Wednesday Reading Meme ( 37. A Step from Heaven)

[osprey_archer]

What I’ve Just Finished Reading

A couple more books by Rumer Godden, both of which I enjoyed: The Story of Holly and Ivy, a Christmas book about an orphan girl who finds a doll, and incidentally a home, but mostly a doll - and Great-Grandfather’s House, which is about a Japanese girl who visits her great-grandfather’s house and...I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s not exactly big on plot. She visits her great-grandparents and becomes slightly less spoilt and more thoughtful.

Also An Na’s A Step from Heaven, about a young Korean girl who emigrates from Korea to the United States. I figured that the title was ironic, but I didn’t expect something as relentlessly downbeat as this exploration of the miseries of living under the thumb of an abusive father. There’s a little light at the end of the book, but getting there is exhausting.

Also Jo’s Boys. I think Louisa May Alcott got heartily sick of the whole March family, because at the end of the book she playfully threatens to finish by having a giant earthquake bury Plumfield and all it's inhabitants so no one can ask her to write more about them ever again. Harsh!

What I’m Reading Now

Charles Finch’s The Last Enchantments, which I need to get a move on before it comes due at the library. So far it’s reminding me why I don’t read contemporary realistic adult fiction, because it seems to gravitate toward portraying a petty and unattractive side of humanity.

Oh, and Ivanhoe! I was kind of dreading Ivanhoe because most of the opinions I’ve heard have suggested that Scott hasn’t aged well, but actually it’s going pretty well. I half think the nameless palmer is Ivanhoe himself, but surely if he was, the Lady Rowena would have recognized him - if not Sir Cedric, Ivanhoe’s own father? But maybe going to the holy land left him terribly changed.

I’ve arrived at the tournament! I hope that it’s terribly exciting.

What I Plan to Read Next

The Fall of the House of Walworth: A Tale of Madness and Murder in Gilded Age America. I’m kind of a sucker for historical true crime.

Comments

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed Ivanhoe a lot. I had fallen in love with the 1982 movie (with Olivia Hussey, Anthony Andrews and Sam Neill) and was wary of reading the source, because I worried that Rebecca would not be sufficiently awesome. But many of the same things that are implied in the movie are also implied in the book.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Should I see the movie once I've finished the book? The only film version I've seen is the Wishbone version.

I've gotten to the part where Ivanhoe is revealed, only to collapse at Rowena's feet from injury/blood loss! Also, Robin Hood is showing off his mad archery skills.

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

I have no idea what the Wishbone version is! But the 1982 version is wonderful, if you can find it.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Wishbone was a 90s TV show which adapted classic novels so that a Jack Russell terrier named Wishbone played the most important parts. It aired when I was about seven and I adored it.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

So Ivanhoe isn't too tough in terms of language? I did try it once, but I was only in high school. Maybe I'd fare better nowadays.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm listening to it on CD, which I think makes it easier to follow. But I expected the prose to be more overblown than it is.