Finished: Lost Illusions (de Balzac). A long book, with some lovely, but depressing, writing, some deep thoughts, and some heartbreaking characters! I do enjoy the depth that de Balzac goes into...and the ideas he forces you to analyze and think about as you read his story. I'm not always along for that ride...much preferring to just read a nice story...but he doesn't get too heavy-handed. He most definitely considers journalists beings who prostitute themselves to the highest bidder for a story, true or not. Anyway....Lost Illusions is the story of two souls, Lucien Chardon and David Sechard, brothers in passion, whimsy, and naivety; brothers-in-law once David marries Lucien's sister, Eve.

Lucien is a gorgeous young poet who has been spoiled and raised above his worthiness in character and means by his sister and his mother. They have done him no service by working their fingers to the bone to give him everything he needs to try and make it in society. Never learning to work hard at anything on his own but being good looking and poetically talented, once Lucien leaves his provincial town for the big city of Paris, he's totally unprepared for the hardships to come. His illusions of a grand, rich life of a successful writer in Paris, with money to spare to send home to his family, are not just lost, but battered, trampled upon, and completely and destructively orchestrated by friends and foes. He ends up back in his provincial town with his tail between his legs...but not before forging his beloved brother-in-law's name to three huge bank notes.

David is a humble, good, educated dreamer. He takes over his father's printing shop, but has no desire to run that business. Instead he wants to focus all his time and energy on developing a new and cheaper kind of paper. He think this will benefit all of France and make him rich and able to provide for his family, including Lucien. He wears pie-in-the-sky blinders the entire story and is completely taken advantage of, and abused by his competitors, his own lawyer, and most especially his own father. His father is one of the most heartless, horrible characters I've ever come across. With no paternal love, he cares only for his money, which is in the hundreds of thousands. He shares not a penny of that with his own son, his wife and baby boy, even grossly overcharging him to buy the family printing shop. Old Sechard, as he's called, is even willing to let David go to prison when Lucien's ill-fated, forged bank notes come due and no one can pay them. David always maintains his love and respect for his father and Lucien, though. He and Eve love each other through thick and thin. Eventually he is freed from jail when he agrees to sell his new paper-making secret to his evil competitor.

In the end, after every one's illusions of a happy life have been shattered, Lucien sells himself to be the secretary of an underhanded character to raise the money needed to free David. Unbeknownst to Lucien, David has already been freed because he sold his new paper method. And, in the very end, Old Sechard dies and leaves David and Eve several hundred thousand francs anyway.

Here are a few snippets of the writing. When David and Lucien meet up again after being college mates:

The ties of this college friendship thus renewed were soon drawn closer by the similarity of their fate and the difference of their natures. Both of them, trained by vicissitudes, possessed that superior intelligence which puts a man on the level of all heights, and yet they were each flung by fate to the lower depths of society. This injustice in their destiny was a powerful bond. Moreover they had both attained to the poetic spirit...

David explaining to Eve that he knows her brother well:

I know him; his is a nature that loves the harvests without the toil. The duties of society will take up his time, and time is the capital of men who have no fortune but their intellect. He loves to shine; the world will excite desires which he will find it hard to satisfy; he will spend money, and earn none....

And, it doesn't help things that all manner of women swoon at his feet:

Every one who came about him assisted in heightening the imaginary pedestal on which he placed himself. Encouraged in his proud beliefs by all, by the jealousy of enemies as much as by the flattery of friends, he walked in an atmosphere of mirage.

As Lucien prepares to follow his older mistress, who has mislead him into thinking she can introduce him into society, to Paris, he is breaking the hearts of his sister and mother...yet they, along with David, scrape together their last francs to send him away in fashion:

When the two friends returned they found Eve and her mother on their knees praying. Though they knew how many hopes this departure might realize, they could only feel at such a moment what they lost in this farewell; happiness to come was dearly paid for by an absence which would break into their lives and fill their minds with perpetual anxiety about Lucien.

   "If you ever forget this scene," said David in Lucien's ear, "you will be the most unworthy of men."

Lucien's illusions about being an "honest" journalist are broken by his fast-talking Parisian "friend", Lousteau, who plans to scam a rich man out of some of his money to support a newspaper:

   "Where to you come from, my lad? That druggist isn't a man, he is only a purse."
   "But your own conscience?"
   "Conscience, my dear fellow, is a stick we take to beat our neighbor with; nobody ever uses it on himself. What the devil are you quarreling with? Chance has done for you in one day a miracle you might have waited years for; and here you are finding fault with its methods!"

After Lucien comes back home to the provincial town, having been responsible for putting David in prison because of the bad bank notes, he sees that he is no longer the light of his sister's eye...her husband is:

   Nevertheless, after the first flow of tenderness had passed, shadows of the truth reappeared. Lucien soon perceived in Eve a difference between her old affection and that she now bore him; David was deeply honored, while Lucien was loved in spite of all. Esteem, the necessary basis of all true sentiments, and the solid material which gives them the security by which they live, was now felt to be wanting between the mother and son, the sister and brother. Lucien felt himself deprived of the perfect confidence they would have had in him but for his lapse in honor. Lucien was pitied; but as to being the glory, the honor of the family, the hero of the hearth, all such fine hopes were gone without recall. 

I do like Honore de Balzac's writing, and I'm sure he'll be on my top author's list when I ever comprise it. I'd like to read at least one more of his books to make sure though. :-)

As I approach ten months of reading and almost 150 books and plays, I thought I'd review all I've read to make sure I remember the stories, the characters, the quotes that I loved. I'll have to do maybe ten books at a time. It will be a big undertaking, but I don't plan to go crazy with it. I just want to make sure I remember things and didn't fly through the books too fast! So, here goes...

A Game of Thrones series: Lord Eddard Stark :-) - Westeros - direwolves - the heart tree - Winter is Coming - Winterfell - Robb Stark - Grey Wind - Jon Snow - Ghost - The Wall - the Night's Watch - The Others - Evil Cersei Lannister - When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground. - Evil Jaime Lannister - Kingslayer - Bran pushed from the window while Summer watches :-( - Evil begets evil....Joffrey - poor Lady - Braavos - tiny dragons - Dany - Drogo crowns Viserys in gold - Tyrion the brilliant Imp - the sky cells - wildfire - the underwater chain - Bron - Mormont - Davos - Yoren - Arya - Needle - Nymeria - Valar Morghulis - Samwell Tarly - King's Landing - Lord Eddard Stark...noooooooo :-( - Sansa - The Hound - Stannis versus Renly - bigger dragons - Jojen - A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. A man who never reads lives only once. - the flaying of Theon - the wildings - the red wedding :-( - Brienne of Tarth - one-handed Kingslayer - Hodor, Hodor - Joffrey is poisoned :-) - the iron throne - Ygritte - You know nothing Jon Snow. - Cersei's naked walk of shame - Prince Aegon - Jon & Ghost :-(

The Help: Mississippi - 1960's - Aibileen - Mae Mobly - You is kind. You is smart. You is important. - Skeeter - Minny - Evil Hilly - Sweet Celia - toilets in the front yard - By the time she a year old Mae Mobley following me around everywhere I go...Miss Leefolt, she'd narrow up her eyes at me like I done something wrong, unhitch that crying baby off my foot. I reckon that's the risk you run, letting somebody else raise you chilluns. - prejudice - segregation - separate toilets - that "one of a kind" chocolate pie - Skeeter writes the book for the help - ...Miss Hilly. That woman gone spend the rest a her life trying to convince people she didn't eat that pie. - Mae Mobley crying for Aibileen as she leaves.

The Hunger Games trilogy: Katniss Everdeen - bow and arrow - hunting with Gale - District 12 - Gale loves Katniss - mockingjay pin - Primrose - Peeta - tributes -cornucopia - the Capitol - Effie Trinket - May the odds be ever in your favor. - Haymitch - young Peeta gives young Katniss bread - Cinna - the girl on fire dress -  battle to the death - arena - Peeta loves Katniss - mockingjay call - Rue - trackerjacks - sponsor gifts - President Snow - rules change...two winners - Katniss plays the game...does she love Peeta or Gale? - mockingjay salute - rebellion - Buttercup the cat - Quarter Quell - Finnick - Cato - Clove - Foxface - landmines - dress turns to mockingjay feathers - cinna is killed - District 13 exists - President Coin - mutated lizards - cake baking helps Peeta's paranoia - Gale leads the rebels against the Capitol - Katniss loves Gale and Peeta - Prim's unruly shirttail - Katniss loses Prim :-( - Snow or Coin...who is more evil? - Katniss kills Coin - Snow is killed - Katniss and Peeta move back to District 12 - years later, the hunger games are no more. Katniss and Peeta are married with 2 children.

Buried Prey: Detective Lucas Davenport series - bodies discovered from a case 20 years before - Davenport flashes back to when he was a rookie cop - dead Jones sisters - wrong killer convicted - bad guy finally caught - that's all I've got!

Finished: Miracle Cure (Coben). I love reading Harlan Coben books! Especially after reading so many classics, many of which take place in such earlier time periods, and many of which, though are amazing literature, don't move at a quick pace. I discovered my first Harlan Coben book at the Portland, Oregon airport. I was looking for a good book to read on the way home to Florida and picked up Tell No One. I was hooked! I read all his books I could get my hands on after that, going back to the beginning with his Myron Bolitar series. However, Coben had two books before the Bolitar series that weren't published until recent years...Play Dead and Miracle Cure. I read Play Dead a while back and finally, finally read Miracle Cure. He puts a little disclaimer note at the beginning to forgive the writings of a twenty-something novice...but I say pooh pooh! I loved it! :-)

Again, Coben has written a page turner with twists and turns and a surprise villain at the end. But, he also wrote about a subject near and dear to my heart...AIDS. The book is about two doctors in 1991 who run a clinic where they are doing experimental testing on patients with AIDS. They appear to have come across a drug that will turn patients from HIV positive to HIV negative, but someone high up doesn't want them to succeed....or so it seems. Some of the twists were easy for me to put on the backburner of my brain, since I've read so many of his books...but I was still happy to read and see things play out. Love my Harlan Coben! Other than his two Junior Novels, I've now read all of Harlan Coben's book. Another one called Six Years comes out this spring. Can't wait!

Even though Harlan Coben tops my list as "most books read by an author"....I do still plan to push Shakespeare over Coben in that category. :-)

Finished: Crime and Punishment (Dostoevsky). Thought-provoking book! A poverty-stricken, ex-university student in St. Petersburg, Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, is the "protagonist". I put that in quotes because I've always thought the protagonist is to be the good person, or hero, or person to root for in the story. If the protagonist is just the main character, then fine. If Rodion Romanovich is supposed to be inherently good, then I have a problem calling him the protagonist. Anyway....Rodion Romanovich is destitute. He must quit the university because he can no longer pay for it. Instead of figuring out a way or taking a job, he sulks in his one-room, dusty, drafty rental. Rodion Romanovich has a mother and sister in the country who worship him, but Rodion Romanovich is all about himself.

Side note: I love reading the Russian books because of their names! Only those people most intimate with Rodion Romanovich call him Rodion. All other acquaintances call him by his first and middle name. Or, they may just call him Raskolnikov. In the Russian naming system, the middle name is always the father's first name with a "ovich" at the end for the guys and a "ovna" attached for the girls. So...Rodion's sister's name is Avdotia Romanovna Raskolnikov. Of course....no one calls her Avdotia. The nickname for Avdotia is Dunia. It gets very confusing!!! Anyway, I love all the names. :-) I can't imagine going through life being called Catherine of David by almost everyone but my family.

So, back to the story. Rodion Romanovich decides that he will kill a nasty, cheating woman who is the local pawnbroker, Aliona Ivanovna, and steal the money she has stashed in her room. She sorely takes advantage of all the struggling people who come to her for money. Rodion Romanovich feels that ridding the world of her would not only rid the world of a horrible influence, but at the same time provide him with the money he needs to get back on his feet and become the great person he is meant to be. However, Rodion Romanovich's thoughts go much deeper than these basic "needs". Rodion Romanovich has an underlying conviction in his soul that there are some people in the world who are geniuses, who are destined for greatness, and who are immune from the laws of the world, i.e., there are people who should be allowed to commit crimes such as murder because their advancement in the world by doing so makes the world a greater place. He justifies these thoughts by referencing "great" people like Napoleon quite a bit. He thinks that surely Napoleon sacrificed many innocent people along his way to greatness, so there must be other geniuses who just need the little push to get started, like himself.

So...Rodion Romanovich kills the pawnbroker and starts on his path to greatness. His path, however, stops in its tracks the instant Rodion Romanovich commits the crime. He panics and is sickened (physically and emotionally) by what he has done. He is also forced to kill Aliona Ivanovna's kind sister who comes upon the scene at the wrong time. Rodion Romanovich takes what little money he can find, but then he is so disgusted that he goes and buries the money and never uses a single bit of it, despite his poverty. At this point the reader discovers that Rodion Romanovich is less disgusted by his actual crime than by his own reaction to the crime. He realizes that if he is so panicked, disgusted, and physically ill, that he must not be one of those geniuses destined for greatness. If he was, he would have been ruthless, cold and calculating...and he would have definitely used the money and power from the killing to fuel himself. Rodion Romanovich spends most of the book vacillating between acting nervously guilty right to the face of the murder detective and haughtily defiant trying to thrown them off his trail. The detective is on to him, and practically tortures him mentally by NOT flat out accusing him until toward the end of the book.

There are some wonderful other characters in the book, by the way. I love Rodion Romanovich's best (really only) friend, who stands by him no matter what, Dmitri Prokofich Razumikhin. He's a true person and a good character. I also love Rodion Romanovich's sister, Dunia. And, of course, Rodion Romanovich falls in love (well, as much as he's capable of feeling something for another person) with Sofia Semionovna Marmeladov, nickname Sonia. (Why is the nickname for Sofia, Sonia???)

The book is very long and complicated, with many other characters....very rich in story! And, it really expounds on the psychological idea behind Rodion Romanovich's theory of great people having the right to commit crimes. Of course, the punishment aspect does come in as Rodion Romanovich is tormented with guilt throughout the entire book until he finally turns himself in.

This is my third Dostoevsky book and I can definitely see why he's considered one of the greatest writers! I'm quite certain, since The Brothers Karamazov was one of my dad's favorite books, that he must have also read Crime and Punishment.

Finished: The Sorrows of Young Werther (Goethe). Awww, what a sad story. Young Werther, age 23, goes to visit a small town near his home in Germany to figure out what he wants to do with his life. He meets Lotte, the oldest sister of a passel of children, left with only their father after the mother has died. She is a truly good soul and is doing her best to raise her brothers and sisters. Werther falls instantly and madly in love with Lotte...and she feels their strong connection at once as well. They are two of like spirits...two peas in a pod. However, Lotte is betrothed to Albert, who she loves. Werther can't find anything wrong with Albert, and they become friends. The entire story is told in letters from Werther back to his dear friend back home. He speaks of his happiness and exploration and the beauty of nature when he first explores the town...and then of his falling for the love of his life, Lotte. Then, of course, he writes of his desolation and despair when Lotte and Albert marry. Werther moves away to go and take a position working in the royal court, but he has misfortunes there as well and questions how long he should remain on this earth. After reconnecting with Lotte and Albert, he loves Lotte as strongly as ever. Albert, though, has decided that Lotte needs to cool her friendship with Werther. It's a moot point, however, because Werther has decided to end his life. After a heart-wrenching scene with Lotte, and an emotional farewell letter, Werther kills himself. Sad. :-( This is supposed to be one of Goethe's most popular writings, along with Faust. I've read them both now, and I do appreciate Goethe's ability to draw me in and make me care! I just can't help thinking that young Werther might have found another love of his life if he'd only given it a chance.

Finished: The Blind Assassin (Atwood). Loved this book by the author of The Handmaid's Tale! I loved the story, loved the writing, loved the surprises, loved it all. :-) The book is actually a story alongside a fictional story within a story, if that makes sense! The story starts with this line, and never lets up....Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge. The narrator is 25 year old Laura's sister, Iris. Iris discovers a book written by Laura and has it published after her death. Portions of the book are interspersed with the actual story of Iris' and Laura's lives until you come to understand that the book is really about a mystery man they were both involved with in real life! And to further complicate matters, the man in the book is a writer who is creating a sci-fi/medieval/mystical story about blind assassins, alien attacks, secret societies, lizard men, and more. He tells his lover a little piece of the story each time they meet....but exactly who is the lover? Of course, I stopped cold at the part of the sci-fi story where the young boys became blinded and were then used as assassins. Did George R. R. Martin read this book? Was it the inspiration for making Arya a blind assassin in The Game of Thrones?? Also interspersed between the story, the fictional book, and the sci-fi story are newspaper clippings of current events, i.e., Laura's death notice, war notices, charity ball notices, other death notices, etc., that also pertain to the story. It's such an intricate, creative, and mesmerizing book. Yet, Atwood writes it all without going off on tangents or using more words than she needs to. Everything is nice and succinct...every sentence, every word, has a purpose. I simply loved it! :-) I believe it's going on my favorites list!!

Some passages I liked. Here is the mystery man's first description of the blind assassins in his sci-fi book:

    The carpets were woven by slaves who were invariably children, because only the fingers of children were small enough for such intricate work. But the incessant close labor demanded of these children caused them to go blind by the age of eight or nine, and their blindness was the measure by which the carpet-sellers valued and extolled their merchandise: This carpet blinded ten children, they would say. This blinded fifteen, this twenty. Since the price rose accordingly, they always exaggerated. It was the custom for the buyer to scoff at their claims. Surely only seven, only twelve, only sixteen, they would say fingering the carpet. 
    Once they were blind, the children would be sold off to brothel-keepers, the girls and the boys alike. The services of the children blinded this way fetched high sums; their touch was so suave and deft, it was said, that under their fingers you could feel the flowers blossoming and the water flowing out of your own skin.
    They were also skilled at picking locks. Those of them who escaped took up the profession of cutting throats in the dark, and were greatly in demand as hired assassins. 

I love this description by the now octogenarian narrator at a school function in Canada, where the book is set:
    The school orchestra struck up with squeaks and flats, and we sang "O Canada!," the words to which I can never remember because they keep changing them. Nowadays they do some of it in French, which once would have been unheard of. We sat down, having affirmed our collective pride in something we can't pronounce. 

The narrator, Iris, speaking of her grandmother. I really liked this in your face statement:
    Also she went in for Culture, which gave her a certain moral authority. It wouldn't now; but people believed, then, that Culture could make you better - a better person. They believed it could uplift you, or the women believed it. They hadn't yet seen Hitler at the opera house.

Iris commenting on the family housekeeper's outspoken opinions:
    "He's new money, anyhow," said Reenie scornfully, surveying Richard Griffen. "Look at the fancy pants." She was unforgiving of anyone who criticized Father (anyone, that is, except herself), and scornful of those who rose in the world and then acted above their level, or what she considered their level; and it was a known fact that the Griffens were common as dirt, or at least their grandfather was. He'd got hold of his business through cheating the Jews, said Reenie in an ambiguous tone -- was this something of a feat, in her books? - but exactly how he had done it she couldn't say. (In fairness, Reenie may have invented these slurs on the Griffens. She sometimes attributed to people the histories she felt they ought to have had.)

Love that last line! Sounds like someone I know, but my lips are sealed. :-)

Finished: Medea (Euripides). I kept waiting to see if this is where the line "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" came from! Alas...the words weren't there, but the actions sure were. Medea is the wife of Jason, of the Greek myth Jason and the Golden Fleece, and the mother of his two young sons. When he returns home from his adventures he informs her that he's going to marry a new wife, the daughter of King Creon. His reasoning is that he'll have more sons by the new wife and the bonds of this royal line will ensure that the royal brothers always protect the non-royal brothers and they'll all have a cushy life together. Of course...he also laments the fact that men can't beget children without the aid of overly emotional women. Anyway....Medea is terribly upset, scorned, betrayed, you name it. She is livid. She starts spewing threats and hatred to the point that King Creon banishes her and her sons from the land. His daughter is going to marry Jason and there's nothing Medea can do about it. Creon gives Medea a one day reprieve on her banishment. She feigns coming to grips with the situation and tells Jason that she understands his reasoning. She knows that she must still be banished but begs that Jason asks for her sons not to be banished. She sends some beautiful robes laced with gold to Jason's new bride-to-be, asking Jason to plead their case. Of course...the robes are also laced with deadly poison. When Creon's daughter puts them on, she dies an agonizing death. When Creon rushes to embrace his child, he is also killed by the poison. Then...the most heartbreaking act of all....Medea will kill her own children so that Jason can feel the epitome of all pain and loss. She also figures, and probably rightly so, that her children will be killed in retaliation by people in the kingdom, so if they're going to be killed anyway, she'll be the one to do it. In a gut-wrenching scene, Medea coos over her children but then kills them. Jason is, as predicted, beside himself. Medea takes the bodies of her young sons and escapes in a chariot not even letting Jason have a final farewell. In their final conversation they blame each other. Jason curses her and blames her for the death of their children. Medea claims that the blame of their death lies with him. Jason started it all by betraying their marriage with another. Zeus would appear to agree with Medea, as Jason tries to invoke his mercy, but his pleas fall on deaf ears.

I can see why this is considered one of Euripides' best works! It's not very long, but so much punch is packed into each verse. I continue to be awed by the writings of these ancient authors, the forefathers of all literature. It's hard to put into words, but just knowing that these first writers took such myths and stories from word of mouth and put them in the forms of books and plays...it's just always amazing to me. So glad I am continuing on this reading adventure! :-)