Rebecca Readalong Post 1: Chapters 1-15.

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again," (1).

Welcome to post 1 (of 2) for the readalong of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca. I was extremely excited to begin reading this novel, as I have heard so many wonderful things about this haunting tale.

At first, I was not sure what was going on. Du Maurier starts the novel at some point in the future and from our unnamed narrator's point of view. In this first short chapter, she describes the haunting mansion that is Manderley; its drive and landscaping, to the haunting places she remembers. This gives the book an eerie feeling right from the beginning:

"We can never go back again, that much is certain. The past is still too close to us. The things we have tried to forget and put behind us would stir again, and that sense of fear, of furtive unrest, struggling at length to blind unreasoning panic-now mercifully stilled, thank God-might in some manner unforeseen become a living companion, as it had been before," (5).

After this kind of a beginning, I was left with many questions. Du Maurier certainly set the tone for a novel that is ripe with mystery and deception.

It is after this beginning tone that we travel back with the narrator to where the story truly begins in Monte Carlo. Young and orphaned, our narrator is a companion to an old woman, Mrs. Van Hopper, much against her will. Van Hopper is more than a little rude, crass, and obnoxious. Had I been in our young narrator's place, I would have told that old lady to shut it more than once. But it is in her company that our narrator is introduced to Maxim de Winter. He has escaped for some time away down in Monte Carlo, and after Van Hopper comes down ill, our young narrator is left with nothing to do. Dear old Max begins to take her for drives and sightseeing.

All that our narrator knows of De Winter is that he owns Manderley, a large estate in England, and that his wife passed away a year ago. She never brings it up with him in their conversations, but soon falls into a rhythm of seeing him often. I think this passage sums up what eventually happens:

"I am glad it cannot happen twice, the fever of first love. For it is a fever, and a burden, too, whatever the poets may say," (34).

I know that I can remember those feelings, with everything in life is beautiful and wonderful, and nothing can seem to go wrong. It is after she learns that she has fallen in love with Maxim that she is forced to make a decision about her future. Dear old Van Hopper wants to travel back to New York, taking our narrator with her. And as any young girl would do, she runs to Maxim to tell her. He proposes (rather unromantically) and they marry. She is to be the mistress of Manderley.

This is the point where I actually became interested. The beginning of the novel, and the time spent in Monte Carlo, seemed to move at a snail's pace. The mystery and intrigue that Du Maurier so carefully constructs in the first few chapters seems to disappear.

It is only after our narrator and Maxim return to Manderley that the mystery begins to build again, to the point that I had a hard time setting the novel down once I hit 190 pages and the end of chapter 15.

At Manderley, we get to see our young narrator flounder to fulfill a role that was recently filled by a very different woman. She begins to learn about Rebecca, Maxim's first wife, and all that she did for her home and community. Everywhere our narrator turns, there are remembrances of Rebecca. The morning-room, which our narrator now uses, is filled with items Rebecca loved and her writing.

"Unconsciously I shivered, as though someone had opened the door behind me, and let a draught into the room. I was sitting in Rebecca's chair, I was leaning against Rebecca's cushion, and the dog had come to me and laid his head upon my knee because that had been his custom, and he remembered, in the past, she had given sugar to him there," (77).

The mystery begins to build as any mention of Rebecca sends Maxim flipping out. The old housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, seems to despise our narrator because she is not Rebecca. Mrs. Danvers seems obsessed with preserving Rebecca's memory, as she maintains Rebecca's old room and clothing. Everything is preserved as if Rebecca had just stepped out for a minute.

To top things all off, there is a mysterious cottage by the sea that an old "idiot" seems to occupy. It had once belonged to Rebecca, and now remains untouched.

This truly is a haunting novel, and I am anxious to see what will happen in the second half. Will our narrator find the information she is so longing for? Will she step out from Rebecca's shadow? What is UP with creepy Mrs. Danvers? And what happens to drive them away from Manderley?

I cannot wait to discover the ending, and I hope you are just as anxious as I am.

If you completed your reading and have a post up, please leave a link in the comments so I can link your post here. Feel free to keep checking back for other participants' links and comment away! I hope to see your second post in two weeks!


Katy F.
Carey
Lit Addicted Brit
Terri-maree
Sabrina

Oliver Twist Readalong Sign-ups AND Giveaway.

I am pleased to announce that we will be reading Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist for our February readalong here at A Literary Odyssey. This novel beat out "Romeo and Juliet" during the voting session, and in a way, I'm kind of glad.

While I am not a huge fan of Dickens, I am excited to tackle another of his novels with a bunch of you. If you are questioning whether this is a novel you want to give a try, here is a summary from Goodreads.com,

"One of Dickens’s most popular novels, Oliver Twist is the story of a young orphan who dares to say, "Please, sir, I want some more." After escaping from the dark and dismal workhouse where he was born, Oliver finds himself on the mean streets of Victorian-era London and is unwittingly recruited into a scabrous gang of scheming urchins. In this band of petty thieves Oliver encounters the extraordinary and vibrant characters who have captured readers’ imaginations for more than 150 years: the loathsome Fagin, the beautiful and tragic Nancy, the crafty Artful Dodger, and perhaps one of the greatest villains of all time—the terrifying Bill Sikes.

Rife with Dickens’s disturbing descriptions of street life, the novel is buoyed by the purity of the orphan Oliver. Though he is treated with cruelty and surrounded by coarseness for most of his life, his pious innocence leads him at last to salvation—and the shocking discovery of his true identity."

It sounds fascinating, doesn't it?

Here is the reading schedule I have planned out, based on the edition I own (I will be reading from the Penguin cloth bound classic, which has 455 pages divided into three books). I should note that because the book is divided into three "books" I decided to do three posting periods. If there is huge public outcry against this, I will change it.

• Post 1 will go up on February 8th (Tuesday) and will cover Book 1 (roughly 180 pages-the longest section)
  
• Post 2 will go up on February 17th (Thursday) and will cover Book 2 (roughly 120 pages)
  
• Post 3 will go up on February 28th (Monday) and will cover Book 3 (roughly 140 pages)
  

That morning I will put up a post with my thoughts and feelings about the section we're posting on. If you are participating, all you have to do is leave a comment with a link to your post so I can link them up here! I do not require participants to go read everyone else's post, but it is always encouraged! After all, the point of a readalong is to see what everyone else makes of the same book and discuss it.

Everyone who completes the readalong will receive something from me in the mail (a surprise!) and a hearty congratulations!

WAIT!!! THERE IS MORE!!!!

As of January 16, 2011, the GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED as a winner was chosen.

In addition to having sign-ups, I am also GIVING away a copy of this book. Really? How did this happen? Well, my generous and wonderful parents purchased the rest of the Penguin clothbounds for me as a Christmas gift. My mom accidentally ordered an extra copy. So yes, I have a glorious Penguin clothbound of Oliver Twist for one of you.

Here's the deal. I would really like to give this book to someone who wants to participate in the readalong. So, if you are interested, you have until Sunday at NOON to enter to win (I want to make sure I can get it mailed out to you ASAP). All you need to do is comment to sign up for the readalong and let me know you're interested in winning this beauty! I should also point out that I can only ship to someone living in the U.S.

I would also appreciate it if you would spread the word on your blog and/or Twitter about this readalong, so we can get as many participants as we can!

If you are signing up for the readalong, comment and let me know so I can link to your blog!

Participants:
Adam
Kristi
Eclectic Indulgence
Bookworm1858
Jillian
Karenlibrarian
mel u
L.L. (No link to blog!)
kassy
readwriteandlive
Willa
Katy F.
Cindy
Annette
Aimee
terri-maree
tasseled
fleurfisher
Zoe
Darlyn
Alison
Staci (I know you said you were a maybe, but I left you on here, just in case)

A Balancing Act.

Since returning to school full time last week, I have been managing a balancing act with all of my responsibilities and hobbies. A large part of me is grumpy, since I now have less free time to get all of those little things done that I so want to do.

I know that things will begin to settle down into a routine. I am making sure that I am being as productive as possible while I am at school, so I don't have to bring work home with me. In my last long-term sub job, I lived at school. Since I had an hour and fifteen minute drive each way, I was up by 4:45 and out the door an hour later to be at school by 7. Many, many days I was at school until at least 5 before beginning the long drive home. And at least once a week I was at school even longer (I think the latest I ever stayed was 7:30). I was always working. I brought things home with me every night and would marathon prep and grade on weekends. I will say that there were some other....circumstances surrounding the job that made me into such a workaholic.

It wasn't good for me in many ways. There were many school nights where Matt would come over to see me and I would beg him to help me. And of course, I would pass out as soon as we settled down to watch TV.

I am taking all kinds of precautions to make sure this doesn't happen again. I know that running myself ragged did not make me a better teacher, or a better person. I was stressed, exhausted, and insane.

So far, I have managed a good balance. It helps that hardly any of the teachers stay more than 15 minutes past the last bell. That encourages me to come home (which is a 5 minute drive away). And I have been much better about getting as much done at school as possible.

I feel like I am handling those responsibilities well. I'm not freaking out. In fact, I feel confident that I am doing a good job and maintaining that balance.

The problem begins once I get home from school. Perhaps it is just my body adjusting, but I am exhausted by the time I get home. I don't want to do anything, and I especially don't want to take care of the many things I need to around the apartment. I have been making a conscious effort to do "fifteen-minute" clean ups around the apartment, where I set the timer and go crazy for 15 minutes so rooms get picked up and maintained.

However, I still lack motivation to read and blog. Again, this might be my body adjusting to being on a "normal" schedule, but I don't always feel like reading when I come home from a long day of hammering knowledge into my students' heads.

So here are my questions for my fellow bloggers. How do you find a balance between your real-life responsibilities and the things you want to do? Do you have any other tricks or tips for me? I would appreciate any advice you have, from cleaning, to blogging, to cooking, to writing entries, and to keeping yourself sane in a busy world!

Thank you all!

Book 68: Memories of Reading Emma.

I think there are two reactions to Austen's Emma. You either love the character of Emma Woodhouse, or you hate her. There doesn't seem to be a a middle ground for her character.

I have fond memories of the first time I read the novel back in high school. It was for my senior English class as one of my selections from the AP reading list. When I was a little younger, maybe 13 or 14, I went through an insanely giggly, boy-crazy stage. My friends and I were intent on finding the loves of our lives (oh boy...the embarrassment of writing this). We were obsessed with those silly little kinds of flirtations and the idea of love as something we had yet to discover for ourselves.

So when I picked up Emma as a senior in high school, it took me back to those moments. I had grown up from that giggly obnoxious kind of girlhood into someone who was in a "real" relationship for the first time ever (and that relationship turned into my marriage with Matt 7 and a half years later).

But the novel brought me back to what I had been and what I used to believe in. It made me laugh and giggle in the right spots. I enjoyed it and liked Emma, even though I had no desire of ever being like her again.

And this time, it is no different. While Emma does have its depth as you move further into the story, it is frivolous and fun on a surface level. It is hard not to love the cast of characters whose lives seem to controlled by love and relationships. Emma certainly plays the part of mastermind, believing she knows everything about everything that goes on around her. And so convinced that she knows best, she seems almost ruthless in her quest to have things just so.

The beginning of the novel starts off with Emma using her match-making skills in the aid of her friend, Harriet Smith. Harriet come from unknown parentage, but Emma is convinced that she must make a good match. So, she has Harriet turn down a perfectly good proposal from a man she likes in hopes of something more suitable. And of course, there is a man in mind who is simply perfect and miscommunications ensue.

From what I can recall, the novel continues from here, showing us how Emma continuously tries to fix those around her up, but misinterprets what is right in front of her face. I think this is where that dividing line between lovers and haters begin. Some see Emma as manipulative, silly, and selfish. I see her as silly, yes, but I also see her as someone who hasn't grown up in that way. She seems like a girl who secretly writes "Mrs. Emma *****" in her notebooks, but never tells anyone and hides them away so no one will ever find them. I see her as a girl who has yet to undergo that transformation of real love with another person.

I can remember being like that (a little. I swear I was never that bad). And this novel brings me back to that time and place.

So yes, this time I am still loving Emma. She reminds me of when love was simple, and when Matt could do no wrong. :) And she reminds me that at the core, romance can still be simple and fun.

I hope this feeling continues as I move forward, that I continue to see Emma Woodhouse as what, I think, Austen intended: young, naive, and inexperience. She appears to be a foil to the other Austen heroines in many way, but undeniably, she is still an Austen girl, silly or no.

Weekly Wrap-up for January 9, 2010: Book Acquisitions and First Week of School.

I feel like this past week has been one of the longest of my life. On one hand, it is great to be back in the classroom. But, it has been hard getting back into the swing of things. My body doesn't like it and actually rebelled on Thursday with a pounding migraine that hit right before lunch time. But I survived and things are still going well.

I am teaching satire to my senior English students. It went well this first week, with discussing techniques and characteristics, to watching clips from Family Guy, SNL, and The Daily Show. We even watched Shrek, which they analyzed in an in-class essay for me on Friday (I have them sitting on the coffee table right by me, waiting for me to read and grade them).

My World Religions class finished a unit on Sikhism and I found an awesome video on Hulu (A Dream in Doubt) about hate crimes against Sikhs in America after 9/11. It was an incredibly emotional video and the kids had strong reactions to it.

In U.S. History we are talking about the Great Depression and the New Deal. They seem to be interested in it and are asking a lot of questions.

Most of all, I am learning. My previous experience teaching in a high school was completely different than this. It was a rougher area and took a little more to engage the students. So I keep having to challenge myself to come up with new and exciting things to engage them. I'm doing okay so far!

We have two more weeks until finals week, and then a new semester with new kids. I already have things prepped for that, so I am anxious for that to begin!

Anyway, on to book thoughts! I recently acquired a new little stack of books, most of which are seen here:

The top two are Parts 2 and 3 to Dante's The Divine Comedy. They were given to me by a friend who knew I was looking for them! The third, and beautifully white book, is The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky, the last novel by him on my list. It is translated by Pevear and Volohonsky, so I can't want to dive in during that future readalong. That one I purchased.

The next two Penguin titles are The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer and The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyon. Again, these are two titles off my list that I have been itching to read. And having them on my shelf will make this much easier. And, I bought both of those too.

Below that is my shame. Yes, it says The Real Housewives Get Personal. I have a slight addiction to The Real Housewives on Bravo and a good friend saw this on the bargain shelf at Borders, so she bought it for me. And I already read it. *hangs head in shame* I can't help it. I like the shows! I'm addicted to mindless TV!

And the very bottom is the newest issue of Real Simple Magazine. Matt and I are continuing to work on organizing and purging, and this magazine always has great ideas!

Not pictured are two books I picked up last night. The first is Ceremony by Leslie Marmom Silko, a book that I am reader for Roof Beam Reader's TBR Challenge. And, since I've saw Eva's post on it, I have been anxious to read it. The other book I picked up is The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy and translated, yet again, by the dynamic duo of Pevear and Volohonsky.

Beyond my new books, I have been focusing on reading for the readalong posts, which will be appearing this coming weekend. I flew through Rebecca on the first and second of this month, got the first half of The Woman in White done this past week, and I am trudging slowly through War and Peace.

I hope you all had a great reading week, and for those of you participating in the readalongs, I'm looking forward to seeing what you have to say about them this weekend!

Happy Reading!