The Plague

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Well with a title like The Plague you know that the book is gonna have a lot to do with pain and pestilence, and mortality.  But would you think it would have to also do with compassion, community, and survival?  Well this book had it all and it was really rather unexpectantly interesting!  Now I have to admit that if I had read this book I would have put it down almost immediately so I am glad I picked it up at the library as an audio book otherwise I would have never experienced this little gem.  The Plague by Albert Camus was published in 1947 and originally it was written in French but was then later translated to English and I feel there was nothing really lost in translation, because the book was quite wonderful and beautifully written.  The novel is believed to be loosely based on a Cholera Outbreak that killed a large percentage of the Algerian city Oran in 1849 following the French colonization (information from Wikipedia).

Now that the little history lesson is over I'll clue you in to what the book is about.  Wait... I bet you can guess...  It's about the bubonic plague (shocking I know).  Anyway, the story takes place in the town of Oran in the 1940s.  First the rats start surfacing.  They are everywhere, in the gutters, in the alleys, in peoples homes, in the restaurants, and they aren't just out and swarming they are out and dying sad little rat deaths.  The people of Oran can't make heads nor tails of this little rat infestation but they are concerned as the Health Department keeps tallying up the little rat deaths and publishing how many they picked up in their morning rat scoop.  The numbers are climbing up to the tens of thousands and then as quickly as they made their appearance they are gone.  Then the first wave of fever, sweats, and buboes start to pop up in the town.  People are dying of some strange horrific death and then the Health Department starts tallying up those deaths too and they are reaching almost as high as the rat deaths.  Doctors are helpless as they watch the town fall to the Bubonic Plague that soon turns into the Mnemonic Plague.  Meanwhile, the town very early on becomes quarantined from the rest of the country so there is the longing for family members that are now separated from their loved ones.  This book isn't just about the plague and the death and destruction of Oran but about the relationships built out of this disaster, and how a community comes together to pick up the pieces of this horrible catastrophe.

I would recommend this book to anyone that really enjoys literature, not just a good read but real honest to goodness literature.  The writing in the book is truly a treat.  Book clubs might want to give this one a try as well.  There would be lots to discuss and I am sure the discussion would get lively.  Or if you just are interested in the Bubonic Plague (like I am) this is a good one to add on your TBR pile for sure.

RATING: 4 stars

1 more reviews on The Plague (I couldn't find any more than this)
Tony's Book World

The Plague by Albert Camus
(Library Audio Book)
ISBN 9780679720218
9 Discs {8 Hours 30 Minutes}

If you liked The Plague then read: The Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

Immortal

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I hate to start the New Year off with a poor review but I must.  As some of you may have noticed I have had Immortal by Traci Slatton on my "Currently Reading" sidebar since November (November!!!).  I just struggled and struggled through this book and sadly I couldn't finish it.  Nothing burns me more than not being able to finish a book, I'll have you know.  What was the most disappointing to me is that this was at the very tip top of my TBR list for ages, but I was unable to find the book anywhere (should have been my first indication that it wasn't a winner).  Anyway, I finally scored the book for my birthday back in November and dove right in, unfortunately for me I dove into the shallow end.

The story of Immortal is told by Luca Bastardo (Luca the Bastard).  Luca was lost from his noble family as a small child and so he grew up on the streets of 14th century Florence Italy.  Eventually he was taken prisoner by an evil man named Silvano who ran a brothel that catered to men who had a taste for young boy and girls.  Luca learns while he is there in the brothel that he isn't like other people.  He grows older very very slowly, at 27 he still looks to be 15 years old, and because of this unusual trait Silvano wants to keep him around to earn him money and to eventually bring to the Pope in exchange for a reward (his people are legend to have a mark on their chest, that the Catholic Church is interested in).  Luca fights his way out of the brothel, survives the Plague, and continues searching for the truth of his slow aging, his parents, God, Alchemy, and love on and on through the decades.

From reading the summery of the book you understand why I thought this book would be fabulous; a historical fiction lovers dream!  But the thing is, it just fell super flat (flat like a pancake flat).  The writing was choppy and hard to read.  The dialog seemed to be unnatural and it didn't flow (almost like it was being translated straight from Italian into English using Bablefish).  I kept thinking to myself that people don't talk like that, it sounds too proper, too scripted, like a bad TV show.  The plot moved way to slow and after 300 pages I couldn't see the point of continuing (it's a long one).  I am not going to give up all hope on this book though.  I will finish it...eventually!  But for right now I am going to set my sights on something else.

BOOK vs. MOVIE:  Actually I think I would love to see a movie based on this book.  I think the premise is very interesting but it just wasn't executed very well in writing.  I read on Traci Slatton's website that the book has been optioned for a film by Vast Entertainment.  No word yet on release date though.

RATING: 2 Star

3 More Reviews on Immortal by Traci Slatton:

• Blog Critics
• Book Chase
• Crystal Review

Immortal by Traci L. Slatton

ISBN: 978-0-385-33974-2

Pages 513

If you enjoyed this book then check out: The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant

Abundance

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I would expect nothing but the best from Sena Jeter Naslund, and she brought it with Abundance!  I know you are all sick of hearing me say it, but to me it is about a beautifully written piece of work, and Abundance had that as well as a great story of Marie Antoinette.  I was hypnotized by her writing and I was addicted to the story to see what was going to happen to Marie (I mean besides visiting the guillotine and all).  French history is something I didn't know much about so I was also excited to learn some new things about the French Revolution and the royal family.

Abundance starts as Marie Antoinette leaves Austria as a girl of only 14 and enters into France to become the Dauphine and wife of the Dauphin, Louie-Auguste.  The story is told through the eyes of Antoinette and I think it was interesting to see how Naslund made her mature in her voice through out the story.  In the beginning she is self absorbed, and frivolous in her thoughts and speech but then as the story goes on and she grows older she matures and you hear it in the way Naslund writes.  The way Naslund tells the story, Marie Antoinette wanted nothing but good for the people of France, and tabloidish type pamphlets muddied her name and made her an enemy to the people.  The people of France needed someone to blame their condition on and so it was an obvious choice to blame the extreme hunger and poverty on the Queen that had everything.  Naslund created her Marie Antoinette walking a thin line between frivolity and responsibility to her country.  Even at the end, while she was preparing to die to appease the people of France, she loved her country and its people but she was also worried about how her plum colored silk slippers looked.

If you like historical fiction than this is a great book for you to read.  If you don't like historical fiction I feel like you would find this book interesting still, because it reminds me of chick-lit at its best (shopping, pretty things, romance, sex, girl friends, little dogs, etc).  If you are like me and will read a book because the writing is mesmerizing then this is a good book for you too!

Annoying word of Abundance:  Besmirched.  The only compliant I have of Abundance is that Naslund uses the word Besmirched extraordinarily too many times in this book.  I hate when an author repeats a word over and over and over again.  Midway through the book we understood loud and clear that Marie Antoinette didn't want her name, her friends names, her clothes, her reputations, her bedding, to be Besmirched.  Blah.

Book vs. Movie:  If you ever saw the 2006 movie Marie Antoinette with Kirsten Dunst you, saw the frivolous side of Abundance.  But if you were to truly make Abundance into a movie I think you would need to do it better than this Sophia Coppola version.  Marie Anoinette only showed one layer of the Queen that Naslund wrote about.  It would be interesting to dive into the other layers of the last Queen of France.

Abundance 
by Sena Jeter Naslund


If you liked this book please read: The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

The Boleyn Inheritance

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So here is my promised review of the last installment of Philippa Gregory's King Henry VIII novels.  I think that I enjoyed The Boleyn Inheritance better than any of the other two books on King Henry's wives.  I thought that this book was just clever in how it depicted the repercussions of Anne Boleyn and how it effected all of the English Court, through the eyes of three women.  After Anne visited the chopping block, the King's life changed forever and there were few people in the country that weren't effected by the aftermath.  The King has now divorced his first wife, killed his second wife, and lost is third wife in childbirth.  He is lonely, ill, loosing his good looks, at odds with the Catholic Church, and at odds with his people, all these things make this part of his history very entertaining.

This book is written in the point of view of Anne of Cleves (Henry's 4th wife), Katherine Howard (Henry's 5th wife), and Jane Boleyn (George Boleyn's horrible crazy wife).  So when we open this book the king is mourning over the death of his beloved wife Jane Seymour.  He needs to find a new wife and Queen of England so he sends out his royal match makers to find him the perfect spouse.  He settles on Anne of Cleves, and when he meets her (and marries her) he realizes that this woman will just not do (surprise surprise) and he divorces her.  During this quick marriage he is occupying his time with a young somewhat slutty immature girl named Katherine Howard, cousin to the King's infamous wife Anne (and you know with that combo, this can't end well).  In the end there are accusations, treason, and heads rolling once again.

Like I said before, I really enjoyed this book.  I didn't want to go into too much detail about the plot because it would sound like a history lesson, but don't let that turn you off from reading this book.  Because out of all the families in history the Tudor's story most resembles a steamy soap opera.  King Henry and his wives invented the word drama I am sure.

Book vs. Movie: I don't know if I would watch a movie just based off this book.  And I don't think that a 2 hour movie could quite catch a glimpse of the entire reign of King Henry VIII; but, the Showtime series The Tudors is doing a VERY VERY good job.  And if you don't want to watch the show for the history then at least watch it for Jonathan Rhys Meyers... Yum...

The Boleyn Inheritance

by Philippa Gregory

If you liked this book read: The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory 

The Constant Princess

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So a few weeks ago I posted my review for The Other Boleyn Girl, and I promised in that review that I would post a review for the other King Henry books by Philippa Gregory.  I am here to partially fulfill that promise by reviewing The Constant Princess.  Whenever I read a novel by Philippa Gregory I really become lost in the history, I become much more educated by the time I am finished with one of her stories because I am always on Wikipedia looking up some diplomat or lady at Court, or prince, or princess I had never heard of before.  I feel like each of her books become a personal history lesson for me.  My husband (being a history major) is amused and maybe slightly irritated by my conversations beginning with "did you know..." about some person or event I am reading about in Gregory's books.  When I started reading The Constant Princess the only thing I really knew about Katherine of Aragon was that she was King Henry VIII first wife (and that she didn't have her head chopped off), but from there I couldn't tell you  much of anything else.

A lot of what I know (pre reading) about the life of King Henry VIII and his wives, I had learned from the Showtime Series The Tudors (you must tune into this show if you would like to see a very sexy version of the reign of King Henry VIII, though I would imagine that his reign was even spicier than the TV show depicts).  In this TV show they show Kathrine of Aragon as an older lady with a VERY strong Catholic faith that never stopped loving Henry until the day she died.  In The Constant Princess you get to know Katherine as a strong willed little girl that grew up on the battlefields of Spain, as a young woman married to Aurthur prince of Wales, and finally as a cunning woman who becomes the Queen of England and tries to hold onto her position.

Out of all the books by Gregory I think that The Constant Princess has been my least favorite.  Her writing style drew me in as always but it took me A L-O-N-G time to read this book.  The characters didn't really capture my attention.  I loved to hate Henry in the other books but in this one he was so young he just annoyed me.  And I really enjoyed the love story between Katherine and Aurthur but after he died I wasn't too into the rest of the book.  I would say absolutely read this book if you want to get the real story of the whole King Henry mess   reign, it will only educate you or inspire you to learn more about this great time in history.

The Constant Princess 

by Philippa Gregory
ISBN:0743272498


If you liked this book then read: The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory