Crime And Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Having never read a book by a Russian author before I found the names a bit difficult at first. The main character, Raskolnikov, became "Rask" as I spead read his name and his friend Razumihin became known to me as "Raz". I wish they weren't quite so similar. The story was fantastic though and well worth the infamy. I wasn't sure that I wanted to read about the thoughts of a murderer at first. I find it disturbing by how much everyone seems entertained by crime as of late. CSI, Bones, NYPD all seem to glamorize crime to me. I decided this book is so well known that that I will just have to forge through. I'm glad I did. The character Raskolnikov is not a vindictive, revengfull, homicidal mainiac as I feared but a student whose thoughts and hypothesis lead him down a very wrong path as his attempts to greatness were in no way as successfull as Napolean's. The theory that did him wrong: Great, exceptional men often must commit crime on their way to greatness but this is a small, excusable, un-noticed bump when they contribute so much more to the betterment of mankind. Raskolnikov would kill a pawn broker for her money, and with that money become a great scholar or theorist or humanitarian so he hoped. Alas, his theory is not true and suffered mental breakdown because of it. All of the subplots and additional characters made this a fascinating read. He never does feel guilt or a need for repentance by the end of the story but the author aludes that perhaps he may find faith in Christianty yet since his devoted girlfriend finds so much support in it and how can her convictions not now be his own? Great read.

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

I have gotten my hands on a few classics and have thouroughly enjoyed them! The Scarlet Pimpernel was recomended to me by Heather Jones. My edition has Jane Seymour on the cover and I wish it didn't. I'd rather create the character in my own mind then see someone elses version of who they are. The old english was really hard to get used to at first. I set the book down many times during the beginning but by the middle I was hooked and I could not have even guessed about the ending, it was fabulous! Set in the year 1792 during the French Revolution, one english gentelman and his crew have set off to save the lives of French Aristocrats who are being sent to the Guillotine by the hundreds. But who is he?

"We seek him here, we seek him there,
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere.
Is he in heaven?-Is he in hell?
That demmed, elusive Pimpernel?"

Awsome.
Very G rated I might add, except for the Guillotine part.
I can't recall reading a book from this far back in history. This fiction painted a picture for me that makes me realize how old Europe really is. Some of the places in London I have visited but never thought about the people from 200 years ago also walking down the same streets, in completly different atire and rules of propriety that I could never even imagine.

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

This book is ficticoulsy based on the life of a first lady, based loosley on Laura Bush. I enjoyed it. The plot was unusal and I couldn't always tell if there was a plot but it kept me entertained. It deals with issues of abortion/pro choice/pro life, upper vs lower classes in America, and child raising along with love and heart break. Here's a quote:
"I can say that the single most astonishing fact of political life to me has been the gullibility of the American people. Even in our cynical age, the percentage of the population who is told something and therefore believes it to be true-it's staggering. In a way, it's also touching; it makes me feel protective. (To be a person who sees a political ad on television and takes the statements in it as fact, how can you exist in this world? How is it you're not robbed daily by charlatans who knowck at your door?)"

So maybe the author and I share a similar perspective, politics involves so many lies and half truths that it's hard to take seriously.

One other thing about this book, the author is a man writing in a female perspective. I think he underestimated the feelings that close female friends share with each other. Alice, the main character and Dena, her best friend since grade school would not have walked away from a 30 year friendship so unintentionally. Maybe I feel this because of a regret from not having my grade school friendships last. Husbands take the place of best friends but the relationship need not be one or the other.

A Place Called Here by Cecelia Ahern

This book deals with the feelings that a friend of a missing girl has. Unlike in the book The Lovely Bones it is unclear if this friend, Jenny-May has been murdered, abducted, or just gotten lost and died of starvation. Not knowing causes pain, maybe more pain than dealing with the hatred that fills a heart after a murder. The not knowing where lost things/people are and the heartache this causes people is the basis of this book. It was interesting to think about the reactions and lives of friends in the same age goup as the missing child. The main character Sandy becomes tragically flawed and an obsession over missing things seems like a natural consequence to having a next door neighbor friend suddenly show up missing and never heard from again. Really it's every parents nightmare no matter if you kid is little or big. I can easily empathize with the characters in the book and pray that I am never forced to really live in this kind of nightmare. Aubrie having wondered off for 40 minutes was enough flood of emotion for me. The rate at wich people's are reported missing all around the world was quite staggering. I wondered what the real statics are. It's also interesting to think about memories being eventually lost. The memory of someone's laugh or smell or smile. It's true these are lost with the passing of time. I wish I could teach my children to have outstanding memories. People with near photographic memories are genius and while I don't expect that of my children giving them the gift of a strong memory seems very important. So should I commit to regular practice? Yes, but as of yet I haven't made it a high enough priority. There always seems to be so much to do. I diegres, the book was great.

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

I was hesitant to write a review for this book, there is so much that I can't wrap my mind around to form any solid opinions. It was very well written, captivating, the movie did a great job but yet I still couldn't put the book down. It does seem probable to me that Mary Magdalene was Jesus' wife. I just don't know how much of the proposed truths to accept into my views of religion and I don't feel like writing a review of my current status of religion. Maybe Constantine the Great did hold the Council of Nicaea where Paganisms was melded into Christianity and Christ being born of divine power was put to a vote. It also seems probable that the Catholic church used the Bible, compiled and edited to their own agenda to rise to power and influence in the world. The statement "we worship the gods of our fathers" is certainly true. Our parents teach us day by day what they feel is important in life weather it be Mormon parents, Catholic or Jewish. The majority of people will feel the same religously as their parents did, though to greater of lesser amounts. I do not know the answer to the religious uprising that this book stirs in me and others who have read the book or saw the movie. But I do know that I just need to try a little harder each day to make good choices, keep an open mind, learn from others (advice, mistakes, life experiences, friendships...) and to love deeply. Wheather or not all the facts in this book are right or not it needn't affect me so much. I needn't go on my own grail quest to find the answers to life. Although it was a great adventure book to read.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

This book came highly recommended to me from DeEtte and I've since found it on "must read" lists. I liked it but it was dark. I know I need to get over my dreams of 'happily ever after' but this book just did not leave me in my happy place when I was done with it. It did however give me insight into these fictional characters struggles that I find fascinating. What would I do in a similar situation? The story is from the point of view of a murdered 8 year old girl. I can still recall the description of the murder in my mind over a month later. I think of it when I pass corn feilds. I'm more worried now that my children will get abducted than before. I hope when (not if) disaster occurs my husband and I will face it clinging tightly together and not alone. I hope if I ever have to face the loss of a child that I won't go insane but know this is something I can't promise. I hope I never have to face a murderer. I also feel that rapists should get the death penalty. All in all I found this book disturbing but a nice slap of reality. Life does not end happily ever after for everyone.

Peony In Love

Peony In Love by Lisa See

This book was unlike anything I've ever read. It's a Chinese historical novel, so fiction based around actual historical occurrences. It's based on the Chinese book The Three Wives Commentary on the opera Peony Pavilion. I don't know to what extent the author interwove her own ideas from the translations of The Three Wives Commentary but the idea lends to more credibility towards this being a true story although the majority takes place in the after world so would be clearly fiction.

It's also a tragedy and I'm the type who needs my stories to end happily ever after. I'm already too pessimistic and prefer the feeling of optimism after devoting so much time to a novel. Despite this I do still highly recommend it and will probably read it a second time. There was just so much depth to it. One would need a few days to ponder on some of the ideas that most Chinese people know as an every day fact. Such as being governed by qing vs li. Qing being sentiment, passion and love. Li being cold reason and mastered emotions. I had never before known anything about women of Chinese ancestry. At times their value was worth less than that of salt or farm animals. I was able to visualize how the favored treatment of males over females has wrecked such havoc all throughout Chinese history even to this day. Some of this is due to the fact that a male heir is the only one who has the right to take care of the family burial plot, and pass on the family name. Plural marriages were common and the taking of concubines all to obtain male heirs. I also understand now a little better why it was so common for woman to have bound feet. A woman with bound feet is not able to do the work of every day life, they are above the servants. Foot bindings were said to help them be softer, smaller and thus more feminine. It was associated with "mother love". If you love your daughter and don't want them to become a servant, or worse of less worth than a farm animal, they must have differentiation. I wonder what sick man decided bound feet were sexy, eventually the majority did. I like the quote: "The written character for mother love is composed of two elements: love and pain. I had always thought this emotion was felt by daughters for their mothers, who inflict pain on us by binding our feet, but looking at Second Aunt's tears and my mother's courage I realized this emotion was for them. A mother suffers deeply to give birth, bind feet, and say goodbye to a daughter when she marries out."

I also was intrigued with the idea that Chinese people eat differently than I'd ever imagined eating. Here's a quote: "Course after course arrived, each flavored to satisfy one of the tastes: good, bad, fragrant, stinky, sweet, sour, salty, and bitter." Of coarse this was only for a big occasion like a future wedding. Still, I couldn't imagine everyone willingly eating bad, stinky, and bitter food on purpose. I guess it comes from the idea that you can't enjoy the sweet without the bitter, the good things in life without the bad. I wonder if my family would like what I cook more if I started making them eat more stinky or bitter food?

It's startling for me to read how woman thought before any idea of a women's rights movement occurred. Here's a few quotes: "Writing is a creation of the outer world of men," she said. "It is by its nature a public act-something that we, as women, should avoid-but you need to learn it so that one day you can help your son with his studies." And later the idea that "A woman becomes unruly through knowledge." "Knowing anything more than a few written characters like firewood, rice, fish and meat that will help you run a household. Anything more is perilous." The generations before the main character in the story believed this but Peony did not. Another quote: "A thousand years ago, the poet Han Yun wrote, "All things not at peace will cry out." He compared the human need to express feelings in writing to the natural force that impelled plants to rustle in the wind or metal to ring when struck. I would look inside myself and write not what the critics had observed or what my aunts discussed about these emotions but how I felt about them myself. My writing would become my salvation." "I, like all women and girls, wanted-needed-to be heard." Perhaps there is some truth to this. Writing does allow us to leave some kind of influence of ourselves after death. Art and music does as well but that is more open to interpretation than writing. Maybe it was this idea that has encouraged me to begin this book review. That, and I know I have a terrible memory. I am on a mission of compiling truths of this life. That is one reason why I've enjoyed read quotes of the day. There is a lesson that can be learned every day in life. Why not learn from others? After all the saying "What we don't learn from history we are doomed to repeat" can be applied not just to great battles and politics but to me and my every day endeavors raising my family.