Author: inspirationalreads

Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë

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Book #902

Today’s book has the privilege of being a first for this blog – two reviews at the same time!  Many thanks to Ange P and Sweetp for the dual review.

Reviewer: Ange P

Warning 1: probably not a very helpful review, for reasons I explain below
Warning 2: there is a spoiler in one paragraph, which I have labelled.
Plot
The Earnslaw family brings up a young foundling, Heathcliff.  The daughter of the house, Cathy, and Heathcliff form a romantic attachment/grand passion, however, gradually Heathcliff finds that he is badly treated by all around him and he gradually becomes surly and sullen to all but Cathy.  When he believes that Cathy fails to return his love he runs away.  Cathy marries a neighbour, Edward Linton.
Heathcliff returns and sets himself up as a man of substance in the neighbourhood.  He plays on Cathy’s love for him regardless of her marriage and contributes to her gradual decline, followed by her death, giving birth to Linton’s child.
Heathcliff ardently resents Linton and in an effort to hurt Linton, marries his little sister, Isabella Linton.  In time, it is Heathcliff’s intention to revenge himself on all who have harmed him by completely damaging and destroying the next generation so that they are beyond redemption or happiness.
 Wikipedia’s Wuthering Heights entry has a selection of reviews from the time the novel was published and these were quite fascinating for people who like this type of thing.
Negative comments
Full of people being nasty to each other (gets a bit depressing).
Lacks a gripping climax.
Occasionally, I found the narrative techniques confusing so I wasn’t sure who was saying what.  There is a lot of indirect narration where the housekeeper tells a 15 year old story to a convalescent patient.
Positive comments
Amazing love story – never seen its like in literature before (and I’ve seen a read a lot of romantic fiction).  I just love this monologue from Cathy:
‘It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know who I love him; and that, not because hi’s handsome, Nelly, but because he’s more myself than I am.  Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.’
Well written with few plot holes.
Atmospheric.
In many cases Wuthering Heights relies on human foibles such as kindness, or sympathy or a desire for material gain for plot development and this is a strength.  The foibles of Heathcliff, though, are so awful and unyielding that he is inhuman.
Summary:
I can’t get a grip on it, and I suspect that this is my failure rather than Emily Bronte’s.  It was a good read and I wanted to know what happened with it.  But I’m not sure I fully understood it all. Hence the general nature of this review.
[SPOILER:  I am particularly confused about why Heathcliff had a sudden change of heart about his revenge in the final two or three chapters. Was it because he knew he was going to be with Cathy again soon and he couldn’t bring himself to destroy the happiness of a young couple when he knew he would be restored to his love soon?  It seems so out of character.]
I’d love to know what other 1001 book people think of this novel and any guidance to help me get a grip on it will be gratefully received!

Reviewer: Sweetp

I actually finished this book sometime ago but have found myself procrastinating on writing a review -it’s somewhat intimidating to be writing a review for such a well-known classic!

Even if you have never read Wuthering Heights, you may well still recognize the names Heathcliff and Cathy. This dark and angst-ridden gothic novel is one of the most famous of the Bronte sisters’ works, and is perhaps the one that divides readers the most. If you do a quick internet search of reviews, you’ll find most people either fall into the love it, or the loathe it, camp.

Synonymous with windswept moors, heartbreak and misery, Wuthering Heights is not a happy book. The love story is not a sweet or ardent chaperoned romance, but a stormy obsessive love that consumes the lives of all involved. Heathcliff is not a gracious romantic figure, but is brooding, often cruel and is driven to the edge of insanity by his love for Cathy. Cathy is selfish, has a wicked temper and is often just as unlikeable as Heathcliff, and yet, despite often reflecting on how totally despicable all the characters in this novel are, I couldn’t help being swept away on their passion.

Because Wuthering Heights is at the heart of it, a novel about passion. Even if you hate everyone involved, it is hard not to be moved by the powerful emotions that make the characters who they are. Take Cathy’s speech about her love for Heathcliff:

If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem a part of it…Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He’s always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being.

Quite a declaration! Heathcliff too is totally consumed by Cathy, and when she decides to marry someone else it sets in motion a series of events that will see characters dying of broken hearts, driven to madness and the engineering of a most dreadful revenge on the next generation. Hate is just as a powerful motivator as love.

Dark and melodramatic this book certainly is  – with liberal sprinklings of violence and narcissism too. If you appreciate a bleak and gothic atmosphere, and flawed characters then this could be the classic read for you.

While I gave it 4 out of 5 stars, I can see why some people find this book difficult. The storytelling device itself is a little odd – an elderly housekeeper, Nelly, is telling the story to a visiting Mr Lockwood. Written before the use of third person omnipresent narrators, the style is a little clunky and at times confusing, and removes the reader somewhat from the intimacy of the story. This will be a roadblock for some readers. Add to the confusion the fact that there are two Cathys, the Linton and Heathcliff names are used both as a first name and as a family name and the similarities of the names Hindley, Heathcliff and Hareton, and it is easy to see why at times it is hard to keep it all straight.

Those that cannot get past the violence and the selfish nature of most of the characters will also find this book infuriatingly bleak. Others, like myself, will read it again, purely to wallow in the misery and angst. Perhaps it is one of those classics you simply have to read for yourself and decide whether it’s love or loathe. Either way, there is no denying that Wuthering Heights is a true classic, rightfully earning it’s place on the 1001 books list.

The Pigeon – Patrick Süskind

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Book #215

Reviewer: Inspirationalreads

Jonathan Noel is a bank guard.   A tragic childhood followed by a disappointing marriage results in a risk-adverse Noel who takes great pleasure in the uniformity and predictability of the life he has created.  He has lived in the same bed sit and stayed at the same job for over thirty years, happy with his bachelorhood, his routine and life in general.  Until one morning, on his way to the communal bathroom he is stopped in his tracks by a rogue pigeon that has made its way into the building.  The effect that this pigeon has on Noel is immediate and immense and what follows is a day where all routine is thrown off, where everything he depends on is shaken.

In a few weeks I will be “celebrating” my ten year anniversary at my place of employment.  When I started, it was only ever going to be a short term measure.  My eldest child had turned three, I was going to go back and finish my University degree and then move onto something brighter and better.  But I didn’t and suddenly it is ten years later.  There are many aspects of my life that are fulfilling and I am very lucky to have the life I do, but as this anniversary approaches I have been thinking about the drudgery of my job, the monotony and repetition and just how quickly this ten years has come up and kicked me in the butt.  So when I picked this book up and started reading on a certain level there was something about this kooky and unsettling story that resonated with me.  Noel settled on his life and quickly enough for him, thirty years passed quickly.  For him though, the repetitiveness and monotony is comforting and when that comfort is shattered by the random appearance and perceived menacing  of a pigeon, this is enough to set off in him a violent reaction.

No human being can go on living in the same house with a pigeon, a pigeon is the epitome of chaos and anarchy, a pigeon that whizzes around unpredictably, that sets it’s claws in you, picks at your eyes…

So how comfortable can he be in his self-imposed bubble that he has placed around himself when it can be destroyed  by the appearance of one, solitary pigeon?  But what a pigeon.  The Pigeon is what I refer to as a bite-size book, a novella that allows you to fully appreciate and absorb the story in one sitting and does in no way suffer for its brevity.  Süskind is masterful at fully immersing the reader into the mind of this seemingly mild bank guard and fully understanding how the appearance of a bird can upset his life and then go on to force him to look at everything around him in a new way.  We understand why Noel is the way he is, we get enough of a taste of his life to feel the apprehension and menace and the subsequent unravelling and then progression to lesson learnt.

This is the second Süskind book on the list, and perhaps less known then the popular Perfume.  Having cheated and seen the movie and not yet having read Perfume (although very eager) the same psychological element is clear and is obviously a strength.  Many have likened his style to Kafka, which I am unable to confirm having not read any of the later (for shame, I know) due to a question of it going a bit over my head.  But what is wonderful about this novella is that it is so clear and accessible without sacrificing anything in terms of writing and language.  And it has made me a bit less apprehensive at tackling Kafka also.  A great read that has made me quite desperate to get my hands on Perfume.

Delta of Venus – Anais Nin

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Book #311

Reviewer: Inspirationalreads

At the time we were all writing erotica at a dollar a page, I realised that for centuries we had had only one model for this literary genre – the writing of men.  

The preface of Delta of Venus is taken from Nin’s The Diary of Anais Nin, Volume III, and explains how she came to create this collection of erotica.  Through her famous friendship with Henry Miller, she is encouraged to start contributing to Miller’s collection of stories for a book collector.  When she forwards her stories she is told to “…cut out the poetry and anything but sex.  Concentrate on sex.”  She continues to submit them, the stories becoming more “outlandish, inventive and exaggerated.”

What starts as a need for money to fund her and her literary friends lifestyles, the final postscript of this preface, added over thirty years later, sees a more philosophical Nin.  Here she discusses the difference between Henry Miller’s masculine approach to the project and her feminine  poetic approach.

I had a feeling that Pandora’s box contained the mysteries of woman’s sensuality, so different from man’ and for which man’s language is inadequate.

Thus, Delta of Venus was born.  Female written erotica is a hot topic at the moment due to the popularity of a certain trilogy.  Much speculation and equal parts love and scorn have been heaped upon E.L James Fifty Shades Trilogy, which having not read I can not comment on.  What is of interest is that it is erotica (apparently in the tamest sense of the word, but again, I shouldn’t even comment) written by a woman for women and it has tapped into something that appears to be lacking.  There is a wealth of erotica that is written by women but not as accessible or as mainstream as their male counterparts.  So at the very least, this book and its authors comments about it, make it very relevant over 60 years after it was written.

And so, to the stories themselves.  What elevates Nin’s writing here is the very thing that the book collector complained of; the poetical, lyrical feel to these make them beautiful.  The words themselves feel sensual, the tone so fitting with the subject matter elevating it from lurid and seedy.  By her own admission, to combat the complaints over being over-poetical, there is a lot of boundary pushing here.  Necrophilia, incest, rape and bestiality all feature here and it does make for uncomfortable reading.  You admire how it is written and why it is being written but it is not an easy read.  A lot of this can be rationalised by the preface, but still, you know, icky.  Now, that isn’t a familiar word from me, is it?

In any list of any nature similar to that of 1001 Books to Read Before You Die, there will always be comment or disagreement about why something is on the list and I have to confess to thinking that about a number as well.  But it is very clear why  Delta of Venus its significance to not only erotic literature but female written erotic literature being key. I can clearly say that I admired the writing and what Nin was hoping to achieve (outside of the $1 a page she was paid) or attribute to it.  I was going to write that an open mind is needed when going into reading this, but this speaks to not approving or even relating to some of the more extreme subjects covered, just an understanding that they are in there and the purpose of why they are.  So be forewarned if you decide to take the trip.

Sometimes a Great Notion – Ken Kesey

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Book #420

Reviewer: Kara

Sometimes a Great Notion is a great American novel if I’ve ever read one (and I’ve read a few). It’s long and meandering, overflowing with detail. The characters are exceptional; they’re stubborn and angry and very much alive. The setting is soggy and green, with big trees and beer drinking – just like a real Oregon winter.

The novel tells the story of Wakonda, a fictional logging town on the Oregon coast. Virtually everyone is on strike, except for the Stampers who are continuing to log and jeopardizing the whole strike, for no reason except that they’re renegades like that. The crux of the story is the broken, vengeful relationship between Hank Stamper, the oldest son of patriarch Henry, and the leader of the clan since Henry was injured, and his younger half-brother Lee. Hank is strong, hardworking, and prone to fist fights. Lee is an intellectual who spent much of his life on the east coast and hasn’t logged a day in his life until he returns to Oregon.

Hank and Lee are surrounded by a host of other characters, both family members and townspeople, whose stories are woven into the Stamper story like the soft-needled green pine saplings that grow in droves around the ancient giants in an Oregon forest.

This plethora of stories and perspectives makes diving in to the novel a little difficult. Kesey constantly bounces from one character’s perspective to another without chapter or section breaks to clue in readers. Frequently there are multiple perspectives at once (one in parenthetical notes sprinkled among the other). For the first 100 pages, this meant I had to keep careful track and watch for the perspective switches. From then on though, I knew the characters well and the switches became more obvious. The style became fascinating instead of hard work. Kesey also throws in a little light stream-of-consciousness in tense situations, especially between the two brothers. Nothing too extreme, but enough to heighten certain moments to great effect.

What ties all these other characters and their stories to the main plot line is that every character, major or minor, is yearning to be true to him or herself. Some are succeeding, many are failing, but the striving is what Sometimes a Great Notion is all about. Hank (and a minor character called Biggy Newton too) goes through life fighting and knowing that fights are inevitable, but is just so tired of being sized up and having to size up other big men. Lee is struggling to deal with his identity as a Stamper, and yearns most to win against his brother, to steal back what he feels Hank stole from him. Viv, Hank’s wife, has given up the things she swore she never would, like cutting her hair short and having birds. Joe Ben, a Stamper cousin, is both religious and superstitious, and optimistic to a fault. He is also a bit of a foil – as a young man he struggled in his father’s shadow, but later he is exactly who he wants to be, and is the happiest character in the book for it.

The yearning among the characters to be true to themselves comes to a climax as the novel closes. I don’t think it’s too much of a giveaway to quote Lee when he says that each of us has a stronghold that can never be taken, only surrendered, and he wants his back:

“Which meant winning back the strength I had bartered away years before for a watered-down love. Which meant winning back the pride I had exchanged for pity.”

The Cement Garden – Ian McEwan

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Book #302

Reviewer: Inspirationalreads

The Cement Garden is McEwan’s first novel, and while there is not much to link it to his later and more well known novels such as Atonement or On Chesil Beach, his familiar unsettling touch and straight forward prose is clearly evident and should be welcome signs to McEwan’s fans.

Told from the perspective of 15 year old Jack, the story opens shortly before the death of his father. He is the second of four children ranging from six to 17 years old, there is a distance between the children and their father which is more than made up by the uncomfortable closeness of the children, particularly Jack and his two sisters, 17 year old Julie and 13 year old Sue.  And so, we come to a disclaimer that is becoming quite a regular feature in my reviews; this short novel is not for the faint-hearted or easily icked-out.  The uncomfortable tone of this story kicks off right from the start and it begins with the game of doctor Jack and his two sisters are playing in the opening passages.  When the children’s mother also passes away not soon after their father, the children decide to bury their mother in cement in their basement to prevent them being put into care and possibly separated.

What happens next is a predictable spiral into chaos and disorder.  The children are ill-equipped to look after themselves or each other and each reacts to this horrible turn of events differently.  Tom, the youngest at 6, regresses into baby-like behaviour.  Sue withdraws into her books and diary.  Julie at 17 attempts to take on the running of the household, not always successfully.  And then there is Jack.  Even before the passing of their parents, Jack was already unsavoury (I really can not think of a better word). It is through Jack’s eyes and the presence that Jack imposes on his surroundings that McEwan brings his skill of unnerving.  Jack goes out of his way to stay unwashed, revelling in the impact his acne-ridden image has on his mother and siblings.  He is unhealthily interested in his sisters but stays on the fringes, his observations more from his peeping and spying than from the intention of looking out for his family.

What I have been skirting around is that there are incestuous overtones going on here.  All right, there is actual incest that occurs in The Cement Garden.  There, I’ve said it.  Kind of a spoiler but not a huge one as it occurs very early on and seems to be one of the key things associated with the story.  Which is a shame as it seems to be a major thing when really it is a factor in this disturbing tale.  While it is right up there in uncomfortable stakes, it is more the idea of the blurred lines of what should and should not be for these children who are put into a very adult (and a macabre one at that) situation.  While it is predictable that the wheels will come off, it is what happens along the way that is is interesting; interesting, awful, tense  but like the proverbial train wreck, hard to turn away from.

Yet, for all this there is a forced feeling to it all.  It is an interesting situation that these children are in but I found myself thinking more about the motivations of McEwan rather than that of our characters.  I thought more about what he was hoping to achieve with it all, then let myself be carried away by the story itself.  There is an emotional aloofness, an almost calculated feel to it.  I admire it for the technical brilliance that is always evident in McEwan’s work and this his first, is no exception.  A small part perhaps is down to me wanting to distance myself from something so abhorrent to me,  that these characters are so odd and the situation so perturbing that I found myself reading from afar rather getting right into the story.  But also, the style of writing is distancing and cold itself, of which I suppose I should be thankful but ultimately did not really allow me to enjoy it fully.

This is a quick read, interesting in parts and a quite easy one to cross of the list if you don’t mind being creeped out a little.  Sorry, creeped out a lot.  McEwan seems to be quite popular among the film community as this is one of six of his novels that have been adapted to film, Enduring Love and Atonement included and both on the list.  So, not highly recommended by me but being a quick read works in it’s favour.