Book Two-Three

Ah. Good books make reading so much easier.

I have finished this book long before my appointed due date. I have several things to say, so I suppose I'll just let them spill.

First, I found this book to be somewhat generic. The bones of the plot were there, but there were few specifics. I wanted quirks, I wanted eccentricities. What I got were staple characters holding the novel together, filling their roles nicely, but doing little else.

That doesn't mean the ending didn't make me cry.

I love a good story of redemption. Despite not truly knowing the characters (which is typical of 18th century literature (read: morality tales) - personalities were kept in check as dictated by laws of propriety), I truly felt for Charlotte. And I forgave Montraville, her seducer. Innocence and naivety pervaded the novel, and one cannot fully blame a person for behaving ill when provoked - through their own ignorance - to do so.

There I go again with antiquated speech patterns. It's irresistible, I tell you! (Oh dear, I sound like Charlotte Temple)

On that note, I am convinced that I am Charlotte. Innocent, naive, sheltered, impressionable - all of these words describe me. I am an only child, doted on by parents and taught little of the world. I shall keep an eye out for my own personal Montraville. Rest assured I will not faint into his arms and allow him to carry me off to a distant land to become his mistress.

And now, quotes!

"Beside him sat a lovely creature busied in painting a fan mount. She was fair as the lily, but sorrow had nipped the rose in her cheek before it was half blown." - Stunning. 'Sad-looking' doesn't quite have the same effect.

"... light and shade are not more happily blended than are the pleasures and pains of life; and the horrors of the one serve only to increase the splendor of the other." - Opposition in all things - makes the good that much better.

"Of all the pleasures of which the human mind is sensible, there is none equal to that which warms and expands the bosom, when listening to commendations bestowed on us by a beloved object, and are conscious of having deserved them." - *sigh*

Chapter XXIII title: "A Man May Smile, and Smile, and Be a Villain." - BAHAHAHA. Susanna Rowson, let's be friends.

"... for he lived but in her smiles." - Gorgeous flow. Beautiful sentiment. iaoshieubfw.

"I have an humble confidence in the mercy of him who died to save the world, and trust that my sufferings in this state of mortality, joined to my unfeigned repentance, through his mercy, have blotted my offences from the sight of my offended maker." - No words. Just :D.

So although the characters were somewhat bland (which depresses me - characters are most possibly my favorite part of literature), there were some gems not to be undervalued. The novel was clearly written for a purpose, to make a point - which I have been told, again and again, is a big no-no - yet it was done quite artfully, therefore I can't complain. Overall, I enjoyed Charlotte Temple for what it was worth.

Book Three: Hope Leslie by Catharine Maria Sedgwick
Start Date: January 15th, 2011
End Date: (technically, I have until) February 5th, 2011