Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

 

"The presence of a humorous heroine means that Pride and Prejudice can unite in one character two of the author's most treasured aims: amusing the reader and imparting moral points."              

             -from the introduction by David M. Shapard, regarding protagonist Elizabeth Bennet

Does a book club need to read at least one classic every year? Maybe. This one was suggested for 2021. As the leader of Page Turners some 13 years, I have always tried to finish each book club selection. This one had me wondering if I wanted to break that habit! I felt I was slogging through the first half but then began to like it a bit more. I began to think of all the books in my queue that I really WANT to read and yet I felt compelled to finish this one. I rated it a 2.

I did come to like Elizabeth, sometimes called Lizzy. She was a spunky one, independent enough to seem ahead of her time. Her sister Jane was likeable, as well.

My eBook was an annotated version so it included footnotes about the language usage and historic significance of some references. I saved the notes to read last and actually enjoyed them more than the novel itself! 

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Page Turners had an enthusiastic discussion with several members finding interesting points to make about the characters, plot and themes. A question offered by Penguin Classics had us thinking of how Hollywood and television have borrowed the premise of two people with a mutual dislike finally becoming romantically attached. Think Hallmark movies!

One participant reminded us that Bridget Jones's Diary was an updated version of P and P. I DID enjoy that story.

The fact that Longbourn, the Bennet property, was entailed, meaning it could only be inherited by a male relative, remined me of "Downtown Abbey," the setting of which is actually some 100 years later.

It was mentioned that Austen's style and somewhat archaic language was off-putting to some. One of our members related it to reading Shakespeare---challenging but worthwhile if you can get into it. 

The group's average rating was 3.7 with half the group voting 4 or 5---a surprise to me. Personally, I am looking forward to anything but classics in the next few months!

Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger

"Everything disappoints us sometimes. Everybody disappoints us. Men let women down, women let men down, ideals don't hold water....I think we expect too much. Simple as that. And the only thing that lets us down is our own expectation.  I used to pray to God for an easy life. Now I pray to be a strong person." 

                           -Father Tom Griffin, aka St. Kawasaki, from the novel

This is my third novel by Mr. Krueger, but the first of his Cork O'Conner series. It was a page-turner, for sure, but I must rate it a 4 because it didn't quite measure up to the quality of Ordinary Grace or This Tender Land, which I loved.

Each of Krueger's novels I have read are set in or around Minnesota and two of them have involved native Americans in a significant way. I am learning things about the native cultures of the area and about the injustice often faced by these people.

Corcoran "Cork" O'Conner is the former sheriff of Aurora, Minnesota who cannot seem to get investigating crime out of his system. When the town judge is found dead seemingly by suicide---or not---and a young boy disappears while out delivering newspapers, Cork cannot help getting involved. The more he snoops and questions townsfolk, the more he uncovers---dishonor, graft, treachery...and murder!

In the process, he finds himself at risk, as well as people he holds dear.

I look forward to reading Cork O'Connor, book 2!

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

 "Between life and death there is a library. And within that library, the shelves go on for ever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be different if you had made other choices...Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?"

                              ---Mrs. Elm, the librarian from the novel

Nora Seed is contemplating suicide when she is transported to The Midnight Library of the book title. The quote above provides a hint at what happens there. In times in her life, Nora aspired to be an Olympic swimmer, a glaciologist, a rock star, a wife and mother, and she has given up on each goal and even failed "to be a truly good and truly happy person," in her own mind. Nothing has given her lasting happiness and she is in despair as she faces a dark future.

The librarian, Mrs. Elm. shows Nora The Book of Regrets which holds every regret she has ever had in her life. And she can choose a path she regrets and, seemingly try to undo it. Yes, it was pretty hard to believe a person could move in and out of different phases of their life. Closer to fantasy than fiction, in my opinion. One character Nora meets who is experiencing the same thing she is, says this, "I have encountered a few other sliders. That's what I call them. Us. We are sliders. We have a root life in which we are lying somewhere, unconscious, suspended between life and death, and then we arrive in a place. And it's always something different. A library, a video store, an art gallery, a casino...." Sound weird? Yeah, I thought so.

I finished this book because I was just curious enough to want to know what happens to Nora. I will rate it a 3---I sort of liked it, didn't love it. It was unique, I must admit.

I almost feel like recommending the book to a couple of friends who are physicists. Quantum physics is mentioned several times for example, "The many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics suggests there are an infinite number of divergent parallel universes." Wow! Totally over my head!

Good luck with this one!