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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.
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.
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.
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.
Crime and Punishment, War and Peace and …. (insert your favourite here) are the books that define what it is to write and I mean really write. It is a classic and with that title comes the difficulty of reading it. It is not difficult to get into the story line but with every step deeper in the story you are deterred by the long, complicated russian names and statements about the social situations of the day. In Crime and Punishment this social commentary generally lead to pages of intellectual arguments and giganitic wordy essays. That being said don’t let to put you off reading the book.
The story follows the destitute student Raskolnikov. He considers himself to be of great thinker and with that he is ordained with certain privileges albeit to choose who lives or dies in his mind. So with these thoughts Raskolnikov commits the number one sin, murder. With this rash decision comes the guilt of his conscious and cat and mouse games with the police. Only until he meets are meek and mild prostitute does he consider there is more to life than is own confused points of view.
Raskolnikov is a very difficult character to like and feel for, however I found myself slowly warming to his ways only to be irritated by stupid comments or rash actions he made throughout the book. I felt that this what Dostoyevsky wanted. Raskolnikov is a character that is not easy to catergorize and I think our “hot and cold” feelings for him as the reader are meant to reflect the “hot and cold” of his temperament.
The main overriding feeling I had when reading this book was amazement. These people lived on nothing, in filthy conditions and still managed to scrounge enough money to buy 1 litre of vodka. Every time I read the passages about the living conditions I felt like I needed a bath. How did people manage to survive and can anyone explain to me what an oil cloth is that covers the lounge chairs?
This is one of those books everyone should read. I have finally read and I feel like I have gained something, what that is exactly I don’t know yet. I guess to find out I need further reflection and intellectual discussion, so please discuss with me.
One day when I had nothing better to do I wander out of the apartment and down to my local Borders and discovered this book on the ‘buy 2 get the 3rd book free table’ so as I had already picked two I desperately wanted to read this seemed like a good choice for the third. With only a week to go before my trip to Germany it seemed like and interesting choice to read a fictitious book about the childhood of Adolf Hitler.
This was a very intriguing and unique book. The story follows the life of young Adi and his family as they develop each into there own persona. The family story and dynamic is dictated to us from the point of view of a Cudgel (a Devil Minion). Throughout the story the cudgel reinforces his and the Maestro’s (the Devil’s) role on the life of Adi and the molding influences they have.
Many times in the book I found myself feeling sorry and compassionate towards Adi. It was a strange feeling when we all know how Adolf Hitler eventually turned out. It made me stop and think, if his up bring had been different, if his older brother was different, if his relationship with his father was different, could history have been change….even prevented?
The only truly disappointing thing about ‘The Castle in the Forest’ is that it was the first book in a trilogy but unfortunately Norman Mailer passed away after completing this book. I therefore felt that the story could have gone on further and I wished it had of gone on further but alas this will not be. Even without the final books this is a stand alone story and one that I found interesting and would recommend to anyone who likes something out of the ordinary a story told with a difference, it is definitely different.
I broke the cardinal rule and watched the movie before I read the book. Even though this happened I still always wanted to read the book and I am glad I did. The book is similar to the movie but very different, for example the book is no where near as tragically romantic as the movie. Also the description of Lara (the main female character) is nothing like Julie Christie. This being said the book was a snapshot into Russian life and socialist history that is not even touched upon in the movie.
Doctor Zhivago follows the life of Yurii Zhivago. Orphaned at a young age he moves to Moscow with distant relatives to pursue a doctor career and a hobby in poetry. With a life that seems planned out from when we met his wife, things take monstrous turns. With the tumultuous time of the Russian revolution Yurii is stolen from the ones he loves and flung into the arms of another. This book is romantic but not a typical romance and not at all like the one portrayed in the movie.
Yurii is an interesting character. I wouldn’t say he is likeable. At times he is opinionated, obnoxious and at the same time compassionate. I am still annoyed and feel somewhat betrayed by the events of his later life. I sympathise with his wife (maybe it is just the female bond) but I am unsure how to take Lara. She is described as breathtakingly beautiful, but is that a reason to forgive her, her sins? I do feel for her in the beginning of the story where she was stripped of her childhood, this may account for complications in the future.
This is a good book but not one that I would recommend to everyone. It felt like a constant struggle to read. I had to wade through it and it seemed to take me forever. However if you are interest in the Russian revolution and enjoy your historically novels then read this one, it is very interesting.
On Sunday afternoons on the ABC there is a little five minute show were they talk to an author and discuss their latest books. Normally the author is some real literary person and I have no idea who they are. I was however fortunate enough to catch the episode where they talked to Louis de Bernieres about his latest book ‘Birds Without Wings’ (you might know him from his book ‘Corelli’s Mandolin…or the guy that wrote that book that was made into a Nicholas Cage movie). After listening to the basis of the story I knew that I wanted to read it. A year later I actually found the book in the bookshop and impulse bought it, I never once regretted my purchase.
This is a historical novel that was easy to understand and taught me a lot about the events preempting and continuing throughout World War I. Set in Anatolia (modern day Turkey) during the early 1900’s this story follows the lives of the members of a Christian (Greek) and Muslim (Turkish) community. Throughout the story we also follow the life and rise to politics of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk the first president of Turkey.
I loved this story and its characters. From the first descriptions of the town I knew that I would have love to live there. Clay houses with bright blue doors, old men playing backgammon in the cafe while smoking water pipes, children running around and collecting wild greens.
Not only was the town picturesque it was also tolerant (this was something that I really took away from this story). A town where Muslim and Christians are so integrated that converting to marry someone was not a huge deal. When and Muslim was ill they would ask there Christian friends to pray to virgin Mary and Christians would visit the iman for pieces of paper with Koran verse written on them to eat.
The hardest thing these people had to face was when their young men went of to fight the jihad (the battle of Gallipoli is described with chilling details). Upon returning their village would never be the same. Once they all considered themselves Ottomans now their religion defined them to the government and they were forced to migrate to other like nations.
Towards the end of the novel I was really upset. It seems unfair that politicians so detached from communities get to decide who gets what land and where people have to live. Think of Cyprus and the whole of the Middle East… white man comes in and decided who gets what and never once meeting the people or understanding the significance this land has to them. The same thing happened in Turkey. Mustafa Kemal decided that Turkey was going to be a modern Muslim state therefore all Christians had to be removed to Greece. Family removed from their family homes and life long friendships broken up. Instead of being split up what we really need is places like this community that taught tolerance to their children to be passed along to future generations.
This has to be one of my Top 5 books. I will definitely be recommending it to everyone. This story is why I read. Please add this to your reading list and I don’t think you will be disappointed.
There is a simple reason why I decided to read this book. I started watching the movie but was so upset and sick feeling that I couldn’t watch it any further. I thought, surely it would be easier to read the book, that was a wrong assumption. I realised that my imagination is equal to any of the scenes displayed in the film, if not more morbid. That being said I am glad that I have read the book. It is nice to read a World War II story where the hero is a German but not surprising the bad guys are German/Austrian as well.
What possessed a man like Schindler whom born to the right stock had prominence in the community and friends in high place to spend 4 million caring for the “enemy”? This is the question that was constantly running through my head while reading this book. It would be so easy to turn your back on the desolate. Being in the same situation with the same means at hand would you do what Oskar did? I think it takes great strength of character and dare I say it balls to pull of what he did. He risked his own situation to better that of his workers, something they would never forget.
It also interested me to compare Oskar with Amon Goeth. Both men born to similar circumstance, both ambitious though one choose to show his power through violence and terror while the other earns a loyalty through compassion. Though Oskar was no Mother Theresa – he boozed it up, had a wife, mistress and an affair all at the same time (though we allow him these disgraces).
This story was painfully heart breaking (I cried more than once) and graphic which I will remember but I will also remember the hardships people can overcome. One person doing a good act can change the live of many others. “Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire” – engraved inside the ring presented to Oskar by his workers.
Everyone should read this book and learn from it (by learn I don’t mean not to start wars etc that is pretty much a given), learn to be better people, help us to become more compassionate and understanding to others (discrimination through religion is still happening now). If we all do better, save one life instead of taking it we really can save the world. It is a nice thought.
