I've been mostly reading books for classes, but many of them are new reads for me - and ones that I'm really enjoying.
To give you a brief rundown of what I've been reading, I will go class by class. Each book will receive a brief summary, or a note that it is a reread (which it is, in the case of some of them). With those that are rereads, I will not be reviewing them, as they do not apply towards this project - but feel free to ask my opinions in the comments!
Here we go...
Absolutism and Enlightenment
This is a class that I took my freshman year, and so I'm sitting in on it this year as a way to determine what I want to do in grad school, and also because I missed having a class with my advisor. Part of the deal was that I would do the out of class reading and participate in discussion - so here is what we have been reading:
The Devils of Loudun - Aldous Huxley
This history book, written in a novelistic style, tells the story of a Jesuit priest in the village of Loudun in France who was arrested on charges of witchcraft. His trial pulled in not only his small village and their issues with Huguenot and Catholic tension, but also Cardinal Richelieu, and the event was blown into one of mass hysteria. Eventually, the man was executed and one of the nuns who accused him became a wandering visionary. It's a fascinating look at the period - and a book that we had not used in the class before.
The movie version, The Devils, is a pass - it does its best to make the story much more sensational than it even needs to be. It's already quite a sensational story as it is.
If you're interested in Church/state relationships, absolutist France, witchcraft, or mysticism, I highly recommend this.
The other books that we've been reading this semester are all rereads for me - Vermeer's Hat, The Affair of the Poisons, and Candide. I still love all of these, and loved having the chance to crack them open again.
Colonial Latin America
This class has focused on the history of Latin America - mainly modern-day Mexico, Peru, and Brazil - and the way in which life changed forever when the Spanish and Portuguese arrived. It traces interactions between native peoples and the Iberian invaders until the independence movement in Mexico. We have used three main books, but the only one which has been read in full is the following:
Victors and Vanquished: Spanish and Nahua Views of the Conquest of Mexico - Stuart B. Schwartz
As the title says, this book deals with the interactions between the native people of Mexico - called variously Mexica and Nahua by the text - and the Spanish. It is a compilation of primary source documents from both sides, with summaries of events at the beginning of each chapter.
Having never studied colonial Latin America in depth like this before, I found this book fascinating. The Mexica perspective was incredibly interesting to me, because it was occasionally filtered through the translation work of Franciscan friars - which makes me question how much of a spin the friars may have put on the documents. This book was incredibly enlightening for me, however, as it opened my eyes up to the other narrative that is so often overlooked in Euro-centric studies of the Age of Colonialism.
If you're interested in the Conquest of Mexico, the Spanish Empire, Aztec traditions, or the history of Latin America, I highly recommend.
British Literature from 1789 to the Present
The class is pretty much as the title says: we're doing a survey of British Lit from 1789 - the year of the French Revolution and the beginning of the modern period - to the current era. Much of the work we have read has been poetry or small essays by authors compiled within the Masters of British Literature collection. We have also read Persuasion and Jane Eyre, both rereads for me. However, our most modern novel is the following:
The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
Ishiguro's Booker Prize winning novel deals with a butler in the 1950s as he drives to see a former co-worker and copes with his memories of his former master, a Nazi sympathizer whose home was the site of many important events during the Long Weekend between the World Wars. The novel is a reflection on memory, on duty and greatness, on what it means to be British, and on life.
And I could not love it.
I tried, I really did. But the narrator, Stevens, is so heartlessly tied to his job that he carelessly tosses out information as if it were a small matter. His inability to react at key moments made me hate him. I could not, for the life of me, find sympathy for him, in any way, shape, or form - and this made reading the novel an unbearable slog.
I really loved Never Let Me Go, and, while I had some reservations about it, I enjoyed The Buried Giant. But, even if you are a rabid Downton Abbey fan (and, for the most part, I am), I would not read this novel.
Fantasy Literature
Here is where most of my reading has been coming from this semester. Two of these are rereads - American Gods and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, both of which are tried and true favorites. Two volumes we read selections from - After the Quake and Dreams Underfoot. But three have been new for me.
Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights - Salman Rushdie
I must confess that I have never before read a Rushdie novel. I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I started reading. And I must say, a jinnia in love with a philosopher, a magical storm overtaking New York, a Candide-esque gardener and a Lady Philosopher were not what I was expecting.
The novel took a good while to pick up, but once it would start, it would cycle off-topic once again. If you are familiar with the 1000 and 1 Nights, which this novel is mirroring, then this should make sense - but if you are not, this is confusing and can make for a very difficult read.
I enjoyed sections of this novel, but I'm not sure I'd pick it back up just for fun. If you're a fan of Rushdie's writing, then I'd suggest it. Otherwise, I'd pass this one by.
A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin
I finally get all the hype.
If you aren't familiar with Game of Thrones by this point, I'm not sure how. It's been everywhere almost, since its arrival on HBO. The first novel pretty much covers the events of the first season - up to the death of Ned Stark and the birth of Khaleesi's dragons.
I think I fell in love mostly with Martin's writing style. He writes the best food scenes since Redwall - I think most of my notes were about how I would willingly move to Westeros just for the food alone! I was also looking for hints of the War of the Roses, which he has said on multiple occasions was the inspiration and basis for the series. While I have guesses, I don't want to reveal them too early...there is a decent chance that I'm wrong.
If you like high fantasy, read this one. Trust me.
And then read The Kingkiller Chronicles, because it doesn't get enough praise.
The Bone Clocks - David Mitchell
This. Book.
I loved Cloud Atlas, and so seeing a novel with a similar set-up was exciting. Six sections, all interconnected because of the presence of one woman: Holly Sykes. Holly opens the novel, introducing us to her life, with The Radio People, her strange younger brother, Jacko, and the actions that she took after one fight with her mother that change the lives of everyone in her family forever.
I was hooked - right up until the last section. Holly returned as narrator for the final section, in a post-apocalyptic wasteland of Ireland where she is a grandmother. It almost felt as if the author had lost Holly's voice in the midst of his writing about her from others' perspectives, and I didn't quite find the ending believable.
Despite the ending, I highly recommend this novel and Cloud Atlas. Both will have you on the edge of your seat.
Civil War and Reconstruction
Last but not least come the books I've been reading for Civil War and Reconstruction. We have been using selections from This Mighty Scourge, along with the following:
This Great Struggle: America's Civil War - Steven E. Woodworth
This is an easy-to-follow, step-by-step account of the Civil War, from before the war to after. For the most part, it is relatively easy to read. The only exceptions are during battles, at which point Woodworth becomes burdened with military lingo that may not be easily understood by the average reader.
I think this is a very succinct look at the war, and I have greatly enjoyed reading it. For those interested in an overview of the whole war, this is an excellent choice.
The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery - Eric Foner
I am not terribly fond of Eric Foner's academic writing, which I knew going into this book, and was hoping that a full-length book would be different. My other issue with this book is its focus: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery. There is only so much paper that can be devoted to the fact that Lincoln didn't have a defined plan until the end of the war, and then he was shot.
But Foner manages.
Sometimes, this book is interesting - such as Lincoln's obsession with the policies of Henry Clay (he called him the "beau ideal of a statesman") and the treatment of escaped slaves prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. But it is poorly divided, with chapters that never seem to end and a topic that, while important to study, could have been managed in a better way.
I understand that, for the purposes of this class, looking at the treatment of African-Americans was key. However, I would have liked to look at African-Americans in the war, rather than just slavery overall. Something focusing on the 54th Massachusetts, for instance, would have been interesting, or one of the contraband units formed throughout the South.
If you are interested in Lincoln and his work with the anti-slavery movement (or, depending on the period, his lack of work), then this is the book for you. If you're looking for a biography of Lincoln, then look elsewhere - this is a very narrow lens on Lincoln's political life.
The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara
This novel tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg from the viewpoints of the men who were there - Lee, Longstreet, Chamberlain, and others. It not only gives readers a first-hand account of the battle, but elicits sympathy for both sides and what occurred.
I loved this book. By the end, I just wanted to give Robert E. Lee a hug - he was so depressed and just wanted to go home and play with his grandchildren. I do think this novel takes advantage of its first person narrative to tug at the reader's heartstrings, however, and so is not as accurate as a history book could be.
That being said, if you like novels about military events or the Civil War, this is the great Civil War novel. Definitely pick this one up.
A Year in the South, 1865: The True Story of Four Ordinary People Who Lived Through the Most Tumultuous Twelve Months in American History - Stephen V. Ash
This book is a form of bottom-up history - looking at the lives of average people instead of the big names. And it is fascinating.
It follows four people - a slave, a Virginia war widow, a paroled Confederate soldier, and a preacher living on a plantation - who lived across the Confederacy in 1865, tracking their lives and how they survived the end of the war and the beginning of Reconstruction. It does a good job of using primary sources and explaining exactly what situations in each area were at the period. The prose is engaging, and the stories are incredibly human.
This is a must-read to understand Southern life after the end of the Civil War if you are interested in the period.
Outside of Class
Of course I've been reading outside of class! I've read two novels in my free time, Carry On and Gray, both of which were excellent. I'm also still working my way through Alexander Hamilton, which is as fascinating as ever.
That's a lot of reviews, so I hope you enjoyed them! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments!
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