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jeannes

jeannes

I am a high school English teacher in Western New York. This began as a list books have influenced me significantly at one time or another, as well as an homage to certain memorable characters (Opus and Calvin). But that made for a rather static list, because how often do read something that influences you significantly, or meet a character you... more »
  • Western New York
  • member since June 23 2007

Reviews

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Displaying 21-30 of 47 reviews
  • The Three Little Pigs Buy the White House
    • Rated 5 stars

    “A biting piece of satire that uses the story of the three little pigs as a vehicle to criticize the Bush administration. Be prepared to be annoyed as you read it; it's that effective.”

    jeannes wrote this review Thursday, February 21 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • The House of Mirth
    • Rated 4 stars

    “A satirical look at the leisure class in New York at the turn of the century. Despite an abundance of character flaws, Lily Bart nevertheless retains a compelling hold on your sympathies as she tries and tries again to escape her own limitations. I'm not sure what it's a sign of, but I found Selden contemptible and Carrie Fisher fascinating. In fact, of all the characters, Carrie is in a way the most remarkable, repeatedly recreating herself to appease the wishes of her market. Rosedale, to a degree exhibits similar tendencies. If you have the patience for it, this is a fascinating book.”

    jeannes wrote this review Thursday, February 21 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • To the Lighthouse
    • Rated 5 stars

    “I just finished reading this book for the second time. I read it as a sophomore in college and liked it, but found that I could appreciate it much, much more with a few more years under my belt. Woolf is a master of her craft, easing her reader through time thought by thought or whizzing past events as she deems fit. I probably enjoyed reading Orlando more, but only because its liveliness is irresistable. This book, however, is very tightly constructed and first-rate example of a modern text. ”

    jeannes wrote this review Monday, January 28 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Bell Jar
    • Rated 5 stars

    “The editorial review of this book posted here suggests that it chronicles a woman's descent into madness, but I would say it is not so much madness as it is depression. This book goes a long way towards explaining how someone who seemingly has it all has a difficult time going through the motions of life. Only someone of Plath's genius could come up with the perfect image to describe that experience, the lowering and raising of a bell jar. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who likes women's literature and/or is interested in psychology. ”

    jeannes wrote this review Monday, January 28 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Beloved
    • Rated 5 stars

    “I just reread this book for the first time since I read it as an undergraduate and its absolute genius and power completely blew me away, again. Morrison takes on the topic of slavery, or more specifically the collective conscious and unconscious memories of slavery and writes a story that brings this experience to life so as to both dignify those who suffered under its terrible yoke and offer instruction for letting go. The genius is the masterful way Morrison writes the story. Without question, this is one of the finest and most important American novels ever written. ”

    jeannes wrote this review Tuesday, January 1 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Handmaid's Tale
    • Rated 4 stars

    “I first read this two years after it was published and loved it, but was too young to appreciate it. This time the feminism felt strident, but perhaps that's because I'm fortunate enough to live in culture that is slowly moving away from viewing women as second-class citizens. Veiled women and state-sponsored religious fanaticism have terrible holds over women and men in other parts of the word. I was also left with the feeling that there ought to be something more. Even the lecture notes at the end left me dissatisified. What happened after Offred's culture? Presumably those on the outside eventually brought about the demise of those who would control the inside. (And Atwood's genius lies in her layered construction of inside and outside.) But how? This is an atypical response from me. I usually respect the author's choice to end a story however she chooses, but this time I want more! ”

    jeannes wrote this review Thursday, February 21 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • A Great and Terrible Beauty
    • Rated 3 stars

    “Historical fiction with mythical and feminist twists. This young adult novel was fun and easy to read and Bray held my attention successfully from start to finish. As a twenty-first century feminist I don't mind misreadings of how society treated women historically, but it's only fair to say that Bray prescribes a lot more autonomy to these young women than they actually would have had, which is okay. This is meant to be fun. ”

    jeannes wrote this review Monday, December 10 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • Rebecca
    • Rated 0 stars

    “This is a twentieth-century Jane Eyre, and while Du Maurier isn't quite up to Brontë's standard, the story is compelling for other reasons. The title's namesake and the bad, bad woman at the heart of the novel is Bertha Mason without the colonial overtones. Had Rebecca not been stopped in her tracks by... (I won't give away the plot, because it's worth the wait)... she might have been well on her way to scooping up Manderley for herself. This would have been a magnificent coup d'etat. I know I'm supposed to sympathize the new Mrs. DeWinter (she's so dull I can't even remember her name) not the wicked Rebecca, but she's Jane all over again, submitting herself to her master for life. Haven't we come further than that? ”

    jeannes wrote this review Friday, November 30 2007. ( reply | view 1 replies | permalink )
  • Deathnote Vol. 1 (in Japanese)
    • Rated 4 stars

    “As far as comic books (manga) go, this is first rate. It is the story of a boy who unwittingly becomes the recipient of a Death Note, the tool of a Shingami, a Japanese spirit. The holder of the Death Note has the power to bring about the death of any individual whose name is written in the book, so long as that individual's face is pictured while the name is being written. The Shingami, this one bored and looking for fun, drops two Death Notes on Earth and then sticks around to see what happens. A great story, with illustrations to match. (This review refers to the English edition.)”

    jeannes wrote this review Friday, November 9 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • A Thousand Splendid Suns
    • Rated 3 stars

    “I have mixed feelings about this book. The characters are compelling, especially Mariam and Laila, but I was disappointed with the way the story ended. Maybe I'm disillusioned by our current foreign policy, but the ending of the story was too altruistic for me. Maybe when Hosseini was writing the story there was more hope for Afghanistan but now any optimism seems to cheapen the lives of the women still struggling to stay alive in their war-torn country. Perhaps Hosseini meant for the story to project an optimistic future for his country, but the now that the US has been preoccupied in the Middle East the Taliban is pushing back into their former stronghold and the future doesn't seem to hold much promise. In other words, the plot is resolved with a mostly feel-good ending that may hold promise, but little reality. Isn't such an ending socially irresponsible? ”

    jeannes wrote this review Wednesday, October 31 2007. ( reply | permalink )
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