Classic Book Review: Waverley

5 out of 5 stars

Edward Waverley goes on a vacation to Scotland, staying with an old friend of his uncle’s. He meets a Highland Chief and is invited to spend a couple of weeks hunting in the highlands. Waverley is inspired by the noble demeanor of the highland clans, and his romantic side gets the better of him. He becomes embroiled in the Jacobite Rebellion, and he falls in love with the Chief’s pretty sister. At first, his adventures seem glamorous and exciting, but he quickly learns that he must deal with reality and give up his childish daydreams of glory.

A beautiful, intriguing tale of valor, love, honor, loyalty, with absurd funny bits and sorrow intermingled. This is my favorite book of Sir Walter Scott’s!

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Classic Book Review: A Sicilian Romance

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A Sicilian Romance
by Ann Radcliffe

4 out of 5 stars

Julia falls in love with the dashing young Hippolitus, but her father insists that she must marry the evil Duke. Julia’s brother tries to help her escape from the clutches of her ruthless father by arranging an elopement, but their plans are betrayed and Julia is caught. Julia goes through every kind of disaster and terrifying mishap, fleeing for her life and weeping along the way.

This is Gothic melodrama at its best! Julia dissolves into tears, is frozen with terror, collapses under the strain of horror, and is prostrate with grief in every single chapter. Several other ladies, not to be outdone, also fainted on several occasions. Everyone is constantly exclaiming some version of “Alas, woe is me!”

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Classic Book Review: The Red Badge of Courage

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The Red Badge of Courage
by Stephen Crane

3 out of 5 stars

A “youth” enlists in the Union Army during the American Civil War with visions of glory in his mind, but he runs away like a coward in the first skirmish. As he moves as far as he can from the battlefield, he encounters wounded men headed toward the hospital. He hears their stories of courage, noting that they wear a “red badge” of their own blood. He is ashamed but finds ways to excuse his behavior in his own mind. He has an altercation with a fellow soldier, who gives him a minor wound on his head. At last he finds his way back to his own regiment, joining them again, pretending that he got his wound in battle. The next day when the regiment begins to move forward into battle again, the youth wonders if he will have the courage to stand and fight this second time.

I really hated the graphic descriptions of violence and dead bodies and disgusting wounds. It’s very descriptive and made me nauseated.

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Classic Poetry Review: The Lady of the Lake

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The Lady of the Lake
by Sir Walter Scott

5 out of 5 stars

As a result of a feud between her father and King James, Ellen Douglas must live a secluded life in hiding on a small island in a Scottish loch. There she meets the mysterious James Fitz-James, a knight who has lost his hunting party in the highlands. Ellen is distressed by the romantic intentions of two highland lords, Malcolm Graeme and Roderick Dhu. Her father, the Douglas, refuses to lead his clan into war with King James, but Roderick Dhu calls together an army for a bloody battle.

I loved this beautiful poetry! There is such a wonderful balance in the writing between flowery phrases and powerful emotions and good plain storytelling. All these things come together for a delightful reading experience.

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Book Review: Round the Fire Stories

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Round the Fire Stories
by Arthur Conan Doyle

4 out of 5 stars

These short stories all feature some horrific circumstance or frightening apparition. There are terrifying nightmares, murder, ghosts, seances, dangerous exotic animals, and stolen jewels. Each story gradually leads into more and more suspicious circumstances until the hero of the tale is finally confronted with the full effect of their horrific situation.

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Classic Book Review: The Portable Kipling

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The Portable Kipling
by Rudyard Kipling, Irving Howe (Editor)

3 out of 5 stars

I do love Rudyard Kipling’s writing, but I found this book difficult to get through. It took me a year to read little by little through all of the short stories and poems and essays, because I didn’t enjoy most of them.

Most of the time the setting of the stories were so entirely foreign to me that I had a hard time understanding what was going on. There are so many references to historical things and cultural ideas in India that are not explained. The author assumes that the reader already knows about these things, and so it is not clear to a modern reader what is happening. Unless you know the entire history of the British occupation of India and every battle and political upset from the 1800s, you will likely be lost.

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Book Review: Aunt Jane’s Nieces Out West

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Aunt Jane's Nieces Out West by Edith Van Dyne

Aunt Jane’s Nieces Out West (Aunt Jane’s Nieces, #9)
by Edith Van Dyne

4 out of 5 stars

Uncle John and his nieces discover the delights and dangers of the motion picture business when they befriend two young actresses. When a mysterious young man makes their acquaintance, the group are puzzled to explain what he is doing in California.

This penultimate book in the series is so much fun! It has mystery and stolen jewels, a daring rescue, and all the intrigues of the early days of silent films. It was really interesting to see how the girls and their Uncle John got entangled in the lives of these two actresses and the mysterious young man. I loved learning more about the motion picture business in its early days. It’s like a little snippet of history.

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Classic Review: The Island of Dr. Moreau

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The Island of Dr. Moreau
by H.G. Wells, Alan Lightman (Goodreads Author) (Introduction)
3 out of 5 stars

Mr. Prendick is cast ashore on an island, where the evil scientist, Dr. Moreau, engages in animal vivisection and terrifying experiments. Gradually Mr. Prendick begins to realize that the other humans on the island are not all they seem to be. They have animal instincts and strange behavior, and Mr. Prendick has to fight for his life and find some way to escape this island of horrors.

The plot moves rather slowly, with more attention given to analyzing the morality and implications of Dr. Moreau’s work. A lot of time is spent scrutinizing different themes and ideas, like interesting explorations of what it really means to be human, but all the philosophizing does slow down the plot. However, when there IS any action, it is exciting and dramatic…. and violent. I did find the themes extremely interesting and well thought out.

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