Never give up anything you can't go a day without thinking about

• Flowers in the Attic:  Firstly, I must say that I love the cover to pieces.  I do.  I have made icons out of the cover.  Now, as for the book itself - it has been quite a while since I have read a book so badly written, it is true.  It was written in first-person narration, but that is no excuse, really - the dialogue and actual actions were all excessively dramatic and unrealistic.  Oh, especially the dialogue.  Perfectly ridiculous.
  So, there is the question now why I was never tempted to toss it aside, or really had to force myself to keep going, and even why I stayed up really late some nights because I didn't want to put it down.
  There was definitely a v. romantic element to it all - besides the whole relationship between the brother and sister, obviously.  But I was v. anxious to see what would happen to them, especially between Christopher and Cathy - yes, I was rather looking forward to a certain scene and how it would come about. 
  
  
• Oscar Wilde: The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays:  Ooh, I've wanted to read Oscar Wilde for ages (still want to read The Portrait of Dorian Gray) and a most wonderful friend gave me this book of his plays.  I finished it in very short order.
  First, there was Salomé, and that was v. interesting.  The beginning threw me off because it didn't seem to be...good...but I assumed that, like Shakespare, it was meant to be acted rather than read.  But it did get more interesting toward the end.  Especially the very end.
  Then there was Lady Windermere's Fan, and ooh, that was really good.  I liked how it started off so humorous and light but turned out to be so very serious.  Extremely well done, v. touching too.  Now for a quote:
  
  Dumby: Good-evening, Lady Stutfield.  I suppose this will be the last ball of the season.
  Lady Stutfield: I suppose so, Mr. Dumby.  It's been a delightful season, hasn't it?
  Dumby: Quite delightful!  Good-evening Duchess.  I suppose this will be the last ball of the season?
  Duchess of Berwick: I suppose so, Mr. Dumby.  It has been a very dull season, hasn't it?
  Dumby: Dreadfully dull!  Dreadfully dull!
  Mrs. Cowper-Cowper: Good evening, Mr. Dumby.  I suppose this will be the last ball of the season?
  Dumby: Oh, I think not.  There'll probably be two more.
  
  Lastly, The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People.  Hee, yes, it was v. light and trivial, as he said.  Entertaining; I liked the way it turned out and everything fit together; but I actually think I like Lady Windermere's Fan more.
  After reading both of the last two, I was left with a certain, educated impression of the high Victorian social class that I quite appreciated.  Was intriguing.
  
  
• Stardust:  My first (of what will surely be many) Neil Gaiman book!  Was extremely impressed with just about everything about it - from the writing style to the plot and the characters.  The plot, especially, left an impression as being practically flawless - everything woven together exactly right, with the introduction of all the players and how they are each finished off.  I loved how the love was there, but it was understated and so simply done; and how everything wound down.  I was afraid at first that it would be melodramatic and cliche and Sue-ish after all, but then he did it in such an amusing manner, it was perfect.  The humor, too, was so simple.  But I've already recommended it to both of my parents, and to anyone.
  I was surprised, in the introduction, that it was originally set in a "real" place, in England, though it later made good sense.  I was also initially surprised by the description of the two sex scenes (well, only really surprised by the first, of course) - it just seemed like in that kind of fantasy book, it's really meant for children.  And then, of course, the single use of "fuck."  But I did love the introduction and how everything was set up.  Beautifully done.
  A couple quotes:
  
  First the light in the sky was no bigger than the moon, then it seemed larger, infinitely larger, and the whole grove trembled and quivered and every creature held its breath and the fireflies glowed brighter than they had ever glowed in their lives, each one convinced that this at last was love, but to no avail....
  And then -
  There was a cracking sound, sharp as a shot, and the light that had filled the grove was gone.
  Or almost gone.  There was a dim glow pulsing from the middle of the hazel thicket, as if a tiny cloud of stars were glimmering there.
  And there was a voice, a high clear, female voice which said, "Ow," and then, very quietly, it said, "Fuck," and then it said "Ow," once more.
  And then it said nothing at all, and there was silence in the glade.
  
  "Then," said Yvaine, picking her words with care, "you are not marrying Tristran Thorn?"
  "No," said Victoria.
  "Oh," said the star.  "Good."  And she sat down again.
  

Three books this time - two of which are terribly delayed.

( The Penultimate Peril - book the twelth of A Series of Unfortunate Events. Under a cut for a good friend of mine who hasn't read it yet. )

A single quote, on page thirty-five of three hundred forty - Artemis is posing as a normal teenager to break into a bank:

Bertholt smiled with the insincerity a toddler could have seen through. "Alfonse, nice to meet you."
"Dude," said Artemis, with equal hypocrisy.

Those two lines are just...love. The next few lines are amusing, but not such love.

Butler shook his head. "My son does not communicate well with the rest of the world. I look forward to the day when he can join the army. Then we will see if there is a man beneath all these moods."

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.