Headlong Hall

Headlong Hall by Thomas Love Peacock
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The satire is very heavy-handed, so it was somewhat dull, but fortunately brief. :) The satire is predominantly about three schools of philosophy: those who think that human progress in science/technology is positive, those who think it's a negative thing & that we were better off when humans were hardly more than apes, and the third that the positives & negatives pretty much cancel each other out. It was all right and would - should - be used in courses that examine satire as socio-political commentary, but isn't as entertaining to read simply because it is so heavy-handed. Of course, it doesn't help that I wasn't sure what to expect and was hoping for a sort of 19th Century gothic novel. Sigh!

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The Medusa Plot (Cahills vs. Vespers #1)

The Medusa Plot by Gordon Korman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So this book is the first in the series that I read as a book rather than listened to in the car as an audiobook. It was a little bit harder to get into, but was still compelling once I got going. :) The authors working on the series weave a great story! :D It's nice to see more of some of the minor characters from the first series too - in particular Sinead. It's also nice to see the characters working together again, but one can tell that this alliance is still fragile.

Recommend reading the 39 Clues series first. If you liked that, you'll like this continuation series. :)

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O, Pioneers!

O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think what I like about Cather's novels is their 19th century characters confronting the turn of the century and it's upcoming shift into "modernity." Changes in season that have always existed mirror changes in technology and values. How the characters interpret or confront those changes are really the interesting part in her stories. I also respect that while Cather admires the pioneer people (often, but not always Scandanavian immigrants) none are portrayed as perfect. All her characters are flawed in some way and even the "happy endings" are more accurately described "not as tragic as it could've been." It makes them hard to read because they bring out the pessimist in me & I am relieved at the end that few of the things that I imagine happening really do.

I think that with so many of the characteristics of modernist novels, that these are a good choice for introducing those concepts to high school readers since it does have an overall plot, chapters, punctuation, etc... that make others (Woolf, Joyce, among others) more difficult for teens to approach. That being said, these novels are not for everyone. I think having a Midwestern youth helps me a bit, but isn't necessary for appreciation.

And for my skeptical friends, she does kill several characters during the course of the novel.



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