Young Torless

This book was disturbing.  I read it at 19 and it stayed with me.  I didn't read it again until recently.  It's about a boarding school where a gang of boys mentally and physically abuse one of their classmates.  At the beginning, Torless is just like them but then he gradually gains a conscience.  The book also explores philosophical thought and mathematics.  The author was later to seek exile in Switzerland because of World War II.  This isn't his biggest achievement.  It's a massive book called The Man without Qualities which someday I will read.  I also need to rewatch the movie which made it into the Criterion collection.  

Medea

I liked Euripides tale of a strong female character destined to get revenge.  None of the characters are likable but the plot is riveting enough to get your attention the whole way through.  Jason abandons Medea for a richer woman.  Medea decides to destroy her husband in the worst possible way, by killing their children and his new wife.  This is compelling theatre at its best.  It was first performed at 431 BC but it is still a timeless play. I've got to read more Greek plays.

Memoirs of a Midget

This was a unique book by Walter de la Mare.  It's about a midget and her friendship with a beautiful girl named Fanny who calls her Midgetina.  Fanny is cold though and brings about the downfall of a man who idolizes her Mr. Crimble.  Then there is Mrs. Monnerie who treats her like she is a doll for display.  Eventually, Midgetina has a love interest with an angry dwarf Mr. Anon.  The book is around 500 pages but I don't really mind the length of a book anymore as long as there's something to capture my interest.  There's a whimsical quaintness about this book. I read it fourteen years ago and it was still pretty good.  I've got to read the short story book I've owned for a while by Walter de la Mare some time.  With writers like Angela Carter giving their recommendations to the book, well you know you are in for something special.   

The Saracen Lamp

So far this is my least favorite Ruth M. Arthur book but it's all right.  It's about a lamp that is passed down to three different women.  The one that was the most interesting to me was Perdita who lived in modern times.  She's a crippled girl who takes it upon herself to walk again.  There's an evil doll that Perdita talks to that doesn't encourage her healing.  This follows Ruth M. Arthur's usual obsessions such as ancestors, the supernatural, and evil dolls.  (See her masterpiece https://bethsbookoftheweek.blogspot.com/2019/02/a-candle-in-her-room.html) Arthur has a formula but she does it well.  Not only that when you read a book of Ruth M. Arthur's you know it's hers.  Too many authors don't add anything unique that is generally theirs.  You can't say this with Ruth M. Arthur.  I've never paid for a book of Arthur's.  The prices are high.  It's called interlibrary loan.  

The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

This combines two works that Borges did in 1975 and 1983.  I've been reading a bit of Borges lately mostly because I read a fascinating autobiography on him.  The stories I liked the most were "The Other" and "August 25, 1983".  Both of those stories have the same concept.  An older version of Jorge meets a younger one.  I wonder sometimes what I would have to say to a younger version of myself.  Would I warn myself of trials ahead?  (But then I would probably be a coward to accept the trials or be horrified.)  What kind of advice would I give?  They are stories that make you think.  I was disappointed in "Blue Tigers."  The first thing I read by him was "The Book of Imaginary Beings" and he had an interesting section on blue tigers.  The story starts out about blue tigers but then becomes a story about stones.  That's not what I wanted.  Someone should write a short story on them. 

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place

This book shows that Julie Berry is a very diverse author. I read The Passion of Dolssa recently.  It was historical fiction.  If the author's name wasn't on the cover I would take it for two authors. This is a black comedy.  It's a young adult book about a headmistress and her brother being killed.  The girls in the school want to stay together so they cover it up.  But how long can they successfully do it?  Not only that the murderer is still loose.  This book was cute.    

Kindred

I'm a fan of Octavia E. Butler.  I've read a number of her works but this is still her best.  It's about a woman who is transported back in time to keep helping this white boy named Rufus who is an ancestor of hers.  Initially, she thinks that he must have some important purpose.  She tries to make a difference in the boy's life, hoping that she can have an impression on him.  However, he starts turning into his dad selling slaves and the like.  The book ends up with a bang.  You feel for the character as she has to degrade herself to fit into the slavery times.  Yet she is an extraordinary bright woman.  This is great literature.  This is the type of book that should be in Modern Library.