Revolution and Turmoil, Uproar and War

Peace is onle the time between two wars. This German proverb seems very appropriate to me considering that I currently seem to be haunted by riots and rebellion, literary at least.
Coincidentally everything I have been reading recently deals with these themes in all variations, from the French Revolution in A Tale of Two Cities and Les Misérables over World War II and a nameless uproar in The Caucasian Chalk Circle to the American Civil War in Little Women.
War and violent conflicts are of course something horrible, but it is very interesting to observe how different authors use them differently in their works.

Dickens for example is a clear pacifist and describes the terror of the French Revolution so vividly that I cried not only for Sydney Carton but for all the other innocent and nameless people who were murdered in reality.
He uses the novel to warn his readers of what can happen if anger wins over reason and self-administered justice rules over pity.
Victor Hugo in contrast seems not to fully share Dickens's view of the revolution as a series of inhuman crimes, from what I have read until now he apparently regards it as a necessary evil. In my opinion he thinks the revolution was essential for creating a better society, but perhaps I am mistaken because Les Misérables starts after Napoleon's reign, when the terror is long over.
Later in the book Hugo will also focus on the June rebellion, so maybe my impression of his political position changes completely once I have read that.

In The Caucasian Chalk Circle the motive of the uprising is mainly character development. Brecht follows the rule that we only show our true selves in extreme conditions, so the riots are simply his device of putting his characters under pressure. His noblemen act mostly cowardish as soon as they are threatened whereas some of his poor, oppressed people prove their courage and their wits.

The portrayal of the Civil War was in fact the only thing about Little Women I didn't like because it rather unsettled me. All the characters seem to regard the war as something thoroughly positive although Mr March is severly wounded and thousands of other soldiers die. I don't know if that was simply the spirit of that time, but for a modern reader this tolerant representation is pretty shocking, especially visible in the following excerpt:

“I think you would if you had Laurie for a pupil. I shall be very sorry to lose him next year,” said Mr. Brooke, busily punching holes in the turf.
“Going to college, I suppose?” Meg’s lips asked the question, but her eyes added, “And what becomes of you?”
“Yes, it’s high time he went, for he is ready, and as soon as he is off, I shall turn soldier. I am needed.”
“I am glad of that!” exclaimed Meg. “I should think every young man would want to go, though it is hard for the mothers and sisters who stay at home,” she added sorrowfully.

Perhaps this truly was the general opinion, but I would find it very upsetting (and rude) if someone told me they were glad I went to war!

On the whole, reading so much about killing and rebellion I am indeed thankful to live in a country which doesn't even have a real army and hasn't needed one in half a century. Oh, and I am looking forward to reading something more peaceful soon, a really kitschy romance would be fine!

 

Little Women and the Quintessence of Childhood

Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is unquestionably one of the most popular and appreciated classics of all times, but what exactly is it that you love about it? Is it that flicking through the pages stirs memories of the ease and happiness of your own childhood? Is it the light yet captivating story or the amiable characters? Is it the whole atmosphere of blissful days at home with your family? For me it is neither of these.

I picked the novel up for the first time last weekend, and I could not have chosen a better book during my Readathon since I found it almost impossible to put it aside. It's not that the plot was so thrilling, but I was turning the pages feverishly because I was so interested in the development of the "little women".
While I didn't find any of the girls to fully identify with, I share certain personality traits with all of them (Jo's love for books, Beth's shyness towards strangers and Meg and Amy's social ambitions namely) and cared deeply for every single one of the young ladies, to the point of crying when I thought Beth would die.
For me, the most fascinating thing about this book is that the March girls are all children in the beginning; children who are slowly growing into independent young women.
They are children because in their little world everything is possible, anything can happen and the future holds all possibilities for them.
The true magic of childhood is freedom, the freedom to have a whole life with hundreds of chances before you. As a child you have all your future before you and you have not yet had to choose one path in life, letting go of all other possibilities. The quintessence of childhood is that a child's most difficult decision is between strawberry and vanilla ice cream.

Perhaps I am especially sensitive to the girls' process of growing up because I am in the middle of it myself, but I found it extremely intriguing to watch them overcome their little flaws and vanities and at times I caught myself thinking "The whole world is open for them, why shouldn't it be for me?"
Those were the times when I grew rather sad because I noticed that I am already thinking a lot like an adult.
In my opinion Little Women is one of those books all of us should read every now and then just so that we do not forget what it was like to be a child.
Don't get me wrong, I don't mean we should dwell on nostalgic thoughts of the good old times, no, I mean something entirely different. Call me childish, but I think the world would be a better place if we all remembered this feeling of our youth sometimes.
The feeling that we can do and become whatever we want as long as we try hard enough.

Hooray-Term's-over!-Readathon

Term's over, grades are good; time to celebrate!

After seemingly infinite days it is finally here: I announce my Readathon for opened!
Again a huge Thank you to all participants, I hope you'll have a great weekend and I'm eager to read your updates during the Readathon (I am afraid I'll spend a little too much time reading them instead of my books).

I have pondered the question what I would read this weekend for two weeks and have not been able to come up with a decided list, so when I say I am going to read the following books it is just a rough outline and perhaps I'll end up reading something totally different.

Les Misérables
I really want to read the first 200 pages of this, because I should already have read them according to my Readalong timetable. January was such a busy month...

Little Women and Peter Pan
I know, both of them are children's books but I haven't read them yet and I feel like that's a huge gap in education.

The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht
This is a play I have to read for my German literature class (yeah, holidays and I still work for school) and in fact I find the idea of reading something German for a change quite nice.

???
This is where my planning ends, but possible candidates are King Oedipus by Sophocles, The Metamorphosis by Kafka, The unbearable lightness of being by Milan Kundera or Oliver Twist by my beloved Dickens.

We'll see what I choose in the end! I will report my progress in updates at the end of this post. For now, have fun and off to Les Misérables!

1.30 pm
Whoa. As promised I've read the first 200 pages of Les Misérables and on the whole I liked it a lot. The start was a little slow (the first 70 pages are only devoted to describing a bishop's everyday life...), although I surprisingly enjoy Hugo's wordy writing style and a lot of his picturesque metaphors are astonishingly beautiful. I am really interested how all of the loose threads in this looong novel will fit together in the end, but for now I'd like to read something shorter, with less references to French history. Oh, before I forget it, during the chapter "The Year 1817" I came close to throwing my copy against a wall. There are at least two names of people who were famous in France two hundred years ago and whom nobody knows anymore today in every single sentence, for 6 pages. I am not joking. That was excruciating.

4.45pm
Finished The Caucasian Chalk Circle and didn't expect it to be so thrilling. It was also really clever, Bertolt Brecht is an author I'll have to investigate in further. More about this later, for now I'm going to watch an episode of How I Met Your Mother with my little bro to have a short break from reading.

9.30pm
Okay, this "short" break became somewhat extended because my grandmother came over for luch surprisingly and stayed for what seemed an eternity (her TV's broken).
Nonetheless I've just started reading Little Women and although I haven't found a character to identify with yet I am really enjoying the setting and the atmosphere.
I am going to delve into this one for the next few hours and see how far I come.
I hope everyone is progressing well!

Day Two: 9am
The second day of my lovely Readathon and I'm already sad because it will be over soon!
Last night I read Little Women until my mama took it away from me, complaining that I was staying up too late. I still can't identify with any of the girls which is unusual I think, but I am really eager to see how they will develop into grown-up women.
Since I am a very slow reader Little Women will probably keep me occupied the whole day, so bye bye my beautiful plans of reading so much more.

12.30pm
The morning spun away reading, I can hardly believe it's already noon.
Of course I am the thousandth girl to say this, but I have to do so nonetheless: Little Women is an absolutely wonderful book! I didn't imagine it to be so amazing, everyone seems to love it, yes, but in general I tend to dislike books which are so popular. I have read half of it and can't wait to finish it, especially since I am feeling that the second half is getting a little more serious. Unfortunately I have to give it a little break now to prepare lunch, and after just reading about Jo's disastrous attempt to cook dinner it's only fair to admit that I'm a little nervous. Be strong, my heart!

10.30pm
I am still reading Little Women (told you I was reading at a tortoise's pace) and don't have anything to report, except that I just cried out of relief that Beth doesn't die.
What is it just with this book that it is so moving?

0.30am
I have finished Louisa M. Alcott's masterpiece just in time, for, sad as it is, the Readathon is over now! The whole next week I will be busy writing more detailed posts about the absolutely wonderful books I read, but for now a quick overview:

Books read:
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (first 200 pages)
The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht
Little Women by Louisa M. Alcott

Estimated number of pages read: 540

The only thing to add for now is that I hope you've enjoyed my little Readathon as much as I have! Again, thank you for taking part and celebrating my holidays with me (which I shall spend asleep after totally neglecting sleep this weekend)!