***Edited Post: See correction before
Dracula and
Frankenstein book reviews.
The meaning of "Friend" has a ton of definitions. One of the ones I subscribe to explains a friend who politely tells you when you have goofed up and straightens you out, or reminds you of what really happened. You might think the absence of drug use in my life might limit my need for memory correction, but that is not the case. I have to go over things several times to remember things and try to get them right, and you can tell me the same joke repeatedly because I forget them. My brain is magnetized to collect trivial and inane information, which I find perplexing (and Michael finds mildly disturbing). I do think that I can be taught, you just have to keep saying it sometimes. This was my loooonnnnggg winded way to tell Teacherninga, Jim, that I appreciate his kindly correction.
Well, school has started back. Okay, so it was a few weeks ago, but we are starting to settle into our routine of homework, not doing homework, grumbling, stern glares, stern talking to, remembering to do school work...well most of it, as least. The one shining thing has been unexpected. Aaron and Rachel want to be in Drama Club in their respective schools. Rachel is waiting to hear if she will be allowed in her club, but Aaron just has to show up and help out at his school. The director of the Drama program has a genuine love for all of the kids. Aaron wants to help in stage designing and set up. He has already liberated six dollars from my purse, with permission, to support the bake sale for the drama program. Michael and I see that this is a positive avenue for him so we signed up to be Gold Sponsors of the club. Rachel already is familiar with the teacher through drama summer camps each year, so we figure why not support Aaron and the program now. He told us that he wishes he had started in his freshman year. He came home with names of drama club folks on his arm to add them to his Facebook friend list. I would have used paper, but he often goes a different route.
Comfort Snowberger's "Life Notices" made me laugh and I agreed with her that "Death Notices" are too boring. My own maternal grandmother, Mama Doris, would read the obituaries in the newspaper each day to see if her name showed up. I would read them out of curiosity and always wondered about those who died...well really, about the life they lived. People intrigue me. My maternal grandfather's family had run the Harris' Funeral Home in Phenix City, Alabama, so when my friend Kim told me about this book I checked it out from the library. I loved Comfort's family and her dog Dismay. I really loved Great, Great Aunt Florentine and I agreed with her that there can never be too many brownies. The advice for how to act at a funeral and what food to bring is practical and should be taken to heart. My heart was broken in the last chapters, so just be warned to grab some tissues. This was a great read.
***Great set of books! I need to correct one thing, though. Mary Shelly did in fact write Frankenstein after the summer of 1816 which she spent in Geneva with Percy Shelly, Lord Byron, and Dr. John Polidori. They all told fantastic tales to each other and hers went on to become Frankenstein. Polidori came up with the only other published piece, "The Vampyre" which features, as far as I know, the first aristocratic vampire. This was an influence on Bram Sroker's book, I'm sure, but since he wasn't even born until 1847 and Mary Shelly died in 1851, I don't think they ever got a chance to tell each other any stories in person. Sorry, I wrote a paper on this once!
By the way, I think the disease book is the creepiest one of the bunch!
I finally got around to reading the books that came out of a rainy night ghost story challenge. Written in the form of letters back and forth was a great vehicle for telling this story. Dracula, not surprisingly, is one creepy dude. He has had quite a lot of time to make some devious plans that take him to England. He enlists the help of a lawyer, Jonathon Harker, who thinks he is only brokering a simple land deal to find himself trapped in Dracula's castle. Harker eventually escapes back to London where Dracula has already ensconced and putting his plans into action. One of the first victims is Lucy Westenra who is the best friend of Harker's fiance Mina.
Overall, I thought the mixture of superstition, pseudo-science, and science interesting. There was one character I wanted to beat with a stick and that was Lucy Westenra's mother. Weak female characters drive me to distraction. I got pretty perturbed when the character of Mina Harker puts the various threads together and figures out what Dracula is doing, then the men in the story put her in a room to keep her "safe", which allows Dracula to get to her. I have always disagreed with the mentality of a victim being filthy because they were violated. I would argue that this has been prevalent for centuries in most cultures. In
Dracula, the person bitten becomes immediately filthy and could not go to heaven unless the vampire that bit them has been destroyed, which can be compared to how victims of rape are perceived. I think this parallel is something that is worth discussion.
The book was a great "ghost story" with the devious machinations of a centuries old nut job, a handful of loyal friends, damsels in distress, some fly and bird eating, a bit of dismemberment, a ship voyage, a lot of superstition, and a smidge of suspense. It was worth the read and a good baseline for the pop culture that I have grown up watching.
Another of the ghost stories that came from the rainy night challenge. I prefer this one over
Dracula. It was nice to read this after growing up watching different movie versions of the Frankenstein monster. The format for telling the story is initially letters, then it turns in to a manuscript, then back to letters. What happens when you have the ability to reanimate parts in to a whole, especially one that you created to be larger than life. Victor Frankenstein immediately flees from his odious creation leaving that creation to fend for itself. The monster's realization of what he is coupled with the reaction he gets when he seeks kindness from those around him drive him to hatred of his creator and humanity. Victor Frankenstein abhors what he has done and it leads him to a mental and physical breakdown as he constantly berates his actions. The monster wants Frankenstein to build him a companion, which leads to more emotional and physical turmoil. A great book for discussing how humans treat those with physical differences and the "godlike" powers of some scientific endeavors.
I have to read about the same subject repeatedly because my ability to retain information is abysmal. This book touching on the subjects of smallpox, leprosy, cholera, AIDS, plague, and malaria. The section on leprosy explaining how research figured out what was going on, which allowed for the idea of the illness being a disease, not a curse was really amazing stuff. The fact the the microorganism that causes leprosy likes the cooler parts of the body, then multiplies in the nerves making them thick and rope-like. This thickening makes the nerves numb, which leads to injury.
The section on Tuberculosis was a must read since a student at our elementary school was diagnosed with the disease and it lead to some students and staff being tested. Tuberculosis can hide out and wait for the immune system to be compromised and then attack the tissues. The author listed some of the treatments people tried throughout the centuries to fight this disease. None of them pleasant.
The section on Malaria explained some of the unintended consequences of using DDT. Houses sprayed to kill mosquitoes would leave the chemical to also be ingested by the roaches, which would be eaten by the lizards. The weakened lizards would be caught and eaten by the cats. The cats would die, which allowed the rat population to burgeon and the risk of plague to replace the malaria.
Cholera is just plain nasty. If you are able to replace the massive lose of fluids you can survive, but outbreaks usually strain the ability of health care workers to give aid. Make sure your water source is clean. I thought it was fascinating that people that live in India could use Saris folded over eight times as filters. The older cloth would actually work better. A practical solution for rural people.
Overall, a fascinating book and one great for teens to adult.
My next books will be mostly from books I will be reading for Book Club. I am excited about the choices.
Smiles!
