Well today I have edited my book blog and then I was looking around some other blogs and noticed the "I'm very Nice" tag. I clicked on it followed all the instructions on how to download this to my blog page. Every time I try to post this, it says there are illegal characters in the URL. I guess I'm not as nice as I thought, hahahaha.
All this to say I got a real good laugh out of trying to download something that says I'm Nice and the internet disagrees. I guess I need to Nice up a bit before I can have the label. Really, how did they know I'm not very nice???
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy
I was excited to see Maeve Binchy had a new book. I thought she retired a few years ago and I’m so happy to find out she hasn’t.
Wow, what a great story. Maeve Binchy sure doesn’t disappoint in this story of a dying pregnant woman who wants to make sure her baby is cared for. The baby will be delivered by C section and when that occurs, the mother will die. Her body has been abused by liquor and drugs and just can’t go any more. In desperation she requests to see a man named Noel. The young man is a drunk, but does manage to hold down a job. Liquor has taken over his life and is in the midst of ruining it, and as he goes to the hospital at the request of the dying woman he is told he is the father of the baby and she wants him to take care of her little girl when she dies. She has named her unborn baby ‘Frankie’. Of course, he is overwhelmed and says she has to be wrong, he isn’t the father of the baby. Since the woman isn’t married, along comes the ‘social worker’ who will put this newborn in a family that can truly give her all the things she needs in life. She has no confidence that this ‘drunk’ can change his life around and care for the baby the way it should be taken care of. The ‘social worker’ works hard to find fault with the way the baby is being looked after but she isn’t successful. You will see the true sense of community and support for this little family of two. The way Binchy intertwines the stories and secrets of the characters is brilliant.
If you have read any other Maeve Binchy books, you will see some of her past characters in this book as well as familiar places. I wanted to go find the rest of my Maeve Binchy books and reread them so I could place the characters of this book better. The character development is great, Binchy has a way of making you see and feel what her characters are going through. There were times I was so mad at Noel and disgusted with Moira the social worker that I wanted to get into the book and straighten them out.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a good read. I did notice the lack of the Irish accent in this book. Binchy usually includes phrases used in the Irish language and you can't help but read it with an Irish accent. Sadly, this was missing and it made me go on a search to see if Binchy herself was actually writing the book or if it was a ghost writer. Relax, it is Binchy herself. If you have never read Maeve Binchy then I urge you to try her books, she is a fantastic writer. Enjoy!
Wow, what a great story. Maeve Binchy sure doesn’t disappoint in this story of a dying pregnant woman who wants to make sure her baby is cared for. The baby will be delivered by C section and when that occurs, the mother will die. Her body has been abused by liquor and drugs and just can’t go any more. In desperation she requests to see a man named Noel. The young man is a drunk, but does manage to hold down a job. Liquor has taken over his life and is in the midst of ruining it, and as he goes to the hospital at the request of the dying woman he is told he is the father of the baby and she wants him to take care of her little girl when she dies. She has named her unborn baby ‘Frankie’. Of course, he is overwhelmed and says she has to be wrong, he isn’t the father of the baby. Since the woman isn’t married, along comes the ‘social worker’ who will put this newborn in a family that can truly give her all the things she needs in life. She has no confidence that this ‘drunk’ can change his life around and care for the baby the way it should be taken care of. The ‘social worker’ works hard to find fault with the way the baby is being looked after but she isn’t successful. You will see the true sense of community and support for this little family of two. The way Binchy intertwines the stories and secrets of the characters is brilliant.
If you have read any other Maeve Binchy books, you will see some of her past characters in this book as well as familiar places. I wanted to go find the rest of my Maeve Binchy books and reread them so I could place the characters of this book better. The character development is great, Binchy has a way of making you see and feel what her characters are going through. There were times I was so mad at Noel and disgusted with Moira the social worker that I wanted to get into the book and straighten them out.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a good read. I did notice the lack of the Irish accent in this book. Binchy usually includes phrases used in the Irish language and you can't help but read it with an Irish accent. Sadly, this was missing and it made me go on a search to see if Binchy herself was actually writing the book or if it was a ghost writer. Relax, it is Binchy herself. If you have never read Maeve Binchy then I urge you to try her books, she is a fantastic writer. Enjoy!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
This blog appeared as a guest blog on the site 'Ordinary Reader'.
"This is my first Thomas Hardy book. Ordinary Reader recommended the book to me and asked if I would do a guest blog. I agreed and here I am. This is my first Thomas Hardy book and my first blog. I confess I’m not well read nor can I write eloquently like Ordinary Reader but I will give my opinion on this book.
When I started “Tess”, I wasn’t sure if I could actually get the story without a dictionary. The book had a lot of description with words I wasn’t familiar with, maybe a bit too much for me.
I can say I really enjoyed watching the characters unfold and become so real.
Hardy easily captured my attention and I was enjoying the character of John Derbyville. He was an odd sort but I liked him. I wish there had been more of John in the book.
“Tess” and “Angel” brought out many emotions in me. I was happy for them at times, angry with them for being so ridiculous, frustrated that “Angel” had double standards. I was surprised at the strength Hardy gave to “Tess”. Her character was quite interesting. She is a young naive innocent at first then her strength and determination start to show.
While I was reading this book I was thinking to myself, I bet there is going to be the typical ‘happy ever after’ ending and I didn’t want that. I admit I didn’t read the subtitle of the book “The tragic masterpiece of the Victorian era”, that would have taken care of the happy ever after ending I was dreading.
I don’t think I would have minded the tragedy but it was all too quick. The last quarter of the book moves too fast compared to the pace of the first three quarters. I felt the book ended somewhat abruptly.
The book opens with a tired man on his way home and along comes an elderly parson and enlightens the man named “John Derbyfield” that he is really the descendant of the prestigious family of D’Urbervilles. The parson calls the man “Sir John” and he then becomes excited to think he can claim he is of the family of D’Urbervilles and should be rightly recognized as one. He sends his older daughter, Tess, to go visit the D’Urbervilles and claim their family’s heritage. He feels that if she goes to the family she will be married to her cousin “Alec D’Urberville”. Alec falls for her immediately but she is not interested in him at all. Alec seems to rescue her from the drunken crowd she is with but he then takes her on a long ride in the fog and they are lost. She lies down to rest and when he returns from getting their bearings, he defiles her.
Tess leaves the home of the D’Urbervilles and makes attempts at a new life. Tess travels in an opposite direction of the D’Urberville mansion in hopes of never seeing Alec again in her life.
Tess becomes a dairymaid and this is where “Angel Clare” is introduced. He is unhappy with ‘religion’ and the role of the ‘church’ in the life of individuals. Angel falls in love with Tess and Tess with Angel. Tess always has this terrible feeling that she is unworthy of happiness and she tells her friends she will never marry, but she doesn’t reveal to them why.
Tess tries to tell Angel many times why she is unworthy of him but he always tells her to wait until after they are married to confess to him her sins. After they are married, Angel confesses first to Tess that he had a 48 hour sin with a woman. This seems to open the door for Tess to confess her sin. Tess tells him she was defiled while a young innocent. He is all of a sudden in a rage about it. It seemed his deliberate sin and her unfortunate sin was not equal. Tess could forgive Angel but Angel wouldn’t be able to forgive Tess.
Angel and Tess parted ways a few days after they were married. Angel went to Brazil to find a farm to buy and then ‘if he could forgive her’ he would send for her.
Tess struggles for 2 years trying to look after herself by working in the fields doing work made for a man but given to her by the farmer. Tess did the work, pined away for the love of her life to forgive her, and then wrote him a letter pleading forgiveness and asking for him to send for her.
While working in the fields, when she would have welcomed death sometimes, along comes the villain, Alec D’Urberville, offering to look after her and her family. Tess tells him to go away many times. When her father dies and there is no home for her mother and siblings she helps move them to a new home, upon arrival in the town, the promised home is already taken. Tess finds them another home and then Alec D’Urberville shows up once again and she is so tired, defeated, lonely and hopeless that she gives in and goes to live with him. Alec looms in the background in the last quarter of the book and I don’t feel he ever takes his place as a ‘real’ villain.
Angel, while in Brazil, has been very sick and had received Tess’s letter begging him to send for her or come home and forgive her. He struggles to get home and searches far and wide for Tess. He finds her family and they tell him where she is living. Angel goes and finds that Tess is going by Tess D’Urberville and living with Alec. When he knocks on the door and the servant answers, it isn’t long before Tess is coming down the staircase. She shows no sign of happiness at his arrival. Angel is torn up inside and he leaves heading for the train station. Angel buys his ticket and sees Tess heading for the same area and he decides to be anywhere she isn’t.
Angel finds his train is delayed by 2 hours and decides to walk to the first stop the train makes. He hears someone following him and turns and it is Tess. They declare their love for one another and she tells him she has killed Alec and then they are on the run. They find shelter in an abandoned estate, which is only tended to, when the weather is sunny, by a local lady. The lady sees them there and they leave and now they try to make it to the coast and get a boat out of there. They walk a long hard way that night and rest in a Stonehenge. Tess and Angel are sleeping when Angel feels the presence of someone. He notices heads moving in the darkness. They are surrounded by 16 people and Tess is finally caught.
I found myself angry at Tess’s mother for keeping Tess so naive which led to her tragedy that marred her for life. I wanted to shake Tess for being ridiculous and her husband Angel for having double standards. I didn’t like the villain but then again, I shouldn’t. I laughed while reading this book, I had sympathy for some characters, didn’t care what happened to others. I think the most prevalent emotion I had was ‘anger'. Tess and Angel were exasperating to me.
I found this book took a turn for the worse quickly, almost too quickly. I had a hard time dealing with the strong character of Tess turning into someone who lost their mind. Angel’s character turned into an ‘all accepting’ man. The two characters lost their strength at the end of the book and became boring. I had suspicions that Hardy had a lot of his own life in this book and when I found a Hardy biography it confirmed my suspicions.
Would I read another Thomas Hardy? I definitely would. I also recommend Tess of the D’Urbervilles to anyone, unless you are looking for a happy ever after ending."
"This is my first Thomas Hardy book. Ordinary Reader recommended the book to me and asked if I would do a guest blog. I agreed and here I am. This is my first Thomas Hardy book and my first blog. I confess I’m not well read nor can I write eloquently like Ordinary Reader but I will give my opinion on this book.
When I started “Tess”, I wasn’t sure if I could actually get the story without a dictionary. The book had a lot of description with words I wasn’t familiar with, maybe a bit too much for me.
I can say I really enjoyed watching the characters unfold and become so real.
Hardy easily captured my attention and I was enjoying the character of John Derbyville. He was an odd sort but I liked him. I wish there had been more of John in the book.
“Tess” and “Angel” brought out many emotions in me. I was happy for them at times, angry with them for being so ridiculous, frustrated that “Angel” had double standards. I was surprised at the strength Hardy gave to “Tess”. Her character was quite interesting. She is a young naive innocent at first then her strength and determination start to show.
While I was reading this book I was thinking to myself, I bet there is going to be the typical ‘happy ever after’ ending and I didn’t want that. I admit I didn’t read the subtitle of the book “The tragic masterpiece of the Victorian era”, that would have taken care of the happy ever after ending I was dreading.
I don’t think I would have minded the tragedy but it was all too quick. The last quarter of the book moves too fast compared to the pace of the first three quarters. I felt the book ended somewhat abruptly.
The book opens with a tired man on his way home and along comes an elderly parson and enlightens the man named “John Derbyfield” that he is really the descendant of the prestigious family of D’Urbervilles. The parson calls the man “Sir John” and he then becomes excited to think he can claim he is of the family of D’Urbervilles and should be rightly recognized as one. He sends his older daughter, Tess, to go visit the D’Urbervilles and claim their family’s heritage. He feels that if she goes to the family she will be married to her cousin “Alec D’Urberville”. Alec falls for her immediately but she is not interested in him at all. Alec seems to rescue her from the drunken crowd she is with but he then takes her on a long ride in the fog and they are lost. She lies down to rest and when he returns from getting their bearings, he defiles her.
Tess leaves the home of the D’Urbervilles and makes attempts at a new life. Tess travels in an opposite direction of the D’Urberville mansion in hopes of never seeing Alec again in her life.
Tess becomes a dairymaid and this is where “Angel Clare” is introduced. He is unhappy with ‘religion’ and the role of the ‘church’ in the life of individuals. Angel falls in love with Tess and Tess with Angel. Tess always has this terrible feeling that she is unworthy of happiness and she tells her friends she will never marry, but she doesn’t reveal to them why.
Tess tries to tell Angel many times why she is unworthy of him but he always tells her to wait until after they are married to confess to him her sins. After they are married, Angel confesses first to Tess that he had a 48 hour sin with a woman. This seems to open the door for Tess to confess her sin. Tess tells him she was defiled while a young innocent. He is all of a sudden in a rage about it. It seemed his deliberate sin and her unfortunate sin was not equal. Tess could forgive Angel but Angel wouldn’t be able to forgive Tess.
Angel and Tess parted ways a few days after they were married. Angel went to Brazil to find a farm to buy and then ‘if he could forgive her’ he would send for her.
Tess struggles for 2 years trying to look after herself by working in the fields doing work made for a man but given to her by the farmer. Tess did the work, pined away for the love of her life to forgive her, and then wrote him a letter pleading forgiveness and asking for him to send for her.
While working in the fields, when she would have welcomed death sometimes, along comes the villain, Alec D’Urberville, offering to look after her and her family. Tess tells him to go away many times. When her father dies and there is no home for her mother and siblings she helps move them to a new home, upon arrival in the town, the promised home is already taken. Tess finds them another home and then Alec D’Urberville shows up once again and she is so tired, defeated, lonely and hopeless that she gives in and goes to live with him. Alec looms in the background in the last quarter of the book and I don’t feel he ever takes his place as a ‘real’ villain.
Angel, while in Brazil, has been very sick and had received Tess’s letter begging him to send for her or come home and forgive her. He struggles to get home and searches far and wide for Tess. He finds her family and they tell him where she is living. Angel goes and finds that Tess is going by Tess D’Urberville and living with Alec. When he knocks on the door and the servant answers, it isn’t long before Tess is coming down the staircase. She shows no sign of happiness at his arrival. Angel is torn up inside and he leaves heading for the train station. Angel buys his ticket and sees Tess heading for the same area and he decides to be anywhere she isn’t.
Angel finds his train is delayed by 2 hours and decides to walk to the first stop the train makes. He hears someone following him and turns and it is Tess. They declare their love for one another and she tells him she has killed Alec and then they are on the run. They find shelter in an abandoned estate, which is only tended to, when the weather is sunny, by a local lady. The lady sees them there and they leave and now they try to make it to the coast and get a boat out of there. They walk a long hard way that night and rest in a Stonehenge. Tess and Angel are sleeping when Angel feels the presence of someone. He notices heads moving in the darkness. They are surrounded by 16 people and Tess is finally caught.
I found myself angry at Tess’s mother for keeping Tess so naive which led to her tragedy that marred her for life. I wanted to shake Tess for being ridiculous and her husband Angel for having double standards. I didn’t like the villain but then again, I shouldn’t. I laughed while reading this book, I had sympathy for some characters, didn’t care what happened to others. I think the most prevalent emotion I had was ‘anger'. Tess and Angel were exasperating to me.
I found this book took a turn for the worse quickly, almost too quickly. I had a hard time dealing with the strong character of Tess turning into someone who lost their mind. Angel’s character turned into an ‘all accepting’ man. The two characters lost their strength at the end of the book and became boring. I had suspicions that Hardy had a lot of his own life in this book and when I found a Hardy biography it confirmed my suspicions.
Would I read another Thomas Hardy? I definitely would. I also recommend Tess of the D’Urbervilles to anyone, unless you are looking for a happy ever after ending."
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