The Boxcar Children

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

The first Boxcar Children book has a innocence to it. Four kids are orphaned. They decide to fend for themselves rather than go to live with their grandfather. They find a boxcar that they turn into a nice house. The older boy goes to work odd jobs for a doctor he met. The other kids scour the junkyard for useful things. One day, the oldest boy enters a race on the spur of the moment and wins a prize. He doesn't say his last name so he won't be found. The doctor that they help out realizes that the kids are those that have a $5000 reward offered. He also has discovered where they live. However, he respects their industry and doesn't let on. Then one day, one of the girls is sick. The man helps her. He also contacts the grandpa, but has him hide his identity. The kids like him. Then he reveals his true identity and the kids are happy to go to live with him. Later, the man brings the box car back to the yard for them to enjoy. The kids have a joy and resourcefulness for themselves regardless of the circumstances

The Boxcar Children: The Boxcar Children Mysteries, Book 1

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Four children are orphaned, but don't want to go into a children's home. They try to hide from a family that said they might have to send the youngest one to a home. After a few not so pleasant nights, they find a nice railroad box car to live in and scrounge for some other furnishing. The oldest of the kids goes into town to do some odd jobs for money. A dog joins them and the baby of the group learns to read. Eventually, one of the kids gets sick and the doctor that the boy works for helps take care of her. He admits that he had followed them to see where they live. He also introduces them to their grandfather who was not as bad as they expect.

The kids have a very positive outlook on life, despite the poor circumstances. They are able to make do with a combination of items discarded by others and some ingenuity. The heavily regulated society of today would never allow kids to officially fend for themselves like this. (Though it might just turn a blind eye to those living in squalor in an encampment.)

We

We is a futuristic dystopian novel. A totalitarian state controls everything. Some people engage in clandestine activites (like talk of a soul). There is also a group outside the city that run around without uniforms. They are plotting rebellion. There is also talk of math, with integral and infinity playing a role in the discussion. The grand plans end up failing.

This felt very much like Ayn Rand's Anthem. In both cases, the collective dominates, and the individual is just a number. Things like mating are strictly programmed by the state. However, in We, the society has become technologically advanced, while in Anthem it was not. They both left Russia and had obvious negative feelings towards their homeland.

Four Stories by Kafka

On his deathbead, Kafka implored his friend, Max Brod, to burn all of his incomplete manuscripts. Alas, he failed to do so, and thus preserved many of his unfinished novels. Unfortunately, the quality of these pales in comparison to his stories.

In this collection, all the stories were published or prepared for publication during Kafka's lifetime. They, like the Metamorphosis are well done, coherent works. The posthumous novels (The Castle, Amerika and The Trial) all have their moments, but are just not as good as his "completed" works.

The four stories in this collection have the Kafka touch of having a bit of "absurdity" in the realm of commonality.

"A Hunger Artist"(1922)  tells the story of an artist that performs fasting feets. He is upset that he must stop after 40 days, but is resigned to his lot. Suddenly, the market for hunger artists dies off and he is relegated to a cage in the circus. He eventually completes a record fast, but nobody notices.

"A Report to a Academy" (1917)  is told in the first person by an ape who "became human". He realized that by adopting man's vices he can be seen as a man and achieve greater freedom.

"A Country Doctor" (1918) is about a doctor who's horse dies. A groom appears in the pigsty with horses that bring him instantly to a boys house. There the people treat a doctor as a near-religious figure expecting him either to cause the boy to live or be killed himself. He escapes, but the horses are now in no hurry.

"A Little Woman" (1924) is the story of a relationship that may exist or may not.

A multitude of meanings could be read in to each of the stories. However, the beauty is that they can also be taken at face value as a fun, enjoyable story.

A Passage to India

Passage to India feels like "Jane Austen goes to India". Some Brits are concerned about their manners and society. There is a wedding planned, but the girl is not too enthusiastic. Then some women go on a trip to some caves, an Indian is unjustly accused of accosting a woman. He is later set free, and Indians take that as an opportunity to be more Indian.

It is clearly India from a British perspective. The pacing is rather slow, with a tone of condescending respect for the Indians. For fans of the Bronte/Jane Austen type of stuff, this would probably be a good book. For me, however, it was not my cup of tea.