December Flowers and Jane Eyre

I love Mazzy Star and I love Jane Eyre (and the 2006 version of the film) so the music video was just tempting me. I was actually obsessed with this song around the time I read Jane Eyre for the first time, so I was surprised to see the two combined by someone else.

The Last Great Dance on Earth

Sandra Gulland's The Last Great Dance on Earth is the last book in a series about Josephine Bonaparte, Napoleon Bonaparte's beloved wife. I haven't read the first two books in the series, but that didn't prevent me from understanding anything in the novel. It is written as a diary from Josephine's point of view with the inclusion of a variety of letters that were edited by Gulland. The story begins in 1800, before Napoleon is declared Emperor, and ends in 1814 with Josephine's death.

The relationship between Josephine's children, Hortense and Eugene, and Napoleon was interesting. The children call him papa even though he is not truly their father and it is obvious that the four of them are very close. Napoleon declares his love for Josephine in many ways, but she still has to live with his constant affairs and sexual conquests. She wants to be only his but everyone tells her it is her responsibility to turn her nose to the affairs. This was beautifully documented through Napoleon's letters which rotate in signatures. When he is not with another woman he signs them with All thine, N but when he is with another woman he simply writes N. This drives Josephine into obsessions and causes her to do things that are frowned upon, especially by Napoleon. She even walks in on him with a woman at one point. Her attitude proves to be dangerous because there are many people in the court that want Josephine gone, by divorce or death.

The character that interested me most was actually Napoleon's sister, Caroline. She is completely evil and really has it out for Josephine. Caroline is not afraid to use any means, including sexuality, to get what she wants; she is ruthless. Throughout the whole novel I kept thinking I want to read more about her!.

This novel for me was up and down. The time span is quite long which bothered me. Even though the diary entries are dated I still wasn't realizing how much time was passing until I stopped to really look. Josephine's character was well developed, but I wanted to see more of other characters (specifically Caroline). This, obviously, is impossible since the entire novel is from Josephine's point of view so everything we learn about other people is through her. It's not a bad read, but it definitely wasn't a spectacular one.

Pub. Date: November 2000
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Format: Paperback, 384pp

Middlemarch

I have finally finished George Eliot's Middlemarch and I feel kind of melancholy. It is based in England, 1832.The novel creates a web of several characters. There are sisters Dorothea and Celia, and their suitors and eventual husbands as well as Doctor Lydgate and his cold wife Rosamond, and finally the lower class Mary Garth and her two suitors, Fred and Mr. Farebrother. I became attached to all of these characters because Eliot does an incredible job of creating characters that are full of life and who we can empathize with. I was particularly drawn to Dorothea who has the desire to do something truly great but is unable to because she is a woman. Instead she tries to live through her husband, and the elderly and ugly Mr. Casaubon. Casaubon has been spending his whole life working on one project, the Key to all Mythologies. Towards the end of his life he begins to realize that his project is hopeless, which makes him very bitter towards Dorothea who is interested in his project and asks many questions about it. Like many people, Casaubon takes the inquiries as attacks. Will Ladislaw, who is young, rebellious, and romantic, is angry that Casuabon and Dorothea are married. Will and Casaubon are cousins, although Casaubon really acts like more of uncle to Will. Will thinks that Casaubon is sucking the life from Dorothea, and sees that she is brave, courageous, and extremely intelligent. Dorothea becomes very unhappy in her marriage to Casaubon, but won't allow herself to show the anger she feels because it would be going against her wifely duties.

Lydgate is also in an unhappy marriage with Rosamond. Rosamond is beautiful and believes that all men are in love with her, which in some cases is true. She pretty much tricks Lydgate into marrying her and expects him to be wealthy and take her away from Middlemarch. Instead, Lydgate loses all of his money because he dotes on his wife and is trying to start a practice in Middlemarch. Rosamond is demanding and selfish, Lydgate is the first person who has tried to put her in her place. Even though Rosamond has her problems, I still managed to feel some empathy for her. She is just trying to escape a town where she knows everyone and be something better. The overall theme in the relationships of all these characters is unfulfilled ambition. They all have something they desire, but they can never reach the exact version of what they want. I could really relate to this.

Some parts of the book I didn't enjoy as much as others. There were many passages about politics and banking. I know quite a bit about Victorian politics but it was a trial for me to get through these sections. By far my favorite parts of the book were between Dorothea and Will Ladislaw, their relationship fascinated me and was so different from all the other characters in the book because they each had the ability to see past what they selfishly wanted. Middlemarch really even rivals Jane Eyre for me, it is unlike any book I have ever read. If you have the ability to push through an 800 page novel then this is a great one to pick up.

Pub. Date: September 2008 (1872)
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Format: Paperback, 904pp

The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte

The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James is a fictional account of the life of Charlotte Bronte. Charlotte grew up with two sisters and a brother under the supervision of her parson father. The book mainly focuses on the love interests of Charlotte Bronte, her teacher Monsieur Heger and her father's curate Arthur Nicholls. It is a brutally honest account of Charlotte's life, including descriptive scenes of Branwell's drunken crazes. James allows Bronte to explore her feelings on every subject, alcohol, love, sex, and family. It also documents the writing of her four novels as well as the writing practices shared between her and her two sisters, Emily and Anne. After the death of Emily and Anne, Charlotte experienced a drastic change in her writing ability and habits. While the novel doesn't come out and say it directly, it is pretty clear that the absence of her sisters contributed to the lower success level of her final two novels.

Since Charlotte Bronte wrote my favorite book I had high expectations to for this novel. It met those expectations, for the most part. I have to admit that I couldn't put this book down. I saw a lot of my own experiences in Charlotte's, even though she lived in a very different world from mine. James does an amazing job making Bronte into a character we can empathize with and understand. Just a few days ago I was telling a friend of mine that if Charlotte Bronte haunted me I would be terrified. I said she would probably be really mean. After reading this book, my entire view of Bronte has changed.

As much as I loved it, I did have a few problems with this novel. Some of the footnotes were annoying and unnecessary, of course I'm assuming that anyone who would read this book would have some prior knowledge about Charlotte Bronte. There were also some language choices that felt a little too contemporary for me. When I came across them I became annoyed, really. James makes up for it with her frequently asked questions section in the back of the book, as well as the inclusion of sections of Bronte's letters. I was pleased that she came out and said what was true and what was false, and also that she mostly stuck to the story of Bronte's life.

This book evoked ever emotion from me. I laughed at Bronte's humor, empathized with her foibles, and cried in grief and joy with her. A must read for any Bronte fan. And if you are a Bronte fan then you should join Laura's Reviews All About the Bronte Challenge. It starts in January and I will be participating in it as well!

Pub. Date: June 2009
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Format: Paperback, 512pp

NANO Update: Day 22

I did writing sprints for the first time tonight and I am so pleased that I did. I've really been struggling with my novel the past few days. It seems like I have to drag myself to it and I've skipped writing a few times, although I usually make it up the next day. Writing sprints really helped me get past word count tonight because it broke up the time. In general I have been writing 1,667 words in one sitting every day. I get distracted and write really long chapters.

No to be conceited, but I like my book. There are some serious problems with it right now that I will definitely need to edit later, but I'm proud of myself for getting this far. I a couple ideas for novels I want to write in the future. I'm not sure if I'll try to tackle one during the summer or if I will wait to start one for NaNo next year. If nothing else, I have never written this much for so many days. On top of everything else I have going on in my life it is seriously amazing.

Word Count thus far: 37,275*

*That means I only have 12, 725 words left!!!

Sunday Salon: Pre-Thanksgiving Break

I was a very bad reader last week. Lots of things are to blame, it was the week before Thanksgiving break and I just wanted to relax. I did finish Philip Graham's The Moon, Come to Earth. I also attended his reading at Prairie Lights. Graham is very gregarious, I enjoyed his reading. He read three dispatches from the book though, which took quite a long time. I'm always more interested in hearing authors talk about their books than read from them.

The book that has taken up most of my time is George Eliot's Middlemarch, which I plan to finish tomorrow. If I haven't mentioned it before, I will mention it again: Middlemarch is a beast. It's a multi-plot novel with what seems like one thousand characters. It takes me a long time to read, but thanks to a couple 4-8 AM shifts at work I am almost finished with it. I'm really enjoying it too, but that doesn't surprise me. Eliot is a genius.

Today I plan on finishing The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James. I wasn't sure what to expect with this one, I am obsessed with Charlotte Bronte and I'm always iffy on books that make the authors the characters. I am happy to say that I have not been able to put it down. James has really done a great job researching all the Brontes and I like how she documents her research in the back of the book. There are footnotes in this, which I know have put some people off, but I kind of like them. Some are unnecessary to me because I know enough about the 19th century, but some of them are helpful and interesting. The character that has interested me most is Branwell. I knew that he was a drunkard but James creates a fully developed character out of a man that has always baffled me.

Next week I plan on reading A LOT because I will just be sitting at home anyway. Books I plan to read are The Last Great Dance on Earth by Sandra Gulland, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, The White Garden by Stephanie Barron, and Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? by Thomas Kohnstamm.

Office Supplies For English Majors

Oh, how I miss going to Target with my mom, list in hand, and purchasing exactly seven folders and several brightly colored pens. School supplies shopping was like Christmas when I was a kid, nothing made me happier than buying the supplies and going home to figure out exactly how I would utilize all of them. Now, of course, things are different. Instead of school supplies shopping I have to go book shopping, and as much as I love books it's a really a pain to shell out the money for them all at once. I still find some solace in office supplies though, and these are my favorites.

1. Pens. I don't use pencils anymore because they basically erase themselves once the pages have been rubbing together. I write in my books (as do most people I know) and it is important that my notes stay. I know this is kind of an obvious one, but I use pens more than anything else. I also have several red pens for editing my papers. I used to use brightly colored pens to write in my books so that I would be able to find my notes easier, but this became a hassle because colored pens seem to run out of ink faster than black ones. I also get most of my pens for free (by which I mean I take them from tables at fairs or a I pilfer them from front desks) and most free pens are black.

2. Post-it Notes. I use Post-it notes differently from most people I know, so here are the two ways I see people using them. The first is like me, I just use them like bookmarks. I use one large Post-it to mark my place in the book, and I use smaller ones to divide my reading into sections. I can't sit and read one book for four hours (usually) so I divide it up into thirty page sections. I read faster if I can see that I'm getting close to the end of the section, so it saves me time and gives my brain a rest. Other people I know use Post-its in lieu of or in addition to writing in their books. Sometimes you have a great idea, but there is only so much room in the margin of books which is where the Post-its come in. This probably makes passages easier to locate and helps when making points in class. I don't do it because I summarize my thoughts at the end of chapters where there is usually lots of room.

3. File Folders. I get a lot of papers as an English major and most of the time I only need them once. I like to keep everything until the end of the semester but I don't like carrying it all around, so I use file folders for all of my classes. When I have to print out an essay and read it for class I put it in my backpack for the day, and then when I come home I put it in the file folder. I also use file folders to document any submissions I've made to literary magazines, progress towards my degree, and information for programs I'm interested in.

4. Stapler. I'm kind of being hypocritical here because I do not have a stapler, but I vow to purchase one this weekend since I'm telling all of you that you need one. It is embarrassing to turn in papers that are not stapled. I've always been a paper clip kind of girl, but so far that has not worked for me. I NEED a stapler. It's not working to use the one at my job because I always forget or run out of time. Once a teacher actually made fun of me for not having a stapler. Even one of those mini-staplers. A girl in one of my classes has one in her backpack that she lets me use and I am grateful to her every day. So, I will be buying a stapler.

5. Planner. When I say planner I mean planner, not tiny little thing that only has room to write down Lunch with Mackenzie, because that is literally all you will do that day. You might have to buy an ugly planner, I'm not so fond of mine, but it gets the job done. Unless you have an amazing memory you really need a planner. I divide large tasks up into small ones and do a little every day. Chances are, if you write it down in your planner and you look at it, you will do it. I also write in parentheses after the task how long I think it will take to get done. This can either be incredibly daunting or comforting. Usually it is comforting. Write down fun things in your planner too! You'll look at it more.