Agnes Grey

When people think of Bronte, they think of controversial tales of passionate love on the moors of Yorkshire. Agnes Grey is not part of one such tale. She is a church-going young woman who goes out to earn a living for her impoverished family by being a governess.

You can pick up Agnes Grey at any point and be able to tell instantly what she is like as a person. Every chapter is filled with religious quotations and though she arrives at her first post with a fresh outlook and ready for anything that may come her way, she is not ready for the way of the upper-class children.

The children Agnes deals with are, plainly put, spoilt brats. They are their mothers' little darlings and hence anything that they may do wrong is never the mother's fault, it is that of Agnes. Over the course of the year she spends at her first chance at being a governess, in this instance to a noisy boy and two spoilt little girls, her once excitable desire for adventure is soon relinquished as she realises that not everyone has such good manners as she.

Being only working class, Agnes Grey has an incredibly satirical narrative, exposing to the reader the never-ending coquetry of characters such as Rosalie, a later pupil of Miss Grey, and how others such as Rosalie's sister Matilda may pick up bad habits from their far-too-fond-of-alcohol fathers. I especially liked the dashed out swear words such as "d-n" that terrible Tilly uses. It made me laugh to think of a typical Victorian lady reading Agnes Grey and falling off her seat in shock when none other than a young lady could say such a scandalous word.

Agnes Grey is a feel-good sort of book that mainly anyone can read. It makes the reader think - ah well my life may be rubbish now but maybe eventually a vaguely handsome priest with a good heart will turn up and sweep me off my feet. Or something...

By Jess

You can shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin To Kill a Mockingbird

To be completely honest, I think To Kill A Mockingbird is beyond incredible. No, that is not the entire review, but it is my opinion and I would be thoroughly surprised if anyone opposed it. Told through the eyes of young Scout Finch, a true tomboy living in 1930's Maycomb, Alabama, we are told a story of racism and fighting for equality in the Deep South of the USA.

Reading David Lodge's The Art of Fiction for AS, I remember one of the chapters being about the beginning of a novel, and when it may end. Some beginnings are just a paragraph long, some take a couple of chapters to get going. Harper Lee sets up the main theme of the plot thoroughly well with just under a hundred pages of beginning, but I don't resent her for it in any way. This doesn't mean that you can't get into it, as may be the case with some novels. And once at the end of the story you know exactly why Lee needed to take her time explaining everything.

Atticus Finch is the father of Jem and Scout Finch. Before you ask, Jem is short for Jeremy, who at the start is in the fifth grade (however old that makes him – I think it's about nine); and Scout is a nickname for Jean Louise, who is a good four years younger than her brother. Scout tells us all about their neighbourhood: the spooky Radley Place two doors down on the right; friendly Miss Maudie and her azaleas; Miss Stephanie the gossip; Mrs Dubose the terrifying old lady three doors down on the left; to name but a few. Their first summer, where the story more or less opens, is spent with a new and similarly adventurous friend named Dill Harris from Meridian, Mississippi, and through their activities the reader learns that they are typical children, playing outdoors and getting into trouble.

Evidently there is a more significant tale to be told here. Atticus is a lawyer, and the first case that we are told about of his is where he is defending a black man. On witnessing the court case through Scout's eyes, we know that he is innocent. For this man has been accused of raping a Ewell girl: a white family who live on a dumpster near a 'Negro' settlement, sponging off relief cheques and who are really the lowest of the low. As Scout puts it so perfectly: “All the little man [Mr Ewell – the girl's father] on the witness stand had that made him any better than his nearest neighbours was that, if scrubbed with lye soap with very hot water, his skin was white.”

Of course, anyone who reads this book knows that in 1930's America there was extreme prejudice against the black inhabitants of the country. Atticus tells his own children, with much resentment, that even if a black defendant is clearly innocent, the jury will always take the word of a white man over his, no matter how dirty and rude said white man is. Hitler is mentioned briefly in one of Scout's 'Current Events' classes, and when her teacher Miss Gates says that it is wrong of Hitler to persecute the Jews, one boy appears to be confused why they should be the victims, since they are white. When Miss Gates says “over here we don't believe in persecuting anybody. Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced,” only Scout seems to think it all very hypocritical, with the black community in mind.

If you haven't read this book then dear Lord read it now. The not-so-ignorant view point of a young girl who is heavily influenced by her hilariously precocious older brother makes it absolutely perfect. The only thing I would criticise about To Kill A Mockingbird is that it comes to an end: I so desperately didn't want it to.

By Jess

Plain Jane

It is a well-known fact that heroines are meant to be beautiful, or at least that they clean up to be so. Grand gentlemen and dashing princes are meant to fall for lady or princess material, not humble sidekicks. This is just one of the controversies Charlotte Brontë presents to us with Jane Eyre.

Jane does not have an easy upbringing. I definitely didn't enjoy the first few chapters of Jane's life, not because it wasn't written well or because it didn't grab my attention, but because it was pretty depressing. I didn't really want to read about a ten-year-old orphan being beaten up by her obnoxious fourteen-year-old male cousin, even sometimes in front of her aunt, when nothing is being done about it. So when Jane went to Lowood School for orphans, I was pleased for her. And then her aunt went and spoilt it all by telling the headmaster, falsely, that she was devilish and wicked, leading him to tell the whole school. I was close to closing the book by this point, wanting to go and give all those horrid adults something to think about wickedness. I didn't, obviously. I carried on reading.

Jane Eyre is a wonderful love story. I assume most of you know the story, and if you don't then stop reading because I'm going to break my tradition of keeping schtum and spoil the plot, because otherwise this would be a terrible review.

As I earlier mentioned, Jane Eyre is an educated but unattractive girl, as is mentioned several times by different points of view. As she is the titular character and it is a novel written in the first person, there is no choice but to accept her as the true heroine, not that the Victorians would have liked this. Though they had their slightly odd obsession with orphans, pleasing them in one respect, they didn't like the thought of an ugly protagonist. So when Mr Rochester, albeit extremely romantically, proposes to Jane, they probably didn't like that either, because she was the governess of this stately gentleman's ward. He was meant to marry a lady, not a woman. We modern readers, however, love it.

Brontë includes a host of biblical quotes in the novel, most probably to reflect Jane's piety and additionally to create a greater sense of horror and betrayal when Mr Rochester's secret is revealed. The mad woman in the attic is the wife of Mr Rochester. She is not dead, they are not divorced, and hence there is no way that Jane and Mr R can marry. Jane finds this out the hard way: at the altar. Does she still love him? Of course. We modern readers may find this entirely acceptable, but I doubt the Victorian readers did. After all, he has broken more than one of the ten commandments: he is a terrible sinner and should not be forgiven. However, when he threatens to use violence against Jane when she insists she leave him, a modern reader (or at least I did) would find this shocking. How can he use violence against her? She hasn't done anything wrong! Why should he be the perpretrator and she the victim? But then again, domestic violence wasn't really an issue then, in that it was totally accepted. Which is a bit messed up, in my opinion.

But Jane does get what she deserves. After days of barely any food and traipsing around the Peak District (the most exciting bit about this is that I went to the town she finds refuge in on my Duke of Edinburgh Gold Practice Expedition) she is taken in my two sisters and a brother and their servant, changing her name to Jane Elliott and not divulging any details of her recent past so as to avoid recognition. It turns out that dear Miss Eyre is the heiress to a large fortune from her recently deceased uncle in Madeira and that the two sisters, Diana and Mary, and their brother, weirdly named St John, are her cousins. So Jane is a very happy lass.

Of course, she has not forgotten dear Edward Rochester, her true love. Brontë brings in the idea of Fate by having her hear his voice and sending her running to him and from a marriage proposal from her cousin (with a trip to India included – not a bad offer, but for all the wrong reasons). She finds Mr Rochester, but his loony wife burnt down Thornfield Hall (where she lived with him and his ward and everyone else before) and he was inside, leaving him blind and his left arm mutilated. But does she care? Of course not. It is true love, and Brontë understands all us girls by telling us that true love has no boundaries. After a very romantic entrance back into his life and a wonderful wedding without all the jewels and luxuries Jane had to so unwillingly accept the first time, the epilogue leaves us with Mr Rochester regaining his sight in one eye. I don't even care if it's not scientifically accruate, it is love for goodness' sake. And I'm so glad I stuck with Plain Jane until the very end.


By Jess

A Sardonic Sense of Humour

The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham, is an early twentieth-century novel about lust, unrequited love and courage, taking place principally in the Chinese countryside.

When Kitty Garstin marries Walter Fane it is not for love. As she says herself, she never loves him, not at any point in the novel, despising his “sardonic” sense of humour and his crooked ways. No, Kitty does not marry for love. Instead, she marries Walter in a panic: her younger sister is already engaged; Kitty herself is nearing the ripe old age of 24 or 25; and this marriage would require her to live in Hong Kong, so she wouldn't have to deal with her sister's wedding or go on any loathsome family holidays ever again. Sorted. Walter on the other hand, adores Kitty. She is beautiful and chatty and funny, and Walter, though regretting that his love is unrequited, is happy enough with the situation to carry on with his life in peace.

In the bustling city of Hong Kong, Kitty meets many new people, old and young, men and women, all from the British Colonial base. One such person is Charlie Townsend, a charming, well-built man with a handsome face and apparently wonderful eyes. He is Kitty's undoing. Married himself, he never really loves Kitty so much as takes the opportunity she throws at him, and when Walter finds out a year later on finding them himself, Charlie has no intention of leaving his wife and saving Kitty from the clutches of Walter's ultimatum.

In short, the ultimatum is either stay with Walter or be divorced by Walter. The latter involves staying in Hong Kong. The former involves moving to the city of Mei tan fu, a bacteriologist, but this is less appealing as the site is ridden with a terrible cholera epidemic of which the citizens are dropping like flies. It is this option she is forced to choose.

This is where we see a journey of self-discovery take place. Kitty barely ever takes in someone's personality when we have a person described to us. It is always how attractive they are; how nice their eyes are or how revolting their nose is. Tired of hanging around the house all day and all night, Kitty decides to work with the French nuns who manage the orphanage, and here we see what was a dislike of “ugly” Chinese children change to a love of children and the development of a maternal instinct, just one example of how this new life changes her.

Simultaneously, Kitty learns to live with Walter, though he never really forgives her for her sinful behaviour and though she never fails to remind the reader that she does not love him and could never love him. She befriends the Customs man, Waddington, a squat man with a good sense of humour and a chatty tongue. It is Waddington who tells her about the Way, which is essentially a path of self-discovery the Chinese have figured out long before us.

Over the course of her stay in Mei tan fu, Kitty realises everything she never had figured out, sees everything she was blind to, and understands everything she felt clueless about previously. Her relationship with Charlie, for example, and Charlie's true self. Her superficiality shines through here again; she satisfies herself by telling herself that he was too fat, his eyebrows were apelike and revolting and his face was ugly, as opposed to thinking that his charm and his flattery were all false.

The Painted Veil really is a good read. The whole self-discovery makes it a great holiday read and it isn't too long at 200 odd pages so do give it a go. The film, starring Naomi Watts as Kitty and the thin one from Fight Club is great too, I must admit, following the story the whole way, though it is dramatised a bit, making us believe that Kitty does love Walter towards the end, but that's Hollywood for you.

By Jess

Old Sport

In keeping with the theme of my American literature reading habits I took a successful stab at F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

The Great Gatsby is the tale of society in Long Island from the point of view of newcomer Nick Carraway. His house, with lawn unpreened and lacking a multitude of servants, is situated next door to the abode of a somewhat local celebrity, named Jay Gatsby.

I assume you all have the heard the phrase 'a friend of everybody is a friend of no one'. That phrase applies perfectly to Jay Gatsby. For all of his inconsistent life stories and all of his booming 1920s house parties, nobody really knows or cares about him as a friend. And anyway, Mr G isn't the goody-two-shoes in many ways. His shady schemes with a Mr Wolfshiem, portrayed rather anti-semitically by Fitzgerald as a conman with bad grammar, never really dominate the plot, but it still means that we readers know Mr G is a bit dodgy.

Gatsby has a habit of calling people “old sport”. Is this a way of trying to have people think the two of them are great pals? Because it doesn't work, as we so tragically find out. The only exception to this sentiment of 'I'll come to your party but I wouldn't bother with your funeral' is Nick; this is how we find out the story that makes the novel.

Nick, always the friendly one, is the old chum of another man who lives on the other end of Long Island. This man is named Tom Buchanan, and he has a twisted sort of lifestyle. For he is having a long and drawn-out love affair with a Mrs Wilson. Yes, you read correctly: she is also married, to Tom's friend, Mr Wilson. In the meantime, however, Tom learns of his wife's (yes he has a wife) relation with Mr Gatsby, which is one of harboured love. For Daisy and Mr G were once terribly in love but were separated, and now that they have been reunited, they have started to have an affair. Which is a bit awkward when Tom finds out, especially since it was Nick who was persuaded into inviting them both to his house for tea by a mutual friend named Jordan Baker who Nick sort of fancies anyway. Confused?

And though Tom is in the wrong, he has a point. Daisy isn't very subtle with her affections and Mr G thinks she will leave Tom for him, therefore holds back no smart remarks that may hurt Tom. Which is just really awkward for Nick, who turns out to be pretty fickle with who he supports and whether he loves or hates his new clique.

Fitzgerald's writing is compelling and though the novel is not entirely filled with a turbulent plot, I was left thinking about who was in the wrong and who was in the right, leaving me with the conclusion that everyone was in the wrong. Which was a depressing but satisfying conclusion. Give it a read and let us know what you think / thought (if you have read it already). The movie is coming out in the not too distant future with a star-studded cast: Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby; Carey Mulligan as Daisy; Tobey Maguire as Nick; and Isla Fisher as Mrs Wilson, to name but a few, but you know the book will be better, so do read it before then. Pretty please.

By Jess

Daisy, Daisy, Give Me Your Answer Do

Daisy Miller is the first Henry James novel that I have read, and I loved it. It isn't long at all at only 115 pages (my edition is anyway) so anyone can read it over a weekend.

The overall plot (without giving away anything) is the tale of a Mr Winterbourne, an American in Europe. When we first meet Mr W he is in a town called Vevey having just come from Geneva. Staying with his aunt, Mrs Costello, he meets a little scoundrel of a boy called Randolph Miller, who is in the process of refusing to go to bed, as little boys so enjoy doing. He promptly introduces our friend to his sister named Daisy Miller (no prizes for having guessed her name before you read it). The Miller family is American too, from Schenectady in New York state, and they pride themselves in being awfully sociable people, which doesn't always shed the best light on them.

Daisy is often called a "flirt", and it is easy understand why very early on. Considering the novel was written in 1878, she is a terribly forward sort of girl, even considered quite common by the higher-class members of the novel, such as pompous Mrs Costello. It is pretty evident that Mr W falls for her ditzy yet charming ways, and after just a couple of weeks or so he seems to be head-over-heels.

Daisy, however, leaves for Rome soon after they become friends, and as his aunt is there already, Mr W follows. This is where I find the novel to take a turn for the slightly amusing. You see, Daisy, as always, is being her flirty and amiable self, and in doing so she has made lots of friends. Lots of gentleman friends *cue 'shock horror' faces*. One such 'friend' is called Mr Giovanelli. Mr W first meets Mr G very awkwardly in a sort of third-wheel arrangement whereby he tags along with Daisy when she goes to meet him. Mr G, by Mr W's standards, is very common indeed. For example, he has a whole flower in his button-hole, and as was explained in the notes at the back of the book, the larger a gentleman's button-hole, the more common he is. So a whole flower? Scandalous.

Mr W begins to grow extremely envious of Mr G's position, and as Daisy Miller is such a short book, it doesn't take long for his envy to become full-blown creepy stalking. As he follows Daisy everywhere (he has a peculiar way of showing his affection), she starts to grow tired of his nonsense, and insults him. Does this perturb our protagonist? Oh no! Even when Daisy is shunned by her temporary landlady, and even though Mrs Costello is adamant that she is filthy and whatnot, he continues to adore her from closer than she probably would like him to, at least whenever she is with Mr Giovanelli and his gargantuan button-hole. I highly doubt such stalking was accepted even in 19th century Rome.

What I noticed most, however, about Mr Winterbourne's infatuation, was his frequent commenting on Daisy's beauty. To him, she was "exquisite"and "pretty", but never funny or kind or sweet. Perhaps it is as a modern reader that I notice this, and a contemporary reader wouldn't have thought twice about the blind love. It revisits that idea of love at first sight: essentially it is just lust. Would Mr Winterbourne have loved / stalked Daisy in the same manner if her nose had been larger? Or if she had had bad skin? Or if she didn't have such good dress sense? Probably not, though he was attracted to her because of her terrifying ability to talk non-stop at people and make them think they wanted to listen. However, at the end (I shan't tell you what happens), Mr G comments on her wonderful personality, which makes me think that he was the one for her after all.

Thoughts? Would you be slightly unsettled by bumbling Mr Winterbourne if you were  in Daisy's position?

By Jess

Word of the Day

I am currently reading Robert Dallek's 'John. F. Kennedy. An Unfinished Life.' It is the very interesting biography of JFK and it is teaching me many new words, one of which I would like to share with you.

Sacrosanct:

1. Extremely sacred or inviolable.
2. Not to be entered or trespassed upon.
3. Above and beyond criticism, change or interference.

Sentence Example:
Victoria considered her room to be sacrosanct, and therefore was furious when she found her little sister in it, playing with her things.

By Talia

It All Ends Here

Last night I had the great privilege of attending the 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2' premiere. It was a huge event and the red carpet stretched all the way from Trafalgar Square down to Leicester Square, they had also turned half the carpet into Diagon Alley. I had been so excited about seeing the film I hadn't really thought about the fact that this was the end, despite the words 'It All Ends Here' being superimposed over every poster in the world.

I have been reading Harry Potter since I was six, therefore as Harry has grown over the past seven books and eight films so have I. I couldn't tell you precisely what it is about the books that makes them the all time best books in my opinion, yes there's the fantastic names (Neville Longbottom, Severus Snape etc.) and the magical world being set in England, in places that we all recognise (Kings Cross Station, Surrey, Tottenham Court Rd) but it's more than that. It has to be, there's a reason these books are the second most widely read novels in the world, second only to the Bible. There's a reason why we all (myself included) queued up at midnight to get a copy of the books, why next week everyone will be at the Odeon at midnight to see the first screenings of the final film installment. It's because we all love Harry, not in the same sort of way we love an action hero, but we love him as a best friend and care about what happens to him and Ron and Hermione.

The new film is in 3D, a move which I wasn't thrilled about, I think 3D is quite gimmicky and Harry Potter doesn't need it. However, soon I was so engrossed in the movie I'd forgotten all about the clunky glasses on my face. The movie begins exactly where the last one finished, with our three protagonists at Shell Cottage trying to decide whether to go after the Hallows or Horcruxes.  I promise this review won't have any major spoilers (although let's be honest it's not like you haven't all read the book a dozen times,) so I will focus on my personal highlights and I've narrowed it down to three scenes.
Scene one: The 3D came into its own during the break in scene at Gringotts Bank. It felt like we were on a roller coaster as the cart twisted and turned through the underground vaults.
Scene two: All the teachers and the remaining members of the Order come together to defend Hogwarts against the imminent attack from Voldemort and his followers. As well as some very witty lines from McGonagall (Maggie Smith) there is a fantastic shot of the protective enchantments coming together and forming a bubble around Hogwarts.
Scene three: The most obvious one, the Battle of Hogwarts. I don't want to spoil it so I will just summarise it in one word- epic. It was quite simply very, very epic.

For those of you worrying about too many changes to the book in this film don't be, obviously there are changes, there always have to be. But J.K Rowling was one of the producers on this film, and if she was happy with the changes then so am I. The splitting of the final novel allowed for far fewer details to be skipped over, unlike in the sixth movie. The only thing missing from this film was the promise of another one to come. During the premiere J.K Rowling cried, Emma Watson cried, Daniel Radcliffe cried, Rupert Grint cried and I bawled. These movies and books mean so much to so many and as Daniel said last night; "I don't think the end of the story happens tonight because each and every person who will see this film will carry the story with them through the rest of their lives." And he's right because in the words of Seamus Finnigan; "there's only one Harry Potter," and I for one miss him already.

By Talia

Hungry for more?

I have just finished reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Before you point out that it is not exactly an adult book I would like to point out that reading should be for pleasure, and when my mind has been invaded by the UK constitution and about one thousand Cabinet members, I feel like reading a book that is not too challenging. So for two days I cast aside Anna Karenina (yes I am still reading it, I swear) and picked up The Hunger Games, and I do not regret it.

The novel follows the story of Katniss Everdeen who lives in the post-apocalyptic country of Panem, which is where North America used to stand, in the poorest of areas; District 12. The Hunger Games are an annual televised event shown in every district in Panem, organised by the omnipotent and cruel government in the Capitol, where one male and one female "tribute" from each  of the twelve Districts are put in an arena and forced to fight until only one victor remains alive. Think Big Brother but with killing rather than challenges and more intelligent contestants. Katniss volunteers to enter the Games in place of her younger sister and is forced to take part in the contest she had tried her whole life to avoid.

I think that part of the brilliance of the novel lies not only in the creativity of the idea but also in the way Collins creates a very real and understandable environment for the reader. Despite the entirely different world that the book is set in, it is not a place completely divorced from our lives in the 21st Century. Before the "tributes" take part in The Hunger Games they are put through rapid media training and have an image recreation, they are manipulated by those around them to project an image that is meant to gain them favour with the public. The same thing happens with celebrities today, especially the 'flash-in-the-pan' or '30 seconds of fame' type celebrities that are produced by reality TV shows, where your image is everything. Whilst reading it I felt appalled at all the people of Panem who just let this happen every year and sit back and watch children kill each other and themselves for enjoyment, but is that not just a few steps down the line from watching I'm a Celebrity...Get me out of here! ? Obviously I am aware there is a difference between eating bugs and eating a human because you are starving (an example from the book not my head!) but the passivity displayed by the spectators is definitely not alien to our modern times.

The Hunger Games is currently being made into a movie. It is being directed by Gary Ross (Seabiscuit, Pleasantville) and will star Jennifer Lawrence (yes the one who got an Oscar nomination for her first movie last year,) Josh Hutcherson (Little Manhattan, Bridge to Terabithia) and Liam Hemsworth (The Last Song, Miley Cyrus' ex.) If you have read this book then you will understand why I am incredibly excited about the movie, it has everything that could make a fantastic film, provided they don't deviate too much from the story itself.


Just an afterword:
I realise this post may have come across as a rant against reality TV, but let me assure you, I love many reality TV shows, especially X-Factor, The Bachelor and Shipwrecked. All three are balls of vacuous wonderfulness!

By Talia

Say it. Out loud. Vampire?

No, not vampire. I know the title of this post is misleading, but do you honestly think I would write anything about Twilight? Really? I could never stoop so low.

The Reader, a novel by Bernhard Schlink, is set in Germany from about ten to thirty years after the end of World War II. Published in 1995, it looks back at Michael Berg's life and how a certain Hanna Schmitz was involved in it so intricately and so vitally.

For those of you who have not read The Reader, I encourage you to look away if you wish to read or watch the film adaptation without any knowledge of what is coming next. However, I cannot really write any sort of interesting review if I do not spill a couple of secrets. Nothing too terrible, I promise.

Michael first meets Hanna when he is 15-years-old and quite ill, after throwing up in the street. Typically romantic, if you ask me. Anyway, Hanna cleans him up and sends him on his way. However, Michael cannot stop thinking about this mysterious woman and goes back to find her. Immediately, you know he is being a bit silly because firstly she is old enough to be his mother and secondly she doesn't strike the reader as the kindest sort. But Michael does find her eventually and over not too much time they start what I perceive to be a rather twisted relationship, in that they fornicate after school and then he reads aloud to her.

However, it isn't just a purely physical relationship. Though Michael is certainly unsure about what Hanna feels for him (she only ever calls him 'Kid'), he knows he is head-over-heels in love with her, despite her sourly pinched face and her abruptness of speech, and even when she suddenly leaves without as much as a goodbye, he still cannot stop thinking about her.

This is why it comes as a nasty surprise to Michael when he sees Hanna again years later. Michael, at this point, is studying law, and his class is attending a long, drawn-out trial, where former female SS guards are being tried for their actions. Hanna is a defendant. This is when Michael realises in horror that he fell in love with a staunch Nazi.

And this, for me, is when I started to wonder. I already knew the outcome of the story, because I saw the film when it came out, but Schmidt still managed to give me that feeling of shock that Michael must feel when he sees Hanna in front of the judge. Because Hanna's principle crime is truly horrific: the SS were told to lock a large group of women in a village church and make sure no one escaped. When bombs started to fall on the host village, there were screams erupting from the church as it burned down to the ground, but the guards, including Hanna, refused to open the doors. Why? Because no one was allowed to escape; and she was following orders. Personally, this sickens me. But then I thought about it from Hanna's point of view: if she had opened the doors, she and the other guards would probably have been killed for their disobedience. Still, there is no excuse for letting those women die.

Another philosophical point that the novel brings to mind is that of illiteracy. I recently read a series of articles about illiteracy in London, and the figures are staggering. One boy in a primary school, when asked to bring in a book for class, brought in an Argos catalogue, because in his home there were no books at all. For us at The English Review, this is sacrilegious. Hanna Schmitz is also illiterate. For this, she is sentenced to life in jail because she is accused of writing the report on the church incident, though it is impossible, for the above mentioned reason. Even in the concentration camps, Hanna had the weaker women read aloud to her before they were sent off to Auschwitz.

Then I thought about what would happen if I couldn't read, or anyone couldn't for that matter. A Rossetti poem that we studied for AS called Lalla: Reading My Verses Topsy-Turvy is where the idea of words and letters as visually pleasing is explored. Once someone can read, one cannot appreciate the visual effect of a letter. It just becomes a letter that you read (if that doesn't make sense, ask in the comments section). For example, when people look at Chinese letters, if they can't speak Mandarin, they only see a picture, perhaps visually attractive, perhaps not, but they are not reading the letter: they are looking at it as one would look at a painting. You have no idea, but trying to read the rest of a book whilst contemplating this and simultaneously trying to appreciate letters in their beauty is torturous.

I really recommend this book for anyone who is interested in WWII or in law or in anything really. It can be quite shocking in places, but nothing that requires a pillow to scream into or anything. And as I always say, please watch the film afterwards. I know Kate Winslet got the Oscar, and I admit it does stay rather true to the book, but nothing will ever beat the original words on a page.

By Jess

And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a 1999 novel by Stephen Chbosky which encapsulates nearly every aspect of teenage life and the awkwardness of it all. Written in anonymous letters to an anonymous source, with all names supposedly changed for this purpose, we experience the life of 15-going-on-16-year-old Charlie and his freshman year of high school. Though we find out about his life before he began writing these letters to whomever they are addressed to, the novel is really an insight into his days for just that one year: we don't know how he turns out after the last page, even though the epilogue sort of gives us a hint that everything is going to carry on as steadily as it always did.

We soon find out that Charlie is not particularly popular and is terribly awkward socially. He is an observer, not a participant, as pointed out not just by himself but by the love of his life, Sam. He seems to be remarkably intelligent also, reading classic novel after classic novel and writing extra essays on them for his English teacher Bill.

Charlie's home life is not so easy, however. There are many secrets kept in his household, and it is the death of his Aunt Helen (which happened before the start of the book), which seems to have had the most profound effect on him. Aunt Helen was molested as a child; Charlie's sister has a boyfriend who hits her; Charlie's father was beaten by his father; Charlie's mother is too passive for her own good; and the list goes on. All this means that Charlie bottles up an awful lot of mixed emotions and confused feelings, affecting his life away from home. In this way, The Perks of Being a Wallflower really tackles the problem of the 'cycle of abuse'. Though he talks about how his father says he would never hit his children, Charlie deals with the differences between people, for example: of two sons with an alcoholic father, one will grow up sober after seeing the effect; the other will grow up an alcoholic too. The ending, of course, provides the reader with a terrible shock, but don't worry: I won't spoil it. I will just hint that it has to do with the 'cycle of abuse' and from an unexpected source.

Charlie's main problem is his attitude, in that he puts everyone before himself. This opens up a lot of questions for the reader: "do I participate enough?" or "am I taking care of myself too much / too little?" I found it really made me question my standing: with friends, family, schoolwork, etc; and being a teenager now I think helped me really understand what Charlie is talking about half the time. Additionally, Charlie's friends are all older than him by two years, meaning they age with his sister (though that isn't entirely important for the point I am trying to make). When they all go to prom, or all graduate, or all get ready for leaving for 'graduate school', Charlie, inevitably, feels very lonely. Which made me wonder whether it had been an unwise decision for Charlie to become so involved with a group who would all have to leave him. But then it also proves how mature he is.

Not that these friends are a particularly good influence on dear Charlie who was originally so naïve. On making friends with Sam and Patrick and company, Charlie starts to chain-smoke, as well as do drugs, get drunk frequently, and almost go all the way with someone he doesn't even like. Some people may see this as an unavoidable part of growing up; I see it as someone succumbing to peer pressure almost hyperbolically.

I really think that anyone and everyone should read this book. It is very similar to The Catcher in the Rye in its writing technique, and moreover I know that most people reading this report will be teenagers undergoing some of the stress that Charlie is going through, not that you have to be a teenager to enjoy it. Give it a go before the movie starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson comes out, I beg of you, because more likely than not, it won't be nearly as good and your view on the story will be tainted forevermore. Yes, that is apocalyptic imagery. Go for it.

By Jess

Just a note to say...

I'd just like to let all readers know that I have finished the book Never Let Me Go, as opposed to only having seen the film. Honestly, read the book. It is much better than the film. I must admit, I often like to see the film then read the book as that way round your experience of the story can only improve. Otherwise more often than not you'll be disappointed.

Anyway I just thought I would recommend that to you all. To read what I thought about the story itself, check out my old post http://the-english-review.blogspot.com/2011/02/being-complete.html which is based on the film but the concepts are, of course, the same.

By Jess

Dumblydore

As requested by dear Nikki quite some time ago, I shall tell all about the origins of Prof Dumby's name. Because here at T.E.R. we are all abut keeping our readers happy.

Alors (sorry about the odd French word but that is the langue I am thinking in right now what with all my lengthy revision):

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore


We all know that Dumbledore's most prized possession is dear Fawkes the phoenix. In fact, Albus may be the male form of "Alba" meaning sunrise, alluding to rebirth symbols: hence alluding to Fawkes. However, Albus may also be his name as it is a Latin word for 'white'. White is always associated with good, so it could either be that Dumbledore is a good character, or it may more simply refer to his white hair and beard.

Percival, the second of Dumbledore's names, refers to a legendary knight from Wales in the time of Arthur, who was involved in the Grail quest. In Le morte d'Arthur by Thomas Mallory, Percival is both the hero and the narrator of said quest, similar to parts of Harry Potter.

Not so different to Percival, Wulfric is an Anglo-Saxon name that represents England. Wulfric means "wolf-power" and is similar to the name "Beowulf". The legendary Beowulf slew the monster Grendel as a youth. Grendel is a very similar name to Gelert Grindelwald, who was a dark wizard defeated by Dumbledore himself when he was young. Coincidence? I think not. To make it all the cleverer, Beowulf was mortally wounded by a dragon in a cave by the sea. The only one who could help him was his squire: an orphaned son of some loyal followers. Rowling never ceases to baffle me.

Brian, by comparison, is a boring name compared to all of the others. This is probably the reason why Rowling chose it, in fact, though there was a King Brian Boru of Ireland who defeated his enemies: as does Dumbledore. But it's not as exciting as Wulfric, let's be honest.

Finally, the name Dumbledore itself is an 18th Century word for 'bumblebee', and Rowling has said she always imagined Dumbledore to be wandering around the castle humming to himself. And that is what we know him by. A little anticlimatic, isn't it?

Of course, if there are any other names you are interested in hearing about, just comment below.

By Jess

An Ode to Our Childhood

This blog has so far focused on "intellectual" books, books that universities love, books that require pages to be read- and then read again, to grasp their meaning and many of them are beautiful novels. But I'm using this post to pay homage to books that don't need our entire focus when we read them, books that can be read again and again, books that you can finish in a day and be satisfied. And whilst there are many books that fulfil these criteria, Harry Potter being the first that comes to mind, instead I am going to talk about the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz. Yes, I know, they're children’s books, and the librarian was quite entertained when I took out both Agnes Grey (Anne Bronte) and Scorpia Rising (the latest Horowitz) in one go. But I have grown up with these books, I was pretty convinced that Alex was the love of my life; a small part of me still thinks he is, and today I finished the last one. To be honest with you, I feel entirely bereaved. With each series that comes to an end I feel like my childhood is ending, I know that may seem dramatic to some of you, but I was one of those kids who, given the choice, would read all day every day.

Scorpia Rising is by no means the most well written novel I have ever read, nor does it have one of the most logical plot lines (I am not convinced that you could turn you iPhone into a latex printer) but that doesn't matter. Because the beauty of children’s books is that the author is not trying to bowl you over with their intellect and metaphorical social commentary, I certainly have not learnt any 'Words of the Day' from reading it, but they are trying to create a world which children (and seventeen year olds) can escape into. Anthony Horowitz has taken every school child’s fantasy of becoming a spy and created a believable and loveable hero for us all to blithely follow across the world from the Alps to Australia to Egypt.

So I raise my imaginary glass to Alex Rider's last foray into the treacherous world of espionage and humbly beg Anthony Horowitz to change his mind and write another nine books for me to devour in a matter of hours. I know this may seem blasphemous to many readers and other English students but give me Alex Rider over War and Peace any day.

By Talia

Potter Puppet Pals

Everyone knows that J.K.Rowling put a lot of thought into her characters' names. However, I doubt that everyone knows what they actually mean. You have to admit that the work she put in is incredible.
Because they are all so magnificent I decided to narrow it down to what I think are the best five.


Remus J Lupin
Remus is from Romulus and Remus - the founders of Rome. They were brought up by a wolf. The fact that he is named after a fighting brother shows perhaps him fighting against his other half, i.e. his werewolf side.

Lupin is derived from the Latin for wolf: 'lupus'. 'Lupin' itself means wolflike.

The initials RJ are taken from two Monty Python Flying Circus skits, one being "Professor RJ Gumby" and the other being "Dennis Moore, the Lupin Thief".


Draco Lucius Malfoy
Draco, as a descendant of the Black family, traditionally has been named after a constellation. Draco translates into 'dragon' in Latin and into 'serpent' in Greek. In Roman myth, Draco the dragon is killed by Minerva, the goddess of Wisdom (note the McGonagall reference!) In Christian Theology, Satan is described as a dragon. 'Draconian' means extremely severe or cruel. So essentially he isn't very nice.

Lucius, also his father's name, comes from the name of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the Roman tyrant, otherwise known as crazy Nero. It also means 'bright' or 'intelligent', however the reference to Lucifer (i.e. Satan) suggests that he is intelligent and evil. Which can be a bit scary.

Malfoy, in French, means 'bad faith', as in 'mal foi'. And to think - JK was about to call the Malfoy family 'Spinks'.

So from that we can learn that he is absolutely horrid.

Lord Voldemort
Voldy here is even worse than dear Draco. 'Mors' is the Latin for death, and of course our word 'murder' derives from that too. The Proto-Germanic word 'evol' , where English gets its word 'evil' from - this is another evident link. The Arabic word 'demuhrt' means 'dark wizard', as does the Old Russian word 'vuldimortdek'. So there was a lot of research that went into that one.

Hermione Jean Granger
A slightly nicer character is Hermione, though her eyebrows endlessly irritate me. J.K.Rowling thought that naming her Hermione would mean less teasing for girls with the same name as it is so unusual.
Hermione derives from the Ancient Greek Hermes - showing her as witty, inventive and quick-thinking. Her name was actually taken from Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, though Miss G here is completely different to her namesake.

Hermione was also a character in Greek Mythology: the daughter of Helen of Troy. She was fought over by Orestes and Neoptolemus, symbolising the rivalry between Viktor Krum and Ron.

Hermione's original middle name was Jane, however, when Umbridge came into the story, J.K.Rowling changed her middle name to Jean.

Granger is another word for farmer, recalling HG's muggle roots. Granger is also a name for the Grange Movement in the USA, involving agricultural activism. This represents Hermione's activism on behalf of the house-elf community. Again, the name was changed before publication - originally it was Puckle.

Ron Bilius Weasley
Dear Won Won is the last of this short list of Harry Potter names. Ronald is the Scottish form of the Scandinavian name Ragnvaldr, meaning 'advice' and 'ruler'. It is from Reginald, which comes from Raginwald, meaning 'prince's counsellor': he was a trusted advisor of Harry Potter.

Bilius comes from 'bile', one of the four humours from Greek philosophers. Yellow bile is connected to fire which is connected to Gryffindor house. Someone with an excess of it was believed to be bad-tempered: like Ron.


So, hope you enjoyed that little bite of knowledge. If you want to know about any other names just comment below. Don't worry, you don't have to have an account - you can comment anonymously. Simple dimple.

By Jess

L'Étranger

I have just finished reading Albert Camus' 'L'Étranger,' not, alas, in the original French though. Therefore technically I have just finished reading Albert Camus' 'The Outsider' but that sounds far less intellectual. I was lent the novel by a friend, who wanted my opinion so she could pass it off as her own when asked about it. I complied and I thought I would share my thoughts with all of you.

The Outsider is a novel split into two parts. The first part introduces us to the protagonist, Meursault at a time when he has just been informed that his mother has died. We follow him as he visits the old people's home he placed her in, there is an underlying feeling of guilt with Meursault about having his mother put in a home. However, he comes across to everyone he meets at the home as very detached and emotionless. When we hear him justifying it, claiming that he could not afford to look after both of them, we understand. But, we later learn that his mother was about 60. I don't know about you, but I'm 17 and even I know 60 is not all that old. Part one concludes with the dramatic scene when Meursault shoots an "Arab" for seemingly no other reason than the heat bothering him. Yes, you read that correctly, the heat was bothering him, so he shot someone. In fairness to Meursault he was being threatened with a knife at the time, but this was not the reasoning presented to us by Camus, we are told only of the heat and bright sunlight.

Part two opens with Meursault being incarcerated, but the detached emotions I mentioned earlier make his time in jail very bearable. Once he gets used to his loss of liberty he whiles away the hours making mental lists of every object in his apartment; he quietly gets on with this new chapter of his life quietly and without fuss. You would think that prison wardens would appreciate this attitude given some peoples reaction to finding themselves in prison, but no. His complacency is taken as a lack of remorse for what he has done in his trial, his lack of tears at his mothers funeral are taken as further evidence of this. The prosecutor paints a malicious and soulless image of Meursault. Of course as a reader I appreciate what he did was wrong, but we have come to have compassion for him, and would never describe him as soulless. Lost? Misunderstood? Absolutely. But soulless? No. Meursault is sentenced to public decapitation for his crime.

Rather than accepting the ruling as fair, or even deserved, we question why he receives such a harsh punishment. Is he being tried for his crime, or because he does not react the way the public want him to? Would he have got off with a lighter sentence if he had broken down in tears at the trial for what he had done? 'The Outsider' raised a lot of questions for me, and it was an incredibly intriguing read. But I can't lie to you, I'm not entirely sure if I enjoyed it. 'The Outsider' has been described as 'the Bible for the dissatisfied, the alienated and the misunderstood,' and I don't think I fit into any of those categories.

By Talia

Pride and... Wait. He said what? Rude. Talk about being proud and prejudist.

Everyone knows Pride and Prejudice (unless you live under a rock, metaphorical or otherwise). Everyone knows the story of lovely Lizzie Bennet (oo get the alliteration) and her famous gallivanting with Mr Darcy, the brooding gentleman with a past. Golly how exciting. I must be honest, I think the BBC and ITV have done Pride and Prejudice a few too many times, but the fact is that they can and people will still watch it. And no of course it's not because they want to see Mr D in a wet and therefore transparent shirt. How superficial of you to even think such a thing. Honestly.

I look at Pride and Prejudice and I see a story about true love that seems to conquer all social boundaries, in every situation it arises in. Isn't that what Jane Austen is all about anyway? However, I think she had rather a party thinking up everything to stop them tying the knot. There is the inevitable social gap. Elizabeth is the second daughter of five and even if she was the eldest, she wouldn't be receiving any large fortune when her parents passed away. Still, she is bright and cheery and has her groovy best friend Charlotte to keep her company, as well as her crazy family with all its quirks. Mr D, on the other hand, earns double what Mr Bingley earns, i.e. shedloads, and is all snooty and grumpy. Why, oh why, does she see anything in him? Especially after he calls her plain. Rude.

Then there are the other aristocracies present. Apart from Mr Bingley, who is just idiotic at the best of times, everyone who has an ounce of money seems to be incredibly arrogant and indeed seems to look down on everyone they set eyes on, unless who they set eyes on has more money than themselves. Lady Catherine cannot stand the sight of Elizabeth and is constantly boasting her niece (who is plain) and trying to marry her off to Mr D; Caroline Bingley, sister of Jane's beau, is almost worse. She's the sort you would imagine to be that girl at school, or the arrogant boss at work. Absolutely insufferable. Even dear Mr Collins seems to think he is the bee's knees with his connection to Lady Cath and his house. Thank goodness Lizzie had the sense to turn him down.

But then you meet the poor end of town, and they are all so jolly and amicable. Jane Bennet seems like the kindest person you will ever meet; Charlotte is all down-to-earth and has that I-wish-she-was-my-best-friend thing going for her. Mr and Mrs Bennet are... interesting. Well I could never deal with Mrs B being my mum, but she's not so I suppose she is O.K. if you count out the constant "Oh Mr Bennet! Mr Bennet!" clamours.

Anyway, I just thought I would share what I understand to be the real social divide in this book. And yes I have read it too many times. And yes I am still reading Anna Karenina - it is very long. You are just going to have to wait. And yes Mr Wickham is my favourite. And yes I do sort of wish I was Lydia. That will be all.

By Jess

If A Body Catch A Body, Coming Through The Rye...

Everyone has had that phase of teenage angst, whether it be shouting at your parents, growing irritated with the lack of variety in your life or wishing you had done something differently. However, when we want to blow off steam I think I can speak for most when I say that the first thing that springs to mind, when expelled from school, is not to run away and casually waste all of your money in your home town, staying in a seedy hotel and going through the phone book desperately trying to find someone who can be bothered to meet you for a drink.

Holden Caulfield, of The Catcher in the Rye, does just this. On notice of expulsion from Pencey Prep, Holden decides it best if he stays away from home for a little while before and after his parents receive the bad news. Simultaneously, he leaves Pencey before he is due to.Why? Perhaps because he is fed up of school and disciplined education. Perhaps because he is annoyed by his neighbour Ackley, who does not have the best hygiene. Perhaps because he is angry with his roommate for going out with an old belle of his. Most probably, it's a mix of the three, and some other reasons too.

This indisputably classic novel carries so many themes and symbols it's as if it's about to burst. As we grow closer to Holden throughout the book, we feel like we know him as a friend or family member would, or not as the case may be: Holden doesn't seem to have many of the former nor does he appear to be close to the latter. We realise that this troubled young man tends to form opinions of things... and pretty quickly too. In his mind, the outside world is "phoney". Everything is phoney. The people, the streets, the cafés: trust me, he will think they are phoney. The question we must ask ourselves is: is he right? This book is obviously about growing up in the real world and maybe it's someone like Holden who is going to be the one to notice how it is. On the other hand, he can't seem to see how similar he is to everyone else. He has a black-and-white view of the world and unfortunately it just isn't that simple: growing up is that realisation.

Holden's hunting hat is a paragon of phoniness. It represents, in my eyes, his soul. He wants to stand out, to shout "Look at me! Look how different I am to how similar you all are!" But when he is with someone he knows, he takes it off, because he feels too embarrassed. Little bit false, isn't it?
The title is a bit of a paradox in itself. It is from a Robert Burns song: yet he has misinterpreted the lyrics. The words are "if a body meet a body comin' through the rye" referring to sexual encounters when there are no ties or wedding bells to be heard. Holden interprets the very opposite. He thinks the words are "if a body catch a body comin' through the rye". What he wants to do is catch children before they fall off the metaphorical cliff that is the edge of innocence. So what do we figure out from this? That Holden is scared of falling into a world where he has no footing.

For those of you who have not yet read The Catcher in the Rye, never fear: I shall not spoil the entire plot, tempting as it may be, though there isn't much to spoil: it's more of a thought-provoking sort of novel. All I can say is: read it. Now. Or you are missing out.

By Jess