Atonement

And so comes the close of yet another book... Except this one told of deceit, lies, wronged lovers, war (for all the adventure lovers and males among the readers!) Medical horror, and, most importantly, atonement. The characters are rich and well described, but lacking slightly in the human department. What I mean by "human" is to feel human emotions and act as a normal person would without the process being either overly analysed, or overly exaggerated by a keen author wishing to keep his name in the minds of the general public. Sure, you can have a good character who is perhaps a little too dramatised in an attempt to be human, and that is exactly what happened in Atonement; the characters were unbelievably well-written and well thought-out, but for the actual story and emotion that the whole book centres around, a real character is required to make it believable and slightly less annoying to a reader (ahem, meaning no one in particular...).

The character of Briony Tallis, the one who,essentially, gets the ball rolling, and gets Robbie Turner sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit, is a very interesting child indeed. She lives entirely in her imagination, and takes real life scenarios and dramatises them massively, makes then into a story to suit her fleeting fancies; most importantly, she does what I really don't like about the people in the book, and she dehumanises them. Everything on Planet Briony is horrifically over egged to fit into what she thinks a situation should typically be like, according to various fairy tales and stories that she hears all around her. For example, at that fateful moment by the fountain, she sees Robbie and Cecilia staring at each other over the antique vase and immediately pictures an ardent declaration of love and adoration from either party, and afterwards a marriage proposal, simply because she herself, the aspiring novelist had previously written a story about that very theme. She us a slightly detestable child who always seems to be bent on poking her nose into other people's business; that is, after all, the very crux of the issue at the heart of the book.

I could go on and on forever about this book, but unfortunately the fact that I am on my dad's Blackberry slightly detains my typing speed and my ability to properly spell words has been diminished noticeably (I swear, if that dotted grey line appears again under any word I type, I am actually going to throw this bloody thing at the wall...) And so I shall stop now. Next I'll be reading Tess Of The d'Urbevilles, so it might be a while until the next post!

Mort

I shall just say this one thing before I commence on the utter uselessness that is this blog...TERRY PRATCHETT IS A FRIGGIN' COMIC GENIUS!!! Phew, now that's out of my system, I can start to talk rationally about this book. Terry Pratchett weaves a brilliant storyline, adding in a couple of dry observations of the Discworld races that will literally make you laugh out loud, then begin to cry and roll around on the floor with hysteria. Well, that's what happened to me, at any rate. My family thought I was going mad for a full three days. There was one part in the book that I thought was truly gifted in the comedy department; Death is tired of his day job (you know, taking souls, delivering people from their boring lives, etc.etc) and starts to look for a new one. So, natch, he goes to the job finder person in Ankh-Morpok-the Disc's main city-who attempts to find him a job. (Keep in mind that Death carries a scythe as it is very important to get this piece of comic genius is you happen to forget this very important fact. Just saying...)
"Do you have any special skills?"

"Erm, I have a lot of experience with agricultural implements?"
That one had me screaming with laughter for hours on end. Honestly, it was all in the delivery.

As well as being very gifted in terms of comedy, Terry Pratchett creates fantastic characters and story lines. Death is a pure work of art; he is human in feelings and wants, but inhuman in only shape and form. The first point that we realise he is just as human as the rest of us is on the fifth page or so, when he appears for the first time, falls off his horse (called Binky) and says in a very human way "Oh, bugger". Again, comic genius. Mort himself is apparently your average human boy of sixteen; he appears to be all limbs and no muscle, has great ideas but is rather awkward when forming them in actual words, the list could go on. However, enough has been revealed about Mort that he is actually conscientious, empathetic, and loving. Like all mortals, though, he has his moment of weakness. When Death goes off to find his "proper job" mentioned before, Mort starts to turn into Death. He starts to speak like him and his appearance changes-his formerly brown eyes start to change into tiny specks of blue, just like Death's.

The story is full of unexpected twists and turns, surprises both pleasant and otherwise, and dry humour that cannot fail to amuse. I thoroughly recommend that anyone reading this blog immediately open a new tab, go onto Amazon.co.uk and purchase a copy of this mind-boggling book. Next I'll be reading The Christmas Books: Volume I by Charles Dickens, so watch out for further updates!

The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall

Oh, how I enjoyed this one! And I shall shortly enclose why in a moment, but only once I have commented on its author (see, I enjoyed it so much that I'm even starting to speak in the style of the Brontes!)

The three Brontes

Anne Bronte, or "The Other Bronte Sister" as she is often known, has a very similar style to her sister Charlotte, simply in the fact that although the protagonist experiences severe hardships and trial in her life, all becomes well at the end of the book. I wonder at why Emily's one novel is more popular than Anne's two, as, I apologise to any fans of Wuthering Heights, enjoyable though it is, it cannot help but be depressing and sad. All that about (to quote Kate Bush) "Oh, Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy, I've come home now" goes round and round in circles, and is not at all true to what would happen in real life, as incest would usually be regarded as terribly shameful and disgusting, especially in the time at which Emily was writing. This is in sharp contrast to Anne, who's tale of an unhappy wife, uncontent with her husband's conduct, was probably more common than some mad bird wandering around the moors of Yorkshire.

Now, about the actual story and characters. The story was gripping and incredible, the characters rich and detailed and the quality of the writing phenomenal. Well, I guess that's what comes of being starved of society for your whole life...The character of Arthur Huntingdon is far from beautiful in habits and mannerisms and the like, but entrancing in the depth and detail that Anne cares to go into concerning him. His motives for ensnaring Helen in the first place? I would interpret it as the wish to flatter his own ego with the fact that he managed to entrance yet another young woman and make her fall in love with him-I suspect, from the overall impression we gain of his character throughout the novel, that she was not the first woman to fall victim to his awful attentions and terrible false affections, and we know that she definitely isn't that last. Helen herself is not a bad person, but falls victim to bad things. The many attentions she recieves from many of the male characters in the book are unwelcome, and she doesn't wish to encourage them in any way; in fact, the more a man grows attached to her, the more she insists that he offends her with his impertinent attentions.

The ending of this was altogether fulfilling, but the best part of the book was the middle, by far and without contest. The many trials and tests that Helen endures for the sake of her husband, and the many insults he chucks at her as a consequence of them only makes the reader empathise more with her. At first she seems annoying (when she impertinantly refuses Mr Gilbert Markham's love) but the moment he starts to read the manuscript, we begin to guess at her reasons and we are not at all pleasantly surprised to find that we are indeed correct in our assumptions of Helen's past.

Mr Huntingdon's addiction to alcohol is something that the Brontes had to experience on a regular basis with their brother Branwell Bronte, and many say that Anne fully intended Mr Huntingdon to be a representation of her brother. Looking further into symbols and representations, we can glean that Anne also intended to put a small portion of herself into Helen Huntingdon; a young girl, essentially, married at nineteen, who is condemned to live with the trials and tribulations of alcoholism in a husband (or, in terms of the allegory, a brother) who grows to have no compassion or love for her, and who constantly attempts to wean said husband off the dreadful addiction that he has fallen victim to, and who is constantly rebuffed and abused as a product of these attempts. Helen Huntingdon grows more and more desperate where her husband is concerned and only makes her more and more determined to deliver him from the evil demons haunting her him. Her diary is her only source of release and comfort, and becomes her only confidant; this we read with a certain sense of tresspassing upon an individual's private property, like the feeling you get when you stumble across something belonging to someone close to you that reveals some rather unwelcome truths.

The more we know about Helen Huntingdon the more we love her and the more our hearts bleed for her and the more we detest Mr Huntingdon. Overall, this book has replaced Jane Eyre as my favourite book-the plain intricacy of the storyline is beautiful and wonderous to behold. Sibling rivalry! Next I'm going to be reading Mort by Terry Pratchett, so look forward to the next post!