A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Its really amusing how life works out.  I had totally planned on reading another book but somehow I started to read A Connecticut Yankee.  Mark Twain is a genius and is funny as hell.  This is one of the first time-travel books ever published and it's great.  The story follows the adventure of a Yankee from Connecticut who mysteriously ends up in England during the middle ages.  This is not a kids book akin to Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Fin.  It's a book full of political intrigue and grown up thoughts.  Twain was a republican and very much hated the British noble by birth or fealty to a sovereign.  It was released in 1889 but the spirit of 1776 (American Revolution) bleeds through this book.  Here is a great example of his republican spirit:

The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death. To be loyal to rags, to shout for rags, to worship rags, to die for rags—that is a loyalty of unreason, it is pure animal; it belongs to monarchy, was invented by monarchy; let monarchy keep it....


Another thing I very much enjoyed in this book are Twain's not so veiled cracks at the Catholic church.  He did not like the Church and did not hide from that fact.  Actually the whole book is about debunking the Monarchy.  The main characters goal is to turn Camelot (this perceived moral pinnacle of English life) into America.  If you think that would be a good thing or not I'll leave up to the reader.  It's quite clear that this book has influenced so many other time-travel books.  Many of its themes have been explored by so many other books that a few times I had wondered if I had already read this. 

I really loved this work of fiction.

The next book I am going to read is:

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

This is the second book in a row that I read from Wilkie Collins.  The first being the Women in White.  I loved both these books and it really is a shame that I had never heard of Wilkie Collins before.  He is a wonderful writer.  Even though the books are set in the 1850's they do not feel dated at all.  The characters weave in and out of the story beautifully.  The Moonstone is constructed in the same way as the Women in White.  Many characters taking turn at taking over the narrative of the story.  It's a really great way for the author to tell the story in different voices.  For example part of the narrative is written by a Mr. Bruff.  A highly educated lawyer whose narrative is concise and logical and deals with truths.  Another narrative is done by Drusilla Clack.  A poor cousin of the main characters (and a pain in the ass) who believes (as a good Christian woman) that everyone should lead good Christian lives.  Thankfully, she is dismissed and ridiculed by every other character in the novel.

The Moonstone is also considered the first detective novel written in the english language. 

The next book I'm going to read is:

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

 

I had never heard of the Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.  Which is a shame.  I really loved reading this book.  Mr Collins has this very simple yet direct way to tell a story.  The story unfolds very slowly but once it gets going its hard to put it down.  The book's narrative is done in many voices.  Major and minor characters take turns to describe versions of the story and its not till about halfway through the book that the main betrayal starts to reveal itself.  The appearance of Count Fosco is a delight.  We don't find out till quite late is he is a hero or a villain. 

 

I was so delighted by this book that I'm going to read the other Wilkie Collins book in the 501 must read books.  The Moonstone.  Which apparently is a great detective story.  Review coming shortly.

 

 

 



The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin

I really tried to love this book.  Darwin is a hero of mine.  Origin of the Species is truly one of the great books of all times.  The things that make Origin so great is what (for me) made this book very slow and tedious.  It is the same problem that I had with the Jack London book (Cruise of the snark).  Too much information about very small things.  In Darwin's case he writes page after page about specific birds and how these birds are different then other birds.  For people who like and care about these things then this is the book for you.  I put the book down and picked up a work of fiction instead.

The book I've picked up instead is the Wilkie Collins book The Woman in White.  It's one of those books that after reading 2 paragraphs I knew I would love.  I've read over 100 pages and its a great book.  Review coming soon.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott



I knew nothing of this book.  I've heard of it and thought I might read it one day.  But I was quite clueless going in.  I perceived it might be a pretty book.  Full of ribbons. bows,  sugar and spice and everything nice.  This book contains all this.  But there is so much more.  There is a heartbeat that does not cease in it's (digital) pages.  The author reveals truths and lessons for young women as she writes.  There are moments which are tender and other moments that have light hearted frivolity.  The end of the book has a mixture of joy and utter sadness mingled in nicely.  Saying that I did found myself distant from this book.  It did not effect me emotionally.  Both the happy and sad passages were taken very earnestly by this reader.  This surprised me as I am usually a person that books effect quite deeply.  Maybe one day if I ever re-read this story I would get more emotionally involved.  What I hope is that I have not setup these books that I am reading as a task.  Getting through as many books as I can and checking them off my list.  I'm hoping that will never be the case as fiction and reading is a true love of mine. 

If you have a young daughter then this is a must read book for them.  It is very tender and sweet and there is a light that shines through the (digital) pages.  I just hope you are able to have an emotional response that I can't quite get.

Next book on my list is the voyage of the beagle by Charles Darwin.

The Cruise of the Snark by Jack London

The beginning of this book is amazing.  Jack London delves into the reason why he has decided to sail around the world.  He lists all his theories and all the problems in building and funding  the 45ft Snark. It is so detailed and exact that you understand the term best laid plans of mice and men.  I'm thoroughly impressed by detail oriented people.  God bless list makers and accountants.  I do not live in detail and lists (says the man who is writing a blog about 501 books!) and get turned on by people that envision a project from seed to tree.

As I go through this book it is failing to keep my interest.  Almost 40% of the book is either about building the Snark or about the first destination of the boat (Hawaii).  While there are still some lovely passages, the author starts to write about eating deep sea turtles and the joys of catching and eating Dolphin my interest wavers.  It could be my 21st century mind creeping in but I am not a fan of eating Dolphin or Turtles.  Call me old fashioned. 

As I delved deeper into the book it has continued to disappoint me.  Some of the strengths I liked in the beginning were the things that really let me down.  For starters there is a part in the book where Mr. London describes how he figured out his latitude and longitude.  He drones on for almost 20 pages.  In the end I've had to stop reading the book so I still don't know how the rest of the trip went.  Maybe I'll come back to it.....maybe not.  It has driven me crazy.

This is a book for you trainspotters out there.  I'm not one of you. 5/10

My next book is:

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

I read this book when I was a kid.  Or at least I thought I had.  As I am reading/re-reading I'm not remembering much of it.  I've seen TV and movie adaptions of course but the story feels new to me which was a nice surprise.  Huck of course is resourceful and funny.  Some of the hijinks's are great and his planning and escaping near danger is what gives this book its classic nature. 

The one problem I am having with is his companion Jim.  I'm not put off by the repeated use of n-word.  As much as I hate it now I understand that when Twain was writing it was common practice to write characters in such a way.  It's his speech that is throwing me off.  Maybe it's my 21 century brain that is having trouble figuring it out.

Huck Fin really is an incredible character.  Twain really nailed it with this one.  Such a clever little chap.  Always has mischief in his mind.  Sometimes his mischief leads to bad results but most of the time he is just having some fun.  This is a book that all kids should read.  Huck keeps getting in jams with very narrow escapes.  He meets all sorts of interesting people on the river.  Give this to your child right now!