I discovered this weekend that Amy and I have been reading some of the same books over the last few months, although we haven't had any book club communications.
So I thought maybe in lieu of meeting, we could discuss what we've been reading here, and share reccomendations and opinions.
This is what I've read in the last few months, since our last meeting:
Charlotte Bronte-- Villette, Jane Eyre, The Professor
Emily Bronte-- Wuthering Heights
Jane Austin-- Mansfield Park, Sense and Sensibility, and (in progress) Persuasion
I also read "The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency," which my mother gave me for Christmas, and a couple of other really pretty frivolous novels.
Needless to say, I've been busy! I haven't read this many novels together since highschool, I think. The thing is that I have discovered that any of these classic works can be easily found online, since they're all public domain. The Charlotte Brontes and Mansfield Park I already owned, but the others I have read entirely on the computer. Not as comfortable as curling up with a book, but beats having to buy them!
Amy and I were discussing Villette, which she hated and I just moderately liked. Be warned, any prospective readers! It is long and slow and generally kind of depressing. Bronte wrote it in a period after she had lost three of her siblings to sickness, and it reflects that melancholy. The Professor, however, is an enjoyable read, not so good as Jane Eyre, but very worthwhile, I thought.
Wuthering Heights is--well, Wuthering Heights. It is particularly grim, and not particularly moral, but it is a riveting story.
Jane Austin, on the other hand, is always a cheerful read. I found Sense and Sensibility and (thus far) Persuasion to be thoroughly enjoyable, and always entertaining. I must say, though, I'm a little put off by the picture of my advanced age conjured up by these books. In Persuasion the heroine is an entire 27, and "past the bloom of youth," as well as being considered a definite old maid. Yikes! Of course, I guess that becomes more understandable when you consider their evidently short life expectancy. In Sense and Sensibility, there is mention that the 40 year old Mrs. Dashwood might live another 15 years, and the 35 year old Colonel Brandon might live another 20! (Of course, both people making such comments do so spitefully, so cannot be take to be reliable, but still....)
Mansfield Park is a little different from the other Austens. I find from reading that it is the most controversial of her novels, and the heroine the least liked. I did like her, although I also found myself wishing she would buck up and grow a back bone some of the time. It is a more serious book, and a deeply moral one. The heroine, Fanny Price, is almost as opposite to Elizabeth Bennett as you could get--she's timid, humble and serious. She's quiet, smart but not witty, insecure and desirous of nothing more than being overlooked. But she has very strong moral principles and convictions, and on them alone she will not be moved, however much it distresses her to be pressured to do so. This has led to many critics calling her "priggish." I can not agree, since I certainly don't believe that moral principles should ever be compromised, but she does seem to lack in personality sometimes. At one point there's a worldly man-about-town who falls passionately in love with her, and you can't help but wonder why. Ahh well. Still a good book though.
I'm reading Persuasion right now, and it bids fair to become my favorite Jane Austen yet. I'll post about it later.
So: what have you been reading, and what did you like or dislike? Have you read any of the books I have? Come, let's talk!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
More on the same book
Okay, so we obviously didn't meet in November. Or December. It turns out that it's harder to get together a few housewives than one may have thought. Especially since several of them work part time, and a few of them went out of town for the holidays (or had company, like I did).
I hope we will get a chance to get together and discuss this book soon--if only so that we can move on to the next one. This really is a good book, though. I even gave it to my sister-in-law as a Christmas present!
I attempted to make use of one of her suggestions for Christmas this year, that of having your children do chores to earn money to give to Jesus. My sons just turned four, and although they don't count very well, they sure enjoy collecting coins. So I got out my coin jar, and I gave each of them a small paper bag which they got to decorate. Then I wrote "Joshua's gift to Jesus," and "Daniel's gift to Jesus" on them, folded down and stapled the top shut, and cut a slit for them to put the change into. I talked to them about giving to Jesus, and how that means giving to someone else since you can't really give money to Jesus Himself (a bit of a difficult concept for that age). Then I started encouraging them to do chores, and paid them generously in coins for them. I can't say that I was very systematic in my approach, and it pretty well broke down completely after my parents arrived (and everyone got sick). In the end I got rid of all my change, though.
Noel Piper writes that on Christmas Eve they would have each of their children place their little sacks of money by a nativity scene, and then during the night they would take the money out and put some presents in, like stockings. That seems like a neat idea, but I decided that for our small children I wanted them to be clear about what was happening to the money. I didn't want it to mysteriously "disappear" like a reverse Santa Claus. So I thought that the best thing would be to take them to the store, let them put their change into the machines there and get the paper money out, put in a envelope, and then at church have them put the envelope in the offering plate. That way they know that they're giving it to the church. We haven't actually done that yet (did I mention that basically the whole family except me was sick?), but we will! Eventually.
Next year I hope to approach all of this with a better plan, and to start it earlier. I started late this year. I am glad for the idea, though, and hope to integrate more such ideas into our holiday celebrations. The best thing about Noel Piper's book is that it gives a way of thinking about special occasions (and even everyday rituals), and approaching them as being opportunities for teaching both our children and our selves about who God is, what He has done, and everything He has promised to do for us in the future.
I hope we will get a chance to get together and discuss this book soon--if only so that we can move on to the next one. This really is a good book, though. I even gave it to my sister-in-law as a Christmas present!
I attempted to make use of one of her suggestions for Christmas this year, that of having your children do chores to earn money to give to Jesus. My sons just turned four, and although they don't count very well, they sure enjoy collecting coins. So I got out my coin jar, and I gave each of them a small paper bag which they got to decorate. Then I wrote "Joshua's gift to Jesus," and "Daniel's gift to Jesus" on them, folded down and stapled the top shut, and cut a slit for them to put the change into. I talked to them about giving to Jesus, and how that means giving to someone else since you can't really give money to Jesus Himself (a bit of a difficult concept for that age). Then I started encouraging them to do chores, and paid them generously in coins for them. I can't say that I was very systematic in my approach, and it pretty well broke down completely after my parents arrived (and everyone got sick). In the end I got rid of all my change, though.
Noel Piper writes that on Christmas Eve they would have each of their children place their little sacks of money by a nativity scene, and then during the night they would take the money out and put some presents in, like stockings. That seems like a neat idea, but I decided that for our small children I wanted them to be clear about what was happening to the money. I didn't want it to mysteriously "disappear" like a reverse Santa Claus. So I thought that the best thing would be to take them to the store, let them put their change into the machines there and get the paper money out, put in a envelope, and then at church have them put the envelope in the offering plate. That way they know that they're giving it to the church. We haven't actually done that yet (did I mention that basically the whole family except me was sick?), but we will! Eventually.
Next year I hope to approach all of this with a better plan, and to start it earlier. I started late this year. I am glad for the idea, though, and hope to integrate more such ideas into our holiday celebrations. The best thing about Noel Piper's book is that it gives a way of thinking about special occasions (and even everyday rituals), and approaching them as being opportunities for teaching both our children and our selves about who God is, what He has done, and everything He has promised to do for us in the future.
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