The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkein

As I think everyone knows, The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkein continues where The Fellowship of the Ring left off. The Two Towers is split in two halves, with the first part focusing on the remaining members of the broken fellowship and the second half focusing on Frodo and Sam’s journey. While I had found some delightful things in Fellowship, this book was dark, and it just kept getting darker. I am delaying starting the final book of the trilogy. Continue reading »

Milton in May: Paradise Lost, Books 4-6

Welcome to week two of the Paradise Lost read-a-long and Milton in May, a month-long celebration of John Milton’s writings. Below, I have some possible discussion questions if you aren’t quite sure what to write for this week’s post or if you want to “discuss” the book with the rest of us.

Contrary to what I wrote in last week’s post, I’ve decided to just keep this read-along to one Linky. That will remain on the first post of the project. I have a link in the upper right hand column of my site (underneath the Milton in May button) so you can find it again easily as the month progresses.

Discussion questions and my thoughts after the jump.

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East of Eden by John Steinbeck (Thoughts on a Reread)

My interest in rereading East of Eden by John Steinbeck was purely personal: reading it the first time was what prompted me to start a book blog in the first place. I enjoyed my reread, mostly because Steinbeck’s writing is so incredible. The themes of good versus evil in human nature still felt universal to me, although I wasn’t as perfectly satisfied on this reread as I was the first time I visited it. East of Eden is a book I’d like to keep rereading at various points in my life. Continue reading »

Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan was one of the first modern novels when it was published in 1679 and 1685 because it uses dialogue as a main tool to drive the story. As an allegory, Pilgrim’s Progress plainly tells the story of each Christian’s lifelong quest from a sinful life to eternal life using the example of a physical quest of a pilgrim named, appropriately, Christian.

I certainly appreciate the impact of Pilgrim’s Progress on the history of literature and I am very glad I read it. It is a pillar in Christian history and a milestone in western literature. Yet, reading Pilgrim’s Progress was challenging. Since it was written in the 1600s, it was a difficult writing style that didn’t “flow” as modern writing does. I would not have been so frustrated with this unfamiliar writing style had not the allegory been so poorly “veiled.” Pilgrim’s Progress was painfully didactic and instructional. In the end, it may have met the needs for the times in which it was written but it doesn’t touch me today. Continue reading »

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum

I was looking for something else light to read before Christmas when I found, via the Book Review Blog Carnival on Maw Books, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum, reviewed at The Movieholic and Bibliophile’s Blog. Best of all, because it is in the public domain, I could jump over to Project Gutenberg and read it without having to face snowy roads trying to get to a library.

I really enjoyed this short children’s novel about Santa Claus. Claus was orphaned near the woods of Burzee, and the immortal wood nymph Necile adopted him. He is raised by the wood nymphs, with other immortals to guide him: the Knooks, who direct animals; the Ryls, who color the flowers; and the fairies, who guard humans.

As a young man, Claus learns that he is from a race of humans, completely different from the immortals, and that many humans, including children, live in poverty and lack joy in their lives. In compassion, he leaves the sheltered life of the forest to minister to these children by making toys. The rest, you could say, is history. Continue reading »

Four Christmas Novellas by Charles Dickens

Most people have heard of A Christmas Carol, but few are familiar with Charles Dickens’ other Christmas novellas. I read his other four this season. Some were more interesting than others. The superiority of A Christmas Carol makes it clear to me why it has lasted as a “classic” through the years, and while most of these have not. Continue reading »

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

If you like Harry Potter’s world, you’ll like J.K. Rowling’s latest edition to the cannon: The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

After each tale, which has been carefully “translated” from the ancient runes by Hermione Granger, we read Dumbledore’s commentary/critical analysis of the tale, with Rowling’s special notes for Muggle audiences. The Tales of Beedle the Bard is cleverly developed and my only complaint is that there are so few. Continue reading »

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

I reread A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens just about every Christmas. I love the story of personal redemption as Ebenezer Scrooge learns from his past, recognizes the facts of the present, and learns to hope for the best in the future. For me, the appeal of this ghostly tale is the recognition that I likewise forget the past, present, and future; hopefully I can recognize my errors before I become a “ba-humbug!”. Continue reading »

Stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne

After reading Edgar Allan Poe last week, I thought I’d stay in the same era and read Nathaniel Hawthorne’s stories. To my delight, many of Hawthorne’s stories perfectly fit the “gothic” theme of Halloween in a style that I loved. Even though I dislike of being “scared,” these stories were again the perfect amount of creepy for me.

One of Hawthorne’s collections of stories is called Twice-Told Tales. As I read, I began to understand why: while many stories are on the surface about Puritans in the early days of America, they aren’t really about Puritans. Hawthorne is telling us a different story. Continue reading »

Stories by Flannery O’Connor

To understand Flannery O’Connor’s short stories is understand the rural South that she was familiar with in the pre-1970s. Her stories focus on aspects character in human, every-day situations all revolving around her South, dealing with race relations, Christianity, rural versus city living, parent-child relationships, etc. She brings the reader into the settings by capturing thought processes, a style I found engaging. I enjoyed reading her stories, although they illustrated a lack of hope in human nature. Continue reading »