Absalom, Absalom!

Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner

The novel fails like it should be a drama with a great musical score. The novel straddles the civil war, with Thomas Sutpen coming to Mississippi and building up a great plantation. He has strict racial views and disowns a wife and child after he learns that she has some black blood. He desperately wants a true heir. His next son seems good, but he flees after murdering his half-brother with white blood. Another woman births him a daughter. He is upset with this, which eventually leads to the woman's grandfather murdering Sutpen. The runaway heir later returns in tatters and dies in a fire. The dynasty is officially gone. The story is told from the view of people with connections to the Sutpen in the early 1900s. The strict southern beliefs end up leading to a similar downfall for a man. The narrator (now at Harvard in the early 1900s) ends by saying he does not hate the south. The book has great pageantry, though it is difficult to grasp the plot.

Anne of Windy Poplars

Anne of Windy Poplars by L. M. Montgomery

Anne is working as a principal of a small school. She is engaged, but her fiancé is in another town studying medicine. Much of the book is letters or journals. In the town, there is one close-knit extended family that has a lot of control. Alas, they wanted one of their clan to have Anne's position, so Anne is on their "bad list" They don't invite her to activities, and the kids misbehave. However, they offer a truce after Anne uncovered some old stories about a relative. They had thought she planned to blackmail them with a scandal, but Anne had good intentions. Things are happier once they get along. Anne also had challenges getting along with another teacher. Eventually the other teacher opened up and Anne was able to help her. They became friends and the friend became a much better person. There are various other challenges with students and their relationships. Anne always seems to have a glowing outlook, but she is not infallible.

The Story of Ferdinand

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson

Most bulls practice being wild and crazy so that they can join the bull fight in Madrid. Ferdinand would rather just sit and smell the flowers. One day the bullfighters come to find the best bull for the fights. The bulls are putting on a sow. Ferdinand decides to sit and watch. However, he accidentally sits on a bee and then goes crazy do the pain. The people see this and think that he is the bull to have. They bring him to the festivities, but he just wants to sit down. Eventually they just let him go back home. The book is a well illustrated classic with a message of being different.

The Big Money

The Big Money by John Dos Passos

In Big Money, common people experience the roaring twenties. Like the other books in the USA trilogy, this book intersperses the fictional narratives with brief accounts of historical figures and rapid fire "mass media". It works well in an audiobook. The characters and plot are rather forgettable. What stood out most to me was an interest in aviation stocks and praise for Detroit. Some characters seems to get placed in positions above their capabilities, while union conflicts were still an issue.

The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories

The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories by Ernest Hemingway

This collection has a few of Hemingway's short stories. I had trouble keeping focus. It was mostly set in century-ago time. There is bits about hunting,travel and the War experience.

Cards on the Table (Dramatised)

 Cards on the Table (Dramatised) by Agatha Christie

Some people are playing bridge at a house. They include a group of people that have gotten away with crimes and a collection of sleuths. Then a murder occurs. They all try to identify who may have a motive and ability to commit the crime. There are a few false confessions. However, the detective focuses on the card game to discover the culprit. The way they wrote the bridge scores ends up being a primary clue.