Candide - Voltaire

candide voltaire
c. 1759
78 pages
completed 11/28/2010

read for: HSTEU302 (modern european history 1648-1815), penguin classics, 1001 books

*may contain spoilers*

In the land of Westphalia, in the castle of the Baron of Thunder-ten-Tronckh, lived a youth endowed by nature with the gentlest of characters.

Candide, the bastard nephew of a baron on Westphalia, grows up studying under the tutelage of Dr. Pangloss. Pangloss is a firm believer in the theories of Leibniz, a German philosopher who poses a theory of optimism, that the world we live in is the best possible world. After engaging in sexual relations with the baron's daughter, Candide is driven from his home. This leads Candide on a journey across Europe, the Americas, and eventually the Ottoman Empire where a series of misfortunes causes Candide to seriously question the teachings of Pangloss and the theories of Leibniz.

I think this book could easily not be enjoyed without knowing the context in which it was written. I remember trying to read this before, but I didn't really know what it was trying to say since I didn't know what was going on historically in Europe at the time. I didn't even make it halfway though, which is sad considering the books is ONLY 78 PAGES LONG. Since I'm now reading it in my European history class, I was able to go through it pretty quick and appreciate it for what it really was, Voltaire's rebuttal to Leibniz's philosophy of optimism. Voltaire used this satire in order to write a social commentary on the state of the world at the time and the amount of suffering people go through on a daily basis at the hands of others as well as nature itself.

Without knowing the historical context, this book can be both pretty boring and horrific (for a comedy, there's a lot of rape and execution going on). Even knowing and appreciating the historical aspect of the book didn't make it a great read for me. While I enjoy history and was glad that I was able to know exactly what Voltaire was referring to in some of his more veiled metaphors, I don't really do philosophy. I don't really care if Voltaire thinks the amount of suffering within the world proves that there's no way this is the best possible world. But I read it, and I'm glad I did (seeing as I had to write a paper on it).

3/5

Cleopatra's Daughter - Michelle Moran

cleopatra's daughter
michelle moran
c. 2009
411 pages
completed 8/29/2010

read for: year of the historical challenge

*may contain spoilers*

While we waited for news to arrive, we played dice.

News quickly did arrive, news of Egyptian defeat and the suicide of Marc Antony. As Octavian and his Roman army invaded Queen Kleopatra's Alexandrian palace, she followed her husband's example and committed suicide herself, leaving her eleven year old twins, Alexander and Selene, at the mercy of Rome. While at first paraded through the streets of Rome in chains to celebrate Octavian's triumph over Antony and Kleopatra, the twins soon find themselves treated as honored royal guests, living with Octavian's sister Octavia, and becoming fast friends with the children of both Octavian and Octavia. Though day to day life seems easy, the twins know their fate is in the hands of Octavian, a man who may decide at any moment that they are a threat to his rule.

For the most part, I enjoyed this book. Michelle Moran's Egyptian historical fiction has been really popular in the past few years, but this is the first one I read, so I cannot comment on how it compares. I can say that after reading this one I am looking forward to reading the others. Most of this book is set in Rome, anyway, so I'll be interested to see more Egyptian culture in the others.

It's funny, my sister the librarian and I were just talking last night about a specific problem that we have found in a lot of historical fiction that deals with real people. I also think I mentioned this in a review post earlier this year. Too often, I have found, the only historical figures that people seem to want to write about are tragic historical figures. So while the story is interesting, it's still kind of a downer. I, for one, refuse to believe that their are no people in the world who are both interesting and happy. They don't have to be happy all the time, I can be down with personal struggles and heartache, but every once in a while it would be great for a happy ending. Cleopatra's Daughter ends somewhat happily. There is love. And there is freedom. But there is also death and exile. So this come close to what I'm looking for, I guess, but it's not quite there.

I felt that Moran did a really good job of depicting, not just the events that were specific to the story of Alexander and Selene, but also events that really explained the political struggles that were going on in Rome at the time. Specifically, the two trials Selene witnessed, which were not sugar coated, and Moran's invention of the Red Eagle. Both trials horrified me. Octavian surely had his work cut out for him in keeping the peace in Rome.

There were a few things that irritated me throughout the book. Within the actual text of the novel, Kleopatra (both mother and daughter) is spelled with a K. Yet the title is spelled with a C. I don't know if one is more historically accurate, but I think it should have been consistent. I like consistency. Because there was no consistency between the book and the book title I was forced to be inconsistent in my post. Which makes me sad. There was also a lot of expository writing in the first few chapters. Like, a lot of Marcellus explaining Rome to Alexander and Selene when they first arrived. I can kind of look past that as Alexander and Selene were new to Rome and didn't know anything and at least there was a Q&A session between characters instead of just one big long descriptive paragraph/chapter, but at times it made me think of chapter two of every Babysitter's Club book where each character and the creation of the club is described in detail. I wish there had been a bit more discovering of Roman culture through the story and less through Marcellus' monologue.

A good read. Some parts were horrifying, but it was nicely balanced with universal adolescent concerns (first love, struggles with parents, etc).

4/5

Like Mayflies in the Stream - Shauna Roberts

like mayflies in the stream
shauna roberts
c. 2009
189 pages
completed 6/1/2010
read for: what's in a name challenge

*may contain spoilers*

Around the shrunken water hole, scrawny gazelles jockeyed for position.

A novelization of the legend of Gilgamesh. Beginning with the origins of Enkidu, the wild man, Mayflies tells the story of a corrupt and childish king (Gilgamesh) who both terrorizes and neglects his people, and the priestess (Shamhat) who braves the wilderness in order to tame the wild man in the hope that he will in turn humble and tame the wild king.

There are a lot of elements of this book that were really strong, particularly the historical detail. There was a lot of interesting descriptions of daily life, ritual, and religious customs that were well incorporated into the story. Never did the descriptions feel textbook-like which I find can be a problem sometimes when writing about such a lost, ancient culture. Instead, the reader came to understand these aspects of life almost through experience rather than a recitation of fact. But to be honest, I wanted to like this a lot more than I did.

While I enjoyed the historical and cultural elements, and really enjoyed the brief author's note describing her research and what kinds of documented history she had to go on, I just never got invested into the actual story. I wasn't compelled by any of the characters except Shamhat, and even she fell a little flat for me at times, specifically with regard to her relationships (I don't think I can bring myself to classify them as love) with Zaidu and Enkidu. Perhaps they would have been more believable had the book been longer and more time could have been spent developing the turning points in their respective relationships. Shamhat was mourning the death of Enkidu, who she claimed to have loved, when Zaidu turned up at her door out of the blue and she was suddenly so eager to run away with him. I didn't quite buy it.

Also, something about the prose itself rubbed me the wrong way. Both the conversation and the narration had a very modern feel which jarred a little with the incorporation of more ancient ideas and beliefs, such as using the liver to experience the emotions we in modern society attribute to the heart. That, however, could well be just a personal preference and while it might not phase another reader, it just didn't quite work for me.

3/5

The Saffron Kitchen - Yasmin Crowther

the saffron kitchen
yasmin crowther
c. 2006
258 pages

*may contain spoilers*

This was the third book read for the Expanding Horizons Challenge (see sidebar). This was my Middle Eastern choice, set in both London and Iran. I had a really hard time getting into this book. I had to read the first section three or four times before I finally pressed on.

This is the story of Maryam Mazar, who left Iran as a young woman and has made a life and a family for herself in London. Her daughter, Sara, is grown up with a husband of her own and a baby on the way. Maryam's sister dies in Iran, and her son Saeed is sent to live with Maryam in London. His visit brings Maryam's past, which has always made her somewhat detached from her family, back to haunt her and after her actions cause tragic results for Sara, she feels compelled to return to Iran, to the family and village and love she was forced to leave behind so many years ago. Sara follows her mother to Iran to learn for herself of her mother's past.

I felt this was a decent book, but I had a few problems with it. Like I said, I had a hard time starting it, but once I got to the flashback of Maryam growing up in Iran I really enjoyed it. But I had some trouble again once the flashback was over and we returned to modern day. I think one major problem was I couldn't see Maryam the young woman and Maryam the wife and mother being the same person. I liked her as a young woman, sympathized with her and enjoyed her spunk and spirit. However, as an adult I couldn't stand her. It was hard to sympathize with her, even when you find out the whole story of her examination (which I assumed had happened before it was even revealed). Even when you know that she went through some horrific events, that doesn't excuse her treatment of Saeed or Edward or Sara. And in the end, you can't be totally happy with her and Ali finding each other again when you know the extreme hurt that Edward is experiencing.

3/5