2007 Challenges

2007 Challenge Review

Blogging brought a whole new element to my reading--challenges. What I really like about challenges is the themes, which in a way reminds me of grad classes--like little mini classes that I don't have to write papers for. Also, challenges helped me with getting some of those OLD TBR books off the shelf as well as helping me determine what books to read next. On the other hand, though, I didn't leave myself enough room for whimsical choices, so I often felt burned out with books I had picked months in advance.

Non-Fiction Five Challenge (5 books)

Nickel and Dimed - Barbara Ehrenreich (Economics)

Thunderstruck - Erik Larson (History)

Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi (Memoir)

His Excellency: George Washington - Joseph J. Ellis (Biography)

The City of Falling Angels - John Berendt (Travelogue)

What I really liked about the Non-Fiction Five Challenge was that it nudged me into reading a genre I normally wouldn't touch unless assigned for school (and even then...?). The toughest book to slog through was definitely His Excellency; I honestly can't choose one that I liked the most--and not because I loved them all. Oh well!

By the Decades Challenge (13 books)

The Portrait of a Lady - Henry James (1880s)

The Awakening - Kate Chopin (1890s)

Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (1900s)

Howards End - EM Forster (1910s)

Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton (1920s)

As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner (1930s)

Johnny Tremain - Esther Forbes (1940s)

Night - Elie Wiesel (1950s)

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1960s)

The World According to Garp - John Irving (1970s)

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant - Anne Tyler (1980s)

Fall On Your Knees - Ann-Marie MacDonald (1990s)

The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood (2000s)

What I really liked about this challenge is that I was able to read pieces of fiction from a timespan of about 115 years. The differences between the earlier pieces to the later pieces is remarkable, really highlighting how the novel has developed. My favorites would have to be Fall On Your Knees and The Blind Assassin; my least favorites were Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant and Howards End.

RIP Challenge (12 short stories)

Tales of Edgar Allan Poe - Edgar Allan Poe

I've been wanting to read this collection for a while, but I ended up really struggling with getting it read! My favorite stories were "Pit and Pendulum" and "Tell-Tale Heart"; there were several other stories (e.g. The Gold-Bug) that didn't strike my particular fancy.

Something About Me Challenge (5 books)

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquirel

High Fidelity - Nick Hornby

Sea Glass - Anita Shreve

The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

This was a fun challenge because it was so different and the books I chose were from a pool of selections from other bloggers. The only book on this list I didn't really like was Like Water for Chocolate. All the rest were books that I enjoyed a lot--The Thirteenth Tale and High Fidelity being two of my favorite reads for the year.

Classics Challenge (3 books)

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Emmuska Orczy

Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

Once I started paying more attention to my reading habits, I was surprised at how many classics I read throughout the year. This challenge was easy to fulfill and I liked Frankenstein and The Scarlet Pimpernel a lot; Little Women did not live up to my re-reading expectations.

Armchair Traveler Challenge (6 books)

Travels with Charley - John Steinbeck (America)

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini (Afghanistan)

The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien (Vietnam)

Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert (Italy, India, Indonesia)

The City of Falling Angels - John Berendt (Venice)

Snow - Orhan Pamuk (Turkey)

One of the goals I have is to really reach outside of my boundary comfort zone. Most of the authors that I read are North American or British and while the locales differ from story to story, I haven't exposed myself a lot to writers from different countries. While I didn't do this except for maybe Snow, this challenge certainly raised my awareness. A Thousand Splendid Suns was my favorite of the bunch; Snow was my least favorite.

2nds Read Challenge (3 books)

Thirteen Moons - Charles Frazier

Flesh and Blood - Michael Cunningham

Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen

Overall I enjoyed my second helping of these three authors, but none of them were as good as the first I read by the authors (Cold Mountain, The Hours, and Pride and Prejudice). But all three authors I would devour for a third helping!

Total Challenges: 7 (one challenge not listed: 07-08 Book Awards Reading Challenge)

Total Challenge Books: 35 (one cross-posted in two 2007 challenges)
New Authors: 22

Tales of Edgar Allan Poe - A Review

Title: Tales of Edgar Allan Poe
Author: Edgar Allan Poe
Pages: 252
Date Finished: November 3, 2007
Rating: 3.5/5

I began this book in September with the hopes that I could read a few short stories every Sunday to have it completed by the end of October for the RIP challenge. Didn't happen. Here is my review of the first three stories (out of twelve) in the book ("The Cask of Amontillado," "The Black Cat," and "The Tell-Tale Heart"). Below are tid-bits of the stories--as before, there are spoilers.

"The Masque of the Red Death" - the story of a Prince who secludes himself in his castle to escape from the Red Death that is causing so many deaths within his nation. One night, though, Prince Prospero decides to hold ball in which the personified Red Death visits. This story, while required reading for many classes I've had, never really struck me as anything great. This time around did not change that opinion.

"The Pit and the Pendulum" - I can't remember if I've read this story before or not, but I really enjoyed it this time around! The narrator is held prisoner in a dark pit, and while trying to determine the size of the dungeon he passes out. When he wakes, he is bound and a large pendulum-blade swinging above him which is rapidly moving towards him. I found this story so riveting because I could feel the fear of the character as he was trying to determine his situation and then trying to free himself from the impending doom of the pendulum. For me, Poe at his best.

"The Premature Burial" - This is one of the many stories where Poe explores a character's fear of being buried alive--mainly because he suffers from catalepsy--a disorder that causes a the person to appear dead but is really in a trance. I think in the book there are four such stories...so this one wasn't really all that thrilling.

"The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" - Very creepy! The narrator is obsessed with the idea of mesmerizing people (hypnosis), and he decides that he is going to try his experiments on his friend who is dying of tuberculosis. His friend remains mesmerized for about seven months in which his condition stays the same. Finally the narrator brings his friend out of the trance and his body immediately rotted away into "a nearly liquid mass of loathsome--of detestable--putrescence" (110).

"Berenice" - Eagaeus is about to marry his cousin Berenice, but she begins to deteriorate from some disease (seriously??); Eagaeus begins to obsess and focus on Berenice's teeth, which are not deteriorating with the rest of her body. After Berenice dies, a servant informs Eagaeus that her grave has been disturbed but when they went to go investigate they found her enshrouded and still breathing. After the servant leaves, Eagaeus realizes that his clothes are muddy and covered with blood and there is a shovel by the wall. There is also a box on the table which contains dental instruments and 32 teeth. Some of this story did not make sense to me (was she still alive...did he kill her...why didn't the others intervene when they saw she was breathing), but its creepy nonetheless.

"The Fall of the House of Usher" - The narrator is staying with his friend and his twin sister (who suffers from catalepsy) who is ill and dies and is entombed before being buried. In order to console Usher, the narrator begins telling him a story. During certain parts of the story, the two begin hearing noises that reflect the events of the book. Essentially in a Poe story, if someone suffers from catalepsy and dies, he probably isn't dead. She finally appears to the two, she dies, Usher dies of fright, and the narrator flees the house. As he leaves, the house falls to ruin.

"The Gold-Bug" - This is the longest tale of the bunch and by the time I got finished reading it I had a "huh" moment. The story is about a man who is bit by a gold bug and begins frantically searching for a mysterious treasure. Once he finds the treasure, he explains to the narrator how he deciphered the clue that led him to the treasure. All of this in 50 pages. :) Huh.

"A Descent Into the Maelstrom" - I'm not sure if this and The Gold-Bug were written at different periods than the rest of the stories, but they didn't seem to fit with the other tales. I skimmed most of the story, which is about some people who are caught in basically a large whirlpool in the ocean and one of them escapes to tell the story. Not what I expect from Poe.

"William Wilson" - This is the story of William Wilson who attends a school where there is another boy with the same name and birthdate. The two become more and more similar until finally Wilson sneaks upon his "other" and realizes they have the same face. He leaves for another school and begins acting rebelliously. His double always appears at these moments, but under a disguise. Finally, Wilson pulls his double aside at a ball and stabs him; he has really stabbed himself and dies.

Overall the stories were OK. There are a few that I really liked, but some that I really didn't like. I'm glad I finished the book, though, even if I didn't finish in time for the challenge. Really want something creepy--Google images for Poe's stories!!

Tales of Edgar Allan Poe (Part 1)

So, I haven't quite figured out how to go about blogging for these short stories yet. Because I want to remember the individual stories as I do with a book, I guess I'll just make a record each time I read a few (I'm going for 3 a week so I can finish this month) and then give a regular review of the book as a whole? Whatever-- Oh ya, I'm not sure how to talk about a 10 pages story without spoilers, so these contain spoilers. Get over it. :)

Today, I read "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Black Cat," and "The Tell-Tale Heart." The first and third I have read several times, so it was fun to revisit, but I had never read "The Black Cat" before. Perhaps I'm a little numb to the ones that I'm so familiar with, but yikes!! This one really creeped me out.

"The Cask of Amontillado" is the story of revenge in the most primal sense. Fortunado has committed some offense against the narrator (is it telling that we don't know what the offense was??). In order to seek his revenge, the narrator lures Fortunado into the catacombs beneath Venice. Although he gives him several opportunities to leave the dank, dark maze, Fortunado refuses. Once at the end of the pathway, the narrator chains a drunk Fortunado to the catacomb wall and begins bricking the passageway until Fortunado is sealed into his death. I love the irony of Fortunado's name; I love the pure vileness of Montresor but also Fortunado's greed for superiority that continues to lead him to his grave after Montresor gives him numerous outs. But to me, the creepiest part of the story is not really knowing what Fortunado did to offend Montresor (or, maybe I missed it!!). I don't know how to upload it onto here, but I found a great cartoon on YouTube!

"The Black Cat" is the story of, well, a black cat. Once upon a time there was a man, a man who is NOT mad, mind you! Anyway, for reasons that I'm not quite sure of (is being drunk a good enough reason?), he begins tormenting the cat--beginning with the eye and finally ending with hanging it in the yard. The cat comes back to haunt him, although this time it is not exactly the same cat. The narrator (who is NOT mad), attempts to take an ax to the cat's head but instead hits his wife in the head. So, he buries her in the cellar beneath the mucky plastered walls. Finally, he can sleep at night peacefully. When the police come to the house, he takes them to the basement (see, he says, not here!), but then a harrowing screech comes from beneath the walls. The wife is found nearly decomposed with the black cat. Having read this one for the first time, I was really bothered by his cruelty toward the cat (nevermind the wife...I expected that). Other than that, it seemed very reminiscent of "The Tell-Tale Heart."

So, I was going to include a picture of "The Tell-Tale Heart" but just looking at them was going to give me nightmares, so I refrained. Again, this story is of a man who is so convinced that he is meticulous and thoughtful instead of demented and crazy, but in the end crazy wins! He is haunted by his neighbor's eye, a pale blue eye that is filmed over. After watching his neighbor for seven nights, he kills him to rid himself of the eye (yes, very sane). But, as the police come to investigate, the man begins to hear the dead neighbor's heart beating. At first very softly, then louder and louder until he is so consumed by the noise that he confesses to the police. I think that of all the Poe I've read, this one is my favorite. It is short and the narrative is concise and tight. And the justifications this narrator gives for his actions and motives--can't beat it.

Alright, now that I've scared myself silly, I'm off to read something a little more...well, not crazy anyway!