The Emperor of the Moon

This was an ok play from the 1600's about two men who use a doctor to try to gain his niece and daughters as spouses. They do this by pretending to be the emperor of the moon since the doctor is obsessed with space. I was hoping the ending would be more amusing. It was kind of a let down. I've read two other plays by Aphra Behn including The Rover and I liked them more. Aphra Behn was cool though because she was a woman who made her living by writing and that was unheard of at the time. I bought a collection of her plays years ago and I have one more to go.

When Wendy Grew up

This was a scene added to the play Peter Pan. In it Peter visits Wendy and discovers that she has become an adult. He becomes friends with her daughter. I bought a collection of J.M. Barrie's plays and this was included. It's only a couple of pages. It was cute. I've been going through J.M. Barrie's other literary works and Peter Pan is definitely his masterpiece.

Elizabeth and her German Garden

This is about a woman who spends the novel rambling about her garden. She doesn't garden herself though. She has gardeners although they don't always live up to her vision. She calls her husband "the man of wrath." He doesn't care for the garden. It wasn't the most exciting read. It was published in 1898 so it's pretty old fashioned. I liked the movie Enchanted April when I was a kid which the author also wrote. I think that's going to be a better read.

The Ice Palace

Tarjei Vesaas is a Norwegian treasure. I read The Birds earlier this year and decided to revisit The Ice Palace, his most famous novel. Two girls just start becoming friends. Unn nearly tells Siss a secret and runs away into the cold. Siss spends the novel denying the fact that her friend is likely dead. The town gives up long before she does. There are great moments showing her rage about this. In one scene a new student is about to sit in Unn's old space. Siss yells at the new girl eventually getting the whole class to agree with her. Later on Siss goes to The Ice Palace itself. The weather is more than atmosphere here. It's a captivating character in itself. Vesaas was nominated a few times for the Nobel prize. I don't see why he didn't win. Less worthy writers have won. I will be investigating more of his works.