The Awakening by Kate Chopin

PLOT

By all appearances Edna Pontellier has a great life in New Orleans: two beautiful little boys, a doting husband, a large house and summers spent at a resort. But one summer, while at the resort, Edna discovers her this really isn’t the life she wants. She is befriended by a single man who awakens in her desires she long ago buried deep inside. Once these feelings begin to surface, Edna begins to look for the life she wants to live. Unfortunately for her, what she wants is frowned upon by the society and time in which she lives. So she is stuck as she attempts to figure out who she is and who the rest of the world wants her to be.

SCOOP

The minute I started reading this book I figured at the plot: married woman meets single man, falls in love, realizes she no longer wants to be married with children and so on. However, I couldn’t get over how tame the story is. There are no steamy love scenes, no sneaking around. However, when I looked at the date this was written (1899) I began to realize how this story, so reserved by today’s standards, would have been scandalous in its day. Kate Chopin’s Edna was ahead of her time in trying to find her own place in the world. Although this story may seem simple and sweet, it is complicated and sordid and makes me glad I was born 70+ years later. You will relate to Edna’s quest to “find herself” and understand the struggles she goes through.

The Awakening

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The Spy Who Came in From the Cold is one of the books listed in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. It is not a book I would have ever picked up on my own but now I can cross it off my list and continue on with my quest.

PLOT

The main character, Alec Leamas is an agent for the British version of the CIA. In the book they refer to it as the Circus. He was in charge of agents in East Berlin spying on the Praesidium during the cold war. It is now the early 1960s and Leamas’ entire team has been killed by the enemy. After years of service he is tired of the job and ready to call it quits, when he is offered one last job. It’s a job he cannot refuse and so he sets out to accomplish what, for him, will be his crowning achievement without blowing his cover.

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I like suspense, but I’ve never really been into spy novels. The writing in this is kind of dry, but the plot is superb. It has everything I would expect from a spy novel, and keeps you guessing until the very end. It also seems very real life; I could almost believe I was reading a true account and not fiction. I highly recommend this book.

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I’ve finished another book on my Ultimate Reading Quest. I have a confession…this is the first time I have read Wuthering Heights. I know it’s classic literature and I even bought a copy of the book years ago, but it seemed that every time I picked it up and tried to read it, I just couldn’t get into the book. It took me awhile, but I finally did it and have been able to cross it off the list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.

PLOT

A young and orphaned Heathcliff finds himself brought to live at Wuthering Heights by its owner, Mr. Earnshaw. The young boy befriends his benefactor’s daughter, Catherine. As they grow older that friendship develops into love, but Catherine forsakes true love and marries Edgar Linton, a man of equal social status. Rejected by Catherine, Heathcliff disappears for a few years and returns bent on reclaiming his love and seeking revenge on those who sought to keep them apart.

SCOOP

Wuthering Heights has often been heralded as one of the greatest love stories ever written. But this is more than a love story; It is also a story of hatred and revenge. The story really highlights the best and worst in people. The characters in Wuthering Heights are extremely complex and changed from villain to victim and back again on the same page. It was a little hard to follow the dialog at times, especially when the farm hand Joseph talked. Some of the phrases were just outdated. And honestly, it was a slow read. I am not a huge fan of love stories, but this is not your typical love story. What is truly amazing is how relevant the story is, even today. Take out the time and setting and you have a complex love triangle filled with passion, jealousy and revenge. I guess some things never change.

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Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

I’m currently in the middle of another book on the list and will post updates on my journey to complete this daunting, but exciting task.

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