#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".