July Monthly Challenge

 

July # A book with an author whose first or last name begins with p, l, a, n, or t.

Magpie Murders

Author: Anthony Horowitz

Genre: meta mystery

Page number: 464

First published: 2016

Rating: 3 stars

First sentence: A bottle of wine.

One sentence comment: The idea of a mystery within a mystery is a genius invention; however, the structure of the book is dull.

 

          I ordered the book because the same name TV program adapted from the novel is brilliant so I wonder how Horowitz wrote it. However, I am disappointed because his way of presenting the two mysteries are rigid and can not compare with the TV program. I have a theory that if a TV program is better than a novel then the novel is not successful. Besides, I hardly see any witty sentences while reading. With so many repeated ideas and sentences, the book should be cut in half.

 

 

July # A book with plants on the cover

Persuasion

Author: Jane Austen

Genre: classic romance

Page number: 295

First published: 1817

Rating: 3 stars

First sentence: Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement, never took up any book but the Boronetage; there he found occupation for an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one; there his faculties were roused into admiration and respect, by contemplating the limited remnant of the earliest patents; there any unwelcome sensations, arising from domestic affairs changed naturally into pity and contempt as he turned over the almost endless creations of the last century; and there, if every other leaf were powerless, he could read his own history with an interest which never failed.

One sentence comment: This book is the least persuading romance among Austen’s novels.

 

I can see why Persuasion is the least popular novel among Austen’s six major works. There is a serious discrepancy in the book. On the one hand, the book is far away from Austen's previous romantic novels because it tackles realistic financial matters gravely from the very beginning without jokes. Therefore, it was meant to be treated seriously. On the other hand, the happy ending between Anne and Wenworth is too incredible for modern day readers. In fact, there isn’t much difference between marriages then and now in terms of a trade-off between wealth and youth. It is not unusual for women to chase after well-off men even they are ten years or above older. How could it be possible that Wentworth, considered a capital match for young women with admiration, should come back to Ann, whose beauty and family wealth are both dwindling?

     Persuasion is Austen's last completed novel and published posthumously. I suspect that she intended to review it and to make it as entertaining as her previous books but death came unexpectedly. Therefore, without disguise, we can see Austen's core theme more clearly. It is lament for life going downward without hope when wealth and youth are both used up. However, as a romantic novelist, she still designed a favorable solution for the happiness of the heroine.

     I am not against romantic love but it must be plausible in a novel. Austen is a romantic writer but she is beyond romantic writing and renowned for her realistic social accounts so I expect more from her. Romantic love in P&P and S&S are all plausible, more or less, because male protagonists all have weaknesses so that they are attracted to women inferior to their social and monetary status, but Wentworth just seems self-contained and has no needs to return to Ann. Unless Austen decided to write a pious novel that used Wentworth as a metaphor of Jesus. That’s the only explanation because Jesus is perfect and he comes to save anyone who is repentant.

 

July # a book from your TBR

By Book or by Crook (Lighthouse Library Mystery #1)

Author: Eva Gates

Genre: cozy mystery

Page number: 327

First published: 2015

Rating: 3 stars

First sentence: Only in the very back of my mind, in my most secret dreams, did I ever dare hope I’d have such a moment.

One sentence comment: Using Jane Austen‘s first print collection as a gimmick, this book has turned a mystery into a comedy.

 

I had chosen this book among a few book-related cozy mystery series, perhaps for its book cover, or perhaps for its title, whatever reason I can not remember well. I adore the book cover - a sunny blue view near the sea and I think the title is clever. It is a play of a pun, by hook or by crook. Obviously, this book series use a similar way to glamor each book. Reading this book, sometimes I see witty sentences; sometimes it reads like a boring diary. Characters are described vividly but the protagonist is too young and girl-minded to raise my interest. The plot is terrible, because it's neither effective nor affective. How could a mystery mingle murder, book theft, and ghost stories, along with a detective noted for his handsome appearance and dating attempt to one of the suspects. It's absurd. However, I value this book for its well-written English.

 

 

July # DNF

Silver Pigs ( a Marcus Didius Falco Novel #1)

Author: Lindsey Davis

Genre: historical mystery

Page number: 328

First published: 1989

Rating: 1 star

First sentence: When the girl came rushing up the steps, I decided she was wearing far too many clothes.

One sentence comment: Who would be interested in a frivolous man as a protagonist?

 

          Look at the first sentence, and you will be surprised to see how many pages the protagonist was rambling on the clothes of the woman who ran for her life. As if time stopped. I should really admire the author for her writing technique.

          It took me a long time to wonder: what’s the meaning of this series. Perhaps it tried to tell me that Britain was full of brutal killings during the Roman reign in AD 70; perhaps it tried to show me what the mines and slaves who worked in them were like. Perhaps it told us modern readers that it had divorces and women could live independently at the golden age of Roman Empire. However, I don’t intend to read the Roman history. As a mystery series, it doesn’t propel me to want to read more about the protagonists and the plot.