The Help
Atonement
Rosencratz and Guildenstern are Dead
The Death of Ivan Ilych
Hamlet
Monday, February 7, 2011
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
The cover and title of this book seemed so intriguing I decided it would be my next read. In the first two pages, Burgess' technique of making up words and creating a whole new jargon kept me vastly entertained; I was impressed with the puzzle and the life it gave to his characters and their futuristic-European setting.
Because of the creative writing and thrill of those first two pages, I'll give this book a rating of: 1 out of 5
After those pages, I'm surprised I read much more. What the protagonist Alex would have termed as "horrorshow (sensational) ultra-violence"--like beatings, muggings, burglaries and rapes--skittered across those pages in between what morphed into an admittedly well-woven story of a 15 year-old psychopath gang leader. Regrettably, even with the violence, I didn't scrap the book until page 96, when the young man remarked on his desire to have been there to crucify Christ. AH! What was I reading???
I want to express somewhere that this book was rotten. I should have done my homework, as it would have forewarned me for the violence (what an innocent I am sometimes). My opinion now is that the Author and the Protagonist of this book both just wanted to see what they could get away with. Please don't read this book. If you would like a list of the entertaining vocab, I'll spare you the read by posting the words I collected from the first 96 pages.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Behind a Mask: the Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott (Introduction by Madeleine Stern)
Rating: 5 out of 5
This book was recommended to me by Jody and what a book! It's a collection of imaginative (and at the time, twisted and blood-curdling) short stories written by Louisa May Alcott. From the very first words of every story in this collection, I was hooked, I carried the book around with me everywhere and I can remember being more intent on discovering WHO these characters were--because you weren't sure who was sane, honest, good, or otherwise--and hardly interested at all in how the story would develop.
What a completion to the Little Women books I already love; and now my brothers can enjoy Louisa without losing any pride. My favorite was "Behind the Mask" but all were good, and 3 of the 4 were incredible. This is very easily a new favorite book of mine.
The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Its a simple plot: a story of an seasoned fisherman from near Havana who hooks a big fish one morning and and takes a 3 day journey in an attempt to reel it in. Hemingway writes with impossible consistency and understate skill. It must have taken a great mind and a lot of research to make that fisherman, and yet I think that Hemingway would have starved the man to death just to keep me reading. If he had it would have worked; because I felt the possibility, it did it's job well. Hemingway's story in all aspects should have been foreign to me, the place, situation and emotions he described I could not have related to a week ago, but the story wove around me and my senses what became a perfect book experience.
I feel I should explain that the reason I rated it at a 4 is because it's missing in subject and story things that I naturally relate to and enjoy. My favorite books are the ones that take me where I--sometimes unwittingly--want to be. He made me care about something I never would have given a thought to before, but in the end, it wasn't a favorite book for me (someday I'll have to make a short blog listing my favorite books, but I'm afraid to do that since it would make me review whys and how many's... another day perhaps).
I loved this book and in the reading learned that there are a million subtleties to writing. I told you I wasn't a book expert--until this week, I have never so much as checked this book out of the library--but today I learned that there's a reason The Old Man and the Sea earned a Pulitzer prize and Ernest Hemingway received a Nobel for masterful narratives. For what it's worth, I second the votes.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Water for Elephants (Sara Gruen)
I rate this novel a 3.5 out of 5
Water for Elephants is a perfectly woven story about a geriatric man and an account of his life as a "carnie" 70 years before.
The story itself is comparable to a Circus experience. Gruen creates tension and anticipation on nearly every page, the story is rife with plot surprises, character twists, and ready entertainment, all combined with a varied spectrum of emotions--pleasant or otherwise--lurking at the corners of the pages. Like a Circus, nothing was quite what it seemed at first, but better than a circus' dazzle and show, the experience only got better the longer I read. Gruen's writing style was so fluid that I couldn't put it down (there really wasn't a place to push pause and close the book), so I stayed up until the last page at 2:00 a.m. then went to sleep deeply satisfied.
WARNING: As far as I can remember, there were two tasteless scenes in the book. My suggestion would be to just SKIP them (hopefully you'll recognize the trouble spots when you read into them) because nothing important happens during them and they're pretty lurid.
But aside from those moments, I loved this story--the beginning to the end--and I'd highly recommend it to anyone that likes laughs, surprises, or just something that departs from mainstream, every day literature.
Water for Elephants is a perfectly woven story about a geriatric man and an account of his life as a "carnie" 70 years before.
The story itself is comparable to a Circus experience. Gruen creates tension and anticipation on nearly every page, the story is rife with plot surprises, character twists, and ready entertainment, all combined with a varied spectrum of emotions--pleasant or otherwise--lurking at the corners of the pages. Like a Circus, nothing was quite what it seemed at first, but better than a circus' dazzle and show, the experience only got better the longer I read. Gruen's writing style was so fluid that I couldn't put it down (there really wasn't a place to push pause and close the book), so I stayed up until the last page at 2:00 a.m. then went to sleep deeply satisfied.
WARNING: As far as I can remember, there were two tasteless scenes in the book. My suggestion would be to just SKIP them (hopefully you'll recognize the trouble spots when you read into them) because nothing important happens during them and they're pretty lurid.
But aside from those moments, I loved this story--the beginning to the end--and I'd highly recommend it to anyone that likes laughs, surprises, or just something that departs from mainstream, every day literature.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Emma (Jane Austen)
Rating: I rate this book a 4 (I do that with all due respect to Jane Austen and her superiority to me).
Emma by Jane Austen, is a story about an imperfect, proud, and impractical 20 year old girl who improves upon further acquaintance and grows with her story's adventures into an absolute gem of a woman.
When I served an 18 month mission, I didn't have the opportunity to read for pleasure. There is a reason that when I got home in February, I felt like reading a Jane Austen book would be the best "first book back". It also seems appropriate that I make mention of it here before the rest of the books, although I debated going through my literary conquests and choose the most shocking, thrilling, and enticing pieces for the beginning, I opt for a natural favorite. Emma was perfect for my first book back, and let's hope it will turn out equally appropriate for our first discussion here.
There is a reason that Jane Austen holds a special place in our imaginations, on our bookshelves, and even still in our cinema: She knows how to weave a story. Her style is simple and unsuspecting until the climax, and when you reach a point of conflict halfway through the story, you surprise yourself with how invested you are in these characters and the unraveling of their lives. The same is true of Emma, and I just wish I was smart enough to appreciate all of her tricks!
Emma is singularly identified as Austen's "risky" novel. Every other heroine that I've ever become acquainted with in her books has clear strengths and with those strengths, rises above the situations that others' misjudgments have placed in their path. However, Emma is her own trouble-maker, and Austen makes that clear in the first few sentences of her book, first by complimenting with a subtle seed of doubt: "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence" and then the narrator goes on to pointedly enumerate Emma's flaws. It's a risk to make the heroine less admirable, but it works! The development and thickening of the plot is subtle and draws you into the Hughbury world piece by piece with each new person Austen stirs into that small town story. My very favorite part is that throughout the story, the person you love in spite of her faults is Emma. I didn't fully realize how much I hoped and wanted Emma to succeed and overcome herself until she finished her changes (she's the only person that changes, everyone else is exactly the same the WHOLE book!) and her view of the world expands.
Another part I love has to do with a simple fascination of mine: a masterful use of words and phrases. I always enjoy Jane Austen's perfect wit and polite slurs; my preferred means for people to express themselves (although I lack that talent myself) is in polite and witty terms, so most every page in this book is to my liking.
But this book isn't for everyone, so here are some disclaimers to why I enjoy this book (and others like it):
1st: I have loved Jane Austen for a number of years--Pride and Prejudice is the height of drama in my opinion--so I'm relatively used to and patient with her more subtle means of entertaining.
2nd: I cheated. About 3 years ago, I watched a Gwyneth Paltrow production of Emma, so when I picked up the book I already had a sort of muddy outline of the plot, a blurry memory of the characters, a basic feel for how certain scenes played out and an expectation for the emotions I should harbor toward characters and incidences.
3rd and lastly: Often in life, it's possible to appreciate a thing of beauty and skill just by looking at it (or in this case, reading it). Often I don't capture the perfection of a book, I just like it a lot! But this time I ran into a literary commentary at the end of my copy of Emma, and a reason I enjoyed what I read so much is because of what was explained there in. This book is well made, carefully crafted and flawlessly delivered, Austen's subtleties and real skill are rife through Emma's story, and I can now more fully appreciate and admire what I read.
With those disclaimers, I'll just say: I would definitely recommend this book, specifically if you feel you are patient, romantic, and a habitual reader (a female reader is probably more inclined to find it entertaining of course). If you've read what I've written and want to have a go, GO. If you think otherwise, you're probably similarly right, however, I promise that working up a taste for books like this is worth it!
As a side note, I'm going to mention: Sometimes I feel like, similar to Emma, I have fallacies and flaws in my opinions. I can't identify them and in many cases, am oblivious to them, but I assume they are there and hope you'll look past them to what I want us to have: A good direction to take towards a good book!
'Til next time!
Emma by Jane Austen, is a story about an imperfect, proud, and impractical 20 year old girl who improves upon further acquaintance and grows with her story's adventures into an absolute gem of a woman. When I served an 18 month mission, I didn't have the opportunity to read for pleasure. There is a reason that when I got home in February, I felt like reading a Jane Austen book would be the best "first book back". It also seems appropriate that I make mention of it here before the rest of the books, although I debated going through my literary conquests and choose the most shocking, thrilling, and enticing pieces for the beginning, I opt for a natural favorite. Emma was perfect for my first book back, and let's hope it will turn out equally appropriate for our first discussion here.
There is a reason that Jane Austen holds a special place in our imaginations, on our bookshelves, and even still in our cinema: She knows how to weave a story. Her style is simple and unsuspecting until the climax, and when you reach a point of conflict halfway through the story, you surprise yourself with how invested you are in these characters and the unraveling of their lives. The same is true of Emma, and I just wish I was smart enough to appreciate all of her tricks!
Emma is singularly identified as Austen's "risky" novel. Every other heroine that I've ever become acquainted with in her books has clear strengths and with those strengths, rises above the situations that others' misjudgments have placed in their path. However, Emma is her own trouble-maker, and Austen makes that clear in the first few sentences of her book, first by complimenting with a subtle seed of doubt: "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence" and then the narrator goes on to pointedly enumerate Emma's flaws. It's a risk to make the heroine less admirable, but it works! The development and thickening of the plot is subtle and draws you into the Hughbury world piece by piece with each new person Austen stirs into that small town story. My very favorite part is that throughout the story, the person you love in spite of her faults is Emma. I didn't fully realize how much I hoped and wanted Emma to succeed and overcome herself until she finished her changes (she's the only person that changes, everyone else is exactly the same the WHOLE book!) and her view of the world expands.
Another part I love has to do with a simple fascination of mine: a masterful use of words and phrases. I always enjoy Jane Austen's perfect wit and polite slurs; my preferred means for people to express themselves (although I lack that talent myself) is in polite and witty terms, so most every page in this book is to my liking.
But this book isn't for everyone, so here are some disclaimers to why I enjoy this book (and others like it):
1st: I have loved Jane Austen for a number of years--Pride and Prejudice is the height of drama in my opinion--so I'm relatively used to and patient with her more subtle means of entertaining.
2nd: I cheated. About 3 years ago, I watched a Gwyneth Paltrow production of Emma, so when I picked up the book I already had a sort of muddy outline of the plot, a blurry memory of the characters, a basic feel for how certain scenes played out and an expectation for the emotions I should harbor toward characters and incidences.
3rd and lastly: Often in life, it's possible to appreciate a thing of beauty and skill just by looking at it (or in this case, reading it). Often I don't capture the perfection of a book, I just like it a lot! But this time I ran into a literary commentary at the end of my copy of Emma, and a reason I enjoyed what I read so much is because of what was explained there in. This book is well made, carefully crafted and flawlessly delivered, Austen's subtleties and real skill are rife through Emma's story, and I can now more fully appreciate and admire what I read.
With those disclaimers, I'll just say: I would definitely recommend this book, specifically if you feel you are patient, romantic, and a habitual reader (a female reader is probably more inclined to find it entertaining of course). If you've read what I've written and want to have a go, GO. If you think otherwise, you're probably similarly right, however, I promise that working up a taste for books like this is worth it!
As a side note, I'm going to mention: Sometimes I feel like, similar to Emma, I have fallacies and flaws in my opinions. I can't identify them and in many cases, am oblivious to them, but I assume they are there and hope you'll look past them to what I want us to have: A good direction to take towards a good book!
'Til next time!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Sampling a Blog
Hello, my name is Michelle, welcome to a blog about books.
That sentence was an experiment. If this paragraph shows up on what blogspot.com calls my blog, we will know that--even at this early morning hour--I am not dreaming this up. The foreign-ness of strangers reading my thoughts makes me feel like skipping breakfast... But assuming you are reading, let's hope for the best--that you are either an acquaintance of mine or a very good sort of stranger (the bad sort can move on, thanks). The truth is, I DO want you to read this! But I also feel I am "ill qualified to recommend myself" and my book tastes, especially to strangers. So let's get a couple things straight:
I am not a professional blog-writer, see someone else.
I am not a professional critic of books, and sometimes our personal opinions are going to be different. And--most of the time--I don't think my opinion is superior to yours.
I'm not even the master reader in my family, that is my sister Jody; hopefully she'll help me out here and there with some book suggestions and advice.
I am just a regular person that enjoys reading books. I treasure books like I treasure people, and maybe you feel the same way. Hopefully you are the sort of person that thinks a good party is perfect with a good book with you (just in case). Or do you enjoy walking and reading? While sometimes people think we are interrupting their lives by reading a book in front of them, I think that sometimes you should refuse allow a book to be interrupted by person because it's rude to the book.
After meeting a new person or book, I like to develop theories about them. If you ask me my opinion about either, I'll share it with you--within the boundaries of the theories I have about you of course. Also, if you ask for a literary recommendation, I'll give you one that my theories and I think you will enjoy. That's one reason that blogging about my book opinions is so exciting to me; hopefully it will help you find the book I would recommend you if you asked, before you ask.
Whether you know it or not, you and I have been looking for a good book our whole lives. Well, from now on whenever I find a good book--and there are plenty to be found--I will post my thoughts and theories for your consideration.
Penultimately and PLEASE: make a recommendation yourself! If you have a good book, I would be incredibly interested.
It has occurred to me that as of yet, I'm writing to thin air. If no one but Jody and Tracy (my little sister) and Erin (my cousin sister) read this blog, it will serve it's purpose. (PLUS I could always use it as a fancy help for my memory ten years down the road). If you are interested, then I should tell you that I tend to read only a book a week, but now that we're better acquainted, I'm unequivocally inviting you to take a look at what I've lived this week.
Enjoy!
That sentence was an experiment. If this paragraph shows up on what blogspot.com calls my blog, we will know that--even at this early morning hour--I am not dreaming this up. The foreign-ness of strangers reading my thoughts makes me feel like skipping breakfast... But assuming you are reading, let's hope for the best--that you are either an acquaintance of mine or a very good sort of stranger (the bad sort can move on, thanks). The truth is, I DO want you to read this! But I also feel I am "ill qualified to recommend myself" and my book tastes, especially to strangers. So let's get a couple things straight:
I am not a professional blog-writer, see someone else.
I am not a professional critic of books, and sometimes our personal opinions are going to be different. And--most of the time--I don't think my opinion is superior to yours.
I'm not even the master reader in my family, that is my sister Jody; hopefully she'll help me out here and there with some book suggestions and advice.
I am just a regular person that enjoys reading books. I treasure books like I treasure people, and maybe you feel the same way. Hopefully you are the sort of person that thinks a good party is perfect with a good book with you (just in case). Or do you enjoy walking and reading? While sometimes people think we are interrupting their lives by reading a book in front of them, I think that sometimes you should refuse allow a book to be interrupted by person because it's rude to the book.
After meeting a new person or book, I like to develop theories about them. If you ask me my opinion about either, I'll share it with you--within the boundaries of the theories I have about you of course. Also, if you ask for a literary recommendation, I'll give you one that my theories and I think you will enjoy. That's one reason that blogging about my book opinions is so exciting to me; hopefully it will help you find the book I would recommend you if you asked, before you ask.
Whether you know it or not, you and I have been looking for a good book our whole lives. Well, from now on whenever I find a good book--and there are plenty to be found--I will post my thoughts and theories for your consideration.
Penultimately and PLEASE: make a recommendation yourself! If you have a good book, I would be incredibly interested.
It has occurred to me that as of yet, I'm writing to thin air. If no one but Jody and Tracy (my little sister) and Erin (my cousin sister) read this blog, it will serve it's purpose. (PLUS I could always use it as a fancy help for my memory ten years down the road). If you are interested, then I should tell you that I tend to read only a book a week, but now that we're better acquainted, I'm unequivocally inviting you to take a look at what I've lived this week.
Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)