This story requires little introduction; however, you'll get one anyway.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was written in 1865 by Reverend Charles Dodgson, under the pen name Lewis Carroll. This story can be read on different levels - ranging from innocent child's story to a story written by a pervert with a drug problem who likes little girls too much. Some common FAQ's about the story can be found here, as well as some alternate explanations here. So I don't have to do it, a synopsis can be found here.
It had been a while since I'd last read it so I thought the story was incredibly confusing, as well as fun and nonsensical; fortunately, that seems to have been the author's intent. The writing was interesting with play on words running rampant, enabling a change of subject or change of context to what was being said. It seemed like just when I started making sense of the story, it would change again - out of the blue! Even the ending was abrupt: a deck of cards flying in Alice's face wakes her.
Earlier in the year I read The Looking Glass Wars, so I was finally able to contrast the real story with the spin-off. (Which I had meant to do shortly after I finished the book, I promise!). And just for fun, here's a link to the Johnny Depp movie (you're welcome).
Due to when the story was written, I know that there are social and/or political nuances that I've missed. Despite that, I really enjoyed the story and will be reading the sequel, Through the Looking Glass soon. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is on the Banned Book Club list of potential stories to read, so if chosen, I'll be one up on the others!
Showing posts with label Victorian era. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Victorian era. Show all posts
Monday, July 26, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
The Sweet Far Thing
"Rose of all Roses, Rose of all the World!
You, too, have come where the dim tides are hurled
Upon the wharves of sorrow, and heard ring
The bell that calls us on; the sweet far thing.
Beauty grown sad with its eternity
Made you of us, and of the dim grey sea.
Our long ships loose thought-woven sails and wait,
For God has bid them share an equal fate;
And when at last, defeated in His wars,
They have gone down under the same white stars,
We shall no longer hear the little cry
Of our sad hearts, that may not live nor die."
-From The Rose of Battle by W.B. Yeats
The third book in the Gemma Doyle series, The Sweet Far Thing (Libba Bray), is a voyage of self-discovery as Gemma and her friends approach their debut; a rite of passage for English ladies from children into womanhood.
Gemma tries to unravel the mystery of Wilhemina Wyatt, a former Spence girl who has been appearing to her in visions with the note "The Tree of All Souls lives". To learn more about the Tree of All Souls, Gemma speaks with Circe, an enemy trapped within the well of eternity who was put there by Gemma in the previous book. However, while the door of light will not appear to Gemma, they discover another entrance in the rubble of the East Wing which has started to be rebuilt.
Unfortunately, the line between sanity & madness starts to blur after Gemma and her friends venture into the Winterlands: after which Gemma starts to see creatures from the realms in the human world. Men from the work camp start to go missing and trouble breaks out between the workers & the gypsies when symbols in blood are written on the new stones.
Can Gemma figure everything out before the magic drives her mad?
This book was definitely the longest and had the most information in it. Due to that fact, it took longer for me to read, making it difficult for me to even remember my favourite quotes (which, you'd think by now, I'd start marking with post-its). The first book delved into choices & their consequences; the second talked about secrets. This book covered both topics as well as self-discovery. It covered love & love lost; getting what you want from life instead of using "magic" to make it happen; courage & strength; and most importantly, loss. It was very fitting that the author ended this book with the debut of Gemma and Felicity into society, as this event marked a girl's entrance into womanhood.
This book also spends more times in the realms than the last one. A battle is brewing as the magic is leaking into the Winterlands from the Tree of All Souls. This is definitely the darkest book as the characters are forced to face their deepest fears and desires to gain what they want most. The story turns spooky when Gemma starts to see things that no one else can and has what others think of as fits of madness. And when Pippa starts to talk about herself as being the Chosen One.
The ending is sad & a little heartrending, but I don't think it was possible to end any other way. I'm sure I'll kick myself for not mentioning this-or-that later, but like I said, this book was the largest and has definitely been my favourite. I'm happy to say that the final books lived up to the expectations of the first and that the story progressed without cheating the readers or making light of the situations at hand. It also ended on a hopeful note: about a girl choosing her own destiny in an era where that was unheard of.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Rebel Angels
The title of the book Rebel Angels (by Libba Bray) was inspired by John Milton's Paradise Lost, a poem about the angel Lucifer trying to overthrow heaven.
In this second book of the Gemma Doyle Trilogy, the girls are back and dreaming about Christmas; all except for Ann who, due to a lack of family, will be staying behind at Spence. Felicity comes up with the genius idea of reinventing Ann as the long-lost niece of some Duke who can trace their ancestry back to Russian royalty so she can enjoy the wonders of the London elite as well.
There is a mysterious new teacher at Spence, Miss McCleethy, who seems to have an immediate dislike for Gemma. Her very presence also causes Gemma to slip into horrifying visions of three girls in white dresses, who are obviously ghosts. Gemma, Felicity and Ann discover that they can still enter the realms and that Pippa is there! However, Kartik warns Gemma that by smashing the runes she loosed the magic in the realms for anyone to use; therefore she must find the Temple and bind the magic to the Eastern Star, which, unbeknownst to Gemma, would allow the Rakshana to control the magic. Kartik is also told that once she has done this, he is to kill her.
Upon their return to London, Gemma meets a young man, Simon Middleton, who is the son of a Viscount and who takes an immediate liking to her. Ann is met with smashing success and treated kindly. Felicity discovers that her father is home again and that her young distant cousin, Polly, has been orphaned and will be staying at her house.
However, Gemma's visions turn more horrifying as they also show Pippa as a creature of the realms. The ghosts plague her even more and she discovers Nell Hawkins, a member of the Order, in Bedlam. After meeting her, Gemma learns that Nell has deliberately driven herself mad to prevent Circe from discovering where the Temple is. Miss McCleethy is also in London and following her leads the girls to a bookstore where she purchases a book on secret societies. Reading the book they discover that many member of the Order use anagrams of their names when in hiding. They also learn that Claire McCleethy spells out: They Call Me Circe.
Each trip into the realm shows the garden growing more wild and dangerous as they discover that other creatures also live in the realms: the water nymphs who lure you into the water for your skin; the gorgon head that has been spelled onto a boat who may not cause harm or lie to a member of the Order but who also lies by omission; the horrible skeleton warriors; and even ghosts who have yet to pass that have been tempted into staying and are heading into the Winterlands.
However, the mad ramblings of Nell offer light as to where the Temple may be found:
In this second book of the Gemma Doyle Trilogy, the girls are back and dreaming about Christmas; all except for Ann who, due to a lack of family, will be staying behind at Spence. Felicity comes up with the genius idea of reinventing Ann as the long-lost niece of some Duke who can trace their ancestry back to Russian royalty so she can enjoy the wonders of the London elite as well.
There is a mysterious new teacher at Spence, Miss McCleethy, who seems to have an immediate dislike for Gemma. Her very presence also causes Gemma to slip into horrifying visions of three girls in white dresses, who are obviously ghosts. Gemma, Felicity and Ann discover that they can still enter the realms and that Pippa is there! However, Kartik warns Gemma that by smashing the runes she loosed the magic in the realms for anyone to use; therefore she must find the Temple and bind the magic to the Eastern Star, which, unbeknownst to Gemma, would allow the Rakshana to control the magic. Kartik is also told that once she has done this, he is to kill her.
Upon their return to London, Gemma meets a young man, Simon Middleton, who is the son of a Viscount and who takes an immediate liking to her. Ann is met with smashing success and treated kindly. Felicity discovers that her father is home again and that her young distant cousin, Polly, has been orphaned and will be staying at her house.
However, Gemma's visions turn more horrifying as they also show Pippa as a creature of the realms. The ghosts plague her even more and she discovers Nell Hawkins, a member of the Order, in Bedlam. After meeting her, Gemma learns that Nell has deliberately driven herself mad to prevent Circe from discovering where the Temple is. Miss McCleethy is also in London and following her leads the girls to a bookstore where she purchases a book on secret societies. Reading the book they discover that many member of the Order use anagrams of their names when in hiding. They also learn that Claire McCleethy spells out: They Call Me Circe.
Each trip into the realm shows the garden growing more wild and dangerous as they discover that other creatures also live in the realms: the water nymphs who lure you into the water for your skin; the gorgon head that has been spelled onto a boat who may not cause harm or lie to a member of the Order but who also lies by omission; the horrible skeleton warriors; and even ghosts who have yet to pass that have been tempted into staying and are heading into the Winterlands.
However, the mad ramblings of Nell offer light as to where the Temple may be found:
Like I said after reading A Great and Terrible Beauty, I was terrified to read this story for fear that my expectations would be set so high that this book couldn't possibly live up to them."Where shall we go, maidens? Where shall we go? You must leave the garden. Leave it behind with a sad farewell. Down the river on the gorgon's grace, past the clutches of the slippery, nippery nymphs. Through the golden mist of magic. Meet the folk of the fair Forest of Lights. The arrows, the arrows, you must use wisely and well. But save one. Save one for me. For I shall have need of it. ...
"Offer hope to the Untouchables, for they must have hope. Travel on, far beyond the lotus blossoms. Follow the path. Yes, stick to the path, maidens. For they can lead you stray, away, with false promises. Beware the Poppy Warriors. The Poppy Warriors steal your strength. they will gobble you up. Gobble, gobble! ...
"Do not leave the path, for it is hard to find again once lost. And they will take song to the rock. Do not let the song die. You must be careful with beauty. Beauty must pass. There are dark shadows of spirits. Just beyond the Borderlands, where the lone tree stands and the sky turns to blood...in the Winterlands they plot and plan with Circe. They will not rest till the army is raised and the realms are theirs to rule."Go where no one will, where it is forbidden, offer hope....go where the dark hides a mirror of water. Face your fear and bind the magic fast to you!" (pgs 360-361)
In essence, I was right.
However, this book did not try to do what the last one did. I believe that the last book was of choices and living with the consequences of them. In this book, the underlying theme was secrets and lies: Gemma's family is falling apart because her father is addicted to laudanum; however, they are not to speak of it. Ann's experiences in London is because of a huge secret. Felicity's behaviour toward Polly and her parents is due to yet more secrets. Kartik has a secret mission from the Rakshana that was divulged in the beginning of the book.
This book explored more of the realms and the horrible burden of trying to live a lie; to pretend that a girl is what she seems to be: a girl but one who doesn't have a terrible secret that could ruin them in society's eyes. You learn that there is more to each person than what you'd expect. Like Felicity and the secret to why she is the way she is. Gemma's dysfunctional family and irritation brother, Tom, are more of a focal point and how they rally together to hide their father's laudanum addiction. Even beautiful Pippa, the independent Miss Moore, priggish Miss McCleethy and mad Nell are not what you expect.
This book was fantastic and I'm happy to say that I'm looking forward to the third and final book in this trilogy: The Sweet Far Thing, which, I'm sure, will be as well written and enjoyable as the first two. However, I am curious to discover the underlying theme in that book as well.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
A Great and Terrible Beauty
' "Shall I tell you a story? A new and terrible one? A ghost story? ... Are you ready? Shall I begin? Once upon a time there were four girls. One was pretty. One was clever. One charming, and one...one was mysterious. But they were all damaged, you see. Something not right about the lot of them. Bad blood. Big dreams. Oh, I left that part out. Sorry, that should have come before. They were all dreamers, these girls."
"One by one, night after night, the girls came together. And they sinned. Do you know what that sin was? No one? ... Their sin was that they believed. Believed they could be different. Special. They believed they could change what they were - damaged, unloved. Cast-off things. They would be alive, adored, needed. Necessary. But it wasn't true. This is a ghost story, remember? A tragedy. ... They were misled. Betrayed by their own stupid hopes. Things couldn't be different for them, because they weren't special after all. So life took them, led them, and they went along, you see? They faded before their own eyes, till they were nothing more than living ghosts, haunting each other with what could be. What can't be. ... There, now. Isn't that the scariest story you've ever heard?" ' (pgs 314-316).
The above quote came from A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray, a book about a Victorian era girl who is sent to a finishing school in London after her mother dies tragically. Gemma Doyle, the heroine, is a 16 year old outcast who sees terrible things happen in visions - and then it comes true. Her roommate, Ann, is a scholarship student (read: poor) who wants nothing more than to be seen - and to be beautiful. Her unlikely ally, Felicity, is the school leader and bully until Gemma saves her from expulsion by shoving her in a lake - thus allowing her gypsy admirer to escape unnoticed. And Pippa, beautiful Pippa, wishes only for true love - which her parents can't allow to happen in case her seizures become public notice (and thus expose her genetic defect which would prevent any future offers of marriage).
However, they live in a time when "a man wants a woman who will make life easy for him. She should be attractive, well groomed, knowledgeable in music, painting, and running a house, but above all, she should keep his name above scandal and never call attention to herself" (pg 27). This stifling attitude prevents the four girls (or, really, any at all) from doing what they wish. As evidenced by one of the characters, "Well, it's not as if we can do what we want, is it?" (pg 163), when Felicity comments on how Pippa doesn't wish to marry the first man that comes along with a sizeable fortune.
In a drunken pity-fest, the girls re-create The Order after reading the diary of Mary Dowd, which describes a magical garden of power. They take a blood oath and "swear loyalty to each other, to keep secret the rites of [their] Order, to taste freedom and let no one betray [them]. No one. ... This is [their] sanctuary. And as long as [they're] here, [they] will speak only truth" (pg 153).
And so begins their true journey into self-discovery. Their characters deepen as you learn more about them: Pippa is being used by her parents simply to alleviate her father's gambling debts; Ann self-mutilates so she knows that she can still feel; and Felicity has been abandoned by her parents and for power in a powerless situation. It is at this point that the ghost story is told. The girls are at their lowest points and feel absolute failure coming upon them.
Weaving itself into the story is the poem, The Lady of Shallott by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. In the poem the Lady of Shallott is cursed to view the world outside her window through a mirror. One day she decides that she is "half sick of shadows" and looks out the window. When her mirror cracks, she leaves her tower, climbs into a boat and floats down to Camelot, where she dies.
Setting the pace for the rest of the book, the school teacher Miss Moore finally reaches the heart of the story when she talks about the poem and that "the lady dies not because she leaves the tower for the outside world, but because she lets herself float through the world, pulled by the current after a dream" (pg 102).
In essence, I believe that this book is about the characters striving to live life to the fullest and to attempt to break the bonds of society's demands to do what they want to do: which is to make their own choices.
I was captivated by this book right from the start and despite owning the rest of the books in this trilogy, I'm terrified that the rest of the books won't be as good. Having peaked my interest for what is going on in this book and the lives of these girls, I'm worried that the author will have opted for an easy way out. Or that in the end, they fail miserably.
Gemma and her friends, despite living in an age long past, still face issues that are relevant for today: peer pressure, the urge to fit in, sexual curiosity, the need to please and the desire to be free. While Gemma may not know her own mind, she does refuse to give in to society's pressures and I do believe that she does a good job as a strong female lead character. Even Pippa, who takes the easy road out in the end, still makes a choice that she believes is right for her.
Need I say more? I love this story and I think everyone should read it. It reminds me of the magical sisterhood found in the movie The Craft as well as a subdued version of the sexually charged friendship found in Summer Sisters by Judy Blume.
"One by one, night after night, the girls came together. And they sinned. Do you know what that sin was? No one? ... Their sin was that they believed. Believed they could be different. Special. They believed they could change what they were - damaged, unloved. Cast-off things. They would be alive, adored, needed. Necessary. But it wasn't true. This is a ghost story, remember? A tragedy. ... They were misled. Betrayed by their own stupid hopes. Things couldn't be different for them, because they weren't special after all. So life took them, led them, and they went along, you see? They faded before their own eyes, till they were nothing more than living ghosts, haunting each other with what could be. What can't be. ... There, now. Isn't that the scariest story you've ever heard?" ' (pgs 314-316).
The above quote came from A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray, a book about a Victorian era girl who is sent to a finishing school in London after her mother dies tragically. Gemma Doyle, the heroine, is a 16 year old outcast who sees terrible things happen in visions - and then it comes true. Her roommate, Ann, is a scholarship student (read: poor) who wants nothing more than to be seen - and to be beautiful. Her unlikely ally, Felicity, is the school leader and bully until Gemma saves her from expulsion by shoving her in a lake - thus allowing her gypsy admirer to escape unnoticed. And Pippa, beautiful Pippa, wishes only for true love - which her parents can't allow to happen in case her seizures become public notice (and thus expose her genetic defect which would prevent any future offers of marriage).
However, they live in a time when "a man wants a woman who will make life easy for him. She should be attractive, well groomed, knowledgeable in music, painting, and running a house, but above all, she should keep his name above scandal and never call attention to herself" (pg 27). This stifling attitude prevents the four girls (or, really, any at all) from doing what they wish. As evidenced by one of the characters, "Well, it's not as if we can do what we want, is it?" (pg 163), when Felicity comments on how Pippa doesn't wish to marry the first man that comes along with a sizeable fortune.
In a drunken pity-fest, the girls re-create The Order after reading the diary of Mary Dowd, which describes a magical garden of power. They take a blood oath and "swear loyalty to each other, to keep secret the rites of [their] Order, to taste freedom and let no one betray [them]. No one. ... This is [their] sanctuary. And as long as [they're] here, [they] will speak only truth" (pg 153).
And so begins their true journey into self-discovery. Their characters deepen as you learn more about them: Pippa is being used by her parents simply to alleviate her father's gambling debts; Ann self-mutilates so she knows that she can still feel; and Felicity has been abandoned by her parents and for power in a powerless situation. It is at this point that the ghost story is told. The girls are at their lowest points and feel absolute failure coming upon them.
Weaving itself into the story is the poem, The Lady of Shallott by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. In the poem the Lady of Shallott is cursed to view the world outside her window through a mirror. One day she decides that she is "half sick of shadows" and looks out the window. When her mirror cracks, she leaves her tower, climbs into a boat and floats down to Camelot, where she dies.
Setting the pace for the rest of the book, the school teacher Miss Moore finally reaches the heart of the story when she talks about the poem and that "the lady dies not because she leaves the tower for the outside world, but because she lets herself float through the world, pulled by the current after a dream" (pg 102).
In essence, I believe that this book is about the characters striving to live life to the fullest and to attempt to break the bonds of society's demands to do what they want to do: which is to make their own choices.
I was captivated by this book right from the start and despite owning the rest of the books in this trilogy, I'm terrified that the rest of the books won't be as good. Having peaked my interest for what is going on in this book and the lives of these girls, I'm worried that the author will have opted for an easy way out. Or that in the end, they fail miserably.
Gemma and her friends, despite living in an age long past, still face issues that are relevant for today: peer pressure, the urge to fit in, sexual curiosity, the need to please and the desire to be free. While Gemma may not know her own mind, she does refuse to give in to society's pressures and I do believe that she does a good job as a strong female lead character. Even Pippa, who takes the easy road out in the end, still makes a choice that she believes is right for her.
Need I say more? I love this story and I think everyone should read it. It reminds me of the magical sisterhood found in the movie The Craft as well as a subdued version of the sexually charged friendship found in Summer Sisters by Judy Blume.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)