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Review – Mansfield Park

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Mansfield Park from The Complete Works of Jane Austen

By Jane Austen

Douglas Editions

ISBN: 2940000816981

3.5

I knew going in that Mansfield Park was not one of Austen’s most loved works but I had high hopes.  I’d yet to run into a story I didn’t like so why would this one be different?  Oh, what a question to be answered.  I struggled with Mansfield Park.  I never thought of quitting but when the general pattern I’m so happy to find in her books didn’t appear but a group of hateful characters did; it made me wonder what I was reading.  There was no one for me to become attached to.  No love story to speak of.  Scandal, debauchery, and laziness were in abundance though.

Fanny Price is all of 10 years-old when she’s packed off to live with her aunt, Lady Bertram, at Mansfield Park.  A timid creature, Fanny does her best to fade into the background.  Having been told since her arrival by her other aunt, Mrs. Norris, she knows she’s not much to look at, nor should she ever be ungrateful for all her aunt and uncle have done for her.  When the Crawford’s, a brother and sister duo of trouble, come to stay at the nearby parsonage, Fanny’s cultivated quiet life changes drastically.

There is a lot of Jane Austen here to like — it’s witty, humorous, there’s sharp dialogue, and societal mockery.  There’s also a boatload of dislikable characters.  For instance, Mrs. Norris.  She’s like the Mrs. Danvers of the Austen universe.  She’s mean, caustic, and cheap.  Oh so cheap.  While she never tries to get Fanny to off herself, she does all she can to make sure Fanny knows she’s no Bertram either and is certainly no help to her self-esteem.  I did find her amusing in a way though especially when she’s lifting things like jam and thread from others for her own personal use.  Lady Bertram is so lazy it’s a wonder she can breathe on her own.  She’s incapable of making any decisions and is forever asking her husband or sons if she likes something.  How can you not know if you like something?  Tom, Maria, and Julia Bertram are so self-centered they didn’t even register with me — even when scandal overtakes them.  Edmund is interesting, being the only one willing to speak his conscience, but he’s also annoying especially when he gets blind-sighted by Miss Crawford.  And now we come to the Crawford’s.  They do add life to the story and their scheming of course makes you love to hate them, but yes, there’s a but.  Because I saw it (I’m not going to tell you what it is.) coming I honestly wanted it to be over knowing good ol’ stout Fanny wouldn’t fall for it.

This has me wondering about another Austen book, Emma.  I never liked that character either and never finished the book.  I’m willing to give it a go but it might be a long minute before I get to it.  Lady Susan is next on my Austen tome list.  I enjoy epistolary novels so my hopes are once again high.

In time, I may go back to this one for a re-read.  I might feel differently about it a second time.

Review – The Postmortal

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The Postmortal

By Drew Magary

Penguin Group

ISBN: 9780143119821

4.75 stars

In 2019, the cure for aging is discovered.  Three shots and you, barring cancer or mortal injury, can live forever.  Utopia has arrived.  Well, not so fast.  John Farrell all of 29 years-old gets the cure.  Always a bit of a self-doubter, but one with curiosity, he’s more interested in seeing if it works as opposed to thinking seriously about his actions and what the cure means for his city, state, country, or the world.

Told through John’s writings, blog posts, random thoughts, and news clips and feeds, readers are left with a unique, if sometimes, completely un-planned story and it’s fascinating.  It’s so fascinating in fact it’s almost believable — to a degree.  Scientific advances are made at astonishing rates and some of the scenarios in this book are not hard to buy-in to and I loved that.  Some of it is hard to read and sometimes John is infuriating but either way you want to see the total destruction you know is coming.  Magary ends the book in the only way possible and you want to thank him for it because you almost feel the world he created should be destroyed.  Over and over again.

John is an everyman who re-invests himself to stay alive — an estate lawyer turned divorce attorney turned globe-trotter turned end specialist.  Yes, he kills people for a living but not before offering them estate planning and tax advice.  It’s a sweet touch, really.  But John’s also a person stuck and even after his numerous years on the planet, still doesn’t know what he wants until the end.  Fortunately, it’s believable from him.

Magary has one freak of an imagination and I hope he keeps running with it.  The Postmortal is a true ride from start to finish but if you prefer less sociopathic behavior from characters, it might not be for you.  However, all that happens here could be attainable in a world with no death, at least not the naturally occurring kind.  That’s what I liked about it.  He goes radical, pulls it back, and goes after it again.

Do we know everything? No.  But neither does the main character so you go with it, sucked in hoping beyond hope he might find his way.  I highly recommend this one.

I requested this book from NetGalley.

Review – Cleopatra: A Life

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Cleopatra: A Life

By Stacy Schiff

Little, Brown & Company

ISBN: 978-0-316-12180-4

4 stars

She’s been portrayed as a seductress, a whore, a queen, a brilliant woman, a trailblazer, and was even played by Elizabeth Taylor in a role she’ll always be remembered for.  But who was the woman we know as Cleopatra?  Accounts of her life vary so greatly I believe what I personally know about her is probably based more on a pop culture standard than on reality.  Reading about her makes me wonder how a woman so smart — she was an extremely well-educated woman for her time able to speak several languages — could manage to both get herself into and out of trouble so many times.  Cleopatra managed to rule a kingdom, make it prosper, and seduce two Roman rulers without an uprising occurring in Egypt during her reign.  By any standard, she deserves a place in history.

Unfortunately, and I’ve encountered this before in reading about ancient women, her story is told by men and through the men in her life which means a good portion of the book is set aside for Julius Caesar and Marc Antony.  Frankly, they both played such enormous roles in her life that it would be impossible to exclude either in the telling of her story, but many recorders of history, mostly Roman men, preferred to write her life story as one of luck, scandal, sheer bravado, sheer stupidity (depending on who is doing the writing), and in some cases, slightly in wonder of her.  Cicero ’s take on Cleopatra is infuriating but he’s no fan of women in general and there was no expectation that he would treat Cleopatra, even though a queen in her own right, with anything nearing awe or even dignity.  Granted, many of her acts — her first appearance before Julius Caesar she is smuggled into his presence in a burlap bag — aren’t so regal.  Her trip to Rome to visit Caesar is though and that’s where this book shines.

Schiff takes a story about a woman we know and strips away many of the generalizations about her and presents someone still recognizable but also intriguing.  She starts off with her education which is amazing for the time period considering most women, and definitely most Roman women, were never educated at all.  She could speak several languages which made beguiling audiences and male rules rather easy.  She created a currency system with denominations and managed a vast wealth without losing it to the men in her life.  Egypt prospered with her as queen and she built what some consider wonders of the ancient world.  Sadly, none survive to this day and most likely collapsed in a giant earthquake and now rest underwater leaving readers to imagine what an amazing site Alexandria must have been in her day.

Cleopatra in many ways helped to create the image of her that we have today.  Inscriptions and temple carvings still exist of her and her children in Egypt and she was a master of managing her image.  Her identity with the goddess Isis and the luxurious ways in which she inhabited her life would cause anyone to be impressed, especially a general like Marc Antony who was easily impressed, had little to no money, and couldn’t manage it when he did happen to get it.  He was also a womanizer and easily taken in by Cleopatra and the impressive world of her Egypt.

I realize this isn’t necessarily helpful as a review and I haven’t told you much in general about the book itself.  Sometimes I admit to having trouble reviewing non-fiction books since there isn’t a plot to follow but if anyone’s life would read like a novel, it would be Cleopatra’s.

If you’re looking for some good non-fiction, pick this one up.  You’ll walk away fascinated and full of facts you’ll want to spout off to everyone you meet.

Teaser Tuesday – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.  The idea is to give everyone a look inside the book you’re reading.

Play along: Grab your current read; Open to a random page; Share two teaser sentences from that page; Share the title and author so other participants know what you’re reading.

Today I’m reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.

“These two dimensions allow you to obtain, via a simple calculation, the surface area and volume of the Nautilus.  Its surface area totals 1,011.45 square meters, its volume 1,507.2 cubic meters – which is tantamount to saying that when it’s completely submerged, it displaces 1,500 cubic meters of water, or weighs 1,500 metric tons.” (pg. 225 of 1,089 on Nook)

Today’s Book – Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

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Does anyone out there love this book? Can you help me?

I knew going in this was not one of her most loved works. Also knowing how I adore some of her other books, I thought I could get past that.  It seems I’m not immune after all.

The biting social criticism is interesting but I’m finding the characters somewhat hateful. Fanny and Edmund, the only two likeable characters, are still annoying at times. I’m not quitting, I’ll finish it. But I’m finding it difficult to get into and that’s frustrating me to no end.

Austen is an author I go back to from time to time and always find something new to enjoy but this one may be a one and done for me. I don’t see Mansfield Park falling into my re-reading pattern.

If Mansfield Park is a favorite of yours, can you tell me why?

Review – Magic Slays

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Magic Slays

By Ilona Andrews

Penguin Group

ISBN: 9781101515259

4 stars

This is the fifth book in the Kate Daniel series and if you haven’t read the first four books, starting here would be a mistake.  Not because you’d be lost, Andrews provides enough details for the first-timer and for readers who may have let a bit too much time lapse between books, but because you’d miss all the fun.

Kate, now the Beast Lord Curran’s wife for lack of a better term, she’s living with the Pack and acting as Alpha to Curran.  While she’s still not entirely comfortable with her new position and unsure how to handle her emotions now that she’s allowed herself to admit she loves Curran, she clings dearly to her new business, the only thing she has some control over.  Setup with funds from the Pack, Kate is ready to work for herself rather than the Guild but finding business is proving harder than she imagined.  In an Atlanta full of magical beings, shapeshifters, vampires, witches, and mages, no one is asking for her help.  When her first client walks through the door, the gates of hell open below her feet.

One thing I love about these books — sheer brain candy.  That’s a good thing so don’t be turned off.  The books are short, entertaining, and Andrews has created an Atlanta full of wonderful characters, most of which are the staples of urban fantasy, but they all feel new.  I devour these books and wait patiently for the next installment so I can schedule time on the couch to sit and become absorbed in Kate’s world.  She’s brash, doesn’t think things through, acts crazy at times, and takes constant risks even when the people in her life ask her not too.

I waited for four books to see Kate and Curran get together and no I’m not saying that to ruin anything for you if you haven’t read these books yet.  You see it coming in book one and when it happens, it works.  I know some of you might be saying, “Romance in urban fantasy?”  Don’t worry, it’s not out of control and fits with the story without becoming the story.

If you haven’t read these books yet, try them.  They’re so fun and if you don’t love urban fantasy, you will when you finish these books.  If you want to start at the beginning, the books in order are: Magic Bites, Magic Burns, Magic Strikes, Magic Bleeds, and Magic Slays.

Review – Child of the Northern Spring

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Child of the Northern Spring

By Persia Woolley

Source Books

ISBN: 9781402245244

4 stars

Guinevere, a young woman barely 18 years-old and while a strong and intelligent person, she’s out of her element when it comes to practices of the court.  The chosen bride of the newly minted King Arthur, she’s leaving her father and the only home she’s ever known to meet him and prepare to be his wife and queen.  Their first meeting a few years prior to the marriage arrangement left her interested but not fully convinced she was the right woman for him.  Without a better marriage offer and wanting to protect her homeland, she undertakes the journey to become his partner.

Arthur and Guinevere’s match is a good one — they’re both strong people and have an affinity for each other.  When the Saxons, always a threat to the country at this time, decide to attack, Arthur moves his armies to meet them and they both find out what it means to be king and queen and husband and wife.

I prefer Arthurian legend stories with a touch of historical reality rather than magic.  There is some magic in Child of the Northern Spring but it’s more in the form of religion and gods which is fine.  Merlin does make an appearance and there are moments when he calls down the gods and their wrath and the same can be said for Arthur’s sister, Morgan.  I’m all right with magic in that capacity though.  For as much as I adore fantasy, I don’t always like it mixed with my Arthur and Guinevere.  Go figure.

This book does move slowly and is told in more flashbacks than I felt necessary but it provides a nice background and history for Guinevere and who she is as a person.  I like that she isn’t a meek woman in this story and even though she’s unsure of herself, some of that is due to her age and that she’s never lived at court or even ran her father’s household after the death of her mother.  It’s a lack of confidence and she begins to gain more at the end of the book.

Child of the Northern Spring is the first in the Guinevere trilogy and with my ability to never walk away from a series, especially one that involves Arthur and Guinevere, I see myself reading more.  If you enjoy Arthurian legend, this one is worth a look.