The 1001 Diaries

In the 1840s, Grace Marks was convicted of murdering her employer, Thomas Kinnear, and his housekeeper/mistress, Nancy Montgomery. Though she escaped capital punishment (unlike her co-defendant, James McDermott, who was hanged for the crime), she faced a rather lengthy prison sentence. A group of well-meaning individuals who believe she is not guilty by reason of insanity, employs an American psychiatrist to try to determine whether or not she is in fact insane. The psychiatrist, Dr. Simon Jordan, begins interviewing Grace to try to determine what she remembers about the murders. As Grace tells Dr. Jordan the story of her life, he begins to get the sense that there is something she is not telling him. And as he becomes more immersed in her world, he finds his own beginning to change.

Finishing Alias Grace was something of a major accomplishment for me. I purchased it and began reading it in 2003, and only got 40 or 50 pages in before shelving it for five years. I picked it up again earlier this fall and kind of meandered my way through it. Overall, it was a very good story. The characters were so good, and I really felt like I was getting to know all of them. But I was a little frustrated with it because I wanted some kind of definitive answer as to what really happened. Obviously, as a novelist, Ms. Atwood doesn’t have to answer that question, and I think it would be difficult to make any kind of real determination as to what happened. But a part of me really wishes we knew definitively exactly what Grace’s role was.

Overall, I’d definitely recommend this book. Any problems I had with it were more my own issues rather than any faults of the book.

Buy this book on Amazon

I love lists. I love “best of…” lists. So when I came across the book 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, I was intrigued. 1001 books is a lot of books; that could keep me busy for awhile. And then I discovered that it was just one book in a whole series of books devoted to things you must do before you die. I purchased the book, then got a hold of two additional lists: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die and 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. I’ve had rather a lot of fun perusing the lists, looking to see which movies, books, and albums I’ve already enjoyed and appreciated, and which choices made no sense to me.

What I’ve learned so far is this: I have a lot to do before I can die.

I’ve read a few books, listened to a few albums, and watched a few movies since coming across the lists. But for the most part, I am woefully uneducated in the field of entertainment. So I decided to start chronicling my journey through these 1001 lists. For the most part, I will be working out of the editions of the books linked above. However, I know that a second edition of the 1001 Books book has come out, and I do plan to read the books that have been included in the second edition as well (there are approximately 280 changes). I will note those books when I read them.

I hope you’ll join me for the adventure as I go through these lists. At this point, it’s my intention to review everything. Reviews of the books are cross-posted to my book blog, Reading and Ruminations.