Oates, Joyce Carol "The Accursed" Buddy Read Part 3 - 2013

Oates, Joyce Carol "The Accursed" - 2013

As already announced in my Hello September post, and my Buddy Read post, Lisa @Capitvated Reader and myself are hosting a buddy read this month. And here is Lisa's post. Have a look at her review, there is a lot more to this part than what I have said.

Spoiler alert:

A buddy read like this cannot be as vague as many of my other reviews. On the other hand, I can't hide everything, so I will have to talk about this book as if I were in a book club and we all read the book.

Therefore, I will be quite open in the next couple of weeks but will, at the end, write a description of the whole book in the way you are all used to. So, if you haven't read the book but still would like to, be patient, I'll get there.

I am not a big fan of fantasy or fantastic, mythical figures. I probably wouldn't have even looked at the book were it not by one of my favourite authors and for a dear blogger friend who invited me to join her buddy read.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20737002-the-accursed

https://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/fiction/accursed-oates?start=3

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1478624446

Week 3 (Oct 17–Oct 24)

• Hysteria spreads; moral decay of the Princeton elite

• Part Three: "The Brain, Within Its Groove . . .": Dives deeper into psychological torment, visions, and the bizarre intervention of historical figures like Woodrow Wilson and Upton Sinclair.

The title of this part is taken from a poem by Emily Dickinson:

The brain within its groove

Runs evenly and true;

But let a splinter swerve,

'T were easier for you

To put the water back

When floods have slit the hills,

And scooped a turnpike for themselves,

And blotted out the mills!

Good introduction.

The hysteria in Princeton gets worse and worse. Everybody thinks they are cursed and that something bad is going to happen to them. People get "visions" of deceased visiting them. And they fantasize about everything, e.g. their spouses being unfaithful. This leads to madness and murder.

And it gets more Gothic, as well. More and more historical figures appear, even fictional ones: Sherlock Holmes, for example.

My conclusion is there is no demon, just everyone's idea of their own guilt.

And my assumption, that Woodrow Wilson was a man of his time, a conservative man of his time, is manifested here:

Dr. Wilson concluded with an appeal for sympathy, understanding and patience: "For Woman, whom Nature has burdened with a load far heavier than Man - that is, propagation - must be judged with tolerance and forbearance in areas where, with no regard for intention, she has seriously lagged behind man."

I cannot see where women lag behind men, only where they are not given the same opportunities.

The question also comes up at LitLovers whether M.W. van Dyck is a reliable narrator. Well, usually we get notes and a bibliography and can check what is right and what isn't. However, since this is a fictional tale, it is tough to rely on something like that. I suppose we will just have to believe that he (or she) is a decent writer and the stories are true.

Book Description:

"This eerie tale of psychological horror sees the real inhabitants of turn-of-the-century Princeton fall under the influence of a supernatural power. New Jersey, 1905: soon-to-be commander-in-chief Woodrow Wilson is president of Princeton University. On a nearby farm, Socialist author Upton Sinclair, enjoying the success of his novel 'The Jungle', has taken up residence with his family. This is a quiet, bookish community - elite, intellectual and indisputably privileged. But when a savage lynching in a nearby town is hushed up, a horrifying chain of events is initiated - until it becomes apparent that the families of Princeton have been beset by a powerful curse. The Devil has come to this little town and not a soul will be spared. 'The Accursed' marks new territory for the masterful Joyce Carol Oates - narrated with her unmistakable psychological insight, it combines beautifully transporting historical detail with chilling fantastical elements to stunning effect."

Mahfouz, Naguib " The Beginning and the End"

Mahfouz, Naguib "The Beginning and the End" (Arabic: داية ونهاية/Bidaya wa Nihaya) - 1949

I have read several books by this great author. And when the Read the Year Challenge came up for 1949, I saw that he had published a novel in that year. So, the decision was easy.

We meet a family in Cairo. The story takes place in the late 1930s. They have four children, an adult son, an adult daughter and two school-age boys. The father suddenly dies and leaves the family in abject poverty. The eldest son was never destined to become a successful supporter of the family, so the second one steps in. However, everyone in the family faces issues with their sudden situation and nobody really manages to get out of it, except for the second one who seems to be on the best way. The others, however, face a lot of problems. There is no happy end for them.

This book is still a masterpiece.

Book Description:

"Set in Cairo during World War II, this novel is a masterpiece of human compassion reflecting with sympathy and well-balanced pathos the material, moral, and spiritual problems of an Egyptian family.

Suddenly confronted with poverty when the father, its sole support, dies unexpectedly, the family's middle-class respectability and conformity can only be supported on the backs of a brother and a sister who sacrifice their own reputations by immersing themselves in the seamy underworld of Cairo.

This is a powerful portrayal of a middle-class Egyptian family confronted by material, moral, and spiritual problems during World War II."

Naguib Mahfouz "who, through works rich in nuance - now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous - has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind" received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988.

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.

Oates, Joyce Carol "The Accursed" Buddy Read Part 2 - 2013

Oates, Joyce Carol "The Accursed" - 2013

As already announced in my Hello September post, and my Buddy Read post, Lisa @Capitvated Reader and myself are hosting a buddy read this month. And here is Lisa's post. Have a look at her review, there is a lot more to this part than what I have said.

Spoiler alert:

A buddy read like this cannot be as vague as many of my other reviews. On the other hand, I can't hide everything, so I will have to talk about this book as if I were in a book club and we all read the book.

Therefore, I will be quite open in the next couple of weeks but will, at the end, write a description of the whole book in the way you are all used to. So, if you haven't read the book but still would like to, be patient, I'll get there.

I am not a big fan of fantasy or fantastic, mythical figures. I probably wouldn't have even looked at the book were it not by one of my favourite authors and for a dear blogger friend who invited me to join her buddy read.

Week 2 (Oct 9–Oct 16)

• Historical cameos; the eerie Bog Kingdom; social satire

• Part Two: The Curse Incarnate: Explores the spreading supernatural afflictions and social paranoia across elite families and historical figures.

So, we find out what and who Axton Mayte really is. Annabel is not his first victim, as she finds out when he brings her to his hidden "castle". The Bog Kingdom is where he can live out his real character, abuse the women he abducted, reduce them to the lowest status possible. And create more demons like himself.

I still don't see this as a vampire story. Or a ghost story. I think we are warned that the more we believe in something like "the curse", the more we will end up in a bad situation. Like if you think Friday the 13th is unlucky, something will happen that proves you right. You are over-careful and start tripping, for example.

Another question by LitLovers:

Are we to suppose that they "happen" to the fictional characters in the course of the story? Or are we to gather they are the result of the characters' subconscious? Are they dreams? In other words, is this realistic fiction...or fantasy?

I think I mentioned it before. I am a very rational person and don't believe in fantasy. So, I am pretty sure this is the latter. People work each other up, or - as we say in German - they bump each other up while swinging. One person mentions a curse, the next one thinks it is the truth and looks for something that will prove it.

I still think it is highly interesting to see what people wish to believe.

For me, Josiah is the real hero, at least of this chapter. He tries to help with logic, tries to understand what really happened. Though, even he is not sure what to believe. Which shows how much hysteria is contagious.

We also meet up with some more historic figures. I had read about Woodrow Wilson in other books before and had a positive opinion of him. That has, unfortunately, changed with his vie to slaves and black people. Yes, it might have been the time he lived in and also the area he grew up in but that doesn't mean he should have had that opinion. After all, there were people in the South and in that timeframe that helped slaves escape.

After reading a few books about Mark Twain, where he travels Europe, I had not a good opinion about him and that has not changed at all. He is portrayed as the conceited snob I have read about before.

Okay, I think that is it for today. There is so much in this book, I doubt I can give it perfect credit.

Book Description:

"This eerie tale of psychological horror sees the real inhabitants of turn-of-the-century Princeton fall under the influence of a supernatural power. New Jersey, 1905: soon-to-be commander-in-chief Woodrow Wilson is president of Princeton University. On a nearby farm, Socialist author Upton Sinclair, enjoying the success of his novel 'The Jungle', has taken up residence with his family. This is a quiet, bookish community - elite, intellectual and indisputably privileged. But when a savage lynching in a nearby town is hushed up, a horrifying chain of events is initiated - until it becomes apparent that the families of Princeton have been beset by a powerful curse. The Devil has come to this little town and not a soul will be spared. 'The Accursed' marks new territory for the masterful Joyce Carol Oates - narrated with her unmistakable psychological insight, it combines beautifully transporting historical detail with chilling fantastical elements to stunning effect."

Romney, Rebecca "Jane Austen's Bookshelf"

Romney, Rebecca "Jane Austen's Bookshelf. The Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend" - 2025

A Christmas present from my son. What a gift!

The subtitle says it all: The Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend. The Legend being Jane Austen.

Rebecca Romney is a rare book dealer and talks to us about her hunt for rare editions. And of the lives of the other female authors from two centuries ago.

Yes, we always read about Jane Austen and what kind of books she is reading. But do we give those authors a second thought? I know I didn't before reading this book.

There are so many different authors from that time. And more women than we might think.

After beginning with Jane Austen, the author takes us to the other ladies who wrote at a time where no women were supposed to write: Frances Burney, Ann Radcliffe, Charlotte Lennox, Hannah More, Charlotte Smith, Elizabeth Inchbald, Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi, Maria Edgeworth.

While we might not have heard all their names, a lot of the titles they wrote are known to us:

And since I love lists and know that many of you do, as well. Here is a list of the authors and some of their books:

Jane Austen (1775-1817, 41 years)

Frances Burney (1752-1840, 87 years)
Cecilia, 1782
Evelina, 1794
Camilla, 1796

Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823, 58 years)
Fountainville Forest, 1794
The Mysteries of Udolpho, 1794

Charlotte Lennox (c. 1829-1804, 74-75 years)
The Female Quixote, 1852
Shakespear Illustrated, 1854

Hannah More (1745-1833, 88 years)
Sir Eldred of the Bower, 1776
Percy, 1778
Coelebs in Search of a Wife, 1808
The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, 1810

Charlotte Smith (1749-1806, 57 years)
Emmeline, 1788
Desmond, 1792
The Old Manor House, 1793

Elizabeth Inchbald (1753-1821, 67 years)
Appearance is Against them, 1785
Mrs. Inchbald, 1786

Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi (1741-1821, 80 years)
Letters to and  from the late Samuel Johnson, 1788

Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849, 81 years)
Tales of Fashionable Live, 1809/1812
Patronage, 1814
Harrington, and Ormond, 1814
Helen, 1834

As you see, most of them got a lot older than our Jane. Oh, would she have lived eighty years, the novels we could have had!!!

I doubt that I willl ever be able to read all those novels but I hope to catch a few.

So, do I recommend this book? If you are a Jane Austen fan and want to know about the women who influenced her, definitely. If you love classics and would like to find some more authors that you haven't read, yet, for sure. If you like to read about books in general, go ahead. What do you think, would you like to read this?

It is definitely a pleasure to accompany the author on her quest to find out more about Jane Austen and her literature.

There are some quotes I just have to mention:

"On the one hand, we come back to certain books because we want to experience, again, the feelings they first sparked. But books inevitable change with us. We notice new aspects of old favourites because our lives are different. Books are not static things. …"

Very true. We think of a book that containes letters and words in a certain order that won't change. But we change. And with it the content of the book. Re-reading does not mean we have forgotten the book and try to remember it, it means we remember the book and want to experience it in a different lifetime.

And this one on not DNF a book:

"But I'm stubborn. I'm one of those readers who struggles to stop reading abook even when I dislike it. Logically, I know this is absurd. But emotionally, it makes me feel like a quitter. This comminemtn to follow through is how I finished James Joyce'S Ulysses, even thouhg I think I understood only about 35 percent of what I was reading. Joyce hadn't defeated me."

I had to smile. I never give JJ a thought when it comes to finishing a tough book. Because a tough book it is. But I was so happy when I finished it. Sometimes that's also great.

She also quotes Italo Calvino from his book "Why Read the Classics?" (IT: Perché leggere i classici?) which I have read and mentioned before. "A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say." Totally.

Book Description:

"Who were the women that inspired Jane Austen?

Why have they all but disappeared from our shelves?

When Rebecca Romney discovered a clothbound edition of Evelina by Frances Burney she was delighted to find a novel cherished by Jane Austen. Inspired by the connection between the two writers, she revisited Austen’s books with a new lens, picking out clues sprinkled throughout her works that pointed to the writers she had admired.

Romney noticed that while male writers like Shakespeare and Milton still dominate our shelves, the works of Austen’s favourite authors such as Frances Burney and Ann Radcliffe have all but vanished. This ignited a new mission for Romney, she needed to collect Jane Austen’s bookshelf.

Delve into the lives and works of these female writers, and explore their disappearance from history in this page-turning literary adventure."

Oates, Joyce Carol "The Accursed" Buddy Read Part 1

Oates, Joyce Carol "The Accursed" - 2013

As already announced in my Hello September post, and my Buddy Read post, Lisa @Capitvated Reader and myself are hosting a buddy read this month. And here is Lisa's post. Have a look at her review, there is a lot more to this part than what I have said.

Spoiler alert:

A buddy read like this cannot be as vague as many of my other reviews. On the other hand, I can't hide everything, so I will have to talk about this book as if I were in a book club and we all read the book.

Therefore, I will be quite open in the next couple of weeks but will, at the end, write a description of the whole book in the way you are all used to. So, if you haven't read the book but still would like to, be patient, I'll get there.

I am not a big fan of fantasy or fantastic, mythical figures. I probably wouldn't have even looked at the book were it not by one of my favourite authors and for a dear blogger friend who invited me to join her buddy read.

Week 1 (Oct 1–Oct 8)

• Author's Note & Prologue: Sets up the faux-historical framing in Princeton, New Jersey, during 1905–1906.

• Part One: Demon Bridegroom: Focuses on the bizarre seduction and abduction of a young bride at her wedding.

The beginning of the novel is quite interesting. There are well-known historical figures but what about the others? Do they exist? E.g. the Slade family?

I don't believe in ghosts, so this doesn't frighten me in any way. So, I can't really believe in a "curse". I do hope this leads people who believe in it to change their habits. Why do they think there is a curse on the town. They must be convinced that they did something wrong.

To dig deeper into the story, I used some discussion questions from LitLovers.

I believe, JCO uses a lot of her fantastic psychology to describe this and the conflict members of the town encounter.

The fictional narrator, M.W. van Dyck, always has his own opinions that he likes to add, even though he calls himself a historian and should therefore be more neutral. However, he also guides us to many questions of this "history". And we might learn from them, if we don't agree with him already.

A great quote from this part of the book:

"But we don't suffer nearly as much as most people", Meta said, hesitantly, "like Negroes, and the poorest immigrants. And We can read ... there is always the prospect of escape."

"Books are not a means of 'escape', Meta. Books are a means of knowledge, and of learning how to cope with the future."

This is a discussion between Upton Sinclair and his wife Meta. Do we agree with Upton or with Meta? I totally like the way of learning how to cope with the future. However, I also like books as a way of escape. Sometimes, this world is too hard on us and we need some distractions. Of course, we can get both from a lot of books. 

In the prologue, the questions gets asked whether the curse really exists or whether the narrator is inadvertently describing an outbreak of collective hysteria and moral decay. I believe in the latter.

One more question from the LitLovers list:

The Accursed asks us to ponder the nature of evil? What is "evil" in the scope of the novel?

That is an important question. And one that we should consider very heavily. Some people consider socialism an "evil", others the opposite of it. What is really evil, in my eyes, is selfishness, not caring about your neighbour (as the bible teaches us and those who claim they are "good Christians" like to preach but not live by).

Lisa said, it feels quite different than other books we've read by JCO.

I must agree but she is such a great author that I am sure we get the most of it.

There are plenty of real life people /and their relatives) in this book:
presidents: Woodrow Wilson, Grover Cleveland, Teddy Roosevelt
authors: Upton Sinclair, Jack London, Mark Twain
others: Andrew Fleming West

Book Description:

"This eerie tale of psychological horror sees the real inhabitants of turn-of-the-century Princeton fall under the influence of a supernatural power. New Jersey, 1905: soon-to-be commander-in-chief Woodrow Wilson is president of Princeton University. On a nearby farm, Socialist author Upton Sinclair, enjoying the success of his novel 'The Jungle', has taken up residence with his family. This is a quiet, bookish community - elite, intellectual and indisputably privileged. But when a savage lynching in a nearby town is hushed up, a horrifying chain of events is initiated - until it becomes apparent that the families of Princeton have been beset by a powerful curse. The Devil has come to this little town and not a soul will be spared. 'The Accursed' marks new territory for the masterful Joyce Carol Oates - narrated with her unmistakable psychological insight, it combines beautifully transporting historical detail with chilling fantastical elements to stunning effect."

#ThrowbackThursday. October 2016

I've been doing ThrowbackThursdays for a while but I noticed that I wrote a lot of reviews in a short time when I first started. So, I post more than one Throwback every week. These are my reviews from October 2016.

If you are looking for more bloggers who participate here, there is always a post on The Chocolate Lady's website where you can also add yours.

Maalouf, Amin "Samarkand" (French: Samarcande) - 1988

This novel takes us from the life of poet, mathematician and astronomer Omar Khayyám and his poetry collection Rubaiyat in Samarkand of the 11th century to the voyage of the fictional character Benjamin O. Lesage on the Titanic in 1912. I was happy to learn not just about his poetry but especially about his life and that of his contemporaries in an area that is as unknown to me and most people in Europe in that time as it is today.

Obama, Barack "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" - 2006
The author gives an account of his first steps as a politician. I found it very interesting to look behind the scenes with someone who has been a Senator, who knows all the ins and outs and the pros and cons of politics. Very interesting.

Pye, Michael "The Edge of the World: How the North Sea Made Us Who We Are" - 2014

An exciting book. A look at how we became what we are. What has the North Sea done, how has it contributed to our history?

It looks like it has done a lot, it sent out fishermen and pirates, businessmen and adventurers. We didn't just find the American Continent by those first people who wanted to find new waterways, a lot of our system and how we live today started there. Our way of living, doing business, organizing, politics, law, science, insurance, money, art, everything comes from those explorations and how people first started to settle and find their way in this world. 

16 years of blogging

16^th Blogiversary

On Tuesday, Tuesday, 5 October 2010, I started this blog.

In the meantime, I have had 6572575 views, 87 followers, 3089 posts and 16400 comments.

My very first post was about my favourite author, Jane Austen, of course: Which Austen Heroine are You? At the time, I thought I might be Anne Elliot but it turned out I was Elinor Dashwood which I am convinced now is the more correct choice.

My lastest post from Saturday, Six Degrees of Separation ~ Life of M, has had 38 views so far.

And because not all of my reader friends speak English, I started a second blog on 30 October 2012: Mariannes Bücherecke/Der Bücherwurm (Marianne's Book Corner/The Book Worm). And though I didn't start all blogging all my books there immediately, I have had 1473 posts in the meantime and 353865 views.

I have always enjoyed sharing the books I read with fellow readers and I hope to do so for a long, long time.

Thank you to everyone who shares this passion with me and who contributes to my blog.

You can find more information under Statistics.