sweet dreams

I've been keeping a journal of my dreams. It makes for an amusing read, although it isn't at all coherent. I'm sure it reveals plenty of strange things about my soul, but probably things that I already know. Perhaps I might post a line or two here. Lately, I can't find any motivation to write, but writing about dreams is simple, and sometimes the entries turn out quite beautiful.

I've returned at last after an awfully long hiatus! I had been terribly busy with school (final exams), and I've just come back from a little trip to New York City. I'll post a few pictures. I know that this blog was meant to be mostly about books, but I simply don't have time to read with regularity and so sadly my book postings will be sparse. However, I do intend to continue posting reviews of the books I read. I'm currently reading several books, and a new review should be up soon. Gulliver's Travels, The Screwtape Letters, and Mansfield Park are all resting on my nightstand. There are only a few chapters left for me in Gulliver's Travels and The Screwtape Letters, so expect one of those. It's sort of odd that I'm finishing Gulliver's Travel's just as the movie is about to be released. It was not at all planned, in fact I had no knowledge that a film was being made until very recently. Although I will probably go see the film eventually I'm a bit skeptical about it. Gulliver's Travels is not really a comedic novel... in fact as fanciful as the subject matter is, it's rather dry... However, it seems like movie makers have run out of inspiration and are looking to literature for new material. Oh well, I'm not too bothered by it because honestly I haven't enjoyed Gulliver's Travels very much. By the way, there's going to be a new Jane Eyre film released this coming March! Mia Wasikowska will be playing Jane and Michael Fassbender will be playing Mr. Rochester. From what I've seen in the trailer the film looks quite promising. I read somewhere that the film will focus on the gothic nature of the novel, which is really exciting for me! I think a good Jane Eyre film is needed. There have been many movies made already, and while some have been true to the story, none have had the ability to appeal to anyone outside of fans of the novel. Jane Eyre is a really beautiful story and I think it deserves recognition in the film world. The Pride and Prejudice made with Keira Knightly is an excellent example of a successfully executed period/classic literature film. I know that most fans of the book still prefer the Colin Firth film, but I know many people who have never read classic literature, and probably never will who thoroughly enjoyed 2005's Pride and Prejudice. This is what I'm hoping will happen with the new Jane Eyre film. Don't misunderstand me, I love it when a film is true to the novel, but I also hate how low-budget and poor quality many of such films often are. Well I suppose that will be all for now :)

Dracula

"There, on our favourite seat, the silver light of the moon struck a half-reclining figure, snowy white... something dark stood behind the seat where the white figure shone, and bent over it. What it was, whether man or beast, I could not tell." -Bram Stoker, Dracula

Book: Dracula

Author: Bram Stoker

Year Published: 1897

Analysis

Dracula is a strangely beautiful, and endearing work of horror. It is composed of the narratives of five characters, the diaries and letters of Jonathan Harker, Mina Harker, Dr. John Seward, Dr. Abraham Vanhelsing, and Lucy Westerna. The book begins with the diary of Jonathan Harker, a London solicitor who travels to the home of Count Dracula to complete a business transaction. Count Dracula's house, an ancient mansion hidden deep within the Carpathian mountains, quickly becomes a prison for poor Jonathan. Stoker's description of the Count, and his brides is hauntingly realistic. Through pop culture, vampires have sort of lost their ability to evoke fear, and become cliched, even ridiculous. However, Dracula is where the icon originated. Dracula is a true horror story, and it is quite capable of inciting fear, and wonder, even in a generation that has become all but jaded with "the vampire". Dracula in many ways seems to be Bram Stoker's idea of the devil incarnate, an image that the modern reader will find in sharp contrast to Stephanie Meyer's sparkly romantic hero, Edward Cullen. However, the novel is not solely a horror story. It is a portrait of 6 fine people that are drawn together by a fearful series of events. The characters are the force that motivates the story and makes it so immensely readable. Stoker develops his characters to a level that many writers neglect, and this is what makes Dracula so enjoyable for a horror story. The story begins with Jonathan Harker, and works its way through the stories of Lucy, Mina and Dr. Seward and eventually these individuals, along with Dr. Van Helsing, Lord Godalming, and Quincey Morris, are pulled together by a common thread. In the process Stoker knits a warm, wonderful group of friends that mitigate the darkness of the novel. The only flaw I found was that the language could be a bit repetitive in some places, however, the endearing characters more than made up for this minor defect. While Dracula is filled with plenty of eerie moments that have an uncanny disturbing your peace, it is also brimming with admirable, noble characters that will linger in your heart longer than the fear.

*Spoiler Alert*

Thoughts about the ending:

I was thoroughly relieved that Dracula ended happily. Of course, there were a few deaths, but that couldn't have been avoided. I was just pleased that there wasn't a bleak, haunting ending. Everyone finds peace at the novel's conclusion, including the reader.

Favorite Passage

"Today is a gray day, and the sun as I write is hidden in thick clouds, high over Kettleness. Everything is grey except the green grass, which seems like emerald amongst it, gray earth rock, gray clouds, tinged with the sunburst at the far edge, hang over the gray sea, into which the sandpoints stretch like gray figures. The sea is tumbling in over the shallows and the sandy flats with a roar, muffled in the sea-mists drifting inland. The horizon is lost in a gray mist. Al vastness, the clouds are piled up like giant rocks, and there is a 'brool' over the sea that sounds like some passage of doom." Bram Stoker, Dracula, Chapter 6: Mina Murray's Journal

Soon...

Forgive me dear readers for forgetting all about A Tale of Two Cities! My thoughts have been occupied elsewhere. I'm afraid I will have to lay aside A Tale of Two Cities for now, but perhaps I will return to it in the future. Currently I am reading Dracula by Bram Stoker, and I have to admit that I'm a little obsessed. I find myself plundering the pages in every spare corner of the day. I'll be finished soon, perhaps tomorrow or the next day, and then I shall do my best to post a review of Dracula. As a side note, Dracula is nothing compared to those poorly composed Twilight books! I have attempted to read them, and while the movies are a bit of a guilty pleasure, the books I simply cannot tolerate. However, it is not my place to censure Stephanie Meyer's work, and I'll end at that.

Fictional Crushes

10 Fictional Men I would marry

1. Stephen Colley

2. Mr. Rochester

3. Captain Wentworth

4. Pip

5. Maxim De Winter

6. Frodo Baggins

7. Jim Burden

8. Aragorn

9. Joe Gargery

10. Edward Ferrars

Modern Girls & Old Fashioned Men

I know this song is kind of old, but I just discovered it a few days ago. I'm completely obsessed!

Regina Spektor + the Strokes is a beautiful collaboration

"Our aspirations are wrapped up in books"

Books I want to read soon...

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

A Room With a View by E.M. Forster

Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Middlemarch by George Eliot/Marian Evans

The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

Perhaps it's a bit ambitious, but I'll get around to all of them eventually. I happen to own Gulliver's Travels, The Count of Monte Cristo and Mansfield Park so I ought to start with one of those. As you can see I'm already dreaming of what to read next. A Tale of Two Cities is monstrously difficult reading at some points. Honestly, reading it makes feel stupid. However, there is no mistaking of Dickens' boldness in the novel. The story is epic. I just wish the story had another Pip or Joe for me to have a crush on. Perhaps Mr. Darnay, he looks promising. haha.

"I hear the midnight birds, the message in their words"

I'm in an excellent mood today, I've been singing and prancing around my empty house all morning! I bought four new songs: God Help the Girl by God Help the Girl, and Come Back Margaret, The Nights are Cold and Honey in the Sun by Camera Obscura. God Help the Girl is my fantastic new discovery, the song sounds like somebody wrote a comical depiction of me: "I keep to myself. I love my room; I'm getting used to sleeping. Some nights I really like to lie awake. I hear the midnight birds, the message in their words.... I sit for hours just waiting for his phone call, I'll leave the chocolate hidden in the fridge.... I think of him while I'm doing the dishes, I think of him while looking in the sink... If he gave me a sign, I'd think about it for a week. I'd build it up, then turn him down. You have been warned. I'm born to be contrary". haha. Anyway, since I'm feeling so musical this morning I thought I'd do something disgustingly narcissistic and post a playlist of songs about me. Sort of like a soundtrack to Camille. I like to think that secretly everyone has their own soundtrack, even if its only in their heads.

1. Just Like Heaven - The Cure

2. Here's Where the Story Ends - The Sundays

3. Half a Week Before the Winter - Vanessa Carlton

4. Field Below - Regina Spektor

5. Judy and the Dream of Horses - Belle and Sebastian

6. If Looks Could Kill - Camera Obscura

7. Not the Same Girl - Leona Naess

8. Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want - She & Him

9. Meet Me By the Water - Rachael Yamagata

10. Someday the Waves - Iron and Wine

11. How Deep is Your Love - The Bird and the Bee

12. Marble Halls - Enya

13. Clair de Lune - Jean Yves Thibaudet

14. Afterglow - Vanessa Carlton

15. Landslide - Fleetwood Mac

16. Faithful to Me - Jennifer Knapp

17. Dream - Priscilla Ahn

18. Diamond Heart - Marissa Nadler

19. On the Radio - Regina Spektor

20. God Help the Girl - God Help the Girl

"Reliquary eyes, and a diadem frown"

Well, I've been terribly neglectful and it's been an awfully long time since I've posted. However, as you may have noticed I updated my layout. Anyway, I am still reading A Tale of Two Cities, but I've been quite busy and haven't gotten very far. I'll give a grand review of it all once I am through, but for now perhaps I'll give a more personal entry. The past week has been full of excitement and endings. I went on a trip to Disney World with my friends, and that was marvelous! I was absolutely enchanted with Disney World. Being there is like being tucked a way into a fairy tale. I'm half certain I could live there if the weather was milder. I collected such lovely memories on my quiet, little adventure and I'm sad that it has ended. Friday night, we watched the fireworks show as a sort of farewell to Disney World. And as I watched the castle glittering in the shower of light, I felt a peculiar mingling of emotions. I was happy, and hopeful and sad all at once. I felt like bursting like a fire cracker.

Now that I'm home, my life has resumed its routine for the most part. However, I've encountered an unexpected ending. I can't disclose anything of substance, because I don't wish to betray anyone's privacy. Life is strange, and yet it's also familiar. People are always disappointing one another, and yet they always pretend to be surprised. I'm afraid I've disappointed someone, and for that I feel sorry. However, some things cannot be helped. I wish I knew how to give this a nice clean, mended ending, but I do not.

Onto, lighter topics... the Lost series finale was this Sunday. I've been following that show for 6 years and now it is finally over. I disliked the ending, although I expected something like that. It was a bit too vague for my liking.

I feel like posting some pictures...

Oh Henry Cavill, how I adore you.

Wandering Thoughts

Well, I'm still faithfully reading A Tale of Two Cities. Every scene is stunning and poignant, quite lovely. However, the story just hasn't grabbed me yet. Perhaps, I ought to stop comparing it to Great Expectations (which is one of my top favorites). Its just that, there comes a point in a novel where the story should take hold of you, the characters seem utterly real, the world they inhabit is the one that you inhabit. I love that feeling. The feeling of feverishly racing through the chapters. Every moment you spend engrossed in the pages takes on a magical quality. I remember the first time I felt this way about a book. I was 14 and I read Wuthering Heights (by Emily Bronte) for the first time. Since then, I've been on a continual search for books that make me feel that way. Nonetheless, I have hope that Dickens will not disappoint me for too long... Although I did stop at the book store today and picked up The Silmarillion (Written by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien). In faithfulness to this blog I'll do my best to leave it sitting quietly on the bookshelf. If you're wondering, yes, I'll be reading The Silmarillion next. This book isn't typical of the kinds of fiction I had planned to peruse in this blog (I meant to stick to the classics), but Tolkien is my #1 favorite author (yes, he beat out the Brontes!) and I can't help it! Perhaps I'll read The Lord of the Rings again sometime... I've been wanting to, but have refrained because I'm on a quest to read as much classic literature as I can, and rereading books would only slow me down. I'll end here before I start gushing about Tolkien. I'm such a nerd :)

A Tale of Two Cities

Well, I've begun reading my next book, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. By the way, forgive me if I sound distracted, I'm watching The Mummy. I can't help but wish I was on some fabulous Egyptian adventure with Brendan Fraser in the 1940s... Anyway, back to Dickens. I'll be honest, the first few chapters are a bit dry. For about the first 30 pages it's difficult to discern a clear protagonist. In fact, chapters 1-3 feel rather like an introduction or a prologue. However, that being said, chapters 1-3 are also full of beautiful, insightful, moving passages. The passages are so lovely and perspicacious that they ought to be read several times over. I've only reached chapter 4, so I have little left to report. I'll be sure and update as soon as I've read further.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of DArkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." -Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (Chapter 1)

The Age of Innocence

"The worst of doing one's duty was that it apparently unfitted one for doing anything else." -Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence

Book: The Age of Innocence

Author: Edith Wharton

Year Published: 1920

Analysis:

When thoroughly and properly examined, Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence is a fascinating read. The beginning chapters might seems a bit slow and tedious, especially for those who are unaccustomed to the structured, formal language. However, the initial "slowness" is more than atoned for by the end of the novel. Wharton's book is intricate. Although the reader might not recognize this fact early in the book, towards the end of the novel the reader begins to see how tightly and skillfully woven the book actually is. I also found that The Age of Innocence is brimming with meaningful imagery. Wharton continually gives her readers clues and insights about her characters and the plot within this imagery, which makes it all the lovelier. Aside from the imagery, the characters from the Age of Innocence are equally beautiful. Newland, Ellen and May are vibrant, captivating portraits of their time. I especially like that the novel is given from a male perspective. Most books of this kind are female centric. Don't mistake me, I adore a good Victorian heroine, but seeing a romance unfold from a male point of view is deeply intriguing, especially considering the fact that the book was written by a woman. Another thing that I loved about The Age of Innocence is that Wharton allows all of her characters to explain themselves. She could have easily written May and her family as snobs, which they are, but she reveals their complexities and allows the reader to understand characters who they might otherwise find un-relatable. Wharton does this especially well with Newland, since he is the narrator we see his thoughts which are sometimes noble, but we also see how enticing societal norms are for him. This helps the reader realize that Newland isn't a true snob, if put in his position wouldn't any one be tempted to act similarly? Anyway, in my opinion, The Age of Innocence is a beautiful, poignant novel that juxtaposes images of tradition and change, and of duty and desire, and it stands out as a rich and insightful picture of "Old New York", and upper class society in general.

*Spoiler alert*

Thoughts about the ending:

The ending, although thoroughly frustrating, should not come as a complete surprise if you pay careful attention throughout the book. However, as much as I understand that structurally the novel had to end that way, I'm going to choose to believe that Newland and Ellen meet accidentallly in some obscure corner of the L'ouvre and fall in love again--instantly. ♥

Favorite Quote/Passage:

"The amber beads were trying to her complexion, or her dress was perhaps unbecoming: her face looked lusterless and almost ugly, and he had never loved it as he did at that minute. Their hands met, and he thought he heard her say: "Yes, we're sailing tomorrow in the Russia--" then there was an unmeaning noise of opening doors, and after an interval May's voice: 'Newland! Dinner's been announced. Won't you please take Ellen in?'

Madame Olenska put her hand on his arm, and he noticed that the hand was ungloved, and remembered how he had kept his eyes fixed on it the evening that he had sat with her in the little Twenty-third Street drawing room. All the beauty that had forsaken her face seemed to have taken refuge in the long pale fingers and faintly dimpled knuckles on his sleeve, and he said to himself: 'If it were only to see her hand again I should have to follow her--' " (chapter 33)

"She gave herself to books and learning"

I've decided on an official purpose for this blog. Perhaps its a bit ambitious, but I I want this to be a book blog. The books I'll read will be mainly classic literature (I find it difficult to maintain interest in most modern literature). I'll write out thoughts/feelings/opinions/conjectures etc.. regarding the books that I read. Forgive me if my progress through the readings is a bit slow, but I'll do my best. I've just finished reading The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. I'll post a brief analysis and some thoughts tomorrow (hopefully).

"She gave herself to books and learning" -Belle & Sebastian ♥

Fantasy and Fiction

I've spent the past two evening engrossed in PBS's Tess of the D'Urbervilles which I borrowed from the library. I can't stop thinking about Tess and Angel wandering recklessly through the country side and taking shelter at stone henge, about the vivid green valley where the dairy farm lies, or about Sorrow's nettled grave. I read Thomas Hardy's, Tess of the D'Urbervilles a few months ago, but this movie truly re-animated my love for the novel. I rarely say this, but I believe that I actually got a keener sense of Tess' love and tragedy from the film than I did from the novel. I'm always so disappointed in "romantic" movies, they seldom satisfy me. The plots always seems to be sappy, predictable and thoroughly unsatisfying. This film however, may be one of the most deeply, beautifully, heartbreakingly romantic movies I have ever seen. Anyway, I need to find another book to absorb myself in. I've been reading The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, but the story hasn't intrigued me yet. I bought a whole slew of Barnes & Nobles classics with a gift card, that ought to keep me out of reality for a while. Fiction after all is much preferable to reality :). Lately, I've been doing all I can to ward off the pains of disillusion.

♥

Movies

Here are some films that I put together a while back. The first one is a tribute to Marie Antoinette. I used film clips from Marie Antoinette and combined them with the song "Louis Quatorze" by BOW WOW WOW. Enjoy!

This one is made from clips from one of my favorite books & movies, I Capture the Castle. The song is Samson by Regina Spektor.

Silly Me

Today has been a pleasant sort of day: overcast and coldish. I always feel like a romantic heroine walking around campus in the wind and the mist.

My cat is determined to prevent me from composing this entry. She is stubbornly asserting herself between me and my lap-top, making it impossible to think, let alone type. Oh well, I love her dearly.

I mean to start writing again, not just on this blog, but in general. Perhaps I'll even dabble in poetry. If I happen to create anything that isn't terribly embarrassing I'll post it here...

I've just seen the commercial for the movie Wolfman, which looks enormously entertaining. Emily Blunt is in it, so it ought to be good. I recently saw Young Victoria which I thoroughly enjoyed. Rupert Friend is oh so dreamy. Really though, I adored Young Victoria. It was romantic, clean and I felt that it captured Victoria beautifully. Anyway, enough of my aimless rambling.

After rereading this I realize how in-cohesive the entire thing is. I apologize. No, I don't. After all this is my blog; why should I have to sound formal, or rational for that matter?