The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas

Read and reviewed in August, 2012, released later.

An interesting and exciting classic. The story of an innocent man, wronged and sent to prison for the rest of his life. He makes a seemingly miraculous escape, and sets about to reward those who remained his faithful friends and to punish those who harmed him.

All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque

Read and reviewed in August, 2013. It is no longer in my possession.

I'd been putting off reading this because I didn't think I'd like a book about war. I was wrong; so far I am liking it, getting to know the men in Bäumer's platoon, on the German side of World War I. Quite a different perspective for me!

Even though the Germans were my country's enemy, these were just an ordinary group of young men in their late teens, forced to go to war against other young men for whom they had no animosity. War is a terrible thing.

"... a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war." (from the author's introductory note)

First copyrighted in Germany in 1928; this is a paperbook published by Fawcett Crest in 1987.

The Mayor of Casterbridge, by Thomas Hardy

Book image courtesy of Google Images

Read, reviewed, and released in May, 2011

This book has some very unexpected plot twists that hold the interest. It begins with a man selling his wife and infant daughter at a fair. She finds him years later, and he remarries her, although there are other complications in his life. She, too, is keeping a significant secret from him. It is a morality tale, describing the rise and fall of a man who cannot escape his inherent character.

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

Read and reviewed August, 2006. Released at the 2007 Bookcrossing Convention

A genuine classic. Harsh language, but necessary to the characters and the plot.

It was quite intense, about two men who are hired ranch hands. One, Lenny, is mentally "challenged" in today's terminology, and totally depends on George to take care of him and smooth things out when he gets in trouble. He does get in trouble repeatedly, because of his love, his obsession with soft things, and because when George is absent, or unprepared, others bait him to unintentional violence. The ending is very powerful, and unexpected.

The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton

Read, reviewed, and released in April, 2009

It was a difficult book to get through; Mrs. Wharton's writing style is very tedious. Of course, she was writing for a much different audience, people who had more time to read, but even so, I enjoy Jane Austen and Charles Dickens more.

Lily Bart first struck me as a spoiled, selfish, heedless, and arrogant young woman. She tried unsuccessfully to keep up with "Society" of 1890s New York City, spending more money than she had to impress the "upper crust." She did show strength of character in that, even though she was accused of sexual immorality, and ostracized because of the rumors, and living in extreme poverty, she never succumbed to it. She made many foolish decisions, which slowly but surely led to her downfall.

A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens

Book image courtesy of Google.com

Read, reviewed, and released the the 2007 Bookcrossing Convention in April, 2007

This story will remain with me a long time. It has already spurred my curiosity and desire to learn more about the French Revolution.

Some thoughts on the French Revolution as depicted by Dickens:

"Along the Paris streets, the death-carts rumble, hollow and harsh. Six tumbrels carry the day’s wine to La Guillotine. All the devouring and insatiate Monsters imagined since imagination could record itself, are fused in one realization, Guillotine. And yet there is not in France, with its rich variety of soil and climate, a blade, a leaf, a root, a sprig, a peppercorn, which will grow to maturity under conditions more certain than those that have produced this horror. Crush humanity out of shape once more, under similar hammers, and it will twist itself into the same tortured forms. Sow the same seed of rapacious license and oppression over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind."

For some reason, I find myself comparing the American Civil Rights Movement to the French Revolution. Dickens suggested that the cruel oppression of the peasants and working classes by the French aristocracy led to the violent excesses of the Revolution. African Americans were cruelly oppressed in the years following post-Civil War Reconstruction, culminating in an explosion of violence against them when they began to demonstrate for equal civil rights from the mid-1950s until the 1970s, yet for the most part they did not meet violence with violence. Yes, there were some riots in the streets of some cities, and they were horrible for those who suffered from them, but the usual course of action was in peaceful demonstrations and marches. I believe this was in large part due to the Christian influence of the most prominent leaders, who were mostly church pastors.

Looking at the French Revolution as described by Dickens, and at the American Civil Rights Movement, I believe the United States of America owes a huge debt of gratitude to the African American leaders who stood for peaceful resistance in spite of tremendous pressure from white oppressors and from blacks who advocated fighting fire with fire. This must have been an extremely difficult decision to make and to maintain.

It could have been tempting to declare a violent revolution of retribution, erupting in riots in every city and town, and widespread chaos. However, by peaceful methods, a revolution of laws, gradually working itself into our hearts has and is taking place. No one is any more denied admission to any public place, or employment, or education, or service, or care or treatment based on race or skin color.

Death Comes for the Archbishop, by Willa Cather

I read this book and reviewed it on Bookcrossing in June, 2003. It is no longer in my possession.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book;it was slow in places, but that's all right; it was relaxing.
Willa Cather painted beautiful word pictures of the people and places she wrote of, and I felt
as if I knew the priest and his friends personally.

Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo

I read this book in 2008; it is no longer in my possession. It took me several months, as it is so long and I am not a fast reader. I thoroughly enjoyed it (mostly; parts of it bogged down a bit, to be honest).

Beware, there are spoilers in this review.

Jean Valjean's life story is a perfect example of what salvation can do in a person's life. He was a bitter, angry man. Society had failed him, and he had no friend in the world. No one would give him a chance, or even a piece of bread, or a place to lay his head at night. Until he met the kind and loving Bishop, who took him in, fed him, and covered up for him by giving him the silver he had stolen from him the night before.
The Bishop showed Christ to him. "I was a stranger and you took me in." He forgave the theft of his valuables, and made a gift of it, telling him by his actions, "Go, and sin no more."Jean had a struggle with his soul after that encounter, as we all do. Accept Christ and His mercy and forgiveness, and follow Him by showing His love to others? Or continue in our sin, go on hating our enemies and seeking revenge, grabbing what we can, stepping on anyone who gets in our way? He tried by his own strength to live up to the Bishop's standard, but failed miserably when he encountered a boy who lost a coin. Stepping on it, Jean refused to let the child have it, threatening him until the boy ran away. Immediately, he was plunged into deepest despair, bitter conviction, acknowledgment that he was a sinner in need of the Savior. It's not an easy decision, and it must be made daily. There are many temptations along the way. Jean became a wealthy man, a leader in his community. A woman was fired from his factory; he could ignore her and send her away, or choose to seek medical care for her, be with her in her last moments, care for her child after her death.Jean Valjean, a man of wealth and power, got down on his knees in the mud to rescue a workman pinned under a heavy cart, knowing that this action would lead to suspicions from his old enemy, Inspector Javert. Later, when Javert's suspicions were allayed by the arrest of another man thought to be Valjean, it would have been so easy to let the mistake stand. To let another man be imprisoned for life in his stead. Another struggle with his conscience, with God. In the end, he chose to do the hard thing, the right thing. He came forward and revealed his true identity, bringing himself (now no longer a young man) and the young Cosette back to a life of running and hiding. Valjean later aligns himself with a revolution against the French government. Inspector Javert, now a spy of the government who has infiltrated the protesters' headquarters, has been discovered and is tied up awaiting death at their hands. Valjean agrees to do it, but instead frees Javert, his old enemy who had devoted his life to his pursuit and ruin. Javert, conflicted by his devotion to law and duty and his debt to Valjean, a criminal, threw himself off a bridge. He could not reconcile justice and mercy. This is the contrast between the two: Javert is stern, unforgiving, a symbol of righteousness and justice, law and order. He knows no mercy, no compassion. The law must not be waived for anyone, for any reason. Valjean, who is shown forgiveness and grace, comes to exemplify mercy, compassion, and unselfish love.

In 2012, the movie based on this novel was in theaters. I found it a very moving film, and wonderfully close to the plot of the book. Of course, time required that parts were omitted, but it was very well done.