Book Notes: 'The Valley of the Moon' by Jack London

The Valley of the Moon by Jack London




Others have suggested this was the forerunner to Jack Kerouac's On the Road, but this is only evident in the third book. I was surprised by a dead-end thread character who reappears only briefly to show the changes in the prize-fighting protagonist as he becomes wiser. The usual Jack London class consciousness is evident but this time he seems to highlight the false consciousness of the proletariat not as a consequence of the system per se, but as the fault of an individual's lack of imagination. Although somewhat the epic, an interesting read that gripped me whenever I picked it up. And surprisingly, no classic London macabre ending to regret, although the climax is the weaker for it.



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Book Notes: 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell

Animal Farm by George Orwell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


As I read the various characters' speeches, I was thinking of essay questions. "Read Major's speech and identify the theories of the great economic thinkers"; obviously Marx, but also Ricardo, Spencer et al. This Everyman's version contains a useful chronology outlining Orwell's life, and at each point, what was happening in literary circles and world events. Two of Orwell's (Blair's) prefaces were included as appendices. It would have been helpful to have access to (or, rather, noticed) such useful thoughts from the author in high school, but I suppose that such information would have been lost in my inexperience. The introduction by Julian Symons is concise but helpful, and now, of course, I must read Sir Bernard Crick's George Orwell: A Life.



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Book Notes: 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' by Joan Lindsay

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I recall seeing the movie many years ago, but apart from the mysterious scene where the young women disappear, there was no trace of a story in my memory to influence my reading. The final page left me tingling. The story is rather creepy in a fatalistic way. Yet it is very good and I am pleased to have embarked upon my journey through Australiana literature.



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