Strange... I wrote a review of the Outsiders yesterday, and now it's disappeared....
Let me try to recall what I wrote.
I really liked the story; it flowed well, and revolved around an underlying concept which is revealed near the end. Right up to the last page I felt it would be a perfect 5 stars, but then it turns a little too teenager-trying-to-change-the-world for my liking. Basically at the end of tragedy, the protagonist Ponyboy thinks to himself "How can I put meaning into such meaningless tragedy? Oh I know! I'll write about it, so that all the other kids like me can read and learn from my mistakes!" And he writes the first lines of the book. Wow. Cliche, much?
Oh, one more thing. It reminds me of a more modern version of Catcher in the Rye.
I work in the mall, and the other day a girl came shopping with her baby duck.
It was adorable, so I'd have to agree that ducklings are small things that make me immeasureably happy as well.
:)
The Other Boleyn Girl started out as an interesting idea. It portrays a portion of history in a mostly truthful but still entertaining way.
However, the 500 some pages were unnecessary. The decriptions went on for much longer than I care to read, turning the book into more of a costume romance than an historical fiction.
I think next time I'll get my dose of history from the non-fiction section.
Welcome to the Monkeyhouse is a great collection of short stories. Some were sad, most were funny, and one or two were cute.
My favourite was Harrison Bergeron.
I'm actually about to finish the collection, I just wanted to add those select stories to the list.
I love Kurt Vonnegut Jr, and Welcome to the Monkeyhouse is one of my favourite works yet.
Lady Oracle was certainly not my favourite Atwood work, although I don't think it's the worst, either. I enjoyed the action; there was a lot more happening in this story than in any of the others, which made it seem more fast-paced. It was difficult to put down; I really had no idea what was going to happen, right to the last page.
Overall, an exciting read, but also complicated and confusing.
The two stories I've had a chance to read from Welcome to the Monkeyhouse are excellent.
Harrison Bergeron deals with the idea of 'normalizing' the entire population, while Welcome to the Monkeyhouse gives us one solution to the world's overpopulation. This novel is unquestionably an important addition to any utopian-themed collection; how could such a collection exist without the dry humour found in Vonnegut's work?
The Red Tent tells the story of Dinah (and her family) from a woman's point of view. Women were the rich and secret background to the more visual males. It kind of makes me, as a woman, feel part of a secret society.
I like the way this almost compliments the Bible (taken as an account of the past, not a religious text) as the female side of the story.
Lucky was about what I expected. The story of her rape and beating, complete down to the most terrifying detail. It was startling the way the book jumped right into the rape, but after the shock factor wears off it's quite obvious the author is focusing on what happened after the rape; that it hasn't remained the focus of her life.
A few memorable quotes:
"But can you speak those sentences to the people you love? Tell them you were urinated on or that you kissed back because you did not want to die?" 61
same page
"You save yourself or you remain unsaved."
White Oleander is beautiful. Her prose style flows so wonderfully, it was like reading poetry. I've been reading it for days, intermittently between working, but I could never quite get my mind out of the book, thinkning about the situations Astrid recalls from her childhood, or the cruelty of her foster care givers, or especially the mother-daughter relationship.
I'm not sure if I'm pleased or upset with the ending. Was Astrid just following her path as set out by mother?
Martian Chronicles was a collection of interconnected short stories relating to the colonization of Mars. Part of the collection is a story I read recently in one of my courses, "There Will Come Soft Rains", which is a beautiful piece.
Most of the stories were brilliant, but I felt there were a few that didn't quite match with the others.
I find Ray Bradbury to write with extreme insight into our fallacies, without sounding preachy. I enjoy the touch of humor that goes into each of his works. In this collection it took the Americans four expeditions to land on the planet, while the rest of the world was in deep turmoil and on the verge of war.
Some pieces tie in with Fahrenheit 451, though I'm not sure of the order in which they were created.
I Know This Much was tremendously long, and dragged a bit, but overall was a good story. As I've mentioned before, a good ending can make or break a story. In this case, the ending was great!
A quote from the last page: "love grows from the rich loam of forgiveness; mongrels make good dogs; the evidence of God exists in the roundness of things."
I found the book to be very round itself, but still realistically.
I didn't really see any value in it, unless it allows other people in the same mindset to feel less alone.
I don't know anyone on antidepressants or any of the other medications she used, so I can't relate.
Any particular they seemed to love it so much? I mean, they are called bestsellers for a reason. I just can't find it in there.
Strange... I wrote a review of the Outsiders yesterday, and now it's disappeared....
Let me try to recall what I wrote.
I really liked the story; it flowed well, and revolved around an underlying concept which is revealed near the end. Right up to the last page I felt it would be a perfect 5 stars, but then it turns a little too teenager-trying-to-change-the-world for my liking. Basically at the end of tragedy, the protagonist Ponyboy thinks to himself "How can I put meaning into such meaningless tragedy? Oh I know! I'll write about it, so that all the other kids like me can read and learn from my mistakes!" And he writes the first lines of the book. Wow. Cliche, much?
Oh, one more thing. It reminds me of a more modern version of Catcher in the Rye.
I work in the mall, and the other day a girl came shopping with her baby duck.
It was adorable, so I'd have to agree that ducklings are small things that make me immeasureably happy as well.
:)
The Other Boleyn Girl started out as an interesting idea. It portrays a portion of history in a mostly truthful but still entertaining way.
However, the 500 some pages were unnecessary. The decriptions went on for much longer than I care to read, turning the book into more of a costume romance than an historical fiction.
I think next time I'll get my dose of history from the non-fiction section.
Welcome to the Monkeyhouse is a great collection of short stories. Some were sad, most were funny, and one or two were cute.
My favourite was Harrison Bergeron.
I'm actually about to finish the collection, I just wanted to add those select stories to the list.
I love Kurt Vonnegut Jr, and Welcome to the Monkeyhouse is one of my favourite works yet.
Lady Oracle was certainly not my favourite Atwood work, although I don't think it's the worst, either. I enjoyed the action; there was a lot more happening in this story than in any of the others, which made it seem more fast-paced. It was difficult to put down; I really had no idea what was going to happen, right to the last page.
Overall, an exciting read, but also complicated and confusing.
The two stories I've had a chance to read from Welcome to the Monkeyhouse are excellent.
Harrison Bergeron deals with the idea of 'normalizing' the entire population, while Welcome to the Monkeyhouse gives us one solution to the world's overpopulation. This novel is unquestionably an important addition to any utopian-themed collection; how could such a collection exist without the dry humour found in Vonnegut's work?
The Red Tent tells the story of Dinah (and her family) from a woman's point of view. Women were the rich and secret background to the more visual males. It kind of makes me, as a woman, feel part of a secret society.
I like the way this almost compliments the Bible (taken as an account of the past, not a religious text) as the female side of the story.
Lucky was about what I expected. The story of her rape and beating, complete down to the most terrifying detail. It was startling the way the book jumped right into the rape, but after the shock factor wears off it's quite obvious the author is focusing on what happened after the rape; that it hasn't remained the focus of her life.
A few memorable quotes:
"But can you speak those sentences to the people you love? Tell them you were urinated on or that you kissed back because you did not want to die?" 61
same page
"You save yourself or you remain unsaved."
Why so many versions of the Bible, as well as the Book of Mormon?
White Oleander is beautiful. Her prose style flows so wonderfully, it was like reading poetry. I've been reading it for days, intermittently between working, but I could never quite get my mind out of the book, thinkning about the situations Astrid recalls from her childhood, or the cruelty of her foster care givers, or especially the mother-daughter relationship.
I'm not sure if I'm pleased or upset with the ending. Was Astrid just following her path as set out by mother?
Martian Chronicles was a collection of interconnected short stories relating to the colonization of Mars. Part of the collection is a story I read recently in one of my courses, "There Will Come Soft Rains", which is a beautiful piece.
Most of the stories were brilliant, but I felt there were a few that didn't quite match with the others.
I find Ray Bradbury to write with extreme insight into our fallacies, without sounding preachy. I enjoy the touch of humor that goes into each of his works. In this collection it took the Americans four expeditions to land on the planet, while the rest of the world was in deep turmoil and on the verge of war.
Some pieces tie in with Fahrenheit 451, though I'm not sure of the order in which they were created.
Nanny Diaries was good. Sometimes funny, sometimes inspiring, sometimes sad. A quick read, perfect for summer.
However, why does it take two people to write such a book?
I Know This Much was tremendously long, and dragged a bit, but overall was a good story. As I've mentioned before, a good ending can make or break a story. In this case, the ending was great!
A quote from the last page: "love grows from the rich loam of forgiveness; mongrels make good dogs; the evidence of God exists in the roundness of things."
I found the book to be very round itself, but still realistically.
I didn't really see any value in it, unless it allows other people in the same mindset to feel less alone.
I don't know anyone on antidepressants or any of the other medications she used, so I can't relate.
Any particular they seemed to love it so much? I mean, they are called bestsellers for a reason. I just can't find it in there.