Archive for September, 2008

The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway

ISBN: 0684801221
128 pages
published in 1952.
September 17th – September 20th.
You can buy this book at this link.

This is my first Hemingway book. I was checking out the Clarion Library in town one day while I was bored to see what they had (not much) and noticed this out of the corner of my eye. I’d been intending to read it for a while now. So, I checked it out and started it. I finished almost the entire thing tonight while laying down with a stomachache. It’s very short and an easy read.

I’ve heard a lot of people complain about how boring it is, but honestly once you start to worry about Santiago and his efforts you sort of get into it. The beginning drags on a bit for a novella but once he gets onto sea and goes after his big fish all you want is for him to catch it and bring it back to shore and become rich. You feel the same despair as he does as his plans unravel due to no fault of his own. It’s pretty captivating, I won’t lie.

The writing style was simple, but appropriate for the story. It’s interesting how you don’t notice the story being narrated by someone other than Santiago. Even though it’s written in third person, you get so wrapped up in Santiago’s thoughts that you start to feel like you’re just in his head and not really watching from the outside.

Excellent book, really. Even though I’m not really interested in sea-faring things (though I’ve been reading a lot of them lately for some reason and finding them entirely enjoyable) it was easy to get involved in.

Carrie by Stephen King

ISBN: 0671039725
253 pages
published in 1974.
August 29th – September 12th.
You can buy this book at this link.

This is not my first King book. I’ve always enjoyed his stories – some to be taken more seriously than others, but all of them entertaining, and when you get down to it, books really have two fundamental purposes – to entertain or to inform. And it’s okay to just be entertained by a thoughtless book sometimes.

Such is the case with Carrie. The book starts off strongly – a shower room scene, Carrie gets her first period and is tormented by the other girls – and the pace never falters. It’s just Good Fiction. King is definitely not the most talented writer to ever put pen to paper, but he knows how to tell a good story, and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying that. I think he would even be pleased with that category. (Goodness knows he’s at LEAST a step up from Dean Koontz, who I think should be banned from writing anymore books.)

Some people have argued that it’s a really good book for anyone who has ever been picked on, or anyone who has ever picked on anyone else (a fancy way of saying everyone). I don’t really think it reaches out in that way. While you feel bad for Carrie, you also sort of detest her – she isn’t really a likable character. She’s vengeful and hateful and all manners of icky things, but you do understand what brought all that on, so there is sort of this love/hate relationship going on.

My favorite character was Susan Snell – probably the most well developed character of them all. She at least has a rounded personality with motives and fears and all of that. Her boyfriend was also a sort of likable guy, if you read the book you’ll know why.

I’ve seen the movie (a long time ago) and the book is, as always, much better. It’s a quick read, and if you haven’t been exposed to King before (or just have been intimidated by the size of some of his other novels [IT, The Stand) this is a good opportunity to start. It’s his first published novel, in any case, so if you have to start SOMEWHERE…

Luna by Julie Anne Peters

ISBN: 0316011274
248 pages
published in 2004.
August 26th – September 10th.
You can buy this book at this link.

I read this book accidentally. I was over at my friend Julie’s house one night and saw it on her desk. I remembered hearing about it a few years ago when I first came out, but I couldn’t seem to find it and to be honest didn’t try very hard. It was convenient though, so when I saw it, I asked her if I could take it with me to read.

Though there were parts of it that bothered me a bit in the authenticity area, generally I’m just glad to see a young adult book written with a transsexual that has a positive role. Or really any fiction book ever that has a transsexual in a positive role. The characters were fairly well done, and although I really dislike where Peters went with the activities that Luna took part in (I swear she portrayed her as more of a transvestite than a transsexual) I do like that some sensitive things were addressed.

Luna’s sister was kind of a drag. Her character was pretty annoying and it was hard to get past because she is the narrator. Luna’s character was generally good, understandable – but still lacking something, and though I may be biased, I do think she could’ve been more positive. There was a lot of emphasis on the problems she created but not so much on her personal strength, which is a really big component of everything she did.

It’s not the best young adult book I’ve ever read, but for it’s subject matter, it was tastefully done and is hopefully the first in many books that will have the guts to take it on.

Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

ISBN: 031242227X
304 pages
published in 2002.
August 21th – September 1st.
You can buy this book at this link.

This was recommended to me by a couple of friends and obviously got a lot of media coverage a few years ago, so I figured I would pick it up and give it a chance. It’s not a completely awful book, but I definitely don’t see why it was as sensational as it became. I mean, certainly he had a particularly horrific childhood, but it’s not as though it’s entirely UNHEARD of for someone to have such a questionable youth. It makes me wonder how blind the world really is at times.

Anyway, it’s a memoir of the author’s, who describes his childhood with a crazy mother and his being adopted by a psychiatrist’s family and the dysfunction of everything that follows. It also speaks about his early acceptance of being gay and his extremely unhealthy sexual relationship with an older man. Augusten does seem to have a good sense of humor about everything that he speaks about, which is applaudable but not an altogether unheard of coping mechanism. So I don’t really see him as particularly unique in that regard.

His writing style is decent, interesting, easy to follow, and there is definitely a good amount of description, but I must admit that so much of it seems so over-the-top and theatrical and perfectly composed that I wonder how much of it is fabricated. I’m sure the bulk of the story and the baseline that it all runs within is for the most part true, but I’m sure there is a lot of speculation about certain details that he may or may not have remembered correctly. Anyway, it was an entertaining book. I don’t know who I would recommend it to but it’s interesting to read from a social and psychological perspective. It definitely wouldn’t be nearly as captivating to anyone I think if it was published as fiction, however.

Oryx And Crake by Margaret Atwood

ISBN: 0385721676
376 pages
published in 2003.
August 21th – September 1st.
You can buy this book at this link.

My sister gave me this book to read before I left for college and told me that I’d enjoy it. Likewise a friend of mine told me he thought it was something I would enjoy reading as well. They were both right. This is probably one of the best fiction books I’ve read in a long time. It’s not often that I have dreams about books that I’m reading but I had a few from this one.

Anyway, not to get too much into depth and ruin it, but it’s basically a very bleak, dystopian novel (MY FAVORITE!). It follows the point of view of Snowman (aka Jimmy) and his experiences with the people that lead up to the state of the world that he lives in when the novel begins. The characters are extremely well formed, the plot is woven perfectly and every aspect of the novel is extremely captivating. The eeriest part is probably how easily you find yourself getting wrapped into this future world that Snowman remembers and realize how simple it would be for society now to degenerate into that.

It’s just a brilliant book and I have a strange feeling it’ll be considered a classic one day. It’s just so, so good. I wish there was more to it just so I could keep reading about that world, but I’m also sort of glad it ended where it did. I have very mixed feelings about the entire thing in general! Anyway, very recommended.