Cranford Read-along part 2

This is the second and final part for the Cranford read-along hosted over at A literary odyssey.

The second part took a slightly more dramatic turn and saw Miss Matty lose her entire income after the collapse of her bank. The chapters were also more linked in the second part of the book and this saw Miss Matty's friends try to help where they could before Miss Matty was forced to make some radical changes to her lifestyle.

There was certainly more in the way of events and plot during the last eight chapters, but the book still didn't lose any of its charm or nostalgia for the ladies of Cranford. I found however the ending rather abrupt, it was like the author had to suddenly wrap everything up quickly in the last paragraph and didn't really fit in keeping with the rest of the book.

This has been a wonderful book to dip in and out of over the last few weeks and for a more gentle and charming read I recommend it.

Elizabeth Gaskell herself said of Cranford “It is the only one I can read again. Whenever I am ailing or ill, I take it down and laugh over it afresh.”


Next month I am participating in the One Hundred Years of Solitude also hosted on A Literary Odyssey and the full details of that one can be found here. I have only read a couple of chapters so far but its certainly quite far removed from the experience of Cranford!

Posted by Jess

Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier

Set in the early 1800s, Jamaica Inn is the story of Mary Yellan. She arrives to Jamaica Inn after promising her dying mother that she would sell the family's farm and go live with her aunt Patience. When she arrives at Jamaica Inn she realises very quickly that things are not as they should be, her aunt who was once pretty and lively has now withdrawn into herself and seems very frightened of her husband Joss. Joss is a big brute of a man who is secretive and keeps some very dubious company, what Joss’s dealings are and what Jamaica Inn is used for is slowly revealed.

I had little expectations for this book. I loved Rebecca and was expecting this to not match up it. I’m glad to say that I relished Jamaica Inn and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. From the first chapter when Mary is travelling along Cornwall's desolate moors in the night towards Jamaica Inn Du Maurier had me hooked. Du Maurier takes the reader very much into Gothic territory here (is there any alternative when moors are involved) but also throws in some adventure and a love interest which slots perfectly into an already atmospheric and gripping read.

Although Rebecca might be a better book I much preferred the Heroine Mary in Jamaica Inn. This is a girl is determined, strong and (for want of a better word) sassy. Instead of cowering in the corner with her aunt she stands up to her uncle, her uncle in turn respects her and a battle of words ensures between them. I just love this speech she presents to her uncle when he first tries to intimidate her upon arrival at Jamaica Inn..

'I understand you,' she said. 'I'm not curious by nature, and I've never gossiped in my life. It doesn't matter to me what you do in the inn, or what company you keep. I'll do my work about the house and you'll have no cause to grumble. But if you hurt my Aunt Patience in any way, I tell you this – I'll leave Jamaica Inn straight away, and I'll find the magistrate, and bring him here, and have the law on you; and then try and break me if you like.'

Mary is also attracted to her uncle’s brother Jem. Jem is a charmer and a horse thief, he is quite upfront about his dodgy dealings with Mary and plays a good ‘bad boy’, but can she trust him?

Mary also has quite a cynical (or perhaps realistic) view on love and marriage for a young girl. She sees young couples all the time in love but then sees them get married and have children and she sees their lives change as the husband comes home demanding his dinner and the wife who is tired from looking after a home and a baby that never stops crying. Mary just seems to accept that the world is simply made like this and she herself can either choose to be part of that or choose to go her own way.

This is quite a refreshing attitude for a book written in the 1930s, but what’s even more refreshing is that she never needs ‘rescuing’. Yes she is beaten and dragged about but she uses her own resources to get herself out of the situation, Jem never shows up to ‘save’ her. In this respect she would make a far better role model than a lot of modern heroines.

This is good book which contains atmosphere, deception and adventure and I found it pure escapism and a real treat to read.

Verdict 5/5


Surprisingly the Inn was based on a real Jamaica Inn which still stands in the exact location as described in the book. I have no idea how the owners reacted at the time the book was published but they certainly take advantage of their small claim to fame today. I did not see this picture of the Inn until after I had read the book but it almost matches perfectly what I imagined the Inn to look like. For more information on the Inn today can be found on their website here.

Posted by Jess

Tales by Japanese Soldiers by Kazuo Tamayama

The thoughts, feelings and experiences of Allied and German soldiers during the Second World War are well documented. Numerous films, books and documentaries have been produced. However the same cannot be said of the Japanese. The thoughts and feelings of their soldiers have been largely overlooked.

Two members of my family encountered the Japanese during the Second World War. Unfortunately I never got the chance to ask either of them what Japanese soldiers were like. Perhaps they could not have given me an answer if I did.

I imagine most people have seen the haunting footage of Japanese kamikaze aircraft crashing into battleships, heard accounts of the unspeakable atrocities committed against prisoners of war and the Japanese propensity to commit suicide rather than face the perceived humiliation of capture. History is full of these bleak images. I had hoped, by reading accounts from the soldiers themselves, I would learn more than just these often repeated and well documented facts.

The book is a collection of diary entries made by Japanese soldiers. It is often very detailed in its description of Japanese fighting tactics, troop movements and use of aircraft and mountain guns as support and of the high regard the Japanese had of bayonet charges. The book also covers the fear and shame some soldiers felt at being wounded or pinned down by enemy fire and therefore unable to continue fighting.

Curiously enough although it is clear Japanese soldiers were afraid of being wounded they seemed much less afraid of dying, whether this was bravado, genuine courage or recklessness is sometimes hard to tell but I think on the whole the soldiers seemed to feel that if it was necessary for them to die for the betterment of Japan then they were OK with it when compared to the apparent shame they would feel if they were sent home with a leg missing. It was also interesting to read that the average Japanese soldier seemed far more concerned about contracting cholera than catching an enemy bullet!

Despite the insights this book provides ultimately I was left somewhat disappointed. Throughout the book there does seem a lack of real human feeling or expression from the Japanese. Occasionally a Japanese soldier would write that he felt sad about something but that was it, a brief mention of emotional pain but nothing else. The whole thing seems so clinical, so devoid of emotion. Perhaps a lot was lost in translation or heavily censored but most of the writing is surprisingly functional, non-emotional and to the point. Sometimes it almost felt like reading an official report rather than a diary entry.

Ultimately I feel this book was a real missed opportunity.


Final verdict 2/5


Chris

Reading plans for July

Thank you again for everyone's suggestions on my post here recommending books I should read during July. I have picked out the books suggested most often along with some of the earlier suggestions and have come up with this list.

The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Perfume by Patrick Suskind
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The House of the Mosque by Kader Abdolah
The World according to Garp by John Irving
Beloved by Toni Morrison

I have made a list of eight because a few of those books are not very long and after that lot during August I will read this.


This book is the oldest on my list and is one that I keep passing over purely because its 600 pages long and has small writing. But since so many people have recommended it I will read it in August and take my time with it.

On another note I also brought this today.


I figured if I'm going to jump on a literary bandwagon I may as well do it sooner rather than later ;)

Posted by Jess

Let The Right One In

A read the book, watch the movie Challenge
The story follows the life of Oskar; a skinny, 12 year old boy who lives at home with his overbearing mother. Oskar is horrendously bullied at school. He wets himself almost daily and cannot defend himself against the humiliation and physical attacks of the cruel children who make his life a misery. He fantasises about killing his tormentors. One day, by chance, he meets Eli; a mysterious girl who lives in the apartment next to his. All is not as it seems with Eli and pretty soon they begin a friendship which has far reaching consequences for both of them.

The movie is a masterpiece in my opinion, a truly original vampire story which keeps you guessing throughout. The actors are well cast and the setting is perfect. Some very impressive visuals are on show here and the acting is first rate. The two main actors are only 11 years old and considering that they are very fine actors, they had me totally convinced.

The dialogue is in Swedish with English subtitles which I felt was not just appropriate but also right since the story was written by a Swedish author with Swedish characters set in Sweden using Swedish actors...I have heard Hollywood is planning on making their own version which I don't wholly approve of since it would be almost impossible to improve on this one.

The film is gruesome, there is no escaping that, but not as gruesome as some vampire movies I've seen. Despite being a killer the vampire quickly got under my skin (no pun intended!) I felt sorry for her when it becomes clear she only kills to survive and no other reason.

The main difference between the book and movie (and the most noticeable) is that roughly half the characters are missing from the movie or not developed anywhere near the degree they are in the book. I have read that this was done deliberately to bring the focus of the audience onto the two main characters. I'm not sure how I feel about it as the book itself was very rich and varied however one of my only complaints about the book was that it was a little too long so perhaps removing characters was for the best.

If you have ever wondered what happens to a vampire if they enter a house when they haven't been invited its worth watching this movie just for that scene alone! Powerful stuff.

The book is also brilliant but sadly fell short of the five star mark purely due to its length. It is more than 500 pages and full of many minor characters whose stories we also follow, of course they all interlink by the end of the story but there are definite moments in the book when you think to yourself 'Oh, get on with it'

As you would expect much more detail goes into each character which works well. Its very easy to develop favourites although I had several. Were there too many characters in the book? Perhaps one or two but it still doesn't change the fact that it is a brilliant story.


Lindqvist has (to a modest degree) re-invented the vampire for this movie but not in a bad way. The vampire in this story more resembles what a real vampire would be like in my opinion. Not a dashing, charming Christopher Lee type character with a duff accent and a long flowing cape but a scruffy, smelly outcast who hides away from people and only appears when she needs to feed. When she does feed its not a pretty thing to witness. She doesn't seduce her victim calmly so they comply without a fuss nor does she gently prick their neck with two nice little neat holes. She jumps on her screaming victim before literally tearing their throats open with her mouthful of razor sharp teeth. Not a pretty thing to read I can tell you and the feeding scenes make your skin crawl but that is such a fascinating contrast; the vampire is capable of immense kindness and empathy towards Oskar and yet, at a moments notice, can turn into a terrible monster and murder indiscriminately. Because her feeding habits are so brutally messy Eli is often forced to move home to avoid detection and to have a human companion to help her kill.

All in all a brilliant movie and book well worth seeing even if typically you don't like vampires.

I would give the book 4/5 and the movie 5/5


By Chris

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

After being suitably impressed with Sarah Waters writing in The Little Stranger and after reading a lot of cries of ‘read Fingersmith, read Fingersmith’ in the comments section on that post I was looking forward to sitting down with this Victorian yarn.

Sue is an orphan; her mother was hanged for murder, so Sue has been brought up by Mrs Sucksby and her little gang of thieves in the underbelly of London when a seemingly good opportunity arrives. If she helps her friend ‘Gentleman’ woo a rich girl named Maud into marrying him she will earn herself £3,000 of this girls fortune when Gentleman completes his plan to commit his new wife to an asylum. Well aside from the moral implication of committing a perfectly sane girl to an asylum for the rest of her days this is a good opportunity for Sue, so she agrees to work as Maud’s personal maid in the country all the while pushing her towards Gentleman.

This is a very plot driven book with lots of cliff-hangers, parts are sometimes told by different points of view and nothing is quite what it seems.

Most of the book is narrated by Sue and I enjoyed reading her voice the most. She had quite a straight-forward and sarcastic voice which sometimes made me chuckle and I enjoyed her observations about her new role and the servants who work there.

“It was all the most trifling sort of nonsense, and enough to make a cat laugh; but it was life and death to them – I suppose, it would be life and death to you, if all you had to look forward to for the next forty years was carrying trays and baking pastry. Anyway, I saw that, if I was to get anywhere with them, I must watch my steps”

Unfortunately I did not enjoy Maud’s narration as much as it didn’t have as much spark as Sues, although given her circumstances this is more realistic.

While I preferred the character development and overall message in The Little Stranger there is something to be said for a good plot which manages to keep you engrossed and on your toes. Sarah Waters has also impressed me once again with her writing and the images she creates, she manages to twist the genre by having Maud not fall in love with her hansom suitor but with her maid, further complicating the plan. Waters manages to capture whatever atmosphere she is writing about whether it is the back streets of London or the inside of an asylum and while some of the twists were a little unbelievable, as a reader I was still swept along with it.

A gripping and tantalising read, you could do a lot worse than pick this one up.

Verdict 4/5

Posted by Jess