Fingersmith - Sarah Waters

Title: Fingersmith
Author: Sarah Waters
Published: 2002 Pages: 582
Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: 4.25/5

Fingersmith begins with a poor orphan, Susan Trinder, who has been taken under the wing of a band of thieves after her mother was hung for murder when she was an infant. When Susan is around seventeen years of age, her adoptive mother Mrs. Sucksby agrees to let her partake in plot to deceive an unsuspecting and rather innocent woman out of her inheritance. Gentleman, the head of the plot will woo and marry Maud Lilly, who is also orphaned and lives a sheltered life with her uncle, and then commit her into an asylum while Susan and Gentleman make off with a small fortune.

I finished this book over a week ago and have since been trying to formulate my thoughts in a coherent fashion. While I really liked this book a lot I keep wanting to focus on some of my more negative feelings. I think those feelings come, though, from knowing too much about the book before going into it. Everyone has raved about this book--calling it the best plot ever devised and twists and turns that will cause your head to spin. Yes, both of those things carry weight, but knowing that going into the book caused me to anticipate too much and so for the final third of the book I felt a little let down. This is why I don't read plot summaries--the less I know about a book going into my reading, the better the outcome for me.

All that said, let's get on to the good bits. I loved the atmosphere Waters created in this book. It is foggy and gritty and seedy and every bit the Victorian London Dickens would have written. There are pickpockets and colorful characters. Mrs. Sucksby is quite the lady (rolls eyes) and Gentleman--well, don't let the name fool you. My favorite characters, though, are Susan and Maud. In many ways the two are perfect companion characters, each highlighting the characteristics of the other in their many differences. The book switches between the two girls' perspectives and so the reader gets a clear look into the motives and emotions of each. I love perspective and point of view and Waters did an amazing job creating a distinct voice for Susan and Maud.

And then there is the writing. For me Waters' writing snuck up on me--in many ways it is simple and nothing to shout about, but the way that she turns a phrase is quite beautiful. She writes with passion and breathes life into her characters. I don't need a lot of dialogue in the books that I read, mostly because I feel like dialogue is often forced, but Waters hits the language of the characters dead on. Their conversations are realistic and she uses this as well as the characters' inner thoughts to show what is going on--she lets her characters develop the book rather than laying it all out by herself. Does this make sense? Some authors just tell you, but Waters shows. It makes sense to me. :P

But an example--taken from the second half of the book narrated by Maud:

"I think she must see it [desire]. Now he has named it, I think it must colour me--I think it must mark me crimson, like paint marks the hot red points, the lips and gashes and bare whipped limbs, of my uncle's portraits. I am afraid, that night, to undress before her. I am afraid to lie at her side. I am afraid to sleep. I am afraid I will dream of her. I am afraid that in dreaming, I will turn and touch her..." (293).

I love the parallelisms in her writing, but more than that the passion. And let me tell you this book is passionate! Nymeth gave this book the Most Beautiful Sex Scene Award and I'm going to have to agree with her completely. Oh my goodness. Prudes don't fear--there is nothing terribly graphic about this book nor the sex scenes. There is a bit of language, but it's sparse and not overly offensive. And more than anything, this book is the epitome of a page turner. Even at 582 pages long this book is a fairly quick read and a rollercoaster of a ride.

One more bit that made me chuckle then be grateful of times changed:

"Fancies, Mrs. Rivers. If you might only hear yourself! Terrible plots? Laughing villains? Stolen fortunes and girls made out to be mad? The stuff of lurid fiction! We have a name for your disease. We call it a hyper-aesthetic one. You have been encouraged to over-indulge yourself in literature; and have inflamed your organs of fancy." "Inflamed?" [Maud] said. "Over-indulge? Literature?" "You have read too many books" (447).

Ok, I guess that ended up much better than I thought it would. I do really recommend this book. Besides--everyone else is reading it, why shouldn't you? Even a week and a half after finishing I'm still mulling over the events and characters of this book!

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt

Title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Author: John Berendt
Published: 1994 Pages: 388
Genre: Non-Fiction/True Crime
Rating: 4/5

The first time I read this book, I’m not entirely sure I realized it was non-fiction until after I finished. Half of me wants to believe that the characters in this book can’t possibly be real, but part of me hopes that they are as colorful as Berendt explains them to be. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is an exposé of Savannah, Georgia during the early 1980s. Reporter/writer John Berendt happened upon Savannah during a weekend trip and decided to split his time between New York City and Savannah. Over a period of eight years, Berendt got to know many of the Savannahian citizens as well as their habits, quirks, and deep dark secrets.

The book is divided into two parts—the first half focuses mostly on different people Berendt befriends during his stay in Savannah and the second half of the book turns into a true crime murder mystery as one of the lead characters, Jim Williams, is accused of murder and has a series of trials. Because this was a re-read for me and I've seen the movie several times (it is super boring by the way), I wasn't as interested in William's case this time around. Sure it is fascinating and I think you'll be pulled into the details, but what I got out of my second reading was just how dynamic the citizens of Savannah truly are.

Some of my favorites are Luther Driggers whose hobbies include carrying flies around on string and threatening to poison all of Savannah if he has a bad day; Joe Odem who everyone loves despite the fact that he probably owes everyone a little money here and there; Jim Williams who throws the most luxurious parties in his restored house filled with expensive antiques. And of course, Williams is the central character of the book who causes a stir in Savannah when it becomes known during his murder trial that he is a homosexual--something the refined upper class wasn't quite sure how to handle in the early 80s. My favorite character, is hands down The Lady Chablis. Chablis is a transsexual drag queen who meets Berendt after receiving her monthly shot of horomones. You never know what's going to come out of Chablis's mouth and she loves ruffling feathers everywhere she goes.

One thing I noticed in my reading this time was how much race and sexuality were at the forefront of the story. Everything is very black and white for the Savannahians and I'll admit that reading some of the passages made me a little squeamish because of the backwardness of their beliefs. From what Berendt notes, desegregation was actually a very smooth process for Savannahians during the 1960s. There were no major protests and the whites and blacks had gotten along fine for decades before desegregation. Berendt implies that even though there was no big protest or rebellion or outcry, it is understood that both will have their own societies and there is no need for real mixture between the two races. Now, this book was written 15 years ago and set almost 25 years ago, so I can only hope that things are a little more progressive now.

Do I recommend the book? Without very many reservations. I haven't met anyone who read this book and didn't like it. Simply put the characters are incredibly vibrant and memorable, and that alone makes this a worthwhile read. It's the perfect armchair traveler book and has me itching to make road trip plans out to Savannah. I loved the atmosphere--the southern gentility and charm, a little old world mixed with the new world, and the dark brooding tone of the second half of the novel. Berendt and Williams dabble in a little hoodoo with a woman named Minerva when Williams' murder trials don't seem to be going as planned. All of these things combined with Berendt's rich storytelling capabilities create an exciting and entertaining read. I didn't record my original thoughts on the book, but I think my initial rating probably would have been 4.5 out of 5.

Have you ever read a non-fiction book that felt like reading fiction? Was there a book you read that made you want to visit that locale immediately?



**For a balance of opinions:
CJ from My Year of Reading Seriously
Robin from A Fondness of Reading
Stacy’s Bookblog
Tim from Blogging the Bookshelf

And in case you're curious, yes, I've read The City of Fallen Angels as well.

Sunday Salon 13 - 2009 Mid-Year Thoughts

SUNDAY SALON MID YEAR THOUGHTS

BEST OF 2009 (in no order)

*Kafka on the Shore - Huruki Murakami

*Watchmen - Alan Moore

*A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka

*The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls
*Fun Home (no review yet)

*The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz

*Boy's Life - Robert McCammon

*The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

A Huge Accomplishment: Middlemarch - George Eliot

My Favorite Review (Self Interview): Twilight - Stephenie Meyer

Did Not Finish: Miles from Nowhere - Nami Mun

TOTALS

10,729 Pages

31 books

My goals this year were a little different--read 24,00 pages and 40 books from the TBR stack. 16 of the 31 are from the TBR stack (acquired before 12/31/08) and 10,729 pages. Not great on either count. But, I'm not stressing and I'm having fun. So, I'm OK with the goals not quite being met.

My Current Challenges (this will make you feel good):

Orbis Terranum hosted by Bethany (2/9)

Non-fiction Five (hosted here) (1/5)
Classics Challenge hosted by Me (2/7)

Arthurian Challenge hosted by Becky (0/5)

Finished challenge:

Once Upon a Time 3 hosted by Carl

And what the heck, Some New Ones:







The Southern Reading Challenge hosted by Maggie

The GLBT Challenge hosted by Amanda

The Canadian Book Challenge hosted by Book Mine Set (John Mutford)

As you can see, I've gone kind of lax this year with the challenges. I'm absolutely, 110% OK with that--having fun, right? And reading!! I'd love some suggestions for the GLBT and Canadian Book Challenge if you've got them. Of course I'll be reading Atwood for the Canadian and Fingersmith for the GLBT.

WHEW! What is on your top 10 (or 8) list for the midway point? If you had to say: "Trish! Read this book now" what would that book be?

**I'm headed out of town and will be trying to schedule this post. I'm sure the formatting is going to hate me--if it's all muddled, forgive me and I'll fix it on Sunday/Monday. boo!