Jane Eyre - forgotten classic re-read and loved again

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is a book I first read long ago in my teens. I have seen many television productions of the book as well, but forgot over the ensuing years how much a television production necessarily leaves out of a book. So I thought I knew Jane very well, when I picked the book up two weeks ago. Immediately, on the opening page, I remembered why I love Jane so much: "A small breakfast-room adjoined the drawing-room. I slipped in there. It contained a book-case: I soon possessed myself of a volume..." That, and the fact she has talked back to her aunt who's husband has taken in the orphaned child. I like Jane; in many ways, she is how I saw myself growing up - not parentless! - but plain, dark, stubborn, prone to tears and always, always reading. I also have a temper which makes it hard for me to be silent when it would save me a lot of problems. So, from the first page of Jane Eyre, I felt like I was rediscovering someone I had forgotten. When I closed the book last night, it was knowing that I will be back again soon. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I think that Jane is a complete heroine, a well-rounded character, as are most of the characters in the novel. Because Jane is so forthright and honest and gives her opinion fearlessly, she is able to be as direct about everything she sees in her world, to us the reader. 19th century England comes alive in a very personal way in this book. Every time Jane walks on the moors, or watches the rain fall, or looks at the sunsets, it is brought alive through her eyes. There are no balls, only one long house party, and plenty of remote country houses and walks in nature. If I had my way, I'd live Jane's life - well, not the bad and poor parts, but certainly I want to live in a remote country house and walk in nature every day!

I really felt this time reading Jane Eyre how much Charlotte Bronte loved the moors and the countryside of West Yorkshire. I've been to Haworth Parsonage, on a cool spring day in May 2001. My husband took a picture of the moor opposite Haworth Parsonage that had a slight mist upon the top, which is a typical Yorkshire moor with fields marked with hedges and stone walls, dotted with farmhouse, the occasional barn, and plenty of sheep. No people, just countryside with the mist on the top. It's one of our favourite scenes and we have it framed on the wall. We didn't have time to walk along the moor that the parsonage is directly placed on; we had to time our bus and trains back to York. As I walked along the cobbled road, the steep one road that led through central Haworth, it was just like being back in 1820's England when Charlotte and her sisters and brother walked along the same stones. It's all grey there, the stones used in the buildings and houses, as it is in much of Yorkshire all over. A grim grey I often thought in the winter, unrelenting, forcing the eye inside to warm, to light, to shelter. Charlotte Bronte makes use of light all through the novel, when she first arrives at Lowood School it's at night, and the same with Thornwood Hall. She is always arriving at night, and coming into the light. When she is starving and close to dying outside Whitfield Cross, she sees a light: "The light was yet there; shining dim, but constant, through the rain I tried to walk again; I dragged my exhausted limbs slowly towards it.....This light was my forlorn hope: I must gain it." The light is of course, Moor House, where she finds her first true home and belonging. This determination to live no matter what, is what makes Jane such a strong heroine for me.

Jane is a modern heroine; it struck me on reading Jane Eyre that one reason I enjoy her so much is that she is willful. She has such a hard time submitting to anyone or anything. What does make her submit is love and gentleness. From Helen Burns, her first and very best friend in the Lowood School she is sent to, to the first teacher she loved best, Miss Temple, to Diana and Mary, St John's sisters whom she loves dearly, Jane finds people to emulate, to show her kindness exists, who are thoughtful when she is judgmental. One of the wonders of this book is that people are mixed. Helen would be insufferable if she didn't also suffer with such dignity her final illness with faith. Throughout Jane Eyre the idea of faith is one that I now can see is a result partly of Charlotte Bronte's upbringing. Her father was parson. She attended a girl's school for daughters of poor parsons that was the basis for Lowood school in the novel. She worked as a governess before her death. The religious tone through the book in previous readings did bother me; but now, with enough time and distance from my own religious strivings and spiritual yearnings, I can read and enjoy the many biblical references Charlotte uses in the novel. I am glad I read the Norton Critical edition, which greatly aided me in understanding when and where in the Bible was being referred to, and why. Of course Jane Eyre can be read simply for pleasure; I just found that knowing when there was a reference and why Charlotte put it in there, helped enrich my understanding of the novel better. I also found I appreciated her struggles with faith more now that I have been through my own. Religion is meant to be used to guide us through life; at least, that is how Jane Eyre is written, also. Completely not preachy, at all! But Jane is so spirited, and throughout all is the ideals of religion held up to the world around her: who is truly Christian? who sacrifices out of love willingly? Who loveth the man and not the riches? Who understands charity, and forgiveness? All these ideals are held up to the society Jane (and Charlotte the writer) found themselves in, and I really admire how Charlotte uses both terrible acts and good deeds to flesh out her characters and the action. I enjoyed the use of religion in this book because it is an integral part of the novel: Jane wouldn't be Jane if she didn't have Helen Burn's selfless love as an example, if she didn't have God to turn to when she was angry, or humbled by loss, or understanding that she can't love Rochester more than God. For once I can say the use of religion enriches a novel and opens up a view on what role religion played 1830's northern England.

I do admit to dreading the part where she flees Rochester after he reveals the existence of his previous wife. Not because of the drama, but because I dreaded her meeting St. John, who I remembered as a religious freak from the last time I read the novel. Gentle Reader, time has changed me, time and life, because reading how she is with Rochester, the natural affinity between them, and then reading later how St John tries to force her to his will, to bend her, I was horrified. It was abhorrent to me, and I am so glad she said no to him. I wish this little section would be read to any engaged woman, so that she could see if she were guilty of doing this, because I know that in our desire for love, sometimes it is easy for women to do even in today's modern world, in order to please everyone around them:
"As for me, I daily wished more to please him; but to do so, I felt daily more and more that I must disown half my nature, stifle half my faculties, wrest my tastes from their original bent, force myself to the adoption of pursuits for which I had no natural vocation."
What is incredible, and wonderful, about Jane Eyre, and the Bronte women, is their spirit. They were independent, willful, spirited, and their heroines reflect that. They chafe under the idea that women were meant to be the helpmates of men only, and not to have their own ideas and dreams and desires. I understand now, that when Jane says no to St. John, it's not just because she already knows love because of Edward; it's because she knows she can't be herself with him, that he does not love and accept her for herself. And what a modern idea that is.

And what about Mr Rochester? the redoubtable, scandalous, towering figure of a man, Edward Rochester? Their romance is a delight, the way they talk to each other is funny and very realistic, and he is as infuriating and romantic as I always thought he was. I much prefer him to Heathcliff, although I always want to soothe Heathcliff and make him feel loved, Rochester is someone I think I could like as a person. Isn't that an amazing character for Charlotte Bronte to create in 1848? Edward is Jane's true partner, in every way, but she can only see this after St John tries to convince her she should have a life of duty and pursue a higher calling of serving God. That religious fervor must have been something Charlotte encountered in her life, because St John is an incredible figure - the pure Grecian beauty of his face, the hardness of his soul, the determination to get his own way with Jane, and his absolute cold fury when she does not bend to him. Although Jane understands him in the end, I do not. I think he is a fearsome man! and he makes Edward Rochester look like a pussycat in comparison. At least Edward is flesh and bone and loves; St John loves only God, and sees only God, and all else fails in comparison.

This is such a powerful novel, and one that I appreciate more deeply each time I read it. It's incredible to me that Charlotte wrote this when she was age 30. There is nothing quite like it in English Literature.


Here is a link to the Bronte's museum in Haworth:
Haworth Parsonage
trips to West Yorkshire - in case you are dreaming of visiting and walking along the moors too, this is a good site to start planning (or in my case, just dreaming.....)
Haworth Village some good photos of the interior of the parsonage, as well as lovely wallpapers of the surrounding countryside including Top Withens, the moor closest to the parsonage.

Two quick notes:
Best Books of the Decade
Over at the Guardian they are reviewing the best of the 00's; there is a link to the best book of each year of this decade. What is your choice? Did you have a favourite book that year? Do you agree with the editor, and those writing in? I may do a post on this soon, but for now, it's giving me something to think about. What books stand out for me this decade? And where did this decade go??

Advent Tour
The other is what is fast becoming one of my favourite blog events of the year: the annual virtual advent tour. There is still time to join! I've just joined, myself. I'm busy thinking of what I would like to do this year. I had so much fun last year, both doing the cookies, and then visiting everyone's blog up until our trip to England. Because we had no computer available for the holidays, I couldn't keep up with the tour, and I am so looking forward to visiting everyone all through the advent tour this year!! So please, don't be shy: even if you post a picture of what December looks like in your home town, or the nearest bookstore (since we are about books, here! lol), or share a favourite memory or tradition, I can say for myself, that I really enjoy discovering what all of you, our Gentle Readers, enjoy about this festive season.

Scaredy Squirrel - Sunday Salon

Scaredy Squirrel is a big hit among Canadian children. I know. Two of them live in my house, and reading time has become a big frenzy of who gets to read the book first. Why? you may ask. Why does everyone like Scaredy Squirrel? Who is Scaredy Squirrel?

This is Scaredy Squirrel. Scaredy Squirrel is afraid of a lot of things. Part of the fun of this book for children is that Scaredy Squirrel likes to list what he's afraid of. And he has a kit, a preparedness kit in the event that the unfortunate happens, and he has to leave his tree. See, Scaredy Squirrel is so scared that he has never left his tree.

And then the unfortunate happens. Scaredy Squirrel leaves his tree!! What happens? N-uh uh, I'm not telling. You'll have to get the book and read it for yourself. Then, if you know any children, read it to them. And see if you ever get the book back from them, or can ever read it by yourself again. I guarantee every child under the age of 95 will love this book.

There are two extra bonuses to this book:
1) it's Canadian, thus you would be one book further along in the Canadian book Challenge; and
2) there are three more books already in the series:
Scaredy Squirrel makes a Friend
Scaredy Squirrel Goes to the Beach (this one I have to read!)
and
Scaredy Squirrel At Night.

Luckily for our family, we had two recent birthdays, the eldest son (now 21!) and the youngest son, now age 5. At his birthday party he received Scaredy Squirrel at Night:

Much to my son's delight - ok, for all of us! , Scaredy Squirrel at Night is just as good as Scaredy Squirrel. Now is there anyone out there who has never lay awake one night, watching shadows on the wall, heart pounding? Anyone? Well, then Scaredy Squirrel is for all of us. Scaredy Squirrel in this book is so afraid of the dark that he is afraid to go to sleep. So how does he stay awake all night? what happens when he does? what happens when he eventually falls asleep? Kids everywhere will love this book. Mine love this one as much. Because Scaredy Squirrel has a bad dream action plan in case he does fall asleep and in case he has a bad dream. And then one night he gets to put the action plan into effect.......

I like Scaredy Squirrel. I can relate to him.

One of the many very very good things about this series is that the almost 7-year old and the now-5 year old both love these books. Best of all, the five year old, who almost never picks a book up on his own, has been seen reading Scaredy Squirrel at Night on his own, in the middle of the day.

Well, both children are now circling around me while I write this, asking what I'm saying, why am I writing about Scaredy Squirrel? I can see some reading time coming up again. Because they both want to read the books, we've had to work out a system where one child goes first one day to read one book out loud, and the next day the other child gets the chance. And don't ask why they can't take turns with the books on the same day, it's all about being first these days. Sometimes they have to read in separate rooms because they don't want to hear the other child reading it out loud! 'I can do it better than you!" No one ever said people in my family weren't competitive.....

My book-lover's heart is secretly overjoyed that they are fighting over who gets to read Scaredy Squirrel first. They are fighting over reading!!!

Happy Sunday reading everyone!

Dreams Underfoot - how to fall in love with fantasy

Dreams Underfoot was the first major collection of Charles de Lint's short stories, published in 1993, most of which were previously published in short story collections. For me, this was the collection that launched de Lint into public fame as a Canadian writer of urban fantasy. I'm 3/4 of the way through the book, and I'm finding I am delighted all over again with Charles' writing.

I first read this collection in 1993 or 94, when it first came out, and I thought it the best collection of short stories by anyone I had come across. There are no bad stories in this book. Some are stronger, some are better worked out, some have such fabulous stories that I really want them to continue, a few - very few - don't touch me or disappoint because they are different - yes, even a second time around reading, I still get disappointed when I want a story to go one way and it goes another! The wonder of this collection is that it mostly amazes with a gentle touch of wonder. These are real fantasy stories, every one. They are like the gossamer feel of dreams, tiny enchantments, glimpses of a world of wonder and magic that still exist around us. I want to go to Newford. I want to live there!

There are 19 stories in all, and I am on 14, 'The Moon is Drowning While I Sleep.' I like this story just for the title alone! It feels like a song when I say it. I thought that this morning while I was reading it on the bus on the way to work. These short stories are like pieces of music put to the page.

If you are looking for something a little magical and a little dangerous and a whole lot enchanting to take you from Hallowe'en into the Christmas season, this is a book I can reccommend to do just that.

The stories are interconnected, but they can be read and enjoyed separately also. Combined together, they make a lovely interweaving of myth and city legends, glimpses of fairies and magic, wonder, magic and fear - because Faerie is dangerous, and the myths that walk the streets of Newford always change whomever they touch. This is one of the finest collections of fantasy, and I am so enjoying this collection all over again.

Sunday Salon : Talking About Books

I've missed talking about books. I've missed you, my dear Book bloggers. It's good to be back.

Yesterday I was writing about Flashforward, a book I wasn't quite done reading yet. I finished it this morning, and I have a few things to add about it, and science fiction writing in general.

Firstly, I need to say that there is some very, very good writing in science fiction. There always has been. If you're interested in the best science fiction has to offer, than start with the Hugo (this year's winner was Neil Gaiman for The Graveyard Book) and the Nebula (this year's winner was Ursula K LeGuin for Powers) awards reading lists. From there, check the Locus (link is on the sidebar) best novels of the year. I think I felt a little guilty last night when I couldn't come up with more writers who are excellent right away! Gosh, there are so many - Lois McMaster Bujold, Elizabeth Hand, Paul Park, Naomi Novik, Mary Gentle, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Orson Scott Card. There are classics that I think should more widely read just for the ideas and the future examined, as well as characters and plot. Urusula K. LeGuin, Larry Niven, Neal Stephenson. So many. So when I say Flashforward is an average read, I feel guilty on two fronts; one, Robert J Sawyer is Canadian and I desperately want most of our books to be really good! and two, I feel like I'm perpetuating the stereotype that science fiction is about tomorrow and science ideas first, and good writing second. It's not. The best science fiction transcends the genre and becomes a very good book about people in the future. And how cool is that, to be able to imagine what we could be and to, tomorrow?
Flashforward - Canadian Book Challenge 3 review
So, with that said, my final review of Flashforward is that it is a decent read. It ends better than I thought it would. There still isn't enough characterization to satisfy me, but then I read Middlemarch at the beginning of this year and so far many books I've read this year haven't come close to it yet. Which sometimes I think is unfair, but again, if the best book I read this year was written two centuries ago, doesn't that say something amazing about how literature survives past its immediate time? I don't think Flashforward will - although the idea it presents is so interesting - but some of the very best SF, oh yes, we'll be reading into the next 100 years. So, if you are watching the tv show and it's going too slowly for you, read this book - the tv series is different enough that I think you can do the two at the same time. If you are interested in Canadian science fiction and need a book for the Canadian Challenge, this is a fun one to read for it. And if you want to know what life could be like in 2023, as well as 2008, this is also enjoyable. And the characters are fun, but I can't take them seriously. Some of their motivations aren't explained, and how they react could be more explored, but he took a philosophical bent and that was interesting to think about too. I understand the Schrodinger's Cat physics theory better after reading this book! This book is about the science, but it is enjoyable to read also. 3/5

Talking about best books of the year, Bart at Bart's Book Reviews has a very good post up about choosing your favourite books of the year, since we are approaching that time of year again. He is interested in how readers go about choosing their favourite books. Please let him know, he wants to hear from anyone who goes through this process! How do you choose your favourite book read? I will be doing a post about this later, so all I'll say for now is, yes, there are certain criteria a book has to meet in order to make my list of best books of the year.

I have one last thing before I finish this post. This is for you, my lovely Bad Bloggers. I have a journal now that I keep my list of books I want to read because of YOUR REVIEWS. When I was compiling my list of books I want for Christmas, that was merely what I'd seen in one bookstore this week. I had an idea last night, and went into my bad blogger journal. Here are some books I'm adding to my Books I Want For Christmas List that I began yesterday, that are due entirely to YOUR REVIEWS (bad bloggers are highlighted)

SUSAN'S BAD BLOGGER'S CHRISTMAS BOOK LIST

- Book of Lost Things - John Connolly (Robin, A Fondness for Reading)
- Voodoo Season - Jewell Parker Rhodes (Chris, Stuff as Dreams are Made Of and Eva, A Striped Armchair- reviewed closely together, both equally guilty!)
- Monkey Beach - Eden Robinson (Stephanie, Stephanie's Confessions of a Book-a-Holic)
- Company of Liars - Karen Maitland (Margaret, Books Please)
- The True Story of Hansel and Gretel - Louise Murphy (Wendy, Musings of a Bookish Kitty)
- Looking For Alaska - John Green (Tanabata, In the Spring It is the Dawn)
- Leviathan or the Whale - Philip Hoare (Bride, Bride of the Book God)
- The Way the Crow Flies - Ann-Marie MacDonald (Ann, Table Talk)
- Sea of Trolls - Nancy Farmer (Book Pusher, The Genteel Arsenal)
- Rosemary and Rue - Seanan McGuire (Joanne, Book Zombie)
- An Instance of the Fingerpost - Iain Pears (Ann, Table Talk)
- Mortal Love - Elizabeth Hand (Nymeth, Things Mean Alot)
- The Night Watch - Sergei Lukyanenko (Memory, Stella Matutina)

*Eva at A Striped Armchair is also responsible for The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie review she did recently, which also brought to my attention that Alan Bradley is Canadian. So she gets another point even though I mentioned it yesterday.....

The best of all? Many of these books are books that you loved and posted about. Some you mentioned to me in comments, or in separate emails. All are books I made a note of, and then looking through my journal, thought, "yes! yes, I'm ready to read this now." So thank you, lovely bad creative book bloggers. That's 13 books easily added to my Christmas list. This does NOT include the books from the library I've been getting out and reading because of your blogs, although alas, I'm not doing very well at posting about the books I've read because of you this year.

******Oh! Added just now: just found this one on Genteel Arsenal and MUST find this book asap:
The Bog Child - Siobhan Dowd.

Yes, I'm back. Happy Sunday reading, every one!

Where I've Been

So. Where have I been?

Mostly, I've spent the last month waiting for test results to see if I have cancer. I've gotten a mostly clean report back, except for one thing that we still don't quite know is going on. I thought I was handling the waiting well - this has been going on since the middle of summer - but I found I couldn't engage in the world while I waited these past three weeks. I didn't know this beforehand, or I would have left a little message! I only realized I was withdrawing last weekend, when I realized I had missed shopping for our youngest's birthday last Monday because I didn't want to leave the house.


I have been able to read, and am half-way through Jane Eyre, and took a break to read Flashforward by Robert Sawyer, which the new tv series is based on. I missed the beginning (3 episodes) of the tv show so I decided to read the book instead! It's good SF - I love the premise, but as is the case with usual SF, the characterization peters out about half-way through, and it becomes explanation, telling the story instead of showing us. In writer's circles, we are always being told "show the reader, don't tell." Science fiction, when they are trying to fit the characters and story around the science idea, always reminds me of this lesson (and how not to tell a story!). A good example of writing for characters and science is anything by Connie Willis, the new Doctor Who on TV, Neal Stephenson (and I just looked at Anathem by him and added it to my Christmas wish list!), Kim Stanley Robinson, Ray Bradbury - character driven science fiction. Among the best? Dune by Frank Herbert. At least for me it is, I'm sure many of you have science fiction authors you love. So Flashforward is enjoyable, but don't go into it expecting great storytelling. It's still worth reading, just for how the flash-forward is explained, and the philosophical discussions around a fixed fate vs free will: is our future already fixed? Or is it fluid? If we see what's ahead, does it have to be that way?

So, as I begin to recover from my first scare (and hopefully many years before any more!), I find I can to talk again. It wasn't just you, my dear Gentle Reader, I stopped talking to really everyone but my immediate family, without knowing I was doing it. I used to do this as a child, and apparently some coping mechanisms never go away!

I hope you all have had a really good Hallowe'en in the meantime, and have watched the leaves falling as the year darkens. The good thing about this time of year, as many of you said in your comments to my post about autumn, is that it means we can spend more time reading happily in our homes. I certainly will be. After getting the good news on Wednesday, I can start thinking about Christmas happily, and the first thing I did was -

go to a bookstore.

Even my husband noticed that I hadn't bought any books for almost two months, which is most unlike me. So I'm going to make up for it now! :

My Christmas Wish List (to be added to until Christmas Eve, and possibly after if I don't get everything I want!!)


Canadian Living Slow Cooker Collection (I love my slow cooker!)


Slow Cooker: Best Cookbook Ever - Diane Phillips


Diabetic Cookbook - Bridget Jones (for me, still getting used to this too!)
Fearless Fourteen - Janet Evanovich


Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - Alan Bradley (this looks really good, finally out in softcover)


Anathem - Neal Stephenson (one of the best books of last year, finally out in softcover, and it looks really good)


Champlain's Dream - David Hackett Fischer (since I didn't get it last year, and I still want to read it!)


All The Colours of Darkness - Peter Robinson (latest in Insp Banks series)

Arctic Chill - Arnaldur Indridason (the latest in the series)


Doors Open - Ian Rankin (stand alone mystery)


The Complaints - " " (new series with Malcolm Fox, I think is the main detective's name. Looks very dark and quite good).


The Private Patient - PD James


Tarot Wisdom - Rachel Pollack


Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom - " " (both are classic books in tarot reading)
Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories - Connie Willis (sadly the hardcover no longer available, still waiting for a soft cover version. Come on, Subterranean Press!!!)
oooh, her new one is just listed for next Feb '10:
Blackout - Connie Willis


I've only just begun looking, so more will be added! and I don't expect to get everything! It's just lovely to have lots to choose from. Is there anything on your Christmas lists yet, dear Gentle Reader?

I also have to apologize for not finishing the RIP1V challenge the way I'd planned, nor the ghost stories. In fact, I couldn't read any more horror or ghost stories; Jane Eyre was the closest I could come, and I put it down last week when it's her wedding day and she's about to find out about the wife. This is my least favourite part of the book and I hate her journey to the moors and the religious nut she finds (sorry but I loathe him!) so as my test results were given on Wednesday, I put it down until I'm ready to deal with Rochester's betrayal. I had forgotten what a masterful creation he is, such a complex character - he so loves Jane, but he's never quite fully honest with her, and I know he's trapped, but I still think lying to her was reprehensible. Do you have any thoughts about this, dear Reader? Let me know......

Do you want me to keep posting some of the ghost stories from Bluenose Ghosts? Or is it too close to Christmas now? I do intend to finish it now, so if anyone wants to hear a few more ghost stories, let me know (yes, Cath at Read-warbler, I'm looking at you.....)

Mmm. The pictures on the cookbooks have made me hungry.

And then, this book lover admits, it's time for my nightly viewing of an episode of Fringe. Yes, I've watched the entire first season (now on DVD) once, and am working my way through a second time. I love this series!! I won't confess to how often I watch each weekly episode of Season 2 as it airs this season, let's just say, this is one of those very rare tv shows that I can watch two or three times (in some cases many more!) and still feel there are things I'm missing.

Happy reading and Fringe-watching, everyone!

I'm cheerleading!! Dewey's 24 Hour marathon is on!

I won't be posting until much later today - I've signed on to be a cheerleader for Dewey's 24-Hour Reading Marathon, and in between I have lots of baking to do for a Hallowe'en party we're going to tonight. So I will be cheerleading as much as I can. I signed up for 4 hours, but I know me, I can't resist encouraging people to read, and seeing how they are doing. I'll be cheering for many more hours!! You're wondering why I didn't sign up to be a reader too? Well, there is that party, plus my children are too young to let me catch up on my sleep tomorrow, which I would need to do because I would make myself stay up for the entire 24 hours to read. I know me!! So to avoid unpleasant Sundays, I have to stay away from that part until they are a little older. But inside me I am reading along with everyone! So if my cheerleading helps you to read, then it's just as good.

It's not too late to sign up for either, depending where in the world you are. I've given the link in case you like to decide at the last minute, like I did!

Thank you to the organizers, the other cheerleaders, the mini-challengers, the prize donators, and mostly to you, Gentle Reader, for loving books, and for particpating. That was what Dewey was about, our book community.

Have a fabulous 24 hours of reading, everyone!!

****Edited to add: I'm on the Transcendentalist cheerleading team! Cool name. I'll try to get to everyone, but you have to post first, too! Good luck, participants!

Are translated mysteries really better than English ones, and forgotten treasures

From The Guardian internet site, here is a link to an article about the Nordic authors who won the mystery awards at Bouchercon this past weekend. The reason I am linking you is not just because of who won, but because of what the translator of one of the books says:

"The awareness of Scandinavian crime fiction has certainly been building, with Henning Mankell and others softening readers up for Stieg," he said. "Then he came along and was so much better than all the others."

Larsson's British publisher Christopher MacLehose at Quercus agreed. "The crime writers in translation are for perfectly obvious statistical reasons better than English ones, because they are all chosen by serious publishers in their countries of origin and filtered down and down before they get translated into English," he said. "We're translating a tiny proportion so we should be getting the best of the best."

Now, I don't know about you, but this raised my hackles. Excuse me, but just because a mystery has been translated, does not make it a higher quality of writing than a mystery written in English!! And I do not think that Stieg Larsson is so much better than all the other Scandinavian writers! No, no, I think he is a much worse writer than most; he has a fast journalistic style that makes for entertaining reading, and he does write well; but his plot did have holes, his story did have problems. I would take Arnaldur Indridason over him any day, and Henning Mankell. They are far and away better Scandinavian mystery writers than Stieg Larsson. So, Gentle Reader, let me know what you think: do you agree with the speakers in the article? Or with me? I am, by the way, delighted that both won, and delighted that they were good mysteries (at least in my humble opinion!) and that even better, I've read them before they won the awards! As for English writers, Ian Rankin, Kate Atkinson, Ariana Franklin, Sara Paretsky, James Lee Burke, to name a few, are all better mystery writers than Stieg Larsson, in English. I will say that Larsson tells a good story, and it's gripping and his characters are good. But better than Gorky Park? Mallory's Oracle? No.

The other article from The Guardian is one about forgotten classics, link here. I'm curious to know if you have any forgotten classics that you think people should read, Gentle Reader. The Guardian wants to know, too! It's also about forgotten favourites of time gone past. I think I've read the book the author mentions, Mary Stewart's Touch Not The Cat. Eons ago. Now I want to read it again, just because it was mentioned in the article! It's fun to see what people treasured once, that they have forgotten about and rediscover. Has that happened to you? Do you find yourself discovering an old favourite, or wish that more people would read an older book that you really love? I like this article too because it says that even with all the new books being published every year, one of the joys of books is that we can turn to books from yesterday, last year, 100 years ago, and read them again. A forgotten classic can always be discovered again. And there is nothing like treasuring a book, at least for this bookaholic! So what do you treasure that you think has been forgotten? For tonight, I choose Woman in Black by Susan Hill, and On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers. Just in time for Hallowe'en!!

The Woman in Black I reviewed here last year.

On Stranger Tides I read first 20 years ago. I loved it then. It's one of Tim Power's first books, not as early as The Anubis Gates, but with the same sense of energy and fun. It has pirates, zombies, true love, voodoo, The Fountain of Youth, the Caribbean.....it's so much fun to read, very enjoyable, and a solid mix of fantasy and horror with doses of humour. It's a forgotten classic that I think is well worth discovering.

Time for tonight's ghost story from Bluenose Ghosts:

Occasionally a single ghost turns up on a ship. This story from Glen Haven is one of my favourites. I would like to think it really happened, and perhaps it did. Ben Smeltzer was a West Dover man and one of the crew of a vessel fishing off Georges in winter. It was snowing and there were no fish, and they were getting all iced up and the captain had decided to take the ship to Boston. At this time Mr Smeltzer went down below and, when he went into the cabin, there was a strange man sitting at the chart table writing on a slate - a large, healthy looking sea-faring man.

For readers who are not accustomed to the sea and its ways, I might mention that it would be impossible in the limited space of a sailing vessel for a person to stow away for any length of time, if at all, and this vessel had been at sea for some weeks.

"Who can this be?" Mr Smeltzer thought. "What does it mean?" He had heard of strange events at sea, and he scratched his head as he went up the companionway to talk it over with his captain.

"There's a strange man below," he said. "Never seen him before."

"You're crazy," said the captain. Then observing that Mr Smeltzer was serious about it he decided to humour him and added in a voice that had in it more than a hint of sarcasm, "What did you say to him?"

"I didn't say anything," Mr Smeltzer declared. "He can't be human."

"Well," said the captain, who began to have misgivings himself, "you come down with me and show me your man." So down they went and there was no one there. However the captain was a thorough man and Mr Smeltzer had stated specifically that the stranger had been sitting at the chart table writing on a slate. He therefore strode over to the table and picked up the slate. The top side was clean, just as he had left it. Without really thinking what he was doing he turned the slate over and there he was amazed to see a message. It read: "Change your course to nor'nor'west and steer so many hours and you'll come to a vessel turned on its side and the crew hanging on it."

He put the slate down and snorted.

"Tricks. Sailors must always be at their tricks," but Mr Smeltzer insisted it was not a trick and he grew even more serious as he too read the message. More to satisfy him than anything, the captain called his crew down one by one and had each one write something on the slate. No script resembled the mysterious handwriting. By this time the crew all knew the story and they were as one in concluding that they should follow the slate's directions. Against his own wishes and judgement the captain changed his course. And sure enough, they had not gone far on their way when they came upon an upturned vessel. Men were still clinging to the hull, and they were in time to save them. They supposed then that the stranger who had appeared in the cabin had been one of the first to succumb and that he had taken this means of saving his fellow seamen.