Classic – Carol's Notebook

The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat

April 4, 2023April 4, 2023 by Carol4 Comments

The Blind Owl is unsettling and darkly romantic. It's an Iranian classic and I only ran into it because I was looking for something by a South Asian writer, but it's definitely worth reading. The book has two distinct parts. The first one feels almost like a nightmare, but a calm one. It has an inevitability but not one that makes you scream. I chose not to use the word nightmare because no matter how macabre this first part is, it has a peaceful almost tranquil quality to it. Our narrator sees a beautiful woman who he falls in love, or at least lust, with. Then, he ends up killing her and the section becomes more and more disturbing. Then we have a break. The second part presents an alternative story, maybe more realistic but our narrator is still not fully connected with reality. He tells us about his complicated family history and about how he is in love...

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

February 8, 2023February 8, 2023 by Carol3 Comments

While I'm sure Gulliver's Travels is a masterpiece and has much to say about human society, politics, racism, what have you, I didn't enjoy it. It was a bit boring and I found myself not really caring what Swift was trying to say. Our narrator is Lemuel Gulliver, a ship's surgeon who ends up going on four fantastical journeys. The first Gulliver adventure is the most famous one, in the land of Lilliputians where the people 15.24 centimeters tall. Here Swift highlights the human tendency to consider themselves the most important creatures despite their small size, being unaware of their insignificance in the universe. He also shows their absurd justice system and their obsession with rules. On the next adventure, Gulliver visits the land of Brobdingnag, a land of giants. So, an individual's dominance is a relative concept, as where Gulliver was powerful in Lilliput, here he is vulnerable and almost insignificant. The king and queen treat Gulliver as a kind of toy,...

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

February 17, 2022February 17, 2022 by Carol4 Comments

The Enchanted April is a charming novel, light and breezy and sweet. It's about love and life and being oneself. It's funny and perceptive. The writing is descriptive and witty. Four women, more or less strangers, are escaping dreary London and their dreary lives to spend April in a castle in Italy. They are each unhappy and lonely in their own way, dissatisfied with their lives. Lottie and Rose are in unhappy marriages. Lady Caroline is tired of being fawned over and surrounded by people clamoring for her attention. Mrs. Fisher is a grumpy older woman, a widow who relies on a cane. She, by the way, has some of the funniest moments in the book. Then San Salvatore works its magic on them, first one then more slowly the others. They come out of their shells and relax. They begin to realize what is actually important. They enjoy the beauty around them and in general become more happy, more loving...

Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Traver

May 28, 2021May 28, 2021 by Carol4 Comments

We know the facts in Anatomy of a Murder from early in the book. The defendant's wife, Laura, was raped by the local innkeeper and the defendant, army lieutenant Frederic Manion, took a gun, went to the bar, and shot and killed the rapist. He reported that he had done so and was taken into custody. It becomes Biegler's duty to try to get him off. The defense? Irresistable impulse, a type of temporary insanity. The story was broken into two parts: the investigation and the trial. The investigation is not a whodunnit , obviously, it was looking at all the players in the story, finding out all the ins and outs, who knew what when, what the people involved were like. The trial was fascinating. The back and forth between the lawyers, the interjections from the judge, the witnesses' statements, and jury reactions all kept me involved in the story. Our defense attorney and the narrator of the story,...

High Rising by Angela Thirkell

May 13, 2021May 13, 2021 by Carol6 Comments

I loved High Rising. Laura Morland is a fabulous character. I appreciate how she looks at the world. She's an author of popular novels set in the fashion world, which she chose because she knew women would enjoy reading about it. She has a pretty clear understanding of the people in her life, both their strengths and weaknesses. Other characters include train-obsessed children, loyal but opinionated servants, devoted secretaries with their own agendas, an unflappable schoolmaster's wife, the village doctor, and several potential couples. We get to see the ins and outs of the characters' relationships, the scheming (in a good way), and the helping each other out. It's just charming and witty. The dialogue is wonderful. The characters have fun talking to each other, if you know what I mean. They enjoy the conversations, they don't just have them. High Rising is a slice of life in this fictional corner of the world. People are ridiculous and silly and...

Passing by Nella Larsen

February 23, 2021February 23, 2021 by Carol8 Comments

More of a novella than a novel, Passing starts with a chance encounter at a tea shop between Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry. Once childhood friends in Harlem, New York, Irene and Clare are separated when Clare decides to leave the Black community behind, to ‘pass’ for white, marry a white man, and live as a white woman. While the two women catch up, Clare asks Irene if she could come to one of her parties, explaining that she misses being around Black people. Irene agrees and then she meets Clare’s racist husband. Irene is shocked and angry. She lives within the African-American community, is married to a black man, and is anxious about passing though she does it when convenient, like at the tea shop. In fact, Irene’s biggest desire in life is for security, while Clare is a risk-taker. A couple of year later, Clare reaches out to Irene again, and begins spending more time with Irene, her family,...