Little Women

Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year. And yes, I realize that most people feel the same way, but I would honestly be perfectly happy if every day was Christmas season. I love the lights. I love the music. I love curling up by the fire, drinking hot chocolate and watching It's A Wonderful Life. I love wrapping presents, and I bake enough cookies to feed a small army. I love the smells of cinnamon and pine. And I love taking my copy of Little Women down off my shelf, officially marking the beginning of the Christmas season.
I honestly can't remember the first time I read Little Women or how I started reading it every year, but I have been reading it every Christmas for as long as I can remember. I must have read the Great Illustrated Classic's version when I was 9 or 10, but it wasn't until I was in junior high that I read the original. And I guess I just fell in love.
Each year, I notice things that I never did before. Different quotes stick out to me depending on what is going in my life at the time I read it. I never get tired of it, because I never feel like I am reading the same book. This year was also different, because I read March. After reading so much about the absentee patriarch from Little Women, I felt him where he wasn't. When the girls received his letters, I knew what he was doing and where he was. It gave a story I was so familiar with a whole new depth. That is the best part about re-reading a book so often: it changes every time.
Little Women is like Sex in the City for bookworms. Girls that read it can tell you whether they are a Jo or Meg, or maybe they're an Amy, just as easily as a girl can tell you if she is a Carrie or a Charolette. They are characters that you bond and grow with. As a 10 year old who ran with the boys and needed to be called "Sam", Jo was my absolute favorite. I would sometimes even skip over the parts that weren't about her, and I no matter how many times I read the book I always wanted Laurie to end up with her. Then, as I grew, I became more of an Amy. It was as if one Christmas I picked up this book I had read a thousand times and was suddenly drawn to this character who used to be my least favorite. My miranda. And now, I'm a Meg.
The thing that makes Little Women so special is that it teaches real life lessons that will never be dated or irrelevant. Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy are characters that girls will always be able to relate to and grow with. They learn lessons of humility, honesty, and selflessness. They learn the value of hard work, the importance of family, and to realize their self-worth. Things that every girl should learn, whether it's 1864 or 2014.
It isn't easy finding a book that you are able to read over and over again. You can't just pick one that you like, or that is easy to read. You honestly can't just pick on at all. I think that that epic, life-altering book chooses you. You fall in love. It's feels easy. You just know. And those are the books that make you who are.

Phil Robertson and the Thought Police

I am well aware that I already posted this weeks book this morning, but in light of circumstances I felt the need to write again.
This morning I posted a review of George Orwell's 1984. For those of you that are still unfamiliar with the story, it is a dystopian novel written in 1949 predicting a world in which inhabitants are no longer able live freely. They have lost their freedom of speech, and even the freedom to think. They have no freedom to practice religion, form opinions, or earn an education. They no longer have the freedom to even form their own thoughts. Their every word, action, and emotion is constantly observed by those in power. Their every freedom is obliterated.
I, like many others, found this concept extremely frightening. We have all seen 1984 come and go without any such transformation, but Orwell's concept is not as far fetched as many people may assume.
This morning, I was completely outraged to hear that Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson had been banned from A&E for expressing his beliefs. I find it horrifying that an individual in our society is no longer able to express an opinion without being condemned for it. Many people are aware that the Robertson's are practicing Christians. They are aware that the family has already been under fire for concluding each episode of their show with prayer. And they are aware that gay marriage is not supported in the Christian faith.
This is not an issue of homosexuality. This is about a man who is being attacked and punished for practicing his chosen religion and expressing his beliefs. Regardless of your stance on gay marriage, this should terrify you.
We all argue for the freedom to express ourselves. To protest abortion or to support a woman's choice. To support gay marriage or to believe in a union between a woman and a man. To believe in God, or Allah, or Jesus Christ, or to not believe in a higher power at all. We all want that right. And for one group of people to silence another is a tragedy.
We cannot silence an individual for expressing one opinion and expect to draw the line at another. Maybe Orwell's Oceania still seems like a figment of his imagination, but how long will it be until others are silenced? Until Christians are no longer allowed to express their beliefs anywhere. What religion will be targeted next? And is it possible that it won't stop at religion? How far is too far? Where do we distinguish the line between our free society and the world of 1984, where every mind is engrained with the same beliefs.

1984

Moving along on my list of 100 greatest novels, I read 1984. Unlike most high schoolers, I was nerding out in honors English reading The Odyssey and Jane Eyre while everyone else was reading this, so I never got around to it until now.

Whether or not you ever read this book, I guarantee that you know about it. I'm not sure there is an American over the age of 15 that hasn't. It's a dystopian novel written in 1949 by George Orwell depicting a future world in which the lives and minds of it's inhabitants are entirely controlled by the government. And although the year 1984 has come and gone, the message that the book sends is always relevant. 

I was really excited to read this book. Like I said, although I never read it in high school, everyone knows the importance of Orwell's book. Everyone has heard references to Big Brother, newspeak, and doubtlethink. I was really anxious to be able to form my opinions of the book, and see how I perceived it. 

What I got from 1984 is that it was incredibly scary. What makes it so scary is how realistic it is. It's not frightening in a horror story, murder mystery kind of way, but it's frightening to imagine our comfortable and free world turning into something so rigid and controlled without our knowledge. In a lot of ways it reminded me of stories like The Handmaids Tale, or The Trial. 

I also liked that it didn't change the pre-Oceania history. It references the World Wars and The Great Depression. It was interesting to put myself in George Orwell's position. He wrote this book fresh off the second World War after witnessing the immense mind control of Hitler and saw a world of communism, socialism, and fascism, and saw the possible damage that such intense government rule could create. 

I think that 1984 is a book that everyone should read. It really makes you think how important it is to form your own opinions and to stand up for what you believe. Our country is always at risk of the government slowly gaining too much control when it is in the wrong hands. The telescreens of 1984 were a product of Orwell's imagination, but it is not hard to imagine a world in which we are watched, monitored, and tracked through our TVs, our computers, our cellphones. If for no other reason, it is important for people to read this book in order to stop and think. 

Madame Bovary

Madame Bovary was first published in France in 1856 by Gustave Flaubert. Because of the controversial storyline of an adulterous wife, the book was attacked for obscenity. Flaubert even went to trial and after his acquittal the book became a best seller. It is now considered one of the best novels ever written, and in many ways opened the door for the beginning of the feminist movement. 

It's the story of Emma Bovary, a young woman who is captivated by romance and the finer things in life, but finds herself trapped in a dull marriage. Emma finds her husband dull, dumb, and annoying, and is eventually driven into the arms of others. It really reminded me of Kate Chopin's The Awakening.

Gosh, I don't even know where to begin with this one. I realize that Madame Bovary is on Newsweek's list of top 100 novels for a reason, and I definitely credit Flaubert for challenging the norm and I think that he is an incredible writer. However, I did not like this book one bit. 

I hated Emma. I couldn't help it. I wanted to feel for her, and to understand and like her and I couldn't. I found her incredibly selfish and fickle. She would jump into the arms of any man that showed her attention, without any regard for her husband or child. I thought that she was conceited and immature. She nearly kills herself over a man that was never truly interested in her, and prioritizes riches and romance over her real life. Not only is she incredibly hostile and rude to her adoring husband, but she drives him into bankruptcy by pure stupidity and then doesn't even accept responsibility for her actions. 

Ironically, in this book that was so important to the feminist movement, I felt more for the man. From the beginning, I saw Monsieur Bovary as a kind and genuine man. He was so naive and blinded by his love for Emma that he couldn't see her for what she really was. He kept her on a pedestal and adored her, and I just wanted to shake him and tell him that he deserved better. Can you tell I really didn't like Emma?

And here's the thing. I loved The Awakening. I actually felt for Edna Pontellier. I understood her. I found her relatable, and likable. I didn't find a single redeeming quality in Emma Bovary. Maybe by 1899, Kate Chopin also thought that Emma needed to cool it. 

Despite all my personal feelings about her, I still recommend Madame Bovary. And The Awakening. Like I said, both books were so controversial at the time of their release and made such an impact on women's rights and the feminist movement that I think they are important for every young woman to read. And compare. Form your own opinions of Emma, Edna, and Charles. After all, the best part about reading is that no two people ever read the exact same story. 

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Obviously, school consumed my life more than I imagined these past few months, but the semester is finally officially over, freeing me up to read as much as I possibly can. I have been incredibly motivated to jump right back into my list of 100 greatest novels, starting with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Now as I said before, I cannot even begin to critique these books, but since I am going to be reading another 75 or so of them, I figured I'd share the experience.
This was a book that I had a little bit of trouble getting into. I actually started it a few months ago and ended up putting it away in favor of Night Road. I think that the main reason it was a little more difficult for me to get interested in was because I have never read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. A childhood of watching Jonathan Taylor Thomas in Tom and Huck helped me get past that.
What I absolutely loved about this book, and what I love about most of the books on this list, is the actual writing of it. The way that Mark Twain was able to write as an uneducated young boy, or a poor slave, was so impressive. The details that he describes, the scenes that he creates, and the adventures that he imagines made if very obvious why he became the great and memorable writer that he did.
The book is also made up of a series of shorter stories, which you could probably guess from "the adventures"of Huckleberry Finn. I didn't. These stories got me through the 334 page book faster, because I was able to finish one chapter or one story in a sitting.
Overall, I really did enjoy this book. There are some on this list that are killers. And I mean, bore-you-to-death kind of killers. Like The History of The Peloponnesian War or The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature. I can't say I'm exactly looking forward to those.
However, I fell in love with Gone With the Wind. I met Mr. Darcy and Boo Radley, and I am currently warming up to a slightly aggravating Madame Bovary.
I do recommend reading Huckleberry Finn. I recommend reading all the books on the list. Even the killers. Even when they are not as fun or easy to breeze through as Nicolas Sparks or 50 Shades, it is much more worthwhile in the end.