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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.
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.
Everytime that I finish a book from my list I am glad that I decided to start this reading quest. It may be taking me a while to complete but every book that I read is like a treasure under layers and layers of wraping. Every book that I have finished not only tells a beautiful story but it also feels that by reading there stories they are helping me unravel mine. I remember reading somewhere (don’t quote me on this) that books are like mirrors and show us ourselves, I believe this whole heartedly.
I fell in love with this book. I read this while my partner was away; it was this seperation that made me bond with the character of Claire. Her partner is constantly leaving unexpectedly and she never knows when he will return. Although I had some indication of when my partner was coming back I still understood the longing and uncertainty she felt.
The story revolves around Claire and Henry. Henry has a genetic condition where he jumps through time, when and where he travels to is completely random. The only certainty in Henry’s life is Claire. For Claire, Henry has always been there, even when not physically near her, her thoughts are occupied by him. To me this is one of the greatest love stories that I have read. I found it incredibly romantic, a couple against all odds manages to find one another, fall in love a create a life together.
This is an unusual story and one that can only be done justice in a book. Books are places where even the most far fetched and impossible stories can seem real. I love this book with a passion. I recommend it to anyone that enjoys a good romance. The time travel elements of the story can be cofusing but the characters more then make up for this. I cried reading this book; it does have some sad moments but I think I was mostly crying because I found the story beautiful (may also be because I was missing my significant other). This review does not do justice to the story, I cannot express how moved I was and how much I enjoyed reading ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’. I hope Audrey Niffenegger can create another book like this.
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.
I’m sorry it has taken me so long to post my review but a lot has been happening the past few weeks (too long for details, sorry). However, I hope this review will make up for it a little.
To begin with I would like to thank all the people who recommended ‘Emma” to me. I did enjoy this book though, the number one favourite Jane Austen novel for me still goes to ‘Pride and Prejudice’.
For me ‘Emma’ is light entertainment and definitely a book for the ladies (my boyfriend would never read it and only watched the movie because I borrowed it). I think women enjoy this book because everyone at sometime has Emma moments. We have been known to daydream about who we can set our single friends up with. Other Emma characteristics I see in myself are being completely wrong but my pride won’t let me admit it (I usually make up some ridiculous argument to support my incorrect views). It is this pride and not conceding defeat that has placed Emma is some trick situations, though some how she seems to be able to talk her way out of them with very convincing arguments.
Once again Jane Austen’s characters are believable and can be related to people form our own lives. Everyone knows an “odious” woman like Mrs Elton or has someone that they tried and avoid like Miss Bates (and we always feel really bad about doing it). I love the interaction between Austen’s characters and the commentary on social class and snobbery (remember the reasoning for Harriet not accepting Mr Martin?). Even with this strict society, it seems such a more romantic time compared to now. Women were ladies, they wore gloves and hats. Gentlemen opened doors, gave ladies there arm and escorted them. We must seem so inferior an unacomplised to them.
I recommend this book to all the women who think match making is a harmless past time and the headstrong stubborn women who will laugh out aloud when they recognise themselves in Emma. Read this and enjoy.
I decide I would break up my literary quest with a romance novel. Not the trashy Mills and Boone, Fabio shirtless on the cover sort but the more teenage love struck kind. I sometime indulge in this kind novel where the romance is sweet, generally predictable and within a day you have finished the whole book, still wanting more. The kind where once you have put it down a small sigh escapes you lips and you wonder why can’t relationships and men be like they are in the book.
I read/devoured this book in one day. I could not put it down; the story was easy to read, cute and satisfying for a cold day.
Millie Barnes has just finished her medical residency and moved back to her childhood home of Cape Cod. Not only does she move back to partner the local doctors practice and see her family but to snag the man of her dreams Joe Carpenter the carpenter. Millie has been in love with Joe since the age of fourteen when they attended the local high school. After years of research and reconnaissance missions (similar to stalking, the good kind) Millie is adamant that she will capture Joe’s attention, heart and make him hers forever. However could the local cop with lots of compilations throw a spanner in the works?
As I stated this book was an enjoyable way to waste an afternoon. There is no literary breakthrough here and I doubt it will win any awards. However, this is not the reason why you curl up with these books. You read these stories to escape your life and live in the shoes of someone else for a little while. It is almost like reading 379 pages of female adolescent daydreams.
If you like the quick easy to read stories give this ago, if you want something more challenging in the romance department, go for an Austen novel.
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’).
My friend and I were both one-day discussing the BBC version of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ (you will see it was rated 9.4/10). We had both grown up in different areas, watched it at different times but both agreed that it was the best version we had ever seen. After watching it I refuse to watch any other adaptation, for me Colin Firth is the perfect Mr Darcy and Jennifer Ehle (with her fine eyes) plays a wonderful Eliza.
I decided to read the book after reminiscing about how I loved the series. I’m glad I did. I think it is a book every girl/woman should read. It may take some readers a while to get through but it will be worth it in the end.
There are so many stories and genres rolled into one book. It is a comedy, a romance, and a drama all during the Georgian era, where people married for money and status and love was something you only read or dreamt about. The characters in the book are also believable and seem some how known to you. Everybody knows some one like Mr Collins (the slimey, embarrassing relative) or Elizabeth (the independent, free spirit) or Mr Darcy (the misunderstood, quite guy) and the mother (don’t get me started on her “he is worth 5000 pounds”).
I love the idea of two characters having such chemistry and at the same time loathing the sight of each other. It is the romance story that most women are searching for. Although it is a romance, it gives women an independent fighting spirit (I have to say far cry from some Mills and Boone stories). It matches, men’s words, with women’s wit, combining to create a classic tale.
This is a story that is still considered funny and romantic today, and will continue to be for years to come.
I always think how you choose a book to read make an interesting story in itself. It also gives you some insight in to the reader. Do you choose a book by its cover (a cardinal sin) I have to admit sometime yes. Do you read the back? Most people do and this is the little taste of what is to come. I have just finished reading ‘Love in the Time of Cholera‘ by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The reason I chose this book was because I was home alone watching Serendipity with John Cusack. He meets a woman and if destiny is supposed to bring them together they will find each other by the woman writing to her details inside the ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’ and sell it to a used book shop. If he finds the book, he finds her. I also heard the book mentioned in High Fidelity another John Cusack move. So it got me wondering.
The book is set on a Caribbean and as the name suggests during the time of cholera. It was an interesting and at the same time I wasn’t sure if I had the reaction to it that the author desired. Fermina Daza is young a courted by Florentino Ariza a thin, intense and ghostly presence of a man. They exchange frequent and passionate love letters until her father finds out. A 424 page story cut short she doesn’t think it is love and breaks off there engagement. He dedicates his whole life to become worthy of her and waiting for her husband to die. Eventually her husband dies and on the night of his death Florentino repeats to Fermina that he still loves her and always has. She writes him a hateful letter to which he replies and a friendship and eventually a romance forms. Ending with them forever sailing on a river boat together (by the way they are around 70ish by now).
I guess the reaction the author wanted is one of romance and that love never dies. If you love someone no matter the time and obstacles you can eventually be together. Unfortunately while I was reading the book I like Fermina Daza’s husband Dr Juvenal Urbino more than I liked the main romantic lead character. Am I unromantic? I believed that if you love someone and have to pursue them for “fifty-one years, nine months and four days”. I don’t think they share the same passion. Sure her husband had flaws but don’t we all?
On the whole I liked the book but I wasn’t as satisfied as I think I was supposed to be. It is hard to really enjoy a book when you are rooting for the other guy not the one you are meant to and you loose out. Maybe love does conquer all but for me not this book.
