Reviews written by Rose

What a beautiful novel. The beautifully painted images of the Nebraska countryside remain to haunt my mind. I am ashamed that I had not read this book till now, it is treasure. Ms. Cather so eloquently describes her strange and wondrous land. All the characters leave lasting impressions and memories, I feel that I had known them myself. A true delight to read.

Emotionally disturbing, a frightening picture of the dark sides of humanity.

I had read this years ago, and decided to read it to my husband, who had never read it. I think he was unsure at first, not knowing anything about the book. But, I believe he was hooked after a couple chapters.

When you first open the book, and read the calm descriptive passages about the color of the light on the ocean, you do not know what you are in store for.

Mr. Golding's style in which he unfolds his tale is captivating and heart wrenching. This is definitely a must read. My Husband was very glad I introduced him to it. Once we were to the final chapters I said, "We have to read through to the end now, we can not put it down." He quickly saw why, and we finished reading it on the edges of our seats.

A lovely satire of the popular Gothic novel, Ms. Austen provides a charming romance, filled with fun nods to Mrs. Radcliffe's Mysteries of Udolpho. There are no shortages of rakes, rattles, avaricious families, romantic gentlemen, and refined and intelligent ladies. One of my all time favorite Austen novels, I think it has a tendency to be overlooked, and under appreciated.

Ms. Austen's wit and candor are so vivid and well displayed in this fun read. And it is just that, fun. So wond ...more A lovely satire of the popular Gothic novel, Ms. Austen provides a charming romance, filled with fun nods to Mrs. Radcliffe's Mysteries of Udolpho. There are no shortages of rakes, rattles, avaricious families, romantic gentlemen, and refined and intelligent ladies. One of my all time favorite Austen novels, I think it has a tendency to be overlooked, and under appreciated.

Ms. Austen's wit and candor are so vivid and well displayed in this fun read. And it is just that, fun. So wonderful to see a lady of her time, writing something not designed to be grand or flattering, just intelligent wit and humor.

A must read for any true Austen fan, or those who enjoy a wonderfully well crafted period piece.

It takes patience and understanding to sit down and appreciate Mrs. Radcliffe's masterpiece of Gothic horror. I believe I had to read through about 5 chapters before my mind was smoothly processing the dialog and style of this period piece.

The dramatic landscapes and journeys that are brought to life in this work are thrilling. Even several months after completing the novel, my mind's eye is filled with images of the dark and wild Pyrenees and the stormy forests of the Italian hills ...more It takes patience and understanding to sit down and appreciate Mrs. Radcliffe's masterpiece of Gothic horror. I believe I had to read through about 5 chapters before my mind was smoothly processing the dialog and style of this period piece.

The dramatic landscapes and journeys that are brought to life in this work are thrilling. Even several months after completing the novel, my mind's eye is filled with images of the dark and wild Pyrenees and the stormy forests of the Italian hills. I still recall the scene where the guards staffs, put at a distance in the ground, channel the electric current of the lightning, dancing between them and to the earth.

I have read many complaints from readers of this volume. There are two difficulties with this work, they are justified, though I didn't let them impede my progress, or enjoyment of the finer aspects of the novel.

The first issue modern readers have is with that of the heroine. In this day and age, we are not accustomed, or pleased to be presented with a female heroine who seems incapable of any personal strength, firmness of mind, and who weeps endlessly, Yes, this is frustrating in our age of liberation. It is very hard to relate to Emily, and sometimes even harder to like her.

What needs to be remembered is that Mrs. Radcliffe is from a different time, a different world than the one we know. When reading any book of such antiquated date, we must remember that we become time travelers. We must not try to hold the characters up to modern day standards. I feel it imperative to set aside modern notions of the female sex to truly appreciate this work.

The second issue, is that which has been pointed out by scholars of literature, of the mode Mrs. Radcliffe employs to keep her mysteries hidden till the end. It does rob the reader of a sense of fairness and fulfillment. I was exceedingly pleased that all mysteries were resolved by the end. For a time, I was becoming nervous that I would be left in doubt forever as to what lay beyond the black veil...

In conclusion, this is a wonderful work that deserves to be remembered and enjoyed. I will definitely read it again.

My husband and I decided to do this biking trail on our trip to Bear Lake this June. Overall the ride was great, the countryside is gorgeous and we were lucky that there was a cool breeze that kept us from over-heating.

However, we found some discrepancies in the information we found online.

For starters, we went into Meadowville, there was no old rock shop anywhere. Because of this being such a small town with narrow roads, we decided we would rather park and start the trail from another point, than park our car where it shouldn't be.

We parked in Laketown at the park located on North Main Street. We then started bicycling out on N Round Valley Dr.

The pioneer cemetery is off this main trail, you have to take a little side trip up a hill to get there. It was interesting, many pioneer babies, and a surprising amount of twins. There were also a few modern graves, which was a surprise.

The schoolhouse is off the left of the trail. It is boarded up, and we didn't see a trail that went close. I was a little disappointed as I had been looking forward to exploring the building a bit.

We didn't see any sign of an "elaborate old mansion". I have no idea if it would have been on another side excursion that was out of view from the trail or what.

The trail passes through a lot of farm land. The trail is paved road until you get to Meadowville. I don't know why the trail is listed as only being open to biking, hiking and horses, as they are all used by regular traffic.

The worst part of the ride was when we were out on Highway 30 heading back to Laketown. The traffic is busy, fast, and there is not much of a shoulder to the road. I got nervous a couple of times...

We saw an abundance of wildlife on the trail, as well as a farm that had a large flock of albino peacocks and geese.

I am a beginning rider, and I found the trail to be just the right intensity and length, plus offering sumptuous views.