My Stocking Fillers

Firstly, Happy Christmas to you all!

I hope you're having a wonderful day, but I thought I'd interrupt it by sharing with you a few of my stocking fillers, in the field of literature.

On Chesil Beach, Ian McEwan

It is July 1962. Edward and Florence, young innocents married that morning, arrive at a hotel on the Dorset Coast. At dinner in their rooms they struggle to suppress their private fears of the wedding night to come...

This book, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize this year, was given to me by my lovely Auntie Jacqui and her partner, Mike. It didn't win the prize but nevertheless, the novel has been well praised. It is a short novel so hopefully I will be back soon to give you some feedback on its good and - perhaps - bad points.

The Gathering, Anne Enright

The nine surviving children of the Hegarty clan gather in Dublin for the wake of their wayward brother Liam. It wasn't the drink that killed him - although that certainly helped - it was what happened to him as a boy in his grandmother's house, in the winter of 1968. His sister Veronica was there then, as she is now: keeping the dead man company, just for another little while.

Now, this one did win the Man Booker Prize, so you've probably heard of it. Enright was also in the papers around the time the prize was awarded for writing an essay that criticised the McCanns. My Grandma and Grandad bought it for me and I'm sure it will live up to its award-winning status.

Engleby, Sebastian Faulks

Mike Engleby says things that others dare not think.

Another present from my grandparents, this is something apparently "unlike anything he has written before", but since reading Birdsong, I've been a bit of a fan of Faulks. I haven't read any reviews, but it has been recommended to me by a teacher - let's hope it doesn't disappoint.

Suite Française, Irène Némirovsky

In 1941, Irène Némirovsky sat down to write a book that would convey the magnitude of what she was living through by evoking the domestic lives and personal trials of the ordinary citizens of France. Némirovsky's death in Auschwitz in 1942 prevented her from seeing the day, sixty-five years later, that the existing two sections of her planned novel sequence, "Suite Française", would be rediscovered and hailed as a masterpiece.

This, a present from my mum, sounds like an incredible story. My novel is the translation of the original French publication and I can't wait to read it. I'll have to read into the author's own story a bit more too as even that sounds like an amazing, if heart-wrenching story.

So, those are my four Christmas novels. Maybe some of you out there could help me decide what to read first, and, if you've read any of them already, let me know what you think. Hopefully, I'll have a few reviews on the way soon.

Have a happy Christmas and best wishes for the new year.

One of My Favourites

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." - The most famous quote from one of the most "universally" loved classics.

Published in 1813, four years before Austen's death, it has since become one of her most famous novels. It was initially titled First Impressions, but obviously it was never published under that title. Austen also first published it under the pseudonym, A Lady - there's an interesting fact for you.

Anyway, to the real business of blogging - the review. Now, I find it very difficult to review something that's both widely loved and nearly two hundred years old, but I'll give it my best shot.

The best thing about this novel is that, despite being set in a different society from today's, it's still funny. Austen's satire highlights the ridiculous characters in her society - the fussy, melodramatic mother (Mrs Bennet), the husband that regrets marrying (Mr Bennet), and the seemingly charming gentleman (Wickham). Of course, we still have these characters portrayed in modern satires - Monica from Friends, Ben from My Family and Daniel Cleaver in Bridget Jones' Diary. Therefore, Austen's novel is humourous to both the nineteenth and twenty-first century reader - we can all find a character in her novel that we can recognise.

The character of Elizabeth Bennet, from whose point of view the novel is mainly based, is very interesting; she is stubborn, a seemingly intelligent and independent woman. Quite similar to many modern heroines. However, Austen undermines these characteristics by showing her folly in falling for the dodgy Wickham, and how she eventually comes to depend on Darcy for love and money. Austen constantly ridicules the position of women in her society; they are expected to marry the first man who proposes to them; they are expected to marry for money and not love; and they are expected to marry for high status, connections and a good inheritance. Not exactly the same criteria we look for today. Clearly, Austen disagrees with them too; she herself never married, probably because she didn't believe in a loveless marriage. However, Austen is proof that a woman could be successful without having to marry someone already well-established.

The role of women is a very important theme in Austen's novel; the author suggests that in her society it was up to the woman to marry well first for their family's sake, then their own and to behave properly. Jane Bennet is the proper lady of the family; well groomed, well spoken, good natured and obedient; the perfect asset to her family. Whereas, Lydia Bennet acts as the complete opposite; flirtacious, irresponsible and a shame to her whole family when she elopes with Wickham. Austen has just about covered all the characters in her society, obviously conveying them to the extreme, from the arrogant Catherine de Bourgh to the stubborn heroine of Elizabeth. Austen clearly displays the ridiculous nature of her society and the people in it and with Catherine's obvious ill-breeding and Lydia's irritable immaturity, she makes the novel the successful, comical satire that it is.

Without a doubt, every book lover should read Pride and Pejudice, if you haven't already done so - it's guaranteed to become one of your favourites to be read over and over again.

A Lady.

PS. I've never seen the film - my love stems purely from the novel!

Please comment if you have anything to add to this review of "Pride and Prejudice".