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.
Monday, May 31, 2010
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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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