The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

Another BOTM Club read.  I went into it dreading it, thinking it was going to be another boring classic.  I was wrong, I loved it!  I loved the conversational style of writing, and the ease of reading.  
The hero-narrator of The Catcher in the Rye is an man-child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caulfield.  Holden leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days. Finally his little sister is able to bring him home, and from there he is in a rest home for metal distress, which is where he is telling this story from.  But nobody really reads book reviews for the plot summary, they want to know what someone else thinks of the book.  If you want a plot summary, read the back cover.
I think Salinger did a great job of capturing a teenager character, when I read Holden's thoughts I can totally picture the greaser teenager rebel boy from the 50's, trying so hard to be a "cool" guy. Do you remember being a teenager and thinking you knew it all and nobody, especially not an ADULT could understand you or your problems?  Salinger captured that feeling and made me remember those many years gone.
And of course a teenager thinks he is better than everyone else, teenagers are egotistical beyond belief, that is what drives their parents so nuts. I mean to an extent teenager think about other, but mainly they think about themselves and what will may them the coolest or most popular. I think Salinger did a great job of capturing the teenager mindset in Holden. Nobody understands him and when he is talking to his professors you can get that he knows the adult is trying to help him, but how can he help Holden if he doesn't understand where Holden is coming from?  I remember as a teenager that we picked stupid fashion, and clung to it as a way to express our individuality, the hunting hat just leads more credence to the teenager persona. I'm trying to think of something stupid that was big when we were kids, the only thing that comes to mind is the guys in high school wearing those stupid dog choke chains as necklaces, but I'm sure there were other things.
Holden also has a ton of misconceptions about women, and I’m not sure if that is his nativity or the era. Although he does seem to be a flop with women, mainly I think because of his misconceptions of them.  Gosh teenage romance was always more dramatic than it needed to be, too many hormones and not enough confidence. Holden didn’t interact with girls anywhere in a mature way because he thought he might look uncool, then he gest frustrated with himself for not speaking up.   Then when a classmate  (Stradlater) has a date with Jane (a girl Holden likes) he get jealous and starts a fight for no apparent reason, or at least no apparent reason to the other guy.  Again falls inline with teenage character acting without thinking.
I think that lately all the teenagers in books are these deep, profound, mature characters. Teenagers aren't really like that, they are whiny, self-centered and conflicted. They often have shallow thoughts and come up with hair-brained ideas, that an adult would never do because they have too much sense to do stupid stuff. Teenagers cuss a lot, because especially in the 50's, it was a taboo thing, they were not supposed to use that language and to rebel its goddamn this and goddamn that.   It makes me laugh a little at my lack of annoyance at Holden, I usually have low tolerance for self-centered characters. But I am able to remember what drama teenagers create in their own lives, and how disconnected from adults that they can feel. I get it, I get what Salinger is trying to do he has captured a teenager boys perspective of the world around him during a troublesome time.
Holden is quite the liar, he lies to everyone, although they aren’t malicious lies, in fact they are almost benevolent lies, when he tell the kid’s mom that the guy is swell and was nominated for class president, it was to make her feel better not himself. And I know a liar is a liar, I just find it interesting that the nature of his lies are for the benefit of others and not so much himself.
This kid has lost a brother and I bet he is having so many problems in school and with people because he probably didn't really deal with the death, it was the 50's its not like they put him in grief counseling, he was expected to be a man and just get over it. Remember in the 50's men were men and not emotional, so how does a teenager who has tones of puberty hormones and emotions also deal with the grief at the loss of his brother, he takes it out on the world around him.   I think Holden is just a very lonely boy, who is trying to find someone, anyone he can connect with. I think that is why he asks such oddball questions of complete strangers and gets so upset when they don’t respond in a kind manner. I think it was another cry for attention when he just wanted to talk to the prostitute, a bit cliché but still it is what it is.  I think the questions are trying to find a deeper meaning in life and death.
I think Holden is still just trying to deal with Allie’s death, he is really focusing on his memories of his brother and trying to deal with them on his own, it makes me sad for him. Also the poor kid got his ass kicked twice in one day, I wonder if he is looking for fights because the physical pain of getting his ass kicked takes away from the emotional pain of missing his brother.
I thoroughly enjoyed  this book, and I love the line "I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot." To me it summed up so many teenager contradictions, I have actually thought about this line multiple times since I read the book. What was Holden getting at, did he mean that he read a lot, but didn't retain what he read? Did he mean he read a lot, but not what would be considered by Adult's to be good books? Did he mean that he read a lot, but that he didn't understand what he was reading? Did he mean he read a lot of types of books, not just a genre?   Someone who reads a lot can't be illiterate, by definition. But Holden is using the word to express other people's standards. I think that what he really means is "I don't read what they want me to read, but I read a lot."  Throughout the book Holden does what he wants, but it still doesn’t make him feel good.  That element of approval is missing, and so he reads a lot, but not what would be approved, and so he fails again.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin

This is another of my Book of the Month club reads. 

The Bennett's have five unmarried daughters—from oldest to youngest, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia—and Mrs. Bennett is desperate to see them all married.  When the news that a wealthy bachelor Charles Bingley has rented the manor of Netherfield Park, Mrs. Bennett begins scheming to marry one of her daughters to him.  At a ball that the Mr. Bingley and the Bennett girls attend we are introduced to Mr. Bingley’s friend Mr. Darcy.  Mr. Bingley is quite taken with Jane, and Mr. Darcy is quite untaken with Elizabeth.  Over the weeks as he interacts more with Elizabeth this begins to change.  There is a mysterious fiancé and hurt feelings, but in the end Jane and Mr. Darcy reconcile and marry.  This is classic Austin, I know that she has many fans and I know that when she was writing she lived in a different era for women, but I am just not able to reconcile the facts with me feelings.  Being a on a constant husband hunt bores me, and yes Jane does assert some independence, but she is still a husband hunter who fears being a spinster school teacher.  At least she isn’t willing to settle for the first bloke that asks or she would have been unhappily married to Mr. Collins, so there were some indicators of a strong woman.  I think this is one of the reasons I can’t classic literature, I always want the heroine to say the hell with it and decide not to succumb to society and run off and become a successful businesswoman who never marries, even though I know it will never happen.  Overall, though once my irrational suffrage rights feelings are set aside, it wasn’t a bad book.  Little long winded in some spots, but that is the genre.  Austen is a classic because she is a good writer and she tells a good tale.  Overall I would say it was a 3 star read.

Book Three of Merlin’s Decedents: Guardians of the Vision by Irene Radford

This is the third book in a series of novels focusing on the mythical bloodline of Merlin. This story is set about 300 years after “Guardian of the Trust,” which places the story in the 16th century. The protagonist of this novel is mainly Griffin Kirkenwood, but he shares the limelight with his twin brother Donovan Kirkenwood.  The historical facts of this installment focus on Queen Elizabeth’s reign in England and the conflict with Mary Queen of Scots.  By switching the protagonist to a male character, the story lost much of its appeal the prior two novels had held for me.  Griffin and Donovan were not strong enough characters to make me want to read about them.  In fact, this book has been dragging on for more than a month, I am unable to get into the storyline and I feel no affection for the brothers.  I just keep praying the story will end soon, which is the main theme of the story.  Griffin is on a spiritual journey to find his faith, he has become a catholic priest and has let his magic lay fallow, as a result chaos almost takes England.  The premise of the story is interesting on its own but Radford just was unable to follow through.  Overall this was a very tedious read, and I had to force myself to continue with the book to the end.

Book Two of Merlin’s Decedents: Guardian of the Trust by Irene Radford

This is the second book in a series of novels focusing on the mythical bloodline of Merlin. This story is set about 800 years after “Guardian of the Balance,” which places the story in the 13th century. The protagonist of this novel is Resmiranda Griffin, nicknamed Ana.  She is the descendent of Arthur and Wren many generations down the line.  The story takes place during the rule of King John Plantagenet, best know as the villainous King John from the story of Robin Hood, i.e. Robin Locksley.  This story takes place many years after the Robin Hood tales, Robin Locksley is still against the King, but he is not the main male character nor even still actively antagonizing the King.  The King has been ensorcelled by his half-brother Radburn Blakely who’s mother was half demon.  Blakely wishes to rule Britain and only Resmiranda has the heritage and inherited power to resist him.  While Resmiranda has to fight with herself to embrace her “pagan” magic which is abhorred by her Christian upbringing.
There are many references to places and people from the “Guardian of the Balance” but if you haven’t read “Guardian of the Balance” it does not deter from “Guardian of the Trust".”  As this book deals with a completely new set of characters, the references from “Guardian of the Balance” just give a sense of history behind the story, but doesn't revel plot secrets. 
Radburn does a wonderful job of mixing historical fact with fiction to provide us with a magical tale.  King John is not the villain I thought he was, he is a conflicted and complicated character like most of Radburn’s characters.  And Resmiranda has a deep inner struggle that allows most of the plots conflicts to be internal rather than external.  The writing style of “Guardian of the Truth” was a much easier read than “Guardian of the Balance.”  The story seemed to just flow easily in and out of history seamlessly.  Resmiranda is a strong woman and in a time when women had little power, Resmiranda is written into very powerful role and is very relatable and likable.  This was a quick read for me, I was drawn into the story and couldn’t put it down, I read the whole book in two days.  This felt like a book written by an experienced writer who knows what makes a good story.  Guardian of the Truth is a great historical fiction novel. 

Book One of Merlin’s Decedents: Guardian of the Balance by Irene Radford

This is the first book in a series of novels focusing on the mythical bloodline of Merlin.  This story is set in the late 5th century and early 6th century.  The protagonist of this first novel is Arylwren, nicknamed Wren,  the daughter of Merlin and the goddess whom he serves. Wren grows up in the shadow of and falls in love with the boy who will one day inherit the title of Pendragon. Meanwhile, to protect her from political and religious intrigues, her father forces Wren into a loveless marriage. Wren has a long and difficult journey through life and pursues a destiny spun for her by the goddess of the land, but whose contributions to Briton behind the scenes make her as important as Arthur himself.  Wren must balance the old with the new and her love with her duty.
This is not the first book Radford has ever written, but it feels like it.  The writing style in the first half of the book is rough, and the story line is choppy.  The second half of the book things begin to move smoother as Radford’s writing improves.  During the first half of the book, Radford throws out details regarding many Celtic rituals and Gods with no real enhancement to the storyline, it seems almost as if she want to show off her knowledge rather than enhance her story.  Thankfully, in the second half of the book the Celtic ritual details do enhance the story line and makes the reading much more enjoyable.  It is the second half of the book that drew me in, and I had trouble putting it down.  Radford kept most of the classic Arthurian legend details but her own spin on them that made the story seem fresh and engaging.
The personalities and reasons behind the actions of well known characters such as Morgaine and Merlin mad the story seem new and sometimes I wished for different outcomes than what I knew must happen.  There are also new players to the legend working in the background that add some depth to the story and provide new antagonists to thwart Arthur, Wren and Merlin, and lead to the conclusion that we all know must happen.  For example Nimue, is corrupted by her greed for power and her laziness to complete a task as instructed, if here flaws did not hinder her so, she could have been a larger threat than she was.  But, if her father Carrdoc had not been such a brutal man, she may have been able to user her power for good, and at first I felt sorry for her, in the end she got what her deeds deserved, but I still felt sympathy for the character, which shows that when Radford choose to focus on the story and the characters she could weave a magical tale.  I love that fact that “Guardian of the Balance” follows Arthur and Wren from childhood to death, and sets up the next book to be about their decedents rather than carrying the story of Arthur and Wren.  I am looking forward to “Guardian of the Truth”

Fifty Shades Trilogy

I went through these books so quickly, that I didn’t leave time to do individual reviews of each book, instead I am doing a review of all three read together.  I first heard about his trilogy on Good Morning America, and thought it would be on my future reading list.  Then a friend said she had them and loved them and loaned the trilogy to me.  My friend stated that they were along the lines of Anne Rice’s Sleeping Beauty trilogy, but I find that to be a gross misstatement.  The Fifty Shades Trilogy does have intense sex scenes with Dominant/Submissive tones, but unlike the Sleeping Beauty trilogy there is an actual story and character growth. The characters of Christen Grey and Ana Steele are very likable and wanting to get to know them better kept me turning the pages. 
Fifty Shades of Grey is where were are first introduced to Christen and Ana.  Christine is a vastly wealthy businessman, self made and controlling of all aspects of his life.  Ana is incredibly naïve and yes virginal.  Christen has a very specific type of relationship with women, and Ana must discover if she can provide that, especially since she has never been in a sexual relationship before it tests all her boundaries.  This book is mostly about Ana discovering who she is and what she will and won’t do in a relationship.  Christen is an enigma to both Ana and the reader, and leaves us both hungering for more information and insight into his character. 
Fifty Shades Darker is the next step in Christen and Ana’s relationship.  Christen is willing to test his relationship boundaries to give Ana what she wants and needs from him.  This book is mostly about Christen pushing and expanding his emotional limits.  There is also the excitement of an ex-lover coming for Christen and/or Ana and the suspense of how the unstable woman will attack them next.  I could not put this book down, I think I finished it less than 24 hours.  To me this was the best book of the three, EL James combined suspense, romance, and humor masterfully and the story just unfolded effortlessly and I found myself devouring it.

Fifty Shades Freed we continue with Christen and Ana’s story after they are married and there is yet another unstable person attacking them.  Jack Hyde is after revenge, but revenge for what?  This was the most boring of the three books, the suspense element wasn’t as good as in book two and the sex scenes felt a bit repetitive.  Also, the happy newlyweds did not really inspire me.  They were settling into boring married life, rather than exploring either’s emotional or sexual boundaries as in the first two books.  Still a great read though.

Overall the Darker Shades Trilogy is a great story of relationship boundaries, with some really hot sex scenes thrown in for fun.  The characters are memorable and make you love them within the first few chapters.  Christen and Ana are such extreme opposites and such extreme character types that you can’t help but cheer for their happiness.  Now I understand what all the hype was and agree is a hot summer read.

A River Runs Through It and Other Stories by Norman Maclean

I am part of a book club, we read a book a month. This month we are reading A River Runs Through It and other Short Stories.    There are 3 short stories in this collection.
The 1^st story in the book is A River Runs Through It, this is a story about fishing and family.  It is about the Maclean brothers Norman and Paul in the late 1930’s in Montana.  The narrator is the older brother Norman who talks about a fishing trip with his younger troubled brother and Norman’s attempt to help Paul get straightened out.  The Macleans are a Presbyterian family that describe life through their religion and their passion for fly fishing.  Personally, I found all the fishing commentary boring and tedious, but it is obviously important to MacLean and his story line.
The 2^nd story in the book is Logging and Pimping and “Your Pal Jim, this is a story about Maclean’s summer working as logger with a adversarial partner Jim.  It tells how they spent the summer working against each other instead of with each other.
The 3^rd story in the book is USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook, and the Hole in the Sky, this is a story about MacLean’s time in the forest service.  I was unable to complete this story, by page 16 I was so bored out of my mind I just couldn’t finish reading it.
Personally, I find Norman MacLean’s writing flat and uninteresting.  He narratives of his stories are of his family and experiences, but they are not engaging events.  MacLean seems to focus on unimportant details that have no purpose in the story and he describes these details to a painful degree.  For example, in Logging and Pimping and “Your Pal Jim, he spends an entire page of the story describing Jim’s logging boots and the boots have no significance to the storyline beyond this description.  The stories seem to ramble and do not have a point, there is no epiphany found at the end that gives us a reason to read the story.  In a way, I felt like I was listening to an old man talk about his youth with no point behind his recollections, just a desire to talk and not forget who he was when younger.