14. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

My last read for February, this was one more of my online Group reads - Anne of Green Gables, a children's story, which turned out to be a most delightful, little read. Set in, from what I hear, the very picturesque Prince Edward Island in Canada, the pride and delight of the author in describing the beauty of the island, through the eyes of little Anne, was very apparent.

And little Anne turned out to be quite a character too! With no one immune or able to resist her enchanting influence, she thrills the otherwise quiet folks at Avonlea. That she charms the reader too, is a foregone conclusion.

The book was just the right length too, and ends with Anne as a 16 year old girl. Apparently there are sequels, but I would likely skip them, for I highly doubt the young woman, Anne, would hold my attention as much as girl Anne did.

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71. On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin

A Classic. One of the most pathbreaking books of all times. A book, which took me a little over a year to finish. "The" discourse on Evolution, the world of Darwin, which all of us are familiar with, we grew up in, with little understood or completely misunderstood and misused idioms like "Survival of the Fittest", which Darwin, interestingly attributes to Herbert Spencer.

I am sure everyone reading this review knows what the book would generally be about, and therefore, I would like to discuss some other features, which struck me. The book has a strong defensive undercurrent, through which Darwin at times is more concerned with defending his position than asserting his viewpoint. Darwin's tone, at places, where there is little proof to propagate his theory, is almost apologetic. Then he writes that many naturalists have come to terms with natural selection, while ridiculing others, who may still believe in independent creation of species.

Another most interesting observation was the glaring and most obvious absence of any definitive statement on the evolution of humans - a clear indication on Darwin's lack of willingness to rake up such a sensitive issue, his work being controversial enough as it already was. He touches upon this topic most superficially, carefully sandwiched in a para about Herbert Spencer and human psychology, "In the future I see open fields for far more important researches. Psychology will be securely based on the foundation already well laid by Mr. Herbert Spencer, that of the necessary acquirement of each mental power and capacity by gradation. Much light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history." Darwin revisited this topic 12 years later, in his The Descent of Man, by which time, the populace probably had enough time to digest and accept the basic tenets of evolution.

A timeless book, even if now dated.

66. Daisy Miller, and other Stories by Henry James

Image: Librarything

This was my first dalliance with Henry James; a short story collection, in my experience not the best way to sample an author, I have been known to not be blown away by short stories written even by my favourite authors. Happily (for me), such was not the case this time around. Henry James made me feel for the characters, even in the space of his short stories, no mean feat that one! This particular edition listed the following four short stories:-

1. Daisy Miller

2. Four Meetings

3. Longstaff's Marriage

4. Benvolio

I had considered and dismissed the notion of writing a few lines for each of the four short stories, but it didn't seem possible to do justice to any of them without dropping spoilers or outlining the storyline, and I hate to do either of them by myself, or for it to be done to me by someone else.

And so I ended up writing two very short paragraphs (sentences?) scratching the surface to let the reader decide if this would be something s/he would be interested in. If they wanted to read a summary, they would go to Cliff Notes, right?

So anyways, there is one common thread  that runs across the stories; that being that all the characters are caricatures of sorts, surreal, exaggerated to make a point; and yet they don't seem out of place in those stories; Be it the freshness of Daisy Miller, the naivety of Caroline Spencer, the absurdness of the Longstaff or the ridiculousness of Benvalio; they all gel together in the end.

All the stories were so wonderfully poetic, romantic, tragic, and it makes me more than a little curious, how his lengthier works (generally my bread, butter and dessert) span out. I have also picked up my next Henry James work, The Portrait of a Lady.

61. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

This book marks the beginning of my November reads. I am behind by nearly 3 weeks with my reviews, hopefully, I will soon catch up.

This book was one of my most impulsive reads. This one wasn't in my TBR, in any of the lists I sometime follow (that I know of), was not part of any Book Club reads, real life ones or otherwise, nor was it a recommendation. Long story short, I got around to reading it and well, it was quite interesting for a grim subject - the French Revolution.

This was my second book (after A Tale of Two Cities, but while The Tale of Two Cities went right into the heart of the matter, this one flirted and skirted around the issue, which is probably also the reason for it be the more cheerful of the two.

There is mystique (even if quite predictable), drama, and a sense of anticipation in the entire book. The length was just right, any longer and it would have been a drag. So was the general tone, tenor and characters - the good guys were really good, the bad really evil and the good guys with bad deeds, repentant, which made for some easy, uncomplicated reading.

While I am not really tempted as of now to read the sequels, for a standalone book, it worked out quite well.

56. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

Halloween 2013#1

I know this is a highly unusual book to kick-start my Halloween readings this year, but the book easily earns its place amongst the spookiest and the creepiest books out there. Nurse Ratched has easily made its mark as one of the most well known (if hated or feared or both) literary characters. I saw and recognised the Cuckoo setting in the "The Real Slim Shady" video, long before I ever read the book (even if I am unsure if Eminem ever formally recognised the inspiration). And then, there was the Jack Nicholson starrer movie version, not to mention countless references in books, TV Series and movies.

At a superficial level, the book is about a tug of war between the infamous Nurse Ratched (also referred to as the Big Nurse) and the incorrigible McMurphy. The anti-authoritarian stand Ken Kesey takes through this book is quite obvious and very, very well done - in sheer literary value and impact, it is just a notch below Orwell's 1984, less Dystopian and more realistic, which probably makes it scarier?

And then you start peeling and keep peeling and you are never sure how deep the rabbit hole goes. From the physically very feminine Nurse Ratched's sheer dominance over everyone else in the Institution - patients, other nurses, ward-boys, doctors, etc. to the imaginary (?) "Combine" the Chief is so afraid of.

There is a very obviously sexist tone to the book I didn't really care much about, but I will put it down to the times in which the book was written and move on, which is probably easier for me to do as a guy.

The ending of the book is no less powerful, quite Kafkaesque in its tragedy if you ask me, but probably absolutely necessary for the message to get across.

55. Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Tarzan has never been my favourite character, be it the comics or the cartoons - now Mowgli was an entirely different story! And the irony strikes. In the last year or so, I have read both the Jungle Books, which were barely readable, the characters nowhere as snappy as I remembered them from my childhood cartoons.

And so, it was with great skepticism that I started with Tarzan of the Apes, and was I surprised! The writing was very simple, the story captivating and the characters endearing, even if stereotypical - be it the pretty, pretty Jane, the absent minded Professor or the mighty Tarzan. The never ending victories of Tarzan were not dull, nor were the highly noticeable and distinct villains bothersome. The repetitive fainting of poor Esmeralda did get on my nerves a few time, but well, she had a character to play as well, did I mention stereotypical?

The ending of the book didn't lack in flourish either and I am left wondering, whether to dare the sequel and risk getting my impression shattered or go the way of Dune and Ender's Game and leave the series on a high with fond memories and none of the regrets.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

Book #52 - 2013

Read for a RL Book Club. My first feeling after reading this tome of a book, was that I was SCAMMED! Upon further examination, careful consideration and deeper deliberation, I came to the conclusion that my prima facie, snap judgement was indeed spot on! Scammed I definitely was, no two ways about it! Lured by reputation, snared by that horrible book-lust, I was made to read a 400+ page book, a book with little semblance of a plot, a static storyline and god-awful characters who first irritated, then agitated and later annoyed me to no end. And the character development, what to say about the character development, or the lack thereof, that even after wading through this book and making it to the end, we still have only and elementary and superficial understanding about the characters. Was the purpose to show the volatility of Spaniards? Perhaps...but it still doesn't excuse the blatant disregard to even making an attempt at understanding the thought process of any of the characters. I am at a loss to comprehend, how could this doorstopper of a thing be dubbed as a piece of Literature, a Type II error perhaps?

The Old Man and the Sea, was probably in the not-good-not-bad category, and even that had a story, which moved, even if painstakingly! Such frivolities and excesses can, however, be overlooked in short stories. My feedback – Stay away from Hemingway! Read Alistair Maclean if you want to read War stories.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Book #50 - 2013

Another book for my RL book club, and one I was hugely excited about, the book being a Wilde after all. While I won't go as far as to say Plays aren't my thing, they are definitely not my staple reading either. There have been a number of plays I have read and enjoyed, but I always have suspected in it being my luck more than anything else, in picking those plays - not to mention, the not-so-decent plays are thankfully, easily forgotten. The witticism, the cynicism, the antipathy, were all there as they could be expected to be and the play more or less delivered to my ridiculously high expectations.

And the quotes, oh the quotes!

"The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means."

“My dear fellow, the truth isn’t quite the sort of thing one tells to a nice, sweet, refined girl. What extraordinary ideas you have about the way to behave to a woman!”

“Never speak disrespectfully of Society, Algernon. Only people who can’t get into it do that.”

...and there were many more...

The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain

Book #45 - 2013

Wow! A superb thriller with a minimal of characters (and really weird ones at that!) and hardly the semblance of a plot. And yet, the story progresses, like a ticking time bomb, till everything comes to culmination. An interesting read, despite the lack of character development, Hitchcockish in a way (the movies), with the final twist being accidental, a point where it deviates from the creations of the brilliant filmmaker.