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The whole time I was reading this book I could not wait to blog about it. There is so much I want to say and I don’t know how to start.
I had wanted to read this book for a while and I found it on sale in the bookshop. I devoured the story in 3 days. However, throughout this devouring I was constantly annoyed at some of the characters, making me read with a scowl on my face and cry out in exasperation.
Charles Bovary is a young doctor who in the middle of the night gets a call to help a farmer who has broken his leg. After fixing the leg Charles is captivated by the farmers daughter Emma. Soon after this meeting, Charles’ wife (horrible, bitter old woman) dies, he then confesses his love and proposes to Emma, the woman of his dreams.
Charles is in a state of marital bliss, though Emma is waiting for the grand feeling of romance she is meant to be feeling. She wants the lightning crashing, the sweaty palms and the butterflies in the stomach when her husband walks in the room. Emma strays outside of the marriage to fulfil her needs.
I could not help but dislike Emma. I thought she was a selfish, irresponsible and devious woman. This sounds very harsh but day in day out her husband adored her, he went to work to earn money to provide her with the lifestyle she used and abused. Charles may have been a simple man but he never once hurt Emma and constantly tried to show his love, which only seem to annoy his wife.
I was angered and upset by the end of the book. Emma got away with all her hurtfulness and wrong doings so easily and Charles (spinelessly) forgave her and her lovers all their wrong doings. I enjoyed this book even though it irritated me because it stirred within me strong feelings. Not of love, longing passions or unrequited love but of annoyance, impatience and a slow burning, all consuming loathing of this woman.
It is a classic and I’m glad I have read it but I’m unsure as to whom to recommend this book to. Read this if you are like Emma and unfulfilled in your relationship or read this if you are like me and love to be repulsed by a character (think Kate/Cathy in ‘East of Eden’).
Having read everything that I packed I was looking for something new to sink me teeth into. It just so happened as I was checking the mail I looked in the rubbish/ junk mail box and there was a book. The book was battered and missing the back cover but desperate times called for desperate measures. I looked around to make sure no one was watching and I stole the book away to my bedroom.
The Class follows the lives of five young men who will make up part of the Harvard graduating class of ‘58. It follows there trials and triumphs with in the walls of Harvard and after graduation as they stretch their wings. These five men have nothing in common except for the strong bond of Harvard University. Danny Rossi is a musical prodigy, destined for bright lights and glory. Ted Lambros is an outsider just allowed to attend the college but to poor to live in the dorms. Jason Gilbert is the star of Harvard, the big man on campus, the one flaw in his perfection is his Jewish ancestry. George Keller is a Hungarian refugee who wants more than anything to become an American. Last is Andrew Eliot, the newest Eliot to be gracing the halls of Harvard. Andrew’s diary entries are scattered throughout the story and provide insight into a young man trying to do his family proud but at the same time not measuring up.
I enjoyed this story much more than I thought I would. It was interesting to read about the lives of university students 50 years ago. They still had the same fears and insecurities that many young people face today. The 50’s and 60’s also saw the uni students flex their political might. Throughout this book there are also references to the massive changes in society that were taking place. Young people were having sexual relations before marriage, the year of general service was still expected and the unrest in Vietnam was beginning to surface.
This book entertained me. However, it isn’t one that I would recommend to everyone. It’s the book that if there isn’t anything more exciting in your cupboard to read then pick it up and you won’t be disappointed, but don’t expect a Nobel prize winning piece of literature. This book is no War and Peace, it is more like slight arguments and warm hugs.
My first year at uni my new friend lent me this book to read. She said it was the only book she has read that has made her cry out loud (and as you can probably tell by this blog, I like these kind of books). So I curled up in my chair in my tiny dorm room and read for what felt like a week straight (not a long book but it is an emotional journey) until I emerged red eyed and grateful.
At a few months of age Damon Courtney is diagnosed with haemophilia a disease that prevents his blood from clotting. After living with this illness for many years through routine blood transfusions, it is during one of these routine transfusions that Damon contracted AIDS. He struggled with both these illnesses until April Fool’s Day 1991 when at the age of 24 he passed away.
This is Damon’s story told through the eyes of his father and with a chapter at the end by the woman who loved him through all. It is hard not to become attached to this book. Damon was a young man in his twenties that wanted to live life recklessly (drive his Fiat at warp speed) and live it to its fullest but was held back.
I can not imagine what it must be like for a parent to lose a child, and I can’t imagine the pain a father must feel writing about it. Even though it must have been difficult at the same time I hope it bought back the memories of his son. This is an incredibly sad book though you some how still feel better for reading it. You feel the closeness of this family and the infectious personality of Damon. After reading this book you want to go out and make the most of your life, cherish every moment and at the same time stop and smell the roses.
I recommend this book to everyone, it is sad but in a tragically beautiful way and I don’t think you will be disappointed. Enjoy it and think of others like Damon.
