36 - Armageddon in Retrospect

Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut

Putnam, 2008

233 pages

Date completed: June 29, 2010

Kurt Vonnegut never fails to amaze me. Not only was Mark Vonnegut's introduction to this posthumous collection fantastic, but the collection itself, which includes several short stories, a letter, a speech, and samples of Vonnegut's artwork, does not fall short of the high expectations I've come to associate with KurtVonnegut's work. Although nearly all of the material was centered on, or inspired by, Vonnegut's experiences in World War II, he uses the material in a variety of ways so that it never grows stale or dull.

The short stories in particular caught my attention, perhaps because this was my first exposure to Vonnegut's shorter pieces. I'm much more accustomed to his novels, which include frequent mini-epiphanies followed by page breaks that slow me down by making me think deeply. The stories, on the other hand, flow mostly without any interruption except, in some cases, separation into a few parts. The rhythm of these stories is much less choppy and creates a much clearer story arc than I'm used to when reading Vonnegut-- not that I'm trying to say that the stories are better than his novels, of course. The reading experience was just shockingly different.

I was delighted by this collection, and whizzed through it quickly. I really want to read more Vonnegut (eventually, I want to read everything he's published), but I like that I can absorb each piece slowly. I love that I still have so much Vonnegut to discover. My conclusion is simple: read this collection.

35 - The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

Voice, 2009

371 pages

Date completed: June 17, 2010

This novel follows Connie, a PhD candidate at Harvard whose mother recruits her to clean out her grandmother's long-abandoned home in Massachussetts during the summer. Swathed in ivy and completely hidden from the road, the house has begun to deteriorate after many years of being unoccupied...Connie certainly has her work cut out for her. Before long, she is swept up in a historical goose chase as she attempts to track down Deliverance Dane's book of magic.

I thoroughly enjoyed the read, especially since the language was so relaxed. The plot was engaging, which made for quick reading. I really liked the academic aspects, too, of which there were a myriad-- Connie visits a great deal of libraries and historical places in order to do research, her grandmother's house is full of artifacts, and Connie herself is a scholar by trade.

I don't have many complaints about this book. I did think that the ending was really ridiculous-- I won't be specific since I don't want to post spoilers, but let's just say that Connie treats a valuable historical document in a way that a true scholar NEVER would, especially a scholar of history. I also thought it was a little interesting that a novel so grounded in fact at the beginning becomes so magical by the end-- but I guess that mirrors Connie's inner transformation.

Overall, this was a great book. I wasn't surprised that I liked it, since it's got classic Leslie flags embedded within: academia, magic/fantasy, books, history...what can I say? It's a perfect summer read.

Sorry that this is a bit of a crappy review. It's been a month since I read the book, and am just jotting down what I remember. Reviews are more in-depth when I write them immediately after I finish a book.

34 - Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Norton, 1998

416 pages

Date completed: June 11, 2010

I managed to avoid reading Huckleberry Finn all throughout high school by switching between advanced English classes and regular English classes. I'd tried reading it on my own, but just couldn't get into it. All these years later, I have finally plodded through the entire novel...but I was far from impressed.

The novel started off engaging and interesting; however, I soon found myself growing weary of the episodic plot. It seems as though Twain had no idea what he wanted to write about or where the plot was going, and so he just meandered from episode to episode until he reached a solid plot point: Huck encountering Jim on the island, which begins their journey together.

I felt a lot for some of these characters-- Huck, for example, is worse than orphaned. His abusive father, Pap Finn, is an alcoholic slimeball who shows up in Huck's life only when it is convenient: in this case, because he finds out that Huck acquired a lot of money at the end of Tom Sawyer. And if there is one type of character Twain knows how to write, it's definitely the horrible white person. Twain characterizes Pap with such disgusting precision that his appearances on the pages of this novel are actually startling.

On the other hand, I felt like the plot dragged and snagged far too often. The side stories were too frequent and long; the chapters about Huck's time with the duke and the king were particularly painful to sludge through.

One thing I cannot forgive Twain for, however, is sacrificing Jim's story for Huck's. Jim, a runaway slave, relies on Huck to help him escape from his mistress. However, rather than simply crossing the Mississippi River into the safe territory of Missouri, Twain writes an entirely different story for Jim. Instead of traveling north, Huck and Jim miss the mouth of the Missouri River and continue south on the Mississippi-- straight into the deep South. In fact, they travel straight toward the heart of slave country. Although Huckleberry Finn is often hailed as a breakthrough anti-slavery novel, I just can't see it that way. Twain sacrifices Jim's freedom in order to remain in his own familiar territory (Twain was a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River prior to his writing career)-- the Mississippi and the South. Although Jim does acquire his freedom in the end, I find Twain's means of bestowing that freedom upon Jim skewed at best.

33 - Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Norton, 2002

432 pages

Date completed: June 8, 2010

I was mainly drawn to this novel for a reason I am somewhat ashamed to admit: lately, I feel as though I need to read more so-called “classics.” I realize that “classic” is just a label created by society and foisted upon random books that seem worthy of attention to certain people, but nevertheless, the pressure to read them feels monumental, especially in relation to my recent graduation.

Overall, my reading of Wuthering Heights proved to be very frustrating, mostly because the characters irritated me to no end. None of them seemed redeemable in any way: Catherine is selfish and spiteful, Heathcliff is abusive, Nelly is a sullen spy who serves her own ends; the list could continue for many paragraphs. Each character either dumbfounded or annoyed me with his or her actions throughout the novel: I was in awe that anyone would want to read about people who are so blatantly evil to one another. I don’t mean that in a naïve way: it just grew tiresome to read, over and over, about the ways in which these characters messed up one another’s lives. Since I hated the characters so much, I did not sympathize with them at all.

I did notice that despite my hatred for the characters, for some reason I was quite drawn into the book. I had trouble putting it down sometimes, and was very interested in what would happen next. It seems that despite all of the book’s negative qualities, there is something that is appealing about it, although I have no idea what that might be. This was an interesting revelation for me—I have never, upon close examination, been unable to identify the reasons that I am attracted to a certain book. Wuthering Heights, on the other hand, has stumped me. Perhaps I was just interested in discovering what further abuses the characters could possibly come up with to torture one another.