"Literature, my first true love!" by Jefie

I felt something was missing from my homepage as there was nothing to reflect my biggest passion: literature. I learned how to read when I was only 3 years old, when my mom, an elementary school teacher, got tired of me asking her to read stories all the time. As a kid growing up in a small town far away from all the big cities, reading was a bit like traveling, for it felt like if I wanted to be in Prince Edward Island, all I had to do was to pick up my copy of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables.

It seems like I've read through my entire childhood and teenage years, and ultimately I've gone on to complete a master's degree in English literature at Laval University, where I spent six amazing years learning from the best and kindest professors, sharing ideas with great students and making life-long friends while completing a thesis on the English novel in Quebec.

To reflect the importance of books in my life, I've decided to create a reading diary. I'll try to update it as often as possible, feel free to e-mail me if you want to discuss some of those books!

The story of "The Orange Girl" could almost be divided into two sections: the first one, in which we discover the story of the Orange Girl, is captivating; the second one, which addresses more philosophical questions, isn't as successful in my opinion. It sort of reminded me of Mitch Albom's "The Five People You Meet in Heaven", which I hadn't really liked either. To me, it seems like a bit of a waste when a talented fiction writer - and judging from the first section, Gaarder's talent is undeniable - tries to dabble in pop psychology. But overall, I'd still say the book had more positive points than negative ones, and I'm already looking forward to giving this author a second chance.

This book is considered by many as a science fiction classic, and it has even been described as "perfect" by the likes of Jorge Luis Borges and Octavio Paz. Since science fiction is far from being my favorite genre, I can't exactly agree with them, but I did enjoy reading this novel. I did not exactly buy into the invention that is at the center of the story, but I did like the more psychological aspect of the novel. The story is presented to the reader as the main character's diary, and the record of his impressions as he seeks to understand what is going on around him, on the strange exotic island where he has landed to escape from prison, is very interesting. I'm guessing it might strike a chord with fans of the TV series "Lost"!

Despite its rather obvious title, I truly had no idea what Eve Ensler's play was about. I'd only vaguely heard about some celebrities performing the monologues, and I was wondering how this rather unusual topic would be discussed. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to discover that there was much more than provocation hidden behind the word vagina: in fact, this play strives to denounce violence and sexual abuse towards women, which makes it the most socially engaged play I have ever read. In what is essentially a summary of the 200+ interviews she conducted prior to writing this play, Ensler does an amazing job of moving her audience from sadness to laughter. Even though it doesn't feel like I connected with the play the way other women (and men!) have, I can only applaud the playwright's wit, talent and ambition.

After having read two rather heavy books, I was looking for some captivating but lighter summer reading. For some reason, the title of this novel caught my attention and I ended up buying it. "The Last Days of Dogtown" is set in a small village located on Cape Ann, Massachusetts, which no longer exists. After doing some research on its former inhabitants and trying to imagine what their life might have been like, Anita Diamant decided to bring these characters back to life, thus creating an amazing semi-historic novel. As the story unfolds, we meet the different villagers and get to know a bit more about their burdened past, which eventually brought them to Dogtown. Diamant succeeds in creating such real emotions in her characters that I was very sorry to let them go at the end of the novel, which for me is always the mark of a good book!

I'm guessing that this book is classified under the "young adult" category because the main character, Liesel, is a young teenage girl, but I believe that the subject matter and writing style are bound to please to a more mature audience as well. "The Book Thief" is set in Germany during the second World War, and as famine, poverty, concentration camps and bombs slowly make their apparition in the small village of Molching, Liesel relies on friendship and books to find some shreds of sanity in a world gone mad. What I thought was very interesting and unusual about this novel is that the narrator is someone who knows the little girl very well for having met her quite a few times despite her young age: the story of "The Book Thief" is befittingly told by none other than Death itself.

Like George Orwell, Arthur Koestler was a fierce opponent of facism, which led him to condemn the politics of dictators such as Franco and Stalin. He even spent some time in jail and was sentenced to death in Spain for having spoken against Franco's regime. In "Darkness at Noon", Koestler creates a vivid account of the imprisonement and subsequent interrogation of Rubashov, a Communist Party member who played a crucial role in the success of the Russian Revolution, only to be considered as an enemy of the Party once Stalin (referred to as "Number 1" in the novel) takes over. Drawing on his own experience and on that of some of his cellmates, Koestler succeeded in creating a surprisingly realistic and moving story that takes the reader along as Rubashov (who of course many see as Trotsky's alter ego) is forced to come to terms with his actions and beliefs.

"Los Arboles Mueren de Pie" is a short but excellent play written by Alejandro Casona in 1949. Casona was an Oscar Wilde fan, and the influence of the controversial but brilliant playwright on Casona's work is evident in this play. The story begins as a farce, and if you're like me you'll probably spend the entire first act laughing. Gradually, however, the play moves on to more serious topics, and it ends up being a beautiful story about life and dreams. Only an extremely skilled playwright could have created such a moving comedy, and weaved all the different elements into one successful play. I'll be looking up more of his work for sure!