In My World

I've read  Memoirs of a Geisha  (1997) by Arthur Golden several times in the past few years and really enjoy it.  I have no idea how "real" it is or if the author made up a lot of the things he wrote about becoming a geisha and about Japan at the time of the novel.  I did not read it for historical accuracy.  I read it for the first time because it was recommended to me by quite a few people.  I read it each time since just because it is a good read; quite a lyrical style in fact. Memoirs of a Geisha  is the story of a little girl, sold off by her father, who is trained to be a geisha.  Her life is not luxurious but rather strenuous, difficult, sad and harsh.  Reading the back story and then reading glamourous paragraphs about her as a geisha are the two sides of her story.   The one time I read the book was for an informal book club I belonged to with several friends.  I was host of the month we discussed "Geisha". ...

I have lost track of how many times I have read this book.  It is a fascinating story which earned the the author, Pearl S. Buck, a Pulitzer Prize.  Buck is also a Nobel Prize winner.   That Buck lived in China is very obvious in her understanding and descriptions of the places, people and their lives.  The novel is about Wang Lung, a poor man, and his family who live through one of the most exciting and terrifying of times in China, the early twentieth century.  I feel like I know and understand the characters.  To me, that is the sign of a great novel.

Uncle Tom's Cabin is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. It was published in 1852 and had a profound effect on attitudes toward slavery in the U.S.  The title character is said to be based on the story of Reverend Josiah Henson. Henson was an author, abolitionist, and minister born into slavery in Maryland.  He escaped to Upper Canada in 1830, and founded a settlement and school for fugitive slaves near Dresden, Ontario.   I purchased my copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin many years ago after visiting Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site in Dresden, Ontario.  

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White Is there anyone out there who has never read Charlotte's Web? This children's classic is a wonderful read for every age. It is the story of a runt pig named Wilbur who is being raised for slaughter. A little spider named Charlotte begins spinning words and phrases in her web that make Wilbur so special that the farmer decides to keep him. Charlotte’s Web is not only a story about friendship, but also about a story about words and the difference they can make in someone's life. When fall arrives Charlotte knows her life is nearly done. She gives Wilbur her egg sac to look after. The last lines of the book . . . "Wilbur never forgot Charlotte. Although he loved her children and grandchildren dearly, none of the new spiders ever quite took her place in his heart. She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both."

For daring to peer into the heart of an adulteress and enumerate its contents with profound dispassion, the author of Madame Bovary was tried for "offenses against morality and religion." What shocks us today about Flaubert's devastatingly realized tale of a young woman destroyed by the reckless pursuit of her romantic dreams is its pure artistry: the poise of its narrative structure, the opulence of its prose (marvelously captured in the English translation of Francis Steegmuller), and its creation of a world whose minor figures are as vital as its doomed heroine. In reading Madame Bovary, one experiences a work that remains genuinely revolutionary almost a century and a half after its creation. - Publisher Madame Bovary, when it was first published in 1857, was considered very shocking. It is a gorgeously written story of Emma Bovary, an immature and romantic woman, who has grown up believing in a very romantic vision of how her life would be.  When her life turns out...

#24 The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

I have no idea how many times I have read this book over the years.  It is elegant and heart-breaking.  It is also #21 on Goodreads 2020 Update:  Books You Need to Read to Be Considered Well-Read. Jane Eyre is a gothic romance novel written in England during the Victorian Era by Charlotte Bronte.  Jane Eyre is an orphan who was raised by a wealthy but cruel aunt.  She is relieved when she is sent to a boarding school but her relief is short-lived when she finds she has traded the cruel aunt for a cruel headmaster.  With limited options, Jane finishes her schooling and teaches at the school for a couple of years.  When the opportunity of a governess position in a private home becomes available, Jane is happy to accept. It is at her new home, Thornfield, that Jane meets the love of her life but, of course, that love does not run smoothly.  

"The book is narrated in free indirect speech following the main character Elizabeth Bennett as she deals with matters of upbringing, marriage, moral rightness and education in her aristocratic society. Though the book's setting is uniquely turn of the 19th century, it remains a fascination of modern readership, continuing to remain at the top of lists titled "most loved books of all time", and receiving considerable attention from literary critics. This modern interest has resulted in a number of dramatic adaptations and a plethora of books developing Austen's memorable characters further." - Wikipedia The first time I remember reading Pride & Prejudice was for a first year English class at Western University. I have read this book several times since and enjoyed it more each time. Definitely a winner on my list of great reads. This book is also on the following lists: - 1st on The 100 Favorite Novels of Librarians (Bookman.com) - 2nd on Harva...

I don't know how many times I have read Animal Farm in my life.  Let's just say a few.  The story has always stayed with me.  I understand there are movie and cartoon adaptions that I vaguely recall but they don't have the power of the original book. George Orwell write about a farm run by the drunken Mr. Jones which is untended and conditions are harsh.  The animals join together and overthrow Jones and create an equal society for the animals and the farm becomes a wonderful place to live.  Well, except for the fact that it does not take long before the pigs begin taking over and recreate the conditions of the original farm. The most loved character in the book, at least for me, was Boxer the old workhouse who continued to believe in the dream and work for the dream even as he was being taken away, sold to the slaughterhouse by the pigs. This novel is meant to illustrate the rise of Russian revolution and the rise of Stalinism.  It  ...

According to Goodreads 2020 Update Books You Need to Read to Be Considered Well-Read, #2 is 1984 by George Orwell . I remember reading this book many, many, many years ago and was enthralled. Written soon after the end of WWII, Orwell was concerned by the rise of several totalitarian governments such as those of Nazi Germany, Italy, and Soviet Russia. He was concerned that other governments were moving more toward totalitarianism and that they might start taking away more and more of people's rights and freedoms. I couldn't believe that it was possible that people in a thinking world would allow this to happen and yet . . . . . . 1984 was banned. Banning books is a form of censorship and a deprivation of the right to free speech. George Orwell's 1984 has been banned many times and many places for its social and political themes, as well as for sexual content. In 1950 it was banned and burned in communist Russia for its anti-communist views. In 1981, Jackson County, ...