Book Review: A Daughter of the Land

 Gene Stratton-Porter was a remarkable author. Her books are classic pieces of literature, and all of them have a very clear moral. I so enjoy reading books like this, where the main character actually has some sense of integrity and character and sticks with it. The main character is also human, however, and does make mistakes. All in all, Stratton-Porter's books are wonderful, and I have enjoyed each and every one I have read. The one I am going to review today, A Daughter of the Land, is no exception. While not my favorite Sratton-Porter (A Girl of the Limberlost gets that honor...will be reviewed in the future), it comes in a close second.

When Kate Bates is disowned by her father, she leaves home to go become a teacher and live the life she wants.  She boards at the Holt's boarding house and meets George Holt and his mother.  While it seems that Kate (the daughter) would be very happy living on her own, she is capable and does make quite a few bad choices, including the man she marries.  After a course of events, Kate agrees to marry George, a lazy good-for-nothing who wants Kate only for her money, and quickly realizes her mistake. When George finds that Kate is actually disowned and thus has inherited no money whatsoever, his interest in her is quickly extinguished.

George repeatedly neglects Kate, sometimes abusing her, and is a terrible role model for the twins, Adam and Polly. Kate has no way out of the situation and keeps on keeping on, even when everything is going terribly wrong. George tries to become a doctor, but when a man comes into his office and needs help, George does not take the proper steps to aid him. Instead, he gives him the wrong medication and ends up killing him. He is told to take down his sign of "Doctor" and proceeds to work in a mill instead.

 One late night, George becomes intoxicated and goes into the mill he owns, to try and do some work.  Unfortunately, he heats the fire much too hot, kills himself and burns the entire mill. Kate, Adam, and Polly move back to Kate's parents' home, where her father has died. Kate's mother takes her in again, and things go smoothly for Kate...for a while. The story has an interesting ending, one that you could see coming, but you still didn't expect it.

The author's main theme in this book is to show that even after one makes a huge mistake, you can either go back and fix it, or live out your mistake with confidence and endurance.  Kate does the latter, and it ends up fixing itself in the end. The book is written well, and keeps you always involved in the story.  The story by itself is great, but the way Stratton-Porter wrote it, using details and fluent words, really makes the book come alive.

Growing in Virtue: The big thing to be learned from this book, obviously, is the importance of choosing well the one you marry.

The pain that Kate goes through when she makes the decision to marry the wrong man is crystal clear in the book.  Stratton-Porter outlines very clearly how important it is to choose a good mate for yourself, and also to take a lot of time finding what his (or her) true character is.

Although this book is a work of fiction, I believe that the consequences of Kate's behavior is true for many people.  Thus, I would say that the book is true in part.  The part that is true is not the story, but the moral of the story instead. I really enjoyed this book, as I have enjoyed all of Stratton-Porter's works. I think that the lesson from this book for me and for lots of young ladies, is to carefully choose the man we marry.  It's a choice that cannot be backed out of, and thus merits lots of thought and preparation. Parents play a big part in this too. They should help young ladies and men of marriageable age discern:

1) What their calling really is. It might not even be married life! It could be single life or a religious vocation.

2) If their calling is marriage, then what qualities/criteria must a suitor have to even begin a courtship relationship? That was one of the things that led Kate into all of the trouble she got herself into. She took the first high-falutin' man that came her way instead of looking deeper into his life. The really interesting part was that she did NOT like George at first, and he didn't like her. But when he learned that she came from a wealthy family, he instantly changed his behavior and 'got the girl'.

Sadly, that same sort of thing, just not that exact scenario, is occurring today as well. Ladies and men are taking the first person that comes their way instead of discerning together if they could have a successful marriage with each other.

The Catechism has some great things to say about marriage. Here is just one of the many, many things it has to offer, "The marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love, has been founded and endowed with its own special laws by the Creator. By its very nature it is ordered to the good of the couple, as well as to the generation and education of children. Christ the Lord rasied marriage between the baptized to the dignity of a sacrament." [emphasis mine] Christ instituted marriage so that both persons could lead each other to a deeper, more unique relationship with their Creator! That can't happen if you aren't married to the right one, and some serious discerment must be in place for that to happen.

Well, there is my take on A Daughter of the Land by Gene Stratton-Porter. It's a fabulous book that teaches a great lesson. And by the way, it was written in the early 1900's...there is nothing scandalous contained. Definitely a great read!

This Saturday is PACKED so I'm not seeing a blog post...but you never know. Maybe, maybe not, that's all I'm going to say.

Pax,

Cady

Book Reviews: Ivanhoe

I hope you liked the book review of Great Expectations I posted a while back. Today, I'm posting about another of my classic favorites: Ivanhoe.

When I was about seven years old, I read our abridged version of Ivanhoe for the first time. I disliked it, mostly because of the gore and blood that was involved. Thus, when I saw it on my eighth grade reading list…let’s just say that I could have been more excited. When I picked up the book, and began to read it, I didn’t expect too much.  But as I read, I became more and more intrigued with the story! In fact, I loved the story so much that I read the book for about forty-five minutes straight, and then had to put it down to do some other work.  By the end of three days, I had read the entire book cover-to-cover, and absolutely loved it! 

So, why did I like Ivanhoe so much? First of all, it had a fabulous storyline. It is during the ‘reign’ of John Lackland that Sir Walter Scott begins his novel.  Cedric, a Saxon lord, has disinherited his son, Wilfred of Ivanhoe and has taken guardianship of the beautiful and clever Rowena, a fair Saxon damsel.  Unbeknownst to Cedric, Rowena loves Ivanhoe, but tells no one this fact. When a merchant Jew named Isaac comes to John’s court, along with his dark-haired, attractive daughter Rebecca, Cedric learns that Ivanhoe has escaped from the battle in which the rightful king of England, Richard the Lion-hearted, was captured. Cedric dislikes this fact, but the lovely Rowena is joyful that her lover is safe, wherever he may be.

Cedric’s mind is taken off of Ivanhoe when, a few days later, a tournament is held at the fairgrounds. There, the usurping John sees for the first time the lovely Rebecca, daughter of the Jewish Isaac.  He is charmed by her beauty and wit, and vows to make her Queen-of-love-and-beauty during the tournament. However, his advisors quickly inform him that only the knight who wins the tournament may name the Queen-of-love-and-beauty.  John resigns himself to this fact, and waits for three days, until the last day of the tournament. When a knight in black armor, calling himself the Disinherited Knight, is proclaimed the winner, he promptly crowns Rowena-not Rebecca-the queen of the tournament.  As Rowena is placing the winning crown upon the knight’s head, the crowd shouts that he must take his helmet off. The Disinherited Knight begins to refuse, and finally must give in to the crowd's pleas. When the helmet is taken off, Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe looks into Rowena's eyes, and promptly faints from a dangerous, open, bleeding wound in his side.

One thing leads to another and soon, Rowena, Rebecca, Ivanhoe, Isaac, and Cedric are locked in Maurice de Bracy’s tower, a leading knight in King John’s army.  De Bracy wants to marry the gorgeous Rowena, while Brian de Bois-Guilbert falls in love with the stunning Rebecca. Neither Rebecca nor Rowena want a marriage proposal from either of these men, and tell them so promptly. Nevertheless, Rebecca falls into the hands of Bois-Guilbert, and is in the process of refusing his proposal when news comes to the castle that Rebecca must be tried for witchcraft, as she is a Jew who learned medicine from a supposed Jewish witch. In the end, Rebecca must claim a knight to save her or else she dies by fire. Bois-Guilbert’s courage (or lack thereof) fails him, but Ivanhoe comes to save the young Jewish maiden, and succeeds in saving Rebecca, marrying Rowena, and gathering back his inheritance from Cedric.

Growing in Virtue (what is this? Go here to find out. It is in the lower part of the post.)
There are some really negative character traits in this book. There's a lot of anti-Semitism in here, but that's because of the time in which it was written. However, one of the big virtues that the reader is constantly brought back to is the virtue of fortitude. You see this the most in Isaac and Rebecca, the two Jewish characters in the book. Isaac, even in the face of fiery persecution, keeps standing up for his faith. He refuses to submit to the angry de Bracy and Bois-de-Guilbert, who, in his mind, are asking him to sin. Rebecca too shows great fortitude in refusing Bois-de-Guilbert's marriage proposal, and his constant pleas for her to convert.The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, "God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one; on the contrary, he wants to set us free from evil. We ask him not to allow us to take the way that leadsto sin. We are engaged in the battle "between flesh and spirit"; this petition implores the Spirit of discernment and strength." This quote pertains perfectly to Ivanhoe! Isaac and Rebecca were fighting between flesh and spirit...and in the end, spirit won.
I hope you enjoy Ivanhoe as much as I did, and let me know what you think in the comments!
In XC,
Cady

Book Reviews: Great Expectations

Yes, I do realize that I have not posted for over a month, almost two. I offer my most sincere apologies...that will not happen again. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. ;) From now on, I will post at least one post per week, unless something crazy is going on.
So! To start back up, here is a review of one of my all-time favorite works of literature: Great Expectations, by the prolific author Charles Dickens. When I saw the title of this book on my eighth-grade reading list, I was excited to read it, having heard much good about it, and thus opened the book with curiousity. I finished it quite quickly, and promptly decided that it was one of my all-time favorites!
Here is the basic storyline. Ever since her fiancée broke up with her on her wedding day, time has stopped for an old woman by the name of Miss Havisham-literally.  That is, until she hires Pip, an orphan with a strong sense of curiosity, to come ‘play’ for her. Pip, living with his volatile sister and her husband, is shocked at the eccentric woman and is stunned by the beautiful yet proud Estella, Miss Havisham’s adopted daughter. Miss Havisham has decided that, to take revenge upon her flighty fiancee, she will teach Estella to hate all men, and to break their hearts. To Miss Havisham's delight, Pip falls in love with the gorgeous Estella, but must find a way to win her over, as he finds that Miss Havisham has succeded in replacing Estella's heart with a cold slab of stone. Spanning from Pip’s childhood to adult life, Dickens’ classic details the mysterious adventure of Pip, Estella, and Miss Havisham, who becomes Pip’s benefactor and confidante.  All the while, Pip must learn to cope with his great expectations.

Following Miss Havisham’s repentant death, Pip is able to deal with the oddities of his childhood and tries to forget Estella.  However, after meeting her in the graveyard as a changed, more mature woman, he learns that sometimes, you don’t have to forget to forgive.

That is the basic storyline-now, here are my personal thoughts about the piece.Throughout the whole book, you can easily see that Miss Havisham is filled up with hatred and a deep feeling and need for revenge.  The book details how everything that was set up for her wedding is still left in its original position from decades before. Because of how clear everything was, I could see in my mind a picture of Miss Havisham.  I could see her eternally sorrowful, yet hate-filled face, and at her death, her penitent and sorrowful face. This book is not true, but its concepts certainly are.  After all, the human reaction to disappointment like this is revenge and hatred.  Although I cannot think of anything as large-scale as Miss Havisham’s reaction, I'm sure that something like this has certainly happened in some young woman’s life and turned her hope and excitement to hate and ruthlessness.  I think that many things were happening in Dickens’ life which with he could barely cope.  Something must have happened in his life, or he must have seen something which made a huge impact on him.  He obviously felt this message needed to come across, the message of revenge and then forgiveness.

Charles Dickens does himself proud in this serious story. It is up there along with A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist. Also, the story itself is heart-wrenching.  After all, it’s hard to read about such human characters such as Pip and Estella without getting attached to them as I did.  It is a beautiful re-telling of a very human occurrence.  When I read it two years ago in the abridged version, it didn’t hold my attention for very long.   However, now, reading it unabridged-and probably as a result of my own maturity-I can’t believe that I didn’t enjoy it at first!

This is exactly what my copy looks like, although this picture from Amazon.com shows their little 'look inside!' button. Be assured, mine does not have that. ;)

For each book report, I'm going to have a section entitled Growing in Virtue. That'll list the negative and/or positive character traits or virtues in each book. Here is the first one-
Growing in Virtue for Great Expectations...obviously, there are a few character traits in here that one would NOT want to copy. Things such as revenge, hatred, etc. are bad things and I certainly am not endorsing them by endorsing this book. However, the main character trait that comes out of this is forgiveness. This whole book is about forgiveness-Pip must forgive Miss Havisham for estranging him from Estella. Estella must forgive Miss Havisham  for teaching her wrong behaviors, and Miss Havisham must forgive her fiancee who killed all the love in her heart. Dickens succeeds in creating this tableau of forgiveness in a strikingly real way, and it gives the book an aura of reality. Other than an aura of reality, however, it also displays Christian virtues. Christ tells us, "And forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us...If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:12,14-15) The Scriptures clearly tell us that forgiveness is an important virtue.  Since we are on earth to be more like God, and since God displays His mercy to us unconditionally, we should imitate him by forgiving others. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, "There is no one, however wicked and guilty, who may not confidently hope for forgiveness provided his repentance his honest." Obviously, there is no sin too great for God to forgive! We also should forgive our fellow human beings.
I have already recommended this book to multiple individuals, and have recently purchased my own copy. I also gave this book to a friend of mine for her birthday, and hope she will enjoy it as much as I have. :D I certainly encourage everyone to read this wonderful piece of literature, and I hope you enjoy it!

In XC,

Cady