Washington Square

 

This was a pretty good Henry James novel. I like the ending but the movie The Heiress gave it more of a dramatic justice. The book concerns a plain woman named Catherine and a charming handsome man who goes after her solely for the inheritance. But her father sees right through the man and warns that he was leave his daughter with nothing should they marry. All the characters have major flaws. The girl is too naive, the father is too much of a bully, but the most annoying character of all is the aunt who keeps correspondence with the dashing man and meddles in everyone's affairs. For me the most brutal thing in the book is when the daughter realizes her father doesn't even like her. It's heartbreaking. He just sees her as an inferior version of his late wife, no intelligence or beauty. This isn't an enjoyable read but it does live up to its reputation as a classic. 

Poor Things

 

I read this over fifteen years ago and with the movie out I decided to revisit it. The book was pretty fun. It's about Bella, a woman who has been revived from death. It concerns unreliable narrators. What Bella says later in the book doesn't coincide with what the first narrator said. One of the faults with the first narrator is that he's in love with her and frankly is jealous of the man who gets her. There's a definite sense of humor in the book especially with the book she later writes. I can see this on the screen and imagine it would be a visual treat. The plot may be borrowing off Frankenstein but it's really unique on its own. 

The Ghost in the Swing

 

I saw this on someone's forgotten children's book list, so I put it on ILL. It's from the 1970's and it had a charming quality about it. It concerns a girl who helps a ghost solve the story of her own murder. Nothing really surprised me, but it was fun to flip with through.  The writer only wrote one other book which I think is a shame. I think she had potential. 

Wide Sargasso Sea

 

A relative of mine was going on about how this book is none other than fan fiction. It was really unfair. I've never read fan fiction that was a classic in its own right. The reason why this pre-Jane Eyre works so well is that the author made it personal. The first half deals with her life of growing up poor and white in Jamaica which is talking about Jean Rhys background. Then we get the other parts of the book where the crazy wife in the attic meets Mr. Rochester. At first it is passionate, but he turns icy once he learns about her family mental illnesses. Then she starts to derail. The movie was NC-17. I can see how you could do that but it's really unimaginative and does shame to the book turning it into complete smut. The cool thing about this book is that Jean Rhys wrote her masterpiece when she was elderly. Most people only care about what you have to say when you are young, so I'm glad this book refutes that. I reviewed a biography of Jean Rhys earlier and she was an interesting lady.  

Picnic at Hanging Rock

 

This was a pretty cool Australian book about a few girls who disappear at a picnic. The novel is more concerned with the aftermath that it has on the other characters and the town. The author leaves it a mystery. Apparently, Joan Lindsay gave away the secret in one of her sequels, but I don't care to read it. Somethings remain best a secret. The movie is an awesome adaptation and is a classic in its own right.  

I used to live here once

 

This was a pretty good biography of the writer's life. It talks about her Caribbean childhood which inspired Wide Sargasso Sea then goes about her relationship with Ford Madox Ford who discovered her and also used Jean. I think it's cool, that Jean wrote her masterpiece in her old age and then her old books were rediscovered. The only problem that I had with the book is that I felt like the writer was making fun of the squabbles Jean had with her neighbors when she was elderly. I felt like it could have been done with more compassion. 

Philosophers

 

This book which has the biographies of several philosophers has mixed opinions on goodreads but I liked it. People wanted more to know more about the philosophers' ideas. I liked just getting the gist and reading about their biographies. There's a lot of people who got exiled here and some eccentrics too. I was also surprised at the number of mathematicians and scientists among the thinkers.  I was pleased with the contribution of female thinkers. I especially found the story of Heloise and Peter Abelard intriguing. There's also plenty of paragraphs written about minor philosophers. I enjoyed reading this.