Sunday, March 21, 2010

Chapter 4: Austen Marathon, here we come!

I've started Jane Austen's Emma this week, and so far, it is much, much, MUCH (...much) different than the French authors. Obviously. Balzac made me puke a little, so Austen is a welcome change. My mother (remember, the English major?) told me not to read the Austen books on my list, but said there were better ones. Well, that wasn't really the point of my list, now was it? I spent a lot of energy and thought in picking up that conveniently located peice of paper at my library, and darn it, I'm gonna read the books on the list. The end. I'm excited for Austen, and maybe, if my eyes haven't fallen out of their sockets by the end of 100 classics (especially if the majority are like Cousin Bette), I will read her very knowledgeably recommended suggestions. Love you, Mommy!

My goal is to post my conclusion to Emma before July. :S

Holy Incredibly Long Time to Read a Book, Batman!

So I started reading Cousin Bette in November. It is now March. The book is not 10,000 pages long, but instead, a manageable 400-something. I pretty much suck. Well, I do have a couple excuses. 1. I fell down a driveway and broke my fibula. For those of you who don't know, the fibula is the smaller of the two bones in the lower leg. (Don't be ashamed if you didn't know; I didn't either, but will now be haunted with the knowledge for the rest of my life!) 2. I started a new job as an elementary school music teacher, which is fun, rewarding, stressful, frustrating, and time-consuming all in one $12 an hour package! Anyway, those things are not good excuses, but excuses they are, so I will use them.

But I digress. Cousin Bette made me want to poke my eyes out. It was not fun. Hence, taking 4 months to read one little book. Firstly, it was in such an annoying format. There were no chapters, and only a small (*) to break up a section, oh, every 80 pages or so. So every time I left it and came back, I had to reread about 2 pages to remind myself what was going on. Exasperating!

The story was about a family in 1800's France, shortly after the reign of Napoleon. It was very obvious how the author felt about politics, social classes, and general daily life in those times: he hated everything about them. The title character, Elizabeth (or Bette), was a viciously manipulative, bitter, and resentful woman who I frankly did not care for. That was, of course, the point, but I need to love somebody in a book, and I didn't love anyone. Even the cousin of Bette - Adeline - who is supposed to be the opposite of Bette, is frail and flawed. I couldn't stand it.

So, I realize that books with subjects other than sparkly vampires and pubescent wizards are hard to read, and not always very fun. I did know that already, but I'm feeling it now. Can I please get a book with a happy ending? Unfortunately, "classic" often times is equal to "rediculously sad and intentionally cruel, but there's a life lesson in there if you think about it hard enough". Meh. On to Austen!