Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth

I made the choice not to read this book, but since it on the Modern Library's list of 100 best books I wanted to include something about it on this blog.  I couldn't find it at my local library, so I looked it up online to see where I could get it.

After seeing some of the information available about it, I decided it wasn't a book I wanted to read.  It was widely considered to be pornographic when it was first published, which I never consider to be a good sign.  The narrative device is a man speaking to his counselor because then the author can say anything with the idea that coarse language and shameful secrets fit in that situation.  (Roth has specifically said that some of his choices would just be "obscene" in any other context, but for me the context doesn't change obscenity into acceptable language.  There was specific mention of detailed descriptions of masturbation including using a piece of liver.)  It is definitely not my scene, so I made the choice to skip this book on my journey through the lists of best books.

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

This is a wonderful book.  I don't know how I missed reading it when I was young, but it is still great even when you are older!  It is on the Big Read, which is how I came to be reading it for this review.

It tells the story of Anne (with an e) who is an 11-year-old orphan in Nova Scotia.  She is mistakenly taken to a family who wanted to adopt a boy.  She quickly wins the hearts of brother and sister Matthew and Marilla who take her into their home.  The book tells the story of this imaginative girl and how she grows up to be a woman in their home of Green Gables.

It is a very simple story, but Anne's personality and misadventures are very winning.  The writing is great and will grab your attention.  It is wonderfully clean and appropriate for all ages.  It is definitely worth your time!

The March by E.L. Doctorow

This book tells the story of Sherman's march through the South at the end of the American Civil War.  It is mostly told from the point of view of a few fictional characters, although Sherman himself also features in the story a lot.  We hear a lot from Pearl, a freed slave who is very white like her slave-owner father and Wrede Sartorious, a brilliant army surgeon who seems emotionless in his treatment of the wounded.  We follow the actual marchers and don't hear about the individual cities and the people in them, which is a different point of view for me and one I found interesting.

There is some description of violence (like a man who has a spike blown through his head and continues to live while losing his memory), which isn't as extreme as it could be in a war novel.

I really loved this book.  It is well-written and grabs your attention right away.  The characters are believable and catch your interest.  It is sad that we only hear about the characters while they are part of the march.  Once they quit travelling with Sherman's army, we no longer hear their stories or what happens to them.  It is an interesting narrative tool to restrict the story that way.  It is definitely worth the time.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

This book is described as one of the greatest suspenseful romances.  I found it mostly not suspenseful and definitely not romantic!  That said, it is still a good book and gets interesting after you get past the first half, which drags interminably.  I thought the real story would never start!

The story starts in the future and comes back to a young lady who is very unsure of herself.  She meets a wealthy older man and marries him.  They travel to his family estate where everything is still run as his first wife, Rebecca, dictated.  The second wife quickly feels extremely inferior to the mysterious Rebecca.  Maxim, the husband, is very secretive and extremely sensitive.  (At the end of the story, you get the impression that this may have changed, but from the initial glimpse of the future we know he is still very sensitive.)  No one speaks of Rebecca much, except the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, who loved her to distraction.  Everything winds up in a dramatic finish.

The second wife is a little annoying.  She repeatedly excuses her timidity and reactions to being young and inexperienced, which is reasonable but this reader would still like her to have more of a backbone.  Maxim isn't much of a romantic figure to my way of thinking because he is sooo sensitive.  Even after everything has happened, he still turns white and goes into a downward spiral when his wife reads him a passage that reminds him of his family home!  We learn he has a good reason for his morbid sensitivity, but that doesn't change the fact that you have to read about it for the entire book!  Mrs. Danvers is by far the best character.  She is fantastically creepy while being imminently efficient.  Rebecca also feels like a very real character who plays largely in the story, even though she is dead before it begins.

This book is worth the time, if only because of its huge popularily!  Be prepared for a very slow start.

The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer

This is a novel about a platoon in the south Pacific during World War II.  It is definitely a war novel.  There are a lot of battle scenes depicted and explanations of military protocol as well.  Because it was published during 1948, though, the swearing has been replaced with the alternate word "fug," which I actually prefer.  There are some personal story lines as well, and we learn a bit about the Sergeant and Lieutenant Hearn.  It is sad, not just because war is terrible, but because the men don't seem to care that it is and there is almost no mourning or mercy or even sensitivity shown in the platoon.  It seemed very real to me.

It is an easy read and worth the time, although be prepared to get a realistic, not very positive view of the war.

The Secret Desires of a Soccer Mom by Robyn Harding

I was expecting a murder mystery when I started this book, but in spite of the mysterious murder, it is really straight-up chick lit.  Paige is a 38-year-old mother of two who goes into a crisis when her good friend Karen confides she is having an affair.  Paige becomes somewhat obsessed with the secret and its implications (including areas of her own life that seem to relate--her relationship with her husband, her too-small breasts, etc), and it only gets worse when Karen ends up murdered.  Paige does solve the murder, but it isn't a traditional whodunit and deals much more with the personal issues and relationships in the suburban neighborhood rather than clues to the suspicous death.

It started a little slow for me, but I eventually found myself very involved in the story and really wanting to finish.  There are a few questionable word choices and many references to sex, so it isn't a "clean" read, but it is free from sexual scenes and most swearing.  It is easy and reads quickly.  It is worth the time.

Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry

I didn't love this book and struggled to get through it.  It is very symbolic with a lot of detail.  The book has 12 chapters and is only one day long!  Each chapter is from a different character's point of view, which makes it feel a bit confusing and disjointed.  The book tells the story of a consul in a Mexican city whose wife left him one year before.  She returns at the beginning of the story to start the events of the day.  At the end, (Spoiler Alert!) the consul dies.  (You're safe again!)  I really didn't love it, and it takes some time.  It isn't worth it.