Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

I was quite surprised by Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. First of all the description tells you that the story revolves around three students who went to an exclusive boarding school in England. The story turned out to be much more. During the first section of the story the characters are young but you get the distinct feeling that there is more to this school than meets the eye.

Now a few years back I saw an interview with the cast and Ishiguro for the movie based on the book. Ishiguro was born in Japan but grew up in England and get this he speaks with a British accent! I was not expecting that.

Next up is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Yay!

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Just finished The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, the classic story of the battle of good and evil within man. I'm sure most folks are familiar with the story. I mean it's been adapted hundreds, if not, thousands of times. Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde being played by such as: Spencer Tracey, John Barrymore, Jack Palance, Basil Rathbone, Michael Caine, and Kirk Douglas in movies and television dating since 1908 according to the Internet Movie Database. Of course it wasn't properly done until 2001 when it we were presented with.............


.....that's right David Hasselhoff in Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical.

Next up is Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Concrete by Thomas Bernhard

Just finished Concrete by Thomas Bernhard. This was the story of an Austrian musicologist who is trying to write a study of the work of Mendelssohn Bartholdy. He had spent ten years trying to write the study and all he had to show for it was a pile of notes. Due to a healthy inheritance he has ample opportunity to write the study however he continuously finds reasons that he cannot begin, i.e. his sister's presence, his full stomach, his house, his illness, etc. It was actually a pretty interesting story and at about 150 pages, a quick read.

The one thing that took some getting use to was the fact the story was written in one continuous paragraph. Hard to find a stopping point when there's no breaks. Good thing I had my trusty Last Line bookmark.

The bookmark slides right onto the page so that you don't lose your place. I sometimes have to stop in the middle of a chapter or section and it great to be able to pick the book back up and not have to read over the page to find where I left off.

Next up is The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Just finished Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. I can't tell how many times people asked me what I was reading and I wanted ever so much to say Maddening Crowd instead of the proper Madding Crowd. This was the first of Hardy's novels which took place in the fictional Wessex which is based on the Dorchester area. The story is full of biblical references including the names of the two main characters, Gabriel Oak and Bathsheba Everdene.

The story revolves around a young woman who is romantically pursued by three men, Gabriel Oak, William Boldwood, and Francis Troy. Oak accepts his rejection with dignity and decides that through whatever he wants to be a friend to Bathsheba. Boldwood however seems to become obsessed with Bathsheba and this eventually destroys his character. Meanwhile Bathsheba chooses Troy who of the three is far less either Oak or Boldwood. A woman choosing rogue over two honorable, decent fellows? Good thing this story is fiction. I mean that kind of stuff doesn't really happen, does it?

For a good chunk of the story I could sympathize with Boldwood. I mean I've had the "woman of my dreams" choose an inconsequential oaf with no substance whatsoever over me. But here's the thing he couldn't move on. He eventually allowed his character to be pulled down to a point unbecoming of the honor and integrity with which he had lived.

Next up is Concrete by Thomas Bernhard.

Just finished with Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. The title of the book is a term for a petty thief. The title also alludes to the eroticism in the book. In the story, Sue Trinder, a fingersmith under the matronly Mrs. Sucksby. Sue poses as a maid for Maud Lilly in order to help a man named Gentleman steal Lilly's inheritance. Of course things don't go as planned.

The first blurb on the back states:

"Superb storytelling. Fingersmith is gripping; so suspenseful and twisting is the plot that for the last 250 pages, I read at breakneck speed."

-USA Today

I find that funny because the last 100 pages seemed to take me forever.

Next up shall be Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. In addition I will try to find the urge to keep calling it Far From the Maddening Crowd.

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte

Just finished Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte. This story begs the question, did every Victorian era young woman work as a governess? The title character of the story is a young lady who after the financial ruin of her family decides to become a governess to help raise money. She quickly finds out a very important teaching lesson, parents believe that their children are "little angels" and you're the problem. She goes through a couple of sets of students and in each situation the children are a challenge to say the least. Agnes relies on her religious beliefs to pull her through the obstacles.

There was a line in this story that I really enjoyed. As Agnes describes her parents she tells that her mother chose to marry her father and it caused her to be cut-off. The line that was:

"An elegant house, and spacious grounds were not to be despised, but she would rather live in a cottage with Richard Grey, than in a palace with any other man in the world."

Not too many women like that around today. The more realistic is the the sheer joy that Rosalie Murray feels about breaking the hearts of her admirers.

The story is believed to be at least somewhat autobiographical as Anne served as a governess for five years.

Next up is Fingersmith by Sarah Waters.

Cranford by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell

Last night I finished Cranford by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. This is the story of a fictional English town named Cranford and the ladies who reside there. This ladies are obsessed with gentility and station. At one point the Alpha Female of the town takes a trip to Cheltenham and the ladies don't decide that they will not decide how they feel about an occurrence until she returns. These ladies adventures played out quite comically. Cranford was initially published in serial format in a magazine edited by Gaskell's friend Charles Dickens.

This was the first book that I've read on my Nook that was not a dedicated e-book. I don't know if thats the proper term or not. What I mean to say is that it was converted from a hard copy book to a digital file. This caused the structure of the book to be off. Meaning for example at times it would seem like a new paragraph was starting in mid sentence. I suppose this is where initially the page changed. Also, from time to time in the middle of the page the word "Cranford" or a number would appear. I don't know if this occurred during digitalizing or if it was the edition but quite a few words had bizarre letters in them. After a while I began to barely notice it and was able to figure out what the words were suppose to be.

Next up will be Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte.....wait a minute I gotta do a Bronte check.....yep Anne Bronte.