English Philology entrance exam
Gah, I never thought a book of only 200 pages could bore me to tears. The narrative didn't impress me and the plot was pointless. I'm interested to see how I'm going to make up something reasonable for the essay I have to write.

More like three and a half. Occasionally Summerscale fell to listing insignificant details but overall quite an enjoyable (or should I say appalling) read, both from the murder and the Victorian detective perspective.

Had a kind of young adult fiction feel to it, probably because the author is known for writing only that. Bland writing and strange plot (not in the good way). Disappointing in every level.

Cultural History entrance exam

The Return of Stories: Essays About Contemporary French Literature
Comparative Literature entrance exam
Just like the authors promised. An easy read and perfect for also not so academic people. Introduces the most important contemporary French authors and it managed to light a spark in me that perhaps I should try at least some of these at some point.

Throughout all the short stories (which come together as almost a whole novel since they are about the same person) I felt disconnected to the main characters, uninspired and like I was just coasting along with someone I didn't particularly care to know. I did finish them all because it's a short book but... it was pointless.

The form of oral biography was completely new to me and I very much liked it. It creates an intimate portrait and ables you to get close to the person, especially when Sean himself is voicing his thoughts. What I got from this is that often he gets unfairly a lot of crap on him. The small stories here and there were hilarious, he's one of those who I wish I could know in person, just to see what they are really like.

Ok, so this and the movie version are not perfect. What the hell is Scream doing there with Der Himmel Über Berlin? I understand their reasoning but... Nope, that's not right. People, I also don't care about spoilers. I wan't to be inspired to see or read, not abandon them because I know too much. So the quality of the essays are extremely varied. Despite all this it's still fun to slog through them both. Not for considering myself "cultured" and "civilized" for finishing the lists but more like getting to know works I would never have chosen myself or would never have come across, therefore there's a big chance for finding incredible gems.

English Translation Studies
The feeling of wanting to tear my hair off was all due to my attitude towards grammar, it wasn't this poor book's fault. So because this was a compulsory read for university, the rating was given with as much objectivity as possible. I may faint in the exam, but at least Longman offered me the chance to read about grammar in a well organized format with clear sections, tables and examples. And, you know, the real one is about 1500 pages long, which makes me a little happier.