So I combed the recommendations from an online book club for promising horror books to fulfill my horror genre. I used to be a huge fan of horror books and movies. I think I have lost my nerve as I've gotten older. So I was looking for a milder horror book, one that wouldn't give me nightmares. I know that Stephen King is the "King of Horror." He earns his title well. That man has a very sick mind. One really has to have one in order to come up with the stories he does. A book club friend tells me that he came up with The Shining and the character of Jack because "there are times when I felt very angry toward my children and have even felt as though I could hurt them." Okay. But the recommendation said that Rose Madder was not one of those scary horror books, so I went with that.
Basically the story begins on a surprising note. And not in a good way. Rose, pregnant, is beaten up by her husband for reading what he considers trash. Needless to say, Rose has a miscarriage and Norman covers it up. Rose feels that noone would take her word against the word of her husband, a cop. Rose suffers in silence for years, until one day a spot of blood on the sheets pushes her to run away. It was a hard road for Rose to take because for over a decade, Rose had meekly followed and taken Norman's abuse. But somehow she did it. Rose managed to escape by bus to a town that she thought would be far away enough. And luckily, she met a man at the bus depot who directed her to home for abused women. In this new place, Rose thrives and learns to be independent for the first time in a long, long time.
Meanwhile, Norman has not forgotten her. He considers Rose his possession and will never let go. He is just temporarily detained because he is being honored as a "hero" for a big case he has just solved.
Rose decides to pawn her engagement and wedding rings because they no longer hold any significance for her, only to find out that the diamond engagement ring that Norman told her was worth a lot of money was not real. This really brought to home how little Norman thought of and valued her even in the beginning. As she leaves the pawn shop in utter embarrassment, Rose finds herself mesmerized by a painting. The painting is of a woman standing in the middle of a field with her back to the viewer. Rose has to have this painting. She trades her two rings for the painting. As Rose leaves the pawn shop with her prize, another patron of the pawn shop stops her and offers her a job. He is owns an audio book company and thought that Rose had a wonderful voice that would tape beautifully. So things are slowly falling into place for Rose. She has found a safe haven away from Norman. She has a job for the first time. She has her own apartment. And she meets a man. Bill is the clerk at the pawn shop. Rose thinks she is safe since it has been a while since she has escaped from Norman. Meanwhile, Norman is finishing up business and begins to slowly follow leads to track Rose. He is in no hurry because he "knows" he will find what belongs to him.
In the meanwhile, the haunting painting that Rose found at the pawn shop holds much significance. The title of the painting is Rose Madder who Rose assumes is the female figure in the painting. Rose begins to notice subtle changes in the painting. Rose also begins to have dreams about the painting where she seems to enter the painting and finds that there is more to the painting than what she first sees. Apparently there is a monster that is similar to the Minotaur in the Greek myths.
Norman succeeds in tracking Rose to the town she now calls her home. He tortures and kills the man who first directed Rose to the women's shelter. He tries to stalk her at a fair sponsored by the women's shelter and almost succeeds in getting her. He injures two of her friends. Norman escapes after donning a mask that interestingly enough makes him look like the Minotaur. During his escape, Norman begins to have conversations with the mask and it begins to "influence" his actions.
Now things start getting intense. The police are now actively involved. Norman goes back to the women's shelter to find out where Rose lives. There he takes the life of the director of the shelter. Rose and Bill go back to her apartment, knowing that the police believe her claims of her husband's cruelty and have sent police patrol to guard her apartment. Unfortunately, Norman had gotten there first. Norman, having killed the two patrolmen, was disguised as one of the officers in the patrol car to give Rose the peace of mind to unlock the front door of her building. Rose and Bill just barely manage to make it up to her apartment by pure luck and the skin of their teeth. To escape the madman, Rose and Bill enter the Rose Madder painting. Rose will get help if she follows direction which is to lead the monster/Norman to a certain destination. And it is there that Rose Madder of the painting attacks and destroys the monster/Norman.
Hereafter, Rose and Bill leave the painting and one would think there would be a happily ever after. Rose and Bill marry and have a child but Rose has periods of rage and actually has abuse tendencies. She was warned by Rose Madder it would happen. Rose Madder had foreseen Rose's rage and had given her seeds and the warning "to remember the tree." This is the tree at the lake that Bill had brought her to. The seeds grow into a beautiful but deadly tree, I believe representing the poison that caused her rage.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
I have wanted to read the classics for a while, books I have never had the chance to read. I never had to read the classics in high school. I was never in regular classes where the classics where a part of the curriculum like my friends were. So I've been wanting to make up for past times. Yet at the same time, I was avoiding reading Rebecca. I kind of wanted to keep on reading my easy reading books. I knew that reading Rebecca would take time and require me to think. And I just don't want to do that. My brain can't handle it. My biggest motivation in finally picking up the book to read was that it was due at the library soon.
It took me a while to get into the book, Rebecca. I think I kept on re-reading the first few pages because it wouldn't quite sink in. But once I overcame that obstacle, I was captivated. I came to see how it was considered a classic. It is well written. The story flowed. I wanted to keep on reading to find out what happened.
We meet a young woman, a quiet and demure sort of girl, who is working as a companion to a lady abroad. While in Monte Carlo, she meets and is "romanced" by a Maxim de Winter. Maxim de Winter is supposedly a grieving widower whose wife was lost at sea. He proposes and after a short honeymoon, the newlyweds return to Manderlay. Manderlay is the family home of the Maxim de Winter. The new Mrs. de Winter finds that Rebecca, the first Mrs. de Winter, still has a strong presence at Manderlay. This is evident with Mrs. Danvers - the housekeeper who is devoted to the first Mrs. de Winter, her untouched bedroom, her sitting room among other things. Mrs. de Winter finds it difficult to overcome the ghost of Rebecca and fears that she will never live up to Rebecca in the eyes of the staff, Maxim or his family. When the de Winters are pressured to throw their annual costume ball, things come to a head. Mrs. Danvers subtly convinces Mrs. de Winter to wear a costume based on a painting in the house. Unbeknowst to Mrs. de Winters that it was the same costume that Rebecca wore at her last costume ball. Maxim is horrified and demands that his wife removes the costume. They spend the remainder of the ball under a facade of marital bliss. Mrs. de Winter is completely convinced that it was a mistake to have married Maxim and that Maxim is still in love with his first wife, Rebecca. The next morning, Mrs. Danvers shows her true colors and nearly drives Mrs. de Winter to suicide by jumping out the window. But a shipwreck at the nearby beach gets in the way. It is a good thing, in more ways than one. Maxim reveals that the true nature of his first marriage. He opens up about how Rebecca was a manipulator, an adulterer and just plain cruel. Maxim dealt with it because she was abolutely wonderful with Manderlay. Basically Maxim made a deal with the devil in exchange for a proper mistress for his family home. The last straw was when Rebecca flaunts the 'fact' that she was pregnant with her lover's baby. Maxim loses it and shoots her dead. He sinks her and her boat. She is presumed lost at sea. The rescue of the shipwreck leads to the location of the sunken boat. An investigation unearths Rebecca's secret visit to a doctor who reveals that she was terminal, not pregnant. Rebecca intentionally provoked Maxim to cause her death and his perpetual guilt. The de Winters return to Manderlay guilt free, only to find Manderlay in flames - all likely at the hands of Mrs. Danvers.
It took me a while to get into the book, Rebecca. I think I kept on re-reading the first few pages because it wouldn't quite sink in. But once I overcame that obstacle, I was captivated. I came to see how it was considered a classic. It is well written. The story flowed. I wanted to keep on reading to find out what happened.
We meet a young woman, a quiet and demure sort of girl, who is working as a companion to a lady abroad. While in Monte Carlo, she meets and is "romanced" by a Maxim de Winter. Maxim de Winter is supposedly a grieving widower whose wife was lost at sea. He proposes and after a short honeymoon, the newlyweds return to Manderlay. Manderlay is the family home of the Maxim de Winter. The new Mrs. de Winter finds that Rebecca, the first Mrs. de Winter, still has a strong presence at Manderlay. This is evident with Mrs. Danvers - the housekeeper who is devoted to the first Mrs. de Winter, her untouched bedroom, her sitting room among other things. Mrs. de Winter finds it difficult to overcome the ghost of Rebecca and fears that she will never live up to Rebecca in the eyes of the staff, Maxim or his family. When the de Winters are pressured to throw their annual costume ball, things come to a head. Mrs. Danvers subtly convinces Mrs. de Winter to wear a costume based on a painting in the house. Unbeknowst to Mrs. de Winters that it was the same costume that Rebecca wore at her last costume ball. Maxim is horrified and demands that his wife removes the costume. They spend the remainder of the ball under a facade of marital bliss. Mrs. de Winter is completely convinced that it was a mistake to have married Maxim and that Maxim is still in love with his first wife, Rebecca. The next morning, Mrs. Danvers shows her true colors and nearly drives Mrs. de Winter to suicide by jumping out the window. But a shipwreck at the nearby beach gets in the way. It is a good thing, in more ways than one. Maxim reveals that the true nature of his first marriage. He opens up about how Rebecca was a manipulator, an adulterer and just plain cruel. Maxim dealt with it because she was abolutely wonderful with Manderlay. Basically Maxim made a deal with the devil in exchange for a proper mistress for his family home. The last straw was when Rebecca flaunts the 'fact' that she was pregnant with her lover's baby. Maxim loses it and shoots her dead. He sinks her and her boat. She is presumed lost at sea. The rescue of the shipwreck leads to the location of the sunken boat. An investigation unearths Rebecca's secret visit to a doctor who reveals that she was terminal, not pregnant. Rebecca intentionally provoked Maxim to cause her death and his perpetual guilt. The de Winters return to Manderlay guilt free, only to find Manderlay in flames - all likely at the hands of Mrs. Danvers.
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
I was excited to read the next installment of the Twilight series. I was lucky and was able to get Eclipse rather quickly from the library. But I had wanted to pace myself. I had a bunch of other books waiting on the sidelines. I did not want to bypass them in order to satisfy my selfish need to find out what happens in this series. I did not want to seem too obsessive. Plus time was running out with me having to return the books to the library. So there was space between my reading Book 2, New Moon, and Book 3, Eclipse. I explain all this because I did not enjoy reading Eclipse. At least not in the beginning. I guess I was in a good mind frame - a teenage mind set - when I started reading Twilight. I read New Moon right afterward, so I was still "in the zone." I don't know if it was because I read Rebecca right before Eclipse. Rebecca is a literary classic. So honestly, I found myself a bit annoyed with the writing. I really had little patience for it. It affected how I thought of the book and it is my least favorite. I find this odd because I've read lots of comments about how people love Eclipse . I think it is directly connected to the fact that I read a very good piece of literature directly before reading Stephenie Meyers again. I guess that was a big mistake. I still like her story a lot. I think she is a great storyteller but I wish she were a better writer. I can totally see how the teens love the Twilight series. It took a hundred or so pages before I got into reading the book again without being annoyed. Then I was immersed in the Bella/Edward saga again.
In Eclipse, the Cullen family is back in Forks, and Bella and Edward are together again. All would be fine in the world, except now Bella's best friend in the world, Jacob, will not or cannot be anywhere near her when Edward is around. Vampires and werewolves do not get along. Oh, and the fact that there is a vampire, Victoria, who is after Bella. And the Volturi may come around anytime to check on whether Bella has become a vampire as promised. It's just another day in the life of Bella and Edward.
With Bella's life still in danger from Victoria, Edward and Jacob form an alliance. They put aside their dislike for each other in order to protect the girl they both love. Edward will do anything, anything at all, to keep Bella from being hurt or sad again after he had hurt her so much. Even if it means letting her be friends with Jacob. The vampires and the werewolves take turns monitoring Forks and protecting Bella.
Bella continues to push to become a vampire. Edward agrees to be the one who will make Bella a vampire, on one condition - that Bella agrees to marry him. Bella wants it done as soon as possible because she does not want to get any older.
There appears to be a band of newborn vampires on the loose in Seattle. And they seem to be making their way to Forks. The vampires and the werewolves further their alliance and band together to destroy the newborns. They plan a trap with Bella as bait. When Jacob threatens to sacrifice himself during the battle when he finds out about Bella's and Edward's engagement, Bella kisses him to give him false hope. Only it isn't. In that kiss, Bella realizes that she loves Jacob, too.
Everyone gets ready for the attack while Edward and Seth, a young werewolf, protect Bella at a separate location. Since the werewolves are in tune with each other and of course, Edward can read minds, they are all in full contact with each other and are aware of what is going on. Edward soon comes to the realization that it is a trap. While everyone else is preoccupied with the newborns, Victoria is coming in for an attack. Edward is forced to fight anyway, despite Bella's machinations to keep him safe with her. Edward and Seth together destroy Victoria.
After the battle, Bella explains to Jacob that despite loving both Edward and Jacob, her love for Edward is much greater. As the wedding plans proceed, Jacob runs away in pain. He lives as a wolf to escape the pain.
In Eclipse, the Cullen family is back in Forks, and Bella and Edward are together again. All would be fine in the world, except now Bella's best friend in the world, Jacob, will not or cannot be anywhere near her when Edward is around. Vampires and werewolves do not get along. Oh, and the fact that there is a vampire, Victoria, who is after Bella. And the Volturi may come around anytime to check on whether Bella has become a vampire as promised. It's just another day in the life of Bella and Edward.
With Bella's life still in danger from Victoria, Edward and Jacob form an alliance. They put aside their dislike for each other in order to protect the girl they both love. Edward will do anything, anything at all, to keep Bella from being hurt or sad again after he had hurt her so much. Even if it means letting her be friends with Jacob. The vampires and the werewolves take turns monitoring Forks and protecting Bella.
Bella continues to push to become a vampire. Edward agrees to be the one who will make Bella a vampire, on one condition - that Bella agrees to marry him. Bella wants it done as soon as possible because she does not want to get any older.
There appears to be a band of newborn vampires on the loose in Seattle. And they seem to be making their way to Forks. The vampires and the werewolves further their alliance and band together to destroy the newborns. They plan a trap with Bella as bait. When Jacob threatens to sacrifice himself during the battle when he finds out about Bella's and Edward's engagement, Bella kisses him to give him false hope. Only it isn't. In that kiss, Bella realizes that she loves Jacob, too.
Everyone gets ready for the attack while Edward and Seth, a young werewolf, protect Bella at a separate location. Since the werewolves are in tune with each other and of course, Edward can read minds, they are all in full contact with each other and are aware of what is going on. Edward soon comes to the realization that it is a trap. While everyone else is preoccupied with the newborns, Victoria is coming in for an attack. Edward is forced to fight anyway, despite Bella's machinations to keep him safe with her. Edward and Seth together destroy Victoria.
After the battle, Bella explains to Jacob that despite loving both Edward and Jacob, her love for Edward is much greater. As the wedding plans proceed, Jacob runs away in pain. He lives as a wolf to escape the pain.
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