Step aside, pops

Step aside, Pops: a Hark! a vagrant collection / Kate Beaton, 166 pgs.

A comic take on classic literature, feminism, and historical figures, Kate Beaton once again shows us how to be hilarious and somewhat serious at the same time.  Some of the people featured are obscure historical figures and others are well known.  Ever wonder about the relationship between composers Chopin and Liszt? Maybe you can find your insight here.  What if Cinderella's fairy godmother had made her a body builder instead of a garden variety babe? Wondering how the founding fathers would react to a modern mall?  Clearly Jefferson would buy a singing fish.  Always great, Beaton encourages thinking.

Middlemarch

Middlemarch: a study in provincial life / George Eliot 852 pgs.

Another of our big books for summer, Middlemarch is widely considered a masterpiece of English fiction.  I can understand why it is so well regarded.  Full of social criticism and details about a variety of relationships in Middlemarch, a fictional town thought to be based on Conventry.  Originally released in serial form, the eight books chronicle the comings and goings of many characters, some of whom are a little hard to sympathize with but all seem realistic.  Characters are not caricatures.  Eliot does a wonderful job creating quotable and memorable passages.

Truly one of those books that you want to turn around and start reading again as soon as you finish.  For my time, this is the best summer reading choice we've made so far.

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My life in Middlemarch

My life in Middlemarch / Rebecca Mead 293 pgs.

What does it mean to read a book deeply?  Why should you re-read books?  How can a book affect your life? Rebecca Mead considers these and many more questions in her book about her favorite work of literature, George Eliot's Middlemarch.  I loved learning more about George Eliot and to be honest, liked getting an overview of Middlemarch since I'll be starting that next as a part of our Big Book Summer at UCPL.  There are books that are fun to dash through and books that you should spend more time on...Middlemarch will certainly be something that takes more time and thought.

Also loved the narrative on some of Mead's research.  Wandering around in many libraries and also some of the places that Eliot lived and wrote about...what could be more fun?

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The Odyssey

The Odyssey/Homer by Seymour Chwast  124 pp.

As he did for Canterbury Tales and Dante's Inferno, Chwast created his own graphic novel take on The Odyssey. The essentials of the story is there with some humorous additions. The ships in the story are spaceships, Circe is dressed in Wonder Woman style, Odysseus uses an electric shaver, Mercury uses a jetpack, and more wonderful weirdness. Of the three Chwast versions of classics, I liked this the best.

Les Miserables

Les Miserables/Victor Hugo 1364 pgs.

It makes me laugh that you think I'm going to do a summary of this 1300+ page book right here. Ok, if you insist.  Whatever you thought you knew about Les Mis from the movie or musical is such a minor part of the book.  Sure, there is Jean Valjean, Cosette, Fantine, and Javert but there are SO MANY MORE.  You don't get a 1300 + page count based on 5 characters.  In addition to the story, Hugo takes this opportunity to write extensively about the events of the day, famous people, and just about anything that was on his mind.  I have to say, it is very unlikely that I could have finished this book on my own but with the great support from the adult summer reading group here at UCPL, it was a pleasure to hear what others had to say about the parts I didn't "get" the first time around.  Viva le Paris!

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