Thursday, October 14, 2010

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

Not done with the intro but thought I'd put it up since I forgot to post it from a while ago...

Updates later. Hopefully.

Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia by C. S. Lewis

Been reading this series on the side. Good book. Too childish of a tone though. Will update more soon hopefully.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

Read this. Liked it. Will update hopefully sometime this lifetime.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk

So there are a bunch of books I need to update with but we'll start with this one.

This book got a nobel prize and I realized that a lot of these books receive these prizes because they're artfully written - not only because the plot is engaging, but the underlying themes are so well woven into the fabric of the plot as well as the style of writing. Honestly, with this novel, it was harder for me to really get into it because a lot of the cultural and religious references were lost on me (like Shirin (I hope I got the name right..) and the whole love story thing - I feel like it would've been more powerful if I had understood it.). I feel like the book would've been a lot better if the illustrations were a part of the book - nowadays, I feel like a lot of books have taken on that trend of putting a drawing or two to help illustrate the writer's point and I think that in this book, it would've enhanced the reader's experience. At the same time though, I'm wondering whether or not it would've taken away from the quality of writing... The book itself was so well-written that I feel like to a certain extent, the illustrations would've made the writing less powerful.

I liked how it was a mystery but the actual plot progression didn't revolve solely around unraveling the mystery. There were multiple storylines almost going on and I think that's what made the book interesting. I also really liked how Pamuk used the multiple narrative voices. He was able to manipulate them so well stylistically that you really heard and felt the characters' personalities. He really gave them a third dimension by doing that - all the characters were given life because of his narrative style.

At one point, I remember in one of the chapters towards the end of the novel, the murderer goes "Can you tell who I am?" and it was precisely at the moment when I was trying to figure out who it was because Master Osman had just given descriptions of Butterfly, Stork and Olive. It was almost as if Pamuk predicted what the reader would be thinking and I really thought that was a brilliant little tug to keep the reader interested.

As for recommending this book - it is a little heavier for non-readers, but for people who like reading, regardless of what genre, I think I would recommend it because it is so multi-faceted that it would appeal to a wider range of readers than most other books.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Books 2-5 by Rick Riordan

So I think that I like action books. I always thought I liked more academic reads (which I do sometimes) but I also realized I like Harry Potter-esque type books too. The rest of the series (I literally finished them in like a week to a week and a half) was really good! Again, there definitely wasn't much beyond the plot but it was good! I mean I guess comparatively to Harry Potter (since both are on the side of fantasy), Harry Potter had more depth - perhaps more 3-dimensional characters but the action and just the way the plot tied together was really good~

There was definitely blatant messages about saving the environment and saving earth and there weren't any plot inconsistencies (I hate that) so overall I'd have to say it was well thought out, although again, I can't say much for depth. I didn't read the book with the intent of getting much out of it anyway, so in the end, it was quite satisfying. Now I want to go watch the movie (though I think I heard that it flopped).

Definitely recommend to a non-reader though I suppose it depends on what kind of genre that particular non-reader likes.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

I think that the type of books that I read is pretty diverse. This book is obviously tailored towards children and I think there are Harry Potter-esque resonances but I found the book to be a good quick read. The language was simple and I liked the plot because it kept on moving. There were also little jabs at how humans ruin the environment, which I thought was pretty interesting.

Obviously there was nothing beyond the plot in this book (or at least I didn't see anything) and I think that the information was meant to be somewhat educational (which also led to some of the conversations being a little contrived) but all in all a good, simple read. I want to get the rest of the series to see what happens next.

Also, I think I read the film version so I think the text may have been watered down (not that it was bad, just very straightforward and simple - which is good).

Anyway, I would recommend this book to non-readers who like action and want something easy to read.

The Surrendered by Chang-Rae Lee

I think Chang-Rae Lee is a beautiful writer. It makes me wonder where he is in the story and whether or not he's just taking on a persona. He's really good at it though. I'm not sure if it's just the books I read or if it is an increasing trend towards stepping away from the chronological story (not just from him but from a multitude of other writers - though the scope of literature I read isn't all that wide), but I think that I like this a lot better. With the story all out of order, I feel like you get the important bits of information delivered at the right time to give you the right impact. Lee keeps bringing back these poignant albeit gruesome images of the past and I think that it really reinforces the horror of war and what people have to live with after the fact. Sometimes, books will try to fluff up war and leave out the gory details but he doesn't just talk about the really gruesome and grotesque but takes it to the next level with the depravity that the civilians had to go through as a result of war (women trading sex for food, soldiers on both sides taking advantage of the anarchy in the country, etc.).

Beyond that, I feel like this book really talks about displacement and in a way, fitting in or that desire to want to fit in, yet not. It also talks about broken dreams and the fragility of life. In some ways though, I feel like he overplayed death. I feel like the fact that Nick was killed off - yes I think that Lee killed him off was a little overdone. The same with Dora - I feel like she should've been abandoned, not run over but I think it was a clean way to transition to the next stages of the book. Perhaps for me, it was too clean. The way there was really no hope for Hector in the end - although I think was somewhat fitting for his name as a Greek god (something about how in the end, everything that Hector builds up ends up in ruins), the fact that there was no hope and future for him at all almost seemed contrived.

Overall though, I think that the book was beautifully written - balancing out the academic aspects with an engaging plot.

When it comes down to it though, I do have one complaint. I think it was chapter 13 or something when it started talking about June and Hector's relationship (I don't remember the context unfortunately so I'm not really going to be much help beyond the chapter reference), Lee repeats the relationship the type of relationship that June had with Hector as well as her actions. It seems (and I could be wrong) that this is where he started the novel and either whoever was helping him edit it didn't pick up on it or he didn't bother editing out this bit so there was some seemingly unnecessary repetition. I could be wrong though and there may be some kind of thought/intent behind this, but when I read it, it just seemed like the beginning of what an author would start to write and then Lee framed the rest of his story around it. I didn't like that.

I would recommend this book to people who like reading, but don't necessary like the academic books. I don't think I'd recommend this book to non-readers because I feel like it may be too heavy (both literally - it's a longer novel - and figuratively) and depressing (but some people like that).

[edit]

I forgot to mention that I also think that given when this book came out, Lee may be quietly saying that North and South Korea shouldn't go to war (given the recent events with North and South Korea). However, he very well may have started this novel years ago which would render my point moot.

Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner

In terms of substance, there probably were a lot of underlying themes and what not, but I feel like this book lacked substance. I can't really put my finger to it, but I just felt like there was a sort of detachment throughout the whole novel - whether it was intentionally to mimic the numbness of the main character or not, I'm not sure.

However, it has been some time since I read it and since I'm writing this so it could just very well be that I've forgotten.

Perhaps I'll have to skim it again to refresh myself.

But basically seeing as how I can only remember parts of the plot and none of the meatier bits, I feel like it wasn't that good of a read. Perhaps I'm simply being too critical though.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Jazz Age Stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This is a collection of short stories and I will try to comment on all of them, but I haven't finished them all so I will probably update this sporadically if I ever get back to them.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Honestly, I was disappointed in this story. Because it was turned into a movie, I was hoping that the story itself would have some depth (which I think the introduction implied that it did), the depth was really superficial. Perhaps it's because the introduction summed up the themes so neatly that I expected more, but the plot was really simple and although I didn't completely agree with all of it, for what Fitzgerald was trying to accomplish (a statement about the times and about youth versus age and wisdom), I think he did a pretty decent job. In the end though, I had wished there was something more.

The Offshore Pirate

This was a cute little story about deception and illusion. I thought that this was nice though again, I felt like it was a little superficial. There didn't really seem to be any substance than that dreamy quality of a transient world that was soon shattered by the "real" world. However, I did like the characters he created. I really liked Ardita because of how different she was. There was also the underlying idea of one's perception of oneself versus how others perceive them (Ardita thought she had all men wrapped around her finger but there were implications that this was not the case). All in all a decent read but somewhat lacking in substance.

The Ice Palace

This one was about how people are unable to change and perhaps a statement about how the North and South don't get along and the differing values between how to live one's life. Also about how one's perception of oneself is different than reality. This story could also be viewed as a cultural clash between the North and the South and how difficult it is to overcome these differences. Sally Carrol thought she was meant for more but ends up that she wasn't. However, I found her character to be a little frustrating because she struck me as close-minded ("well the people in the south aren't like this blah blah blah") but perhaps not. The idea of love not being enough for her to stay at the place was also interesting and the parallel of ice and the coldness of the Northerners to Sally Carrol was also pretty interesting. I can see how the introduction mentions that Fitzgerald had potential (which he apparently uses in his later work).

Head and Shoulders

This one has the whole idea of role reversal and lost dreams. I felt bad for Horace in the end because he meets his role model in philosophy who ends up coming to meet his wife. No one seems to realize Horace's intellect and potential and I almost feel like he wasted it away. Perhaps that was Fitzgerald's point. The irony is a sad one and if Horace's pride doesn't get in the way it should be fine, but these types of things happen to so many men that they become defeated and broken and unhappy with where they are in their lives (and then it becomes the oh-so-familiar midlife crisis). At any rate, it was an interesting read and definitely got its point across.

The Cut-Glass Bowl

Although this story was a little morbid, I really liked the way the story played out. The parallel between the bowl and Evylyn was really good and almost Portrait of Dorian Gray-esque. Obviously her soul wasn't locked in the bowl but just how both came to the same end and how one pays for the mistakes they make in sometimes the direst ways I thought was pretty interesting. In the end, it paints a pretty dark picture of of the world but perhaps it is also an honest picture for most people unless they realize it and try to do something about it (though Fitzgerald doesn't give any implications of this).

Anyway there should be more to come. (hopefully)

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

I had read one of his other novels a year or so ago (Me Talk Pretty One Day) and had really liked it.

This too was an engaging read although I felt like the different anecdotes and chapters were somewhat choppy in the way the novel flowed. Obviously it isn't your typical novel with a linear plot, which was fine, but some of the transitions between the chapters I felt were really abrupt.

There was definitely this underlying idea of how sometimes the very things that we judge/laugh at others for, we're just as guilty of the same things. I liked that. I also liked how although he talks about more difficult issues (i.e. death), the way he maneuvers around it in a matter-of-fact but not cold way was really well done. He was remember these people that affected him yet, it wasn't focused around the death of the person and it wasn't morbid and although it was somewhat funny, I felt like he really was able to have it be a happy reminiscing rather than a lamentation of a person's death or a fluffed up version of person because they were dead.

I don't think I'd pick this novel up again though because it isn't really academic (nor is it meant to be) though perhaps if I were in the mood for some good, funny reading that I knew wouldn't disappoint, I'd maybe pick it up again.

I would recommend this to most readers because of the way some of his illustrations are creative yet so aptly put and it's an easy read. There's also more to the book than meets the eye, but even if these points are missed, it doesn't retract too much from enjoying the book.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Hard Times by Charles Dickens

I can't say that I completely enjoyed Hard Times. I loved A Tale of Two Cities but this one was stylistically really different - probably due to the time constraints that Dickens was trying to get used to. The style was really dry and the introduction mentions that he wrote more "journalistically" (or something) which to me translates to "dry and boring".

I'm not quite sure as to what it was but I think it's because he took too long to build up the characters and when the plot finally started moving I had lost interest in the novel. I had picked it up a while ago and it took me quite some time to finish this less than 300 page book. It shouldn't have taken me this long to finish it but I kept putting it down for more engaging texts (Disgrace was a much easier read... probably also because it's modern fiction...).

At any rate, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone except those in academic circles because it really is just an academic read. The middle of the novel is so un-engaging (for a lack of a better word) that even if it ends quite nicely, I would hesitate to say that the novel is "good."

However, the introduction does mention that he was adjusting and how suffocating a weekly serial was for him so I mean I can see how the time constraints affected his writing. Hopefully my next Dickens novel will be a better experience.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

I have mixed feelings about this book. The writing style was simple and transparent enough yet I feel like this book was divided between wanting to write beautifully and wanting to write simplistically. Because of that, there were random hard words (perhaps my vocabulary is simply limited) to the point where the fluidity and flow of the writing was almost broken up.

As for the overall plot, I think that it ended well. There were definitely some cultural references that I didn't understand and I found it irritating (to be completely honest) that there were at least 5 different languages used that I didn't understand. I mean, I'm extremely limited with my Italian and Latin and you can forget about French and German. And then there was the random word here and there of some of the languages that are spoken in South Africa (and sadly, I don't even know what languages they speak in South Africa besides English). The essence behind the meaning and what the author was trying to convey was lost in translation. I'm not sure it would've made it any better if he had a translated version. I was able to get the gist behind what he was trying to say and perhaps that was his intent.

One of his themes was about being misunderstood and about expressing oneself and the limits of language so his use of multiple languages perhaps showed this. I also like some of the themes he had in the book although I felt like some of the parallels he drew were painfully obvious. Even more so when he pointed it out. Again, if it was intentional that's fine, but because it doesn't seem quite intentional, it makes it almost bad. Hm. Still undecided on that one.

I can see why the book is up for one of those prizes (I don't remember, nor do I really care which specific one it is).

Overall, I'd have to say that this book was a pretty good read - I'd even recommend it to light readers. I would imagine a lot of people not liking the ending because it doesn't end very well in the sense that there doesn't seem to be a resolution. Some people wouldn't get it (although many would see the parallel between the fondness he has for the dog and his attachment to his daughter). He even goes as far as to show this through the conversation that he and his daughter have where she mentions that she's going to become a dog of a sort.

At any rate, overall a decent (but not great) read and I would recommend it with some reservations.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

A Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

I think that this book was very 18th century literature. I read the epilogue or afterword or whatever it's called in the book and the way it breaks down what the novel was about was actually really intriguing.

One thing I didn't notice was that there was this underlying theme about the failure of women as mothers (it totally isn't the focus of the novel) yet it's there the entire time. I think that it's really cool that the novel has that - I wonder if James did it intentionally (I feel like he did).

I really like Isabel's character - she seemed so real and three-dimensional. It's interesting for me to see James take on the persona of a woman - is it hard for men to understand how women feel? In this case, I don't think so. He really captures the complexities of a woman's mind (or perhaps it's because when it comes down to it, it is the human mind?) and the way that the plot plays out is unexpected, which is why I liked it.

I think that the end was frustrating because in the end she goes back - I feel like if I were in her shoes, I would've done things differently. However, in an era where women have very little power to begin with and are just starting to make their way as independent beings, even what she was able to do was pretty commendable.

As for Osmond, as first, like Isabel, I was attracted to his refined-ness and the way he seemed so aesthetically inclined. As the afterword mentions, the biggest irony is that his obsession with the aesthetic renders him ugly and twisted. He's the kind of guy you want to beat up out of pure frustration at his prudishness.

Merle was somewhat of an enigma for me - I wanted to like her but because she deceives Isabel, yet somehow can "never be wrong" as James mentions, it's really hard to dislike her. I think I pitied her because she couldn't reveal to her daughter that she was her mother and she knew that her own daughter didn't like her. Just all the inner turmoil that she must go through I think was painful. Osmond was just an ass and deserved a lot less than what he got.

Goodwood is too much of a straight stick for me. He struck me as boring in the beginning of the novel but proved to have much more three-dimensionality because of his stiffness. I can't decide whether or not it's a good thing but in the end, he fails so that's that.

I'd have to say my favorite characters by far were Ralph and his father. They seemed so light and witty and in general fun to be around. Even though Ralph was always depressed, he took it with humor and it made me want something to happen between Isabel and Ralph.

As a read, I really enjoyed it but to non-readers, I wouldn't recommend it because James is somewhat of a dense read for those that don't read as much. I heard that James revised his work like crazy and it makes me wonder what his earlier versions of the novel looked like. I suppose I should look into it (which I will I think eventually) but for now, this is my review of the book.

In the end, this novel was more of a study of characters rather than the plot itself. I think the plot could've been written in probably a fourth of the length of the actual novel, but it was more about the thought processes and the characters that really made it a compelling read. In all, I'd definitely read this book again to savor the writing. I can see people complaining about his style but I think he ended up achieving a pretty good balance between being discreet yet exact.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Several people told me that this novel was really good but I didn't know what to expect. I think that I've been reading a lot of books where the ending is already known yet one reads on, hoping that something will be different. It was like that with The Time Traveler's Wife . I feel like there were several other books where this happened (mainly more recently written novels) and I wonder if this has to do with creating more suspense by giving some facts of the future.

Plot-wise, I found the book to be very sound and I really liked how it was narrated. Even with a limited point of view and a questionable narrator, Ishiguro was really good at manipulating flashbacks to create a sense of reality. Even if it was really a recalling of Kathy's memory, Ishiguro's style of narration made it feel as if one was really back at the time when the memory was actually happening.

It's interesting in the way that he wrote in the point of view of clones because there are some stories that seem to have this idea of wanting to break away from that cycle and become "normal" or "humanized" so to speak, yet here all there really is is a sense of sadness and wistful if-things-were-different type of attitude. I felt like the book ended with a sense of melancholy acceptance of one's fate. I wonder if other readers would feel that this was in any way unfair and it definitely brings to a new light the question of whether or not cloning to extend one's life is morally acceptable or not.

Because it was such an easy read and even though it didn't contain a lot of action that some non-readers seek, I would definitely recommend this book because the plot still has movement and is still compelling enough to make a reader continue reading. It makes one really look into certain ethical questions that have come up these days in a different light and all the while maintains a sense of realism. In some ways, other stories of rebellion and what not are less likely than this story but at the same one, one is still left wondering whether or not that makes it morally acceptable.

Definitely a very thought-provoking read.

Oh yes, and in terms of ethics, Flowers for Algernon would be another good read. It's also an easy read and makes you think about science/surgery in a new light.