Pairing Books with Movies: The Secret River

 

The Secret River

by Kate Grenville

★★★☆

 

William Thornhill is sent to jail in London for thieving. He gets the opportunity to choose between a punishment of death in England or exile to Australia, so his wife Sal and their infant are soon on their way to the outback. Once there life is anything but simple. As the couple struggle to survive they are tested on every front.

 

Where Thornhill sees an opportunity his wife sees a lonely life in the wilderness. They decide to take their chances and begin to farm. They are soon introduced to the small community in the area and the contentious relationship between the native aboriginal people and the new English immigrants. Many misunderstandings arise because of the cultural differences between the people. The people have a hard time finding common ground because of their unique view of landownership and very different styles of celebrations.

 

Fear is what drives people to destroy what they don’t understand. The tragic consequences are a stain on the entire country’s history. They haunt the characters long after they become a distant memory. I loved that the story gives a voice to both sides of the issue. Many of the white people didn’t understand the harm they were doing. They were afraid and when they decided to act in fear they were bound to make a bad decision. The persecution of the aboriginal people is shown in a way that allows the reader to understand how things could have escalated so quickly.

 

BOTTOM LINE: The story is a powerful one. It revisits the age old question; do the ends justify the means? For me the characters were a little stale, but I have found myself thinking about different aspects of the plot since I finished it two months ago. It’s not one I’ll reread, but I think it offers a valuable glimpse into the difficult relationship between immigrants and the native people in any country.

 

I’m posting this as part of Brona’s Books AusReading Month! Check out all the Aussie goodness here.

 

Pairing Books with Movies: So many aspects of this novel reminded me of the troubled relationship between Native Americans and settlers in the United States. Dances with Wolves is a great movie to watch to explore that a bit more. Rabbit Proof Fences is another one that I’ve heard great things about. It deals with three aboriginal girls in the 1930s.

Meeting Brona!

I am back from vacation and fighting jet lag right now. I promise that in coming weeks there will be photos and more info about the trip (it was incredible!) but before all that I just wanted to take a minute to tell you about one highlight.

While the Huz and I were in Sydney, Australia we met up with Brona from Brona's Books. We had planned to meet for a quick drink so we could say hello. Instead, we ended up spending four hours chatting and laughing with our husbands. It was just so much fun!

Brona gave me the cutest fold-out book about Australia (see above) which I just love! The whole evening was this wonderful reminder of why I started blogging in the first place. For me, blogging is about discussing the books I've read and having a place to journal about them. That's enough right there, but then there's the huge bonus of meeting other book bloggers online. Brona and I had never met before that night, but we'd emailed and read each others blogs, so we instantly felt connected.

We sat there, 36 floors above the Sydney Harbor at a gorgeous hotel bar, drinking G&Ts and never once had a pause in our conversation. It didn't matter that we'd never met before. We shared a love of books and theatre and travel and so there was no need for awkward small talk. We lived on opposite sides of the globe, but we loved so many of the same books. It's just incredible.

Here's to blogging and Brona and our great husbands who made the whole evening even more fun. I hope we all get to meet up and do that again in the future!

p.s. Brona's posted about the night too!

Photos by moi and the Huz.

Mini Reviews: Summer and Désirée’s Baby

Summer
by Edith Wharton
★★

When she was 5-years-old Charity Royall was rescued from a life of poverty with her prostitute mother when a wealthy man became her guardian. Instead of growing up in the mountain community with her mother she is raised in a life of privilege by Lawyer Royall and grows up to be a librarian. When we meet her she is a grown woman just beginning to stretch her wings. After turning down her guardians’ marriage proposal (eww) she is restless and discontent in her life. She soon finds momentary fulfillment in a clandestine relationship.

The material is a bit racy for its time period (which makes it tame by today’s standards.) It gives readers a tragic look at an ambitious girl who flouts the societal restraints imposed on her. It felt like a weak precursor to The House of Mirth, though it was published more than a decade later.

BOTTOM LINE: For me, the ending was deeply dissatisfying and disappointing. It felt more like a morality lesson for settling down as quickly as possible. I was frustrated that Charity was left with so few options, though I understand that’s a realistic view of the time period.  


I read this as part of Brona's Wharton Review.

Désirée’s Baby
by Kate Chopin
★★★

From the author of the famous feminist work The Awakening comes this collection of short stories set in the New Orleans bayou. Many of the stories blend together, lost in my memory only moments after finishing them. That’s something I always struggle with when it comes to short stories.

This collection does have a few stand outs, particularly the title story Désirée’s Baby. The horrifying little tale is about a happily married couple who have just had their first child. The child clearly isn’t completely white and because of that the husband throws the wife out of the house and disowns the child, saying she must have an African American in her background. But the truth is even more shocking.

The other stand out was “The Godmother,” a short piece about a woman whose grandson commits a murder. She does everything she can to protect him and hide the truth, but the guilt of the cover-up drives a wedge between them. The collection includes: Love on the Bon-Dieu, Désirée’s Baby, A Lady of Bayou St. John, The Unexpected, Fedora, The Story of an Hour, The Godmother and At the Cadian Ball

BOTTOM LINE: Start with Chopin’s other work, "The Awakening” and if you’re left wanting more then check these out.

Most Influential Books

Jillian at Random Ramblings posted about ten most influential books in her life and she encouraged others to do the same with one rule... you can’t explain your choices. I tend to over explain my choices for lists, so this was an intriguing idea. Then Brona listed her books and Adam listed his and I knew I had to join in the fun.


Jillian said "I love a lot of books. However, I've learned that the favorites list and the most influential list are two completely different things." As I started making my own list I realized the same thing. The most influential book I read by one author might not even be my favorite by them.
 

So here’s my list…
1) Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
 

2) Hamlet by William Shakespeare
 

3) The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
 

4) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
 

5) Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
 

6) The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
 

7) Matilda by Roald Dahl  
 

8) Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
 

9) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
 

10) Little Women by Louisa May Alcott  

Photo by moi.

October Classic Club Meme Question

This month the Classics Club Blog asked us to go to the member list and select a fellow classics clubber to feature on your blog.

I’m in a unique position this month because I visit every single Classics Club member at least once. I’m the person who adds all of the members into our member’s page when they first join and I comment on everyone’s list. Because of this I’ve been able to see a wonderful variety of blogs and lists. I love it!

One blog stood out when I thought about this meme: Brona’s Books. I’ve had the chance to get to know her a bit better through the Classics Club. Brona’s is a lovely blogger in Australia and she picked a wonderful mixture of 75 books to create her list. I love that her site is broken down by age groups. If you’re looking for recommendations for kids or teens you’ll have an easy time finding what you want.

 

She has a great ability to get right to the point in her reviews, giving her honest and insightful thoughts on what she’s reading. Here are a couple great examples…

A Moveable Feast

Persuasion

I’m so happy I’ve had the chance to discover so many new bloggers through the club. Though I originally joined to have a deadline for reading a bunch of classics on my TBR list, as I got more involved I’ve been thrilled to find dozens of fellow classics lovers around the globe.

I can’t wait to see what other bloggers are featured this month!