#95 - Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy

COMMUNIST UTOPIAS!!!

Ok.

Our hero is a young aristocratic Bostonian on the verge of his marriage in the late 1800's. He falls asleep in a special chamber he's built under his house so that the city noises don't wake him up (he's such a light sleeper!). Well, his house burns down and his servant is killed in the blaze. The chamber is forgotten for a century, and our poor hero is left to rot in it.

Only... he doesn't.

He is put into such a deep slumber by the quiet of his chamber that he enters a trance like state where his body doesn't decay. Lo' and behold, he awakes in the year 2000 alive and well (minus the jet lag).

That's the first chapter or two -- the rest of the book is his discourse with a Dr. Leete.

Apparently, society has followed a "natural" progression from the capitalist economies of Edward Bellamy's time to what is now a huge communist utopia. No, not Soviet communists; that's spelled Communists.

Honestly, I didn't feel like finishing the book, so I stopped two thirds in. I might come back to it eventually. Some of Bellamy's concepts interested me, but the content was presented in such a dull fashion.

~Cheers

#96 - Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Yes! It's another RLS book! It's also the last. Too bad, because I was starting to like his style.

This book defined many of our modern stereotypes of pirates. RLS introduced (or at least brought into the mainstream) such elements as parrots on the captain's shoulder, eye patches, peg legs, islands with treasure hidden on them, "X marks the spot" and the famous "15 men on a dead man's chest" song.

Yeah. Robert Louis Stevenson for the win.

A fun read; surprisingly fast. I can see why it's RLS's most famous work.

~Cheers me hearties!

#98 - At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald

This was the quickest read yet, a good 5 hours perhaps -- Also one of the more enjoyable. Out of the books I've read so far, this is the first that I'd recommend. Mind you, there's certainly some painful sections; There's several lengthy nonsense poems that aren't necessary to read, save for skimming over the first one. Also, some of the story elements feel unnecessary. However MacDonald managed to paint a beautiful (though logically weak) painting of the world, showing us an explanation for the unambiguous existence of Pain; In short, all bad things are meant to lead to good things; All is made right in the end.

NOTE: Dibs on screen rights.

#97 - Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson

Ugh. I offer my sincerest apologies, for I have yet again taken a tangent. When I finished Kidnapped, Master of Ballantrae was but a turn of a page away. Lazy as I was, I decided to skip a trip to the library and quickly get #97 over with. Hoorah! It's done!

MoB was (according to the compilation's introduction) Stevenson's only tragedy. Some, however, say that it is this book that truly reflects RLS's character. It features a pair of rivalrous brothers; One an ostracized weakling with the world unjustly set against him; The other a swashbuckling romantic, favoured and loved by all. Stevenson was sickly all of his life, and there are a few essays which betray his negative views on life; quite opposite his romantic, upwardly mobile stories and characters.

*yawn*

Ugh. It's 4:39 AM and I don't really care that much. Master of Ballantrae makes for a decent read, but the narrator is annoying as... yeah. Also, whenever RLS tries to tell a segment of the story in another character's words, nothing changes in the writing style and it's still RLS speaking to us. Quite bland. The only time we see variety is the contrast between RLS's educated English and his intimate knowledge of the Scots dialect. It's odd though because as passions rise and fall his characters gain odd accents and drift between the formal "ye" and informal "you".

Anyway! On to (back to?) #98!

~Cheers

#98 - At The Back Of The North Wind by George MacDonald

Kidnapped is done. When I finished it, I fancied myself writing a screenplay based on the story. A quick search on google taught me otherwise; 5 movies have already been produced. Ah well.

On to MacDonald's book. Apparently this fellow's writings inspired the famed Inklings (Tolkien, Lewis, etc...). It's a children's book, so I don't know what to expect. But then again Kidnapped was a "boy's" novel and I rather enjoyed it.

~Cheers

#99 - Weir Of Hermiston by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Way Of All Flesh struck me with its seemingly anachronistic conclusions on religion, but one must remember just how long criticism for Christianity and religion in general has been around. However it was critical of more than just religion; wills for example. Butler established within the first few pages his hate for parents who dangle an inheritance over their children's faces in order to continue to control them long after childhood. What disappointed me is that Butler, when he went on his anti-religious tyrades, never connected this to the bits and pieces of the Bible that speak of us "inheriting" the kingdom of God.

On to #99, Weir Of Hermiston. This was the last book of Robert Louis Stevenson, with the last page or so allegedly having been written on the day of his death. It's a short 150-ish pages, and it didn't take me long to finish it. I'd heard that it's a very "Scottish" novel, and apparently might've been the principal work of Scottish literature if Stevenson completed the work. Instead we're left with a 150 page setup to a 500 page book, so overall the story is unfulfilling. The outcome isn't too hard to predict though; The main character's father is a strict "hangin'" judge, and the protagonist's own distaste for capital punishment gets him into trouble with daddy. Throw in a love interest and an old friend come back to visit our Hero, and you have an ideal tragedy: Old friend cuts into love story, Hero confronts old friend, old friend is killed, Hero is arrested and must go to court with his father presiding.

Keep in mind that it was a tiring read. Here's a sample of what the Scots sound like:

" I'll have nonn of that, sir! " he cried. " Do you hear me ?—nonn of that! No son of mine shall be speldering in the glaur with any dirty raibble."

Or this:

" Ye daft auld wife ! " returned his lordship. "A bonny figure I would be,palmer- ing about in bauchles ! "

Best of all:

" Her and me were never cut out for one another," he remarked at last. " It was a daft-like marriage." And then, with a most unusual gentleness of tone, " Puir bitch," said he, " puir bitch ! "

Sooooooo yeah. I woulda moved onto #98 (At The Back Of The North Wind) by now, but I got caught up in Stevenson's Kidnapped (Weir of Hermiston came in a collection of RLS's stories). I'm about done with it. By the time I'm done with the first 5 books I'll know RLS's stuff pretty well considering #97 is Master Of Ballantrae and #96 is Treasure Island.

~Cheers

HEY YOU! I'M BRITISH!

That's a lie actually. I'm very much an American. But Samuel Butler's pretty British and that's got to count for something. All the names in his book are pretty British too; that and literal. Seriously, he's rather blatant when naming his British towns, populated with his British people. You see places like Paleham, Battersby and Roughsborough; names like Dr. Skinner. Come here Mr. Butler, you're overdue for a spanking.

#100 - The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler

It's an interesting book; it's narrated by a family friend, and we're never truly in an active story. So far the entire plot is propelled by the description of various characters' personas, with the occasional event described to us so as to posit the claims set forth by the narrator about the characters' personas. Sound boring? Surprisingly it's not. Butler's providing a plethora of insights into human character that I sympathize with (some call me a pessimist, but I prefer realist). He has a thing for irony as well, which comes in handy for a chuckle here and there. We'll see where it goes.

I'M GOING TO READ 100 BOOKS! (not that you care)

Hey ho! Guess what? I'm going to read the 100 greatest 19th century novels. No seriously! I'm already one hundred pages into the first book; by first I mean one hundredth. I'll try to avoid spoilers.

It took me a while (1 minute) to settle on a design for the blog. At first I wanted the "Scribe" template, but honestly with that look I'd feel pretentious; besides it might be that it goes too well with the whole 19th century shindig. The darker look is easier on the eyes; has a safe and more enclosed feel to it.

By the way, tell me if you think I should re-read books that I've already read. For example, The Scarlet Letter; it sits at #25, but I dread the thought of reading it a third time. Is it against the spirit of reading the 100 GREATEST NOVELS OF THE 19th CENTURY to not read a book such as TSL?

Anyway, join me on this adventure as I attempt to make myself "well read".