Book Three-Four

Oh my goodness. I finally finished Hope Leslie, and with only three minutes to spare.

I shouldn't say 'finally,' because that implies reading the novel was grueling. It dragged at times, but overall I really enjoyed this book. It was gripping and poignant and very well written. Parts of it were so emotional that I felt myself leeching onto the page. I couldn't read fast enough!

I'm really tired right now, so I can't articulate what I'm feeling. This book was too good and I'm not getting that across at all by my mumbling about. Let's list what I loved...

1) Everell. What an amazing character. Not going to lie, I have a huge crush on him. He's incredibly noble, self-sacrificing, and loyal. He was so in love with Hope throughout the whole book, but never told her because he thought it was best for her and the colony if he kept his emotions in check. Yet I knew the whole time they were in love, and it killed me that they couldn't be together until the very end. Which brings me to...

2) The love story. Two characters madly in love, but neither of them know the other's feelings. In love since childhood, separated for a time, and reunited with their feelings magnified. I'm so glad this ended in a 'happily ever after' scenario.

3) The way Indians were portrayed. Definitely modern and revolutionary for the times. Yes, they were referred to as 'savages,' but it is my firm belief that, had the narrator called them something more humane, along with her sympathetic characterization of them, she would have been laughed at and ridiculed. Her subtle means of making the Indians into respectable characters was very effective, and much appreciated.

4) The writing. So gorgeous. Time for some quotes:

"Home cannot be transferred; never repeated in the experience of the individual. The place consecrated by parental love, by the innocence and sports of childhood, by the first acquaintance with nature, by the linking of the heart to the visible creation, is the only home. There there is a living and breathing spirit infused into nature; every familiar object has a history - the trees have tongues, and the very air is vocal."

"Reason is like a jack-o'-lantern light in most people's minds."

"To Magawisca, whose imagination breathed a living spirit into all the objects of nature, it seemed as if the spirits of the wood had stooped to listen to its sweet music."

"What a tragi-comedy is life, Everell!"

"... they melted into each other, like light and shade, each enhancing the beauty and effect of the other."

"For what girl of seventeen has not a king for her air-built castles?" Favorite ever.

"The mighty master of fiction has but to wave the wand of his office, to present the past to his readers, with all the vividness and distinctness of the present."

"To an ardent young man, there is something unlovely, if not revolting, in the sterner virtues." This one just cracks me up.

Honestly, the humor in this novel was great. It wasn't the quick, slapstick humor that is easy to understand and hastily done to keep your attention. It was the witty, you-have-to-read-in-depth-to-understand humor in the situations, dialogue, and action of the novel. The narrator was hilarious (when she/he appeared) and the characters were all obliviously comical.

This is definitely being added to my list of favorites. I may even read it again some day, which is saying a lot, considering there are so many other books out there that I haven't read even once.

Book Four: Ruth Hall by Fanny Fern
Start Date: February 6th, 2011
End Date: February 17th, 2011