A Book List: Intensified

Now, a good long while after I posted my first list of books, I think I'll add a bit to it. I think I'll go through the list and give some explanation of the book (what it's about, why I like it, etc.), and I may add some books and leave some out. We'll see.

Peter Pan by Sir James M. Barrie
As I said in my original post, this is forever on my list and near the top. It's a classic, but it isn't often found alongside classics. It is a familiar children's story (who hasn't seen the movie, musical, or play?), but there is so much more to it. Barrie interjects wit amid the action-packed story with insights into childhood, adulthood, and womanhood.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
This is the title I provide when asked my favorite book. I found it by accident when I was seventeen, and I knew (magically) that this would be my favorite book after reading the opening line: "I write this sitting in the kitchen sink." Cassandra Mortmain is seventeen and an aspiring writer (which is exactly what I was when I picked up this book). Her father is well known himself for having written a groundbreaking novel but since writing it, hasn't written a thing. Their family, which includes an older sister, a younger brother, and a stepmother, has fallen into near-destitution. Luckily for them, a pair of wealthy American brothers arrive in town (in the most Austen-ish way imaginable), and things start to look up. However, nothing is ever that simple.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Have you heard of this book? I hope so. After The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, this is my vote for the Great American Novel. It is an epic story that focuses mostly on Francie Nolan, an Irish-Austrian American girl living in Brooklyn in the second decade of the 20th century, but it also traces her story back to its roots in the stories of her mother, father, and even grandparents. Betty Smith is like an American Dickens, painting portraits of even the most insignificant characters. There is no one two dimensional. Once I had finished reading, I felt like I had spent a lifetime in Brooklyn. As many very good novels do, this one touches on some heavy subjects, so I wouldn't recommend this book for anybody under maybe thirteen.

Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris
This book on the other hand is fabulous for kids of any age, including 19-going-on-20 year olds. It's a funny, easy to read novel that tells the story of Christian, a young inventor who blackmails a kindly troll into letting him live in his cave because at home "there're too many stupid rules." As Christian grows up, he falls for Marigold, the princess who lives in the castle across the river. They've never met, but Christian watches her with his telescope and sends her notes using homing pigeons. You can probably guess how the story will end, but it's the getting there that really makes this book great (and there are still plenty of surprises that will catch you off-guard). This fairytale shows what it means to love another person in a way that classic fairytales never even attempted.

The Piano Tuner: A Novel by Daniel Mason
A quiet piano tuner from London is hired to travel to Burma to tune the piano of an officer stationed deep in the jungle. All throughout his journey, there is something that no one will tell him, but still he journeys on, blindly following the instruction of the British army. Meanwhile, his artist soul falls in love with the Burmese country and its people, and he changes entirely from a blind follower to a man who takes a stand. My summary does this novel little justice. Daniel Mason (on whom I've developed a clandestine infatuation) paints a vivid picture of the landscape, atmosphere, and people. This book put Burma (or Myanmar) on my list of places to go before I die.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Okay, so maybe this is second on my list of Great American Novels. I can't decide. I probably don't need even to write about this one. Mockingbird is one of those books that becomes part of you once you have read it. Jean Louise Finch, better known as Scout, is one of my favorite narrators ever. She is a small girl in segregated Alabama. Her father, the renowned Atticus Finch, is a lawyer whose sense of right and wrong is practically divine. The novel, for the most part, tells the story of a controversial trial in which Atticus Finch defends a black man who most everyone has already decided is guilty, but what changes the story from a courtroom drama to (almost) a coming of age novel is that the point of view is that of a child. Rather than let us as rational adults say, "Yes, I know this is right and that is wrong," we are forced to learn for the first time along with Scout that people can be cruel and the good guys don't always win.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman
If you love the movie, you must read the book. It's just like the movie except that there's more. The characters you love are given backgrounds of such depth that after reading the book, it's hard to comprehend that viewers of the movie can be satisfied with just what is shown there. William Goldman also wrote the screenplay, so you need not worry about plots changing between the two. There really isn't anymore to say. If you like true love or dazzling swordfights or brilliant rescues or seemingly hopeless plights, there is no question that you will enjoy this book.

So that's fewer than I intended, but really, I can't go on. I have actual academic reading to do for class, and my room mate is beginning to give me odd looks. I've been sitting at this computer for too long.