Emma && The Mill on the Floss

If you're anything like I was 6 months ago, you're probably reading the title and thinking, "Oh, I know Jane Austen... but who the heck is this George Eliot person? And why are they being grouped together?"

Well, I'll tell you this: George Eliot (AKA Mary Ann Evans) wrote novels in the 1800s. And whatya know, so did Jane Austen. And also, remarkably enough, there are some incredible similarities between the two novels mentioned in the title. Since I had to read both novels for my English class this past semester, and since I wrote a compare and contrast essay on them for part of my final exam, I feel like I should write my reviews in a similar way.

So, without further adieu, please let me introduce:

EMMA VS. THE MILL ON THE FLOSS

It's only fair that I start with the similarities between the two novels. Both feature strong female leads living in 19th century England, and both females come from prominent families. Both characters are stuck living a life that does not suit them. Emma tries to overcome this by playing with her friends and making matches to add a little entertainment to her life. Maggie Tulliver (the protagonist in The Mill on the Floss) wants desperately to be loved by her brother, but at the same time she wants to be something more than the obedient and, well, boring woman that she is expected by her family to be. 

The two novels are also remarkably similar in writing style. The narrator in both novels is constantly critiquing the events of the novel. In Emma, the situations are always laughable, and the narrator makes sure that the reader sees the humor clearly. In The Mill on the Floss, the narrator is a bit more scolding, almost like it wants to make sure the reader doesn't jump to silly conclusions. The narrator's commentary really makes both of the books memorable.

However, there are a number of differences between the two novels that are important to keep in mind. First: Emma is a comedy. You are meant to laugh at the events, and you are meant to read the book knowing that it will end happily, with a marriage of some sort where two happy people ride off into the sunset, or whatever it is that newlyweds did back in the 19th century.

The Mill on the Floss is not a comedy, or at least not predominantly. It is a tragedy, from beginning to end. You see Maggie's impossible situation from the first page, where you learn what is expected from the spirited little girl. You know the only possible outcomes would be for her to either succumb to societies expectations of her, which will crush her spirits and leave her unhappy, or to live her life as an outcast from her own family, which would make her unhappy because of her extreme desire to please her brother Tom. You know that there is no fairytale ending.

Okay, so that's the end of my analysis. Even though there are similarities and differences between the two novels, they are both really good in their own ways. Emma is hilarious if you let yourself get lost in the ridiculousness of the characters, and it's really just a fun novel that you can't help but love in the end. The Mill on the Floss is also amazing. There is a bit of humor, but it's mostly heart-wrenching and tear-jerking and you find yourself rooting for Maggie the whole way. It's a long book, I'll give it that, and at times it can be difficult to read it, but once you get through it you can't help but feel a sense of accomplishment.

I would recommend BOTH of these novels to anyone looking to expand their literary pursuits. I loved them both, although I have to say The Mill on the Floss has a truly special place in my heart. You should definitely give it a try.

Everyday Psychokillers

Everyday Psychokillers
by Lucy Corin
February 2004
Age Level: Adult

Summary:

In Everyday Psychokillers spectacular violence is the idiom of everyday life, a lurid extravaganza in which all those around the narrator seem vicarious participants. And at its center are the interchangeable young girls, thrilling to know themselves the object of so much desire and terror.

The narrative interweaves history, myth, rumor, and news with the experiences of a young girl living in the flatness of South Florida. Like Grace Paley's narrators, she is pensive and eager, hungry for experience but restrained. Into the sphere of her regard come a Ted Bundy reject, the God Osiris, a Caribbean slave turned pirate, a circus performer living in a box, broken horses, a Seminole chief in a swamp, and a murderous babysitter. What these preposterously commonplace figures all know is that murder is identity: "Of course what matters really is the psychokiller, what he's done, what he threatens to do. Of course to be the lucky one you have to be abducted in the first place. Without him, you wouldn't exist."

Everyday Psychokillers reaches to the edge of the psychoanalytical and jolts the reader back to daily life. The reader becomes the killer, the watcher, the person on the verge, hiding behind an everyday face.

Review:

For required reading, this book was actually extremely entertaining, and not at all what I was expecting. The title "Everyday Psychokillers" is a perfect title, but it also made me think the book was going to be much more creepy than it actually was. The basic idea is this: everyone has the potential of being a psychokiller.

That sounds pretty presumptuous, but after reading the book I have been oddly enlightened. Corin did an excellent job combining myths and little anecdotal stories to create a book that explores the idea of the everyday person as a psychokiller. The stories included were all interesting and thought provoking, and the imagery was incredible.

I'm not sure who I would recommend this book to, but I know that if there are definitely some interesting ideas and concepts brought up in the book. If you're feeling inclined enough to read it, I'd say go for it.

Jane

Required Reading Part 3: The Popular Edition

View parts one and two here and here :)

Now these three final novels are ones that I know most people have heard of, or even read, so they will contain no summary: only my own thoughts on reading them.

Part 3: The Popular Edition

1. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
You may recall a post last semester about my required reading. And guess what? Wuthering Heights was on it. This is lucky because not only do I look forward to reading Wuthering Heights again, but I also don't need to spend any more money on a different book.
[[Side note: the cover pictured is not the copy I own, but it's the newly re-released paperback cover. I love it!]]





2. Beloved by Toni Morrison
I read this book my freshman year of high school, and I don't remember much of it. We watched the movie for my English class last semester, so that helped refresh, but I am definitely looking forward to reading this again as an adult and understanding the deeper concepts.







3. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
You could not imagine my excitement to see this book on the required reading list. I've owned this book for how many years, at least five, and I still haven't gotten around to reading it. I was so determined to get around to it when the movie came out, but I still never did. I'm excited to get started!







As you can probably tell, I am the most excited about these books, but I am also excited to get into some different novels/plays/poems that I may not have considered otherwise.

I hope that some of you will post about your required reading: I'd love to see what everyone else has/will read for class, whether you're in high school or college!

Jane

Required Reading Part 2: The Non-Novel Edition

See Part 1 here!

Part 2: The Non-Novel Edition

1. Pierce-Arrow by Susan Howe

Pierce-Arrow, Susan Howe's newest book of poems, takes as its shooting off point the figure of Charles S. Peirce, the allusive late nineteenth-century philosopher-scientist and founder of pragmatism, a man always on the periphery of the academic and social establishments yet intimately conjoined with them by birth and upbringing. Through Peirce and his wife Juliette, a lady of shadowy antecedents, Howe creates an intriguing nexus that explores the darker, melancholy sides of the fin-de-sicle Anglo-American intellegentsia. Besides George Meredith and his wife Mary Ellen, Swinburne and his companion Theodore Watts-Dunton are among those who also find a place in the three poem-sequences that comprise the book: "Arisbe," "The Leisure of the Theory Class," and "Rckenfigur." Howe's historical linkings, resonant with the sorrows of love and loss and the tragedies of war, create a compelling canvas of associations. "It's the blanks and gaps," she says, "that to me actually represent what poetry is-the connections between seemingly unconnected things-as if there is a place and might be a map to thought, when we know there is not."

2. The Book of Jon by Eleni Sikelianos

With a seamless weave of letters, reminiscences, poems and journal entries, Sikelianos creates a loving portrait—and an unblinking indictment—of her father. Jon, a multitalented, eccentric visionary, emerges as a brilliant, charming, irresponsible, frustrating, and ultimately tragic hero.

This is a saga of the rise and fall of family lines—a tale marked by bohemia, Greek poets, intellectuals, drugs and homelessness. It is the story of eccentrics and survivors, the strength of personal vision and the nature of addiction, and what it does to families. An exquisitely rendered exploration of the harrowing and motivating forces of family, history, and individual choices.

3. Blue Heart by Cheryl Churchill

The first new Caryl Churchill work in more than two years consists of two short, interrelated plays. In "Heart's Desire", a couple wait at an airport for their daughter but the scene refuses to progress; in "Blue Kettle", the words "blue" and "kettle" are substituted for other words randomly, in a play about a man whose hobby is passing himself off as the long-lost son given up for adoption by different women.

These three are all intriguing for various reasons. Any thoughts?

Jane

Required Reading: Mini Reviews

rMost of the reading I've been doing lately is for school, but I figured I might as well post my thoughts on those books as well. Just maybe someone else will have read these books and be able to relate to my thoughts.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
This book was fairly decent, but it didn't blow my mind. I enjoyed hearing the story told from the maid's point of view, and I liked how it didn't have a perfect happy ending like I was expecting. I think this was just a little easier for me to get through than Pride and Prejudice, so if you're someone who is looking for some classic romance and doesn't know where to start, this is definitely a good one to try. However, this book was blown out of the water as soon as the teacher had us watch a movie adaptation of Jane Eyre. Based on the movie, Jane Eyre is better than Wuthering Heights by a longshot.

I also read on Elizabeth Scott's blog that another adaptation of Jane Eyre will be released next year. Which I'm excited for.

Which reminds me that the copy of Jane Eyre that I ordered should be here... *checks email*... yep, right now. I just have to go downstairs and get it :)

Anyways onto the next review...

Wieland, or the Transformation by Charles Brockden Brown
I was quite excited to start reading this book, actually. I sneaked a peak at some reviews and got a general idea of the plot before I started, and I was instantly intrigued.

The book started out really slow. Since it was written so long ago, it was hard to understand the writing style. It got easier around halfway through, where the plot really picked up and it got really exciting. I actually didn't want to stop reading after about the halfway point. The ending was a bit of a letdown... I was hoping for some sort of explosion or something, I guess, since that's how the book starts out, but it was satisfying enough. However, I'm not looking forward to writing a paper about the theme... I'd rather just set this aside and start reading something else!

Which leads to...

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Review to come as soon as I finish :) This is the first contemporary book we're reading in English 105, and I'm about 30 pages in and I am dying to learn more about what's going on. It is definitely a page-turner so far!

That's all for my mini-reviews. :) Hope that makes up for the lack of reviews.

Expect an IMM post tomorrow, it'll cover the books I've gotten for the past two weeks. Also, lots of WoW posts, because there are A LOT of books I'm looking forward to!

Jane

As an added thought, does anyone else have any required reading that you would like to discuss?? I'm happy to hear about anything, because chances are I'll either want to or be forced to read it sometime in the future :)