The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

I read H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds for a book review that is upcoming (I'll link to it when it's live). I'd read The Time Machine earlier this year, so I was eager to read another of his books.

Unfortunately, I found The War of the Worlds much less interesting in the beginning. The Time Machine hooks you early on, because the story is told to the narrator after the time traveler has already returned from his travels — in other words, you already know that he has an exciting story to tell, because of the condition he is in when he returns.

The War of the Worlds is told in a different manner: The narrator tells primarily of his own experiences, with a middle section of the book being about his brother's experiences (though not narrated by his brother). I personally thought the story started off rather slow, though it did pick up about halfway through. Still, there was something about it that always made me drowsy — and it isn't often that it takes me a full week to get through a book that short!

Interestingly, although many of the details of the book were changed in Hollywood's recent version of the movie &mash; for instance, the narrator's wife exchanged for two kids and a bad relationships with an ex — many other details were kept the same. An example that really stood out to me was the similarity of the endings and why the aliens failed in their invasion. The parts of Wells's book that formed the strongest basis for the movie were the meat of the story, which I think speaks highly of the author's ability to create believeable sci-fi.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, by Anne Bronte

For another book review, I am reading The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, by Anne Bronte. This is the second time I have read the book; the first time was for a Women's Literature class my senior year of college.

Having just recently read Charlotte Bronte's Shirley, I am struck by the difference in their writing styles, even more so than I was in college. Charlotte Bronte has a writing style that is much more "preacherly" than her younger sister's; whereas Charlotte takes a long time to get to the point, and often slips into a lecture in her own voice before returning to her character's narrative, Anne is straightforward and honest. Rather than taking "time out" from the story to express her views, Anne instead weaves them into her character's conversations, crafting dialogue that makes her point for her. She also addresses many issues more directly than Charlotte does: For instance, her main character, Helen Graham (the narrator, Gilbert, is primarily a vessel through which Helen's story is told), takes a strong stance against alcohol, and vehemently argues her reasons for teaching her son to dislike it.

In general, I also find that Anne's writing is more easily readable than Charlotte's is. Perhaps because it moves more quickly, or perhaps because of a subtle difference in the language, I find The Tenant of Wildfell Hall much more readable than Shirley, perhaps even than Jane Eyre.

Due to the easier readability of her writing, and the respect I have for the way she uses her fiction to argue a political view, I have to say that I like Anne Bronte's work better than that of her better-known sister, Charlotte.

The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells

I recently went on a road trip so my future in-laws and finalize our wedding plans, and so I'm a little behind on my book blog.

The first book I finished on the road wasH.G. Wells's The Time Machine. It's a fairly short book, only around 100 pages, so I was surprised by how closely the recent movie actually followed the book. Although I liked the movie better (primarily because there was more detail and therefore more of an elaborate storyline), the book is extremely good as well.

Shirley, by Charlotte Bronte

For another book review, I am currently reading Shirley. This is the second time I have read the book, so I thought I could just skim through it, but it turns out there is a lot I don't remember.

I didn't remember, for one thing, how slow the beginning of the book is. It isn't until a third of the way through the book that Shirley shows up, and until then, the story wavers between interesting and not-so-interesting. However, once Shirley arrives, the pace of the narrative seems to speed up, and the plot becomes more interesting in general.

One of the interesting things about Shirley is that it was published the same year Charlotte Bronte's brother Branwell and sister Emily (author of Wuthering Heights) died. I have heard before that Shirley's character was patterned on Emily. Perhaps Shirley's late appearance in the book was because Charlotte was moved by her sister's illness to immortalize Emily in fiction.

Bram Stoker's Dracula

Amazingly, with all of my literature background, and with all of my fascination with Anne Rice's vampire novels, I've never read Bram Stoker's Dracula. I'm now reading the book at last for a book review I'm writing for About.com's Classic Lit site.

I've been surprised by how interesting the book really is. Even though it was written during the height of the Victorian era, the book doesn't seem Victorian at all. The narrative style - the character's journal and letters used to piece together a story in the first person from multiple points of view - is pretty typical of the era, though. (Case in point - Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, etc.)

Of course, the narration is a little wordy at times, but it's still an amazingly dark (and sexual, in parts!) story for the time period.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

I am currently reading Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island for the first time since probably middle school. I'd forgotten much of the story - most of what I knew about it was from Disney's Treasure Planet (one of my favorite Disney animated movies), as sad as that may seem.

I knew that Treasure Planet, despite being adapted for a futuristic setting, drew a lot of its characters and elements from Stevenson's novel. I hadn't remembered how much of it had come directly from the novel, though. In fact, most of the book is translated into movie form in some shape or form: the sailing ship becomes a space ship, the island becomes a planet, and the marooned sailor Ben Gunn becomes a crazy robot. The names and places stay the same: the Jim Hawkins and his mother, the Benbow, Billy Bones, Long John Silver, the mutiny, etc.

In other words, anyone who loved the action and adventure of Treasure Planet is bound to enjoy Treasure Island. Robert Louis Stevenson knew what he was doing when he crafted boys' adventure novels, that's for sure!

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

The last time I read Walden was about almost five years ago, in an American Literature class in college. I'm reviewing it now for a lit site that I am contributing to, and I decided that I should probably reread it in order to write the best review.

I had forgotten how dry Thoreau's writing could be, and how little he thought of society. He spends a great deal of time criticizing people for placing so much importance on clothes, fancy houses, and many other living expenses that he deems unnecessary. In fact, Walden is entirely based on Thoreau's premise that one doesn't have to have lots of clothes, or a big house, or indeed even spend the majority of his life working. Walden is more than just a book about living closer than nature - it's about a return to a simpler style of living.