Book 11- "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte

So I have to admit that the reason I jumped from "The Jungle Book" to "Jane Eyre" was twofold-- I felt like I didn't want to cop-out and read another short book to get "caught up" on my list, and I am interested in seeing the new movie adaptation of "Jane Eyre" starring Mia Wasikowska (who played Alice in the live action adaptation of "Alice in Wonderland.") I generally like to read a book before I see a movie based on the book (yeah, I'm one of those) so I chose this one next.

What I didn't expect was to finish this 593 page book in 2 1/2 days, staying up until at least 2 a.m. both nights. I shouldn't keep being surprised by how good some of these books are (they are, after all, classics) but this one drew me in from the beginning, and I enjoyed it immensely.

It reminded me a bit of "Rebecca" in certain ways-- mousy young girl falls in love with older man in a higher class than herself, only to discover he has a mysterious past. The only way I can think to describe the difference in the two books, though, is to say that in my opinion, "Rebecca" revolves more around the romantic relationship, whereas "Jane Eyre" revolves chiefly around Jane herself. The romance doesn't even surface until close to halfway through the book.

Jane Eyre was orphaned almost at birth and taken in by her mother's brother. Her mother's family had opposed her marriage to Jane's father due to the fact that he was of a lower class, so when Jane's uncle takes her in, his wife is none to pleased. The uncle then dies, after making his wife promise to raise Jane as her own child.

Jane spends 10 years in the care of her aunt, who does not, in fact, treat her as her own child, but instead treats her the same as she would a servant, without actually making her do work. She lets her own three children abuse Jane, and abuses her herself, until Jane finally fights back one day and is then locked in a dark, "haunted" room for hours. She has a panic attack and is ill for days, and the doctor suggests to Jane's aunt that she be sent away to school.

Jane is then transferred to the Lowood Institution, which is basically a boarding school/home for orphaned or abandoned girls. She lives there until she is 18, and after a rough start, learns to love the school, even teaching there for 2 years. When she is 18, though, she realizes that she wants to explore more of the outside world, and advertises for a position as a teacher. Her advertisement is answered by a woman looking for a governess for a 10 year old girl, and Jane is hired.

The girl is the ward of a rich man (he is supposedly the father, but doesn't really believe he is... the mother was a bit of a floozy. But she abandoned the girl in his care, and he took pity.) Jane loves her new home and her job, and eventually falls in love with the master/owner of the home, Mr. Rochester. He, too, falls in love with her (despite their 20 year age difference) and they decide to marry... which is where things go a bit awry.

Though there are about 200 pages of story left at this point, I'll end my summary there... I always have a hard time determining which bits of information are OK to share and which cross the line into "spoiler" territory. What I will say is that it is very worth reading the book, as it is pretty easy to read and is endlessly entertaining.

And if I do get the opportunity to see the latest adaptation of the book, I will try to remember to post a blog on that as well... if it follows closely enough to the book, you non-readers might save yourself hours of reading. (Bonus--the movie includes an actress named "Imogen Poots." Which is a giggle-fest.) But if you're a reader, I'd highly recommend "Jane Eyre." It drew me in and kept me interested, did not disappoint with the ending, and cemented my loyal adoration of the Bronte sisters (though I have yet to read a book by Anne-- perhaps that's next!)

Book 10- "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling

Apologies for my absence to my loyal readers-- Owen's illness has (*hopefully*) been resolved by having tubes put in his ears, but immediately after that I had to prepare for a trip to VA and Addison's 4th birthday party, so though I started reading this weeks ago, I only finished it yesterday.

Because I grew up with Disney, I assumed "The Jungle Book" was a story about a boy who grew up in the jungle, raised by singing animals. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Mowgli is only the main character in half of the short stories in this book (I didn't even know it was a book of short stories!!). Of the other stories, only one of them was familiar to me-- "Rikki-tikki-tavi."

The first three stories in the book, "Mowgli's Brothers," "Kaa's Hunting," and "Tiger! Tiger!" revolve around Mowgli. Mowgli is found wandering the jungle by a pack of wolves, who adopt him as one of their own cubs. Shere Khan, local lazy tiger, considered the boy his dinner and demanded his return; the wolves left the matter up to the wolf pack, who decide that the boy can be raised as a wolf. Shere Khan vows to kill Mowgli someday, and Mowgli's new wolf-mom vows that someday Mowgli will kill Khan (Seriously? Disney definitely left all the murder-y subtext out of the movie.) Throughout the three stories, Mowgli learns the laws of the jungle from Baloo the bear (although with significantly less "bear necessities" singing) and Bagheera the panther, is saved from monkeys by Kaa the snake, and is sent to live with humans. He is sent to live with humans because the new generation of the wolf pack have decided to reject the teenaged Mowgli, and the humans, though they accept him for awhile, eventually kick him out because they believe he is evil. He still manages to kill Shere Khan at long last, and returns to live in the jungle, although still as an outcast from the wolf pack.

After these 3 stories is "The White Seal," a story about a (you guessed it) white seal who is not content with his ancestral practice of beating the snot out of each other for beach "space" while a whole bunch of the young seals are herded off and slaughtered by men. The men are afraid of the white seal (Kotick) and do not want to kill him; however, he follows them and witnesses the slaughter and skinning of his friends, and vows to find a place without men where the seals can live peacefully. He embarks on his journey and eventually finds a place, but then has to convince all of the stubborn seals who actually like fighting over beach space and don't care about the massacres to follow him to the new beach. How does he do this? By beating the snot out of each and every one of the adult seals until they agree to follow him. Not sure why Disney didn't jump at this story.

Next is "Rikki Tikki Tavi," about a mongoose who takes up living with a colonial English family in the middle of nowhere. He saves the young boy in the family from a snake, which angers the cobras that live outside the house... they decide to kill the family to drive Rikki-Tikki away (seems like kind of a drastic measure to me.) Rikki fights the male cobra in the middle of the night, keeping him at bay until the man of the house gets his gun and shoots the cobra. This (obviously) angers the cobra's widow, who is then determined to kill everyone. Rikki smashes all of her eggs but one, and uses the one remaining egg as leverage to get her away from the family... his diversion works, but she escapes with the egg down into her hole. Rikki goes right down with her and after a few minutes, emerges and declares that she is gone and won't be coming back. No details are given as to what happened in the snake hole, but my guess isn't that he reasoned with her and convinced her to find a new place to live.

So far we've had a man raised by wolves, a bear, a panther, monkeys, several snakes, seals, and a mongoose... next we finally have elephants! "Toomai of the Elephants" is about a boy whose father is an elephant handler of sorts. Toomai wants to be an elephant handler/hunter himself, but is told that he can't be an elephant handler until he sees the elephants dance (which is the sarcastic-jerkface way of telling him "never".) One night, Toomai's elephant escapes from his pen, and allows Toomai to ride on his back as he goes miles and miles out into the jungle. Toomai realizes after awhile that hundreds of elephants have all gathered and are stomping around, "dancing." Toomai is basically too terrified for his life to pay much attention, but when he returns home and tells his story to all the adults, a ceremony is held in his honor and he is called "Toomai of the Elephants," and is told that he will have control/brotherhood with all the elephants in the jungle from that day on.

The last story is called "Her Majesty's Servants." Bored me to tears, so not much to report. Basically, a soldier overhears a conversation between a whole bunch of animals.

Overall, I thought the book was interesting. I was glad that it was broken into short stories, because I'm not sure how I'd have stayed as interested in novel-length versions of any of these stories by themselves. I can see why the children's versions of these stories are so different from this book-- almost every single story has some kind of murder/slaughter, which isn't exactly kid-friendly. My only complaint is that a lot of the stories lacked a little depth-- particularly the "White Seal" story. It just felt a little too narrative to me... I'm not sure how to describe it. I liked the stories about Mowgli the best, and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi... the others were just kind of "OK."

Book 9- "Phantom of the Opera" by Gaston Leroux

When I was talking to my Grandma about this book list the other day, I happened to mention that since I have thus far really enjoyed most of the books I've read, I'm becoming a little afraid that I'm inadvertently front-loading my reading choices, leaving myself to a very dreary, dry, slow-moving fall and winter. When I finished "Sleepy Hollow," I decided I would choose one of the books on my list that I had been kind of avoiding, due to my assumption that they wouldn't be as enjoyable as others might be. Which is how I ended up reading "Phantom of the Opera." Which just goes to show how little I know.

I chose "Phantom" because I assumed it would be long winded and dry. I

mean, with an author named "Gaston Leroux" I knew it was French, and I've never been interested in or impressed by anything French (sorry, France lovers.) I mean, sure, I realize it's a huge success and a very, VERY famous book / musical / movie / Halloween costume, but I still figured I'd be biting a bullet and getting a crappy book out of my way.

WRONG.

I felt justified in my decision through the prologue and the first few pages, which were pretty long winded and boring... but that was about it. I read the whole book in less than 24 hours, unable to put it down for more than an hour or two at a time before I'd pick it back up again. I read it the whole way through my kid's naps and well after everyone had gone to bed. When the battery on my Nook finally gave out two pages from the end of the story, I thought I was going to die (which, in my opinion, is the ONLY drawback to e-readers.)

"Phantom of the Opera" starts out in the Paris Opera House, which is supposedly haunted by the "Opera Ghost." All kinds of strange happenings are blamed on the Opera Ghost, and although everyone jokes about it, everyone kind of takes it seriously too. The managers of the Opera House are retiring and being replaced by two other managers, and during the farewell celebration for the departing managers, an employee is found hanging in one of the cellars. It is immediately blamed on the Opera Ghost, and the departing managers confide in the new managers that the Opera Ghost, or O.G., has left them notes in the past and that they actually abide by a list of rules he left for them. Most importantly, O.G. demands a monthly sum of money and insists that Box Five never be sold, so that he can use it at his discretion to watch the shows whenever he feels like it. The new managers disregard the list as a joke, determined to prove that O.G. does not exist.

The parallel plot line involves Christine Daae, an up-and-coming opera singer, and Vicomte Raoul de Chagny, childhood companion of Christine. Raoul is so far above Christine socially that a romantic relationship is considered an impossibility for them, but that does not change the fact that they are in love with one another, although neither one has yet admitted it. When Raoul goes to Christine's dressing room to confront her with his feelings, he is pulled into a whirlwind of strange events going on in her life. The most dramatic event is her interactions with "the Angel of Music," a being who sounds suspiciously similar to the Opera Ghost. Christine believes that her late father sent the Angel to her to teach her to sing better and help her succeed, and only too late realizes that she is in real danger, and that things are not as they seem.

The two plot lines come together pretty explosively during a performance in which the star of the show, a woman for whom Christine is the understudy, begins inexplicably croaking like a toad. During the commotion that ensues, a chandelier comes crashing down from the ceiling, killing a woman who was a guest of one of the new managers. The new managers, for their part, had defied O.G.'s demand to put Christine in as star that night, and had further aggravated him by watching the show from his "private" seats in Box Five. After this performance, the managers disbelief in the Opera Ghost is shaken, and Christine disappears for two weeks.

I think I'm going to end my summary there, about two-thirds of the way through the story... there's just too much to the ending that could be given away by going further. I'll just say that although there was a lot of things happening that I predicted/assumed, there were a lot of twists that I didn't expect, and by the end of the story I couldn't believe I had ever thought that it would be stuffy and uninteresting.

I would recommend this book to anyone, almost as much as I recommended "Rebecca"... I think it could appeal to almost any kind of reader, although I would probably classify it as a romance. Or maybe "romantic suspense." Whatever the genre, it's a book that I know I will read again, and is the first that makes me want to track down one of the movie versions. I'm kind of dying to see how well it does or doesn't translate to screenplay... it better be as awesome as the book, that's all I'm saying.

(And I'm really confused as to why the movie stills I've seen portray the "Phantom" with a mask that covers about 1/3 of his face... in the book, that would definitely not be enough. I guess the movies have to make him a heartthrob. Shame. Confused? Maybe you should read it......)

Book 8- "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving

So this is the second time I'm going to be struggling to put my thoughts into words. And it makes sense, really... this "book" was even shorter than Alice in Wonderland, at 27 pages (on my Nook). I'm not ashamed to admit I picked "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" this time because I am getting way behind on my reading, due to my son's illness, and thought I could squeeze this one in during nap time with no problem.

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," as most people know, is about Ichabod Crane, a school teacher living in a small, "haunted" town called Sleepy Hollow. The most famous ghost story told amongst the townspeople is of the Headless Horseman who supposedly rides around throughout the night and returns to the church cemetary in the morning. Most of the story is about Crane trying to woo local heiress Katrina Van Tassel, in competition with local eligible bachelor Brom Van Brunt. Eventually, Crane is rejected by Katrina, and on his way home from her house, he is scared by what he believes to be the Headless Horseman. It is later eluded to that the figure Crane saw was actually Van Brunt in disguise, but he is successful in scaring Crane away, as Crane is never seen in Sleepy Hollow again. It is later reported that he moved to New York and became a lawyer, but the townspeople insist on believing instead that he also haunts the town, a victim of the Headless Horseman.

I don't feel bad about "spoiling" the ending of this, as it is a very commonly known story... there are several children's book adaptations and movies of this book, and being that it's so short, it would be hard for me to summarize it without giving the ending away. I will say that, being so familiar with the tale through children's books and movies, the most surprising thing to me was that in my opinion, Ichabod Crane is a pretty unlikeable character; his interest in Katrina Van Tassel is purely financial, as he spends a lot of time fantasizing about all the food he'll eat and people he'll snub when he marries her and gains her riches, even though people treat him kindly and he has no reason to treat them so pompously. His thoughts and fantasies kind of take away some of his "underdog" likability and make him a completely different character, at least to me.

I did like Irving's descriptions of the town and its people... for instance, the description of Crane is as follows:

"He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together. His head was small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weather-cock perched upon his spindle neck to tell which way the wind blew. To see him striding along the profile of a hill on a windy day, with his clothes bagging and fluttering about him, one might have mistaken him for the genius of famine descending upon the earth, or some scarecrow eloped from a cornfield."

Some of Irving's descriptions were a bit too drawn out for my liking, but I did enjoy his word play and general language-- it made the book easy to read without dumbing it down too much.

Overall, it was worth reading, but if you've ever heard the story before, reading the book doesn't really give you any new information or different perspective. It's just a good story.

Pickles on a River

Ok, one more blurb and then I seriously am going to bed.

Addison is getting better at figuring things out in context. She can figure out the meaning of a word by listening to the rest of a sentence, and figure out what an item is by using clues on the wrapper/packaging/etc. She's usually pretty right, but the other day, she was WAY off...

We were at Bath and Body Works, getting a strong air freshener for Owen's room. I had to run to the food court bathroom to change Owen's diaper (for the 2nd time in 15 minutes) and while I was gone, Addison happened upon this candle:

(Sorry about all the white space-- I stole it from Google image search and am too tired / don't care enough to crop it.)

After looking at the picture, Addison sniffed the candle deeply, looked at her Daddy, and said,

"Mmmmmm. Smells like pickles on a river!"

Ahh. So proud.

The Story of Boon

Let me begin by apologizing once again that I am falling behind in my classics-reading quest. I have not forgotten; Owen has been sick since December and I am struggling to find free time. It was easier when he merely had bilateral ear infections-- that didn't affect our daily routine much. But now that he has a rash on his rear end that the doctor has us treating with both antifungal AND antibiotic ointments, as well as fluid behind his ear drums and a serious bacterial infection of his colon, it's safe to say that free time arrives sparingly, and is usually used to tend to the slightly more important matters of laundry, dishes, and feeding my children.

So today, instead of relating to my readers a synopsis / review of a book I have read, I am instead going to TELL a story.

Enjoy.

**The Story of Boon**

Once upon a time, a boy named Owen was growing up in a relatively small, quiet town in Pennsylvania. He was a happy child (once his first 4 or so months had passed) and needed little more than his parents and his sister to keep him entertained. He was, however, stricken with a paralyzing fear of balloons. On strings, off strings, floating in the air, being tossed around from person to person-- all balloons caused Owen to scream and cower in terror. His parents had to be careful about where they were seated in restaurants, because if they ended up in a booth by balloons, there would be trouble.

Then, one day, Owen went to visit his friends Matthew and Andrew. While army-crawling around on the carpet, Owen happened upon a really exciting looking string. He chewed the string for awhile, then started to pull on it, wondering what was attached.

Lo and behold! It was a balloon! Owen tentatively jerked on the string, first just once, then repeatedly, excited at the bobbing and jumping of the not-so-scary-after-all balloon. He spent the rest of his visit solely with the balloon (Matthew and Andrew had to entertain themselves with Owen's big sister, Addison), and a new love was born.

When Owen arrived home, he discovered that the gold Green Bay Packers balloon, only a few days ago so terrifying, was still in the house (stowed away in the office.) He began to bring it everywhere. What a friend! What a toy! It cured every boo-boo and righted every wrong! Even made it acceptable to let your sissy dress you up!

Owen's family, tired of addressing the new friends as "Owen and his balloon", shortened it to "Owen-and-Boon", and Boon followed him everywhere. Boon was there when Owen laughed, and there when he cried...

...until one day, when Owen realized that Boon could be temporary. During a particularly vigorous moment of play, Owen popped Boon.

(*not pictured-- a completely baffled, sad looking Owen with a piece of shiny gold balloon still stuck to his lower lip, trying persistently to toss Boon back up into the air. Could not get to the camera fast enough.)

Realizing what a devastating loss this was, Mommy went out to the store the same night and brought home a new Boon for Owen.

Excited, Owen was determined not to waste a moment with this new Boon. He played with it in his exersaucer. He played with it while Mommy changed his diaper. He even leaned on Boon's cheerful companionship to help him endure his sissy's "crawling lessons."

With Boon's loving assistance, Owen even began to ENJOY crawling around upstairs!

Alas, Owen had overcome his crippling fear of balloons and realized that sometimes, friends can be found in the most unlikely of places. He also learned to keep his friends close by his side, and that there are better things to put in your mouth than balloons. Like bottles.

** THE END**

Book 7- "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde

First of all, my apologies for the late post. Both of my children were sick last week (Owen with ear infections/diarrhea/general misery, Addison with some sort of flu bug) and as a result I didn't have time to start reading until Friday. Add to that the fact that this book took a lot of willpower and focus to keep reading, and you have a Wednesday post.

"The Picture of Dorian Gray" starts out with an artist who is obsessed with a young man that he is painting-- the young man (Gray) becomes the focus of all of his artwork, even that which does not feature people. Basil (the artist) states that Gray has woven himself so deeply into his emotional being that every stroke of the paintbrush has become about Gray. Dorian Gray is described as being immeasurably beautiful, with blonde hair, flawless skin, etc. etc. (although there is no blatant homosexuality in the book, it is worth mentioning that Wilde himself was homosexual and actually served time in prison for this reason; It's obvious that Wilde's attraction to men colors his descriptions in the book, and it actually gets a little distracting and hard to remember that the men in the book are straight.)

Through Basil, Dorian becomes friends with a man named Lord Henry, who develops into sort of a mentor for Gray. Lord Henry is a pretty well liked, apparently upstanding guy with some pretty radical ideas, and it is his ideas that start Gray on his downfall. Upon seeing the portrait Basil painted of Gray, Lord Henry states that the biggest tragedy is that the portrait will remain beautiful while Gray will slowly age and lose his youthful beauty; it is this observation/idea that causes Gray to pray that the portrait should age and show the wear of his choices and mistakes, rather than himself.

As time passes, Gray falls in love with a young actress well below his societal class; eventually he breaks her heart in a fit of fury and after he leaves her, declaring he doesn't want to see her again, she kills herself. This is the first time that Gray notices a change to the portrait-- the portrait gains a look of cruelty that was not there when originally painted. Gray realizes that his prayer/wish has been realized, and that the portrait is sort of a visual representation of his conscience.

Years pass, and Gray remains the same; he does whatever he wants, whenever he wants to, and the portrait grows uglier and uglier. For a long time this does not really bother him; he becomes an outcast in society and rumors are spread about his "wickedness." Wilde never really elaborates on what deeds Gray has supposedly committed to receive such a reputation, but the reader is given the impression that aside from his close friends (including Lord Henry), England's upper crust doesn't seem to like Gray at all.

The turning point seems to come when Basil, ready to go to France for 6 months, confronts his old friend about his reputation; Basil initially refuses to believe that all of the rumors can be true, and Gray kind of taunts Basil's loyalty/obsession with him by showing him the portrait. Basil is initially disbelieving and then horrified, and Gray becomes so overcome with rage that the painting was ever done at all that he kills Basil. The body is disposed of and Gray goes about his life, but his conscience wears on him and he becomes paranoid and anxious. The ending will be left a mystery, as I don't want to spoil it for anyone who might wish to read it.

This book was....OK. Not great, not bad. REALLY dry chapters, but a good plot and relatively good storytelling. Pretty easy to follow and stay interested in, but nothing I'll be raving about. I think that the biggest eye opener for me (having not previously read the book or seen any of the movies) was that the painting becomes ugly as a reflection of Gray's inner self, not necessarily due to age. All of the depictions/descriptions I've heard left me with the impression that Gray becomes some kind of immortal, living hundreds of years without aging. While it is true that in the book, Gray doesn't age, the book ends with him somewhere around the age of 40; the hideousness of the portrait is almost solely due to the moral ugliness of Dorian Gray. Quite the comment about the importance of living a moral life, and what immorality can do to a person's soul.