July Mistakes
Posted: 2019/07/31 Filed under: E-Books, Early Review, Fiction | Tags: africa, Anthony Trollope, Asa Larsson, crime, Deon Meyer, Early Review, Fiction, holocaust, humor, Iris Murdoch, Isaac Asimov, Isaak Sturm, Lee Child, librarything, Lisa Moore, Mario Vargas Llosa, memoir, movie, mystery, Newfoundland, Paulo Coelho, Peru, romance, science fiction, series, southern, sweden, victorian, Winston Groom Leave a commentSo. I never posted what I hoped to accomplish reading for July. Whoops and whoops. To tell you the truth, I got busy with other things. What other things I couldn’t tell you. It’s not the thing keeping me up at night. Besides, if I’m truly honest no one reads this blather anyway. In my mind the “you” that I address is really me, myself and moi; our own whacked out sense of conformity. Let’s face it, my reviews are as uninspiring as dry toast carelessly dropped in sand. It’s obvious something needs to change. I just haven’t figured out what that something is or what the much needed change looks like. Not yet at least. I need a who, where, what, why, and how analysis to shake off the same as it ever was. It’ll come to me eventually.
But, enough of that and that and that. Here’s what July looked like for books and why:
Fiction:
- Killing Floor by Lee Child – in honor of New York becoming a state in July (Child lives in New York).
- Alligator by Lisa Moore – in honor of Orangemen Day in Newfoundland.
- Forrest Gump by winston Groom – on honor of the movie of the same name being released in the month of July.
- Aunt Julia and the Script Writer by Mario Vargas Llosa – in honor of July being the busiest month to visit Peru.
- Accidental Man by Iris Murdoch – in honor of Murdoch’s birth month.
- Blood Safari by Leon Meyer – in honor of Meyer’s birth month.
- By the River Piedra I Sat down and Wept by Paulo Coelho – in honor of July being Summer Fling Month.
Series continuation:
- Forward the Foundation by Isaac Asimov. Yes, I am behind.
- Blood Spilt by Asa Larsson.
- Framley Parsonage by Anthony Trollope. Confessional. Even though there are two more books in the Barsetshire Chronicles I am putting Trollope back on the shelf for a little while. The stories are not interconnected and I am getting bored.
Early Review for LibraryThing:
- Filling in the Pieces by Isaak Sturm. I only started this. It will be finished in August.
What startles me as I type this list is I didn’t finish any nonfiction in July. I started the Holocaust memoir but haven’t finished it yet. No nonfiction. Huh.
Framley Parsonage
Posted: 2019/07/30 Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust I, Fiction | Tags: 2019, Anthony Trollope, book lust ii, book review, classic, Fiction, july, relationships, series, society Leave a commentTrollope, Anthony. Framley Parsonage. New York: Penguin, 1993.
Reason read: to continue the series started in April in honor of Trollope’s birth month.
As usual Trollope’s fourth novel in the Barsetshire Chronicle is laden with characters. One of the first people readers meet is Mark Robarts, a vicar with ambitions to further his career. The gist of the story is that Robarts loans Nathaniel Sowerby money even though Robarts realizes Sowerby is an unsavory character, always gambling and up to no good. Of course there is some good old fashioned courting of the ladies going on that complicates the story.
Trollope explores human emotions such as humiliation (Robarts not being able to afford to give a loan but does it anyway), romance (between Mark’s sister, Lucy, and Lord Lufton), greed (inappropriate relationships because of lower class status) and affection (bailing a friend out of a sticky situation). The subplot of Lucy and Lord Lufton is my favorite. Lady Lufton doesn’t think Lucy is good enough for her son (what mother does?).
Author fact: Trollope wanted to be a political figure at one point in his life.
Book trivia: At the end of Framley Parsonage Doctor Thorne gets married. Remember him?
Nancy said: Pearl said nothing specific about Framley Parsonage but she did say that Trollope is one of her favorite writers.
BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Barsetshire and Beyond” (p 15).
Doctor Thorne
Posted: 2019/07/07 Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust II, Fiction | Tags: 2019, Anthony Trollope, book lust ii, book review, Fiction, june, relationships, series, victorian Leave a commentTrollope, Anthony. Doctor Thorne. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987.
Reason read: to continue the series started in April in honor of Trollope’s birth month.
To set the stage: Mary Thorne, at the age of twelve, comes to live with her uncle, Doctor Thorne. She is sent to him when Dr Thorne’s sister (Mary’s mother) runs away to Australia and Mary’s father (Dr. Thorne’s brother) is murdered by Roger Scatcherd, Mary’s mother’s brother. Did you get all that? To complicate things, Dr. Thorne is also the financial advisor to Mary’s mother’s brother, Roger. Essentially Mary has two uncles. But this is a big secret for most of the book.
On with the plot – As Mary grows up she attracts the attention of Frank Gresham but unfortunately for Frank, Mary is not marriage material. She doesn’t come from money so his family opposes a proposal. His mother prefers Martha Dunstable as a suitable wife. The only problem is Miss Dunstable and Frank become great friends and mutually agree romance is not in the cards. As an aside, their friendship is wonderful. As Roger Scatcherd’s financial advisor, Dr. Thorne knows how much money Roger leaves to his son after drinking himself to death. When Roger’s son is nearing the same fate, Dr. Thorne has to spill the genealogy beans in order to make sure Mary is in the will and gets her fair share of Roger’s original inheritance.
Line that caught my attention, “I know he’s rich, and a rich man I suppose can buy anything except a woman that is worth having” (p 99).
Book trivia: Doctor Thorne is the third book in the Barsetshire series but to be fair, each book could be read independently of one another. However, going by book sales Trollope felt Doctor Thorne was his most popular story. Doctor Thorne connects back to Barchester Towers by family.
Author fact: Trollope published Doctor Thorne just one year after Barchester Towers.
Nancy said: nothing specific except that the whole series is her favorite Trollope to read.
BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Barsetshire and Beyond” (p 15).
Barchester Towers
Posted: 2019/06/07 Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust II, E-Books, Fiction | Tags: 2019, Anthony Trollope, book lust ii, book review, e-book, Fiction, may, religion, series Leave a commentTrollope, Anthony. Barchester Towers. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2005.
Reason read: to continue the series started in April in honor of Trollope’s birth month.
I will be 100% honest. I couldn’t get into Barchester Towers despite the fact it’s supposed to be Trollope’s most popular novel and many organizations have it on their “Top 1000 books to read.” Yes, it is satirical and it has it humorous parts. I just couldn’t get into any of the characters. I suspect my lack of enthusiasm centers around the fact the novel is focused on religion and the war between the high and low churches. The bishop has died and a new one needs to be appointed. There’s a lot of infighting about how that will be resolved.
The best element of Barchester Towers is the return of Septimus Harding. His daughter, Eleanor, is now a widow and eligible to remarry. The second best character was Mr. Stanhope, a member of the clergy. He has been in Italy for twelve years “recovering” from a sore throat and catching butterflies.
Quote I liked, “They had never, therefore, poured into each others ears their hopes and loves…” (p 252).
Author fact: According to Pearl, Trollope was a postman by day and an author in his spare time. He wrote whenever he could.
Book trivia: My copy contained both The Warden and Barchester Towers.
Nancy said: Pearl’s favorite Trollope is the entire Barchester series.
BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Barsetshire and Beyond” (p 15).
The Warden
Posted: 2019/04/17 Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust II, Fiction | Tags: 2019, Anthony Trollope, april, book lust ii, book review, Fiction, series Leave a commentTrollope, Anthony. The Warden. New York: Book League of America, 1956.
Reason read: Anthony Trollope’s birth month is April. Read in his honor.
Reverend Septimus Harding, at fifty years old, became Precentor of the Cathedral as well as the Warden of Hiram’s Hospital. Because of his dual employment he makes a significantly higher wage than others. This
inequality of salary is a modern conflict and no one is more bothered by this than John Bold. But Mr. bold has a conflict of interest. While he is against Mr. Harding’s significant salary and starts a petition to challenge it, he is also attracted and betrothed to Harding’s twenty four year old daughter, Eleanor. When he realizes the heartache he has caused the Harding family he tries to retract his complaint..but of course it is too late. The wheels of justice have been set in motion. The lesson for John Bold is you made your bed, now you have to lie in it.
The lesson for the Warden is one of morality. Eventually, the suit is abandoned but Harding is still wracked with guilt. He resigns despite everyone’s urging to reconsider.
Line that still holds true today, “What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?”
Author fact: Trollope designed his Barsetshire series to be read as modern novels.
Book trivia: the entire Barsetshire series was made into a popular television show.
Nancy said: Pearl’s “favorite Trollope novels are the whole Barsetshire sereis
BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Barsetshire and Beyond” (p 15).
