Book Review: Their Eyes Were Watching God (Hurston)
It’s another book review! Let’s look at Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.
Have I read this before: Yes, but I can’t remember when. Which means it was a long time ago.
Review: The further I read into this, the more I remembered it from the first time I read it. I always like the idea of a book in the form of one of the characters just sitting down and relating the entire story; I think you get really immersed in their point of view and how they think. That works really well in this book. Janie sits down with a neighbor and basically relays the rest of the book as a story from her perspective, from her childhood all the way up to what led her to sitting with her neighbor. Since you get everything in her voice (literally), you can really see how she reacts in each relationship she discusses and how she matures through each one.
Favorite part: I like the tone of this book overall, but the small little part that really stuck out to me was the beautiful metaphor Janie describes near the beginning of the book. As a teen, she sees a bee gathering pollen from a cherry blossom, which becomes to her a representation of an ideal relationship. She sees it as a flawless, effortless coming together of two individuals rather than something that requires a lot of work. I just like how this metaphor stuck with her and kept coming up throughout the rest of the book.
Rating: 5.5/10
Book Review: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Kesey)
BOOK REVIEWWWWWWW~!@!#!@$!#$!\!!!!
(I’m hyper.)
Have I read this before: Yes! High school, I think. 10th grade?
Review: I think I was a little too young to really appreciate this the first time I read it. I like the characters and I like the progression of McMurphy’s antagonism toward Nurse Ratched. I also like how once Chief finally started talking, all the patients basically just took it in stride. It’s a really good book—one of those “classics” that I actually think everyone should.
Favorite part: The fishing trip is pretty great. And it sounds bad to say this, but I also really liked the electroshock therapy part. Not because it was happening, of course, but because I really like the way Kesey shows what the therapy does to Chief’s thought processes while it’s underway. It’s pretty scary.
Rating: 7.5/10
Book Review: The Caine Mutiny (Wouk)
Alright readers, sit your butts down because today we’re reviewing Herman Wouk’s The Caine Mutiny. Spoilers (maybe?) ahead!
Have I read this before: Many times! This is my favorite book, y’all.
Review: Dude. Dude. I love this book. I love Captain Queeg. I’m pretty sure he’s my favorite literary character, apart from maaaaaaaaybe Jay Gatsby. I like the other characters in this book too, especially Maryk. While the plot may take a bit to start up (i.e., the first several chapters are a bit slow), I think the rather gradual introduction of the characters and the situation and Willie himself really help to amplify Queeg’s apparent craziness up to during the eventual mutiny. It also helped to show, once the trial for Maryk was underway, how the men who were against Queeg very quickly felt the ridiculousness of their claims of Queeg’s insanity were once they were all out of danger. The timing and tenseness of the book were really well done, in other words.
AND QUEEG. QUEEG IS GREAT.
Favorite part: The whole thing. But specifically:
- Willie not knowing any of the terminology/slang when he first got on the Caine.
“‘Sir, it was my fault,’ spoke up the boatswain’s mate. He began an alibi which sounded to Willie like this: ‘The port bandersnatch got fouled in the starboard rath when we tried to galumph the cutting cable so as not to trip the snozzle again. I had to unshackle the doppleganger and bend on two snarks instead so we could launch in a hurry.’” - Queeg obsessing about all the wrong things at all the wrong times.
- The way the crew, once they were sick of Queeg, decided to basically make it look like they were responding to his requests/demands when in reality they were being ignored everywhere the captain wasn’t.
“The crew with its vast cunning had already charted most of the habits and pathways of the captain. He was moving now in a curious little circle of compliance that followed him like a spotlight, extending to the range of his eyes and ears; beyond that, the Caine remained the old Caine.” - THE STRAWBERRIES
- The speech/rant Greenwald gives Keefer and Maryk near the end. It gives the lawyer (Greenwald) a lot of depth in very few pages. I like it.
Rating: 10/10
Book Review: Madame Bovary (Flaubert)
Hey, it’s Flaubert time! LET’S DO THIS, Y’ALL. Spoilers as usual.
Have I read this before: Long, long ago, yes. This was probably the second or third book I read off of my original list, so that was likely in 7th or (at latest) 8th grade.
Review: This book is a lot sadder than I remember it being. Maybe because back in 7th grade I had basically zero concept of what a relationship really was (apart from wanting one with a certain someone, but WE WON’T GET INTO THAT) and what it meant to be in one. But this book is basically all about how miserable it can be to be in a relationship that you don’t want but can’t seem to find a way out of. Flaubert does a really excellent job of portraying the misery of Emma Bovary and how desperate she is to really try and find happiness in a relationship—whether that relationship is with her husband or not. I certainly didn’t remember the poison-induced suicide, though.
Also, I know this was written during a totally different time than today and social standards are a bit different, especially for women, but my mind was basically screaming “YOU PEOPLE NEED COMMUNICATION SKILLS” the entire time.
Favorite part: Lots of good quotes in this book, mostly about how much it sucks being unable to find happiness in a relationship.
- Before the wedding, she had believed herself in love. But not having obtained the happiness that should have resulted from that love, she now fancied that she must have been mistaken.
- As their [Emma and Charles, her husband] outward familiarities grew, she began to be inwardly detached, to hold herself more aloof from him.
- And all the time, deep within her, she was waiting for something to happen. … She had no idea what that chance would be, what wind would waft it to her, where it would set her ashore…But every morning when she woke she hoped to find it there. She listened to every sound, started out of bed, and was surprised when nothing came. Then at sunset, sadder every day, she longed for the morrow.
- (During her affair with Leon) They began to talk more of things indifferent to their love. … She would look forward to a profound happiness at next meeting, then have to admit that she felt nothing remarkable.
Rating: 7/10
Book Review: The Stranger (Camus)
Hey, look who finally finished another book. It’s Camus party time!
Have I read this before: Um, I want to say yes, but it wasn’t familiar at all.
Review (spoilers): It’s an okay book. It’s not my favorite of Camus’ (that would be The Plague), but it’s not bad. You can really get a sense of the absurdity through the main character and the way he’s so emotionally detached from everything. Hell, he randomly murders two dudes. The pace is a bit slow, but hey, that’s Camus for ya. It is an interesting read, especially if you’re into the philosophy of the absurd and/or existentialism, but there’s a lot more of the former than the latter in here.
Rating: 5/10
Book Review: Cyrano de Bergerac (Rostand)
Have I read this before: A looooooong time ago, yes. I can’t even remember when.
Review: Ah, Cyrano. Gotta love him. This play has always seemed like Voltaire meets Beckett as far as its style and wit go.
Also, did you know there was a real Cyrano? He was a French playwright and duelist (apparently those things went hand in hand quite frequently in 1600s France) who did in fact have a big nose, but not nearly as big as fictional Cyrano’s. Real Cyrano did in fact fight in the Thirty Years’ War and there was a Christian fighting alongside him (who did marry Cyrano’s cousin), though the details of that relationship don’t resemble those in Rostand’s play.
Edit: hahaha, oh my god, I really want to read Real Cyrano’s play, L’Autre Monde: ou les États et Empires de la Lune (Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon). According to Wiki, “Cyrano travels to the moon using rockets powered by firecrackers and meets the inhabitants. The moon-men have four legs, musical voices, and firearms that shoot game and cook it.” That sounds FANTASTIC.
(Edit 2: Okay, yeah, this was more of a review of Real Cyrano than the play. But the play is good. Read it.)
Favorite part: Christian’s complete lack of wit is pretty great.
(This is after Cyrano had been feeding eloquent lines to Christian, who spoke them up to Roxane from down below her window. Eventually, Christian thinks he can speak for himself and tells Cyrano to beat it.)
Roxane:
Is that you, Christian? Let us stay
Here, in the twilight.
They are gone.
The air Is fragrant.
We shall be alone. Sit down
There—so…
Now tell me things.
Christian:
I love you.
Roxane:
Speak to me about love…
Christian:
I love you.
Roxane:
Now
Be eloquent! …
Christian:
I love—
Roxane:
You have your theme—
Improvise!
Rhapsodize!
Christian:
I love you so!
Roxane:
Of course.
And then? …
Christian:
And then…oh, I should be
So happy if you loved me too! Roxane,
Say that you love me too!
Roxane:
I ask for cream
You give me milk and water. Tell me first
A little, how you love me.
Christian:
Very much.
(This goes on for like another two pages, it’s great.)
Rating: 7/10
Book Review: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Hugo)
Victor Hugo party central! Let’s do it.
Have I read this before: Way back in junior high. I actually think this might have been one of the first books on my list I read. Not the first first, but one of them.
Review: This story is intense, yo. Some of these reviews are hard ‘cause I was a Disney kid and thus always have the Disney versions in the back of my head somewhere. I don’t remember a freaking word of this from when I read it before, but I was actually surprised at some of the things that Disney kept almost directly from the story. Like Quasi holding Esmeralda up and yelling “sanctuary!” once he swung her into Notre Dame. And Quasi throwing rocks at and dumping molten metal on the dudes trying to break into the cathedral (granted, in Disney Movie Land they weren’t the tramps but the Frollo Army, but still). AND Frollo’s death.
I still feel bad for Frollo, man. I know he’s the “bad guy” and he’s creepy as hell at some parts of the novel, but Hugo does portray his torment as real and believable. The fact that he’s also shown as displaying quite a bit of compassion at parts makes him even more believable.
Favorite part: I feel weird saying this, especially since there are some super disturbing and sobering moments in this book, but parts of Hunchback are pretty hilarious. Oh my god.
- The deaf judge trying to interrogate the deaf Quasimodo. “Now, here was a case that the law had not provided for—the deaf interrogating the deaf.” The consequences of this scene were pretty bad, but the scene itself is freaking great.
- “Having reached the pillar gallery, he [Jehan] stood puffing for a moment then swore at the endless stairs by I don’t know how many million cartloads of devils.”
- Captain Phoebus can’t get Esmeralda’s name right. He calls her “Similar” for like three pages.
- “The thunderbolts of god are not hurled against a lettuce!”
Rating: 7.5/10
Book Review: Ethan Frome (Wharton)
It’s Ethan Frome time!
[There are spoilers ahead; avert thine eyes if you haven’t read this book yet and you don’t want me to ruin it for you]
Have I read this before: Indeed! I believe I read this in 10th grade advanced English class. We had an option of reading this or some other book that wasn’t on my list, so I chose this.
Review: This book is obscenely heartbreaking. It’s not heartbreaking in the same way that The Good Earth is or The Jungle is…that is, it’s not a “my farm/job/livelihood/luck failed me repeatedly and now my family is in dire straights and everyone is sick and everything is horrible and we’re all about to starve” type of heartbreaking. It’s more of the “I love someone but I’m stuck with this other person instead and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it even though I’m desperate to be with the one I love the only way out is death hey yeah death let’s take that route.” This story has really stuck with me ever since I first read it.
Favorite part: It’s hard to pick a favorite part because it’s such a short little story. I’d have to say either the way Wharton portrays the unspoken communication between Ethan and Mattie or the hints about the sledding “accident” scattered sparsely throughout. It’s mentioned just enough that you get a little suspicious, but it still hits you like a train at the end.
Or like a tree.
(God I’m a bad person.)
Rating: 8.5/10
Book Review: The Age of Reason (Sartre)
IT’S SARTRE TIME!
(Sorry for the long break between books. I got busy packing/panicking/wishing for death over the summer, but now I’m back and now I have the giant U of Calgary library to quench my reading needs. At least until I forget to return the books I check out and I rack up a $200 fee for late books.)
(It’s happened before.)
ANYWAY.
Have I read this before: Yes. End of 2009 I think? Not so long ago compared to some of the books I’m re-reading.
Review: I really didn’t remember much of this book from my first read. I remembered the names Mathieu and Marcelle, but that was pretty much it. I’ve heard a lot of people say that they find Sartre a very dry writer (both with his fiction and his philosophy), but I enjoyed the writing. I liked how he jumped between Mathieu and Daniel as kind of the “main” narrators for different parts of the story. And, of course, the angst they all feel—at different levels, of course—regarding their notion(s) of freedom. Interesting stuff.
Favorite part: The razor scene with Daniel. I guess it’s not so much of a scene as a pondering. But it’s very poetically written.
Rating: 6/10
Book Review: The Jungle (Sinclair)
Have I read this before: Yup, up in Vancouver.
Review: Want to feel depressed, disgusted, discouraged, and disturbed? This is your book.
Seriously, this ranks up there as one of the most depressing books I’ve ever read. It follows Jurgis, a Yugoslavian immigrant, as he and his family try to “make it” in Chicago during the early 1900s. The book opens with Jurgis getting married to Ona, and that’s about where the happies stop.
Jurgis gets a job in the meat-packing industry and basically faces tragedy after tragedy after tragedy throughout the whole book. Not only do we get the horrible details of what the meat-packing industry was like for workers back then, but Sinclair also details how impossibly difficult it was for immigrant workers to even keep the most basic of jobs because of how unsafe the whole industry was. And many got screwed out of reasonable rent/housing because of greedy landlords and the language barrier.
This is a hard book to read, man. Not because of the way it’s written or anything like that—it’s just depressing as all hell. Which was one of Sinclair’s main points in writing it. He wanted to show how terrible it was for immigrant workers during that time.
So read it. But make sure you’ve got your Zoloft ready.
Favorite part: God, how can you have a favorite part of this book? I suppose the very detailed descriptions of the working conditions.
The hands of these men would be criss- crossed with cuts, until you could no longer pretend to count them or to trace them. They would have no nails, – they had worn them off pulling hides; their knuckles were swollen so that their fingers spread out like a fan…and as for the other men, who worked in tank rooms full of steam, and in some of which there were open vats near the level of the floor, their peculiar trouble was that they fell into the vats; and when they were fished out, there was never enough of them left to be worth exhibiting, – sometimes they would be overlooked for days, till all but the bones of them had gone out to the world as Durham’s Pure Leaf Lard!
Rating: 6/10 (just because it’s sooooo depressing)
Book Review: The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
Have I read this before: Yar! First time was in 10th grade English. We had a choice between this and some other book that wasn’t on my list. Hence, I chose Gatsby. I think I was the only one who did.
Review: Don’t make me review this. I don’t think I can. I love this book, yo. If you’ve read my 100 Things, you’ll know that character-wise, this is my favorite book. It’s such a compact story, but there’s so much in it. I think Gatsby is fascinating and for some reason I really like the fact that Nick, the narrator, doesn’t really have a voice of his own (at least compared to a lot of other narrators of books). He exists for things to happen around, it seems, and that puts an interesting twist on the whole story. He’s almost limited omniscient in that sense because he really gets the story from everybody’s angle but doesn’t get to be in anyone’s head but his own.
LSAjflakdjfasfjaskflj I just really like this story.
Also, if you ever want to listen to an audiobook version of this, I highly recommend the one read by Alexander Scourby. It’s unabridged and fantastic.
Favorite part: Oh, jeez.
“They’re a rotten crowd,” I shouted across the lawn. “You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.”
I’ve always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end. First he nodded politely, and then his face broke into that radiant and understanding smile, as if we’d been in ecstatic cahoots on that fact all the time. First he nodded politely, and then his face broke into that radiant and understanding smile, as if we’d been in ecstatic cahoots on that fact all the time. His gorgeous pink rag of a suit made a bright spot of color against the white steps, and I thought of the night when I first came to his ancestral home, three months before. The lawn and drive had been crowded with the faces of those who guessed at his corruption—and he had stood on those steps, concealing his incorruptible dream, as he waved them good-by.
UGH GORGEOUS.
Rating: 10/10
Book Review: The Three Musketeers (Dumas)
Have I read this before: Nopers. I started it back in the summer of 2008 but only got like 30 pages in for some reason. Not sure why I stopped.
Review: I really like Dumas. The idea of four sword-fighting dudes fighting for the king sounds like an appealing story on its own, but Dumas seems to up the intrigue quite a bit by the way the story proceeds. Also, poisonings. That seems to be a thing for Dumas.
Anyway. I’ve always enjoyed stories that have characters with very distinct, almost trope-like personalities/personality traits. This is one of them. It’s like the three Karamazov brothers, but with more swords and less Russian name confusion.
(Okay, it’s not, really, but can you imagine how fantastic that would be?)
Also, Porthos will forever look like Oliver Platt in my mind. THANKS, DISNEY.
Favorite part: The death of Constance is really freaking sad. I hate to call that my favorite part, but it is. The vast majority of The Three Musketeers is either action or humor (or both), but that part was definitely very sad.
I also really liked the friendship that built between Athos and d’Artagnan.
Rating: 8/10
Book Review: Far from the Madding Crowd (Hardy)
Have I read this before: Nope! Brand new to my eyes.
Review: This is what I learned from this book: if you’re going to mess with someone, it probably shouldn’t be anywhere near the level of implying you want to marry them when you have absolutely no interest in them.
Also: don’t piss off the farmers.
Far from the Madding Crowd chronicles three very interesting relationships of Bathsheba Everdene, a woman left in charge of a large farm in, as far as I can tell, the mid-1800s. First is Gabriel Oak, the shepherd we’re introduced to in the first chapter and who we mainly follow throughout most of the book. He loves Bathsheba from practically the moment he sees her, but is reduced to having to watch her other relationships blossom throughout most of the novel. They refer to him as “Farmer Oak” throughout but I kept reading it as “Professor Oak” (thanks, Pokemon), so that made for some entertaining reading.
Farmer Boldwood is the second lover and is the victim of a very poorly thought-out prank (it’s not even a prank, it was like, “hey, let’s screw with Boldwood, he’s weird”).
Finally there’s the soldier Francis Troy, who’s basically the 19th century equivalent of Zapp Brannigan. I read all his dialogue in Zapp’s voice and kept waiting for Kif to show up. Again, that made for some entertaining reading.
Anyway. It’s a soap opera on a farm. That’s always entertaining, right?
Favorite part: I feel bad calling this my favorite part, but Hardy did a great job showing how devastated Boldwood had become after he realized that the whole “Bathsheba loves you HAHA JUST KIDDING LOLZ” incident. I felt bad for the dude.
Rating: 6/10
Book Review: Of Human Bondage (Maugham)
Have I read this before: Yup! In fact, this was the very first book I read when I started my book list back in 7th grade.
Review: This is one of the longer ones (~700 pages in the copy I’ve got) and it doesn’t really pick up until Philip, the main character, leaves England and heads to Paris for art school.
Ah, Philip. I don’t know if it was Maugham’s intention to have the reader get ridiculously frustrated with Philip’s on/off relationship with Mildred (who is the most obnoxious character ever), but if it was, mission accomplished. By like the time he takes her in after she’s destroyed his life for like the fifth time, I was like “COME ON, PHILIP, NO!”
Anyway. Other than that, this was a very appropriate book for me to read at this point in my life. The book basically chronicles Philip’s attempts at “starting his life” and, in this process, all his social awkwardness, self-doubt, career changes, and fear. I don’t remember it being so relatable in 7th grade, but I totally felt it now. Like I said, it takes a little while to get into this book, but I think it’s worth it, especially for those of us in our 20s.
Favorite part: There were a few good lines/sections in here, particularly regarding the idea of free will and determinism. I particularly enjoyed Philip’s conversation with Cronshaw in chapter 45, all about free will vs. determinism. And this quote in chapter 28, as Philip is renouncing his religion: “From old habit, unconsciously he thanked God that he no longer believed in Him.”
Rating: 5/10
Book Review: Brave New World (Huxley)
Have I read this before: Indeed (one of these days I’ll have the courage to go to the library and face my enormous fees). Back in high school, I believe. Maybe junior high?
Review: My memory of this book was actually pretty accurate—which is rare for me. Anyway, I’ve always really liked books that explore an altered society, and you can’t get much more altered than Brave New World (well, actually, that’s debatable on several levels). I think another thing I really like about this book is the mutability of the main characters. Bernard isn’t constantly against society; in fact, once he starts gaining respect for his dealings with John, he starts to really enjoy being an Alpha-Plus. Lenina seems like a “normal” member of society until she starts expressing actual feelings toward John. And even John lapses in and out of his self-imposed set of morals due to the pressure he’s feeling being in the new society.
Favorite part: Chapter 3. I love the intermixing snippets of Lenina and Fanny, Mustapha Mond and the students, Bernard, and the explanation of the Alphas/Betas/Gammas/Deltas/Epsilons.
Rating: 6/10
Book Review: Candide (Voltaire)
Have I read this before: Yes! First time was in Literature of Western Civilization, the class that first got me interested in philosophy. I’ve read it many times since, but it’s been awhile since I last read it.
Review: *dramatic sigh* THIS FREAKING LITTLE NOVELLA. I’m so conflicted. On the one hand, it’s probably the best bit of satire I’ve ever read (and is hilarious and tragic and disturbing all at the same time). On the other hand, one of the major things being parodied is Leibniz’ optimism and Leibniz himself—you can’t tell me there aren’t personal jabs in there, ‘CAUSE THERE ARE! [see the last line of chapter 28], and that makes me sad. Especially since his philosophy is definitely oversimplified and entirely not what he meant “the best of all possible worlds” to be.
But Voltaire is Voltaire, so what can we do?
Favorite part: It’s hard to pick one since it’s so short and everything really flows together. There are some great lines, though:
- Candide, trembling like a philosopher, hid himself as best he could during this heroic carnage.
- Candide said to himself, “If this is the best of all possible worlds, what are the others like?”
- “What’s optimism?” asked Cacambo.
“Alas,” said Candide, “it’s a mania for insisting that everything is all right when everything is going wrong.”
Book Review: a Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Smith)
Have I read this before: NO! I found a copy at Goodwill for like 99 cents, so I bought it.
Review: I’m usually not a huge fan of coming-of-age stories, but this one was actually quite enjoyable. The book follows Francie Nolan’s growing up in Brooklyn in the early 1900s, but gives a very comprehensive non-chronological-order history of her family as well. I think one of the reasons I’m not a coming-of-age fan is because in most of those types of stories I’ve read, it’s really quite difficult to see the change in the main character (assuming they’re the one that’s coming of age). In this book, however, it’s very clear when Francie starts seeing a change in the way she views the world and when she becomes mature enough to acknowledge that she’s viewing the world differently than she had. And this is all told in a very engaging tone, too, so it was fun to read.
Favorite part: I like this recurring idea of loving/being loved/being needed that Francie keeps coming back to over and over as she grows up. Like at the end of chapter 39:
“Maybe,” thought Francie, “she doesn’t love me as much as she loves Neeley. But she needs me more than she needs him and I guess being needed is almost as good as being loved. Maybe better.”
Or at the end of chapter 53:
“No! I don’t want to need anybody. I want someone to need me…I want someone to need me.”
A very relatable feeling.
Rating: 6/10
Book Review: Dune (Herbert)
Hey, so…remember that book list? I finally finished another book on there, haha. SHUT UP, SCHOOL IS ALL-CONSUMING.
Today’s book is Dune by Frank Herbert.
Have I read this before: Indeed! Way back in 7th grade in our “advanced” English group.
Review: There’s…a lot more to this book than I remember, haha. It’s hard for me to get past the sci-fi in here, which is funny, ‘cause Dune is pretty much known for how hugely it contributed to the genre. I do really like how Herbert seamlessly incorporates all the sci-fi/technology aspects into a story that’s really about power/relationships/family. But for my personal taste, it’s still a liiiiiitle too sci-fi. Not that I didn’t like it or didn’t appreciate it, it’s just not my usual style of book. I did enjoy it, though, especially now that I could understand it better than I could when I was 12, haha.
Favorite part: I have a soft spot for the Paul vs. Jamis fight, just because that’s the scene we “re-created” (in the loosest sense of the word) for our 7th grade reading report. Bloopers and everything.
Rating: 6/10
Book Review: Lolita (Nabokov)
Alrighty, book time! Today we’re looking at Nabokov’s Lolita.
(Yes, it’s another installment of “Claudia’s Too Anxious to Check Out a New Book from the Library so She’s Re-Reading One She Owns.” Hopefully someday soon I’ll stop being a loser.)
Have I read this before: See above.
Review: Don’t call me a pervert, but I freaking love this book. I honestly love it more for the way it’s written than the actual story.
Edit: holy crap, I didn’t know it was written in English. I thought it was originally in French and just translated (yes I know I’m dumb, shut up).
Edit edit: He could speak English before he could speak either Russian or French. The more you know!
Edit edit edit: This isn’t so much a review as me freaking out about Nabokov. Sorryz.
Favorite part: Can I just say “the language” for this? ‘Cause holy gods.
“The two voices parted in an explosion of warmth and good will, and through some freak mechanical flaw all my coins came tumbling back to me with a hitting-the-jackpot clatter that almost made me laugh despite the disappointment at having to postpone bliss. One wonders if this sudden discharge, this spasmodic refund, was not correlated somehow, in the mind of McFate, with my having invented that little expedition before ever learning of it as I did now.”
The whole damn book is like that: beautifully written. Flawless Nabokov is flawless.
Rating: 9/10
Book Review: Around the World in Eighty Days (Verne)
Have I read this before: Indeed! In high school, I think? I can’t remember exactly.
Review: Good lord, I love this book. Jules Verne’s characters are always awesome, but not a single one of them is more awesome than Phileas Fogg. I think he is my favorite literary character (with the possible exception of Captain Queeg).
“He was so exact that he was never in a hurry, was always ready, and was economical alike of his steps and his motions. he never took one step too many, and always went to his destination by the shortest cut.; he made no superfluous gestures, and was never seen to be moved or agitated. He was the most deliberate person in the world, yet always reached his destination at the exact moment.”
“…Mr. Fogg stopped him, and, turning to Sir Francis Cromarty, said, ‘Suppose we save this woman.’
‘Save the woman, Mr. Fogg!’
‘I have yet twelve hours to spare, I can devote them to that.’
‘Why, you are a man of heart!’
‘Sometimes,’ replied Phileas Fogg, quietly; ‘when I have the time.'”
How can you not love a character like that, seriously?
As for the plot itself, it’s pretty much classic Verne. I love how he’s always throwing his characters into seemingly impossible-to-remedy situations and then he’s like “AND SUDDENLY AN ELEPHANT” or something else and it saves the day. I reiterate from past blogs: Verne is awesome. And this is my favorite of his books (though re-reading 20,000 Leagues made me realize just how badass that one was, too).
Favorite part: “Stop the train, we need to have an emergency duel!” Nothing says “defending your honor” like wanting to use a brief stop at a train station to duel to the death. And, failing at that, nothing says “no seriously, I gotta defend my honor!” like ushering passengers out of a train car so that you can utilize said car for a duel to the death. Oh, Jules.
Rating: 9.5/10
Book Review: The Count of Monte Cristo (Dumas)
Have I read this before: Yes. Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away (junior high).
Review: Actually, I don’t know where I was when I read this, ‘cause I swear I only remember the “breaking out of prison” part. From this whole magnificent book, that’s the only part I remembered. That happened like in the first 100 pages! What the hell, younger me.
Anyway.
Look at this chart of the character relationships in this book and tell me this isn’t a soap opera in novel form.
A LOT happens in this book, but it’s really hard to summarize without giving it all away. For some reason it strikes me as almost a little bit Princess Bride-ish in parts, but maybe that’s ‘cause Dantes is really good at keeping his cool (most of the time).
Favorite part: Hmm…probably the whole “why is everybody getting poisoned? Who is poisoning everybody?! ENOUGH WITH THE POISONING JEEZ!” part. You know what I’m talking about if you’ve read it.
Rating: 7.5/10
Book Review: Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)
Have I read this before: Yup! I read it in the spring of 2007. It was required for my Western Lit. class.
Review: Y’know, this was actually quite a bit better than I remember. And more upsetting. I don’t know why, but Kurtz really, really strikes me the same way that Pinbacker from Sunshine did. Still trying to make that connection make sense. Maybe it’s because in Sunshine, the crew of Icarus II only hears about the failed mission of Icarus I from recordings made by Pinbacker. In a way, readers are only privileged to learn about the African wilderness/ivory trading/horror through Marlow’s narration, which is centered on events surrounding Kurtz. It’s like these two characters who don’t make appearances until the very ends of their respective stories are actually responsible for the stories in the first place.
There’s also this shared experience of duality: you form an opinion about both Kurtz and Pinbacker based on what’s said about them. This opinion (likely) changes once the men are actually confronted.
Bah, I dunno. Still fleshing it out. But that’s the thing that really stuck out to me most when I read this again.
Rating: 6/10
Book Review: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
I was going to do the whole “utilize random number generator to determine next book to read” thing, but I think I owe the library like $400,000 in late book fees and I’ve been having way too much anxiety to deal with people as of late, so I just decided to go with the first book on the list. Which was lucky, ‘cause I actually own this one: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.
Have I read this before: YES! I read it in high school some time…let’s see…10th grade. 15 years old.
Review: I love Verne. I love this book. I love how perfectly it is written. I remember searching on Amazon for a copy of this and one of the many, many reviewers complained that this book was boring.
How the hell could anyone see this book as boring??
- Mysterious underwater thingy hunted by a ship.
- Misanthropic captain with a love for all things ocean.
- Shipwrecks.
- Atlantis.
- Underwater burials.
- The South Pole.
- Near asphyxiation.
- Giant squid.
- Maelstroms.
Hell, that list alone should make you excited!
I don’t want to give too much away about this one because I want people to FREAKING READ IT. Just know that it’s good. It’s very good. It’s freaking Jules Verne, yo.
Reeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaad iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.
Favorite part: The South Pole, man. It’s, “are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” for like a whole chapter and then when they finally do reach it after making a ton of checks to see if it’s the right place (this was set in the 1800s, after all), the landing is described beautifully. Like I said, it’s freaking Jules Verne, yo.
Rating: this gets 9/10. Fantastic.
Also, happy 26th birthday to Michael “Rage Quit” Jones. Your Rage Quit vids got me into Achievement Hunter, whose videos have been a consistent source of amusement since about January of this year (which has been super helpful for my mental health). Keep ragin’, you awesome dude.
Book Review: The Remains of the Day
HEY LOOK it’s one of those book things off my book list that I said I’d read. Took long enough. I blame school/work/teaching/my obsession with the history of calculus/that amazing Leibniz biography.
Anyway. I utilized a random number generator to give me my first selection off the list and it landed on #157. That happened to be The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (which is good ‘cause I actually kinda stole that from the library by accident like 7 months ago).
Have I read this before: Nopers. First timer!
Review*: I think there’s kind of two different things I can react to here based on how I interpreted the book itself. 1: The main character as a person in his particular occupation; 2: the main character as a guide through a certain time in history.
1. The main character as a person. This was the part of the book that held the most impact for me. Stevens is a traditional English butler who, throughout his several day journey, reflects on his work and his life by way of describing several key characteristics that he believes a true butler should have. It’s a really interesting take on this idea of “living for the now” versus “living for a good tomorrow” but done in a very subtle way, I think. Very interesting. I really enjoyed the narration and the attention to detail in Stevens’ memories.
2. The main character as a guide through history. I think I would have gotten a lot more out of it if I knew my 20th century history a little bit better (been stuck in the 1600s, sorry). But I think people who DO know enough about that part of history will really, really get a lot out of this book.
But overall, very interesting. I’d possibly read it again if for no other reason than to try and absorb more of that personal reflection that Stevens subtly gives throughout. If you like stories told from a first-person perspective that have quite a reflective nature, I’d recommend this one for ya.
Favorite part: When Stevens is requested to tell young Reginald about “the birds and the bees” and spends like a whole day following him around trying to find some way to do it.
(Hmm…probably should have some sort of rating thing on these…)
Rating: 6/10.
*I haven’t really come up with a standard method for reviewing/summarizing/rating yet, so these posts may slowly evolve into something stable. Or they might stay like this. Or they might cease altogether one school commences again. However it turns out, I’ll try not to give any major spoilers in these things.
Bookin’ It
So as you may have read, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to revamp my 200 Books list and start over with it, this time writing a review after each book.
So that’s what I did today!
(Side note: the UI Library is kept at a toasty -23 degrees when the students are gone. Holy freaking crap, I had all my winter walking gear on and I was STILL freezing.)
New list is posted in the 200 Books tab. The almighty random number generator told me that the first book I shall be reading is The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. This was on my old list, but it was one that I never got to because it was always checked out from wherever I was trying to get it. But it was miraculously on the shelves this afternoon, so I picked it up.
I can’t guarantee any sort of time frame for when these reviews will be posted, especially since this semester looks like it’ll be crazy busy. But I’ll try to do them at a reasonable pace!
WOO!
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