A Week of Gift Ideas: For The Classics Reader

There are tons of options out there for readers who want to collect attractive copies of classics but, honestly, some just aren't that affordable (I still only have one of the clothbound Penguins -- The Woman in White). With the new Classic Lines series from Splinter (Sterling), you can get high presentation value classics at a much more reasonable cost (read: you could gift almost three books instead of one!).

With French flaps and printed end papers on sturdy paperbacks, these classics, designed by fashion illustrator Sara Singh, are gorgeous. I've already fallen for her Pip. I wish I could show you the back of Great Expectations because it's wonderful too -- a set table that obviously belongs to Miss Havisham and the quote "you are part of my existence, part of myself ..." (which is also on the endpapers).

The available titles are Emma, Great Expectations, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility.

I think the colors on this Emma are gorgeous! And at $8.95 apiece, it would be easy to buy all six to start a young reader's classic library. I hope that the series expands too. I would love to see an Anne of Green Gables or a My Antonia in this style.

Celebrating the marriage of art and the written word,
K

New Release: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

So I'm sure you remember my recent post about being less than thrilled with the characters in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility.  And yet, I had committed to read the spoof, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, for the Take Another Chance Challenge.  It's for Challenge 8: Real and Inspired.

Many authors or books inspire others to pay homage to them by writing another book inspired by the original work. For this challenge, read both an original work and a book inspired by that original work.

I'm not exactly sure that this would count as paying homage but it's certainly inspired by the original!  In fact, Jane Austen is listed as one of the two authors (Ben H. Winters is the other) because almost the entire text of Sense and Sensibility is in this book.  It just has a bit more added in -- that happens to be about pirate ships and sea shanties and malaria!

I think that the dedication at the beginning of the book really gave a clue as to what the book would be like.

This book is dedicated to my parents --

lovers of great literature and great silliness.

The word silly is one that came to mind quite often while reading this book.  I definitely laughed out loud in a few spots and chuckled quietly in a few others.   The marriage of the new and old texts is smoother in some spots than others but overall it actually works.  The only thing I didn't like was that Winters made Brandon into, well, the man you see on the cover of the book with tentacles on his face (due to the curse of a sea witch).  All through the book, other characters were repulsed by his looks and I thought it was a bit harsh.  Of course, Colonel Brandon was possibly my favorite character in the original so I'm sure that influenced my feelings on this!

I'm not going to go into the plot of this story because, well, it's just Sense and Sensibility ... with sea monsters -- giant octopi, a man-sized jellyfish, killer narwhals, evil lobsters and much more.  Willoughby is a treasure hunter, Edward wants to be a lighthouse keeper and Elinor's favorite pasttime is whittling driftwood figurines.  If you appreciate silly humor and don't mind the idea of a recooked classic, you should probably give this book a shot!

Practicing my giant eyeball stabbing skills -- just in case,
K


Support our site and buy Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters on Amazon or find it at your local library. We got our copy from a publicist.

"The family of Dashwood had been long settled in Sussex."

I have avoided reading Jane Austen's Emma because I find Emma's character in film versions to be quite repulsive through most of the story.  I saved that novel for last, assuming it would be the Austen that I would enjoy the least.  I never guessed that Sense and Sensibility would be so infuriating and would not have a single character that I did not find significantly deficient in some way.  In the next couple of weeks, I will be reading Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters for the Chance Challenge (Challenge 8: Real and Inspired) and I can honestly admit that I will be rooting for the sea monsters.

Elinor Dashwood and her younger sister Marianne experience a change in situation when their father dies and leaves his estate, Norwood, to their half-brother.  They, along with their mother and younger sister, find themselves in reduced circumstances and they end up moving to a cottage on the estate of a distant relative.  It appears to be sufficient for their needs and they settle in nicely.  Elinor pines for Edward Ferrars, her sister-in law's brother, and Marianne meets the handsome and sporty Willoughby and both sisters seem headed on their way to marriage.  It's quite a surprise then when Willoughby leaves town quickly and unexpectedly and Edward starts behaving with a strange reserve toward Elinor.  What could be the source of trouble for these two seemingly well-matched couples?

I really didn't have a problem with Austen's writing or storytelling in this book.  I understood many of the social complexities that she was attempting to highlight.  And yet I found every character to be flawed just past the point where it was tolerable.  I didn't want to stop reading the book before it was done but I felt that each character received more than they deserved by the end of the story.  At least in Emma I am assured of a few characters worthy of respect and the eventual improvement of Emma herself.  Now on to the sea monsters ...

Wishing I had re-read Persuasion instead,
K


Support our site and buy Sense and Sensibility on Amazon or find it at your local library. We bought our own copy of it.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

How do I love thee, Pride and Prejudice, let me count the ways ...

One, I loved thee in 1995 as a mini-series with the fantastic Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. This was the first time that I knew of thee and I fell in love every time my college roommates put thee on. I will always be in their debt for introducing us.

Two, I loved thee as a 1940 film with Mr. Darcy portrayed by the brooding genius, Laurence Olivier. Though you were highly modified and more than a bit silly in parts, thy love story was still touching.

Three, I loved thee in 2005 as another film, this time with the saucy Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennett. Though thy cast was somewhat marginal, the overall period feeling you gave was charming.

Four, I loved thee as a 2004 Bollywood remake with the beautiful Aishwarya Rai as Lalita (Elizabeth) and a plethora of exciting dance numbers. Thy updated story was well executed and the addition of Indian cultural mores was pleasant.

Five, I loved thee most of all as a novel, the fantastic original by Jane Austen. I finally read thee and you were more than I ever thought you could be. You had hidden depths of humor and character. You were yet another example of Austen's remarkable talent and imagination. I can't wait until we can be together again.

This is another book finished for the 1% Well-Read Challenge. I can't believe that I had never read this book! I really thought I had because I knew the story so well. Now I feel so much more complete in my lifetime reading list and in my Austen reading. This is really a must read for almost every reader.

Can't think of anything witty -- too much Darcy to look at,
K


Buy Pride and Prejudice (Oxford World's Classics) on Amazon or find it at your local library.

New Release: What Would Jane Austen Do?

I guess this is my year of trying books that I would not normally read. This was the second review book that I somehow missed was a full-on romance! Laurie Brown's What Would Jane Austen Do? is the story of Eleanor Pottinger, a modern-day movie costume designer who is in England trying to start a business making Regency-period costumes. When a pair of ghostly Regency sisters transport Eleanor to their time period to right a wrong, she meets the love of her life *and* Jane Austen! But is this mysterious man really a womanizing cad who will be the downfall of the innocent sisters? And why does he think Eleanor is a Napoleonic spy?

This is a fast-paced book with a fun plot. I still wasn't completely comfortable with all of the sex scenes but they were mostly brief (for the reader). I also felt that the ending was just a little too convenient and beneficial to Eleanor but I guess that's part of the romance -- the "happily ever after". There were some enjoyable characters in the story and some surprising ones that had hidden depth. The Jane Austen thread through this book was somewhat tenuous and not really a part of the main plot but it was still interesting.

Wishing I could waltz in a field of butterflies,
K


Buy What Would Jane Austen Do? on Amazon or find it at your local library.

31 Books for Fall Spooks

I made this list of 31 books from my own collection that I think are befitting the spooky season that is autumn. Fall has already made an appearance here in the Pacific Northwest as we've had the hints of a chill in the air and plenty of rain. Halloween is a favorite time of year in our house and these books are some of my favorites. I don't expect anyone to read a book a day in October but feel free to use this list to find some good horror, mystery and suspense reads.

1. Murder on the Leviathan – Boris Akunin
2. Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen
3. The Pale Blue Eye – Louis Bayard
4. Lady Audley's Secret – Mary Elizabeth Braddon
5. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
6. The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories – Tim Burton
7. And Then There Were None – Agatha Christie
8. Hallowe'en Party (Hercule Poirot) – Agatha Christie
9. The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories – Susanna Clarke
10. The Haunted Hotel – Wilkie Collins
11. The Book of Lost Things – John Connolly
12. The Meaning of Night: A Confession – Michael Cox
13. Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories – Roald Dahl
14. Best Ghost Stories – Charles Dickens
15. The Stolen Child – Keith Donohue
16. The Historian – Elizabeth Kostova
17. The Phantom of the Opera – Gaston Leroux
18. The Dream Stealer – Gregory Maguire
19. Lost: A Novel – Gregory Maguire
20. The Lighthouse at the End of the World – Stephen Marlowe
21. The Dante Club – Matthew Pearl
22. The Portrait – Iain Pears
23. The Raven and Other Stories – Edgar Allan Poe
24. Vincent Price: A Daughter's Biography – Victoria Price
25. The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
26. The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield
27. Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
28. Into the Mummy's Tomb – John Richard Stephens, editor
29. Dracula – Bram Stoker
30. Brat Farrar – Josephine Tey
31. The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde

If you choose any of these books to read this season, come back to this post and let me know what you thought of them!

Boo!
K