Darcy fetish.  All I can say, is that if you love anything Austen, you’ll want to grab this book.  I’m tempted to add it to my own personal collection, and consider myself a bit indebted to my friend for her fantastic recommendation.

Shannon Hale wrote “Austenland” and it was published in 2007.

Cold Comfort Farm

“The education bestowed on Flora Poste by her parents had been expensive, athletic and prolonged; and when they died within a few weeks of one another during the annual epidemic of the influenza or Spanish Plague which occurred in her twentieth year, she was discovered to possess every art and grace save that of earning her own living.”

This is one of those little treasures of a novel that I didn’t even know existed until I heard a brief mention of them somewhere out in internet land and it stuck in my brain just long enough for me to hit the library.  Sort of like what happened with Agnes Grey.  I heard a podcaster rave reviews about this book, even going as far as to design some knit socks after some of the characters and, my friends, in my world?  Having inspired knit wear is one of the highest accolades one can achieve.

Miss Flora Poste has been left to fend for herself in the world.  And, despite having gobs of friends and family who are willing to look after her, settles on moving to Cold Comfort Farm – home of her cousins the Starkadders.  Descending upon the Starkadders, Flora is startled and satisfied to find them properly backwards and insane.  There is Elfine, wild and beautiful and fairylike.  Seth the young man “brimming over with sex” who finds Flora amusing, and Amos – the hellfire and brimstone preacher.  Judith, who has an unnatural obsession, and of course the matriarch – Aunt Ada Doom – who remains in her room with her memories of “something nasty in the woodshed.”  Using her smart sense and knowledge of the modern world, Flora takes it upon herself to bring the entire family around to her way of thinking and ideas on what farm living should be like.

This book was groundbreaking as a parody – most noticeably of “Wuthering Heights” although the author claimed she was parodying other books published around the same time that have since fallen out of public awareness.  I, personally, have no problem reading a parody of “Wuthering Heights” considering I severely disliked the novel.  This novel has everything of “Heights” in it, without all the emotional overflow.  Instead of drama and sickly sweet anguish, Flora brings humor and sarcasm and wit into the picture – which is much appreciated.  It has clear inspiration drawn from Wodehouse – many of the characters take themselves way too seriously while the others see them for what they really are. I found much entertainment in it once I was able to slog through the first chapter until Flora gets to the farm itself.  And I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor once in a while.

“Cold Comfort Farm” was written by Stella Gibbons and published in 1932.

Woman in the Dark

“Her right ankle turned under her and she fell.  The wind blowing downhill from the south, whipping the trees beside the road, made a whisper of her exclamation and snatched her scarf away into the darkness.  She sat up slowly, palms on the gravel pushing her up, and twisted her body sidewise to release the leg bent beneath her.  Her right slipper lay in the road close to her feet.  When she put it on she found its heel was missing.  She peered around, then began to hunt for the heel, hunting on hands and knees uphill into the wind, wincing a little when her right knee touched the road.”

A short novel, most people have never heard of this Hammett work.  It’s the story of a young woman who wanders, wounded, out of the dark to a cabin.  She’s on the run and what’s chasing her soon follows and begins to hurt everyone who helps her.

This is a great example of Hammett’s work.  In fact, this story may rival both “The Thin Man” and “The Maltese Falcon” in my favorites category.  Probably because this is such a short story – it allows the author to do so little, yet the author does so much.  By the end of the tale, we have been properly terrified, horrified, and kept on the edge of our recliners in suspense.  He takes such simple sentences and uses them like deft brush-strokes to completely outline a character, a scene, and a plot.  You have no doubt about what a person is like, where they are, and what is going on – but if you look back over what you just read, there isn’t a whole lot to look back over.  Hammett is the master of blunt prose – as tough as Sam Spade but as descriptive and lovely as Nora Charles.

“Woman in the Dark” was written by Dashiell Hammett and published in 1933 in serial, and as a book in 1950.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

“In later years, holding forth to an interviewer or to an audience of aging fans at a comic book convention, Sam Clay liked to declare, apropos of his and Joe Kavalier’s greatest creation, that back when he was a boy, sealed and hog-tied inside the airtight vessel known as Brooklyn, New York, he had been haunted by dreams of Harry Houdini.”

When you think of a fantastic (or does one dare say “great”?) American novel, you rarely have the image of a comic book come to mind.  But the frightfully good writing of Michael Chabon has taken the roots of the comic book industry – placed in the hands of two young men coming of age during the time of Hitler – and turned it into a marvelous picture of America’s coming of age, spanning decades and ideals and standards.

Sam Clay has grown up with his father – a strongman in a circus – never around.  Suffering from polio damaged legs, all Sam dreams about is being a comic book legend.  When his cousin from German, Joe Kavalier, arrives mysteriously (having been smuggled most magically out of the country) Sam finds his partner.  Joe’s ability to draw, to bring Sam’s stories to life, is profound.  Immediately, the pair set out to create America’s next great comic book superhero; each for their own reasons.

Despite my lack of interest in the comic book world, or its history, I enjoyed this book.  I have a fondness for stories which cut a broad swath through a person’s history; I like background and origin, crises and resolution, and even the golden years of fading away in reflection.  Which may explain why I have trouble focusing on the snap shots of the short story genre.  This book provides a nearly complete synopsis of both Kavalier and Clay – from beginning to end.  Not everything is outright written, but everything is implied.  Just the sort of story I like.  I came to love Sammy, Joe, Tommy, and Rosa simply because I felt I knew them.  I knew their histories – even the parts they were unaware of.  I fretted over them and wished for the best in their lives.  And befriending characters is my ideal way of working my way through a novel.  I have heard that this is the best of Chabon’s novels, so it may be a while before I venture into another of his works.  But I’m certain sometime in the future I’ll find myself browsing along his shelf in the library and bringing something home.

“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” was written by Michael Chabon and published in 2000.

Inkheart

“Rain fell that night, a fine, whispering rain.  Many years later, Meggie had only to close her eyes and she could still hear it, like tiny fingers tapping on the windowpane.  A dog barked somewhere in the darkness, and however often she tossed and turned Meggie couldn’t get to sleep.”

When a strange man named Dustfinger shows up one night on their front porch, 12 year old Meggie and her father Mo have their lives thrown into turmoil.  Dustfinger warns Mo that a deeply evil man named Capricorn is after something in Mo’s possession and will stop at nothing to get it.  Meggie, Dustfinger, and Mo flee to a distant relative’s house – Elinor – but that doesn’t save them from being caught up in Capricorn’s plans to use them for his own ends.  What follows is an adventure straight out of Meggie’s favorite storybooks but much more real and deadly as she realizes how very special she and her father are and what will be required of them before Capricorn is through.

Translated from the original German, this novel manages to retain the poetic quality of the story within both the plot and the writing style.  Meggie is a lovely character to travel along with, despite her stubbornness and sometimes annoying loyalty to her father.  At times I wondered how many times Meggie would actively disobey her father and walk directly back into harms’ way – it got a bit repetitive after the first three.  The only other complaint I have is this: as great as this story is, it often felt like it wandered.  I didn’t ever feel like there was a set goal for the story.  There was the unspoken and universal concept of ridding the world of a very bad man, but neither Mo nor Meggie really fought for that.  Instead, they somewhat floated along as Capricorn wanted them to until an opportunity presented itself to change their circumstances.  Elinor felt like the only violently dynamic character in the entire court.

Still, there is no way I cannot recommend this book to anyone who enjoys young adult fiction, fantasy, or reading in general.  While it has its flaws, the story is still delightful and Mo is the most perfect of doting fathers.  The air of secrecy and of “specialness” that pervades the pages keeps you reading.  The concept is lovely and intriguing – which of us has not wanted to slip into the worlds of our favorite books?

“Inkheart” was written by Cornelia Funke and published in 2003.