The Quiet American by Graham Greene

5/10

This is going to be one of those posts where I don't have much of anything to say because I read this book like seven or eight years ago and don't really remember too much about it. All I remember is that I thought it was ok. I also remember it not meeting my expectations because I really liked the only other Graham Greene book that I had read (The Third Man) and expected this one to be just as good.

In thumbing through my copy of this book I noticed several cool lines and descriptions. My brief perusal of the book appears to indicate that his writing was still sharp for this novel. So I don't really know what I didn't like other than I guess the story itself just didn't do it for me probably. I'm sure it didn't help matters that Brendan Fraser was on the cover of my book and all I could picture was him as I read about the main character. But, I didn't dislike it, don't get me wrong.

The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy

7/10

I just finished reading this book today. It was good. I have been itching to read another Thomas Hardy book since reading "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" a few years back. Fortunately Mallory selected this book for me because she thought the girl on the cover was "silly".

It should be noted that Thomas Hardy said that he liked this book "as a story" the best of all his novels. This book was slightly better than my expectations. I had somewhat high expectations because it's Thomas Hardy. But my expectations were somewhat guarded due to the fact that this particular Thomas Hardy isn't typically given the same acclaim as some of his other books. It definitely wasn't as good as "Tess" but still had me intrigued throughout.

From the two books I've read of his I have decided that he is like Woody Allen in that he writes excellent female characters. This book had several fascinating female characters including Grace Melbury, Felice Charmond, and Marty South. Much could be said about all three. All I will say is that Hardy seems to have a soft spot for the plights of women and the unfair things that they had to endure back in the day.

I look forward to reading another Thomas Hardy because only reading two is obviously not enough.

My only serious complaint from this book involves not Thomas Hardy but the genius who included several extreme spoilers in the Notes to the edition I read. It's obvious that I'm going to read the Notes as I go along reading the book, so don't put huge spoilers in there. Did they really think that I would read the Notes with no context after I finish the book? I assume the Note is put in to inform and aid the reader as he reads. So don't put in huge spoilers, duh.

Some quotes:

"Why should Death alone lend what Life is compelled to borrow - rest?"

"[T]he determination to love one's best will carry a heart a long way towards making that best an ever-growing thing."

"[T]o every bad there is a worse."

The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

7/10

Probably time for another Narnia post. This is one of my favorites from the Narnia series. Sometimes I've told myself that it's my favorite Narnia book, but upon further reflection, it certainly can't be better than The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe can it?

The Silver Chair is the first time we don't have any of the Pevensie children. We have Eustace who is a cousin of the Pevensie's and a carry-over character from The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader'. And we also have Aslan for brief snippets of course. It's a fun book. I think I like it because it has a quest feel to it, a la The Lord of the Rings, as they go in search of Prince Caspian's (now King Caspian's) son. But I mostly like it because of the intense conclusion (well, at least as intense as a Narnia book can get). I really thought the ending was well done and enjoyable.

A Marvelous Work and a Wonder by LeGrand Richards

10/10

This is my final Missionary Reference Library book to post. I read this back in December of 2002. It is really good and I enjoyed this book a lot. It does, probably better than any other book, an amazing job at laying out the importance of the restored gospel in a clear and straightforward manner. In fact, as a mission president, he created this as an outline to assist his missionaries "in their study and presentation of the gospel in a systematic and logical manner."

I will now rank the Missionary Reference Library books in order from my favorite to my least favorite:

1. Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage
2. A Marvelous Work and a Wonder by LeGrand Richards
3. Articles of Faith by James E. Talmage
4. Our Search for Happiness by M. Russell Ballard
5. Truth Restored by Gordon B. Hinckley / Gospel Principles

Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad

1/10

This is a historic moment in my blog's history. The picture above is an actual picture of the book that I read. I took this photo myself (on our Mexican-style outside table that was given to us for free). Usually I find the same book cover photo online somewhere. I think only about three or four times I wasn't able to find the actual book cover and just selected a random one. But not today. Enough was enough.

This book is easily one of my top five least favorite books that I have ever read. I read it back around 2006 or 2007. I was so disappointed too because I had just recently read Heart of Darkness by Conrad and loved it, so I was expecting this one to be very good.

I was immediately disappointed that he was using the same device as that used in Heart of Darkness, namely to have a character in the book named Marlow basically tell the story to a group of other characters in the book. It worked splendidly in Heart of Darkness but was instantly ridiculous in Lord Jim. The reason being that Heart of Darkness was a short novella whereas Lord Jim is a long 400-plus page novel. I can buy into a guy sitting around telling a campfire-esque story to a bunch of dudes if the story can be told in one sitting. Am I really to believe that he is telling a 400-page long story to guys and they are still sitting there listening at the end? What did it take, five days straight uninterrupted? And it's something like that which can get me to not buy into a book from the get-go. And I didn't.

Plus, the story wasn't all that cool or interesting anyway for Marlow to even tell, unlike Heart of Darkness. It was kind of a confusing story overall and Marlow's telling of it built on the confusion.

I will end with this one quote:

"[W]ho once gives way to temptation, in the very instant hazards his total depravity and everlasting ruin. Therefore resolve fixedly never, through any possible motives, to do anything which you believe to be wrong."

Trusting Jesus by Jeffrey R. Holland

8/10

I was given this book by a lady in one of my ward's on my mission. I read it, according to the date written on the inside cover of my book, in March of 2004. It is a collection of some of Elder Holland's talks. And since we all know how awesome his talks are it goes without saying that this book is likewise pretty awesome.

There is a talk from this book which I have always remembered ever since reading it. It is from his talk called "Teaching, Preaching, Healing." He quotes Matthew 4:23 which says, "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people." He then summarizes the next few chapters which involve Christ's sermon on the mount as well as many more instances of him healing others. Then he quotes Matthew 9:35 which says, "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people." He uses this to explain that we too must be the kind of teacher's who in the process of teaching can heal others. Christ wants our teaching to lead to healing of the spiritual kind. I found this talk and his breakdown to be very interesting and informative. The other talks are excellent as well.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

2/10

I just finished reading this today. Not a fan. I didn't know really anything about the book going in but knew that BOTH Whoopie Goldberg and Oprah were in the movie, which should have been a dead giveaway that this one is not for me.

I really didn't like it much at all. I didn't like the characters or the story. But I think I was mostly bothered by how the story was presented. It is a bunch of letters, first written by the main character to God, and then a bunch of letters written back and forth between sisters. This approach is fine I suppose so long as it is done in a way that is more believable.

First of all, her letters to God are pretty vulgar at times. I get how she is writing openly and honestly and all, but does she really have to drop out of nowhere f-bombs and describe other borderline explicit conversations and events in detail? I get maybe(!) writing that in your own personal journal, but if you do then seems weird to address the entry to God. But maybe that's just me.

And second, the letters the main character wrote to her sister were the most annoying for me for several reasons of which I will only name a few. Similar with the letters to God, she continues to write about some crude details to her sister which would be fine I suppose if not for the fact that her sister is a missionary in Africa. Seems like a little restraint should be involved based on this fact.

But the worst were the letters containing conversations she had with people about things she learned from her sister's letters of how things are in Africa. Instead of writing something like, "And then I told him about that thing you told me concerning how it is in Africa" which is what would happen in a real-life letter, she goes on to explain the exact entire conversation she had with the person in which she full-out explains what she learned from her sister. And she's writing this to her sister. I'm like, "Uhh, seems like the sister already knows about what you're explaining to her since she's the one who explained it to you in the first place." Clearly the author is explaining stuff to the reader and not the sister writing a letter to her sister.

If you're going to commit to the letter-writing being the storytelling then at least do a better job at it so that it doesn't drive me nuts the whole time. Other than that I guess there was lots of discussion about racism and sexism which is always fun.