Book Review: The Monk

Title: The Monk
Author: Matthew Gregory Lewis
Publisher/Year: Dover / 1796
Date Finished: 3 October 2011
Source/Format: SwapTree / Print
Book #: 75

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Challenges: Gothic Reading, 

The Short and Sweet of It
Set in 15th century Madrid, The Monk interweaves three stories, each tragic, beautiful, and terrifying in their own way. Ambrosio, the monk of the title, leads a pure and guiltless life until beguiled by a woman into vice. Raymond wishes for nothing more than to marry a woman taken from him by superstition. Lorenzo bridges the two, in love with one woman and brother to another fated to hardship.

A Bit of a Ramble
I originally heard about the monk on Amanda's blog when she absolutely raved about this story. Darlyn, over at Your Move, Dickens, also had all sorts of good things to say. Like her, I really believe that the less you know going in, the happier you will be. The entire story is just such a wonderful surprise as the three stories rather effortlessly flow in and out of each other, each one sensationally Gothic in nature. Abounding with monks, nuns, secret passageways, cold corridors, nasty weather, soul-selling witches, prurient interests, superstition, and the occasional dead body, The Monk fits in perfectly with the eerie October feel.

One thematic issue I appreciated focused on the negative role of superstition, specifically of faith. Relatively logical people make decisions based on fear of the supernatural to the detriment of either themselves or others. In this instance the "supernatural" that inspires fear is most generally God. A protesting young girl is confined to a convent based on a promise to God made by her mother before giving birth. A man's fear of God's punishment after death causes him to act rashly and against his better judgement. Some become overwhelmed with fear and ignore signs that another needs help. Many, many people allow fear to overcome sensibility to negative consequence.

Personally I am a big fan of logic and common sense. Regardless of a person's faith, structured thinking based in fact should be the primary determinant of behavior. I do honestly believe that most agree with me - even the most religious. There's a reason menstruating women are no longer exiled from the community. No matter what the spiritual text of a religion says, certain elements are ignored or modified in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. I just wish this would happen more often.

Okay, so I've gone quite far off topic here. Back to reviewing the book.... This story was a real page turner for me. I often found myself so engrossed in the tale that more time would pass than I had allowed myself for reading. The Introduction to the story says "it may be admitted at once that this erst belauded romance has little claim to perpetuation on its own merits" and that "only disappointment awaits anyone who [fancies] The Monk in any way a great book" but I heartily disagree. I think this story much deserving of accolades on its entertainment value alone, and I very much recommend reading it.

I will warn future readers however, that this is not the most comforting of books. The gothic qualities set up that wonderful atmosphere readers of this type of lit love so much, but the actions which take place move well beyond the scary ghost or foreboding breeze. Some truly evil crimes are committed. There are specific, likeable victims. And happily ever after comes at a great price.

Around the Web
If I've missed your review, let me know!

I read this as part of October's Classics Circuit - Gothic Literature. Be sure to check out the other posts going up this month!

Book Review: House of the Dead

Title:  The House of the Dead
Author:  Fyodor Dostoevsky
Translator: Constance Garnett
Publisher: Barnes and Noble Classics
Release Date: 25 April 2004
Original Release Date: 1862
Date Finished: 3 July 2010

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Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, Reading Resolutions, Hogwarts Reading Challenge,

Who is Fyodor Dostoevsky
Dostoevsky was a Russian writer who lived between 1821 and 1881.  His claim to fame revolves around his novels which delve into the psychology of those on the fringe of society.  Early on he focused on the lower classes.  In his first novel, an epistolary called Poor Folk, Dostoevsky wrote about the harsh conditions facing the poor. While he continued to write about the more disenfranchised or "unfortunate of society", his most famous works, Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov, explore the morality of murder.

Dostoevsky's interest in and knowledge of the minds of murderers may be the result of the time he spent in a Siberian prison.  In 1847, he joined the Petrashevsky Circle, a group of intellectuals who discussed Western philosophy and literature.  While this sounds fine and dandy, the group opposed aristocracy, which was a surefire way to piss of the tsarist Russian government.  In 1849, many members of the Circle were arrested, including Dostoevsky, and he was sentenced to four years in prison and another four years in the army.

The Short and Sweet of It
The House of the Dead is a semi-autobiographical accounting of his time in the Siberian prison.  While many of the stories, experiences, and even the people are true-to-life, Dostoevsky created a fictional narrator, Alexandr Petrovich, who is serving ten years for murdering his wife. By creating a fictional character, Dostoevsky was able to insert biting political and social commentary into his writing; quite the brave thing to do after he had already been imprisoned for disagreeing with the government.  Reading like a well-lived man recounting memories, The House of the Dead is a beauteous philosophical ramble that will stay with me for a long time.

A Bit of a Ramble
There is beauty in language, and I must admit that sometimes I forget this as I read less literary books.  Let me be clear, I love a wide variety of books, and I feel no shame in reading works which are written in simple terms with standard cadence, no shame in the guilty pleasures.  And yet, when I pick up a book like this, a classic novel that creates a unique rhythm and high-style to the language, I am moved.  In this instance, that is in part due to the translation; after all, I'm not reading this in Russian. But I find that classic works have a greater likelihood of complex prose than modern novels. Literature became standardized for the masses, and the language of literature became more normalized, more like everyday speech. Sometimes I miss the nuanced language of the classics, the artful and articulate weaving of words, that can be lacking in popular contemporary novels.

Outside of the language, The House of the Dead also places a feast of philosophical dishes before readers:
the relationship between character and freedom, the necessity of purpose, the difficulties in assessing and punishing crimes, the importance of choice, appearance versus reality, the gap between the classes, the strength of hope, and the list goes on and on.

He reflects through anecdotes, not abstract thought, relating specific events, causes and effects, that happened before his eyes.  These are not the musings of an intellectual constructing theories while reclining in his armchair or beside a flowing stream. These are the reasoned observations of one who is living it, and yet partially removed by his difference from the masses. Dostoevsky entered prison a gentleman, a leisured thinker, and found himself surrounded by criminals of the lower class.  His inclusion in the life of the prison did not transcend the class difference, and so Dostoevsky and the narrator he constructed for the novel are at once participant and observer.

I find myself rambling here, mixing the book and reality in much the same way Dostoevsky has, but in my defense, I can not review in a normal fashion.  The plot is nonexistent, the characters many and sporadic, the themes varied, etc. While the story is told chronologically from Petrovich's first day in prison through to his last, there is no real conflict. What Dostoevsky has done is create a portrait, a multidimensional complex image of life in prison.  He moves from event to event from person to person, offering a snapshot of individual instances and inmates, that when combined, form a comprehensive whole that is rather powerful.

I could relate for you the myriad scenes and quotes that captured my mind, the stories that moved me or challenged me, for there were many.  But instead I am going to implore you to pick this book up, to read for yourself the stories of the eccentric, unique, and oddly charming convicts that peppered Dostoevsky / Petrovich's life while he was in prison.

For an absolutely fantastic review of this book, check out The Lectern.

This Book Around the Web
If I've missed your review, let me know!

Jandy's Reading Room; Read it online at Google Books; Check out the rest of the Russian Imperial Tour at The Classics Circuit.

Question:  What other books should I read that offer a complex portrait rather than a focused story?

Gay Rebel of the Harlem Renaissance...and Friends

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Homosexuality in the Harlem Renaissance

Originally, when I decided to write a post about homosexuality during the Harlem Renaissance, it was to kill two birds with one stone. I wanted to be a part of the Classics Circuit and when I saw Gay Rebel of the Harlem Renaissance on the book list, I realized that I could also use this book for the GLBT Challenge. I had no real burning interest in the subject, and I had never heard of Richard Bruce Nugent before.

I am absolutely thrilled my laziness led me down this path. The prominence of homosexuals and homosexual literature during this time period surprised me. I’ve always thought of the early 20th century as a super conservative era. Even the Swinging Twenties seemed quaintly rebellious. I was extremely wrong, suffering from a modern person’s arrogance towards the past.

An article on GLBTQ.com finds it “surprising that discussions of the Harlem Renaissance have not involved in-depth investigations of homosexuality when, in fact, the major male figures of the period were gay or bisexual: Alain Locke, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Wallace Thurman, Richard Bruce Nugent, and even the famous white sponsor Carl Van Vechten.” For those of you who don’t know, these men (with a few others) were the Harlem Renaissance. They were the movers and shakers and literary makers of the time.

Despite the fact that so many of the key players were gay, among the intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance homosexuality was only flirted with publically; appearances of heterosexuality were still maintained outside of the gay subculture. In the words of Richard Bruce Nugent however: “You didn’t get on the rooftop and shout, ‘I fucked my wife last night.’ So why would you get on the roof and say ‘I love prick’? You didn't. You just did what you wanted to do. Nobody was in the closet. There wasn't any closet."

At the time of the Harlem Renaissance, New York still had anti-homosexual laws, and places which were considered hang outs for gays were raided often. But in Harlem, gay or bisexual parties, bars, and clubs were not much of a secret. The best known of these clubs was the Clam House, which was described in Vanity Fair as "a popular house for revelers but not for the innocent young."

Steve Watson of the University of Virginia, writes that even though the Clam House was the best known, the real star of Harlem’s homosexual scene was the costume ball. "Of course, a costume ball can be a very tame thing," reported the gossipy black weekly The Inter-State Tattler, "but when all the exquisitely gowned women on the floor are men and a number of the smartest men are women, ah then, we have something over which to thrill and grow round-eyed." At these costume balls – um, can we say drag balls? – the women dressed in loose-fitting, boring colored men’s suits and the men lived it up in extravagant ensembles of black lace and red fans, flitting around in backless dresses, and then there was “a creature called ‘La Flame’ who wore only a white satin stovepipe hat, a red beaded breast plate, and a white sash. Sexy, sexy.

The amount of information I discovered warrants an entire blog all on its own, but I’ll stick to telling you about Richard Bruce Nugent and the book I read, Gay Rebel of the Harlem Renaissance edited by Thomas H. Wirth. This anthology contains the work of Nugent as well as a wonderfully interesting and informative 61 page introduction by Wirth.

Nugent's writing displays a come-one-and-all style of sexuality.  While his flings seem to be predominantly of the male variety, and his love stories are boy meets boy, he does not exclude heterosexual activity from his stories or apparently from his life.

One of the most fascinating stories in my opinion is "Smoke, Lillies, and Jade", a stream-of-consciousness story that substitutes fragments for sentences and ellipsis for periods.  A selection:

...they walked in silence...the castanets of their heels clicking accompaniment...the stranger inhaled deeply and with a nod of content and a smile...blew a cloud of smoke...Alex felt like singing...the stranger knew the magic of blue smoke also...they continued in silence...the castanets of their heels clicking rhythmically...Alex turned in his doorway...up the stairs adn the stranger waited for him to light the room...no need for words...they had always known each other.......as they undressed by the blue dawn...Alex knew he had never seen a more perfect being...his body was all symmetry and music...

Beautiful.  Not all of Nugent's work is written in this fashion - which is good in my opinion as it gets frustrating - but this is probably Nugent's most important work.  Underground homoerotica was well established by the time Nugent wrote the story, but Smoke, Lilies, and Jade celebrates the main character's sexuality, showing him in a homosexual relationship but leaving out all of the guilt that dominated representations of male same-sex relationships.  Go Nugent!  For him, "same-sex desire required no justification - it was a fact of life".

The more elitist members of the Harlem Renaissance were not thrilled with Nugent and others like him.  Many, at the time, wanted African-Americans to be portrayed in a positive, socially acceptable light to help promote race relations and the social acceptance of the culture.  Some felt that black authors writing about prostitution, homosexuality, abuse, and other social ills were defying the purpose of the Renaissance.  Those authors who insisted on writing what they considered the truth instead of sugar coating the world, referred to themselves and the Niggerati, and Nugent was one of them.

Nugent did more than write; he was a true Renaissance man. He acted in both theatre and film productions, he was a dancer, a traveller, a philanderer, a nomad, a vagabond, an artist, and a writer. For 30 years, Nugent stood out as the only African-American to write from the perspective of an openly homosexual man.  It wasn't until James Baldwin wrote Giovanni's Room in 1956 that another self-defined gay writer appeared.

Richard Bruce Nugent died of congestive heart failure in 1987.

Collage: (left to right) 

Row 1 Countee Cullen and Alice Dunbar-Nelson
Row 2 Angelina Weld Grimk and Langston Hughes
Row 3 Alain Locke and Claude McKay

Row 4 Wallace Thurman and Carl Van Vechten

Book Review: The Three Big Whartons

Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome and Age of Innocence

When The Classics Circuit first announced Edith Wharton was coming on a tour, I was thrilled.  I've had Ethan Frome, The Age of Innocence, and The House of Mirth on my shelves for years...years people.  Originally I signed up to read all three of my books, but unfortunately, I ended up reading only two.

Ethan Frome

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An unnamed narrator becomes intrigued by Ethan and the story of his tragic life after seeing him in a Massachusetts town.  When Ethan becomes the narrator's ride, said narrator begins to piece together the sordid tale of Ethan, his wife, and his love interest.

Other stops on the tour for Ethan Frome: A Striped Armchair; Reviews by Lola; Reading, Writing, Working, Playing; It's All About Books; 

Other Reviews:  Trish's Reading Nook; Caribousmom; Educating Petunia; Tammy's Book Nook;

Age of Innocence

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Newland Archer, a proper dilettante and aficionado of protocol, finds his socially perfect life thrown into turmoil when the Countess Ellen Olenska returns to New York after fleeing her husband. Engaged to Ellen's cousin May, Newland quickly becomes enamored of the Countess and entertains thoughts of defying convention and running off with her. Ellen and May are opposites.  Where May is the product of her environment, demure and thoughtless, Ellen is outrageous in her individuality, a deviant in New York's upper class society.

Other stops on the tour for Age of Innocence:  Farm Lane Books; Kay's Bookshelf; Just Add Books; Pining for the West;

Other Reviews: book-a-rama; Educating Petunia; Books and Movies; Rebecca Reads; Trish's Reading Nook;

My Thoughts

Hands down, no question about it, Ethan Frome kicks Newland Archer's patootie. I really can't fully explain how much more I enjoyed EF over AoE.  EF contains relatable and sympathetic characters, interesting plot twists, and an unusual point of view; AoE, on the other hand, well, does not.

Both books are about husbands, unhappy in their marriage, falling in love with another woman. I felt, however, entirely different about the two situations - and with reason. Reason number 1:  When Ethan falls in love, he is already married; Newland, however, is single when his infatuation begins, but instead of calling off his engagement and pursuing his love, he marries and laments his position, to the point of actually wishing his wife dead at one point.  Reason number 2:  Ethan's wife is a hypochondriac, a too-much-money-spending nag, and all around bitchy; Newland's wife May is innocent and pathetic.  Reason number 3:  There is actually forward movement in Ethan Frome, which is sadly lacking in Age of Innocence.

Our two main characters, Ethan and Newland, may share a commonality in their complex love lives, but the similarities ended there for me.  Ethan is poignantly heartbreaking, truly tortured.  Already married and dedicated to caring for those he has responsibility, Ethan's dilemma seemed more sincere than Newland's, whose entire problem is his own inability to act. The culmination of events for each of our main characters is also wildly different with Ethan's final life a shocking result of passion and Newland's a meager display of his continuous inaction.

So now I've read two Wharton novels, one I loved and one I'm entirely lukewarm about.  I guess I will have to read House of Mirth to break the tie.

Book Review: Cranford

Title:  Cranford
Author: Elizabeth Gaskell
Published:  2005/1853  Pages:  176
Genre: Classic Literature

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Plot Synopsis
In Cranford, women reign.  Well, genteel elderly spinsters reign.  Their well-ordered lives are told by Mary, a younger woman who regularly corresponds with and visits the queens of this charming town.

My Thoughts
Cranford has very little in the way of action; the story meanders through various events in the town - death, marriage, tea parties and card parties, magicians, thieves, and fashion shows - and in the end, the book becomes more a collage designed to evoke feeling than a plot-driven novel.

The women of this novel are loveable; afterall, "each has her own individuality, not to say eccentricity": Mrs. Jamieson is the aristocrat even when she falls asleep at a card party; Miss Pole is "looked upon as a kind of prophetess for the knack she had of foreseeing things before they came to pass - although she did not like to disturb her friends by telling them of her foreknowledge"; and of course Miss Matty has a heart so big she sacrifices everything for the good of others.  Despite the abundance of characters, I would not say this is a character-driven novel any more than it is plot-driven.  In the end, this story is a portrait of a community, and the patient reader will be rewarded with the feeling she has been a part of this community, even if not much has happened.

I read this while also reading the first two chapters of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, and I was struck by the fact that this novel, published in 1853, was far more feminist in nature than the publications 100 years later.  Gaskell characterizes Miss Jenkyns as a woman who "had the appearance of a strong-minded woman; although she would have despised the modern idea of women being equal to men.  Equal, indeed! She knew they were superior."  And news of marriage in the novel is met with despair and worry for the woman.  One hundred years later, Friedan discusses the horrifying fact that popular belief held that the cure for the frustrated housewife was less education; that way they wouldn't be so dissatisfied with their lack of intellectual pursuits upon marriage. And the spinning wheel keeps turning.

Memorable Scene:  When Lady Glenmire comments on Mrs. Forrester's lace, Mrs. Forrester relates a surprising story about the history of said lace.  She was soaking the lace in milk one day, and she happened upon her cat half-choking over the bowl.  Lo and behold, the unfortunate cat had swallowed the entire bowl, lace and all.  Not to lose her precious lace, Mrs. Forrester tied up her cat inside a top-boot, face down, gave the cat a nice diuretic, and a short time later, out came her lace.  She boiled it well, and voila, the lace was as good as new.

Memorable Quote: ...for deciding all the questions of literature and politics without troubling themselves with unnecessary reasons or arguments; for obtaining clear and correct knowledge of everybody's affairs in the parish; for keeping their neat maid-servants in admirable order; for kindness (somewhat dictatorial) to the poor, and real tender good offices to each other whenever they are in distress, the ladies of Cranford are quite sufficient. 'A man,' as one of them observed to me once, 'is so in the way in the house!'

Other Stops on the Tour for Elizabeth Gaskell and Cranford
Ooh...Books;  Joyfully Retired; Staircase Wit; Notes from the North; A Book Lover;

Other Elizabeth Gaskell Stops can be found at The Classics Circuit

Other Reviews
If I've missed yours, please let me know.

Medieval  Bookworm; Becky's Book Reviews; Age 30+...A Lifetime of Books; A Striped Armchair;


Challenges:  Women UnBound, Back to School, (Some Odd %) Well Read, Classics Circuit

Book Review: Wilkie Collins

Title: The Moonstone
Author: Wilkie Collins
Published: 1999/1868 Pages: 466
Genre: Classic Literature, Detective Fiction

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Plot Synopsis
A yellow diamond with a rich history is stolen from a young girl's bedroom. What follows is a whodunit of extraordinary detail and tone.

My Thoughts
Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone is widely regarded as the first piece of detective fiction. Including an intelligent, eccentric detective, a gem stolen after a party in a country manor, and of course opium, I can feel the beginnings of the popular and Gothic mystery in its pages.

But it isn't the original plot line that captivated me; it is the characters. The Moonstone contains some of the most intriguing characters I have ever read. From the humble servant Gabriel Betteredge to the prissy and self-righteous Drusilla Clack to the opium-addicted Ezra Jennings, these are people you want to know about, and they speak directly to you as The Moonstone is an epistolary novel with multiple characters recounting firsthand events in their unique tone of voice.

I won't go into detail on the plot as I would hate to spoil it for any readers, and I honestly believe these characters should be discovered through reading the novel. Plus, the other reviewers of this book have done a tremendous job introducing you to the plot and characters.

Memorable Scene: I can't get over the part in the beginning where Betteredge is describing how he chose his wife. He decided to marry the woman who kept house for him so that he didn't have to pay for her services. He believes "it will be cheaper to marry her than to keep her." Sexist but particularly hilarious to me because you can't help but love Betteredge.

Memorable Quote: Once self-supported by conscience, once embarked on a career of manifest usefulness, the true Christian never yields. Neither the public nor private influences produce the slightest effect on us, when we have once got our mission. Taxation may be the consequence of a mission; riots may be the consequence of a mission; wars may be the consequence of a mission; we go on with our work, irrespective of every human consideration which moves the world outside us. We are above reason; we are beyond ridicule; we see with nobody's eyes, we hear with nobody's ears, we feel with nobody's hearts, but our own. (This is my problem with religion stated quite succinctly).

Other Stops on the Tour for Wilkie Collins and The Moonstone

Kay's Bookshelf; Ooh...Books; Rose City Reader; Michelle's Masterful Musings;

Other Wilkie Collins Tour Stops can be found at The Classics Circuit


Other Reviews of The Moonstone
If I've missed yours, let me know.

things mean alot; Farmlane Books; A Guy's Moleskine Notebook; books i done read; A Striped Armchair; S. Krishna's Books

If you haven't yet read this book, I recommend running out and picking up a copy now!

Classics Circuit: Rounds 1 and 2

Votes are in...

Out of 88 votes, 34% voted for Collins, 31% voted for Gaskell, and 17% each voted for Eliot and Trollope. Further, 67% of voters indicated that they’d participate in a tour for the author they’d voted for. Thanks so much for exceeding our expectations! This should be fun.

The first author to tour The Classics Circuit will be Wilkie Collins. The tour will run from 2 November until approximately 4 December.

However, Elizabeth Gaskell was a very close second. Because of the overwhelming interest in both authors, we’ve decided to do a second (overlapping) tour of Elizabeth Gaskell from 16 November to the middle of December.


To Participate...

Head on over to The Classics Circuit website, read the informative post written by yours truly and Rebecca, and sign up to be a stop on the tour for Wilkie Collins. And get ready for the Elizabeth Gaskell tour too!

Sunday Salon: The Classics Circuit

The Classics Circuit

On September 14, Rebecca at Rebecca Reads sparked a conversation about dead authors. And the world was never the same. Her idea of having a sort of posthumous book tour for classic books and authors garnered interest from many, and just a week or so later Rebecca was sending out emails to those who offered assistance, creating a website for The Classics Circuit, and generally getting ready for a November Tour.

Head over and Vote Now for the author you would like to see in November: Wilkie Collins, George Eliot, Elizabeth Gaskell, or Anthony Trollope.

The concept is thrilling to me. I love the classics, and I can't wait to revisit some old favorites and meet some new authors. I also think it will be a unique experience to feature multiple books by the same author, sort of a new perspective on the collective writings of the dead and famous. It's also been a lot of fun working with the other committee members to get The Classics Circuit going.

Speaking of which...

I am finally reading Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I believe it was Jenny at TakeMeAway who gave me the kick in the pants I needed to pick it up. All I can say is Thank You Jenny.

I am 194 pages in to the 410 page book, and so far it has been such a unique read. The language and the overt focus on descriptions of setting are so intriguing. For example, the first four pages do nothing but describe the grounds around Manderley as seen in a dream. Here's a snippet:

The terrace sloped to the lawns, and the lawns stretched to the sea, and turning I could see the sheet of silver, placid under the moon, like a lake undisturbed by wind or storm. No waves would come to ruffle this dream water, and no bulk of cloud, wind-driven from the west, obscure the clarity of this pale sky.

Beautiful.

...and Finally...

Everyone should participate in my first challenge which centers on Banned Books. The challenge asks participants to read from the list of top challenged books in the 90s and provide reviews. As an added incentive, there will be numerous giveaways!