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I am feeling in a romantic, wistful mood so I think this is the perfect book to review. This is a book that I could read over and over again and not get tired of it, sometimes you just need to read something that will cheer you up or make you feel love and romance are possible. It is best read on a cold rainy day under the blankets in bed with a big cup of tea and toast. Something to warm your body and a book to warm you soul.
Set in Japan before and after World War II, ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ follows the life of Sayuri one of Kyoto’s most famous geishas.
After her mother dies Chiyo (later Sayuri) and her sister Satsu are sold/bought to Kyoto where Satsu is sold to a brothel and Chiyo is used as household labour under the pretense of learning to become a geisha. After getting off to a rocky start with the other Geishas as well as a botched escape attempt Chiyo is forced to repay back debts via manual labour and the thought of becoming a Geisha is all but daydream. Thats is until the rival geisha Mameha offers to teach Chiyo the ways of their world.
After I finished reading this book I thought the story line resembled that of ‘Great Expectations’ by Charles Dickens in that the main characters in both these stories (Pip and Sayuri) begin there lives in less than ideal circumstance and when both characters have a chance meeting with a stranger they end up living their lives beyond their expectations.
I highly recommend this book and I don’t normally say this but if you are too lazy to read the book watch the movie. The movie is true to the story and as enjoyable. If you up for a little romance, betrayal and tradition in an exotic location and era then ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ is a good place to start.
It was a long time ago that I read this book but I thought now would be a good time to talk about it. Later this year The Lovely Bones is being released as movie and although this is a great book to read I am a little apprehensive as to how it will go in cinematic form.
As soon as I picked up this book I knew it was going to be a tear-jerker. Susie Salmon was a young teenage girl with her whole life ahead of her, that was before she was raped and murdered. While coming to terms with her own death she also has to struggle watching her parents and sibling try and deal with it in their own way.
Through this story we see the pain from the points of view of both the victim and her family left behind. We also witness Susie’s frustration knowing who is responsible and not being able to let anyone know. There are so many emotions in this book but each is dealt with in a flowing, coherent way.
Death in any story is a tough subject, to write about or to read about but dealing with it in a first person narrative sense makes a difficult subject so much harder. Also the fact that the murder victim is also a child is crossing into territories most writers would steer clear of.
This is a very hard book to write about. I want to describe it better but I can’t seem to find the words, I also don’t want to give anything away. I think if you are planning on seeing the movie try and read the book first. I generally think the book is better, plus this movie is going to be a real crier so maybe prepare yourself with the book first or take lots of tissues.
Can a second novel be better than the first? After reading ‘World Without End’ I think the answer is yes. Although many people may not agree I actually liked this book much better. I thought it showed more maturity and a more satisfying story line.
“World Without End’ takes us back to Kingsbridge Cathedral two centuries after ‘The Pillars of the Earth’. Centered around new characters that almost mimic the heroes and heroines of the first novel this one also adds the exciting historical events of the Hundred Years War and the Black Plague.
With the same backstabbing, power hungry story lines and the constant struggles between good and evil this winning formula works here. However, I found this story much more enjoyable than the first in that unlike T.P.O.T.E. when something good happens and seems to be working in favour of the “good guys” it isn’t automatically destroyed by the “bad guys”. For every up there wasn’t always a down, sometimes the good guys just won. I didn’t find it so much of a roller coaster ride.
If you haven’t read ‘The Pillars of the Earth” don’t stress, you can pick up this book read it and need no background knowledge. That being said, it is still nice to have the advantage of some history and it was nice to have some sort of closure for such and epic story. If you enjoyed T.P.O.T.E. you might even like this one better. Oh, by the way, I can’t believe I haven’t written a review for ‘The Pillars of the Earth” – talk about slack.
It was about time that I got back on track with my list and finally I found one. I read this book in two days, I couldn’t put it down. My boyfriend says that I am cancer for books, I just eat right through them and with this book it was so true.
It is such an easy read with an engaging story. The story is based on the painting of the same name. Tracey Chevalier creates a fictional history for the creation of this remarkable, well known painting.
Griet is a young women whose family is thrust in to poverty when her father has an accident at work. She is forced to leave her home and cross in to the Catholic quarter and serve in the house of the dutch painter Johannes Vemeer. Griet is curious of her masters vocation and through him she learns to understand his painting visions and techniques.
The relationship that develops between Vemeer and Griet is one of master and apprentice but also the fact that he is master of the house and she a young, female servant cast a sinister shadow. Deeper feelings are developed and tested when Vemeer’s patron commissions a portrait.
I found it fascinate that someone could create a whole world around a simple painting of a young girl looking over her shoulder. It was also nice that the story explained the artistic creation of the painting, the making of paints and the lighting etc. I do wonder though how many people will read this book and take it for fact because it is so convincing.
After reading the book I really wanted to watch the movie. I did watch it and I have to say I was so horribly disappointed. If you don’t have a budget to make the movie long enough to build the characters relationships and fill in all the required details then don’t make the movie. Please if you are thinking about watching the movie, skip it and read the book instead, in that you won’t be disappointed.
This is another treasure I unearthed in my local second hand bookshop. I must have been one of the few people not to have seen this movie and decided it best to read the book first. Now my only hope is that the movie lives up to the book.
This was one hell of a ride. When I first started the book the beginning chapters nearly bored me to sleep. The passages about the scenery and the river nearly had me shutting the book but not one to give up I persevered and I am glad I did.
Hawk-eye (no not the guy from MASH…but isn’t he named after this character?) is a white man who feels a stronger connection to his Mohican friends that to his Colonial American society. While hunting with his companions Chingachgook and Uncas they encounter an English party trying to make it to the safety of the English Fort. Deciding that this is no place for armatures, Hawk-eye and his Indian friends help to escort the party.
This turns out to be a perilous, sadistic road-trip that no one would willingly take. I tore the up pages, I could not read them quick enough. The flowing words and the heat of the battle urge you to read as fast as you can in order to find out what happens next.
Fast moving, bloody and adventurous this is definitely one for the guys and anyone that enjoys a true to life good versus evil story. It does have some horrific scenes but also some very touching ones. I found myself saddened at the decrease/ loss of Indian culture ended the book in tears. I am glad to have read this story. This should have been on the top 100.
I am reading lots of books and yet my 100 list is not shrinking. There are so many books to read and so little time. I need to get back on track, this however is not on the list but an English classic none the less.
This book reminded me a little of Sister Carrie in the fact that in both books the heroine or female lead is someone that is not particularly nice or easy to warm up to. In Vanity Fair this character is Becky Sharp. She is pretty, quick witted and ruthless when it comes to making her way to the top rung of English Society.
The other leading character is Amelia. As cold and ruthless Becky is Amelia is the exact opposite . Amelia is quiet, loving, a mother like character, soft and round compared to Becky’s sharp pointed edges.
Both of these girls have different goals in life, Becky wants to be known, rich and awed where as Amelia just wants her George. Vanity Fair tells the story of these two women trying to get what they want out of life in very different ways.
I think most women can relate to this book, whether we are a Becky trying to get what we want at any cost or we are the Amelia with a distant friend like Becky. This story can still relate so well to today. I would say it is a must read for every woman. Men can read this two if they want but some how I doubt they will relate.
On a side note after reading the book I decided to watch the movie with Reese Witherspoon as Becky. I was very disappointed, they tried to make her nice and portray that what she did was necessary. The most annoying part was with the Marquise de Steyne but in case you haven’t read the book I won’t tell you what happened you have to find out for yourself.
Honestly, I have to say that once you start reading a book it has to be terrible before you put it down and decide not to read it anymore at all. Actually, that only happened a few times in my life. Then there are books that you start reading and you can’t put down because they are so well written and hold your attention for a very long time – and even after finishing it. This one falls into a very special category, because “The Brief Wondrous Life” by Junot Diaz is definitely not an easy book. It takes a long time to get into it, mainly because it’s written in a very unique style with lots of drifts that go beyond the main storyline. Also, the many characters that are described all have their own ups and downs (well, mainly downs), their own stories and – to a certain degree – tragic lifes.
The main character is Oscar although more than half the book covers the stories of his mother, sister and other people around him. Oscar is a typical loser – fat, nerdy, glasses, can’t communicate normally, never had sex. You instantly feel sorry for him and take his side. I wonder if in real life we would have the guts to really help out such a guy. He also doesn’t want to be helped because he thinks he’s so far beyond any help that he retreats into his own world quite often. His own world being Dungeons & Dragons games, Anime movies, Fantasy Books and any other kind of media that a “normal” person would associate with “nerdiness”. Oscar strives to be the new Tolkien and to get laid. Two goals that couldn’t contradict each other more, I would say.
Other characters of the book are Oscar’s sister and his mother as well as a various people that cross and influence their lives. In the end their stories and lives somehow merge into one (rather sad) fate. What makes you feel for them is not the tragedy or challenges that seem to follow them on every step they take but the fact that the author, Junot Diaz, is able to make it sound real. A Puerto Rican family migrating to the US and the younger generations facing the cultural and demographic challenges – in theory a perfect place for lots of cliches and fuzzy, feel good happy endings. Not so with Junot Diaz. No artificial language, just extremely well paced storytelling. The lengthy footnotes can be a bit distracting and hard to understand sometimes (I am not an expert on Puerto Rican history… and I assume I am not the only one) but they add a lot to the atmosphere once you get used to that particular way of writing. Also, moving back and forth in time, telling stories from various points of view and really not knowing how it will all end can be very difficult in times but also makes the greatness of this book.
There are few books that hold my attention for a long time after I have finished reading them. To me that’s the best indicator of whether it has been good (excellent in this case) and giving me more than just a good time while reading it. It’s definitely not easy to read (not at all) but the effort is worth it and I would be surprised if there’s anyone who has read it and doesn’t like it. (Guest Review written by Ole Brandenburg).
There is a small bookshop just across the road and down a little from our apartment. Being a German bookshop I expected everything to be in German but I decided to take a look any way. Tucked away in a little corner is an English literature section, most of the books here are German translations of English books but if keep searching you will eventually come across one or two books in English (I think I bought their entire English stock… 3 books). This is where I found this book. I decided to read it because on the back it said ‘cult classic’.
I have to say that I was disappointed with this book. It was really well written but I didn’t like the story or the characters. The story is set in the 70’s when teenagers are trying to find their own place in the world through mouthing off and fist fights. The main character is Kenny, a smart arsed lazy delinquent. Kenny can’t hold down a job, thinks with what’s between his legs and his idea of a good weekend is getting pissed and beating the crap out of someone. This is a guy that I found very difficult to relate to. In the end I thought he was an obnoxious prat and didn’t really care what happened to him. I finished this book but not because I enjoyed it but because I was half way through and the effort to finish was not that great.
I personally didn’t like this book but if you are a fan of Fight Club, enjoy drinking for the sake of getting drunk and you can actually read then it is probably the right book for you. This book is not one of my ‘classics’ and I am not part of the mob ‘cult’.
My boyfriend found this book in a youth hostel shop in Sweden. Being the only book in English he decided to get it. Alone in the Swedish wilderness for 1 month he finished the book in 1 week and later passed it on to me to read. After his strong recommendations and me also having no other book in English to read, I read it.
This is a difficult review for me to write because I am not quite sure how I feel about the book. One minute I am agree with one of the characters and the next I am criticising them and seeing their selfishness. Ole and I had a “heated discussion” about our conflicting interpretations.
Sister Carrie hops on a train to Chicago to stay with her sister. Leaving a small town with big dreams she hopes to make her own way in the huge city and live like she always dreamed. On the train she meets a young man that will unknowingly send her life off her dreamed path, sending her life out of control and ultimately to her destiny. That’s the basic storyline however it is filled with unusual events and unpredicatble characters that left me feeling unsettled. One minute I liked Carrie and thought her sweet, innocent and very naive. Then the character of Hurstwood enters the scene and with him my opinons of Carrie take a more negative turn. In the end, in my opinion I found her to be a little cold hearted, selfish and not very likeable. Others I am sure will disagree.
Set in the late 19th Centuary this story provides and interesting snapshot of life back then. The begining of Chicago and its rise to a major city of the West. Also the glittering glamour of New York. It also shows the struggles of poverty hidden amongst the boom and the human side behind it. This book is considered an American classic and although I am unsure as to my feelings with this story I can understand its significance in American literature. A good read that definitely makes you think right until the end and far long after you have reached it.
I found this book on the bookshelf of my German friend. The book was in English and on my list, it seemed it was made for me to read. I asked if I could borrow the book and was little put off when my friend rolled her eyes and recalled the hours spent trawling through the story and trying to understand it.
After finishing the book I can understand the difficulties she had. I had no trouble understanding the language and following the story (probably because English is my first and only language). The interesting and I am sure confusing part of the book is the language, it’s filled with old slang (the book was published in 1945) and is written how the characters would talk in normal everyday situations.
Holden Caulfield is one of those people who are too smart for their own good. Constantly annoyed at the fake stupid people he attends school with, he can’t help but act out against them with unfortunate consequences. Through his alienation from everyone around him (apart from his younger sister) and one hell of a night Holden finally begins to grow up and understands who he could be.
Many highschool students, not just boys can relate to Holden. I can understand why they still make students read this book today. I really wish people could get past the “I have to read this book for English” and actually enjoy the story and learn from it.
I was hooked on this book. It is only 214 pages but I devoured it in a day and a half. It gave me hope that one day I to could write a story that would be read by someone other than my mum. If I was to write a book I think it would turn out a little something like this one. I write how I talk which unfortunately most of the time is rambling, not unsimilar to this story and it has managed to stand the test of time. To quote Holden “What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.” If J.D. Slinger ever reads my blog, maybe he can email me sometime and we’ll chat.
