More mini-reviews - India, dystopia and turn-of-the-century Paris

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
I actually wanted to do a separate post about this book, but I read it back in August and left it so late and I've forgotten all the things I wanted to say. What stayed with me most, I think, is the feeling that I'm very lucky to be living where I'm living. I read this book - with its descriptions of the harsh realities of life in the slums and life as hired help for the rich - while on holiday in a lovely cottage in Wales, so I guess thoughts of gratitude were inevitable. The White Tiger is the story of Balram, a man born into a poor Indian family, but who isn't prepared to accept his fate, but instead dreams of escape. He eventually creates his own truth about what that means and about what successful people are prepared to do to get and keep success - and acts accordingly. A fantastic book, incredibly well-written, tackling interesting issues and exposing parts of the human soul that most of us don't like to think about... What are you prepared to do to get the life you want? The White Tiger won the Man Booker Prize in 2008.

Holes by Louis Sachar
This is what I read in one day when I was sick at home and trying to read A Discovery of Witches. I'm so glad I put that book down and picked up Holes instead, what a difference! Stanley Yelnats is accused of stealing a pair of shoes and is sent to Camp Green Lake as punishment. But Camp Green Lake is nothing like what it sounds - there is a warden who makes the boys dig holes all day, every day. No choice and no way out. Why? What's behind the digging? What's the truth about Stanley's family? Great book - it won the Newbery Medal in 1999 and the National Book Award in 1998, with good reason.

Gigi and The Cat by Colette
This is actually two books, which I didn't realise until I bought it! Gigi is on my 2011 list from Alex a.k.a. The Sleepless Reader - I didn't know the story and I enjoyed the turn-of-the-century Paris story of a young girl who everyone was trying to mould into a woman. I love how she thinks and I love how she turns out in the end. Charming. Strangely, since I'm a total musical fan, I've never seen the movie, but now I'll have to. I've never even heard of the second novella, The Cat, before, but I liked it even more than I liked Gigi! It's about a young couple where the man is more interested in his cat than in his young bride. And the young bride is jealous! I loved the slightly creepy feel to it, especially as the man became more and more like the cat.... Very Kafka-esque. Thanks Alex, for enriching my life with these classics!

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

What took me so long? People around me have been loving Jane Austen for a very long time and I still held on to my 'classic are boring' frame of mind. I've been making such an effort to read more classics in the past few years and I'm happy with how I'm doing - but I was still wary of Jane Austen. How can a love story set 'back then' be of any interest? How can it compare with today's chick lit books? I won't be able to relate!

So. Not. True.

I absolutely loved Pride and Prejudice when I read it in December. I loved Lizzie and her defiance and her softness. I loved Jane and her calmness and wisdom. I loved their father and the way he looked at a life he wasn't entirely happy with. I loved Darcy. The mom and some of the sisters got on my nerves at times, but it wouldn't have been a very good story without them.

I felt so much while I was reading this. The emotion is incredible. And Austen's humor, wit, sarcasm were all completely, utterly unexpected. Pride and Prejudice was a real pleasure to read and I can't wait to read another Austen.

I ordered the BBC adaptation from Amazon. And in the meantime watched Bridget Jones, she has a Darcy too, right? :-)

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Finally, this book has been on my list practically forever, I finally got to it! Can you believe that although I've heard of Dracula of course, I'd never seen the films so I didn't actually know the story? Seriously, you'd think I've been living under a rock or something.

The main thing that I didn't expect from Bram Stoker's Dracula was that it wasn't about Dracula, in that it wasn't a story told from his perspective. I kind of assumed that it would be. So I was surprised at how many other characters were involved and that it was a tale of a whole bunch of people.

Once I got used to that, I really, really liked it. I liked the historical side of it and I enjoyed the pretty-society-meets-vampire aspect of it. I loved that it was written as a series of journal entries by various characters and that it had things like letters and newspaper clipping thrown in as well.

I didn't find it spooky, but I imagine that the films took care of that. :-) It's an interesting classic that I wasn't expecting to enjoy as much as I did.

Oh, but just like in Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband, the attitude towards women sometimes really made me angry. Every time a woman made progress in the case or came up with a brilliant idea (which was often), the men would think things like 'She thinks like a man'. How did we ever manage to overcome such widely spread prejudice? Did we overcome it at all?

Bram Stoker is another author who I didn't know was Irish. I feel like I'm being led towards Irish authors lately, I'm not sure why. The other author I recently read and didn't know was Irish was Oscar Wilde - Stoker and Wilde knew each other too, which I think is a really bizarre coincidence in my recent reading.

Challenges: R.I.P. Challenge, 1% Well-Read Challenge

An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde

Does anyone else gets pissy when they read lines like his one of Lady Chiltern's?

"A man's life is of more value than a woman's. It has larger issues, wider scope, greater ambitions. Our liives revolve around the curve of emotions. It is upon lines of intellect that a man's life progresses."

Seriously, I realise that this was normal at the time An Ideal Husband was written, but I'm unable to rise above my modern views! I also realise that it might be Wilde making fun of society, which his comedies were for... But it still really pisses me off! Anyone with me?

Other than that, I really like Oscar Wilde's societal comedies. This is my second one, after The Importance of Being Earnest, and I enjoyed it just as much. I love the way he uses language to draw his characters. Which in a play is doubly important, but when someone does it this well I am still amazed.

Very enjoyable, quick read. And if you know anything about Victorian London and want to see someone make fun of it, this play will put a smile on your face!

By the way, did you know that Oscar Wilde was Irish? I always thought that he was English, that's what I remember from school, but I was corrected on this very, very quickly.

I read this on a free book application on my iPhone, to see if I mind reading electronically before I invest in a Kindle... I prefer regular books, but it's certainly nice to have access to all kinds of reading material wherever you go. I think the Kindle is a definite yes.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson

This was my first Persephone book, i.e. my first book printed by a publisher who rescues and reprints neglected classics of the 20th century, mostly by female authors. I think that it's an incredible thing for a publisher to do and I will happily read others - any recommendations?

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is incredibly enjoyable. The story is about a middle-aged spinster who works as a nanny and hates is. She is looking for a new position and is sent to the house of Miss LaFosse, a lounge singer who to Miss Pettigrew appears to be quite outrageous. This initial reaction turns into adoration and admiration, leading to an addiction to the exciting events that happen in Miss LaFosse's life. No children are to be seen anywhere but there isn't time to ask Miss Lafosse about the vacant position, Miss Pettigrew is too busy sorting out love lives and giving life advice. And falling in love herself too.

The book is charming. Amazon calls it a Cinderella story for adults and it's true - lovely characters, a belief in the power of love and a beautifully happy ending make this the ultimate feel-good story.

Oh and it's written and set in the 1930s, which adds to its charm immensely.

Positively lovely.

Challenges: Women Unbound, 1% Well-Read

Mrs. Dalloway

I just can't, can't, can't cope with finishing this book. I got half-way through it and found myself forcing myself to read just a few more pages. As in 'read 10 more pages and then you can read something else for a while'. Doesn't sound like fun reading time does it? :-)

I'll probably find that everyone else in the world loved this book, but to me it was boring and confusing and all over the place. My mind kept wandering so I kept losing my grasp on who was talking.

I like stream-of-consciousness writing and since I loved Michael Cunningham's The Hours so much I thought I'd at least like the book that inspired him. But I thought he used the style in a much more engaging way.

At least I tried. And I refuse to let those thoughts of 'maybe classics aren't for me' into my head. I've enjoyed plenty of them, plus I haven't read anything Jane Austen yet and I'm told that I can't quit classics till I try her!

Challenges: 1% Well-Read Challenge, 999 Challenge, My Year of Reading Dangerously, Rescue Challenge, TBR Challenge

The Little Prince

I read this (or re-read it actually) by accident, because I still didn't have anything read for the Celebrate the Author challenge and today, June 29, is the birthday of Antoine De Saint-Exupery. I read it online here and although I know that it's much nicer to read it in book format and probably also in the original French, it was still as delightful as I remembered it to be.

The Little Prince is one of those children's books with a simple story and a magical message that appeals to adults as well. If it doesn't appeal then you've left it too long between re-readings. :-)

Basically, a little prince ends up on Earth and encounters an airman whose plane has crashed in the desert. They start an unlikely friendship and the airman gets to hear about the little prince's adventures on his own planet and on the planets he visited on his way to Earth.

The messages about children and how much of the beauty of childhood we lose when we become adults are wonderful. Only children understand certain things, see certain things. As adults we forget to look with our hearts, for example. We forget what's really important.

I'm sure you've all read this at some point, but if you haven't then you must.

Oh and the illustrations are fantastic. Really a part of the story.

I feel all young and innocent now! :-)

Challenges: 999 Challenge, Celebrate the Author, Classics Challenge, Orbis Terrarum

A Midsummer Night's Dream

I haven't read any Shakespeare for ages, but I needed a book for the Every Month is a Holiday challenge and it also increased my numbers of the Once Upon a Time III challenge, so I went for it.

I remember why I don't read a lot of Shakespeare - although I understand the story through the strange wordings, I still don't understand every single line. That in itself isn't a problem, but I WANT to understand every single line. Every single word even.

When I was in college we had an English Lit professor who taught Shakespeare plays as a class - one play per semester. You went through the play word by word and got to understand it all. I loved that level of detail. Reading A Midsummer Night's Dream in a more relaxed way, like I just did, feels like I cheated and like I've been cheated too.

I liked it though. I'm pagan so anything about the magical Midsummer would appeal to me anyway and I loved reading about the havoc wreaked by these particular fairies. I'd never read any of Shakespeare's 'lighter' plays so this was new territory for me... who knew that he'd have fairies in his plays? Although he does have witches and ghosts so maybe it shouldn't have been that surprising.

Anyway. I won't go through the plot because most of you probably know it. But I will say that if you have never read it, it's worth picking it up. It's especially worth it to follow Carl's lead and read it in June, around Midsummer itself. Makes you feel magical yourself!

Challenges: 999 Challenge, Centuries Challenge, Classics Challenge, Every Month is a Holiday, Once Upon a Time III, Orbis Terrarum

Slaughterhouse 5

I've always wondered what the title of Kurt Vonnegut's anti-war novella referred to, now I know that it's the address of where American prisoners-of-war were kept in Dresden towards the end of WWII. The book is in fact about Vonnegut's experience of the bombing of Dresden, although it doesn't really come up that often.

Slaughterhouse 5 reminded me of Catch-22 by Joseph Heller to which it's been compared many times. When I read Catch-22 last year, I thought it could have been shorter. Vonnegut got the length right, I think. Anyway, the main similarity is of course the topic of the absurdity of war - the story is about Billy, who (yes) is present at the bombing of Dresden, but who also time-travels, gets kidnapped by aliens and displayed in a zoo and is an optometrist by trade. The whole thing is absurd, but with very engaging language making it exceptionally witty.

There are a few things in particular that stayed with me. This passage:

She upset Billy simply by being his mother. She made him feel embarassed and ungrateful and weak because she had gone to so much trouble to give him life, and to keep that life going, and Billy didn't really like life at all.

Also, I enjoyed the way that the aliens that kidnapped Billy looked at life and death. Basically, when you died it was only in that moment and since time was not consecutive but happened all at the same time, there were still millions of moments in which you were alive. I liked all the talk of a fourth dimension too - that's where the vampires live, for example. :-)

And - a saying that went around by email thousand of times that I really like seems to have originated in this book. Although it could be taken from somewhere too, I guess:

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference.

This is very pertinent to my current life situation so really struck a chord.

Definitely a book that deserves to be read. I wonder what else of Vonnegut's is interesting!

Challenges: A-Z Challenge, Numbers Challenge, 1% Well-read Challenge, 999 Challenge, Support your Local Library, War through the Generations

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes... But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes

These two books were written by Anita Loos, the first was published in 1925 and the second in 1927. They are both diaries written by Lorelei Lee, a pretty flapper living it up in the 1920s. The subtitle of the first book is 'Diary of a Professional Lady', so I'm sure you get the idea.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is Lorelei's diary about her day-to-day life, her relationships with various men, her trip to Europe and her getting married. She is hilarious - she is striving for intellectual knowledge and loves to learn things. She thinks she is educated and fairly high-class, which makes her social gaffes even funnier. She is very likable. I enjoyed listening to her adventures and her interpretation of how the world works and what men are for.

But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes is in Lorelei's voice once again, but tells the story of her friend. I thought this was much, much weaker... kind of more of the same.

Apparently, Anita Loos got the idea to write these books when she noticed that all the men around her were falling over the blonde in the room and paying no attention to her, a brunette, even though she was pretty and intelligent. I liked that bit of information, I like knowing where an author is coming from.

These books are the pre-cursors of chick-lit - all about men and going out and getting jewellery - entertaining and fluffy.

Challenges: A-Z Challenge, Audiobook Challenge, Classics Challenge, Decades Challenge

The Outsiders

I can't believe that the author, S.E. Hinton, is a girl! Well, a woman by now, but you know what I mean. Wow, am I impressed with this book! My friend Elaine lent it to me because it's one of her favorites. It took me a while to get to it, because I thought I wouldn't really be into the subject - the book is about teenage boys, gang stuff, etc. But wow, The Outsiders goes straight onto my favorites of the year list.

The book is narrated by Ponyboy - that's his real name, it says so on his birth certificate. One of his brothers is called Sodapop. :-) Anyway, Ponyboy is a Greaser - part of a group of underprivileged boys known for greasing their hair back and for being rough and tough. These are the boys no one believes in and who always get accused first when something goes wrong. They are in constant conflict with the Socs - the rich kids. 'Socs' is pronouned 'Soashes', short for 'Socials' - I pronounced it 'socks' all the way through and it didn't lessen my enjoyment of the book.

The story is about so much - growing up, being poor, loving your family and friends, being loyal, class differences, tolerance and so much more. Several things struck me specifically:

Firstly, I loved the scenes where Ponyboy and his two brothers hung out together. The warmth of their feelings for one another practically jumped off the pages. Actually friends were family too, so I felt this warmth a lot. It was a lovely opposite to some of the rough behavior.

Secondly, I loved how Ponyboy realised that rich or poor, everyone has problems. And that it's humanly possible for him to relate to some of the Socs too.

Thirdly, I loved that not everything ended happily. Some characters go over the problems and some didn't. That's life. In fact, the author herself said that she wanted to write something that showed teen life as it was. Nothing realistic existed at that time (1960s).

This would be the place to mention that, probably because of the realism, The Outsiders has been banned and challenged numerous times. Too much violence, the kids smoke and some drink and (can you imagine?) most of them come from broken homes. The fact that this is primarily a book about being a good, tolerant and loving person doesn't seem to help.

I loved Ponyboy, his brothers and their friends. And I'm amazed by this author - she started writing this when she was 15! I am now very curious about her other books, although I can't imagine how she could ever match this.

Challenges: A-Z Challenge, 999 Challenge, Banned Book Challenge, Decades Challenge, New Authors, YA Challenge

The Metamorphosis

I'm sure I read Kafka's The Metamorphosis at school, but I couldn't remember much, so when I noticed it on DailyLit I subscribed.

It's the story of Gregor, a man who one day wakes up to find that he is a giant insect. His first thoughts about this situation relate to work and not being able to show up on time. He works for some very strict people and although he hates it, he does it so that he can support his family who have financial problems. He loses his job quickly of course and the family have to fend for themselves. They take care of Gregor to a certain basic extent - they clean his room and bring him food - but they are disgusted by him and wish he were gone. When he does go, they are relieved that their hardship is over.

There is alot of analysis of this story on the internet, but apprently scholars can't agree on what it really means. I guess what struck me was that Gregor sacrificed his life for his family, to be able to support them, and they didn't really appreciate it. I know that when I'm in situations that seem very hard, I end up wishing I could just give up, even if logically I know I can't. I tend to wish that something would happen to change the situation, something I can't even think of.This is what happened to Gregor, I think. Something happened to get him out of the unsatisfying situation he was in and he could just give up.

I also though a lot about being different and alienated while I was reading this. OK granted, turning into a bug is an extreme example and I'm sure I wouldn't treat Gregor in the same way if I was there, but still... you have to wonder if his family would have taken care of him if he was unable to work for other reasons. He became something different and was no longer needed.

He must have been really lonely too, not to really mind turning into a bug. He didn't seem too concerned with his new state...

I guess the point of my rambling is that I don't really know what I'm talking about. :-) I enjoyed reading Kafka's novella and I can see how it touches on a whole variety of issues, but I don't really see the big picture. I feel better about this knowing that scholars haven't really figured it out either.

Kafka is an interesting person though, Czech but living under German-speaking rule in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and I'd like to read some of this other works.

Challenges: A-Z Challenge, 999 Challenge, Decades Challenge, Jewish Literature (Kafka was Jewish!), Orbis Terrarum, What an Animal

Aesop's Fables

I really enjoyed my audio version of this. The narrator was great and even did some of the animal voices! :-) A nice and quick listen.

I knew that Aesop lived in Ancient Greece (around 620-560 BC) but I didn't know that he was a slave. Apparently there isn't much information on him except that he was freed at some point and that he died in Delphi. Although some scholars claim that he never existed, he is refered to by both Aristophanes and Plato in some of their works. So I guess he did exist after all.

Fables are short tales involving animals, each with a moral at the end. The morals concern lots of areas of life - how to behave, how to relate to people, how to survive, how to be nice and good. I like that animals and plants and ancient Greek Gods are used to illustrate lessons.

There were many that made me smile as I was listening, but of course I can't remember any right now. :-) But I'll give you another interesting piece of information that I read on Wikipedia - the first printed English version came out in 1484.

I will also say that I was surprised that some of the concepts that we all know today actually come from Aesop - like The Boy who Cried Wolf and the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. Many others are also recognisable.

Anyway, these simple life truths are definitely worth listening to, if you haven't done so already.

Challenges: 999 Challenge, Audiobook Challenge, Casual Classics Challenge, Centuries Challenge, Lost in Translation, What an Animal

The Time Machine

The Time Machine was my first book by H.G. Wells and I owe my discovery of this fantastic author to Nymeth, who in her recent review mentioned that it's available online here.

Reading this online has been a great way to use my coffee breaks and lunchtimes. I will definitely check out loads of the other classics available there when time allows.

The Time Machine itself was very enjoybale and I plan to read more by H.G. Wells. I've certainly always wanted to read War of the Worlds so that might be next. The story is told by an unnamed narrator who hears it told by a man known only as The Time Traveller. He is sceptical at first, but is convinced that time travel is possible by the end of the story.

And what a story! The Time Traveller travels to the year 802,701 and finds life on Earth very different from what he knows in his own time. The people are happy and peaceful and he assumes that this is the natural progression of intellect. I don't want to give away anything about the story, but obviously there are a few twists and surprises.

What I liked most about it is what I also liked about Lois Lowry's The Giver - the question of do we really want peace and quiet and order and what it will really look like once we achieve it.

I was also very impressed by how far ahead of his time H.G. Wells was. Even the chapters where he travels even further than 802,701 show are realistic. I hope not, but you never know, with the direction our planet is going in!

The books was published in 1895 and contains in it so much of early science fiction, but also astute social commentary and an understanding of the world and its people and how they fit together. Figuring out what 802,701 was really like took some knowledge of human nature and interaction.

Anyway, I loved The Time Machine - thanks Nymeth for the suggestion and for helping me discover online reading! :-)

Challenges: A-Z Challenge, 999 Challenge, Casual Classics, Decades 2009, New Authors

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

I loved this story as a child, although reading it as an adult I'm not quite sure that I actually read the whole thing. I vaguely recall having a beautifully illustrated edition so perhaps I skimmed and mostly looked at the pictures.

In any case, I kind of knew the story of course, but I didn't realise how differently I would take it now. Lewis Carroll's imagination is increadible - he creates a wondrous world for Alice to visit, with interesting creatures and cards to are alive and the ability to change one's size. I love the way this little book is written, almost in a stream-of-consciousness way, as if the author just wrote about whatever the previous section reminded him of.

I also loved the word plays - I laughed out loud many times.

A charming book. I'd like to read Through the Looking Glass too, which I'm sure I've never read. If you're interested, the stories about Carroll and the really Alice are very interesting too. Although the bios I found make no mention of the hallucogenics that he must have been on to create this story!

Challenges: 999 Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Casual Classics, Celebrate the Author (Carroll's birthday is on January 27), Childhood Favorites, Decades 2009

Animal Farm

George Orwell's classical political fable is so well-known that I'm surprised I hadn't read it before now. I've certainly had it long enough, it seems that I bought it secondhand in a currency that doesn't exist anymore, Belgian Francs.

It's short, a novella, and reads quickly and easily. But the ideas in it stay much longer. The story is about an animal revolution - the animals of Manor Farm revolt against the human owners and turn it into Animal Farm, running it themselves. It's a commentary on power and what it can do to those with even the best intentions - and this political side to it certainly made me think. But the part that really stuck in my mind wasn't about politics but about nature:

"Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals."

This sentiment, the original reason behing the animals' revolution, is very important today, as more and more of us start thinking about what we are doing to the planet and to other beings.

Animal Farm is considered a classic and it's easy to see why this is so. Although written in 1945, there is nothing dated about it, the ideas in it still apply. Isn't that a good reason to read it? It's also a novella so a perfect choice for the Novella Challenge. :-)

I'm giving it 5 stars and look forward to reading for of George Orwells's work. I recently heard that his lesser known works are also fantastic.

Catch-22

I feel very accomplished after having finished this book. Joseph Heller's Catch-22 is not easy to get through... I realise that it took him 10 years to write, but, at 576 pages, perhaps it was a tad long...

I enjoyed many parts of it, I enjoyed some parts of it very much. Sometimes I felt frustrated. Sometimes I felt bored. Sometimes I laughed out loud at the absurdity of it all. At times I was engrossed in what was going on and at times I yearned for something lighter or at least for something different. Is this how a soldier would feel during a war? Maybe. I know that the book is very anti-war and perhaps all these emotions were exactly what was supposed to happen.

The story takes place during World War II in Italy and is told from the point of view of American soldiers. It is written in a very specific style that sometimes got to be too much. But should I complain? I guess the war itself also 'got to be too much' for those involved.

The term 'catch-22' which is now in popular use really explains the whole atmosphere and tone of this book. The idea of going around in circles does say a lot about the futility, absurdity, senselessness of war.

Would I recommend it? Yes. Was I riveted? No. But it's worth reading anyway, both for the unique style and for the ideas presented. It goes into my 4-star basket - which is where the good books go, it seems to take a lot for me to give more stars!

Oh yes, and finishing this allows me to took one off from the A-Z challenge, the 888 challenge, the numbers challenge, the decades challenge, the banned books challenge and the chunkster challenge. How's that for efficient? :-)