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Lord Jim

by Joseph Conrad, 1900

Jim, English sailor, on board a steamship bearing 800 pilgrims to Mecca. Ship runs over something, is bound to sink and storm rolling in. Jim jumps. Never forgives himself. Stands trial. His certificate is taken away. Befriends Marlowe, an old sea captain gentleman. Marlowe narrates most of the story. Jim finally finds happiness in Patusan on an out-of-the-way island. He ends up earning respect and love of the natives. Then a horrible crew of crooks lands and makes their way upriver. Due to treachery and deceit among a very few of the natives, Jim meets his end.

This author philosophizes too much. He ruins a good story. Jim took his one mistake too hard. I was glad when I finally finished the book. If this is his best novel, won’t be reading any more!

Emma

by Jane Austen, 1815

“Courtship Fiction”

Emma, spoiled little rich girl, befriends illegitimate Harriet Smith, prevents her from marrying Robert Martin, a gentleman farmer, who truly loves Harriet and instead set her up to marry Mr. Elton, a rich-boy wanna-be who would never consider marrying Harriet. Then comes Frank Churchill, a very rich boy, who is secretly engaged to Miss Jane Fairfax, unbeknownst to everyone. Emma grows up immensely and feels deep regret for everything she does in trying to manipulate Harriet’s life, because in the end, Harriet falls in love with Emma’s true love, Mr. Knightley, a true gentleman in every sense of the word. Emma has known him since she was a child, and he is her dearest friend. He is a voice of reason to Emma and he scolds her soundly twice – when she prevents Harriet from marrying Robert Martin and when she is mean to Miss Bates. When Harriet professes to love Mr. Knightley, Emma realizes she truly loves him and all is right in the end. Mr. Knightley truly loves Emma, Harriet marries Robert Martin in the end, and Frank Churchill and Miss Fairfax wed.

Written in 1814-1815, Jane Austen died in 1817 of Addison’s disease. Born 12-16-1775. Other books by Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Persuasion.

Death in the Andamans

by M. M. Kaye, 1985

Murder mystery set in the Andamans, tropical islands in the Bay of Bengal off Burma. Copper visiting her friend Valerie on the tiny island of Ross. They go for a picnic on the bigger island, South Andaman, on Mount Harriet. While there, a hurricane blows in and they barely make it back to Ross. On the way back, one person drowns, it turns out got murdered, and the next 3 days are spent stranded on Ross in the big home, Government House, with a murderer. They try to figure out who did it: John Shilto (fat cousin to Ferrers Shilto, the man who was murdered); Nick Tarrent, handsome British Navy man who Copper has fallen in love with, Ruby or Leonard Stock; Ronnie or Rosamund Purvis. Dan Harcourt, a very nice British Navy doctor goes to examine the body and ends up getting murdered, then John Shilto ends up dead with a suicide note pinned to his pillow. It ends up being Leonard Stock, a small man married to a philandering Cleopatra, Ruby, who has been holding a grudge for so long. He murdered Ferrers Shilto to get his newfound pearls and make a new life. He ends up falling down the stairs and accidentally shooting himself.

Loved her description of these beautiful islands, late 1930’s, sart of WWII.

“Three weeks of glitteringly blue days and incredibly lovely star-splashed nights. She had bathed in the clear jade breakers of Forster Bay and Corbyn’s Cove, fished in translucent waters above branching sprays of coral from the decks of little steam launch Jarawa, and picnicked under palm trees that rustled to the Song of the Trade Winds.”

So Brave, Young, and Handsome

by Leif Enger, 2008

Monte Becket, a postman in Minnesota circa 1910, writes a best0selling novel, Martin Bligh, and then tries to write another one. He starts 7 novels, doesn’t finish any of them. He and his wife, Susannah, a painter, and son, Redstart, live by a river. One day out of the mist rows Glendon, a boatmaker-hobo, rowing, standing up. Monte seeks him out and befriends him. Glendon decides he must go back to Mexico to apologize to his wife, Blue (Arandeno) for leaving her about 16 years ago. He asks Mone to go with him. Susannah says it’s okay. Monte and Glendon get on a train. There begins the adventure.

The Winds of War

by Herman Wouk, 1971

Historical novel about the years 1939 to 1941 and the start of WWII as seen through the family of Pug and Rhoda Henry. Victor (Pug) is Navy attache in Germany and then Russia. He has 2 sons, Warren and Byron, and a daughter, Madeline. They are grown children. The 2 boys in the Navy; one is a pilot, the other (Byron) a submariner. America is not in the War until Pearl Harbor on 12-7-41. Up to that point, Roosevelt wanted to help England but the Americans were strongly against it. He came up with “Lend-Lease” to try and get boats and equipment to England. Byron ends up in Poland (with Natalie, a Jewish girl living in Siena, Italy, with her scholarly Uncle Aaron Jastrow) because she insisted on going to see another uncle (Jewish) living there. While there, the Germans attack Poland and take it. They get out of Poland, finally, during an arranged cease-fire, escorted by Germans to a train to Stockholm. Byron and Natalie grew very close. Byron is young and brave. Natalie falls in love with him and out of love with Slote, American embassy man, a coward. The book takes you through the fall of France, the bombing of England, and the attack on Russia by Hitler’s Germany. Also learn about Mussolini, a very short, incompetent dictator. Learn a lot about Hitler and Stalin and Roosevelt and Churchhill. Much tension in the book because Natalie and her Uncle Aaron Jastrow end up stuck in Italy. First because Aaron sees no reason to leave, doesn’t see Hitler as a threat, plus he no longer has an American passport. Then, when he finally sees that it is dangerous for a Jew to be in Italy, it is too late for them to leave easily. They get tangled up in red tape that even the President (Roosevelt) can’t undo, though he tried because Byron mentioned the problem at a dinner at the White House! Finally, they get out, on a Turkish freighter, right after Pearl Harbor and Hitler and Mussolini have declared war.

Loved this book. Learned a lot. He tells the German side through a fictitious German general, Von Roon. He tells the rest of the world’s side through Pug Henry, who deals with all the world leaders. The book is accurate as far as they are concerned and the events. Loved it. Now want to read War and Remembrance.

The Secret Garden

by Frances Hodgson Burnett, 1911

Sweet story about two 10 year-olds who turn from being ugly, hateful, unhealthy, spoiled creatures into beautiful, happy, healthy children by the Secret Garden. Mary, the girl, and Colin, the boy, are cousins. Mary is sent to live in the Misselthwaite Manor on the Moor of Yorkshire after her parents die of cholera in India. She discovers the secret garden that has been shut up 10 years because that is where Colin’s mother died from a fall from a tree. Colin has been shut up in a room inside the house for 10 years, told he was sickly and was going to die. Mary finds him one rainy day and, with the help of Dickon, a 12 year-old boy from the Moor, who loves animals and nature, they change the garden and themselves with magic. They sing the Doxology of Praise of it. Beautiful, sweet tale about love of life and growing things and beauty and nature.

The Pillars of the Earth

by Ken Follett, 1989

From Karma. Wow! What a book, 973 pages!

It was set in England from the years 1123 to 1174. Ken Follett’s preface says this book was out of character – a story about building a church. “What’s more, I don’t believe in God.”

He fell in love with Peterborough Cathedral. Took him 3 years, 3 months to finish the book. He wanted to write a novel about cathedral builders. Here’s how he writes: “I begin by writing an outline of the story, saying what happens in each chapter, and giving thumbnail sketches of the characters.” Also, “The problem of the end of the book, which I had not outlined, was solved by a flash of inspiration, when I thought of involving the principal characters in the the notorious real-life murder of Thomas Becket.” (Archbishop)

The Last Battle

by C. S. Lewis, 1956

I LOVED THE NARNIA BOOKS!!!

Here, in order of most favorite to least:

  1. A Horse and His Boy
  2. Voyage of the Dawn Treader (very close second to A Horse and His Boy)
  3. The Silver Chair
  4. The Last Battle
  5. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
  6. The Magician’s Nephew
  7. Prince Caspian

We saw the movie, Prince Caspian, on 5-17-08. Next movie will be in 2010 and it will be The Dawn Treader. Not sure I want to see it. Wayne doesn’t, for sure.

C.S. Lewis describes heaven in The Last Battle so wonderfully and so beautifully that you want to cry. It goes on for about 2 1/2 chapters in The Last Battle. These books are a treasure!!

In The Last Battle, an ape in Narnia dresses up his donkey, Puzzle, in a lion skin, passes him off as Aslan. He fools many of the talking beasts and starts taking over Narnia. He invites the Calormen and they start cutting down trees, using the talking horses to pull them.

King Tirian and his Unicorn, Jewel, go to investigate and end up captured. Jill and Eustace come to Narnia and save him.

The Silver Chair

by C.S. Lewis, 1953

Eustace Scruggs and Jill Pole are at school, Experiment House, and are being chased by bullies. They go uphill to a gate that is usually locked but is open and find themselves on Aslan’s Mountain. Jill pushes Eustace off a huge high cliff, then meets Aslan as he blows Eustace safely away (to Narnia)Aslan gives Jill 4 signs:

  1. Eustace must greet an old and dear friend at once.
  2. Go north out of Narnia to the ruined city of the giants.
  3. Find a writing on a stone and do it.
  4. The lost prince will be the 1st person to ask you to do something in the name of Aslan.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

by C.S. Lewis, 1952

Eustace, Lucy, and Edmund get sucked into a picture in Eustace’s house of a ship at sea, back to Narnia, where Prince Caspian is at sea on the Dawn Treader. He rescues them and they go with him and his crew in search of 7 Lords that Miraz sent off to explore the unknown Eastern Sea.

  1. First they went to the Lone Islands. Landed on Felimath and pirates were there and kidnapped them to sell as slaves. Caspian gets bought by one of the 7 lords, Lord Bern, and they rescue the others and set those islands right. Lord Bern then is set in charge of them. Caspian makes him a Duke. The rest go on their journey, get caught at sea
  2. in a storm. Then land on another island. Eustace didn’t want to work in repairing the ship so goes off exploring and finds a dragon and his lair. The dragon is very old and dies. Eustace falls asleep on top of its gold and wakes up a dragon! It is that experience that brings him to Aslan and Aslan cures him. Removes his scales, and he’s a boy again. Much nicer now. They called that island Dragon Island and surmised that Lord Octesian died there.

Turning Angel

by Greg Iles, 2005

Penn Cage solves the murder of Kate Townsend, 17 year-old high school girl having an affair with Dr. Andrew (Drew) Elliott, Penn’s best friend. Grew up together in Natchez, MS. Full of bad stuff: drugs, sex, crime, UGH. No more books by him.

Prince Caspian

by C.S. Lewis, 1951

Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie find themselves pulled back to Narnia, but it is thousands of ears later. Cair Paravel is almost completely grown over. They save a dwarf and he takes them to the place where Prince Caspian is battling his evil Uncle Miraz. He was the latest King of Narnia, but he was a Telmarine and didn’t believe in the Lion or the talking animals. Caspian’s nursemaid had told him the old stories and he believed them and loved them. Then, Miraz had a son so Caspian was going to be killed but escaped with the help of Doctor Cornelius, who can’t accompany him yet. He goes through the woods on his horse and gets knocked out, found by a Badger (Trufflehunter), a Black Dwarf (Nikabrik), and a Red Dwarf (Trumpkin).

Dr. Cornelius had given Caspian Susan’s horn and told him to use it in dire straits. After battle not going well, he used it, and that’s what called Peter, etc. back to Narnia. Trumpkin takes them back from Cair Paravel to where Caspian is, quite an adventure in itself, and Peter battles Miraz one-on-one, defeats him, and 2 traitors finish him off, then make war on the Narnians. They seem to be doing okay (Narnians) but the Telmarines got scared of the trees so took off to their town were Aslan gives them a choice: either stay in Narnia or go back to where they originally came from. Some with pure hearts choose Narnia. Others choose to go back where they came from. They didn’t know, but they were pirates on earth and get to go back to the island they captured long ago. Peter and Susan and Edmund and Lucy lead the way because they didn’t trust Aslan. They end up back in the train station though. Peter and Susan will never get to go back to Narnia – too old, Aslan told them.

The Horse and His Boy

by C.S. Lewis, 1954

Shasta is rescued by Bree, a talking horse, and they are making their way to Narnia. They meet Avaris and Hwin, another talking horse, and they decide to go together. Avaris is a Tarkheena and running away from a forced marriage. They go to the city of Tashbaan and both Shasta and Avaris get taken to palaces, separately, and learn of plans that help them. They go through the desert, get chased by a lion, stay with the Hermit, then the Battle between Rabadash and Archenland. Rabadash was a Prince in Tashbaan who wanted Queen Susan of Narnia to marry him. She escaped from Tashbaan and that is what caused Rabadash to attack Archenland. Shasta got to Archenland first and warned them. Shasta ended up being the long lost twin, Cor, and the future King of Archenland. What a wonderful tale! I loved all the descriptions of the City of Tashbaan: the palaces, gardens. I loved all the times Aslan showed up, making things happen the way they ought to. Wonderful story!!!!

The Geography of Bliss

by Eric Weiner, 2008

  1. The Netherlands – Happiness is a Number
  2. Switzerland – Happiness is Boredom
  3. Bhutan – Happiness is a Policy
  4. Qatar – Happiness is a Winning Lottery Ticket
  5. Iceland – Happiness is Failure
  6. Moldova – Happiness is Somewhere Else
  7. Thailand – Happiness is Not Thinking
  8. Great Britain – Happiness is a Work in Progress
  9. India – Happiness is a Contradiction
  10. America – Happiness is Home (Miami, Ashville, NC)

The beginning of each chapter was really funny. But I’m not sure he ever had much of a point to make. He rambles a lot. “One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World.”

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia Book 2)

by C. S. Lewis, 1950

Lucy enters the wardrobe first to Narnia, then Edmund does but he meets the witch. She gives him Turkish Delight and promises him more if he’ll bring back his 3 siblings, Peter, Susan, and Lucy. Edmund believes the witch, not Aslan, but she really just wants the 4 of them killed so they can’t become the rulers of Narnia, according to Prophecy. But then Edmund learns her true nature and Aslan comes back and saves him, sacrifices himself for Edmund, but returns to life and goes to the witch’s house and brings all the stone statues back to life. Then he goes to the battle between the witch and Peter and Edmund and the good animals. Edmund destroys her wand so she can’t turn any more into stone. Then Aslan destroys her. Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy become the kings and queens of Narnia and rule it in peace for many years. Then Tumnus, the Faun that Lucy met at first by the lamppost, lets them know the White Stag has returned and if caught, grants wishes. So they all go hunting for him and he leads them to the lamppost and they all have remembrance and decide to keep looking and end up through the wardrobe into the room on the very same day and same hour they had left. They explained to the professor why 4 coats were missing. And the professor believed them! But told them they wouldn’t be able to get back to Narnia by the wardrobe ever again. They would go back someday but, “It’ll happen when you’re not looking for it.” (You never get to Narnia the same way twice!)

(The professor is Digory, the little boy in The Magician’s Nephew, who went to Narnia first and saw Aslan create it. He got to take home an apple for his Mom, to cure her. He planted the core and buried the rings around it. A great storm blew the tree down. He used the timber to make the wardrobe.)

The Magician’s Nephew (Chronicles of Narnia Book 1)

by C.S. Lewis, 1955

Read to Wayne in car on the way home from New Mexico road trip.

Digory and Polly discover Narnia at its creation by Aslan. He sang it into existence. Beautiful! Digory overcomes temptation and brings apple home to his Mom, cures her. Evil Witch, Queen Jadis – they brought her from Charn – dead world – accidentally – now she is in Narnia and has eaten from the Tree of Life. The Uncle Andrew is the Magician. He is given a box of dust by his godmother. He made the rings out of dust. The yellow rings brought Polly and Digory to the Wood between the Worlds. The green rings bring them home.

Three Cups of Tea

by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, 2006

Greg was rescued by villagers in remote mountainous area of Pakistan (Korphe) after he tried to climb K2. He promised them he’d build them a school. Was a nurse, lived in storage unit in California. Wrote 580 letters. Only Tom Brokaw gave him $100. An article in a mountaineering magazine attracted Jean Hoerni to his cause, wealthy inventor of semi-conductor technology. He gave him $12,000 for first school. Greg got all the supplies to Korphe and they asked him for a bridge. So Jean gave him money for the bridge. Ten to 15 years later, he had built many schools and was starting to build in Afghanistan. The Saudi’s would build madrassas and train up the boys to be jihadists. Greg’s schools don’t teach hate.

www.penniesforpeace.org is one way to help – school children can help that way.

Later on, Greg Mortenson was investigated and ordered to repay one million dollars to the Central Asia Institute, the non-profit that Jean Hoerni created to fund the building of the schools. It was found that much of the book, Three Cups of Tea, was fabricated, and that Greg Mortenson was using a lot of the money donated to Central Asia Institute for his personal expenses. As I write this in June 2020, the penniesforpeace website still exists and Central Asia Institute is still a charity organization dedicated to educating children in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan.

Jane and the Man of the Cloth

by Stephanie Barron, 1997

Jane and her family go to Lyme – on the sea. First, a commoner is hung. Then later, Captain Fielding is shot, with Geoffrey Sidmouth’s horseshoes stamped in the dirt. Jane solves the crime. It’s not Geoffrey, but Mr. Crawford, the guy who digs for fossils. Lots of the book had to do with smuggling and French “Royalists” trying to overthrow Napoleon. It was very good – loved her descriptions of the coast and the town, but it was really complex trying to figure out the mystery.

Prodigal Summer

by Barbara Kingsolver, 2000

Moth Love – Lusa & Cole Widener – Cole is a farmer, falls in love and marries Lusa, a bug scientist, loves moths. Cole dies in trucking accident. Lusa stays on farm, raises goats, comes to love and accept Cole’s family and Cole’s family comes to love and accept her.

Predators – Deanna Wolfe and Eddie Bondo. She’s a 47 year-old forest ranger in the mountains of Tennessee. Loves all wildlife, especially coyotes. Eddie Bondo, traveling from Wyoming, sheep rancher, hates coyotes. They fall in love. He leaves her, pregnant.

Old Chestnuts – Garnett Walker and Nannie Rawley. He’s a stubborn 80 year- old trying to breed a blight-resistant chestnut. She’s an organic apply farmer, 75 years old. They live next door to each other. He is all for using chemicals to kill bugs and weeds. He’s so mad at her all the time. Finally, he and she become friends. He gives her the shingles in his barn and thanks her for the blackberry pie, his favorite. He starts to see the beauty in nature.

Eat, Pray, Love

by Elizabeth Gilbert, 2006

She goes through a divorce – “I don’t want to be married anymore.” And then a broken heart with David. So she decides to spend a year in Italy, India, and Indonesia (Bali). Italy = pursuit of pleasure – food and the language but mostly all about her. India – Ashram – yoga – finding God. Beginning of book – “And while I do love that great teacher of Peace who was called Jesus … I can’t swallow that one fixed rule of Christianity insisting that Christ is the only path to God.” That’s my problem with this woman – she gets to travel, getting paid for it (to write this book), thinking she’s all messed up because she doesn’t want to be married, so divorces, loves David but it’s a rotten love affair, gets to take a year off to recover. It’s all about her and her misguided search for life’s answers because she can’t accept Jesus. She thinks she found God but I’m afraid she found the Devil instead – all of her chanting and meditations, the four brothers, etc. But she’ll keep insisting she has finally found peace and love and God. Yucch! I thought it would be more about travel in those places but it’s mostly all about her and her psychological state at the time. Over and over and over again. Finally, in Bali, the pace picks up and we get more of a glimpse of Bali – what a beautiful island! There she fall in love with Felipe, a Brazilian ex-pat, 52 years old (she’s only 35 when writing this book). Really, he loves her, adores her, and wins her over.

This book has been on the bestseller’s list for months. I don’t understand, we don’t want to encourage her. She’s just a narcissistic, spoiled brat.