What can I say?
Okay, this is also from my "Global" reading list. This one is Australia. Let me introduce you to the longest piece of cathartic literature you will ever read.
This book is tragic and sad, amazing and magical, transient, idealistic, pessimistic and so much more.
It should probably also come with a warning label.
It should read: PLEASE READ WITH CAUTION
Yes, it made me cry. Yes, I'm still upset. Yes, I wanna cry some more. I'm probably gonna go home and have a quiet word with myself and remind myself to spend a little longer on books.
Let's move swiftly on then shall we?
Characters:
My favourite character was Dane. DANE! OH MY GOD! The guy who wanted to be a priest much to his mother's discontent at his life of celibacy - but not only that, HIS UNKNOWN FATHER. His mother's affair with a priest gone bishop - but then she stays with her husband for a while to make him believe it's his baby. AND SHE DOESN'T TELL DANE FOR 26 YEARS! OH MY LIFE! WHY THE HELL WOULD ANYONE DO THAT?
Themes:
My favourite theme was family and relations. God knows who is related to who in this book. Frank's father? Dane's father? GOD DAMN IT! RIGHT IN THE FEELINGS! I loved this theme because it always seems so far away and then tragedy pulls it back together. WHY A TRAGEDY THOUGH! I DON'T KNOW AND MY HEART IS BROKEN!
Storyline:
The storyline is vast. complex and magical. Whilst some books are an emotional roller coaster - this one is more like an emotional maelstrom in the centre of the Bermuda Triangle. GOD MY HEART HURTS WHY DOES IT HURT! I will not get over this. Ever. I don't think. Let's just put it this way, I haven't even gotten over The House of the Spirits yet.
Verdict:
I give this book 10/9
4/3 for characters: I love Dane, Megghan, Frank, Paddy, Fee, Ralph - but I don't really like Justine or Luke very much at all. EMOTIONS!
100% for themes: Good grief, do we have to go on about family? MEGGIE'S HEART IS BROKEN! IT IS BECAUSE OF DANE AND JUSTINE AND PADDY AND STU AND I CAN'T BECAUSE POOR MEGGIE!
100% for storyline: My heart is broken and I feel like I will never recover. This is the depression stage I'm in. Help me please. (weeps to self quietly).
So, if you read my blogpost on "Less Than Zero" you will know exactly where this is heading. A psychedelic movement of transgression, drugs, drugs, more drugs and anti-catharsis for the effect of "the refusal to condone or chastise" behaviours.
I read "Imperial Bedrooms" almost immediately after I finished "Less Than Zero" as this is the second book in that series. It is almost as if we see two sides to Clayton (the narrator of "Less Than Zero" ) Let me tell you, that was a long, long time ago now - but with these emotional scars from witnessing the two sides to Clay (kind of like two face from Batman) - I hope in instructing you that this book is a cult classic that you may go away and read some Bret Easton Ellis. He truly is the greatest of his kind since Anthony Burgess.
Characters:
I have to say that in this one, my favourite character was Clayton "Clay" - I felt as if everything from "Less Than Zero" created new, fresh and protruding scars on his emotions, causing this neo-mental breakdown he has in "Imperial Bedrooms". There's certainly a sense of foreboding and perpetual pessimism in his head, so to get inside there after everything that happened to Julian Wells and Rip and Finn etc. there is gonna be some serious fucked up stuff in there.
Themes:
This divide in Clay and the whole interaction of Clay and the world around him is much easier to understand if you read "Less Than Zero" first. "Imperial Bedrooms" is a reaction to this. Imagine Newton's Law: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Take away the "equal and..." part. "Less Than Zero" is the action - most of the required action takes place in this concept that Clayton is completely reliable and one of the lesser monstrosities of the transgressive 80s medium. BUT, in "Imperial Bedrooms" we get a fiery reaction to everything that happened previously and how Clay has, like Frankenstein, become the very monster he tried so hard to prevent. This is why my favourite theme (across the two books) is action and reaction. In the case of "Imperial Bedrooms" there are three: action, reaction and inaction. Inaction being the ideals of pessimism that makes Clay's stream of consciousness sections more of a modern/post-modern Hamlet that anything else. I've gone on enough... sorry.
Storyline:
The storyline is crucial. You have to admit to yourself that Clay is not perfect and not the same guy you met in "Less Than Zero". To admit that is very, very difficult since you put so much faith in him at the beginning of the two books. You have to destroy everything you thought you knew about Clay and - just as he was there for Julian - see it through until the end of the book (where I think you'll be more surprised that you're prepared to be). It's a perfect follow-on to an unstoppable force of "Less Than Zero" - the perpetual haunting of "Imperial Bedrooms" is just one of those books where we have a modern Byronic Hero lugging around the anvil of his past. He doesn't want to let it go out of sentiment - but he constantly blames others for his actions and blames himself for theirs. The confusion, remembrance and troubling locations that place themselves upon the edifice of the 80s (where Clay is concerned) is reduced to a poisoned vein. A bad memory.
Verdict:
I give this book 9.
100% for characters: I loved Clay in the first book - this one puts you through some major commitment issues... You still gotta love Clay.
100% for themes: Action and inaction haven't been so crucially visited since Shakespeare's Hamlet
100% for storyline: A brilliant follow-on as I said. It's an amazing book with some truly gritty thought processes. Psychedelic, yet completely pessimistic, it retains the meaning of the darkness in the 80s.
Let's get one thing clear - there's only one person that I believe is the greatest literary mind we've ever had. His name is Lord Byron. If you know me, you know I'm obsessed with Byron. I read his stuff, I research his life, I even use him as my main secondary source in my Creative Writing for my degree. He's a genius and created on of the greatest and most complex character archetypes of all time: The Byronic Hero.
I found "Don Juan" shortly after reading "The Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" when I was 13 or 14 years old - and that's when I fell in love with Lord Byron. Some lines of poetry can make you burst into hysterical laughter - and others can move you to tears. My favourite line of Byron's poetry is actually from "The Giaour":
"And who would be doom'd to gaze upon
A sky without a cloud or sun?"
(sighs)
Characters:
My favourite character is Don Juan. He's the hero that Byron requires - an unnamed crime and his life is haunted by spirits that hound his soul. He's a beautiful creation with amazing lines of poetry - and if you didn't like him, well - you're not supposed to. He's a Byronic Hero - mostly, he is his creator: "mad, bad and dangerous to know."
Themes:
My favourite theme is love and death. Byron is a Romantic - and Romanticism means Liebestod. Liebestod (for those of you that don't know) - is the exploration of images in sex and death and how they are connotative of each other. It is beautifully portrayed in "Don Juan" - please read it and realise how amazing it is!
Storyline:
The storyline follows the life and demise of Byronic Hero, "Don Juan". How he falls in love, gets lost at sea and finally begins to realise how his previous events in life are haunting him dreadfully. It is so poetically written that you don't even realise that this guy has some serious psychological issues. He does - and it's prominent if you're looking for it.
Verdict:
I give this book 10/9
100% for characters: Don Juan is one of the most famous and articulate Byronic Heroes ever created.
4/3 for themes: I love the Romanticist view of Liebestod. It can also be seen in Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley and some Coleridge works (also, read some Anne Radcliffe.... o.O "The Sicilian Romance" also on this blog!)
100% for storyline: One of the most well-know Romantic storylines with a brilliant moral and cultural aspect of a man in a crisis on an anomic scale! Up and up goes the existentialism.
The third instalment to the Vampire Chronicles series (that I am absolutely obsessed with) and one of the best (excluding "Interview with the Vampire"). There were times when I thought that it couldn't live up to its predecessor - but, with it's violence, turbulent and tragic themes - I'm quite close to admitting that it is my second favourite.
Characters:
My favourite character (out of the entire series) is Lestat. Okay, yes I'm team Lestat - if you're team Louis, we cannot be friends. TEAM LESTAT. Anyways, enforcing that Stuart Townsend did a great job of playing the brat prince would be an understatement. I understand that it wasn't as good as Tom Cruise (because he was awesome beyond belief) - but they were from two different eras. Also, I loved Akasha in the book - she was brilliant, devious, cunning and even (at times) extremely violent without redemption. But, I have to say, Lestat will always be one of my favourite literary characters ever!
Themes:
The theme and symbol of the living and the dead really hit me in this novel. Not so much in the others, but it is really Akasha's interest in killing both the living world - and the vampire world that surprises me. She seems to just have no general care for anyone and this vampire on vampire combat in the scene where we encounter Lestat and Akasha is exactly the climax everyone waits for.
Storyline:
Okay, Lestat's little debrief to Louis at the end of the book is probably my favourite part. We go through the whole book believing that Lestat is turning into a good and well-maintained vampire - but in reality, he hides his true cunning and saves it for future books. I got quite happy when he did that little speech to Louis because we really got the true Lestat coming back to us. (Laughs in evil)
Verdict:
I give this book 9
100% for characters: Lestat is the most likeable kind of pure evil soulless vampire you could ever encounter. What a brutish beast he is - the Brat Prince is truly a force not to be reckoned with.
100% for themes: The Living and the Dead aren't much explored to this extent in any of the previous books (saying this, I think it is explored more as the series progresses, with The Vampire Lestat creating more of the relation between the two rather than the difference. I quite enjoy the preference of it).
100% for storyline: If you read an Anne Rice novel and don't like the storyline - you read it wrong.
This sarcastically written novel by Joseph O'Neill is not a part of my reading challenge - but instead is another one of those books like Satin Island - yes, it's from Cillian Murphy's bookshelf. Well, I did think (as you may remember) Satin Island was worth a good read, maybe even a re-read. I can't say that about this one. It was good, not great. It's not one of those memorable books and I think that I may pass a re-read on it. (That's saying something! For me to pass a re-read, the book must've not been very impressive at all!) Saying that, it wasn't really the worst book I've ever read and I would recommend it to you - since the writing style is quite funny. It's the characters that I found impossible most of the time.
As you all now know where I got my recommendation from - I aptly send my apologies for this review to Irish actor Cillian Murphy. I'm sure his real taste in literature is better than whatever this is.
Get ready.
Characters:
Well, I didn't have a favourite character in this novel purely because I thought that the protagonist was a sort of post-modernist misogynist A-Grade asshole. A man who talks sarcastically about metaphors around pornography - yet forcibly sexualises the shit out of everything....I can't even describe how much I hated the characters. Let's move on.
Themes:
Okay, so the theme surrounding the language of sarcasm and social critique was actually pretty good. I have to say, there were some parts that were genuinely funny. But, apart from that - that's pretty much it.
Storyline:
I failed to process most of the storyline because of the long, flamboyant, verbose and unneeded endless syntax that seemed to have absolutely no punctuation whatsoever so that when you probably cam to an important part of the piece you'd probably miss it because you weren't stopping to take breaths (or mental breaths) in-between the reading and processing.
Kind of like that sentence ^^^.
Verdict:
Sorry Cillian - I give this book 3/9. I aptly apologise to Cillian Murphy - I loved Satin Island though - that was at least bearable.
0/3 for characters: Let's just not go there. Not. Even. Close.
100% for themes: Witty dialogue AND witty narration - extra brownie points earned.
0/3 for storyline: Nope. Never again. Long...long...long...long...verbose...verbose...verbose...verbose...Dribble.
As part of a "global reading challenge" where I read 80 books from 80 different countries - I will be keeping you updated on which ones are from the challenge and which ones are not. As you may have guessed - this one IS!
I found this book - well - on the list, I guess. It was under Algeria and I didn't really think twice about where to begin - just took I dive. This book is full of lucid and dreamscape imagery fit for only destruction and is performed poetically (especially for an autobiography).
Characters:
My favourite character is our narrator - who narrates her autobiography at times of self-destruction and economic change on an international scale. The microcosmic atmosphere of the entire thing encompasses a grand change in war, person and (most importantly) perspective. The thing I loved most about the narration is that it was unsympathetic - and yet packed with emotion.
Themes:
War is explored beautifully in this novel. There are two extremes the author goes to - the first is to talk about themselves and their sublime feelings; whether negative or positive, on their own forces. The second is war - the gigantic scale of the destruction of the country and its people was a beautiful and yet not completely pessimistic narrative.
Storyline:
It was an autobiography, so I can't really comment on much of the storyline but there were times when I felt some of it was over-exaggerated - maybe for the dramatic purposes of the novel. But there were times when I did feel thoroughly emotionally connected with the novel - but it wouldn't be awarded the 9/9 status just for that.
Verdict:
I give this book 6/9
100% for characters: I felt the characterisation was quite strong in the novel - but that was based on herself, so brownie point for that.
100% for themes: I loved the themes in this book - especially the ones based on war.
0/3 for storyline: The autobiography aspect failed to impress most of the time.
I am not entirely sure whether I was supposed to find this book funny, so I'll call it witty. Slightly different meanings - but still pointing in that direction. It was pretty impossible for me to take this book seriously when I read it; there were moments where I really couldn't feel sorry for our main character - but instead felt sorry for Margarita. She seemed the most plausible and believable character in this edge-of-delirium ride.
I found this book in the early days of my first year at university - upon hearing that it was a good read if you needed something light and sarcastically toned, I thought "well, I could do with light." I was not very much surprised by this book - it was average but I can't say that it's one of my favourite novels, probably not even top 30. It wasn't shocking in most ways - but I did find the writing style quite nice and light to read - that is as opposed to The Butcher Boy which (I believe) I was reading alongside this one. (Note: The Butcher Boy was a great book, but I quite preferred the writing style of Breakfast on Pluto. Much funnier).
Characters:
My favourite character was Margarita. She was completely impassioned, but also completely passionate. I found it funny how she was one of the only characters that you can really track the emotions of - you know that she doesn't like the master, but you see her passion (which is present) diverting somewhere else. I thought that was pretty witty.
Themes:
My favourite theme was presented through my favourite character - that was passion. There are spurts of passion by other characters, but it is best presented by Margarita. This woman who is in half-belief from the start of the novel, but later on becomes her own identity. Her passion is reflected by her social shift - which I quite enjoyed.
Storyline:
Oh the storyline was quite difficult to follow at times. Margarita believes the master is dead - this is all in Moscow...writing a book of Jerusalem...1930s....Pontius Pilate... It was confusing at times, but I quite liked the way things weren't really told to the reader, but rather fell into place. Bar that, this novel was well written with a witty undertone to it - something sarcastic to it that I didn't quite capture all the time. Be that as it may, it was a good read.
Verdict:
I give this book 6/9
2/3 for characters: I liked Margarita, but I couldn't feel anything for the Master - sorry.
2/3 for themes: Passion wasn't as explored as I wanted it to be - a little underwhelming.
2/3 for storyline: The jumps were a little much for me sometimes. I couldn't grasp some of it - which made me re-read the book entirely.
This is my favourite novel by Thomas Mann and I can truly say that with themes associated with the artistic natures commonly connoted to Venice - this makes for one truly great novel and one of the shining lights of late modernism.
I found this book whilst browsing my kindle store about a year ago, I was already pretty aware of who Thomas Mann was and what he wrote about - having read other books by him including:
- Buddenbrooks
- The Magic Mountain
- Joseph and his Brothers
- Dr Faustus
I believe that Thomas Mann's books are some of the most artistic of the late modernist era - including various motifs of narcissism and mystery, Mann's novels are an artistic climax of what is a rejection of art.
Characters:
My favourite character is Gustav von Aschenbach - he seems to be the most enigmatical of characters. He is cunning and deceitful, yet we kind of feel sorry for him. There is an awry nature that is typical of Thomas Mann and proves successful in character each and every time he does it.
Themes:
My favourite theme is art. There are many references to the artistic world: whether it be Literature, art, drama or philosophy - there are many references. It comes to serve as that Venetian atmosphere one only really expects of the Renaissance - but instead pulling it out and bringing it into the late modern era is one of those motifs that a reader can hardly ignore.
Storyline:
Focus on the ending. How ironic, how manipulative and how emotive it is. It is one of those great endings that you only understand how exactly it took place if you read and re-read the book. It is a great example of modernist fiction turning dark and brooding - but trying to retain its own sense of true and hardcore optimism.
Verdict:
I give this book 8/9
100% for characters: I did love the idea of Mann's typical half anti-heroes.
100% for themes: I just thought that was very clever altogether.
2/3 for storyline: Only really because I didn't find it as memorable as others of its kind - but still very brooding and thought-provoking.
A short novel in itself, Jacob's Room is a kind of surreal-modernist account of a young man's growing experience from the perspective of women in his life. It is very strange and (I believe) is an elegy or metaphor for madness and repressed anxiety. It is (again, I believe) Woolf's best work next to Mrs Dalloway and has really quite the potential to be a best-seller today. I just wished more people read it. While it would seem a bit ambiguous and mundane, taking a closer look at this classic modernist novel tells the reader that something - we don't know what - but something is clearly wrong with Jacob.
I found this book whilst I was 16 years old and it was the summer after my GCSEs. I went browsing in a bookshop and couldn't find Mrs Dalloway in paperback. I knew it was on a PDF - but I wanted the book (not to study, just to read). I'd realised by then that I'd never read anything by Virginia Woolf - so I picked up the first one I saw with her name on it. It was Jacob's Room. Only after purchasing this and a week later, did I find Mrs Dalloway at all. But, by then my mind was set on the one I had just read and exactly how deep it was.
Characters:
My favourite character was Florinda. This was because her narrative perspective seemed a little jolted compared to Clara's. Florinda only has an affair with Jacob - but there are clear juxtapositions drawn between affairs and true love. This, where Florinda is concerned, takes shape in her speech as she seems rather distant and emotionally detached from Jacob for the most part of her narrative.
Themes:
My favourite theme (I know, it actually counts as a motif) is the elegy in emptiness and depression. The depressing tone of the novel is one thing - but to make constant references to madness, emptiness and emotional detachment is another. The whole premise of the novel gives it a very elegiac feeling with this nature of constant dragging the character through emotionless encounters - like his affair with Florinda (which seems significantly emptier than his love for Clara).
Storyline:
A great skill of Woolf's is that she does not need to bombard the storyline with meaningless events to be able to tell a good elegy. Jacob pretty much stays where he is familiar until the end of the book when he visits Italy and Greece - his lack of movement is more important than the movement at the end of the story as it shows his familiarity in madness and depression. A dystopian London view makes it clear that Jacob is probably the greatest victim of his own emotions. It is beautifully written and for a novel that is predominately about the loss of identity - it is very poetic and insightful, maybe even autobiographical.
Verdict:
I give this book 9.
100% for characters: Florinda and Jacob's relationship is the only time the reader gets to see the meaning in his relations with Clara.
100% for themes: Elegy, madness, emptiness and depression are things that Woolf is well-known for in the modernist era.
100% for storyline: A beautifully poetic piece of prose, the weirdness is juxtaposed by its own beauty.
I have to admit that for the Victorian Era, this novel was fairly funny. I quite enjoyed the names and how the novel was put together in a sense of constant misfortune. The characters are quite satirical and the tone quite sarcastic - I did like this change of Victorian Novels from the industrial and gothic, into the satirical and philosophical.
I found this book when I was about 15 in an aisle at the Walsall Library (for those of you that don't know, Walsall is my actual hometown. Just that nobody's ever heard of it - that's all). Surprisingly, Walsall Library had quite a classics section and I went browsing. Disdained upon already having read the likes of Dickens, Bronte and Tolstoy - I picked up the next book I saw. It was this one. Upon handling it I was unsure about whether I would like it - I can say that it satisfied me enough to read until the end - but unfortunately didn't thrill me like a gothic - or make my thoughts spiral like a philosophical. I was contented.
Characters:
My favourite character was Carrie Pooter. She seemed like a nice and naive woman at first - but then turned into the Victorian 'type' of an aristocratic man's snobby wife. I found her quite comical and the way she handled the dance scene absolutely hilarious. Her constant disdain with the ironmonger just made her funnier and funnier. I can say I've never met a Victorian aristocratic character that can make me laugh quite as much as Mrs Pooter.
Themes:
My favourite theme was satire. As it always is in a satirical novel. The constant references to the middle and lower classes make it seem almost like a funny version of an adult Dickens novel. But, the real satire comes off from the character of Charles Pooter - he seems completely aware of the constant and raging misfortune that is brought down upon him, Carrie and their son Lupin as they progress deeper into the novel. It is quite hilarious and the most ironic of satires.
Storyline:
I wish I could talk about the ending forever. But, I really don't want to spoil the book for you. It is a short novel that could only take a day or so to read. I liked the ending because it was both a sense of closure and complete irony. It's like watching a farcical play and then just laughing your head off at the end. It's a simple novel with not much thematic depth - but it does have a sense of rising philosophical question about the class system. Be that as it may - it simply made me giggle at the end. Very funny, and very well written.
Verdict:
I give this book 8/9
100% for characters: It wouldn't have been such a great book if it wasn't for Carrie Pooter.
100% for themes: Satire in a Victorian style is always nice to read.
2/3 for storyline: It wasn't the best of the satirical Victorian novels - but it was a great laugh.
This is probably my favourite Dickens novel of all time. It has everything that constitutes as the Victorian Gothic and even has connotations to it in the title.
I found this book when I was 13 and reading Oliver Twist and Tale of Two Cities. I got really into Dickens then and began looking for other stuff and simultaneously (alongside Bleak House) I began reading Great Expectations and Hard Times. I am proud to say that in that year, I had completed the majority of Dickens novels (my second favourite being David Copperfield or even The Pickwick Papers) as I closed the year with Little Dorit and Nicholas Nickleby. I thoroughly believe that Dickens is one of the greatest of the Victorian storytellers - especially where children are concerned.
Characters:
My favourite character was not Esther, but was instead Lady Dedlock. She had the most emotional range in the book - starting of as a secret woman of a sensationalist vibe - she slowly descends into apology and then finally, depression. She ends up in a horrible situation and feels that now her secret has been released - she can never be fully forgiven for her wrong doings. So sad *cries*.
Themes:
My favourite theme was the gothic. From the very beginning of the novel, there is an awesome sense of the gothic setting - the dreary and dark surroundings, the strange yet industrial atmosphere. It is very Victorian in its telling and I really did love the setting descriptions - something that Dickens is known to do well. Covered with great pathetic fallacies, this novel has been written consciously with setting detail in mind.
Storyline:
SPOILER ALERT
Okay, well my favourite part of the book is the image in which Lady Dedlock wanders out into the cold graveyard upon her secrets and wrong doings being found out by Esther and the others. She crouches beside the grave of her former lover (whom she kept secret) - it is so cold that she ultimately dies there. It is a sad ending for her - but it is not the end of the book, maybe only around 3 quarters of the way through.
Verdict:
Since this is my favourite Dickens novel, I will give it 9.
100% for characters: Lady Dedlock is one of my favourite tragic Victorians. She has so much range and seems to become more and more moralistic and humane throughout the novel.
100% for themes: Nobody in the Victorian era writes pathetic fallacy like Dickens. You have to admit that.
100% storyline: Such a Romantic and artistic image that completely juxtaposes the era it is written in - the image of Lady Dedlock's death is so aesthetic that it runs over in grand overtones above the industrial vibes. So very successful.
Okay, so this book happens to be in my top 30 - I can say that when I first read this book I got the same emotional blow from it as The House of the Spirits and took a while to recover. I seem to get more emotional about books than real life events - is that bad?
I found this book when I was browsing the bookshop near where I live and well, it was on sale. I was only about 14 at the time and it looked like quite an emotional read. I had heard about the film adaptation - but really only thought about it when I caught sight of the book. I held its hefty weight in my little asian hands for a time and then read it that very night. Completing that large book in the space of 2 and a half days really goes to show how enthralling it really was for me.
Characters:
My favourite character was Angel. He was that character that was created from dramatic irony and you spend most the book silently screaming to them all of the truths you have discovered. "HE'S YOUR FATHER!" As you point to the character - and "OH MY GOD CANDY! HOW COULD YOU!" Whenever Angel did something that urged on some tearfulness. Angel was truly a great character and his time in St. Cloud's was not wasted - I think though, that it was just so harrowing watching him completely unaware of this.... I'm not gonna give spoilers.
Themes:
My favourite theme was emotional attachment. There is a series of references to emotional attachment in this novel - especially in the orphanage scenes - and the scenes with the abortions. It is clear that many who work at the orphanage want to keep an emotional distance from the babies as they want the kids to be able to transfer quickly and easily. Be that as it may, that is not always the case and it can be quite emotional at times. *cries*
Storyline:
I really enjoyed the part where Angel is born in St. Cloud's. It seems like such an emotive experience - yet there's something missing from it. As if the atmosphere is incomplete or even tainted by something bad. A good juxtaposition on Angel's name as well. I quite enjoyed the writing style of Irving and think that his work is very emotionally charged and when you really get into it - you don't even realise how long the book is. You just don't want it to end.
Verdict:
I give this book 9
100% for characters: I really did love the character of Angel, and also of Candy - she just seemed so incomplete all the time. *cries*
100% for themes: Emotional attachment always gets us going when it comes to novels. I'm more attached to fictional characters than real people. Please, am I crazy?
100% for storyline: Angel's birth is one of the greatest birth scenes I've ever read. It. Was. So. Good.
This book was quite emotionally charged. I found it really strange and not very much to do with the connotative romance in the title. The book itself is full of cunning and secrets all involving a painting - which makes it even more strange. But, at least it's strange in a positive way.
Again, I found this book in Foyles in Brum - saying this, I only picked it up because I thought "well I haven't read a romance in a while" and voila. It wasn't a romance novel. But, I discovered something very odd about this book that makes me like it - not only that the main character and I share a name, but also that there is a strange connection between every single event that happens. It requires you to pay extra attention to it.
Characters:
My favourite character was the main character - Annie. She is a self-devoted woman who gets caught up in unfortunate circumstances in the art world after purchasing a painting and then being framed for murder. Her emotions range from completely emotionless to heartbreaking sobs of delirium. Annie was a great character on the whole - and seriously, she is not actually the one that all the secrets revolve around, so don't be fooled.
Themes:
My favourite theme was secrecy. Much like a piece of really good detective fiction, this novel seems to unravel secret after secret - connecting events from the near future all the way back to the world wars and the nazis. There is a constant guess at who's being a fox and who's being a snake. There's never any real certainty of loyalty - and the title/cover does not give off this vibe. Never judge a book by its cover.
Storyline:
Or should I say storylines ? Well, knowing Annie's story is fine enough - but the background stories to Rebecca's family and Jesse and even the background story to the man who owned the painting before Annie. All of these stories seemingly intertwine and I really do think that this book made you think about events in a bold and exciting way.
Verdict:
I give this book 9
100% for characters: Come on, we have the same name
100% for themes: There's secrets just layered on top of each other.
100% for storyline: There's even a narrative from the painting's perspective. THE PAINTING HAS ITS OWN NARRATIVE! And that ending (gosh, the feelings!)
This book I found whilst searching in Foyles Book Shop in Brum and well - I thought it had a pretty cover and an enigmatic title. That's why I got it.
Having only heard of the series of books via Facebook and Twitter pages - I recognised it immediately as that very same book. I also researched to make sure it was the first one so that I wasn't cheating! All in all, Down Station was a very good book - and a brilliant fantasy novel.
Characters:
My favourite character is Mary. I find her highly relatable. She's volatile, she's courageous, she's outspoken and she's both completely afraid and fearless at the same time. Everything that I am not. (Laughs) Well, Mary is also one of the strangest and most enigmatic fantasy characters I've ever met and you will totally realise that too when you read it.
Themes:
The most developed theme in this book, I believe, is identity. There is a massive sense of identity in the novel with the differences between the characters. As one of the characters say in the book (and I paraphrase) the only reason that the characters were all brought together is by the common fact that they all didn't die. After this, things get messy with the whole arrangement of the groups because of the identities and personality clashes of the individuals involved.
Storyline:
My favourite part of the story was the part where Dalip gets captured really got me stunned for a few chapters. I found this book extremely hard to put down - and since I'm still ill, I had all night to read it, and I can say that it did make me feel better. Until it ended... I really liked that book.
Verdict:
I give this book 9/9
100% for characters: Mary seemed like such a brutal character at times, but I really think Crows changed her moods and the direction of her anger. (And the part with her falling off the cliff ARGHHHH!!! My emotions!)
100% for themes: I love the theme of identity. ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE IS A PUNJABI INVOLVED! I'm probably related to him somehow.... We all are. (Jokes)
100% for storyline: The storyline - I cannot fault it. So much emotion. So much for my heart. I would happily read that book again just to gain the same sensations.
NB:
Yes, I found a Punjabi in the book!
Up-vote for having a Punjabi.
I think you've all worked out that I'm Punjabi.
This book I found whilst rummaging for some good Russian Fiction - and seeing as this is proclaimed the "first major Russian novel" I thought I'd give it a try. It was emotionally harrowing and dystopian as Hell - and that's why I loved it.
Previously, in Russian fiction there's:
- War and Peace
- Anna Karenina
- Everything by Dostoyevsky (because why not?)
- Chekov
- Ibsen
and many more that I've read and enjoyed - I can truly say that upon finishing this novel there was a loud bang on my wall as I threw the book across the room in sheer anger. I loved the book itself, but you will soon learn why I threw it at my wall this plain Sunday morning.
Characters:
My favourite character was Chichikov - I thought he was pretty versatile in emotion. Sometimes he showed a side to him that was emotionally deep and speculative, but that was soon cast out by the sigh of dystopia and the need to be emotionless. You could plainly see his want to keep up with the other dystopian freaks, but he perpetually thought he'd lose his mind any day now. That's what I really loved about his character - his sheer human nature in a world created in the style of a Gothic dystopia.
Themes:
My favourite theme was the difference between being alive and being dead. You will know what it means by "Dead Souls" once you really set into reading this novel. It's quite short and it has this constant reference to the mind and the soul - the mind of the character and the soul of the dead. It's an amazing comparison and I think it needs to be more looked at by the reader (I've read other reviews and they fail to mention the juxtaposition between life and death, much rather they mention it but don't tell you why it's so important - I just did but without giving away anything in the novel).
Storyline:
This is why I threw the book at the wall.
I was so emotionally caught up in this book that I wanted to know the ending this morning. I've been ill for the last couple of days and so my reading has been replaced by being sick perpetually. But, I thought that this morning was the morning that I wanted to finish "Dead Souls" and know what exactly happens at the end of the book.
The last page - I was in the middle of a sentence and then...
(Here the manuscript cuts off)
WHAT?
WHAT? It can't just do that, can it?
No ending? But why?
And so it was thrown.
Verdict:
I give this book 8/9
100% for characters: I loved our very human and very humane main character
100% for themes: The juxtaposition between life and death was amazing, something to look out for when reading
2/3 for storyline: That ending made me mad as hell.
The first time I read this book was in the summer of 2011. It was a strange process because I was just trying to find material I hadn't read - I came across this in a bookstore - the penguin classics edition - and picked it up in hopes of s dystopian horror.
It was something much more cunning than that.
Joseph Conrad is renowned as one of England's greatest authors - and all because of this? Well, "Lord Jim" was pretty good as well - but I think "Heart of Darkness" requires some extra credit here. Starring the eerily machiavellian - yet heroic character of Marlow, a bunch of sailor's embark on the darkest tale at sea since Herman Melville's stories. I truly thought that this book was amazing.
Characters:
My favourite characters are Marlow and Kurtz. Yes, two characters. It is impossible to review on without the other and I find it important that I explain the friendship - is it really a friendship? There is so much ambiguity circling their relations that one could believe that they were simply mutual. There are constant language hints and foreshadowings to a tragedy as well (I won't tell you what that is because I really want you to read it!) that fit into the piece perfectly - almost juxtaposing their friendship.
Themes:
My favourite theme was uncertainty. One thing I love about "Heart of Darkness" is that once you figure out one thing - something else moves out of place. Once you think you've understood a character completely, they do something completely out of character. It is a brilliant book - and I think that the themes are one of the foremost important aspects of it.
Storyline:
I constantly read books with amazing endings - but this ending made me really happy. There's a certain twist right at the end of the book that you can only understand if you've followed the friendship of Kurtz and Marlow very closely. Even then, you may miss it. There's a certain slyness that doesn't finish the book - but does. It is both enraging and satisfying - and that's what I love about it.
Verdict:
I give this book 9
100% for characters: I think that Marlow and Kurtz have the most enigmatic relation of two sailors in a book.
100% for themes: Again, the themes make the book.
100% for storyline: Pay very close attention to their friendship. Very close attention.
Set in the era of the Medici in Renaissance Italy, this book is an adventurous exploration into the life of various aristocratic Italians. Love, danger, secrecy and much more are covered in this novel.
I found this book whilst browsing in Foyles and then, I hadn't even heard of this George Eliot novel - having read all the others. This one, I had to admit was not as enthralling as Middlemarch but was still a good read.
Characters:
My favourite character was Romola, the title character. She seemed like an intelligent woman - headstrong in a group of men who are constantly denying her spirituality as self-belief. There is a form of narcissism amongst the men that is replicated by Romola - but in a way that it is not narcissism, but rather a self-confidence that has no arrogance.
Themes:
My favourite theme was knowledge and the human mind. Romola proves to be a very intelligent human being - but also she proves to outsmart and outwit the other characters. She makes the theme of knowledge a prime motif in the book and recollects her intelligence in helping the story progress both physically and emotionally.
Storyline:
I was quite enthralled in the storyline - even though at times it felt a little bit slow and still. There were many characters that had difficult names and I felt that the best part of the story - again - was the ending. The ending to the book had a sense of closure that was extremely emotional and exhaled the real spirit of the novel.
Verdict:
I give this book 8/9
100% for characters: A very headstrong woman in Renaissance Italy has yet to be explored until "Romola"
100% for themes: I think theme and character go hand-in-hand in this novel especially.
2/3 for storyline: Just because sometimes, it felt a bit slow - but I did love the ending.
This Jack London book, I remember reading when I started secondary school because I thought that maybe because it was a book about animals - it would be one of those childhood stories that you can really find hilarious.
Do not be fooled.
This book was far from hilarious and was actually more of a metaphor for the 'divide and conquer' rule of the British Empire. It's gory and tragic - and the fact that it contains animals just makes it even more upsetting.
Characters:
My favourite character was Thornton. He seemed like the father-figure of the group and the one with the greatest amount of courage. A tragic character with all the archetypal hero qualities, he was one character that I felt more three dimensional and emotive than a lot of human characters in books. He was just so heartbreaking that...well, I cried. Big surprise there.
Themes:
The best theme, I believe, in this book was nationalism. The fact that natives are killed in the book really stood out for me. The title The Call of the Wild even suggests some sort of savagery in itself. There is a massive question about who is right and who is wrong and why. It's deep and meaningful imagery seem to shock themselves from the page - and only then can we begin to understand.
Storyline:
The ending was probably the most important part of the whole book. It seemed like everything just stops and that's it - when really, there is a denouement - there is an ending, but it's so subtle that you don't realise it's happening. Especially with all the heartbreak and emotional tearing up and stuff - that might be a problem.
Verdict:
I give this book 8/9
100% for characters: Thornton I felt, was the greatest character of them all.
100% for themes: There is something about savagery and nationalism that makes it seem so realistic. You really need to read it to feel that.
2/3 for storyline: It was just too short. I wanted it to be pulled out longer so I had time to collect my feelings. Jack London was just like, "well ain't nobody care about your feelings, next chapter!"
Renowned as one of the greatest novels of the English language, I will tell you exactly what sets this book aside from others.
I first read this book when I was 17 and doing my A Levels. I have quite an old copy of the book - but it is a Wordsworth classic edition - so you can imagine that it has been kept in great condition.
Forgive me, this is written in a moving car.
Characters:
My favourite character was Lydgate - he seemed the most three dimensional of them all. Whilst living in 1820s - the entire character of Lydgate was a tragic - yet poetically brilliant character with such intricate design.
Themes:
My favourite theme was place. The whole aspect of Middlemarch as a place was the reason for various love stories, tragedies, idealists and optimists. The place always seems to be the link between people and emotion though. That's really what I loved.
Storyline:
I truly loved the ending. It was one of the best endings in literature that I've ever read. I would advise you to read it - and I'm sorry that I cannot do more since I'm in a moving car and it is very difficult to type and concentrate here. But, I will let you know, it's amazing.
Verdict:
I give this book 9
100% for characters: Every character just seemed to fit in. Nobody seemed completely out of place, they all had reason.
100% for themes: No other novel does what "Middlemarch" does in terms of place.
100% for storyline: The novel seriously lives up to its title.
But, it seems like I'm reading Romola at the moment.
So I recently finished this book - and apart from the bohemian undertones I could feel - I can say that there was no hipster here. It was very self-inflicted and extremely passionate. All of this without sounding forced. As you can tell, this is gonna be a positive review.
I first looked at "M Train" when I was in a Foyles book store in the "3 for 2" section. I browsed for a while and then picked up this book that I knew I had seen on a book-based Facebook page. After reading the blurb I ultimately thought that this would be a wannabe-bohemian going through the typical tortured artist routine blah blah blah.
But no, this was something else entirely.
Characters:
My favourite character was Fred. He seemed to be spoken about with such loyalty and dignity - but all of every emotion that noted him was tinged with sadness and tragedy. I think that the most important construction of Fred's character was the fact that the narrator formed his 3 dimensional image and then tore it right back down again.
Themes:
My favourite theme was tragedy and redemption. There was an autonomy in this that was almost as if it was routine. Everything that was narrated with hinted with an uncertain sadness and when tragedy does hit - everything goes right back to the beginning and a new clock starts again. The redemption is almost unwilling and yet - it is completely necessary.
Storyline:
The ending was the most complete part for me. There was something about the ending that made me just think of the start and the middle and everything in between. It was very complete - yet it was passive and had something missing. It had something missing on purpose - as if to say that there is no real ending. That life goes on. And whatever happens to you or anyone else - time just continues.
Verdict:
I give this book 9
100% for characters: Fred was my favourite character and will remain so.
100% for themes: Tragedy, sadness, redemption, the passage of time... They're brilliantly done.
100% for storyline: The ending was something that I've never read from another writer. It was a beautifully poetic book.
Now, if you loved "The Great Gatsby" - you will really love "A Diamond as Big as the Ritz". But, if you hated it, you'll probably think that this is a better storytelling effort.
I first read this book after finishing "The Great Gatsby" when I was around 16 years old. I didn't think much of Gatsby, but I read this different and darker story instead. I thought that we were seriously mistaken as to what we regard as Fitzgerald's masterpiece.
Characters:
My favourite character was Percy. For all the asshole he is in the novel - this character is by far the most intriguing as he fails to comprehend that his family history (that traces back to George Washington) is filled with slavery, unnatural death and decadence in the most cruel and torturous of fashions. Percy talks about his grandfather a lot - and when we go back into his history we only get darker and darker as the story progresses...
Themes:
My favourite theme was the price of excess. Percy's history shows the vile prices of excess by being sickly lavish and ravishing everything from slaves to diamonds. It's a cruel story with a dark and twisted excessiveness that only brings out all the wrongs with every single character of the Washington family.
Storyline:
I quite enjoyed the explanation of family history throughout the novella. It's pretty straight forward and doesn't try to sound more intelligent than everyone else. I think that was the real message; the verboseness of Percy and his family are reflected of the need to be simplistic and realistic. These are then juxtaposed and lead straight to tragedy.
Verdict:
I give this novella 8/9
100% for characters: I enjoyed these more than Gatsby and Daisy - by far.
100% for themes: Who better to concentrate on tragedy and excess than F Scott Fitzgerald himself?
2/3 for storyline: I would've liked it to be longer. I felt a bit disconnected, but then again - I also believe that the emotional detachment was the whole point of the novella.
A strange exploration of the Shakespearean antagonist of The Merchant of Venice - this book explores the entirety of the theme of jewishness and honour in details I cannot describe here. There was always a certain question of honour than underlined the book - but if you love Shakespeare, you'll absolute adore this epic tale of one of his finest characters.
When I first read The Merchant of Venice I got many meanings from it at the same time - I must've been around 14-ish and thought that maybe Shylock's Jewishness could be resolved; maybe he didn't have all of his identity stripped from him. But, in this new and exciting tale of the recovery of honour - I think all my questions have been answered.
Characters:
My favourite character was Beatrice. She goes from strength to strength reflecting at first, Jessica. The woman who is jewish and does not marry a jew. Beatrice has not yet married and is in love with a non-jewish man, much to the discontent of Strulovitch, her father. As Strulovitch meets a strange man in a cemetery by the name of Shylock - Beatrice becomes less like Jessica in her unforgiving natures.
Themes:
My favourite theme in this book (I know it's more of a symbol than a theme) - but it was flesh and blood. An extremely famous line from The Merchant of Venice and spoken by Shylock, this line resonates as the perfect symbol of honour. The flesh of a human - the relations and flashbacks to Antonio's trail (4.1) - and even the blood that is spilt. But, saying this, my favourite image of flesh and blood was most probably the dead body of Leah - Shylock's wife. Shylock visits her grave daily and there is constant small hints to the 'cold' and her dead body. It's beautifully poetic and I loved it.
Storyline:
For those who think this is extended Shakespeare fan-fiction - it isn't. It's an exploration and adaptation of character. It's a story that revolves around the act of forgiveness and honour. It's a story that constantly questions everyone's identity and loyalty and there is no room for compromise. I found it beautifully told and I heavily recommend this to others.
Verdict:
I give this book 10/9
100% for characters: I loved all the characters in this book - there was so much fine detail to pick out and I loved every aspect of the three dimensional nature of them
4/3 for themes: I don't think anyone could've written better themes in a book that echoes The Merchant of Venice
100% for storyline: It is wonderfully told and has brilliant timing with fine detail and a steady pace which makes it all the more readable.
All in all, Mr Shakespeare would've been very proud of this if he saw it!
I get it, it's a short story - but I just had to do a review of this because I enjoyed it so much. It was a brilliant read and I seriously recommend it to anyone looking beyond Poe.
I first discovered HP Lovecraft in the midst of studying for my GCSEs; I initially read The Call of Cthulhu and it was awesome. I can definitely say that I made a mistake by putting him away for so long - so I restarted with The Alchemist and trusted in Lovecraft to give me a spine-chilling psychodrama.
I was not disappointed.
Characters:
My favourite character was the narrator as I enjoyed seeing his reaction to the stranger. The introduction to the use of language tells us quite a bit about his character and that he may just be a psychotic (as suggested by the rustic natural imagery at the beginning). There is a certain tragedy in the character that I think is quintessential to creating that atmosphere.
Themes:
My favourite theme was most probably nature and decay. I thought the use of nature and decay for the psychological state of the main character was a very clever symbolic statement by Lovecraft. It is also used to great extents successfully in other stories by him.
Storyline:
So there wasn't much in the story because it was so short. But, I can say that Lovecraft never fails to impress with his chilling storylines. This one was perfect and I'm not going to say very much more because I'm afraid I'll give away too much. Read this eerie psychodrama for yourself and see exactly why HP Lovecraft is one of the great horror writers.
Verdict:
I give this short story 9
100% for characters: An epic 1st person narrator who hints at secrecy and madness
100% for themes: I always love a bit of nature and decay
100% for storyline: How Lovecraft packs so much horror into such a small story always eludes me.
