Interesting look at... life, considering the details you get about whaling, ships, whaling, coins, whaling, the Bible, whaling, aboriginals, whaling a...moreInteresting look at... life, considering the details you get about whaling, ships, whaling, coins, whaling, the Bible, whaling, aboriginals, whaling and philosophy. Did I mention whaling? 1,000+ pages of pure boredom to those who don't want to read a documentary, because this is what this book seems to be. (E.g. this book will detail the kinds of whales, the differences per whale, the measurement of whales....)
I thought it was interesting in its own right (I'd gladly spout out whaling trivia any time!), and the philosophical tidbits are just delicious. A good read if you're into detail, I suppose, but I now understand why most kids will happily drop this book in favor of a shorter romance novel.
To clarify: Ahab is a hate-filled, monomaniac old man who is darn crazy about a supernaturally amazing fish. Really. He's not as romantic as some people who haven't read the book claim him to be!
Crazy long. Really, this is crazy long. (Storytelling's decent, but crazy long.)
Oh: And I nearly screamed at the ending. Wow. After all that you put me through, Herman Melville, you give me this ending?! WOW!
I really liked this book because I enjoyed the detail and the thoughts. The story is actually so-so. The moving-forward? Almost painful because of all the detours taken by noting every crack on the ship and every ripple in the sea, but as I love trivia I can't complain.
Good luck to you, if you don't have enough patience. You're really gonna need it if you plan to read this.
(Will probably write a better review at some point in time)(less)
The Old Man and the Sea is not your regular book. It is written in a not-so-normal way. The book is written in terse sentences. (I heard that it is re...moreThe Old Man and the Sea is not your regular book. It is written in a not-so-normal way. The book is written in terse sentences. (I heard that it is really the style of Hemingway.) It is hard at first to read. But you get used to it after a while.
This book is also quite simple. It is about an old man. It is also about the sea. But it goes deeper than that. The book talks about the man while the man goes through a fishing trip. The man is a fisherman, so that is why he goes on this trip. The trip is a rather usual one. Nothing out-of-the-ordinary seems to happen. It is realistic. It is simple. It is also somehow unexpected.
The book talks about perseverance. It talks about strength. It talks about love. It also talks about the fisherman talking to himself. But it is not because he is lonely. Or maybe it is.
Overall, the book is typical, but it is also not typical. It is a simple story. It is unlike other simple stories in that there is more to see beneath the simple story. Some may consider this boring. I think that it is interesting and awe-inspiring.
For me this was a nice read. Simple but not so simple. It is simply great.
PS: Writing in this style really takes the cake. It's simple enough, but my poor imagination and flowery vocabulary are sobbing in a corner. *snickers*
What a lovely little novel this is, one beautifully dripping with sarcasm. (Oh, Fitzgerald.)
This book...moreThis review may contain spoilers. Caveat emptor.
What a lovely little novel this is, one beautifully dripping with sarcasm. (Oh, Fitzgerald.)
This book is simply about what the title states: it's about the beautiful and damned. It deals with the lives of two persons who make it a point to live as gorgeously as possible, with damning consequences.
(This book rather reminds me of Becky Sharp of Vanity Fair. (view spoiler)[The two ladies (Becky and Gloria) seem to live the same life, although the cunning Becky cannot compare to the lovely Gloria. Becky's more proactive, too. (hide spoiler)])
The storytelling is incredibly sarcastic. It tickles my bones and touches my heart with its sadness all at once. (I suppose that's how it is, as there's comedy in tragedy.) What's interesting about the sarcasm and irony here is the fact that, I believe, this is STILL applicable of modern times. (As it is just like the railroads to come out with new schedules containing new mistakes, instead of the old ones that the commuters had grown used to.)
While it follows the lives of the angelic Gloria and the handsome Anthony, this story is also briefly about the people they meet, the people whose lives they touch. It would be funny to say that they are all in the same boat, but while this is true, the couple definitely outshines the rest in living as they do. (And they all do live quite fashionably and lavishly.)
Upon getting deep into this book, I got this feeling as if I definitely know where all this was headed. The placement of too much trust in "friends", the refusal to take on any job lower than being a diplomat or an accomplished author, the unending parties and overflowing wine, the arrogance without conceit and beauty with pride. There was something wrong with the picture, but the entire scene held on anyway. You caught your breath, seeing Gloria in a new dress, while waiting for Anthony to come home from peddling Heart Talks. You smiled at Dick's latest book, while listening with awe to the quiet but intelligent Maury. You looked over the brim of your wineglass to see Geraldine give her chaste kisses, and you chuckle at Bloekman's stare at the hostess. You hear the quiet sobs of Dorothy as you look over Muriel's sway of the hips. This house of cards will fall, this ticking bomb will go off, this wisp of smoke will vanish into thin air... But, for the moment, it doesn't.
There are so many issues here. You smell the stench of war, you see the lure of moving pictures, you hear the disdain for philantropists, you taste the bitterness of tired love, you feel the howl of wind in a house too expensive to be kept. There's a funny little Japanese here, who seems to be a spy for the enemy. There's a little southern girl here, whose reputation was compromised by sullied lips. There's a knowledgable attorney here, who worked for the cause of the undeserving. There's a worried-but-not-worried little lady here, who is excited about the baby but who could really not care less about motherhood. So many stories revolving around two persons without a care.
This is an enjoyable book. I particularly liked the intelligent (and sarcastic, of course) snippets here (and therefore adore Maury). The ending was surprising and, well, quite expected. The spiral of degradation was imminent, but the journey towards that was pleasant, albeit fraught with notices for unpaid rent.
This is probably a book not be taken too seriously, unless you can get used to the words I don't care. There are thoughts here that lie beneath the book's surface that are definitely worth reading. All in all, it's an interesting journey with an interesting ending. Great read.(less)
This book's interesting. It shows us that some people may just be born under an unlucky star, having misfortune after misfortune with seemingly no way...moreThis book's interesting. It shows us that some people may just be born under an unlucky star, having misfortune after misfortune with seemingly no way out (except for a meeting with Death).
Let's see. We've got an intriguing cast of characters: a Scotsman, an orphan, a gullible woman, a simple man. They've all happened to find their way to a small village tucked away from the world - Casterbridge. In this small place, they find a number of interesting things: loves (and hates), family (and strangers), friends (and enemies). They also find darkness (and light), death (and life), regrets (and hope).
The storytelling is rather biased toward showing truths at all angles (even on how a person's steps on the road can mean something). It presents the reader with a number of dichotomies, showing the many ironic sides of life. It tells you how you can have knowledge without wisdom, strength without physical capacity, power without position. What's also very good about the storytelling: You have no idea what's going to happen next (so you might as well dispel your notions of expectations for this book). Oh, and besides having the plot to chew on, I felt I was also being provided with many ideas to brood over and analyze.
Overall: It's an ugly, informative, satirical view of an English countryside, with a great plot to boot. (I mean, really. The first chapter already seems like the climax!) It's realistic, somewhat depressing, but very satisfying. Great read.(less)
Ah, Middlemarch. Truly, it looks imposing at first glance. I was having second thoughts reading this at first, just as I did when I first looked at Th...moreAh, Middlemarch. Truly, it looks imposing at first glance. I was having second thoughts reading this at first, just as I did when I first looked at The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling or Vanity Fair. I'm glad I didn't though, lest I would have never met with the lovely Dorothea Brooke. {It is, indeed, Dorothea that stays with me long after I've read this. I adore her so, with all her defects and "simple-mindedness".}
Aptly subtitled "A Study in Provincial Life", Middlemarch gives us a good (very good!) look into the lives of a host of characters living in a little fictional town in rural England in the 1800s. Among them, 6 seem to shine through: Dorothea, Will Ladislaw, Lydgate, Rosamond, Fred and Mary. Each of these (as well as their acquaintances in the town) have their unique traits and personalities- we see here the beautiful, the persevering, the pleasure-loving, the hard-working, the artist, the generous, the proud, the delusional. Personalities that, though antiquated in dress, still live among us in these modern times.
((By the way- the storytelling is, I must say, brilliant (sometimes sarcastic, sometimes romantic, but really very adept in suiting the needs of the reader).))
Overall: You've got the elements of a great story of intermingled stories, a bunch of very human characters, a lovely setting, an 1800 society, and a crowd of thoughts just waiting for you to think about them. Oh, it's got A LOT of pages, all right - but I could almost call it a complete work. Essentially, it's a lovely journey with a very proficient guide into the waiting countryside. Come, sit in the coach with me, and let's allow Ms. George Eliot to show us the way.
What I saw here: - Women empowerment (Dodo is just too adorable. She's strong, she has her own will, she is smart and can think for herself. Of course, she has her rough edges, but she's well-meaning and independent - something quite difficult to understand in those days... And perhaps even today) - Societal relations, both of the 1800s and of today (man-wife, sibling-sibling, parent-children, mother-son, mother-daughter, sister-sister, brother-sister, etc.) - Conservative VS "New Age" notions (politics, society, cholera, medicine - Lydgate, I believe, was amazing to have that kind of constitution and principle!) - Social classes (provincial doctor vs well-endowed widow vs peasant, etc) - Religion (note Farebrother's active participation with his laity's problems) - Other topics of interest (debt, auctions, elections, LOVE - and how it may or may not be significant in whatever relationships, death, farming, management, gossip - there's a chapter here that made me laugh because all it seemed to show was how easily and how fast gossip spreads in a town like Middlemarch!, charity, trains, Rome, art, newspaper, jewelry, clothes, babies, horses, gambling, pamphlets, cameos of Fielding!,...)
Other updates: -The finale beautifully brings the epic to a close, mirroring some of the author's words in the prologue. -What makes this a great read (I'm merely currently in Chapter 15) is the fact that its details are all too real-- from the people in their humanity, to the pervading notions of the time. Really very good.(less)
This story is the story of a man, a man who went out to have the most amazing MANLY adventures, all because he would not listen to his father about st...moreThis story is the story of a man, a man who went out to have the most amazing MANLY adventures, all because he would not listen to his father about staying in the midst of the petit bourgeois, with all its comforts and small luxuries.
(By the way, when I say MANLY, I mean pirates, savages, wolves and the like.)
I have to say that I was most absorbed in every word of this book. Daniel Defoe proves to be quite a storyteller, one that would not let me catch my breath for even just a minute. He easily takes me away to far-off places with such ease and guidance, that I can almost believe that I'm right there with him- suffering, glorifying, fighting alongside with him. To sum it up: we've got here a great narrator with great stories.
Besides this, what makes him remarkable in my eyes is the fact that while he was going about his business and experiencing all these different physical challenges, he remains humble and frequently contemplates on his situation on a metaphysical level too. Not only, therefore, does he takes the reader on a journey to distant lands, but he also takes care to give them some time to bramble about the fields of his thoughts.
(Note: He dabbles into some thoughts about Christianity, which honestly made me raise an eyebrow the first times he mentioned it. They are, however, interesting in their own right, I suppose, and probably infinitely valuable if you believe/have some orientation in the Christian faith.)
There may be some points here, however, that continually tugged my subconscious, especially when I wasn't at that time reading this book. For example, we see Crusoe as the "king" of his island, deliciously enjoying his power over his "dominion". We also seem to find little to no trace of women & children here too. The mention of savages & cannibals seems a little too crude (but I suppose it can't be helped due to the prevailing way of thinking at that time). Crusoe also had his series of lucky incidents, and there sometimes seems to be gaps in the narration that the narrator can't fill in satisfactorily.
(Personally, however, I tended to disregard all these other thoughts once I picked up the book. I suppose there's just something in this book that draws me and engages me in such a way that I can't help but read it for, well, reading's sake.)
This book also, in all honesty, makes me want to buy a survivalist book as soon as possible.
At any rate: all in all, this was a very good read for me. [I can't rate it a 5, though... But if I could rate it a 4.5, I would.]
[First look into the book: Haha! I'm only in the first few chapters, but I'm already loving this Robinson Crusoe guy. He seems bent on his own destruction, all right. I honestly can't wait to see what adventures he'll have next! (It really helps that he's quite a story-teller.)](less)
At about half-way, I begun thinking, "Huh, this doesn't seem to be a story about a time machine at all." Admittedly, however, it was most probably a N...moreAt about half-way, I begun thinking, "Huh, this doesn't seem to be a story about a time machine at all." Admittedly, however, it was most probably a New Age concept for that era, and all in all- a very curious premise.
I must say that this is, indeed, a very spectacular story. What an amazing imagination! The characters, the setting, the overall ambiance... Oh, and let's not forget the time machine itself! Simply extraordinary.
What made this story all the more interesting for me was knowing about the Time Traveler's opinions / thoughts on how the society he left (19th c.) had evolved into the state enjoyed by his 802,701AD. While his line of thinking had the undeniable trace of Industrialism in it, I have to say that I was rather impressed to read about things that may apply to current-day. [For the record, it's the year 2012 as I write this.] The "perfection" of machines, the evolution of medicines... I almost got scared, just thinking about it. What really struck me: white-collar jobs vs blue-collar jobs / social stratification / First World VS Third World... [I can go on and on about this... I really can.]
(Of course, given the time period he wrote this, he couldn't have thought about robots, and other such advances in technology. (view spoiler)[[I was thinking that the museum would have more techie stuff, and he'd find a flashlight in there somewhere, among other things.] (hide spoiler)] Still, the far-off future of 802,701AD was dazzling and odd enough in its own right.)
The other steps he took with his time machine (besides his brief interlude with the Eloi & Morlocks) made me realize my own mortality, which was, undoubtedly, on the Time Traveler's mind as well. [I almost cried out once or twice: "I feel for you, man!"]
Overall, it was a great journey for me, and probably a greater one for the Time Traveler. (The epilogue filled me with sadness, though.)(less)
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