Strong Motion by Jonathan Franzen

I really, really loved this book, which is probably an understatement. For the first time, in a while, a writer verging on genius has managed to keep my attention and will for longer than say 5-10 minutes. This novel was written in 1992, before his first blockbuster novel The Corrections (which I have not read yet, surprisingly, and I am glad). I think I was so engaged because, in 1992, I was 23-24 years old myself, like Louis. So, of course, I related to him in many ways, even though we don't share our gender.

Franzen manages to be, in his own way, political without being overly forceful or preachy with his ideas, which to me is the best way to both get your point across and not take away from the very story one is attempting to write. I also appreciated his incredible characterization and the intricacies within the relationships between the characters. He manages to show us through a beautiful and engaging story that men and women are inherently the same once we can get past our biology, and my identifying with Louis greatly helped this along for me. In the end, the reader is left with a feeling that life is never simple no matter what we encounter along the way, but we have the power to simplify things within ourselves.

I would say my favorite aspect of this book is Franzen's ability to engage us. I have had trouble as of late remaining interested and passionate about writing in my jaded, post-English degree state, but Strong Motion allowed me to forget all that and remember there is such a thing as really good writing.

I am definitely looking forward to reading The Corrections because from what I have heard, it is even better!(less)
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Cranford: A Final Review

Since I will be leaving shortly on my Venice and the Italian Lakes adventure, and my blog will officially be on vacation, I wanted to finish up my review of Cranford before leaving. I apologize in advance for not being around to participate and comment, but I will pick up where I left off when I return:

All in all, I grew to love the novel, even though the beginning was difficult for me. I grew to love the little village, and long to find a place just like Cranford to put down roots with my own family (although my husband would come along! hopefully, he wouldn't be intruding). I think the following quotation is a good representation of the novel:

"But to return to Miss Matty. It was really very pleasant to see how her unselfishness, and simple sense of justice, called out the same good qualities in others. She never seemed to think anyone would impose upon her, because she should be so grieved to do it to them. I have heard her put a stop to the asseverations of the man who brought her coals, by quietly saying 'I am sure you would be sorry to bring me wrong weight'; and if the coals were short measure that time, I don't believe they ever were again. People would have felt as much ashamed of presuming on her good faith as they would have done on that of a child. But my father says, 'such simplicity might be very well in Cranford, but would never do in the world'."

Yes, I believe that too, at least not in my world. I love Matty's simplicity and good faith and her love of children is very telling. She is like a child in both her innocence and belief in others, and if only everyone could learn from her example, how this world would be a better place!

So far, I have yet to find a place like Cranford, but I will keep looking. I will always have this novel at least to read over and over again to keep my own faith in humanity going.

I am changing my rating to 5 stars for this very unique and touching novel, and I hope to continue reading more of Gaskell's work in the future. Happy Reviewing!

A Bien Tot!
Susan

Cranford: A Review of the First Half

Up until a couple of days ago, I had been dreading writing this review. This is my first official blog read-along and I really, really did not want to hate the book and so give it a negative response. It wasn't until I was well into the second half of the book that my attention was caught. The chapter called The Panic was so hilariously funny, I decided to go back and re-read the whole thing! I figured that I wasn't really giving the novel my undivided attention (which I really wasn't), since I was in the middle of reading 4 other novels.

I think the main problem was, in my case, that I had seen the Cranford BBC mini-series, and was expecting quite a different novel. I did not realize that the series was not only based on Cranford, but other short stories by Gaskell as well. I loved the Cranford film, especially the male characters, so when I get to the book and all the male characters die in the first few chapters, I was really disappointed to say the least, not to mention the complete absence of the young doctor, who really made the series to me. It took me a while, but I eventually forgave Gaskell for not combining all her writing into Cranford. A novel that is about mostly women and their contained lives within a small town in mid-nineteenth century England does have some redeeming qualities, after all.

It is at times very dark and very real, at times heartbreaking and other times awe-inspiring, and still others times, rip roaringly funny. There is quite a good amount of death happening, and most of it is so very sudden, without much commotion corresponding to the event. It is almost as if, since death happens so often and so easily at this period in history, people are more accustomed to the aftermath. I actually like that it is written in a mostly vignette form with very little plot continuity. It enables the reader to sit down and read a chapter whenever he/she feels the urge. It definitely helped me after I decided to re-read the whole bloody thing. (I cannot tell a lie--I did skip over some of the vignettes the second reading. Some are really just too boring and too filled with inconsequential details.)

Miss Matty is by far my favorite character in the novel. I love her naivete, her caring attitude towards others, her sense of doing what is right and what is honest, and her acceptance of people for who they really are. She honors the memory of her sister Deborah in her healthy sense of propriety, but at the same time, she does eventually move on to live her own life after her death. Miss Matty tries to hold on to the traditions of her sister, but because of Matty's strong sense of, not necessarily a moral code, but a strong sort of empathy for others, she does let many of the senseless (though she herself would never call them that) rules go in favor of a more caring, make-everyone-happy approach. I also love how the narrator, Miss Smith, and her observations and contributions really increased the depth of compassion that we feel towards Miss Matty. I think Miss Matty made the novel for me. I entirely felt her pain and understood her softness amidst her sister Deborah's authoritarian rule. She respected her sister and many of the other characters in this small town. Miss Matty is definitely a character to whom I can relate.

I don't wish to say too much, since I am only reviewing the first half of the novel, so I will finish my first review with a tentative 4 stars for this novel, with more to come next week for the review of the final half. (I am subtracting one star, not for any fault in Gaskell's writing, but in the fact that there are times that my attention flagged and the book did not sustain my interest.)

Book Review: Les Particules (The Elementary Particles) by Michel Houellebecq

This is a truly ugly book with little bits of beauty hidden within its hatred. The author is a French novelist who was highly acclaimed by reviewers when this novel was published in 2000, at the turn of the millennium. If I hadn't been so sure of the author's satirical commentary on modern society and its danger of decline, I would have been tempted to push myself down the stairs in a wheelchair, like one of his characters, after reading it! I would not recommend this book to those who are faint of heart, or in a fragile mental state. That said, I believe Houellebecq has a lot to say in this book, and, for those with an open-minded global understanding of the world since the turn of the millennium, this book is a must-read. I personally am not fond of post-modern literature because of its gloom and doom, but for some reason this book really resonated with me. Out of all its despair and hatred, I found that I emerged from the reading with an unexpected hope for mankind and its future. In the words of Chuck Palahniuk: "It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything." . Engaging in this text allows the reader to start anew, after all of this dreadful post-modern angst has finally ceased.

The Marriage of the Sea by Jane Allison: Review

I agree with other reviewers that the book is confusing, but I think the book is truly a representation of the sea itself, at times murky, always beautiful. The characters are always within a kind of watery dance with each other, and the cities of Venice and New Orleans are beautifully described and embodied within the language. I am presently about half way through...I'll let you know how I feel at the end...4 stars so far...