Jane Eyre

I can understand why Jane Eyre became a classic so easily, because this book is enetertaining and has a very unique idea for the zeitgist. One of the points in the book which I disliked a lot was when Jane decides to leave Thornfield and Mr. Rochester. Even though I realize it was necesary to the whole theme of the book, I thought it was quite slow moving at that point. As I said before, the ideas in the book surprised me because I know many ideas like this did not come until later in history. For example, Jane Eyre, a woman, had the ability and the independence to be able to choose between Mr. Rochester and St. John. Also, Jane chose the unstable, passionate Mr. Rochester over the stable, cold, religious St. John. Thhis was an unusual decision for the time and in some cases even today. Another intresting fact is that Mr. Rochester preferred Jane's intelligence to the accompolished Miss. Ingram, who by society is the more attractive option. At the end, Jane's extreme independence and great ledearship was needed by a blinded, vulnerable Mr. Rochester. The fact that the wife was leading the husband is also a very unique idea that is revolutionary. The book was ensaring and I enjoyed reading about how she grew to be a happy woman despite all the suffering she had endured.

The Story of the Trapp Family Singers

I think we all know the very famous musical, The Sound of Music--I know its one of my favorite movies. But as most people can guess Hollywood probably made it more dramatic then the story really was, or at least that is what I thought. But surprisingly enough the Julie Andrews version was pretty close to the real thing, there were some changes here and there though. Unfortunately, the movie ended before the Von Trapp's journey began. In the book, it summarizes their trip to the Americas, their adjusting to a different culture, and living in Vermont. I think it was interesting to go into the mind of a foreigner, seeing America for the first time. The best example of this is when Maria Von Trapp first goes to Macy's and encounters the escalator. She recounts that she is very scared to step on and informs us she still is to this day. The other unique thing about their story and family is, not their size, but how many opportunities they got through out their lives because of their unique family. Even though the family was low on money constantly, the Von Trapps were a choir, made a temporary craft shop, ran a farm, built a home, and lastly created and ran a summer camp. With so many abilities and talents in the family, it isn't that surprising I guess. Usually I do not like memoirs, but being able to see into their exciting adventures was entertaining.

The Count of Monte Cristo

The blurb on this book says that "nothing in his books encourages reflection...or sounds significant depths," but I would beg to differ. Through this work Dumas communicates the dangers that revenge has on a person and the effect of immense suffering. The main example of how suffering effects people was Edmond Dantes, the main character himself. Not only did his personality change, but he physically changed and became the Count of Monte Cristo. Mercedes also changes from the suffering she experiences when she gives up her fortune. But the end uncovers a message: after the many years where the Count had lost hope of ever being happy again, he finally understood that through new loves can come happiness. Other lessons, like greediness leads to nowhere or do not make rash decisions, were common. Now that I think about it each character, of the many Dumas created, had demonstrated a moral lesson. Besides the new, complex vocabulary, the book was thoroughly enjoyable. I think one of the aspects that contributed to its entertainment was the fact that all the characters at one point in the book act dramatically or maliciously which is what makes entertainment, or even life, interesting. But my conclusion is if I had the choice to read another one of Alexandre Dumas' books I wouldn't hesitate.

Pride and Prejudice

This is now one of my favorite books! It was actually surprisingly entertaining. I think my favorite part in the entire book was when Elizabeth runs into Mr. Darcy in Pemberley. I like this part the most of all because it puts forth the possibility that a person and/or people's opinions can change. Another key idea that was really unique throughout the book was the idea that knowledge and wittiness makes one more beautiful than anything else. But probably the most important themes in the book were pride and prejudice; it's a little bit obvious because it is the title. The thing is the two are connected a lot of the time. For example, if Darcy wasn't so proud about his class and family connections, he wouldn't have made all those prejudices against Elizabeth for being less rich than him. But the ironic thing is that throughout the whole book Elizabeth complains about Mr. Darcy's pride, yet she lets her own pride create all these prejudices against Darcy. This shows that she isn't much better than Darcy is in the pride department. But I still like Darcy and Elizabeth as characters. I cannot say the same for Lydia and Mrs. Bingley. That's why the most annoying part of the book was probably when Lydia ran away. I do realize though that Jane Austen tried to make them that way, though. But I do feel bad for the father because he is stuck with Mrs. Bingley. I think that Mrs. Bingley's pettiness was necessary to demonstrate that one just can't be pretty and shallow but interesting and smart to actually make a relationship work. But even with those irritating parts, I enjoyed this book the most out of all the classics I have read.

Handle with Care

Another one of the books I liked, that I read during the summer, was Handle with Careby Jodi Picoult. I have read a lot of Jodi Picoult books so far and I can definitely see a pattern in most of them. I'm not saying that her books are boring, I love her books. But for some reason a lot include the same things.For example, most have to do with relationships strained by one colossal event. There is usually an issue presented with one character that affects the other characters badly. All these conflicts go on inside and in between different characters. Finally at the end, a court case is presented. I think Picoult usually uses court cases because it forces the reader to judge the issues going on in the book. The issues are very controversal and usually has more than two sides. Eventually, the reader could come to the conclusion that different perspcetives are needed to judge a person or group. This book was no different. The reader sees the life of a girl with a disablity and her struggles. We also see the struggles of the different family members affected though. The books goes through moral questions about abortion and parenting children with disablities. The book ends with a case about malpractice. In a nutshell, if the mother, with the disabled child, would have not given birth if she knew of the complications? It caused me to think, and I hope it will do the same for others.

Death on the Nile

Over the summer, I read a few books but I enjoyed reading Death on the Nile , by Agatha Christie, the most. I think what I liked most about reading this book was trying to guess who the killer was. I find that a lot of Agatha Christies' books have many characters, quite a few have meaningful motives, so that it makes it more fun to try to guess. This probably also pulls attention away from the real killer so that when the reader finally finds out, they are extremely surprised. The book wasn't only about the murderer though. It touched on some themes about revenge versus forgiveness or letting things go. Another little theme was how far one should go for love. My favorite part of the book was when Hercule Poirot explains how the murderer killed the victim, when the murderer supposedly had a wounded leg. The explanation made so much sense when it was said, yet someone would have to think way out of the book to be able to come up with it. I hope to read more books like this one.

The Joy Luck Club

The main idea of this book is the relationships between mother and daughter, and the factors that influence it. The book follows the lives of four women and their daughter's lives. It goes through different tales from their lives demonstrating Chinese morals. The tales also give reasons why the mothers treat their children the way showed in the book. Usually a traumatic event makes the mother pull back or judge harshly. Other conflicts in the book are the acceptance of culture in the American-born daughters. They would follow trends to fit in and ignore their mothers, but as some grew up they would travel to China to earn more. The Joy Luck club is a group where these four women would meet to build up hope and happiness when things were not looking so well, like in times of war or traveling to a foreign land. And many of the women in this group have had their share of bad times, as seen in the stories, but still stayed brave and hopeful. I enjoyed the book because I liked hearing of all these inspiring stories, and I will try to read the author's other book as well.