Ms. Hen reviews Julia

 

Julia

Sandra Newman

Harper Collins

2023

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel because she has always been fascinated with 1984 and dystopian fiction. She heard the author on the radio recently talking about writing the book, and she said she lived in a totalitarian world while she immersed herself in it. Ms. Hen decided to read this during the Christmas season, because nothing says Christmas like dystopian fiction.

This novel is about Winston Smith's lover, Julia, from 1984. It's a feminist retelling of the novel. Ms. Hen came to realize that Julia was much more important to Winston than he was to her.

Julia works in the Ministry of Truth as a mechanic. She has had many lovers, and she works on getting Winston to become her lover because she thinks he's attractive. She lives in a hostel with a group of women, and they get along. Telescreens sit by their beds and play while they sleep. 

Julia prowls the prole district to buy black market goods. She and Winston become lovers, and she has other lovers at the same time. She works for the Thought Police in trying to expose the men. A telescreen is behind the painting in the room where she has her affairs. She gets arrested and is sent to the Ministry of Love.

This novel reminds Ms. Hen of other novels that are written now about bad women, such as EILEEN and MY YEAR OF REST AND RELAXATION by Ottessa Moshfegh. In these types of novels a woman is an anti-hero, unlike traditional women characters who are kind and nurturing and enjoy helping other people. These women are out for themselves, like to have a good time, have their own agenda, and enjoy being bad for bad's sake, but the reader can't help rooting for them. JULIA is like this.

Julia is a woman who has had a complicated life history, and she is dysfunctional is ways that are incomprehensible in today's world. She grew up in a totalitarian state, and learned that she had to survive by lying and cheating early in life, and she spends her time in pursuits of things that seem pointless, but she does these things to survive.

Ms. Hen thinks this is an important novel, and one that fans of Orwell's 1984 should read. Julia is an important character, and she ends up in a strange place, but Ms. Hen knows that she will find a way to survive.

Ms. Hen reviews A Modern Mephistopheles

 

A Modern Mephistopheles

Louisa May Alcott

Robert Brothers

1877

Ms. Hen bought this book when she went to Louisa May Alcott's house, the Orchard House, recently for the Christmas living history presentation they have during the holiday season. Ms. Hen saw Louisa May Alcott and her family members as they were preparing for Christmas.

Ms. Hen knew that Alcott preferred to write thrillers, and did not like writing LITTLE WOMEN. This novel was published anonymously, the only dark book published in her lifetime.

This novel is about a writer, Felix Canaris, who is about to give up hope, but meets a man, Jasper Helwyze, who says he will help him. He helps him publish a book of poetry, and it is a great success, and he becomes famous. Helwyze tells him to marry a young woman, even though Canaris does not love her.

Helwyze plays with Canaris; they live together, and he demands that Canaris do everything he says. Helwyze torments Canaris' wife, Gladys, and he makes her look like a fool. The ending is so dark that Ms. Hen lost a little faith in the world.

Ms. Hen thinks this novel could be considered a morality tale, meaning to teach people to beware of those who offer things that seem too good to be true. Ms. Hen is aware that people in those days were not as worldly as they are now; some of them were too pious to see reality, and some thirsted for fame so much that they could see nothing else.

One part of this novel interested Ms. Hen. Helwyze gives Gladys bonbons laced with hashish, which apparently were the edibles of the nineteenth century. Gladys does not know she has been drugged, and performs a play for the men.

Ms. Hen really didn't like the writing style of this book. She thinks it's a little too old-fashioned for her taste. She reads classics, but something about the writing in this book was difficult. She thinks it might not have been edited well.

Even so, Ms. Hen thinks this is an important novel, because it shows a darker side of the Louisa May Alcott we all know so well. She wonders if all the people who work at the Orchard House know what a strange person Louisa truly was, and what bizarre books she could write. People are complicated, and the women of her time were supposed to be good and nurturing, but Louisa had her own way of living and writing, and Ms. Hen applauds that.

Ms. Hen at the Orchard House

Ms. Hen reviews Every Heart a Doorway

 

Every Heart a Doorway

Seanan McGuire

Tor Books

2016

Ms. Hen decided to read this book because it was recommended on Book Riot a while ago. She thought it sounded like something she would enjoy.

This book centers around Nancy, who is a new girl at a boarding school for children who have come back from magical lands. She went to a place called The Halls of the Dead, and has a difficult time adjusting to being back in the real world. Her roommate is Sumi, a girl who went to a High Nonsense World, who is fast with her hands.

Nancy makes friends with Jack and Jill who had been in the Moors, another dark world, and Kade, who she thinks is cute, but she is not interested in boys. The children go to therapy at the school, and have classes. The headmistress, Eleanor, went to a High Nonsense world, is younger than she seems, and dresses in mismatched clothes. Some dangerous things happen at the school, and the children need to learn to handle them.

This novel is a combination between GIRL, INTERRUPTED, HARRY POTTER, and SHERLOCK HOLMES. It's a lot of things mixed into one: it's about a magical school, but they have therapy, and there is a mystery involved.

Ms. Hen liked this novel, but it left her wanting more. There is a lot of discussion about magical worlds, but the narration does not actually go to one of them, which Ms. Hen wishes it would. She loves the description of the worlds where the children went: such as the spider country, where the Loriel lived with the spiders, and the skeleton land, where Christopher learned to talk with bones.

Even though this book is wanting in parts, Ms. Hen still liked it. This novel is a fast read. There are nine books in this series, and Ms. Hen might read some more, because she would like to see if the characters travel to their countries, because Ms. Hen would like to go to them, to see what it's like to experience a magical land.

Ms. Hen reviews Running with Scissors

 

Running with Scissors

Augusten Burrows

Picador

2002

Ms. Hen decided to read this because she found it at a Little Free Library near where she lives. Someone she knew had read it years ago, and she always remembered the title.

This is a book based on the author's true story, but he claims it is not a memoir.

This is the story of young Augusten and his dysfunctional life. His mother was a poet, and struggled with mental illness. His father was an alcoholic, and was not very responsive. His mother sent him to live part-time with her psychiatrist when she got a divorce, and was having a difficult time with her life.

Augusten's life in the psychiatrist's house was unconventional and never boring. The doctor had children, and the house was a mess, and they had some adopted children, and a patient that lived in the house, and never left her room. Augusten became good friends with Natalie, who was around his age. They got in trouble together. His mother became more unstable, and his situation was like that as well. He didn't go to school, but wanted to be a doctor, or own a hair empire.

When Ms. Hen first started reading this book, she didn't like it; she didn't like the way the mother was portrayed, because she seemed cartoonish, and Ms. Hen didn't think the story was funny. But as she got into the book, she liked it, because it's like being a voyeur into someone else's twisted life. 

Ms. Hen thought she knew about mental illness, but the doctor in this book is completely off the rails, and she does not understand how someone like this could practice psychiatry.

After she finished the book, Ms. Hen wondered what the point of it was. None of the characters are likable, and they don't have any redeeming qualities. The protagonist is a selfish, cruel, weird young man, and his mother is sick, and the family he stays with is demented.

Ms. Hen thinks the author might have written this as a sensational book to make the people in his life look bad.

Ms. Hen learned that the family portrayed in RUNNING WITH SCISSORS took the author to court and they lost. Ms. Hen understands why. If a book is not a memoir, then it is not the truth. Writing is a funny business, and some people write for questionable reasons. 

Ms. Hen isn't sure if she liked this or if she didn't, but while she was reading it, she thought it was a fun romp. She thinks that might be the whole point. 

Ms. Hen reviews Behind the Mountains

 

Behind the Mountains

Edwidge Danticat

Orchard Books

2002

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel because she has read other books by this author. She saw it at a thrift shop, but could not carry it with her, but she went back a month later, and it was still there.

This novel is about a thirteen-year old girl named Celiane in rural Haiti. She receives a journal from her teacher, and writes about her life. She is intelligent and gets good grades in school. She lives with her mother and brother, but her father lives in New York. He sends them money, and they plan to move there to live with him.

Celiane and her mother and brother visit her father's sister, Tante Rose, in the city. She works as a nurse, and is successful. Elections are happening, and violence erupts in the city and all over the country. Tante Rose helps the family gets visas to New York after a bomb hits their van while they were on the way home. The family goes to New York. 

This novel is very easy to read. Ms. Hen did not realize that it's a novel for young adults until after she finished reading it. The book is very calming, even though there is violence, and parts are scary when Celiane is in the hospital, and she doesn't know if her mother is dead. Ms. Hen found this novel a stark contrast to the last novel she read, DAVID COPPERFIELD, which is long and winding, and complicated. 

Ms. Hen thinks it's good to escape into a world which she knows nothing about, but is beautifully written. Being an immigrant is difficult, and this novel opens a window to what it means to leave your country, and live somewhere completely different. Ms. Hen has never left her country, but everyone has different issues, that is what makes the world a diverse and beautiful place.

Ms. Hen reviews David Copperfield

 

David Copperfield

Charles Dickens

1850

W. F. Burgess

Ms. Hen decided to read this because she was traveling to England, and she envisioned reading this on her trip. When she got the book, she decided it was too heavy to carry in her suitcase, so she decided to read it after she came home. The book is long, so she had to take a break to read her Halloween books in October, and she took another break to read a science fiction novel last week.

Ms. Hen learned that this novel is loosely based on Dickens' life, and this was his favorite book. She also found out that the magician, David Copperfield, took his stage name from the protagonist.

This novel is about a young man and his life. His father dies when he is young, and is raised by his mother, and his nurse Peggotty. His mother marries again, and the stepfather does not like him. He goes with Peggoty to visit her relatives, and becomes enchanted by her niece, Emily. David is sent to school, then his mother dies, and is sent to work in a warehouse.

Ms. Hen and a portrait of Charles Dickens

David becomes friends with Mr. Micawber, who Ms. Hen learned (after she read this) is based on Dickens' father. He has problems with money, he does not have enough to support his family, and lands in jail. David goes to jail with the family, but tries to help them. He finds his aunt in Dover, and she rescues him, and sends him to school, and he lives with a lawyer in Canterbury. He gets into more adventures with his friends, and does his best to assist them.

Ms. Hen enjoyed this novel. The story meanders, and some sections seem to take too much time, but she understood that Dickens got paid by the word, and the novel was serialized, so people would read it piece by piece. She thinks that would be an easier way to read this, without diving into the whole thing.

Ms. Hen went to the Charles Dickens Museum when she went to London, and she thought it was wonderful. She thinks that Dickens might not have been the nicest person, but most great artists are like that. People should separate the artist from the art, and Charles Dickens was a brilliant artist.

Charles Dickens' dining room table

Ms. Hen reviews Artificial Condition

 

Artificial Condition 

Martha Wells

2018

Tor.com

Ms. Hen decided to read this book, because she has been reading a really long book, and she wanted to read and finish something fast. She read the first one in this series, and thought it was charming, so she decided to dip back into the world of Murderbot.

Murderbot is a robot with feelings: it feels ashamed at having killed people, and has low self-esteem. It escapes from the planet where it committed the crimes, and makes a friend on a ship, another bot, ART. This bot advises it to get a job, so it can get transport to another system.

Murderbot gets hired as a security consultant to a team of humans. They think it is human. It travels with them to another planet, and they get in trouble. ART saves them, and Murderbot does not feel good about the bad advice it gave the humans.

This novel reads like a long short story. It's another chapter in the story of Murderbot, and it's a fast read, and colorful enough to keep Ms. Hen's attention. She feel sorry for Murderbot because it's a bot that seems to have imposter syndrome; it is better than it thinks it is. 

Ms. Hen thinks that a lot of young people could relate to Murderbot, because it escapes into media, or watching series, and it does not feel good about itself. It does not know what it wants, and does not know how to accomplish what it needs to do to survive.

ARTIFICIAL CONDITION is a pleasant quick read, and Ms. Hen recommends it to anyone who is not afraid of reading about a robot that is also a murderer, but also feels badly about itself, and does not know how to exist in the right way.

Ms. Hen reviews House of Leaves

 

House of Leaves

Mark Z. Danielewski

Random House

2000

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel because she wanted to experience a new Halloween book. She learned about this from O MAGAZINE, in an article about the best books for the season. She didn't know anything about it before she started reading it, but she learned it was an underground novel that was passed around before it was published by a publishing house.

When Ms. Hen started reading this novel she thought it was strange. At the beginning, it is two novels in one, about the Navidson family moving into a house in Virginia, and a young man in L. A. reading the novel. The section about the family is in Times New Roman, and the part about the young man is in Courier New. Every time the word "house" appears in the novel it is blue, and there are appendixes, lots of them, some which reference articles that don't exist.

Ms. Hen thinks it is a lot of work to read this book, because sometimes she had to turn it to the side, and sometimes only one or two words are on a page. She learned that this is a type of "ergodic" literature, which means a reader has to work to read it. The novel takes on paths which are difficult to decipher, and the reader has to pay attention to what they are reading.

Ms. Hen paced herself while reading this novel, because she thought she had to spend a lot of time on it, and she could not absorb it in short bursts. This is a book that needs attention.

Some of this novel is like pornography, such as the section about Johnny Truant, and the part about the Navidson family is about issues within a family structure. The horror in this novel is because the family finds a space in the house, which is like a cavern, but it has different rooms and spaces that appear when it is entered. 

A documentary made of the films Navidson makes becomes a giant success, critically and commercially. Johnny Truant goes insane while reading about the house, and at the end of the novel, we hear from his mother, and some artwork is placed in the book.

Ms. Hen thinks this is like nothing else she has read. She enjoyed it, but she was not scared; she thinks it is strange, but in a good way. If a person is brave enough, they would enjoy this novel, but the reader should not be afraid to do extra work. The best things in life have to be labored for, and Ms. Hen admires those who are unafraid.

Ms. Hen reviews Tales of the Unexpected

 

Tales of the Unexpected

Roald Dahl

Vintage Books

1990

Ms. Hen decided to read this collection, because she watched some short films that were based on the author's stories, and wanted to learn more. She watched THE WONDERFUL STORY OF HENRY SUGAR, and three other short films by Wes Anderson based on Roald Dahl. Ms. Hen loves strange stories, so she bought one of his books.

Ms. Hen learned that some of the author's short stories were adapted to ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, a mystery show she used to watch in reruns when she was young. She remembers one episode from the show that is a story in the book, "Lamb to the Slaughter," about a woman who kills her husband with a leg of lamb, then feeds it to the policemen who are trying to solve the case.

A lot of these stories are about gambling, which Ms. Hen does not understand. Also, a lot of these stories are strange, which Ms. Hen does appreciate. The story, "Royal Jelly," is about a man who discovers that the royal jelly from bees can help his baby grow, so he takes it from his bee hives, and fantastic things occur. The story "Skin," brings us to Paris and we find a man with a tattoo on his back that could be worth a lot of money. The story "The Landlady," is about a creepy boardinghouse where the character learns that two young men have disappeared and become something else.

Ms. Hen thinks these stories are written in a way that people don't write anymore. She thinks they are a little dragged out, and the time period in which they are written is evident. She thinks they're ironic, and sometimes cruel, and a little old-fashioned. But some of them are unsettling enough for the Halloween season.

Ms. Hen does not know if she would recommend this book. It's strange, but somehow, it's not strange enough, and not consistently strange. Ms. Hen desires things that are devotedly strange, so she can fall down a rabbit hole and get lost in the midst of darkness.

Ms. Hen reviews The Ancestor

 

The Ancestor

Danielle Trussoni

Harper Collins

2020

Ms. Hen chose this book, because she wanted to read a Halloween book she had never read before. She read about this on a list of the best books for Halloween in O Magazine, and decided to order it from the library. She's happy she got it from the library for free, because she would not want to pay fifteen dollars for a book this horrendous.

The first horrible thing Ms. Hen noticed is the writing style. The author writes like she does not know how to write. Every sentence is constructed piece by piece, awkwardly, and it sounds as if it's written by a high school student.

When Ms. Hen read about this novel, it was compared to REBECCA, which is one of Ms. Hen's favorite novels. This is nothing like that. The character goes to a mysterious house in Italy in the Alps, after she discovers that she's the sole heir to the Montebianco family. The house is creepy, but Ms. Hen doesn't think it's creepy enough. She doesn't believe what she read on the pages, because it doesn't come to life for her.

The story becomes more ridiculous when the character discovers that she's a decedent of snow beings who live in the mountains, a type of Yeti that live in a tribe like prehistoric people. Ms. Hen will spare you the agony of reading this atrocity by telling you what happens, the character goes to the tribe, and lives with them for a while, and takes a child with her to Paris, and tries to hide the fact the child is a snow person.

Ms. Hen does not know how she read this entire novel. She wanted it to get better, but it simply became worse. She doesn't know how books like this could get published. The world is full of mysteries, and some things in life don't make any sense, and the fact that this book got published and exists in the world is one of them. Read REBECCA instead.

Ms. Hen reviews Convenience Store Woman

 

Convenience Store Woman

Sayaka Murata

Portobello Books

2016, 2018

Translated from Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takamori

Ms. Hen bought this book at Waterstone's in London. She had it on her library list for a while, and she wandered into that bookstore, because they're all over London, and there used to be one in Boston. She bought the book because she likes to buy books when she's on vacation.

This novel is about a woman who works in a convenience store in Japan, and the store is her whole life. The book does not explain that she is autistic, but Ms. Hen suspected that. She read reviews about the book after she read it, and Ms. Hen's idea was confirmed.

In CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN, Furukura has worked at her job since she was in college, and she does not want to get another one. Her parents don't understand that, and her friends don't understand why she doesn't get married. Her sister helps her learn what to say to people in order to not have them think she is strange.

A man starts to work at the store who nobody likes, and he gets fired. He explains to Furukura that he worked at the store to look for a wife. He convinces her to let him live with her, and she agrees. She wants her friends to think she's getting married, and he wants to get his sister-in-law off his back. He doesn't leave her apartment for a while, and Furukura gets upset with him.

This novel reminds Ms. Hen of other books she has read including SHOPGIRL by Steve Martin, and ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE by Gail Honeyman. There is a sub-genre in fiction that encompasses sad women, and this is one of those books. It also reminds Ms. Hen of a Netflix series called EXTRAORDINARY ATTORNEY WOO, about an autistic lawyer in Korea. Ms. Hen started to watch that show, but she stopped, because it was too real.

Ms. Hen loved this book, but it was too short! She wished she could spend more time with the character. She learned in doing research after she read the book, that the author worked in a convenience store, but it's not about her. She worked there while she was a published writer, but she had to stop when she became too successful because a fan was stalking her at the store where she worked. Ms. Hen would love to have problems like that. She is a strange hen, if you didn't already know.

"If a book is well written, I always find it too short." Jane Austen

Ms. Hen reviews The Gap of Time

 

The Gap of Time

Jeanette Winterson

Hogarth

2015

Ms. Hen decided to read this because she wanted to read another British book when she went to England. She's read several books by this author, and was intrigued by the premise of this one - it's a cover version of Shakespeare's THE WINTER'S TALE. This is a series of different rewritten Shakespearean plays by various authors. Ms. Hen is not familiar with this play; it's one of Shakespeare's lesser known works. The press is the same one started by Leonard and Virginia Woolf.

The novel opens up with a car chase, and the forming of a family. Shep finds a baby who he names Perdita, because that is the title of the song on the sheet music that he finds with her. He is mourning his wife, but he finds Perdita and some money, and moves away, opens his own bar, and a new life.

Leo and Mimi, Perdita's parents, fight because Leo thinks that his friend Xeno is the baby's father. Leo is rich, and he wants to get rid of the baby. He sends his gardener to America with the child. Seventeen years later, Xeno finds himself in New Bohemia, and chaos ensues.

Ms. Hen thinks the plot of the novel is very complicated and Shakespearean. It's a beautiful story with complex twists and turns. The reader does not know the truth until the end. It's absurdist and funny at times, and tragic in others. Ms. Hen likes that Leo is such a jerk; she thinks it's comical. 

There are some inconsistencies with language when the characters are supposed to be in the United States. The word "curb" is spelled "kerb" which is the British. Also Shep says "going to hospital," where in America people would say, "going to the hospital."

Ms. Hen read this book partly when she was in England, and she enjoyed reading it there. It made the characters seem more real, because she could imagine their voices. She thinks this book is a fun romp, because Shakespeare is always a good idea. She wants to try to read other books in this series.

Ms. Hen reviews Four Literary Houses in Great Britain

Virginia Woolf's writing room

 

Jane Austen Centre 

40 Gay Street, Bath UK

Charles Dickens Museum

40 Doughty Street, London, UK

Sherlock Holmes Museum

221B Baker Street, London UK

Monk's House

Rodmell, Lewes East Sussex UK

Ms. Hen at the Jane Austen Centre

When Ms. Hen went to London, she also went on a bus tour to Stonehenge, and Bath. She had a choice to go to the Roman Bath Museum, or the Jane Austen Centre, and of course she chose Jane Austen. She was the only person of 72 people on the bus that visited the Jane Austen Centre, and the tour guide told her that not many people go there. She was excited, and she listened to the presentation by the guide in Regency costume. She knew most of the information, but she thought it was beneficial to review. Jane Austen lived in Bath up the street from the centre, and she was inspired her time spent in Bath.

Ms. Hen thought the Jane Austen Centre was a little bit anticlimactic. They didn't have any real items that belonged to Austen, it was more of a museum about Jane Austen. The things were well presented, there were clothes of the era people could try on, and different objects that were popular at the time. There is information about the films, and a quill pen people could try. Ms. Hen didn't want to get ink on her feathers.

Ms. Hen in Charles Dickens's Bedroom

The next day, Ms. Hen visited the Charles Dickens Museum in London. Dickens lived in this house for a short time, but things from his other houses were brought there for display. She was astounded by all the items that belonged to Dickens, including furniture, a suit, and a lock of his hair, among others. Guides sat in select rooms to answer questions about the items in the room, and to talk about Dickens. In a room called the "Death Room," Ms. Hen inquired if anyone had thought to clone Charles Dickens from the lock of his hair taken from his corpse, like in Jurassic Park. The lady said that nobody had ever asked that. Ms. Hen doesn't know everything about cloning, and she's not sure if it would work with dead hair. Ms. Hen was thrilled with the Charles Dickens Museum.

Ms. Hen takes a tea break in Charles Dickens's garden

Even though Sherlock Holmes is not a real person, some fans started a museum with items that he would have belonged to him, at his actual address 221B Baker Street in London.

Ms. Hen thought this museum was excellent, designed exactly like Sherlock Holmes' rooms. When she went there, it was a little crowded, and she would have like it better if people were not standing right in front on her. Sherlock Holmes' popularity never seems to fade because there are many different ways to tell his stories. Ms. Hen would like to be as smart as Sherlock Holmes, that is one of her goals in life.

Ms. Hen with a wax figure of Sherlock Holmes

On her last full day in London, Ms. Hen traveled on the train to Lewes, in East Sussex, to go to Virginia Woolf's house, Monk's House. She was under the assumption that she could walk from the station, but she went to the Visitor's Centre in town, and the people there told her it was too far to walk because it was raining. She took a taxi.

The gardens at Monk's House are extensive and lovely. Ms. Hen would have enjoyed it better if it had not been raining. She wandered around, and took lots of pictures. Virginia and Leonard Woolf's ashes are buried in the garden.

In each room of the house, a guide talked about Virginia and the items, and the artwork. Ms. Hen though it was all fascinating. The house is National Trust, which means someone lives there and takes care of it. The house contains lots of artwork by Virginia's sister, Vanessa Bell, and other artists they knew.

Virginia's bedroom has a separate entrance from the house. Her writing shed, her room of her own, is in the back of the garden, and her desk is covered by glass. Ms. Hen thought this was moving. She thinks that Monk's House was the highlight of her trip.

Ms. Hen reviews A Haunted House and Other Stories

 

A Haunted House 

Virginia Woolf

1944

Harcourt, Inc.

Ms. Hen decided to read this collection, because she wanted to read a book by Virginia Woolf that she hadn't read. She wanted to read it while she was visiting Monk's House, Virginia Woolf's house in Lewes, England, but she did not end up doing that. She read it when she got back.

This collection of stories contains stories that have been published, and that have not. Leonard Woolf wrote in the introduction that some of these had not been edited by Virginia, and since the book was published posthumously, she did not have a say. He knew she wanted to publish a collection, even though she died before she did.

A lot of these stories are depressing, and of the time. Many of them have women who are unsatisfied with their lot in life. Ms. Hen thinks that Virginia might have felt like these characters.

The story "A New Dress," reminds Ms. Hen of a story called "Miss Brill," by Katherine Mansfield. The characters in Virginia's story is pleased with her new dress, but when she goes to a party, she realizes how ridiculous she looks. In "Miss Brill," the characters thinks she looks beautiful, but some young people laugh at her strange hat. Stories like this about women and fashion, and what they think of themselves were stylish at the time, since fashion was changing so much. If a woman thinks she looks good, she probably doesn't.

A few of the stories in this collection are about Clarissa Dalloway, the character in MRS. DALLOWAY, the novel by Virginia Woolf. Ms. Hen tried to do research about why she wrote these, but Ms. Hen thinks she was not finished with Clarissa Dalloway, and had more to say about people who surround her.

Ms. Hen found a few chickens in this book. In the story "An Unwritten Novel," the character describes herself as "while she spoke she fidgeted as though the skin on her back were as a plucked fowl's in a poulterer's shop window." Ms. Hen thinks this is a fascinating way to describe fidgeting. She has never seen a fowl move like that, though she believes it is possible.

Ms. Hen does not know if this is the best book that Virginia Woolf has ever written. She thinks the author would have preferred to have the last say, but she couldn't, because she was gone. When Ms. Hen went to Monk's House, she thought it was magical. She felt the spirit of Virginia and her work in the house. The day she went it rained, and she would have like to spend more time in the garden, but we can't always have what we want.

Virginia's writing shed - her room of her own

Ms. Hen reviews London

Ms. Hen at Tower Bridge

 

Ms. Hen went on a trip to London recently, and she has never been there before. She decided to go on the spur of the moment, because she got a good deal on airfare and a hotel room, and she had a week off from work.

She didn't know the weekend she was going was the time of the Notting Hill Carnival. The hotel where she stayed, the Ruby Zoe Hotel, is located right in the middle of Notting Hill. The carnival was a disaster, and she felt unsafe, with people screaming covered in paint and glitter, and drinking on the streets. Ms. Hen did the things she planned to do, and tried to avoid the carnival.

On Ms. Hen's first day, she walked to Kensington Gardens, and enjoyed looking at the birds in the different ponds. She especially liked the Italian Gardens.

On her first full day in London, Ms. Hen took a Vintage Double Decker Bus Tour around the city. She saw all the sights, including Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. The tour also included a boat ride, and the changing of the guard, and the weather was lovely.

Ms. Hen on the boat with Big Ben

Ms. Hen had always thought that British people were prejudiced again Irish people, but she found that nobody flinched at all when they heard her full name (which is Shannon O'Connor), even when she was outside of London. She thinks this might be the way people used to be, and the British are used to the Irish by now. Also, London is incredibly diverse, and there are many different kinds of people.

Also, she learned that people in England walk on the left side of the sidewalk, and walk up and down the left side of the stairs! She had always suspected this, but she found this to be true.

After her double decker bus tour, Ms. Hen went to a place called Sloane Square because it was on her way back to the hotel, and it was mentioned in a song by Morrissey called "Hairdresser on Fire." She was looking for a cup of coffee, and there is a beautiful park in the middle of the square, but they had three bars and no coffee. Ms. Hen had a cappuccino with a pistachio rose muffin at a cafe combined with a Yoga and a Pilates studio.

Ms. Hen found that people would start talking to her in London, and nobody does that where she lives (in Boston). She thought it was nice, and found people to be friendly. She felt more comfortable in England than any other place she has been recently in Europe.

Ms. Hen was a complete tourist and had her picture taken at Platform 9 3/4 where Harry Potter got the train to Hogwarts! She paid to get her picture, because she thought there was a chance she might never go back there again.

Ms. Hen is going to write a separate review on four literary houses she went to in England, so stay tuned!

Below is a picture Ms. Hen took on her last day in London in Portobello Road, around the corner from her hotel. Ms. Hen loved London. She hasn't been out of the country since before COVID, and she missed the thrill of traveling somewhere she's never been and having an adventure. London gave that back to her.

Ms. Hen reviews The Dark Forest

 

The Dark Forest

Cinxin Liu

Tor Book

2008, 2015

Translated by Joel Martinsen

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel because she read the first novel in this series, THE THREE BODY PROBLEM. She liked that book so much that she had to find out what happened next.

This novel takes place after the last one, but with some different characters. The people on Earth are preparing for the Trisolarans to come. They prepare a special task force, people called Wallfacers, to help deal with the crisis. People from our current day go into hibernation in order to be involved in the Trisolaran battles when they reach Earth. The novel speeds ahead to the future where not everything is what the people from the past envisioned it to be. 

In the future, most people live underground, and do not have to have jobs. They live in houses that hang from trees, and wear clothes that light up with pictures. Energy comes from everything, all the people have to do is touch a wall, and they are connected to the internet. Even so, in this era, not everything is perfect. Humans are still humans, and they live according to their own rules.

This novel, similar to the last one, is heavy with science, which made Ms. Hen's eyes cross. But there are elements of romance, and mystery, and fantasy which made Ms. Hen happy. The character Luo Ji creates a fantasy woman and she becomes real. He also has people trying to kill him, and we don't find out why until the end.

Ms. Hen thinks there's a possibility this novel wouldn't be written this way if it were American. Americans are incessantly optimistic, and the Chinese view is not. Americans think that the world can be wonderful, and discovering new life on other planets is exciting, but the attitude from the Chinese point of view in this novel is one of bleakness and disenchantment. Ms. Hen thinks it's difficult to look at the world that way, but she's not sure which way is better.

This is a very dense novel, and it took a long time to read. Ms. Hen wants to read the third novel in the series, but she thinks she's going to wait a little bit, since this book is so intense. It's difficult reading about the possible end of humanity, but Ms. Hen likes to know what authors imagine, because there could be some small element of reality to the ideas that writers produce, and she wants to be ready for anything.

Ms. Hen reviews How High We Go In The Dark

 

How High We Go In The Dark

Sequoia Nagamatsu

Harper Collins

2022

Ms. Hen had been meaning to read this book for a while, but for a long time, it was unavailable at the library. She finally checked it out, and she thinks this is a book worth waiting for.

This is a novel in stories about a plague that comes from the Arctic from a girl scientists find who has has been buried under ice for thousands of years. The plague takes over the world, and millions of people die, and the world changes. Ms. Hen read the different stories about characters who are affected by the plague: the man whose daughter discovered the body in Siberia, someone who works at an amusement park which is a place for euthanizing infected children, and a man who creates a pig who can talk.

This book travels through the years, and into the future when the plague changes history. Characters even travel to space to find a new planet to inhabit. A lot of depressed characters dwell in these pages, and Ms. Hen feels sorry for a lot of them.

Ms. Hen is charmed by this novel, and she didn't want it to end. She has read a lot of books like this lately, like THE THREE BODY PROBLEM, THE HIDDEN GIRL AND OTHER STORIES, and EXHALATION. She seems to be gravitating to science fiction by Asian men, maybe that's a phase for her, but she's not sure. It's just that all of these books are so good that she can't get enough. They're just what she wants right now.

Even though this novel is about a pandemic, it was inspired before COVID happened. Ms. Hen think that pandemics have always been around, and have sparked ideas for writers. People suffering are always more interesting than those that are content.

Ms. Hen read in the acknowledgements in this book that the author was partly inspired by STAR TREK. Ms. Hen does not read that a lot in author notes, and she's glad this one is honest. A lot of writers want their fans to think they're highbrow, and have only read the best books, but Ms. Hen thinks that STAR TREK can be as inspirational as any classic novel.

Ms. Hen recommends that you run, not walk, to get this novel, by bookstore or library, or wherever you acquire books. She thinks this is one of the best books she's read this year. It's not a light summer book, but Ms. Hen doesn't believe in those anyway 😀

Ms. Hen reviews The Book of Delights

 

The Book of Delights

Ross Gay

Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

2019

Ms. Hen first heard of this book from a podcast on This American Life. She does not listen to a lot of podcasts, because she prefers to read or listen to music, but she was on a road trip and needed to kill time. She was delighted by all the stories on this podcast, and it made her curious about the book. The link for the podcast is here: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/692/the-show-of-delights

This is a collection of essays about cultivating the idea of delight. The author is delighted with almost everything he sees, and since Ms. Hen has heard this podcast, and read this book, she is attempting to find delight as well. Ms. Hen thinks that she is delightful herself, but she struggles with others' lack of delight at times, which is not delightful.

The author talks about the joy of writing by hand, which Ms. Hen understands for some people can be a pleasure. Ms. Hen does not like writing by hand, because her hands get more tired that way, but people have their own sense of delight.

Ms. Hen learned of the term "negreeting," in this book. It's a way that Black people acknowledge other Black people, by inferring that they know what it's like to live in this world as themselves. Ms. Hen thinks that there are other types of this communication, between marginalized people, or people who look and talk the same.

In the essay entitled "Touched," the author talks about how people who are seen as touched are a little bit off, but they might be enjoying themselves in a way that nobody understands. Some people might think that Ms. Hen is touched, because she a hen who writes a blog, but that's okay, because she has accepted that she is different. Ms. Hen is delighted that she sees the world in a different way than other people, and she does not care what people think of her.

One of the things that delights Ms. Hen right now is the Cow Parade in Boston. There are life-size cows painted all over the city, which is a fundraiser for the Jimmy Fund. Ms. Hen has been walking all over, looking for cows, taking pictures of herself on them. She wonders how people walk by these cows and are not delighted, but she thinks that is their own problem. 

Ms. Hen loves the idea of cultivating delight, because almost anything can be delightful, if we want it to be. The world can be terrible, and completely awful, but Ms. Hen thinks that finding delight is a practice, similar to yoga, in which a person exercises their delight muscle, and life can seem a little bit brighter.

Ms. Hen reviews The Penelopiad

 

The Penelopiad

Margaret Atwood

Canongate Books

2005

Ms. Hen decided to read this because she had read THE ODYSSEY recently, and she wanted to find books that were inspired by it. She had already read CIRCE, but she had never heard of this book, which is the reimagined backstory of Odysseus' wife Penelope, and the twelve maids that were hung at the end of the epic poem.

Penelope was the daughter of a king, and a Naiad, or a water spirit. Her father tried to drown her when she was young, because it was prophesied that she would weave his death shroud. She did not drown, but survived, so he decided to give her the nickname, "Duck." Penelope's cousin was Helen, the great beauty. When Penelope got married, she traveled with Odysseus to his kingdom, a rocky island filled with goats.

She is lonely there, but she had a son, and befriends the young maids. Odysseus goes to fight in the Trojan war, but gets lost on the way home. She struggles to keep his estate together, her suitors try to woo her, but she waits patiently for her husband. The men eat all their food. Her maids inform her about what the suitors are doing. She is devastated when they die.

In between some of the chapters, the twelve maids sing a type of Greek chorus, like in the ancient plays by Sophocles and the other playwrights. Ms. Hen thinks this is charming, and it's poetry thrust into the middle of a novel. The novel is brimming with poetry.

Ms. Hen thinks this novel is dark, and it might be triggering for some people. But she thinks that students of literature should fight against being triggered, because the whole world is shocking and upsetting, and a highly educated person should be able to read a book and not become traumatized. Ms. Hen thinks that younger people today have gone weak, and don't know how to deal with the horrors of daily life. She's glad she's not any kind of teacher, because she would end up insulting the students, and she might get fired.

A hen house is mentioned, which excited Ms. Hen. Odysseus has come back home, and Telemachus and he are ganging up on Penelope, "I could see he had a rosy little picture in his mind: the two of them, siding up against me, grown men together, two roosters in charge of the henhouse." Ms. Hen likes this analogy, though she feels sorry for Penelope. It's difficult for a woman who has been in charge of her own house to relinquish her power.

Ms. Hen raced through this small book. She thinks it's great to read, if you want to be angry about women's place in society, and want to understand how an ancient tale can become new again, like all great tales, they never get old, and can be seen with fresh and and colorful eyes.

Ms. Hen reviews The Hidden Girl and Other Stories

 

The Hidden Girl and Other Stories

Ken Liu

Head of Zeus, Ltd.

2020

Ms. Hen decided to read this collection of short stories because she has read other books by the same author and loved them. She was inspired to read another collection of his when she read the book EXHALATION by Ted Chiang.

Ms. Hen thinks that each of these short stories encompasses an entire world, that on their own they are like novels. The author's other collection, THE PAPER MENAGERIE AND OTHER SHORT STORIES was like this as well.

One of Ms. Hen's favorite stories is "The Reborn," which is about a time when aliens take over Earth. These aliens don't believe in memories or history; they have lived for thousands of years, but do not remember their entire lives. They don't understand why human punish people for making mistakes, for example, if a person is a murderer, only a part of that person is a murderer, the other parts could be a father, or a husband, or a friend. This story is about a Boston police officer who is married to an alien, their relationship, and the problems they face.

Another story Ms. Hen liked is "Dispatches from the Cradle: The Hermit - Forty-eight Hours in the Sea of Massachusetts." This is about a time when the earth is covered by water because of global warming. Refugees live on the planet in boats which can convert to underwater vehicles, while the elite live in space. Tourists come to Earth to visit old landmarks that are underwater, such as Harvard Yard. This story is about a woman who was an executive, but chooses to live in a craft amongst the refugees on the oceans of Earth.

A lot of these stories are about human consciousness continuing on through the ether of cyberspace, such as in "The Gods Will Not Be Chained," and "Memories of My Mother." Ms. Hen thinks it's interesting that humanity could live on this way, and she thinks it could be starting with the new AI and social media.

Some of these stories are about family relationships, but with a sci-fi twist, such as "Seven Birthdays," and "The Message." Ms. Hen thinks that even in the future, people will have issues with their families.

Ms. Hen enjoyed reading these short stories, though a lot of them are disturbing. This book proposes the idea that the world could end through global warming or computers taking over the world. Ms. Hen also thinks the end could come by nuclear war. She doesn't like to think such dark thoughts on a Monday, but sometimes she can't help it.

Ms. Hen reviews The Odyssey

 

The Odyssey

Homer

Farrar, Straus and Girioux

This edition 1998

Translated by Robert Fitzgerald

Ms. Hen decided to venture into these waters

because a friend recommended this book to her;

she doesn't usually like to read books in verse form,

but she decided to give this a chance,

for she wants to know the best of storytelling,

and this is the first epic journey of its kind,

the original hero's journey,

the tale to end all tales.

Odysseus goes on a trip and does not come home

for a long time.

He goes on adventures, almost gets killed, 

but kills a lot of beings,

human and non-human along the way.

Ms. Hen enjoyed the part when Kirke turned his men

into pigs. Ms. Hen thinks she is a talented woman.

This book is darker than Ms. Hen thought it would be.

Odysseus' wife Penelope waits for him, but is harassed

in the meantime. A gang of men want to marry her,

but she waits for her husband, not patiently, but

with much agony. When Odysseus returns, he tricks

everyone because he does not reveal himself at first.

Bedlam ensues.

Ms. Hen can see how this tale has influenced

almost everything ever written

from Shakespeare to STAR TREK,

and a plethora in between.

The story of being lost and finding our way home

is timeless

and never gets old.

Ms. Hen likes to read heavy books in the summer,

when everyone else imbibes in frivolous ones, 

because she has to be different,

though this book was not as heavy as others she has read,

but it's intense enough to qualify

as Ms. Hen's light summer reading.

Ms. Hen recommends being like Odysseus,

and fighting for what you believe,

to get home, 

or your rights,

do what you must to prove your weight in the world,

and live your life as best you can.