Book 144: A Passage to India and Book Stats.

Title: A Passage to India
Author: E.M. Forster (1879-1970)

First Published: 1924

My Edition: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (seen at left)

Pages:368

Other Works Include: A Room with a View, Howard's End, Where Angels Fear to Tread, The Longest Journey, Maurice

My first and only other experience with E.M. Forster took place when I read book #3 on my list, A Room with a View. I was blown away by the story and the writing, so I have been anxious to read the only other title by Forster on my 250 project list.

Well folks, the time has come. For some reason, I had the hardest time locating a copy of A Passage to India. It was one of the books I always looked for at the book store, but I never could get my hands on a copy. Instead, I had slowly collected his other works, so I have them ready for future reading. Then, magically, there was a huge stack of this one on a display table, so I snatched up a pretty one and have been waiting to read it ever since.

I think it is about time I get on that, so reading my second work by Forster is talking place right now. I'm not going to lie, I already started it, but I'm anxious to get a little deeper. It seems like an interesting work, and I like that it takes place in India-a far cry from the settings and locales in A Room with a View. I think it'll be a good comparison! I'm also hoping it'll help me tackle Kim, which I started last year and never got into (I often find that books with similar locales, themes, or in the same time period connect together in a way to help me get through ones I'm not that big a fan of).

If you're curious, here are a couple of my posts on A Room with a View. I am somewhat embarassed to link them, since they were at the very beginning of this project, but, who cares, right? :)

•  Women's Roles
• Mrs. Honeychurch
• Finished

Thoughts on Forster? Love him, hate him? Plan to read any of his work?

Book 143: Antigone by Sophocles.

“Go then if you must, but remember, no matter how foolish your deeds, those who love you will love you still.”

The only other time I have read Antigone was during a college literature course. In fact, it was during the very first literature course I took in school, and in the same class where my love affair with The Odyssey began. So, I have a soft spot for it, like I do all Greek literature.

Reading Antigone brought me back to that place in college. I took that course in the spring of my freshman year, and our class was located at the Union building on campus. The Union was a musty older building, and our classroom was nestled way up on the top floor (amidst a few conference rooms). The room smelled, there were only two windows, and the rest of my classmates hated it as much as I did.

But I can also remember going to class early and sitting in the Women's Lounge on the bottom floor to look over reading notes and refresh my memory. This was a class that met twice a week, and on Mondays, we had impromptus over our reading assignments. The professor would pick the best two and have us read them out loud to the rest of the class on Wednesdays. It was an intense experience, and I always freaked out about being chosen (I was chosen three times during the semester and yes, once was for Antigone). I would agonize over word choices in my impromptus so that if I was chosen, I would sound just as smart as my classmates.

In any case, reading Antigone the other night brought back those memories. I read it out of the same Norton edition that I had for that class (I kept it), and seeing my post-its, notes, and highlighting reminded me of those college experiences. It also showed me how much I needed to learn, since I over highlighted (and in multiple colors, which drove me insane on this read). But some of my insights were funny and it was a great trip down memory lane for me.

And I think I loved Antigone even more this time around. There is something so passionate and perfect about the play that you simply have to feel inspired and moved by the time you finish it. Antigone is a strong heroine, and one with strong convictions on what is right and wrong. I've always loved her character, well, since I read the play in the first place, and I am sometimes reminded of her need to do the right thing when I am also faced with a tough decision.

To recap the basics of the play for those unfamiliar with the plot: Antigone is a daughter of Oedipus (from Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus). Before the play begins, there is a war, leaving her two brothers dead on opposites of the battlefield. The victor of the war, Creon, mandates that only one of her brother may be buried with full funeral rights. The other can rot on the battlefield and be food for scavengers and birds. Antigone goes against his wishes and buries her brother. This causes a division between her and her sister, Ismene. Antigone truly believes in her decision, and does it knowing she will be severely punished.

Of course it all ends in some tragic way, as a lot of old Greek works do.

But I just love Antigone. She sticks with her beliefs, even while knowing the consequences. She does what is right even when she will be prosecuted for doing so. There is something to be admired about that. It takes a strong individual to do the right thing in the face of adversity.

That was what I loved about the play when I read it back as a college freshman. Back then, being an English major felt like the right choice. My dad always wanted me to get a degree in Engineering or business-something marketable. But I always resisted  for a number of reasons. Mainly, that I am horrible at math. But also because I have always felt a huge draw to language and words. So even as a freshman in college, I knew that being in the English program was the right choice (he wasn't a big fan of my history degree either).

And since graduating, I have often questioned my decision to go with my gut. You know, since I still don't have a permanent job. But reading Antigone last weekend? For some reason, it just affirmed that I was right...in some way. I followed my passions. And after all, I only have one life to live-I should live it by doing what I feel is right. And I have, so far.

That seems like a lot to pull from a reading of an Ancient Greek play, but if this process has taught me anything, it is this: Literature will always find a way to dive into your soul and make you think about the life you lead and the choices you make.

And so far? I'm okay with everything.

Book 142: Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot.

"The last act is the greatest treason, 

To do the right deed for the wrong reason."

I really enjoy a lot of Eliot's poetry, and was blown away by "The Waste Land" when I read it a year or two ago. I have been meaning to read Murder in the Cathedral since I received it from my Blogger Secret Santa in December, and I finally got the opportunity a week or so ago.

I'm not sure what I was expecting. I knew that Murder in the Cathedral was a play, but I didn't know what it was about. It actually took me two reads to get a general idea of what the play was even talking about. 

Basically, the play is focused on Archbishop Thomas Becket, and focuses on his decisions and actions right before he is murdered and becomes a martyr. There is obviously a lot more history to it than that, which I am not 100% confident in discussing (it would make me sound like an idiot, trying to piece it all together).


In the first part of the play, Becket is determining which stance to take-to stay true to his own beliefs even if he knows he may pay for it, or to do what others want him to and sacrifice his own good faith in himself. The first half is his mutterings, as well as the temptations by his tempters-those who wish for him to make the decision other than what he is comfortable with. 


The second part is of his death. Four knights come to murder him. They all give big long speeches on why, and the event takes place off the page.


In the midst of these two chunks the chorus speaks...and tells the audience to "stay awake" among other things. 


The whole thing was a little confusing, the language heavy, and I was left completely unsure of what was going on. Thus, the second read. It started to make a little more sense, and I pulled out some other pieces to put together what I've just shared with you. 


I was really intrigued by the lines I shared above-the whole idea of standing up for what is right when you know that bad things will happen to you if you do. I think we have all thought of making that kind of stance at some point in our lives-sticking up for what is right in light of being the only one on that side. Or, of only doing the right thing, but to make some kind of gain in the process. I always wonder about the choices I would make if I were to be in that position. I hope I would make the right and honest choice, but you never know what will happen in times of stress, you know?


Anyway, this is another of those plays that I think I would understand more seeing it performed. Perhaps sometime in the future I'll have that opportunity. 

“Unreal friendship may turn to real
But real friendship, once ended, cannot be mended”

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Favorite Quotes From Books.

It is Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by the lovely folks at The Broke and the Bookish. Every week, bloggers count down their top ten in the week's given category.

This week's topic is top ten favorite quotes from books. To be honest, I think this is an incredibly difficult topic since there are SO MANY quotes that I love.

I decided to pick quotes solely from books off my list to make things a little easier. Here I go! (these are in no particular order).

1. “My meaning simply is, that whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do well; that whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself to completely; that in great aims and in small, I have always been thoroughly in earnest.” David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
2. “I was just a screw or cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else.” The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
3. "Muse, daughter of Zeus, Start from where you will-Sing for our time too." The Odyssey by Homer
4. “I always want to know the things one shouldn't do." "So as to do them?" asked her aunt. "So as to choose." said Isabel." The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
5. "All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost." The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
6. "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact." The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
7. “Blow the candle out, I don't need to see what my thoughts look like.” Germinal by Emile Zola 
8. "Yes, Lucy, I would choose to marry him. I think it would be the best and highest lot got me-to make his life happy. He loved me first. No one else could be quite what he is to me. But I can't divide myself from my brother for life. I must go away and wait. Pray, don't speak to me again about it." The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
9. "A body's got to have something all their own." The Dollmaker by Harriette Arnow
10. “I always find it more difficult to say the things I mean than the things I don't.” The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham

Let me know what some of your favorite quotes are!

An Uncommon Education by Elizabeth Percer.

"'It's like this, Naomi,' he said, settling down next to me. He was unshaven and wore a tattered sweatshirt. There was some chocolate smudged just outside his mouth, and his eyes were bright with excitement. 'It can be dangerous to look forward too much, to think always of what should be instead of accepting what is'" (30).

I rarely accept books for review, but when I was offered a copy of An Uncommon Education by Elizabeth Percer, I was intrigued by the synopsis. I love the idea of coming-of-age stories. And I love that they aren't just limited to certain time periods in our lives, but across our entire life. Because really, I'm coming of age throughout my entire life, right?

In any case, I was anxious to get to this one, and I picked it off my pile as soon as I could. I wasn't disappointed.

Naomi is the only child to two parents that struggle with their own identities and relationships. Her father is a loving a caring man, taking Naomi with him on trips as often as he can, allowing her the freedom to choose her future, and being a support to her whenever he needs to be. Naomi's mother is a little more distant from her daughter. She battles chronic depression and her role as a wife and mother. She converted to Judaism and seems isolated from the person she once was.

Naomi grows up in a house where her mental capabilities are cherished and with the loving support of her parents, she is allowed the opportunity to do whatever it is she wishes to. She is gifted and talented and after her father has a heart attack, her deepest wish is to be a doctor, so that she can take care of him in the future.

She eventually finds her way to Wellesley College, where after being isolated for a year, she joins the Shakes, a society for women like herself. It is only after she is a part of their group that she begins to learn who she is and what she is made of. She slowly goes through this transformation while at school, and as life events begin to spiral away from her, she learns who she really is and what really matters.

Naomi was a character I was drawn to. She was so isolated in her childhood. She focused so completely on her family, her friend Teddy, and the knowledge she gained from books. She has this intense focus from childhood on who she will become and what she is supposed to do with her life.

Perhaps that is why I was so drawn to her. Like Naomi, I have been a bit one-sighted in my ambitions. Whereas she wanted to be a doctor, to help her father, I have always seen myself in education. And like Naomi, other opportunities have presented themselves to me, and perhaps my path isn't as clear as I would like it to be.

Watching Naomi struggle with her identity and her chosen path just showed me that even though you may want something, even though you may think something is what you want to become, it may not be what you need. One of the biggest things I have learned in my struggle is that there is a large difference between wanting and needing. Sometimes there are things out of reach...and for a purpose. We can't control that, and while we might fight it, we shouldn't.

I was touched by the simple beauty of Percer's writing. She drew me in slowly, showed me who Naomi was, and allowed me to acknowledge who Naomi was supposed to become. So when Naomi disintegrates, because she doesn't know who she really is, I sometimes wanted to yell at her and say, "Why are you screwing this all up?" But, by the end, everything was at it should be, and Naomi seemed to have found peace with who she really was and what she was meant to be. Her story was an inspiring journey, and one that moved me immensely.

It was a lovely book, and I am so glad I had the opportunity to read it when I did. I've said it before-books have a time and a place, and sometimes, they just strike you in the right moment when you need them most.

This was one of those books.



*I received this book for review from HarperCollins.