Bleak House Review

               

  

               Have you ever read a book that you were determined to get through no matter what but weren’t really enjoying? Yeah, that’s happens to me frequently. Mostly because I’m stubborn and refuse to give up on a book unless it’s inherently disturbing or I’ve gone blind and can no longer read.

                My most recent case of book determination was while reading Bleak House by Charles Dickens. I know it’s a literary classic and everything, but honestly, I didn’t really enjoy it. To be fair, I kind of went into it with that mindset. What else are you supposed to think when you pick up an 800-page book called Bleak House? But alas, I stuck with it until the end and conquered the beast! It took a few extra cups of coffee to get through it, but I felt super accomplished when I finally turned that last page.

I think part of the problem for me is that Dickens writes the way that I tend to talk and it’s really annoying. Sometimes, when I try to describe something – it could be anything, from raindrops on roses to whiskers on kittens (speaking of that song, can anyone tell me why it’s considered a Christmas song? It doesn’t make any sense. Maybe it sounds like a Christmas wish list, but who wishes for raindrops?), but I get distracted by remembering something else and then start talking about that before finishing my original thought.

See what I did there? If you think that last paragraph was confusing, you should try reading Dickens! He interrupts himself like that all the time! Yikes! I find myself having to go back to the beginning of the sentence and skip the middle section so that I can see how it connects to the end of the sentence. It gets really old after awhile.

Keeping all that in mind, there were a few good things I enjoyed about the book. For example, at the very beginning when he spends about three pages doing nothing but describe the fog in London, there’s a really beautiful description that he uses.

“Smoke lowering down from chimney-pots, making a soft black drizzle with flakes of soot in it as big as full-grown snowflakes – gone into mourning, one might imagine, for the death of the sun.”

That line literally gave me chills when I first read it. What must the world have looked like in Dickens’ mind to think of a description like that? It makes our ordinary, dreary world sound like some kind of somber fairytale. I didn’t run across any other sentences that stuck out to me like that one, but it is descriptions like that that separate good writers from great, awe-inspiring, genius-freak writers. I can’t believe I’m fangirling about a sentence right now. I’ll stop.

My second favorite part actually surprised me, and not just because it was a twist that I didn’t see coming. It has to do with where the main character ends up calling her home and who she ends up with. If you’ve read the book, you’ll know what I’m talking about, but I found myself getting teary-eyed with delight when she found out what her guardian meant when he said that she was going to be the new mistress of Bleak House. At the beginning of the book, I associated the title ‘Bleak House’ with a gray and dismal feeling, but at the end I found myself overjoyed to see the name ‘Bleak House appear outside Esther’s cozy little cottage.

“This is Bleak House. This day I give this house its little mistress; and before God, it is the brightest day in all my life!”

Even though I wasn’t crazy about the book as a whole (hence the two Star Lord rating), Dickens reminded me that the power in a name lies in the meaning behind it. I started reading the book feeling depressed by the name ‘Bleak House’, but once I got to know the characters and stated rooting for Esther’s happiness, ‘Bleak House’ no longer represented misery and sadness for me. Instead, Bleak House felt like home. (Hopefully, I can keep this lesson in mind when I start to read Les Miserables.)

The Shelters of Stone Review

Rating:

  

*For those of you who haven’t read The Plains of Passage yet, SPOILER ALERT!

     I feel silly saying spoiler alert for this post because, was there really any doubt that Ayla and Jondalar would make it back to his homeland? True, there were a few moments that probably had us all a little worried (like the S’Armunai War of the Women), but sure enough, our heroes prevailed!

     In The Shelters of Stone, we join Ayla as she finally gets to meet the Zelandonii. In a way, the whole series has really been leading up to this book, more so than the final one. Ever since Ayla came to realize how different she was from the people of the Clan, she’s been searching for people like her and a place to call home.

     She’s been welcomed almost everywhere she’s gone and even adopted into another family, but there was always this temporary feeling at each place. Her heart belonged to Jondalar, and he could never be satisfied living somewhere other than his true home. Now, at long last, Ayla can really sink in her roots and start a family with him.

     This book was a tough one for me to rate because there wasn’t really anything in particular that I disliked about it. At the same time, nothing extraordinary really stood out to me.

     This far into the series, I’ve gotten used to Auel’s phenomenal attention to prehistoric detail, and I know all of the incredible things that Ayla is capable of. Overall, it was a bit less memorable than the other books. So, it has been given the rating of three Star Lords.

     The one thing I loved about this book, though, was that we finally got to meet all of these people that we’d heard so much about: Jondalar’s mother, Marthona; his older brother, Joharran; Willamar, Folara, and all of his other family members; Marona (ugh); and, of course, Zelandoni, not to be confused with Zelandonii, the name of the people as a whole (yeah, that’s totally not confusing).

     Needless to say, none of these people were expecting Jondalar to come back after five years had gone by, and they definitely weren’t expecting him to show up with a beautiful foreign woman, two horses, and a wolf. Read for yourself to see how each of them reacts and welcomes (or doesn’t welcome) Ayla into their home.

     If you’ve already read this book, I’d love to hear what you thought. Were Jondalar’s family members and his Zolena similar to how you thought they’d be?

The Mammoth Hunters Review

            

Rating:

  

*For those of you who haven’t read The Valley of Horses, SPOILER ALERT!

     I don’t know about you, but I was thrilled when Ayla finally met Jondalar. What are the odds, though, that the first of her kind that she meets is the most handsome man on the planet and he just happens to fall in love with her? If only it were that easy in real life.

     Nevertheless, now that she’s finally found her mate, Ayla travels with Jondalar and they happen to run into the Mamutoi along the way. The Mammoth Hunters is the third installment in the Earth’s Children series, and it focuses on Ayla and Jondalar’s extended stay with them.

     I gave this book three Star Lords because this one started to feel like it dragged a little bit more than the first two. It was exciting to see how Ayla handled meeting a whole group of Others for the first time, but spending a large part of the visit stuck in a cave with everyone in the winter can get kind of boring. You know how it gets when your relatives visit for the holidays. By the end of the season, you’re practically kicking them out the door so you can have a little time to yourself again. Yeah, it was a little like that.

                

     Still, it had its high points as well. In fact, my favorite scene in the entire series (and I’m writing this after having read all of the books in the series) is in this book. It’s all the way at the end, though, so I don’t want to say too much. Let’s just say it has to do with Jondalar asking Ayla a question, and leave it at that.

                

      During their stay with the Mamutoi, Ayla and Jondalar go through a pretty big rough patch in their relationship. Aeul gives us a deeper look into all of the interesting characters that she introduces and there’s a lot of fascinating anecdotes, but the underlying current is how Ayla and Jondalar develop (or don’t) as a couple. It definitely kept me reading to find out how they were going to fix things, but I also wanted to smack both of them upside the head for being so oblivious to each other’s true feelings.

       It’s interesting how silly a problem can appear when we’re given insight into what both people are thinking, but Ayla and Jondalar only have their own perceptions to go off of. They simply can’t see what we and all of the Mamutoi around them know to be true. By the end of the book, we come to the same realization as these two clueless lovebirds: love isn’t always as easy as you think it should be, but it’s always worth fighting for.

Welcome!

                Allow me to set the scene for you:

A pair of thick wooden doors open to reveal a dimly lit study. The only source of light comes from the large marble fireplace on the opposite side of the room. You’re drawn in by the warmth of the flames, and, as you get closer, you can hear the crackling sound of the slowly-burning logs.

As your eyes adjust to the flickering light, you start to notice the layout of the room. Other than the large mirror hanging above the fireplace, the rest of the wall space is covered by floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Upon closer inspection, you realize that you’ve read some of the titles and others you’ve at least heard of. You get caught up in the memories of the stories held in those pages.

The sound of a particularly loud crackle erupts in the flames, and your thoughts drift back to the present moment. You turn around and notice for the first time that there are two plush armchairs sitting in front of the hearth. Their backs are tall enough to hide anyone from sight who chooses to sit down in them. They currently sit empty, but a small round table between the two seats holds a well-worn book, as if someone had been recently sitting there reading.

Without hesitating, you walk over to one of the empty chairs and sit down. As you sink into the soft velvet lining, warmed by the fire’s glow, you can’t help but feel that this place was meant for you.

Your choice to stay seemed to trigger something because the doors you first came through swing open once more. You hear footsteps behind you, and you suddenly start to wonder if you’ve trespassed into someone’s private library. You’re grateful that the distinctive armchair hides you from view, but the stranger doesn’t seem all that surprised to see you when she walks up. Instead, she sits down beside you, and, with a pleasant smile on her face, begins to speak . . .

                I see you’ve found my study. Welcome. I hope you like it. It may not be much in the way of decorating, but it’s cozy.

                You may be wondering why I’m not surprised to see you here. It’s the books, isn’t it? A good story always draws people in time and time again. No matter how you like to read or what your favorite genre is, everyone has something that sparks their imagination.

                That’s why I created this place. I’m sure you’ll have read some of the books on these shelves. There’s nothing better than getting lost in a story, but sometimes a book’s effect on you is too strong to be kept to yourself. This place is the perfect spot to come share your thoughts and hear another’s point of view on your favorite novels.

                Maybe there’s some books that you recognize and have always wondered about. Another great thing about this study is that you’ll hear about a lot of well-known classics and current bestsellers. You don’t have to wander aimlessly anymore to find another captivating book. As a practiced reader, I can give you the ultimate scoop on whether or not a book is worth reading according to your tastes.

                There’s no rule that says we only have to talk about books here, though. Since writing goes hand-in-hand with reading, I’ll be sure to share some of my own works as well as any handy writing tips that I’ve picked up.  One thing to keep in mind is that writing inspiration can be drawn from literally anywhere. Because of that, you may see some random posts about all sorts of things that are currently motivating me or simply making me laugh. I hope they’ll inspire you as well.

                Finally, there’s The Challenge. I’ll give you all the details about that later, but to satisfy your curiosity for now, I’ll give you a few minor details. A few years ago (I don’t remember exactly when), I challenged myself to read all 100 books on BBC’s fan-voted list of the best novels of all time. The list can be found on the right side of this page. I’m almost halfway through, but to push myself to continue, I’m going to add some additional challenges along the way to make things more interesting. I’ll probably make a fool of myself, but that just means it’s more fun for you!

                So now you know what to expect. I hope you’ll stay and visit for a while. The doors to my study are always open for some in-depth book discussions and miscellaneous ramblings.

                There is one note I wish to make. To ensure that everyone is able to experience the joy of reading stories for the first time, please be sure to include SPOILER at the top of your comments that contain any information that could ruin a book for someone. I’ll be sure to do the same.

                Once again, I would personally like to welcome you to Bookin’ It. If you want more frequent updates, feel free to drop by my contact page. Enjoy your visit and come back often!