Jacksprat Gets Lost in Fiction

Review of “The Trouble with Mrs. Montgomery Hurst” By: Katie Lumsden             In the county of Wickenshire the most eligible bachelor Mr. Montgomery Hurst got engaged to an outsider, a widow from London with 3 children, and everyone in the community had an opinion on it. The older generation of county were determined to get their children married, and the younger generation felt the pressure to get married even when they didn’t desire it.             “Montgomery Hurst” was a fun and joyful read with an atmosphere that was cozy with its suburban setting, despite the characters being surrounded by gossipy neighbors. As I was reading, I was eager to turn the pages and consume the next chapter to find out what would happen next.  The drama was familiar for those of us who were entertained by Jane Austen and Anthony Trollop novels where the conflict was, who wa...

Review of “The Pillow Book” By: Sei Shonagon             In the Heian period Noble women living at court kept Diaries of their time at court and most memorable experiences. The authors intended these Diaries to be autobiographical. “The Pillow Book” was like these Diaries but had considerable differences from them, which were its structure and general character.  Sei Shonagon hadn’t written it it to be autobiographical, but it was an account of what she saw during her ten years at court and her reflections on her experiences there.             Sei Shonagon had quite the personality with her strong opinions and love of pretty things.  She reminded me of Jane Austen’s Emma Woodhouse with her charm and opinionated, as well as judgmental nature.  Throughout there were entries on her things that annoyed her or things that gave her pleasure that...

Review of The Plantagenets: The Kings and Queens the Made England? By: Dan Jones Dan Jones writes about the history of the Plantagenet Dynasty starting with Henry I all the way to Richard II.  Some of the Kings were good leaders, but others not so much due to their choices and relationship with their people.   Dan Jones divided the book into parts and organized it by years as he focused on each king and queen of those years.  It was a nice reprieve that there were short chapters. Each section highlighted the good and bad of each King’s reign and how they impacted the country.  In my opinion, some of them proved the King had too much, because they didn’t have empathy for their people.  They believed that they were King and only their opinion mattered and who cares what the people think.  This wasn’t shown through how the people responded but also how advisors responded to the throne.  Some would even turn against the K...

Review of Horror Movie By: Paul Tremblay             In 1993, a group of filmmakers made an independent horror film, but after a handful of weird accidents and the death of a cast member while they were filming a scene gave the film a reputation of being a cursed film.  Director/cast member Valentina uploaded only a handful of scenes onto youtube, and years later several people involved in the making of the film had died that encouraged the theory of a cursed film. It developed a cult following.  In present day, Hollywood producers approached the only surviving cast member, the actor who played “the thin kid”, now in his 50s, to help them remake the film and he was more than willing.             I still don’t know how I felt about this novel.  This is my second Tremblay and even if I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not I’m glad I read of his ...

 The Arrival of Autumn Endless simmering summer days fade away to brisk cooler days of Autumn Bright Green leaves transform to golden hues and deep reds and warm browns. The smells of pumpkin spice, crisp apples, and delectable cinnamon waft through the air making people desire sweet treats to fill their stomachs. A Symbol of Amends The pale faced man with weapons of fire stole the land from the Natives, whose soul resided here. To make amends a mountain was to be carved from stone of a great Native warrior.  Alas, it remains unfinished and it is a broken symbol of a promise to make amends.

Review of “I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons By Peter S. Beagle             Robert inherited his father’s profession as a dragon exterminator, but he secretly loved and respected dragons.  Meanwhile, Princess Cerise had finally found her husband in Prince Reginald but had to make sure the dragons that caused chaos in her family’s castle were eliminated to impress the prince.  Her parents hired Robert, whom she had known as a child, to do the job.  While Prince Reginald had to prove his worth to his father by slaying a dragon and show he was a warrior like his father.  The three had to come together when an enemy of Reginald’s father returned with blood thirsty dragons that he created, and he wanted to use the dragons to punish Reginald’s father. This read like fairytale with its story of Princes and Princess, wizards, and dragons, but it also commented on the tropes introduced in fairytales. ...