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.

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.

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.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

This children's novel is really cute. I think that for it's purpose, to entertain and give small life lessons in a comical and unconventional way, it's very well suited. The idea of having mini cartoons and what not worked really well and the plot moved along really well.

This book was an incredibly easy read and would be a good book to recommend to friends who don't like to read because there are lots of pictures and even though the novel is geared for a younger crowd, it still has connections and what not that make it relate-able to all ages.

As for its academic value (themes and what not) again, they do seem somewhat juvenile but I think that for a book to teach, it would be fun for a younger group of kids. This one is apparently a NY Times Bestseller but it seems like every other book is and it seems that some books are simply "bestsellers" because they're good for a one time read through, but that's about it. *shrug* Perhaps I'm being too judgmental.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

I really liked this book. The back cover boasts that it is an atypical romance novel and it really is. The way that the plot unfolds and the way Niffenegger goes back and forth between Clare and Henry really adds to the story. Honestly, sometimes I would get confused between who was talking because I read through this novel really quickly but I mean for the most part it was pretty apparent who was who and what not.

Niffenegger also did a good job of explaining time traveling or at least resolving issues that usually arise when time traveling is part of the plot. It didn't turn into a science fiction novel or anything complicated which makes it accessible to a lot of readers.

When I initially picked up the novel, I actually thought it was going to be a spinoff of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine, but I was completely off.

I think that academically this book has a pretty decent amount of value in terms of themes and symbolism. There's obviously the themes of love and waiting and fate but there's also really strong Christian symbolism in terms of Henry being a sort of prophet figure and transcending the boundaries of time while Clare also can be representative of Christians as a whole. I'm not sure if this was necessarily Niffenegger's intent, but the relationship is pretty strong so I would imagine that there's some kind of significance to such parallelism.

At any rate, I thought it was a good read both though honestly, some of the sex scenes were really graphic... I feel like this too contributed to the book rather than took away. Sometimes with books and movies, too many sex/action scenes just take away from the main plot. However, with this book, I think that it really showed just how deep the relationship between Henry and Clare was.

I also thought that the moment when Clare and Gomez kind of connect and have this "what if" moment was brilliant because it makes you think, if not for Henry, how different would Clare be? At the same time, playing on the idea of soulmates and fate, the fact that Henry and Clare end up together I feel is inevitable because from the start Clare and Henry knew each other and met.

This is one of those books that I think would be a lot of fun to do as a book club because the themes are pretty accessible and there's a lot to discuss beyond the academic. It's also an easy read and the language is really straightforward. Overall, I can see this book going a long way in terms of popularity and what not.

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

This is the sequel to The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo and I was very excited to read this novel because I thought that Lisbeth Salander was a really compelling character. In this novel, she's slowly but surely becoming a more active member of society and I'm not quite sure I necessarily like that. Because you get a lot more of what her life was like, the mystery behind who she is and why she acts the way she does is somewhat dispelled. In terms of comparing the two, this novel had a lot more action and plot movement and it doesn't have a lot of the seemingly unnecessary details that the first novel had but I feel like the first novel had more depth and the characters were more three-dimensional and engaging. There were several new characters that were introduced but I feel like there wasn't any other new dimensions to Salander and Blomkvist, which made them a little less interesting. I also feel like there were some character discrepancies with Salander at least because she's more talkative in this novel and by nature she doesn't talk much. I could be wrong though because she was such a mystery in the first novel.

I still feel like there was still a certain amount of unnecessary detail but I may just have been missing some of the underlying motifs that Larsson put into the novel. I may have mentioned this before, but Swedish people seem to drink a lot of coffee and eat a lot of sandwiches. And there's a lot of people who smoke.

I also got the feeling after I put the novel down that perhaps there may have been some discrepancies with the overall unraveling of the murders because of what the Millenium people had access to but I could be wrong.

Oh yes, and I'm envious of Salander's brilliance. Although she's on the socially inept side, she's so smart that I feel like it makes up for it.

Overall, like the first book, although this novel contains little academic quality, it is simply good to read for fun. Because this book was a murder mystery, I thought that the way the action played out was really well done and I can easily see this book becoming a movie.

[edit]

I also wanted to mention that there (interestingly) is also another theme about the abuse of women. Here it has more to do with organized crime, but I think it's interesting that both of these novels have underlying messages about treating women well and about women's rights. I think Larsson is a guy so the fact that he is saying something about the way women are treated I think has implications of what Swedish society is like right now. I could be wrong though since I know absolutely nothing about Swedish society.

A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Marquez

This book won a nobel prize for literature so it's supposed to be really really good. Academically, I totally and completely agree because of the reoccurring themes of solitude and the idea of how everything has a cycle. There's also the element of the supernatural and the seemingly coincidental that Marquez works really well into the novel.

However, in terms of how engaging the text actually was, the text was pretty decent but it was honestly hard to keep track of all the Aurelianos and Arcadios. I mean it's clear that the repetition of the names had significance and perhaps I read the novel too sporadically to remember the differences between them, but I would have to say that that is what detracted from the novel for me.

The novel was also really really long (it just keeps going!) but given the title and what Marquez was trying to accomplish, I think that he kept the text engaging enough to keep the reader going. Sometimes these types of books eventually get really boring or bogged down by details but there was a constant storyline and the plot kept moving so that was good.

I think that the only reservations I have about this novel is that yes, it is a good read, but I guess it isn't completely my kind of novel, where the ideologies aren't as apparent and the plot isn't riveting (though I don't think that it needs to be for a novel to be good). I'd definitely want to read this novel again because I feel like a missed out on some important stuff but as for a recommendation to someone who doesn't really read, I wouldn't recommend this book.