Stevenson, Robert Louis:  The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

After seeing the musical a couple of years ago I wanted to read the original. Yesterday (Memorial Day holiday) I finally did it.  This is another one to forget any dramatized versions you’ve seen-this is classic good vs. evil.  I only wish I could have read it before I knew the secret.  That’s pretty hard to do now but the story still holds your interest especially as a psychological thriller of the 19^th century-pre-Freud.  I wonder if Freud got some of his ideas from Stevenson!  It is short-more of a novella-but a great story.

Tolkien, J.R.R.:  The Silmarillion

This was interesting because it gives the background myths that Tolkien spent years working on and from these ideas came the germination of the idea of the Lord of the Rings.  This is not easy to read because there are many stories loosely linked as a mythology with so many names to keep track of you need a reference to keep them straight.  (Tucker says he couldn’t get into War and Peace because he couldn’t keep track of the names, yet this is one of his favorite works.  Go Figure.  W&P is a piece of cake compared to this.)   However it is interesting and enriches the legend of Middle Earth.  I will probably read it again so that more of the stories “sink in.”  It was definitely worth the effort although most of the stories are tragic.  For me, the geography, which Tolkien always emphasizes, was even more difficult than the names.  I could picture individual places as they were described (loved this part!) but had trouble visualizing the routes to get from one place too another.

Cooper, Susan:  The Dark Is Rising (#2 in The Dark Is Rising Sequence) 

See the review of the first book in January fiction.

This book, published about 7 years after the first one, is much more interesting and better written than the first.  It was a Newberry Honor Book the year it was published.

Will Stanton is celebrating his 11^th birthday on Midwinter Day.  At this time it is revealed to him that he is the last of the Old Ones, immortals dedicated to keeping the world from domination by the forces of evil, the Dark.  He is immediately sent on a quest for the six magical Signs that will one day aid the Old Ones in the final battle.  Merriman Lyon (aka Great Uncle Merry-and probably Merlin) is revealed as the first of the Old Ones and is there to aid Will as he discovers his destiny.  The quest takes place during the twelve days of Christmas and we discover that the Old Ones can move through time at will.

Cooper, Susan:  Greenwitch (#3in The Dark Is Rising Sequence)

This short book features both the Drew children and Will Stanton as they endeavor to redeem the scroll that in the first book Barney threw into the sea to avoid the Dark getting it.  The scroll is needed to decipher the message on the grail.  Another plot twist is that the grail has been stolen from the museum that was guarding it-while it was on display.  (You would think that the Old Ones could think of a safer way to keep it until they need it! -one of many plot holes in this series.  If Tucker was unhappy with the “plot holes” he found in the Harry Potter series I think he had better avoid this series altogether.)  The story was interesting but again, the Drew children sometimes detracted from the story.  Also, Cooper does not seem concerned with developing the characters of the children so they seem to be more deus ex machina to move the plot along rather than real characters.

Cooper, Susan:  The Grey King (#4 in The Dark Is Rising Sequence)

This was the Newberry Winner the year it was published.  One of its strengths is that the Drew children don’t appear.  It takes place in Wales and we get deeper into the Arthurian legend.  The new character, Bran, is interesting and you care about both Bran and Will.  Will’s task, with Bran’s help (who turns out to have a pivotal part to play in the contest between the Dark and the Light) is to wake-with the golden harp-the six who must be roused from their long slumber to be ready for the final battle between the Dark and the Light.  The Grey King is the spirit of the mountain determined to keep Will from succeeding.   This is the best book in the series so far.  It also gives such a good description of Wales that now I would like to go there.

Cooper, Susan:  Silver on the Tree (#5 in The Dark Is Rising Sequence)

The last and longest book in the series holds the reader’s interest and does not disappoint but it is not as tightly put together as the previous book-perhaps because there were so many threads that had to be pulled together.  All of the characters from the previous books have a part to play - for good or evil-in this final installment.  For younger readers there are probably more surprises than for older readers who pick up on “clues” that are dropped, whether intentionally or unintentionally I’m not always sure.  All in all it was a series which I enjoyed but will probably not read again.

E.L. Alban                  Stories That Words Told Me

This is the February selection for the Armstrong Book Group is Savannah, GA to which I used to belong.  The book was written by the husband of one of the members of the group so I was very sorry I couldn’t attend the meeting but I live in California now. His wife Joann was the friend who invited me to join the book group in the 1980’s.  It’s nice to know that it is still going strong.  They send me their reading list every year so I can keep with them.

The Foreword of this book alone was worth the price for those who love words.  Even though I entered this book in the fiction section of my journal it is really a combination of imaginative stories, some bordering on fantasy, and personal recollections from his life with words and people who love them. Two of my passions are words and music and this book contains plenty of both. I identified with several of Eddie’s personal encounters with words, especially the story where he talks about seeing a new word, finding out what it means and suddenly it starts to “pop up” everywhere. A favorite “memoir’ of mine was “From the Lips of Foreigners” about a young woman who came to the US from Argentina whose passion for learning English he writes about.  After reading that story I understood how Eddie, who came from Ecuador, developed such a prodigious English vocabulary.  Did I mention that you should probably have a dictionary close by when you read this book?  I very seldom need to look up word when I’m reading but Eddie provided several additions to my vocabulary.  So many of the stories I marked as “5 stars” but the one that packed the biggest punch for me was “Last Words.”

Cooper, Susan:            Over Sea, Under Stone (#1 The Dark Is Rising Sequence)

My son Tucker gave this set to me a few Christmases ago and several people, including my other son, Marty, have borrowed it from me and read it but I never have.  I thought this would be a good one for the Book Challenge.  This first book, written in 1965,  was mildly interesting-Marty says they get better.  Back then a smart 5^th to 7^th grader could have read and enjoyed it.  If I had known about the series in the ’80s I would have bought for my children. Today many students that age might have trouble reading something with so much description and a large vocabulary with references to the Arthurian legends.  An older reader might find the story a little childish.  This may be why this series, which promises to be very entertaining, is not wildly popular.  It could make a good series for a Harry Potter fan.

The first story tells of three siblings, Simon, Jane, and Barney Drew, who spend a vacation in a rather strange house on the Cornish coast.  Their Great Uncle Merry, who arranged for this vacation, pops in and out of the area helping and guiding them to find a missing grail.  Other, darker forces, are working against them to find the grail first.  The story is mildly interesting, but the children often seem to be pretty foolish and somewhat annoying.  It is also difficult to believe that the parents could be so oblivious to what is going on-even in England there must be some sort of parental supervision when you are in unfamiliar places.