Linda P Review-The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason

Synopsis

In every generation, a Gardella is called to accept the family legacy of vampire slaying, and this time, Victoria Gardella Grantworth is chosen, on the eve of her debut, to carry the stake. But as she moves between the crush of ballrooms and dangerous, moonlit streets, Victoria's heart is torn between London's most eligible bachelor, the Marquess of Rockley, and her enigmatic ally, Sebastian Vioget. And when she comes face to face with the most powerful vampire in history, Victoria must ultimately make the choice between duty and love. 

Victoria is like a Victorian Buffy! She is strong and funny.  Victoria is supposed to be lady like but her destiny is to slay vampires. She struggles between her duty as a slayer and society which expects her to be a debutant. I really enjoyed sparring between Victoria and Max. I look forward to learning more about the two of them in future books. 
The writing was fun and fast paced. The characters were engaging and fairly well thought out (Victoria's mom's friends were pretty flat but who really cared about them). And toward the end it got sexy! Highly recommended.

Wilde and Crazy Guy

Oscar Wilde

The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898)

De Profundis (1897)

If I were overly harsh, I'd say that the true crime Oscar Wilde was guilty of wasn't "somdomizing" (as his accuser, the Marquess of Queensberry wrote) a young man (the Marquess' son, Lord Alfred Douglas), but that he couldn't self-edit in gaol ("jail" to us - and Reading is pronounced "redding," but you knew that).

In other words, these two works are a bit unfocused and meandering. It appears that Wilde meant to edit De Profundis for publication, but the ballad is as it stands, a bit odd in its relation of form to content. The ballad is a ballad without real plot - which is, I guess, what prison life was for Wilde. The plot was an internal one of self-forgiveness and learning the redemptive power of tears.

De Profundis puts it better, but it takes a long time to get to the wonderful passages about Sorrow:

Behind Joy and Laughter there may be a temperament, coarse, hard and callous. But behind Sorrow there is always Sorrow.

Pleasure for the beautiful body, but Pain for the beautiful Soul.

and the analysis of Christ as artist:

He realised in the entire sphere of human relations that imaginative sympathy which in the sphere of Art is the sole secret of creation.

[...] Christ is the most supreme of Individualists. [...] one only realises one's soul by getting rid of all alien passions, all acquired culture, and all external possessions be they good or evil.

But all this is wrapped in long diatribes on the sins of the addressee of the eighty-plus-tightly-written-page letter, Lord Alfred Douglas. All I can say after having read about all of this kid's selfish and nasty behaviour is, Dang, he must have been really hot.

(To sum up: I'm glad I read them, but I only recommend the middle part of De Profundis. You're better off with the Happy Prince stories, the plays, or The Picture of Dorian Gray, which I will probably reread soon even though it's not on my list, making me fall even further behind.)

Becky's Progress: 28 completed

I'm thinking that 28 will be the number that I close out 2009 with. I can't really see me completing anymore before January 1! New to the list:

Trollope, Anthony. The Way We Live Now
Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five.
Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men.
Gaskell, Elizabeth. Cranford.
Gaskell, Elizabeth. Mary Barton.
Pratchett, Terry. Nation.

Previous titles read since April:

Almond, David. Skellig.
Anderson, M.T. Feed.
Choldenko, Gennifer. Al Capone Does My Shirts
Dessen, Sarah. Someone Like You.
Eliot, George. Middlemarch.
Farmer, Nancy. The House of the Scorpion.
Flewelling, Lynn. The Bone Doll's Twin.
Heinlein, Robert A. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.
Heyer, Georgette. The Convenient Marriage.
Heyer, Georgette.The Corinthian.
Heyer, Georgette. Frederica.
Heyer, Georgette. The Grand Sophy*
Heyer, Georgette. The Talisman Ring.
Lawrence, D.H. Lady Chatterley's Lover.*
Lester, Julius. To Be A Slave.
Orczy, Baroness. The Scarlet Pimpernel
Pearce, Philippa. Tom's Midnight Garden.
Plum-Ucci, Carol. The Body of Christopher Creed.
Scalzi, John. Old Man's War.
Trollope, Anthony. Barchester Towers.
Trollope, Anthony. The Warden.
Von Ziegesar, Cecily. Gossip Girl (Book one)

Update!

It's been a little while since I've been on here, so here is a brief catchup!

Lady Chatterley's Lover - DH Lawrence

I don't know what I was expecting when I picked this one up. I knew about the banning and the controversy obviously, and now that I've read it I can understand why. Definitely ahead of its time. For the most part, I didn't find ANY of the characters that likeable, and parts of the story dragged a bit, but I'm glad I read it.

Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote


I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH! Holly Golightly is definitely one of my favourite fictional characters of all time, and Truman Capote is now one of my favourite authors.

Lolita - Vladamir Nabokov

This one was a surprise. I thought I was going to hate this book with a passion, but the more I read it the more I liked it. Everyone in the book is despicable in one way or another, and in the end I didn't see Humbert Humbert as the outrageous creep I thought I would.

A Fraction of the Whole - Steve Toltz

Man this was heavy. It was funny, but there was a whole lot of pontificating going on, which was a bit of a struggle. I enjoyed it a lot.

Jeeves

Jeeves and the Tie That Binds

(Much Obliged, Jeeves in the U.K.)

P.G. Wodehouse (1971)

Okay, so maybe Pelham Grenville wasn’t on top of his game anymore at ninety years of age (P.G. lived from 1881 to 1975). But Jeeves is f. no matter what the circs.

If you haven’t read a Wodehouse yet I recommend you begin with Right Ho, Jeeves (1934), though I’m sure whoever does the recommending will recommend the first Wodehouse he or she read. His humor is of a somewhat formulaic type – but the formulae are original to him and executed exquisitely. You won’t regret picking one up.

(For those of you who have read Wodehouse, here are some characters to bring smiles to your faces: Aunt Dahlia, Anatole, Stinker Pinker, Madeline Bassett, Market Snodsbury, the Junior Ganymede Society. Old friends all, no?)

Not posted in a while

I shall make up for it soon. I got sidetracked in my reading, the highlight of which was The Interrogative Mood: A Novel? by Padgett Powell. Worth the money and the while.

Linda P Review-From Hell by Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell

Amazon.com Review:The mad, shaggy genius of the comics world dips deeply into the well of history and pulls up a cup filled with blood in From Hell. Alan Moore did a couple of Ph.D.'s worth of research into the Whitechapel murders for this copiously annotated collection of the independently published series. The web of facts, opinion, hearsay, and imaginative invention draws the reader in from the first page. Eddie Campbell's scratchy ink drawings evoke a dark and dirty Victorian London and help to humanize characters that have been caricatured into obscurity for decades. Moore, having decided that the evidence best fits the theory of a Masonic conspiracy to cover up a scandal involving Victoria's grandson, goes to work telling the story with relish from the point of view of the victims, the chief inspector, and the killer--the Queen's physician. His characterization is just as vibrant as Campbell's; even the minor characters feel fully real. Looking more deeply than most, the author finds in the "great work" of the Ripper a ritual magic working intended to give birth to the 20th century in all its horrid glory. Maps, characters, and settings are all as accurate as possible, and while the reader might not ultimately agree with Moore and Campbell's thesis, From Hell is still a great work of literature. --Rob Lightner

 If From Hell was the first Alan Moore book I ever read, I don't think I would ever read another one of his books. He did a lot of research about London and its society during the time of Jack the Ripper. I definitely got the flavor of London in the Victorian era. But it's long and slow with little pay off. If you are looking to learn about Jack the Ripper you will but not so much about the actual murders (they are more of a side story). You'll learn a lot about London and the Freemasons. 

It's great literature. It's dense and confusing at times. At the end of the edition I read there were more maps, pictures and additional reading.  It's not easy reading. The drawings are scratchy and tough to interpret at times. It takes time to digest what's going on. 

Since I've read The Watchmen before I read From Hell, I can understand that Moore can be wordy. His books are a commentary on society. They are stories within stories. There is more than just what you think the story is about. 

I would recommend From Hell if you are a fan of Alan Moore, love learning more about Victorian London, and have a lot of patience. My husband tried to read it and gave up.