Review: The Woman In White - Wilkie Collins

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins is a Victorian sensation novel, first published in serial form in 1859 and as a complete book in 1860. My love for sensation novels began with this very book, which made me curious to explore more works in the genre.

The novel is told through various narrators. It begins with Walter Hartright, a twenty-eight-year-old drawing teacher of modest means. He is employed at Limmeridge House, the country estate of the Fairlie family in Cumberland, England, where he teaches Laura Fairlie, the daughter and heiress of Mr. Philip Fairlie, and Marian Halcombe (Laura's half-sister) who shares the same mother but has a different father. As the story progresses, the narration shifts to other characters, including Vincent Gilmore, Marian Halcombe, Count Fosco etc., each offering their own perspective on the events.

"This is the story of what a Woman's patience can endure, and what a Man's resolution can achieve."

The quote above is the opening line, shows the clue that these events will show that women can be unusually patient and that men can be unusually determined. Women may suffer because of the circumstances and social structures surrounding them, while men may have the freedom and power to take action against those circumstances.

The Monk - Matthew Lewis

I chose to read this book for my spooky October reading. I rarely read pre-Victorian literature, and The Monk was published in 1796, when Gothic novels were becoming increasingly popular. It is one of the most notorious Gothic novels of its time.

Although the writing style feels old-fashioned, I enjoyed it very much, I gradually became intrigued by the horror, mystery, and disturbing events unfolding in the story. With every page, I grew more curious about what would happen next. Before I knew it, I found myself reading a real page-turner! 

Capuchin monastery, Madrid.

The story begins with all eyes on Ambrosio, the abbot of the Capuchin monastery in Madrid. The people gathered in the cathedral seem deeply impressed by him, showing great admiration and respect. However, this admiration is based largely on his outward appearance and reputation. As the story unfolds, we gradually discover that Ambrosio is far from the perfect religious figure people believe him to be. Behind his public image of holiness lies a deeply flawed man who eventually surrenders to temptation.

The Capuchin monastery and the Convent of St. Clare are two important settings in the novel. Although they are separate religious institutions, they are situated close to one another, creating an interesting connection between the lives of the monks and the nuns.

Many times, the author refers to Lorenzo as "our hero." Lorenzo is a young nobleman who is admired for his good character, he meets Raymond, and their friendship becomes another interesting part of the narrative. The repeated description of Lorenzo as "our hero" makes me wonder: who is actually the villain of this novel?

Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

At first, Anna Karenina may seem to be a story about love, but the novel explores deeper issues, such as human relationships, religious beliefs, and moral responsibilities. Anna Karenina published in is one of the masterpiece from Tolstoy after War and Peace, this genre is romance with so much religius aspect. Tolstoy does not simply tell and preach readers what is right or wrong. Instead, he leaves us with questions that are not so easy to resolve.

Set in nineteenth-century Imperial Russia, Anna Karenina takes place mainly in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the countryside. The novel opens with a marital crisis: Stiva Oblonsky’s affair has been discovered by his wife, Dolly. We then meet Anna Karenina, Stiva’s sister, who travels to Moscow to help reconcile the couple.

The story also introduces Konstantin Levin, who comes from the countryside and hopes to marry Kitty Shcherbatskaya, Dolly’s younger sister. However, he has a rival, Count Vronsky, a young officer who is also interested in Kitty, and she hopes to marry him. At a ball, Anna (still married with Karenin) meets Vronsky, and they begin to fall in love with each other. And the adultery is begin. 

‘Yes, there’s something alien, demonic and enchanting in her,’ Kitty said to herself.

Tolstoy presents us with three different examples of marriage in Anna Karenina:

Through Stiva and Dolly, we see a marriage that lacks responsibility on Stiva’s part. Stiva does not seem to feel much regret for his affair with his children’s governess. He carries on with his life as if nothing has happened, while Dolly is left to deal with the pain alone. He seems to give little thought to his wife’s feelings. I admire Dolly because, despite her disappointment and suffering, she still considers her family and children important and tries to keep her family together.

This raise the question:  Should a person stay in an unhappy marriage for the sake of their children and family, even when their partner has hurt them and failed to take responsibility?

Through Levin and Kitty, Tolstoy presents a different view of marriage. They hope to build a happy marriage based on sincere love, honesty, and Christian values. They want their relationship to be more than romantic love; they also want to fulfill their responsibilities as husband and wife.

This raise question : Is marriage has a higher purpose beyond personal happiness, to live according to God's will and prepare for the life to come?

Through Anna and Alexei Karenin, Tolstoy shows a marriage that lacks emotional closeness. Anna married Karenin without truly understanding what love was, while Karenin was twenty years older than her. This reminds me of Dorothea and Casaubon in Middlemarch, where marriage also appears respectable from the outside but lacks genuine emotional connection. Their relationship raises an important question: Can a marriage truly be happy when emotional needs are not fulfilled and love is missing? 

                                              

The novel consist in eight part, not just telling about Anna's romance, Tolstoy present deeply other character, mostly about Konstantin Levin rather than only focusing on Anna. I think Anna herself can be seen as a symbol of how relationships can change the lives of other people. Her presence first brings Stiva and Dolly together again after their marital conflict. Later, her relationship with Vronsky also affects Levin and Kitty, because if Anna had not become involved with Vronsky, Vronsky might not have rejected Kitty, and Levin might not have ended up with her. In this way, Anna is connected to the other marriages in the novel. Her choices do not affect only herself, but also change the direction of other people's lives. 

The marriage in context is in 1800s, it's quite complicated, when women who are always disadvantaged women only waiting to be purpose, can't she purpose men. just like Dolly said:

‘Yes, I understand everything now,’ Darya Alexandrovna went on. ‘You can’t understand it. For you men, who are free and can choose, it’s always clear whom you love. But a young girl in a state of expectation, with that feminine, maidenly modesty, a girl who sees you men from afar, who takes everything on trust – a girl may and does sometimes feel that she doesn’t know who she loves or what to say.’

‘Never mind, you propose when your love has ripened or when the scale tips towards one of your two choices. But a girl isn’t asked. She’s expected to choose for herself, but she can’t choose and only answers yes or no.’

But what about the illegitimate relationship between Anna and Vronsky, in which they live together like husband and wife? Their situation is not as simple as it might seem from a modern perspective. Vronsky still wants to maintain a connection with his former social circle. He wants to live a meaningful life beyond his relationship with Anna and their family life. From a man's perspective, having an affair seems more socially acceptable. If Vronsky could not be with Anna, he might simply marry another woman and continue his life as before. This reflects the double standard that existed in society at the time (same as Stiva Oblonsky's affair), which placed women at a much greater disadvantage. While men could continue their lives with relatively little judgment, women were condemned. People gossiped about Anna and called her a whore behind her back. It seems that Anna and Vronsky have love, but is love alone enough to sustain a lasting relationship?

So in the end, what about happines that Tolstoy seem to suggest? 

If we choose of the example or Tolstoy's candidate which one to be a perfect marriage? I would rather choose Levin and Kitty, not because they are have a perfect marriage which I don't think some kind of it exsist, bur because they are lucky. Personaly when Levin is married, he is  a thoughful men, thinks seriously about life and the future. I also admire Dolly's patience and perseverance. Her character makes me wonder whether a wife's sacrifice is always necessary to maintain a happy family.

But what if someone finds herself trapped in a marriage like Anna's? To what extent should a wife have the freedom to leave a marriage that no longer brings her happiness? And if she chooses to leave, what about her children? Should she sacrifice her own happiness to remain with them, or should she have the right to seek a different life?

For me, the most heartbreaking scene in the novel is when Anna meets her son, Seryozha. Their relationship makes the question of personal freedom much more difficult. Anna is not simply a woman who wants to follow her feelings; she is also a mother who loves her child. Her situation makes me wonder how society's judgment and the restrictions placed on women can turn a personal decision into a painful choice between romantic love and motherhood. 

Anna is not free from responsibility for her choices, but the way society treats her reveals its double standards, especially toward women. I wonder whether people who judge her are genuinely concerned about morality or whether they simply enjoy the comfort of believing themselves better than someone who has failed. Perhaps the real question is not whether Anna deserves criticism, but whether society has the right to strip someone of their dignity because of their mistakes. 

The last, reading Anna Karenina is quite chalenging, for what I thought it is romance novel, but it's wrong. This eight hundreed novel, has made me reflecting of life, Perhaps the most important lesson I have taken from Anna Karenina is that we can disagree with someone's choices without denying their humanity. After all, being morally right does not give us the right to be cruel.

Ruang Buku Megga Rated :  5/5

Title :  Anna Karenina

Author : Leo Tolstoy

Publisher : Penguin Classics
Year : 2006, (First Published in 1878)
Format / Pages : Softcover / 838 pages
ISBN : 9780140449174

Moby Dick - Herman Melville

In the time of Moby-Dick (around the 1840s), whaling was one of the world's most important industries. Whaling ships sailed for months or even years across the oceans to hunt whales for oil, spermaceti, baleen, used for lamps, candles, soap, and industrial purposes.

Ishmael, a young man from New York, decides to join a whaling voyage in search of adventure and a new experience. Along the way, he becomes close friends with Queequeg, a skilled harpooner from the fictional South Pacific island of Kokovoko. Ishmael later learns that Queequeg is actually the son of a king and heir to the throne, but he chose to leave his homeland to explore the outside world.

Ishmael first arrives in New Bedford, a prosperous city whose wealth comes from the whaling industry. Through his observations, the opening chapters show how deeply whaling shapes the city's economy and the lives of its people. He then travels to Nantucket, the center of the American whaling industry, where nearly every aspect of daily life revolves around the sea and the preparation for whaling voyages. Later, Ishmael join the Pequod, whose captain is the one leg, Ahab.

But there is something wrong with Captain Ahab. He is a monomaniac, obsessed with the great white whale, Moby Dick, the Leviathan, which once injured him badly. Now he wants to take revenge. Moby Dick is almost like a myth because of his enormous size and his ability to swim across the ocean with great speed. Nearly every whaleman seems to have heard of or encountered this creature, and they assume that there is only one Moby Dick. 

The hierarchy of the ship is clear: Captain Ahab is at the top, and his decision to search for Moby Dick seems absolute. I feel sorry for all the crew of the Pequod, because they cannot simply go home until Ahab's mission is finished. His obsession becomes dangerous because his personal goal is placed above the safety, money, and lives of everyone on the ship. Then there is Captain Starbuck, whose position is right below Ahab. Unlike Ahab, Starbuck believes that they are sailing for the normal purpose of whaling: to hunt whales and collect spermaceti for business. He is a practical, responsible, and reasonable man. He cares about the safety of the crew and often questions Ahab's dangerous decisions. He is also brave enough to disagree with Ahab, even though Ahab is his captain.

And a fun fact: the name of the Starbucks coffee company was inspired by the character Captain Starbuck, I also watched the 2011 Moby-Dick miniseries, with Ethan Hawke as Captain Starbuck. ❤❤❤❤

Moby-Dick is more than an adventure or sailing story. Through the novel, Herman Melville also preserves the history of nineteenth-century whaling. He explains the ships, the equipment, the crew's duties, the hierarchy on board, and daily life at sea. For modern readers, it feels almost like reading a historical record of an occupation that has nearly disappeared.

It is fascinating that today whaling is almost gone as an occupation, yet Herman Melville recorded its world in such remarkable detail. When he wrote Moby-Dick, he could not have known that whale oil would one day become unnecessary because of new technologies like petroleum and electricity. Reading the novel now feels like visiting a lost world.

It reminds me of many Thomas Hardy's novel in 19th century, where old rural occupations, such as the furze-cutter and woodland workers, were already disappear. Both Melville and Hardy preserved ways of life that were slowly fading, allowing modern readers to understand people whose work has almost vanished from history. 

One thing I still wonder about Ishmael. Who exactly is he? Because he didn't explain about himself, he is just a narrator. The whole story is told from Ishmael's point of view. At first, he says that he joins the Pequod simply to gain experience and see the world. But after everything that happens, he survives, returns home, and writes this enormous and highly detailed account of his voyage. He seems much more educated and thoughtful than an ordinary sailor. I am curious about how Ishmael became the person who could tell the story in such a detailed and philosophical way.

Overall, Moby-Dick is a very unique and interesting book. Melville gives detailed explanations of the anatomy of whales, their history, the people who have seen them, and the actual process of whaling. He gives so much detail that sometimes the book feels like nonfiction rather than a novel. In a way, it feels like a mixture of fiction and nonfiction. Whoever was misled by this book into expecting a great adventure at sea is just like me, but then gives you the encyclopedia of whales, philosophy, anatomy, history, religion (at some point this resemble to the life of Ishmael in the bible, that I didn't quite understand), world continent (the the Pequod has reached Indonesian's island ! Java, Borneo and Celebes) and also give you long explanations!

Ruang Buku Megga Rated : ✬✬✬ ✬(4/5)

Title :  Moby-Dick

Author : Herman Melville

Publisher : Penguin English Library 
Year : April, 2012, (First Published in 1851)
Format / Pages : Softcover / 684 pages
ISBN : 9780141198958

Black Beauty - Anna Sewell

Black Beauty is an autobiography of a horse, written from the horse's point of view. The story begins when Beauty is born in good circumstances. He is well-bred and raised by his mother, Duchess, a well-mannered and wise horse who teaches him how to behave properly. Beauty then grows up at Birtwick Park, where he is taken care of by John Manly and treated kindly by Squire Gordon and his family. He lives happily there and learns that good treatment makes a horse trust and respect his owner.

However, his peaceful life changes when he has to leave Birtwick Park and move to Earlshall. There, he experiences different treatment and begins to understand that not all humans treat horses with kindness. He later goes through many difficult experiences and changes owners several times. He becomes a London cab horse and sees how hard and exhausting life can be for working horses, till he finds a peaceful and caring final home where he can live comfortably for the rest of his life.

Beauty has many friends and meets several horses who tell him about their experiences, such as Ginger, the short-tempered horse; Merrylegs, the lively pony; Captain, the old war horse; and poor Seedy Sam, a cart horse who is often overworked and forced to carry heavy loads. Through their stories, Beauty learns about the different ways horses are treated by humans.

There are so many of Anna Sewell's share criticsm, but I love to higlighted this with a quote, she criticize about fashion over animal welfare :

THE OLD HORSE: “Of course it is,” said he, "to my mind, fashion is one of the wickedest things in the world. Now look, for instance, at the way they serve dogs, cutting off their tails to make them look plucky, and shearing up their pretty little ears to a point to make them look sharp, forsooth! ............. They healed in time, and they forgot the pain, but the nice soft flap that of course was intended to protect the delicate part of their ears from dust and injury was gone for ever. Why don’t they cut their own children’s ears into points to make them look sharp? Why don’t they cut the end off their noses to make them look plucky? One would be just as sensible as the other. What right have they to torment and disfigure God’s creatures?”

about overworking and sufferig London cab horse :

JERRY BARKER: “Yes, sir, that is true, and I am grateful for all favors, I am sure, and anything that I could do to oblige you, or the lady, I should be proud and happy to do; but I can’t give up my Sundays, sir, indeed I can’t. I read that God made man, and He made horses and all the other beasts, and as soon as He had made them, He made a day of rest, and bade that all should rest one day in seven; and I think, sir, He must have known what was good for them, and I am sure it is good for me; "

When the horse pull overweight cart: 

I got along fairly till we came to Ludgate Hill, but there the heavy load and my own exhaustion were too much. I was struggling to keep on, goaded by constant chucks of the rein and use of the whip, when, in a single moment —I cannot tell how—my feet slipped from under me, and I fell heavily to the ground on my side; the suddenness and the force with which I fell seemed to beat all the breath out of my body. I lay perfectly still; indeed, I had no power to move, and I thought now I was going to die. I heard a sort of confusion round me, loud angry voices, and the getting down of the luggage, but it was all like a dream. I thought I heard that sweet pitiful voice saying, “Oh! That poor horse! It is all our fault.”

The author making the horse feel like a person with thoughts and feelings. this is interesting because this is not merely children fiction, but social criticsm that Anna Sewell  gives a voice to a creature that cannot speak. Besides telling the story of how horses are ill-treated, Black Beauty also shows us how to be a good person through the way we treat animals. Sewell suggests that kindness, patience, responsibility, and empathy toward animals are signs of good character.

“My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt.”

Rating Ruang Buku Megga : ✭✭✭✭ (4/5 stars)

Title :  Black Beauty

Author : Anna Sewell

Publisher : English Classics Gramedia Pustaka Utama 
Year : August 2018  (First Published in 1877 )
Format / Pages : Softcover / 272 pages

ISBN : 9786020395173

A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemmingway

Set during World War I, when the Allies (Britain, France, Russia, Italy) were fighting against the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary) although America had not yet officially joined the war, this book tells the story of Lieutenant Frederic Henry, an American volunteer who serves with the Italian Red Cross ambulance service. The novel does not describe the war through large battles or military strategies, but focuses more on the people living through the war and how it affects their lives, relationships, and choices.

The story was no doubt partly based on Hemingway’s own experiences as an ambulance driver in Italy during World War I. One of the similarities is that Frederic is seriously wounded by a mortar shell at Fossalta di Piave, just as Hemingway was in real life. Hemingway was also deeply in love with an American nurse, Agnes von Kurowsky, while recovering from his wounds. In the novel, Catherine Barkley has some similarities to Agnes, so there are clear connections between Hemingway’s own life and Frederic’s story.

From Henry’s point of view, the war seems useless. At first, he joins the war as a volunteer and accepts his duty in the Italian ambulance service. But after seeing the reality of war, he becomes more skeptical about it. He sees many soldiers wounded and killed, the confusion during the retreat, and even his own army treating its soldiers badly. He realizes that the war is not as glorious as people say.

I agree with Henry that his life and Catherine’s life are more important than a war that he no longer believes in. However, I think the way he leaves the army is reckless. He could perhaps have tried to resign properly instead of escaping and becoming a deserter. Still, I understand why he does it. His character changes from someone who accepts the war without thinking much about it to someone who chooses his own life, love, and freedom instead.

This is my first time reading Hemingway, his style is simple and contains much more dialogue than description. Hemingway rarely explains what Frederic Henry is thinking or feeling. Because of this, I sometimes found it difficult to understand Henry's emotions and motivations. However, I realized that this is Hemingway's unique style. He lets readers understand the characters through their actions and conversations instead of directly explaining their inner thoughts. Very enjoyable to read, open my eyes differently what a war is, and I agree with Hemingway even he dosn't simply write that 'War is useless'.

"If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry."

Rating Ruang Buku Megga : ✭✭✭✭ (4/5 stars)

Title :  A Farewell To Arms

Author : Ernest Hemmingway

Publisher : Vintage Classics
Year :  2022 (First Published in 1929 )
Format / Pages : Softcover / 293 pages
ISBN : 9780099273974

 

Tarzan The Apes & The Return of Tarzan - Edgar Rice Burroughs

Tarzan of the Apes (1912) and The Return of Tarzan (1913) are classic adventure novels written by the American author Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes was first published as a magazine serial in 1912 before being released as a book, while The Return of Tarzan followed in 1913. This CloudClassics edition presents the first two of tweleve novels in Tarzan's adventures.

Lord and Lady Greystroke from England are lost at sea, and their lives change forever. Their son, Tarzan, is raised by an ape named Kala in the African jungle. As Tarzan grows up, he must fight to earn his place among the apes while learning to survive in the wild. Later, he meets a group of white explorers and a beautiful young woman for the first time. Until then, Tarzan has only known apes and the African tribes living in the jungle, so he is surprised to see people who look different from anyone he has ever met but has a skin color as his own. Their arrival changes Tarzan's life and makes him question who he really is.

I cannot say much about the second book because I do not want to spoil the story. In the sequel, Edgar Rice Burroughs moves away from his experiment, but focuses on a classic adventure story. Tarzan returns to Africa, but before that he travels through Arab lands. Along the way, he becomes involved in an exciting intrigue that includes a beautiful Russian countess. The novel is full of action, adventure, and unexpected twists. 

The novel also helped spread stereotypes about African tribes. It often describes Africa as a wild and dangerous place where the people are primitive or violent. However, these ideas came more from colonial adventure stories than from real history. In reality, many African societies were well organized and had rich cultures. Therefore, while Tarzan of the Apes is an exciting adventure novel, modern readers should remember that its portrayal of Africa is biased and does not accurately represent African people or cultures.

“If you are a man, you will return to protect your kind. You will not run away from one of your own people, because one of them has run away from you.” (D'Arnott to Tarzan)

I think one of the most interesting parts of Tarzan of the Apes is that Tarzan naturally chooses to do good things, even though nobody truly teaches him morality. He grows up in the jungle among apes, without human education or society, yet he still protects people, shows kindness, and avoids hurting humans he sees as his own kind. It feels like goodness comes naturally from inside him. Perhaps Edgar Rice Burroughs wanted to show that Tarzan is noble by nature, not because civilization taught him to be civilized. That is why many readers see him not only as a jungle man, but also as a naturally good person.

“You are free now, Jane,” he said, “and I have come across the ages out of the dim and distant past from the lair of the primeval man to claim you—for your sake I have become a civilized man—for your sake I have crossed oceans and continents—for your sake I will be whatever you will me to be. I can make you happy, Jane, in the life you know and love best. Will you marry me?”

In conclusion, I probably expected too much from this novel from a literary perspective, but the story itself is simple and enjoyable. I like the way Edgar Rice Burroughs romanticizes Tarzan's adventure. Tarzan's love letter to Jane is almost impossible to believe, it is far too poetic for someone who has never formally learned grammar or writing. However, the best way to enjoy Tarzan of the Apes is not to expect complete realism, since Tarzan is portrayed as a superhuman with extraordinary intelligence, I chose to accept it as part of the novel's fantasy. As a romantic adventure story, I give this novel  3,5 stars of Five, and I think I don't need to read the third book.  

Ruang Buku Megga Rated : ✬✬✬ ✬(3,5/5)

Title :  Tarzan The Apes & The Return of Tarzan

Author : Edgar Rice Burroughs

Publisher : CloudClassic (Canterbury Classics)
Year :  October, 2015 (First Published in 1912 )
Format / Pages : Softcover / 467 pages
ISBN :  1626864705

Review: Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood

Historical Context : based on the mysterious real-life murders of Thomas Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery, in 1843, Canada. Both James McDermott and Grace Marks were also real people.

In the year 1859, Grace Marks, a convicted murderess in the eyes of the people of Kingston, is still imprisoned after eight years. She now works as a servant in the house of the prison governor as a seamstress, making quilt. Grace and James McDermott were accused of murdering Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper, Nancy Montgomery. In Chapter 2, the public version of the murders is presented through a poem, which portrays Grace as a jealous and manipulative woman who persuaded McDermott to commit the crimes.

However, the truth about Grace’s involvement remains uncertain. Grace herself claims that she cannot clearly remember what happened because the events took place when she was still young and traumatized. Into this mystery comes Dr. Simon Jordan, an American doctor who becomes interested in Grace’s mental condition and begins interviewing her in hopes of discovering whether she is truly guilty, innocent, or psychologically disturbed.

The difference between Dr. Bannerling and Dr. Simon Jordan’s examinations is important because it shows the contrast between the old and modern approaches to mental health, which was still uncommon in Canada at that time. Dr. Bannerling treats Grace harshly and quickly judges her as dangerous or insane, while Dr. Simon Jordan tries to understand her mind, memories, and trauma more carefully. Through their different methods, Grace Marks becomes both a mental health study case, whether she is truly insane or sane, and also a criminal case that continues to question whether she is really guilty of the murders or not. Because of Grace’s good behavior while working in the governor’s house, some people there begin to believe that she deserves justice and another chance in life and return to society.

I am enjoying this novel very much. Through this story, Margaret Atwood wants readers to see how difficult life was for women at that time. Women often became victims of men’s selfishness and social power. I feel sympathy for Nancy Montgomery and Mary Whitney though Dr. Simon Jordan himself finds it difficult to prove whether Mary Whitney was truly a real person or only part of Grace’s memories and imagination. They aretruly victims, but not completely innocent, they do not fully understand how dangerous the world is, especially for poor women at that time. They are easily influenced by men and emotional decisions.

Atwood also intentionally makes Grace an unreliable narrator, so readers can never be completely certain about what is true, Compared to Nancy and Mary, Grace seems more intelligent, careful, and better at surviving because she observes people closely and hides her true thoughts.

The novel is based on true events, and we can search what happened at the end of the real case. But, I feel bewitched by Grace. Margaret Atwood makes her mysterious and sympathetic, so it is hard not to care about her. Even though the truth is still uncertain, I feel Grace deserved a better.

I almost forgot to mention the quilt patterns. They become an important symbol throughout the whole novel.

And since that time I have thought, why is it that women have chosen to sew such flags (quilts) and then to lay them on the tops of beds? For they make the bed the most noticeable thing in a room. And then I have thought, it’s for a warning. Because you may think a bed is a peaceful thing, Sir, and to you it may mean rest and comfort and a good night’s sleep. But it isn’t so for everyone; and there are many dangerous things that may take place in a bed. It is where we are born, and that is our first peril in life; and it is where the women give birth, which is often their last. And it is where the act takes place between men and women that I will not mention to you, Sir, but I suppose you know what it is; and some call it love, and others despair, or else merely an indignity which they must suffer through. And finally beds are what we sleep in, and where we dream, and often where we die. 

Ruang Buku Megga Rated : ✬✬✬✬✬ (5/5)

Title :  Alias Grace

Author : Margaret Atwood

Publisher : Anchor Books
Year :  1997 (First Published in 1996 )
Format / Pages : Softcover / 468 pages
ISBN :  

The Woodlanders - Thomas Hardy

The novel begins with a view of the forests surrounding Little Hintock, a secluded woodland village. A barber from the nearby town of Sherton Abbas travels into the woods to buy Marty South’s beautiful hair, since poverty forces her to sell it. Soon after, Grace Melbury, the educated daughter of a timber merchant, returns home from boarding school. She reunites with her childhood friend and fiancé, Giles Winterborne, whom Marty secretly loves. Grace notices that Little Hintock has changed during her absence, especially with the arrival of the sophisticated doctor, Edgar Fitzpiers, a man from a higher social class who now lives in the district. 

The main story is the complicated love story between Grace Melbury and the humble woodlander, Giles Winterborne. Grace is often treated like property by her father. Mr. Melbury spends a great amount of money on her education so she can become an educated lady, socially above the woodland people of Little Hintock. Because of this sacrifice, he begins to think that marrying Giles Winterborne would waste Grace’s education and social advancement.

Grace is also quite capricious about her future, and I think she is similar to her father in some ways. At times, this becomes a little annoying because Grace always acts like an obedient daughter and rarely stands against her father’s wishes. When Giles loses his house, Grace finally marries Dr. Fitzpiers. She seems relieved because the marriage follows her father’s choice, even though she barely knows the doctor well.

Characters from outside the woodland, such as Mrs. Charmond and Dr. Fitzpiers, look noble and educated from the outside, but inside they are emotionally complicated. Hardy shows a contrast between the simple woodland people and the more modern upper-class people, suggests that rich or educated people are not always better than simple rural people.

The woodland is the main setting of this novel. It is full of tall trees with little sunshine, so the atmosphere feels quiet, lonely, resilient, and a little dark. The district in the woodland area is called Little Hintock. The “woodlanders” are the people who live and make a living in the woods.

After reading The Woodlanders and The Return of the Native, I think Thomas Hardy feels important today because he recorded a rural world that slowly disappeared. He captured the lives, labor, and struggles of English peasants and village communities before industrial modern life changed everything. For example, Giles Winterborne works with traditional cider-maker, Marty South strips bark from trees, and other villagers work closely with timber and forests. In The Return of the Native, the furze-cutters also show the hard life of rural workers. Hardy vividly preserved ways of life that were later erased by modernization.

I do not know how Victorian society valued Hardy’s novels at that time. If we imagine living in that era, people may have read his stories as ordinary accounts of everyday rural life, just as modern people today write about the difficulties of life in the city. But because Hardy’s novels describe a world from more than 200 years ago, it's more interesting to me, reading them today feels like a window to past time.

Ruang Buku Megga Rated : ✬✬✬✬ (4/5)

Title :  The Woodlanders

Author : Thomas Hardy

Publisher : Everyman Library
Year :  1994 (First Published in 1887 )
Format / Pages : Softcover / 400 pages
ISBN :  9780460874595

IVANHOE - Sir Walter Scott

This is an interesting medieval historical tale about bravery and loyalty Set during the reign of King Richard I, who is absent from England while fighting in the Crusades in the Holy Land of Jerusalem, the kingdom is temporarily influenced by his brother, Prince John.

Following the young Wilfred of Ivanhoe, a brave knight who has been disowned by his father, Cedric the Saxon, because of his loyalty to King Richard and his association with the Norman court. The novel begins when Ivanhoe secretly returns to England after joining the Crusades. Disguised and wounded, he soon becomes involved in a grand tournament where he must fight against powerful Norman knights. With the unexpected help of the wealthy Jewish merchant Isaac of York, Ivanhoe is able to obtain armor and a horse to participate in the tournament. 

The story is slow-paced, but it has many unique and memorable characters that make the novel enjoyable to read. Although the plot is quite simple, the characters are very interesting. The character who touched me the most was Rebecca of York because of her courage, intelligence, and exotic beauty, which make her stand out from the others. The novel shows that medieval society still saw Rebecca’s advanced medical knowledge as something strange and taboo instead of trying to understand it further. People in high ranking in Church quickly judged her as a witch while believing they were defending Christianity, even without clear reason or evidence.

Even though he is stubborn and skeptical about the Crusades, Cedric of Saxon sincerely believes in protecting the dignity and memory of the Saxons, he also shows fairness and kindness toward Jews as a marginalized group in medieval society. The novel also contains memorable villains, especially Brian de Bois-Guilbert, whose obsession with Rebecca creates much of the story’s tension, while Prince John and his followers represent greed, ambition, and corruption in medieval society.

Honestly, I felt battered reading this classics, the narration is so vivid but there are so many outdated and rarely used words, and the conversations are often overly convoluted (I am sorry that I am cheating with google translate while reading). Ivanhoe has too many characters involved at the same time, which makes the story feel crowded and sometimes hard to follow. I an little bit surprise how this book commented about the crusade in holy land Jerusalem in Palestine, through Cedric, the writer pointed out that he did not agree about crusade, how people commit bloodshed and then calle it "the will of God"? Walter Scott is partly satirizing how Europe romanticized distant holy wars while neglecting problems at home.

“Palestine!” repeated the Saxon—“Palestine! how many ears are turned to the tales which dissolute crusaders or hypocritical pilgrims bring from that fatal land! I too might ask—I too might inquire—I too might listen with a beating heart to fables which the wily strollers devise to cheat us into hospitality; but no—the son who has disobeyed me is no longer mine; nor will I concern myself more for his fate than for that of the most worthless among the millions that ever shaped the cross on their shoulder, rushed into excess and blood-guiltiness, and called it an accomplishment of the will of God.”

This novel portrays the enmity between the Normans and the Saxons after the Battle of Hastings, as well as the prejudice of the Normans toward the Jewish people. It was truly an enjoyable story, even though the setting takes place 500 years before the time when Walter Scott was writing. I have always been a fan of medieval historical fiction, so it was no surprise that I immediately connected with the novel. With its good pacing, engaging storyline, and interesting characters, Ivanhoe feels very well balanced.

Ruang Buku Megga Rated : ✬✬✬✬ (4/5)

Title :  Ivanhoe

Author : Walter Scott

Publisher : Wordsworth Classics
Year :  October 2019 (First Published in 1819 )
Format / Pages : Softcover / 464 pages
ISBN :  -