The Crystal Cave - Mary Stewart

Title: The Crystal Cave

Author: Mary Stewart

Country: UK

Year: 1970

Pages: 512 pages

Rating: 4 out of 5

First sentence: The day my Uncle Camlach came home, I was just six years old.

The Crystal Cave is the first book in Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy. It is a series I have been meaning to read for a long time, and when I saw it on the library bookshelves, I snatched it up immediately. 

Book One takes place when Merlin is just a young lad, the illegitimate son of the daughter of a local king. During his childhood, Britain is divided into tiny kingdoms after the departure of the Romans. The Saxons are a constant threat (as they will be for quite some time), but the land is also divided by internal feuding that takes place before the return of Uther and Ambrosius. We follow Merlin through many of his well known acts: his prophecy of Ambrosius' victory, transporting and building the Giant's Dance (Stonehenge), and the encounter between Uther and Ygraine that led to the birth of Arthur.

Most of the Arthurian books I have read are about the women, Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Queen of Camelot by Nancy McKenzie come to mind. It's a nice change to read a book about one of Arthurian legends most mysterious characters, Merlin. The Crystal Cave certainly lives up to the hype, and I'm looking forward to reading the other books in the trilogy.

Le Petit Prince - Antoine de Saint Exupéry

Title: The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince)

Author & Illustrator: Antoine de Saint Exupéry  (trans. by Katherine Woods)

Year: 1943

Country: France

Pages: 111

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

The Little Prince is a beautiful children's story narrated by a pilot who crashed in the Sahara Desert. While trying to fix his plane, he meets a little prince from another planet  who asks him to draw a sheep. "When a mystery is too overpowering, one dare not disobey. Absurd as it might seem to me, a thousand miles from any human habitation and in danger of death, I took out of my pocket a sheet of paper and my fountain-pen." (p.8) Thus begins the start of a dialogue in which the little Prince describes his planet, and how he came to Earth.

The Little Prince is a child's view of the world, but it is certainly not for children alone. The story is a remarkable reflection of the human character. I look forward to re-visiting this story with Baby Maya, and to take the time to reflect upon the many metaphors present in this novella.

"And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." (p.87)

"What makes the desert beautiful," said the little prince, "is that somewhere it hides a well..." (p.93)

Interesting facts about the author:

In 1935, Antoine de Saint Exupéry crashed in the Sahara enroute from Paris to Saigon. He and his companion were rescued 4 days later when a Bedouin on a camel discovered them. This experience is referenced at the beginning of the story.

Tragically, in 1944, one year after The Little Prince was published, Saint Exupéry disappeared while on a reconnaissance mission over the Mediterranean. The remains of his plane weren't found until 1998.

Eragon - Christopher Paolini

Title: Eragon
Author: Christopher Paolini
Country: America
Year: 2003
Rating: C
Pages: 509

First sentence: Wind howled through the night, carrying a scent that would change the world.

Challenge book? I read this for the Unread Authors Challenge.

Short summary: Farm boy finds strange stone under strange circumstances. Stone is actually a dragon's egg, it hatches, and a dragon is born. Boy and dragon set out on an adventure to help save their world from evil.

What did I think: This one was just okay. Not bad, not great. This may sound weird, but I felt as if Eragon read like a King's Quest video game; all the plot points felt too pre-determined, as if he was going on a series of tasks to get to the next level and eventually "win". The plot was incredibly predictable, which is disappointing in any genre, but especially fantasy. The characters felt somewhat flat, especially Eragon. The writing, well, it was obvious that it was written by a teenager who may lack some life experiences, and the book screamed for better editing. I can see how Eragon could be popular with kids, but as an adult, I will not be picking up the second book in the trilogy, as I had originally planned.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

Title: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Author: Susanna Clarke
Country: UK
Year: 2004
Rating: A-
Pages: 782 pgs.

First sentence: Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians.

What I thought: Other than the fact that it was hard to read this book with a belly the size of a basketball, I really enjoyed it. :) It took me two weeks to finish the book, but that is not a sign of weakness. I have heard many people refer to JS&MR as an "adult Harry Potter". I believe that does a disservice to both this novel and the Harry Potter series. Yes, it involves magicians in the UK, but that is where the similarities end. What makes this story unique is the foray into magical theory and a fantastical history of England. Large portions of the book are occupied with debate over the history of magic in England, and how it should be brought back. Don't let this description turn you off, it's a very hard book to describe, but well worth the time it takes to read it. It does become a bit murky in the middle, but last 200 pages really pick up the pace!

Update: Check out the wonderful review of this book by Dewey at Hidden Side of A Leaf, who felt the same way about JS&MN as I do.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Author: J.K. Rowling
Country: Britain
Year: 2007
Rating: A-
Pages:

**No spoilers or teasers, but you might not want to read this post if you plan on reading the book and want a complete and total surprise.**

I'm a bit behind on my posts lately, so it looks like I won't be getting around to posting some thoughts/trivia on books 5 & 6 of the Harry Potter saga.

That's because I just can't resist writing about Book 7! Harry Potter arrived on our doorstep late Saturday afternoon. Since, technically, it was a birthday gift to my husband (whose birthday, btw, is in September), I allowed him the pleasure of reading it first. I finally got to pick it up for the first time Monday evening.

I don't want to say too much, so that I don't give away any spoilers or teasers. But I definitely loved it, and thought it was a fitting end to the story. Some of my ideas about what would happen were correct, some were blown out of the water, and there were plenty of surprises scattered throughout the action-filled novel. The last 1/4 of the book was EXTREMELY hard to put down!

By far my favorite quote is below. I won't say where it shows up in the novel, or who it is said to, and it doesn't contain any spoilers. But if you haven't read the book yet, and don't want to see a word of the novel before you do, stop reading now.

***Non-spoiler quote from Deathly Hallows***

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU B****!
Mrs. Weasly is one of my favorite characters. It was great to see her launching into full out attack mode. And, interestingly I believe that she is the only character in the whole series to come out with a blatant swear word.

The Great Harry Potter Re-Read, Book 4

1. Word Count: 190,637 words

2. Wand Order Problem: When Harry confronts Voldemort in the graveyard, and the Reverse Spell goes into effect, James Potter's image comes out before that of Harry's mother, Lily. This would mean that James died after Lily, even though previous books had James dying first. This passage was later changed in later editions to the correct order.

3. Mysteries remaining to be solved:
- Where did Snape go at the end of the novel?
- Why did Dumbledore have a "gleam of triumph" in his eyes when he found out that Voldemort had used Harry's blood to recreate himself?

Swedish Cover Art

Up next is a break from the Harry Potter series, as I've delved into Eudora Welty's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Optimist's Daughter.

The Great Harry Potter Re-Read, Part 1

The countdown here has begun. I have just started my re-read of all six Harry Potter book prior to the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on July 21. Most of the books I have only read once, so I thought the best way to usher in the final installment was to reacquaint myself with Harry, his friends, and the Hogwarts world.

In lieu of recaps, I thought I would post some random trivia about each book.

Random Trivia about Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
(aka Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

1. Missing text - American readers are introduced to Gryffindor House member Dean Thomas before their British counterparts. The American edition retains the following text that was edited out of the British edition: "Thomas, Dean," a Black boy even taller than Ron, joined Harry at the Gryffindor table.
Note: When I read this sentence in the novel, I also wondered why black was capitalized.

2. Word Count: The first book contains 76,944 words.

3. Title: Refers to a stone sought after by alchemists, a stone which was reputed to turn other metals into gold and to grant immortality.

4. Cover art: You can go here to see Harry Potter cover art from all over the world. The original Bloomsbury cover by Thomas Taylor includes a rather bizarre-looking figure on the back. The man in the picture really doesn't match any character in the book, although fans have speculated that it is supposed to represent eitherDumbledore or Quirrell. After a few editions, the back cover was changed with a new image, this time clearly identifiable as Dumbledore, even holding a Put-Ouer. [source here.]

Iranian Cover Art

Like Water for Chocolate

Title: Like Water for Chocolate
Author: Laura Esquival
Country: Mexico
Year: 1990
Rating: B+ Pages: 246 pgs.

I've finally gotten around to reading another book from my Reading Across Borders Challenge. Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquival, is an enchanting story. It's largely a story about Tita, a young woman that grows up near Piedras Negras, as small Mexican town on the edge of the Rio Grande, and close to the US-Mexico border. Tita is forbidden from marrying her true love Pedro due to an outdated family tradition that dictates the youngest daughter must care for her mother until her death. In despair, Pedro marries Tita's older sister in order to be closer to his love. What follows is an adventure in magical realism and gastronomic delights.

This is yet one more book that makes me wish I could read and/or speak fluent Spanish. It's a wonderful story, but I feel I still miss out on something in translation. I absolutely loved the storyline of how her emotions were transmitted through her cooking; the magical power of food. Unfortunately, I did not like Pedro at all. The whole book, I was rooting for Tita to get over her first love. Especially towards the end of the novel, he just seemed too whiny and jealous for his own good.

The first sign of Tita's emotions portrayed through food:
'When she finished beating the meringue, it occurred to Nacha to lick some of the icing off her finger to see if Tita's tears had affected the flavor. No, the flavor did not seem to have been affected; yet without knowing why, Nacha was suddenly overcome with an intense longing. She frosted the cake with the meringue icing as well as she could and went to her room, a terrible aching in her heart. She cried all night, and the next morning she didn't have the strength to help with the wedding.'

His Dark Materials

The Golden Compass (read in 2006)
The Subtle Knife (2006)
The Amber Spyglass (1st of 2007)

Pullman’s retelling of Paradise Lost in a contemporary society that never experienced the Enlightenment is more, well, enlightened than anything else. I love this series. 2/3 of it is perfect.

One of the things I really liked about it is the complete lack of an absolutely evil character, in a reflection of Eastern beliefs that all humans are imbibed with an equal amount of good and evil. Evil exists as a balancing force to good. His combination of Eastern and Western religious and philosophical thought makes for an interesting polemic in the trilogy.

Unfortunately, the series does decline by the end. I was very disappointed in The Amber Spyglass; the events were anti-climatic and did not live up to the suspense in the first two novels. Pullman’s bias shines through in the last novel, which would fine, if it was more subtle.

I must say, this was a disappointing first read for the year. And the next one isn't any better.