The Rising and Pride & Prejudice

[lavivi]

Two book reviews.

• The Rising:  Writing style superb, as always.  It's been a while since I read the series so I can't remember if the defect was present before, but now I noticed the biggest flaw was that there were great stretches of dialogue without any narrative - whether "he said" or "He sighed and sat down."  Not that I became confused, but it hurt the scene's smoothness and credibility, particularly in the one where Rayford (main character) is breaking up with his long-time, almost-fiance girlfriend.
  
  On the other hand, I was impressed by the main character's depth.  Going back to the losing fiance-girlfriend - even though she started off as the classic shallow ditz, she exhibited some uniqueness in her beliefs about God and the rest in the final scene when Rayford broke up with her.  I had been amazed by what a complete bitch she was, until then - then I was moved by her pleas.  I saw her side of it, and admired her maturity when they settled terms.
  
  But speaking of "bitch," another thing that definitely subtracted from the book was its refusal to use any swear words.  Oh, for an adult, highly complex novel, it pulls off the lack of normal swearing extremely well - in all cases but the ones that it simply cannot be avoided, when it's used as a noun.  They substituted "bitch," "bastard," and "asshole" alike with "scoundrel."  What kind of word is scoundrel?
  
  Moving on to the story itself...it was about how the Antichrist came to be - his mother, his birth.  There was also an unrelated story going on about the upbringing of Rayford Steele.
  
  The Antichrist's (Nicolae Carpathia) mother was a woman named Marilena.  She's set as a middle-aged, very plain, Romanian professor in Romania.  She's married, but the relationship is not in the smallest way romantic.  They're both very intellectual.  She suddenly feels an unquenchable need for a baby, and simultaneously begins attending classes for, in essence, Satanism.  Then she finds out her husband is gay, which doubly reassures her that there is no chance of his impregnanting her.
  
  At this point I suspected there would be some parallel between this and Jesus's conception - the latter was conceived by the Holy Spirit, so I guessed that perhaps the Antichrist would be conceived by some demon of sorts.
  
  But that wasn't what happened.  Instead, Marilena was impregnanted by sperm donors - yes, two men, who later turned out to be Marilena's husband and his gay lover.  And suddenly, I sense the subtle condemnation of homosexuals.  Ouch.
  
  Marilena also surprised me in the end by her death.  She came across as a weepy woman in some of her first confrontations with her husband, but proved in the ed to be very strong, determined, and resourceful in fighting for her life. (She was murdered by the people on the same side she was.)
  
  The last major parallel was at the very end.  Nicolae at age twenty-four was taken out by Lucifer to endure the same temptations Jesus did.  He fasted forty days in the wilderness, then faced the three temptations - and he took every one of them.
  
• Pride & Prejudice:  I watched the seven-hour long movie some time ago, and so had a vague knowledge of the plot and some turn of events as I read.
  
  I always enjoy reading a book with the eloquence of having been written in the 1800's.  Jane Eyre is a supreme example (along with being a general favorite of mine), along with the less-liked Wuthering Heights.
  
  Since I don't have a copy of either on hand, I can't compare the complexity of the language and setence structure to that of Pride & Prejudice.  Regardless, I did not have much difficulty at all with it.  There was perhaps one sentence in every fifteen or twenty pages that I had to reread in order to make certain I understood the subject of the pronouns or demonstratives.  But throughout, I highly enjoyed the wit and general cleverness of both the narrative and the dialogue. 
  
  With that said - the beginning of the book did not capture my attention.  After the first quarter of the way in, though, I was much more engrossed.
  
  Mr. Bennet was my absolute favorite.  The four excerpts I'm about to show are all by him.  I loved his snarkiness and detachment from his wife's affairs - what else can an intelligent man do, with such a wife?
  
  "Very well.  We now come to the point.  Your mother insists upon your accepting it.  Is it not so, Mrs. Bennet?"
  "Yes, or I will never see her again."
  "An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth.  From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents.  - Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do."
  
  Few parts of the book actually made me smile widely or laugh aloud, but that did both.
  
  "This is an evening of wonders, indeed!  And so, Darcy did everything; made up the match, gave the money, paid the fellow's debts, and got him his commission!  So much the better.  It will save me a world of trouble and economy.  Had it been your uncle's doing, I must and would have paid him; but these violent young lovers carry everything their own way.  I shall offer to pay him tomorrow; he will rant and storm about his love for you, and there will be an end of the matter."
  
  If you have not read the book, know now that Wickham is a despicable character who seduced Mr. Bennet's most foolish daughter, and nearly forever ruined the family's honor.
  
  "...Much as I abominate writing, I would not give up Mr. Collins's correspondence for any consideration.  Nay, when I read a letter of his, I cannot help giving him the preference even over Wickham, much as I value the impudence and hypocrisy of my son-in-law."
  
  "I admire all my three sons-in-law highly," said he.  "Wickham, perhaps, is my favourite; but I think I shall like your husband quite as well as Jane's."
  
  The ending in particular was the best.  Elizabeth/Darcy and all the details of their joyful ending made me delightfully happy.  It's an old-fashoined sort of happiness, the feel-good kind, where everything turns out wonderfully well, but that does not lessen the enjoyment.
  
  If I was forced to find a flaw, it would be with the transformation of Mr. Darcy's character.  It was rather sudden, and insufficiently explained for the degree of its radical change.

Comments

[mortal-maiden.livejournal.com]

Oooh. Wuthering Heights! I really like that book. I like Pride and Prejudice a lot, too. Sentence structure wise, Wuthering Heights is definitely the more complex. There are some seriously HUGE sentences in that book! The wording is sometimes (um, understatement!) confusing, too. You get used to it, though.

^_^ I love Mr. Darcy. I'm not sure why, exactly, but I do. And I used to pretend I was Elizabeth Bennet, especially since that's my first name, and my last name starts with a "B". ::laughs:: My crush would always be called "Mr. Darcy" between my friends and me. [lol]

[lavinialavender.livejournal.com]

Thanks...lol, I was about to ask, "who are you again?" Then I took a second look at the screenname. But I always connected Celeste with Estie...

Eh, I didn't like Wuthering Heights, for the plot and story, not the writing style. I'm pretty sure I wrote a review of it somewhere...*goes off to look*

[lavinialavender.livejournal.com]

Ah, here it is. Very last one. (http://www.livejournal.com/users/_lavinia_/26456.html)

[calliopeia17.livejournal.com]

Just wanted to say yay Pride and Prejudice! I really do love that book! :) Glad you liked it, too.