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theanitaalvarez's Reviews (1.77k)
I’ve wanted to read something by Salman Rushdie for quite a while, but I never seemed to find any time to do so. So, when my professor added this book to her course’s list, I was ready for it. I knew a little about Rushdie’s life, which is very interesting.
This is a book that will speak powerfully to any writer that suffers from the infamous “writer’s block”. In it, a storyteller, Rashid Khalifa, is left without the will to write or tell stories at all after his wife leaves him. This was the part that spoke to me the most, because I’ve never seen many good depictions of depressed people in fiction. Even if the book doesn’t say it explicitly, it was pretty clear to me that Rashid was suffering from depression. And of course, it affects his ability to tell stories.
This is when his son, Haroun, steps in. One night, he’s awakened by a genie, Iff, who tells him that they’re cutting his father’s connection to the Sea of Stories, therefore ending Rashid’s capacity as a storyteller. Of course, Rashid decides to embark in a fantastic journey to save his father’s imagination. He’s joined with all kinds of friends who help him in his enterprise. Especial mention to Blabbermouth, a girl that dresses as a boy to be a Page in Gup’s palace, and she is badass. And I had a lot of fun reading about princess Batcheat (who doesn’t seem to be anything like the typical fairy tale princess) and prince Bolo. I think they were just making fun of the typical fairy tales and made me laugh so many times with their melodrama and the constant allusions to Batcheat’s ugliness and bad singing.
For me, this book is more than just a fairy tale. It is one, of course; but it is also a powerful book about the power of stories to change our lives, and the power of imagination. The enemies in this book are people who want to silence everybody, in contrast with the chattering and noisy Gup. It’s very interesting that at first, silence is presented as evil, but as the novel progresses, it becomes obvious that silence itself is not evil. It is only when it is used to dominate others that it becomes bad. In the end, both noise and silence manage to find balance.
Rushdie’s style, also, is very beautiful. He clearly has a way with words that makes his entire story very easy and lovely to read. The words seem to flow easily and it creates a sort of music that is hard to resist. In a way, it reminded me of the few stories I’ve read from the A Thousand and One Nights (which may be obvious, considering Rushdie’s cultural background). But there are also references to other stories: Alice in Wonderland, different folktales, Peter Pan, and so on. And it makes sense, because the book’s plot is centered around the Sea of Stories, which apparently is where all stories come from.
This is a book for children ages 1-99, and for writers. After all, it’s talking about the place where our own stories come from. Especially recommended for any writer who is going through a writing block, or anyone who’s suffered from depression. I think this shows a light at the end of the tunnel and it’s awesome.
This is a book that will speak powerfully to any writer that suffers from the infamous “writer’s block”. In it, a storyteller, Rashid Khalifa, is left without the will to write or tell stories at all after his wife leaves him. This was the part that spoke to me the most, because I’ve never seen many good depictions of depressed people in fiction. Even if the book doesn’t say it explicitly, it was pretty clear to me that Rashid was suffering from depression. And of course, it affects his ability to tell stories.
This is when his son, Haroun, steps in. One night, he’s awakened by a genie, Iff, who tells him that they’re cutting his father’s connection to the Sea of Stories, therefore ending Rashid’s capacity as a storyteller. Of course, Rashid decides to embark in a fantastic journey to save his father’s imagination. He’s joined with all kinds of friends who help him in his enterprise. Especial mention to Blabbermouth, a girl that dresses as a boy to be a Page in Gup’s palace, and she is badass. And I had a lot of fun reading about princess Batcheat (who doesn’t seem to be anything like the typical fairy tale princess) and prince Bolo. I think they were just making fun of the typical fairy tales and made me laugh so many times with their melodrama and the constant allusions to Batcheat’s ugliness and bad singing.
For me, this book is more than just a fairy tale. It is one, of course; but it is also a powerful book about the power of stories to change our lives, and the power of imagination. The enemies in this book are people who want to silence everybody, in contrast with the chattering and noisy Gup. It’s very interesting that at first, silence is presented as evil, but as the novel progresses, it becomes obvious that silence itself is not evil. It is only when it is used to dominate others that it becomes bad. In the end, both noise and silence manage to find balance.
Rushdie’s style, also, is very beautiful. He clearly has a way with words that makes his entire story very easy and lovely to read. The words seem to flow easily and it creates a sort of music that is hard to resist. In a way, it reminded me of the few stories I’ve read from the A Thousand and One Nights (which may be obvious, considering Rushdie’s cultural background). But there are also references to other stories: Alice in Wonderland, different folktales, Peter Pan, and so on. And it makes sense, because the book’s plot is centered around the Sea of Stories, which apparently is where all stories come from.
This is a book for children ages 1-99, and for writers. After all, it’s talking about the place where our own stories come from. Especially recommended for any writer who is going through a writing block, or anyone who’s suffered from depression. I think this shows a light at the end of the tunnel and it’s awesome.
Tristram Shandy is probably the most post-modern book I’ve ever read. And it was written in the 1700s. So, yes, it is also a very weird book.
The premise for this book is pretty well-known: a man decides to tell his entire life, beginning from his birth. The thing is that the events of the day Tristram was born can only be explained by referring to events that happened before that. So… we get a really long book of “digressions” as he calls it. And it’s absolutely hilarious (in the sense of what a literature nerd can find hilarious, of course). Even if it’s not an easy book to read (the narrator beats around the bushes for almost the entire book), I actually had a lot of fun reading it.
Tristram is a funny narrator, but the other characters he describes in his story are no less amusing. I enjoyed particularly the bits that talked about his uncle Toby, who is supposed to be an old veteran of some war or another. And he’s funny because he relates everything in life with military terms. Though Walter Shandy, Tristram’s father, is another good one. I mean, his comments about life and death and education are great.
Of course, there are a lot of weird things in Tristram Shandy. At some points he illustrates what he is referring to (there are great drawings to express his disgressions, really) and there’s a point in which he adds a black page to mourn for the death of a character who dies (Yorick, the priest. And yes, his name alludes to Hamlet). There are chapters that are merely a paragraph, or even a line. See what I mean when I say that this book is very post-modern? I really mean it.
Most of the action here is centered around the birth. I think that Sterne might be trying to create some sort of parallel with the idea of writing. As his mother is giving birth to him, Tristam is trying to give birth to a great work of literature (which he does). Both enterprises are long, arduous and exhausting (in different ways, of course, but both are draining). I guess there is some sort of metafiction aspect in the whole book, given the fact that Tristram is constantly pointing at the medium he’s using (there’s a moment in which he directly addresses a female reader and tells her to reread the previous chapter). In a way, Sterne in this book predates the postmodern awareness of the medium and breaking the fourth wall (though, in this case, I’d say that more than breaking it, he smashes it to pieces). This book was a pleasant surprise, after all.
I’d recommend that if you want to give Tristram a try, get a very annotated version (the one I read, which I took from my university’s library, is the Penguin Classics’ edition and has lots of notes). The book constantly makes references to other books and so on, so if you haven’t brushed up your classics in a while, the notes are very useful.
The premise for this book is pretty well-known: a man decides to tell his entire life, beginning from his birth. The thing is that the events of the day Tristram was born can only be explained by referring to events that happened before that. So… we get a really long book of “digressions” as he calls it. And it’s absolutely hilarious (in the sense of what a literature nerd can find hilarious, of course). Even if it’s not an easy book to read (the narrator beats around the bushes for almost the entire book), I actually had a lot of fun reading it.
Tristram is a funny narrator, but the other characters he describes in his story are no less amusing. I enjoyed particularly the bits that talked about his uncle Toby, who is supposed to be an old veteran of some war or another. And he’s funny because he relates everything in life with military terms. Though Walter Shandy, Tristram’s father, is another good one. I mean, his comments about life and death and education are great.
Of course, there are a lot of weird things in Tristram Shandy. At some points he illustrates what he is referring to (there are great drawings to express his disgressions, really) and there’s a point in which he adds a black page to mourn for the death of a character who dies (Yorick, the priest. And yes, his name alludes to Hamlet). There are chapters that are merely a paragraph, or even a line. See what I mean when I say that this book is very post-modern? I really mean it.
Most of the action here is centered around the birth. I think that Sterne might be trying to create some sort of parallel with the idea of writing. As his mother is giving birth to him, Tristam is trying to give birth to a great work of literature (which he does). Both enterprises are long, arduous and exhausting (in different ways, of course, but both are draining). I guess there is some sort of metafiction aspect in the whole book, given the fact that Tristram is constantly pointing at the medium he’s using (there’s a moment in which he directly addresses a female reader and tells her to reread the previous chapter). In a way, Sterne in this book predates the postmodern awareness of the medium and breaking the fourth wall (though, in this case, I’d say that more than breaking it, he smashes it to pieces). This book was a pleasant surprise, after all.
I’d recommend that if you want to give Tristram a try, get a very annotated version (the one I read, which I took from my university’s library, is the Penguin Classics’ edition and has lots of notes). The book constantly makes references to other books and so on, so if you haven’t brushed up your classics in a while, the notes are very useful.
Let’s begin with a confession: I’ve never seen Fight Club, the film. Mainly because it has Brad Pitt in it and I seem to have a natural repulsion against him. So, my excuse was that I like reading the book first. I’ve read it now, so I guess I have no excuse about watching the film, so I’ll do it (good things of having the whole summer for you). Though I shouldn’t be writing about this book. We all know what the first rule of fight club is, don’t we?
One of the things I really liked about this book is how it’s narrated. It uses the first person present in a way that conveys perfectly the mental state of the narrator. I’m not going to dwell on it because everyone and their aunt already know this plot twist (but I’m putting the spoilers to be nice), but I have to say thatI loved the way in which he does it. I already knew that Tyler was the narrator’s alter ego, but the way in which he discovers it is just… chilling.
This book takes the idea of the unreliable narrator up to eleven, which also made me love it. Because I’m partial towards crazy and unreliable narrators, and I really enjoy when they are well written. I think it’s one of the hardest things you can do in Literature, and Palahniuk manages it perfectly.
Fight Club is very chilling as well. Not in the supernatural-horror kind of fear, but in the this-could-really-happen kind of scary. The narrators and the men in the Fight Club and Project Mayhem are people who are really frustrated about a system that is not answering to their needs and that doesn’t allow them to move forward in life. It’s the 99% rebelling against the 1% and is terrifying because, as I said, it could happen. I mean, we don’t know what can drive people to these extremes.
At first, the narrator uses different support groups as a way to let off some steam. And then he finds the Fight Club and begins using it to relieve himself of all that anger. Of course it was a matter of time before he found something that allows him to let even more steam go.Tyler is obviously another way in which the narrator is channeling his frustrations. He creates an alter ego that does everything he fears to do. Again, this only adds to the chilling feeling that this book gives. The idea that your mind can do such a thing is beyond creepy.
Surprisingly enough, the book is really easy to read. Maybe because Palahniuk really knows what he’s doing and he makes the story flow. I just couldn’t stop reading, trying to get at what was going to happen in the end. And, despite the subject matter and all the creepy implications, I actually enjoyed this book. So I might give Palahniuk another chance later on, he’s a great narrator.
I’d recommend this book mostly to my guy friends. Not because women cannot appreciate it, but because it’s one of those books that’s full of testosterone. And I don’t know any girl who likes to read this kind of books, so if I ever meet one, I’ll give it to them immediately.
One of the things I really liked about this book is how it’s narrated. It uses the first person present in a way that conveys perfectly the mental state of the narrator. I’m not going to dwell on it because everyone and their aunt already know this plot twist (but I’m putting the spoilers to be nice), but I have to say that
This book takes the idea of the unreliable narrator up to eleven, which also made me love it. Because I’m partial towards crazy and unreliable narrators, and I really enjoy when they are well written. I think it’s one of the hardest things you can do in Literature, and Palahniuk manages it perfectly.
Fight Club is very chilling as well. Not in the supernatural-horror kind of fear, but in the this-could-really-happen kind of scary. The narrators and the men in the Fight Club and Project Mayhem are people who are really frustrated about a system that is not answering to their needs and that doesn’t allow them to move forward in life. It’s the 99% rebelling against the 1% and is terrifying because, as I said, it could happen. I mean, we don’t know what can drive people to these extremes.
At first, the narrator uses different support groups as a way to let off some steam. And then he finds the Fight Club and begins using it to relieve himself of all that anger. Of course it was a matter of time before he found something that allows him to let even more steam go.
Surprisingly enough, the book is really easy to read. Maybe because Palahniuk really knows what he’s doing and he makes the story flow. I just couldn’t stop reading, trying to get at what was going to happen in the end. And, despite the subject matter and all the creepy implications, I actually enjoyed this book. So I might give Palahniuk another chance later on, he’s a great narrator.
I’d recommend this book mostly to my guy friends. Not because women cannot appreciate it, but because it’s one of those books that’s full of testosterone. And I don’t know any girl who likes to read this kind of books, so if I ever meet one, I’ll give it to them immediately.
Harold Bloom is one of those critics that provoke all kinds of mixed feelings. On the one hand, he’s a brilliant scholar (there are no two ways around this, he’s smart); on the other, I don’t quite agree with his stance of analyzing books as a unit independent of their context. I’m sorry, but I think of books as cultural products and they do have some sort of relation to their context. But I’m not going to focus this review on the many things I don’t quite agree with Dr. Bloom. I’m just going to focus on his Western Canon.
His very short overview of Western Literature does deal with the most important authors in our history. That is, if our history is that of white male Europeans. With the exceptions of Jane Austen, George Eliot and Virginia Woolf, there are basically no women writers whose work is worth discussing with Shakespeare, Dickens, and others (that is, according to Bloom. I happen to enjoy the Brontës’ books a lot more than Dickens’, for instance). I understand that he is just giving a very broad overview, but the implications are there.
One thing very positive about Harold Bloom is that, while he is a serious scholar, he doesn’t make his subject matter heavy or boring. The essays in this book are easy to read, and I think even someone who does not have a Literary Theory background can understand what he is saying. So, that’s a point for Dr. Bloom.
Being a Shakespeare nerd (and proud of my nerdery), I actually had a lot of fun when reading how he connects EVERYTHING (literally) with Shakespeare. I’m not really sure if I agree completely with what he says, but it’s interesting that Western literature is tinted with some sort of Shakespearean hue. I mean, he’s supposed to be the greatest writer of our history, I guess it’s kind of natural that he influences everyone. It speaks miles of what he did for our literary history, I guess. So, I think Bloom makes a good point there.
While I definitely don’t agree with everything this man says, I do think that this could be an interesting resource if you’re thinking about studying literature. One of my professors told me to photocopy the final pages in which he gives a list of canonical works, and read the books he recommends. After, all, even if I’m not a big fan of it, there is a literary canon. And if you (like I do) are thinking of studying literature, is a good idea to become acquainted with this works. And then, read whatever you like. Because, as Dr. Bloom mournfully says, the canon is dying because people want to include women and non-white people. Apparently, he sees it a terrible thing, but I don’t think it’s so.
As said before, this is a book that gives me mixed feelings. So I’d only recommend it if you’re the kind of person who feels in this way about the canon: you like that there are books that are important for everyone, but you don’t like that they are (almost) all written by white males. If you read this, you can argue your point a lot better, I think.
His very short overview of Western Literature does deal with the most important authors in our history. That is, if our history is that of white male Europeans. With the exceptions of Jane Austen, George Eliot and Virginia Woolf, there are basically no women writers whose work is worth discussing with Shakespeare, Dickens, and others (that is, according to Bloom. I happen to enjoy the Brontës’ books a lot more than Dickens’, for instance). I understand that he is just giving a very broad overview, but the implications are there.
One thing very positive about Harold Bloom is that, while he is a serious scholar, he doesn’t make his subject matter heavy or boring. The essays in this book are easy to read, and I think even someone who does not have a Literary Theory background can understand what he is saying. So, that’s a point for Dr. Bloom.
Being a Shakespeare nerd (and proud of my nerdery), I actually had a lot of fun when reading how he connects EVERYTHING (literally) with Shakespeare. I’m not really sure if I agree completely with what he says, but it’s interesting that Western literature is tinted with some sort of Shakespearean hue. I mean, he’s supposed to be the greatest writer of our history, I guess it’s kind of natural that he influences everyone. It speaks miles of what he did for our literary history, I guess. So, I think Bloom makes a good point there.
While I definitely don’t agree with everything this man says, I do think that this could be an interesting resource if you’re thinking about studying literature. One of my professors told me to photocopy the final pages in which he gives a list of canonical works, and read the books he recommends. After, all, even if I’m not a big fan of it, there is a literary canon. And if you (like I do) are thinking of studying literature, is a good idea to become acquainted with this works. And then, read whatever you like. Because, as Dr. Bloom mournfully says, the canon is dying because people want to include women and non-white people. Apparently, he sees it a terrible thing, but I don’t think it’s so.
As said before, this is a book that gives me mixed feelings. So I’d only recommend it if you’re the kind of person who feels in this way about the canon: you like that there are books that are important for everyone, but you don’t like that they are (almost) all written by white males. If you read this, you can argue your point a lot better, I think.
This book called me from the shelves in the Uni library and I simply had to read it. Because I love Jane Austen and feminism, so both things together are perfect for me. Also, I was curious for what they would argue about her books being discourses of feminism, because I know that she is a very problematic author for modern feminists. I mean, all her characters end up in very conventional marriages.
Throughout this book, different scholars discuss all her books and how they are feminist discourse in her own particular way. My favorite one was one (I can’t remember the name of the essay and I’ve already returned the book) that discussed Austen’s Juvenilia, and in particular her English History. It’s a very fun read (really, if you’re an Austen fan and have ever read her Juvenilia go and get it), and I agree completely with the reading they do here. In writing her own version of history, she’s subverting the male narrative of History. And that’s awesome. All hail the amazing Jane Austen.
Some of the essays discuss why Austen’s heroines can be considered feminists, despite their leading very conventional lives. I liked the discussion about Fanny Price (and I think I should read Mansfield Park again), as the essay was about her changing Edmund. It was an interesting take on a character I usually find pretty boring. She was seen as an educator, in contrast with men who are usually the ones who teach women in 19th century literature. And they also show her evolution, contrasting Catherine from Northanger Abbey to Mansfield Park’s Fanny. I’d never thought about bringing them together, but the author of that particular essay makes a great point. There was also a very good essay regarding Emma and the idea of the “marriage plot”, but I’ve completely forgotten the name of the author.
This book is very clear as far as the themes discussed are concerned. And I didn’t find it excessively hard to understand (but that may be because I’ve been studying these things for four years now), and it is illuminating in many senses. The authors of the essays highlight the most subversive parts in Austen’s fiction, and argue their points really well. There are many examples for each one of them, so that’s perfect. I love when scholars give a lot of illustration in their papers. It’s fun because they also made me think differently about Austen’s books. I love them, but it’s hard for me to think of them as subversive. And, according to these people, they are very subversive indeed.
Jane Austen is my favorite writer ever and I enjoy reading different perspectives on her work. If you’re a devout Janeite and don’t mind reading Literary Theory (which could be the case, there are lots of people who prefer reading fiction), maybe you should give it a go. The comments and issues that the authors raise are very interesting, and I think the book itself is clear enough for anyone to understand the points they are making.
Throughout this book, different scholars discuss all her books and how they are feminist discourse in her own particular way. My favorite one was one (I can’t remember the name of the essay and I’ve already returned the book) that discussed Austen’s Juvenilia, and in particular her English History. It’s a very fun read (really, if you’re an Austen fan and have ever read her Juvenilia go and get it), and I agree completely with the reading they do here. In writing her own version of history, she’s subverting the male narrative of History. And that’s awesome. All hail the amazing Jane Austen.
Some of the essays discuss why Austen’s heroines can be considered feminists, despite their leading very conventional lives. I liked the discussion about Fanny Price (and I think I should read Mansfield Park again), as the essay was about her changing Edmund. It was an interesting take on a character I usually find pretty boring. She was seen as an educator, in contrast with men who are usually the ones who teach women in 19th century literature. And they also show her evolution, contrasting Catherine from Northanger Abbey to Mansfield Park’s Fanny. I’d never thought about bringing them together, but the author of that particular essay makes a great point. There was also a very good essay regarding Emma and the idea of the “marriage plot”, but I’ve completely forgotten the name of the author.
This book is very clear as far as the themes discussed are concerned. And I didn’t find it excessively hard to understand (but that may be because I’ve been studying these things for four years now), and it is illuminating in many senses. The authors of the essays highlight the most subversive parts in Austen’s fiction, and argue their points really well. There are many examples for each one of them, so that’s perfect. I love when scholars give a lot of illustration in their papers. It’s fun because they also made me think differently about Austen’s books. I love them, but it’s hard for me to think of them as subversive. And, according to these people, they are very subversive indeed.
Jane Austen is my favorite writer ever and I enjoy reading different perspectives on her work. If you’re a devout Janeite and don’t mind reading Literary Theory (which could be the case, there are lots of people who prefer reading fiction), maybe you should give it a go. The comments and issues that the authors raise are very interesting, and I think the book itself is clear enough for anyone to understand the points they are making.
I’ve been a C.S. Lewis fan since my early tween years (and I’ll just say that I didn’t only read The Chronicles of Narnia then). But I just couldn’t get to this book. I’m sorry, Clive Staples, but I just couldn’t enjoy this book as much as I expected.
The story is simple enough: a man gets on a bus that takes him to “the other side”. There, he learns about the real difference between Hell and Heaven (basically, Heaven is a place where you’re close to God and Hell is where you are when there is no God). I don’t need to tell you that this book is very preachy. And I mean it. It’s a little allegorical, so you’ll have to give the whole book a few thoughts. It’s not the kind of light-reading book you usually get, and is very dense with religious and philosophical stuff. Those were the parts I was dying to skip, but couldn’t because I was reading this for a class (I’m still not really sure about why this was in the class, but I won’t ask the professor about that).
I did enjoy the myriad of literary references that are throughout the book. There’s a very easy take on The Divine Comedy, though Lewis was nicer than Dante and didn’t send any of his enemies to hell. The Virgil figure here is George MacDonald, a fantasy writer, who speaks with a very thick Scottish accent. It is him who leads the narrator and explains how the whole afterlife works.
Of course, there are a lot of moments when we see what the sort of good behavior that can lead you to heaven is: when you’re selfless, when you recognize your flaws and ask for help and so on. There’s a moment that annoyed me a little, when a mother is asking to see her son and they tell her that she can’t do so until she lets go. We’re supposed to see this poor mother as a selfish woman who cares more about her happiness than for her son’s. It made me raise an eyebrow, because she was one of the characters with which I related the most. And I’m counting the narrator here.
I actually like the idea of afterlife Lewis presents here. I’ve never liked the idea that we’re heaven or hell bound. I think there’s the possibility of redemption for everyone and I actually liked that Lewis showed it in that light. After all, we all deserve a chance. However, the preachy and too holy tone of the book annoyed me a little, so I was a little tired of the whole thing by the end of it.
If you ask me my honest opinion, I’d say that this book isn’t bad at all. But there are better books by Mr. Lewis. Just go and get The Screwtape Letters, which is so much better and a lot funnier. You can give The Great Divorce a miss if you have other things to read.
The story is simple enough: a man gets on a bus that takes him to “the other side”. There, he learns about the real difference between Hell and Heaven (basically, Heaven is a place where you’re close to God and Hell is where you are when there is no God). I don’t need to tell you that this book is very preachy. And I mean it. It’s a little allegorical, so you’ll have to give the whole book a few thoughts. It’s not the kind of light-reading book you usually get, and is very dense with religious and philosophical stuff. Those were the parts I was dying to skip, but couldn’t because I was reading this for a class (I’m still not really sure about why this was in the class, but I won’t ask the professor about that).
I did enjoy the myriad of literary references that are throughout the book. There’s a very easy take on The Divine Comedy, though Lewis was nicer than Dante and didn’t send any of his enemies to hell. The Virgil figure here is George MacDonald, a fantasy writer, who speaks with a very thick Scottish accent. It is him who leads the narrator and explains how the whole afterlife works.
Of course, there are a lot of moments when we see what the sort of good behavior that can lead you to heaven is: when you’re selfless, when you recognize your flaws and ask for help and so on. There’s a moment that annoyed me a little, when a mother is asking to see her son and they tell her that she can’t do so until she lets go. We’re supposed to see this poor mother as a selfish woman who cares more about her happiness than for her son’s. It made me raise an eyebrow, because she was one of the characters with which I related the most. And I’m counting the narrator here.
I actually like the idea of afterlife Lewis presents here. I’ve never liked the idea that we’re heaven or hell bound. I think there’s the possibility of redemption for everyone and I actually liked that Lewis showed it in that light. After all, we all deserve a chance. However, the preachy and too holy tone of the book annoyed me a little, so I was a little tired of the whole thing by the end of it.
If you ask me my honest opinion, I’d say that this book isn’t bad at all. But there are better books by Mr. Lewis. Just go and get The Screwtape Letters, which is so much better and a lot funnier. You can give The Great Divorce a miss if you have other things to read.
Yes, it seems that I’m going to a phase of reading books that were adapted to film in the 90s. Which is an interesting phase to be in, I guess. But that’s not the point of this review. We’re here to talk about The English Patient (the book, not the award-winning film. Just to make that clear).
In the midst of WWII, in an abandoned Italian villa, a nurse (Hana) takes care of a badly burnt man. And when I say “badly burnt”, I mean basically that he was almost carbonized. Apparently nobody can identify him because of how burnt he is. Besides him and the nurse, there is a thief (called David Caravaggio. Yes, like the painter) and an Indian sapper, Kip.
The book has a non-linear narration, which deals with all of these characters’ past and how they got into that place. We learn about the Patient’s relationship with a married woman, Katherine Clifton, and how the affair drove her husband crazy. Hana is a Canadian girl who decided to be a nurse in the war after her father died there. Caravaggio was tortured by the Italian intelligence. Kip decides to stay in the villa to help the people there defuse all the possible bombs that could be planted in the grounds.
In the Patient, everyone in the house sees what they want to see. Hana sees a hero, Caravaggio a fellow former-soldier, and Kip sees another outsider. And those assumptions also shape the way in which they relate to the burnt man. I think it’s interesting, because that reveals as much about their personalities as the flashbacks we get about them.
I liked the way in which this book was written, because it’s interesting as a narrative technique. And it allows the author to show the backgrounds of the different characters. And there’s also the question that all this stories are, in the end, connected by the idea of Love. All of them are lovers, of people, or ideals, or whatever. And they are all in the villa trying to heal as much as the Patient. The characters in the novel try to pass over the boundaries human beings have set since the past: nationality, religion and culture. In a way, the novel tries to show that all those limits are an invention, that in the end, we’re all human beings and that’s what matters in the end. And choosing to set his story in these times, which are probably the cruelest any human being has ever been, gives a hint at what is the true essence of human nature. Ondaatje here is pretty much an optimist, as he seems to think that love is bigger than war and all that comes with it.
Ondaatje’s prose is beautiful. It struck me when I read Coming Through Slaughter earlier this year, and it struck me again as I read this book. I don’t know how to explain this, but it feels a little as if he is creating music with the words. Some sentences left me breathless, and made me repeat them out loud, to taste them, in a way.
So yes, I'd recommend this book. But is one of those you have to be very focused to read, because of all the switching POVs.
In the midst of WWII, in an abandoned Italian villa, a nurse (Hana) takes care of a badly burnt man. And when I say “badly burnt”, I mean basically that he was almost carbonized. Apparently nobody can identify him because of how burnt he is. Besides him and the nurse, there is a thief (called David Caravaggio. Yes, like the painter) and an Indian sapper, Kip.
The book has a non-linear narration, which deals with all of these characters’ past and how they got into that place. We learn about the Patient’s relationship with a married woman, Katherine Clifton, and how the affair drove her husband crazy. Hana is a Canadian girl who decided to be a nurse in the war after her father died there. Caravaggio was tortured by the Italian intelligence. Kip decides to stay in the villa to help the people there defuse all the possible bombs that could be planted in the grounds.
In the Patient, everyone in the house sees what they want to see. Hana sees a hero, Caravaggio a fellow former-soldier, and Kip sees another outsider. And those assumptions also shape the way in which they relate to the burnt man. I think it’s interesting, because that reveals as much about their personalities as the flashbacks we get about them.
I liked the way in which this book was written, because it’s interesting as a narrative technique. And it allows the author to show the backgrounds of the different characters. And there’s also the question that all this stories are, in the end, connected by the idea of Love. All of them are lovers, of people, or ideals, or whatever. And they are all in the villa trying to heal as much as the Patient. The characters in the novel try to pass over the boundaries human beings have set since the past: nationality, religion and culture. In a way, the novel tries to show that all those limits are an invention, that in the end, we’re all human beings and that’s what matters in the end. And choosing to set his story in these times, which are probably the cruelest any human being has ever been, gives a hint at what is the true essence of human nature. Ondaatje here is pretty much an optimist, as he seems to think that love is bigger than war and all that comes with it.
Ondaatje’s prose is beautiful. It struck me when I read Coming Through Slaughter earlier this year, and it struck me again as I read this book. I don’t know how to explain this, but it feels a little as if he is creating music with the words. Some sentences left me breathless, and made me repeat them out loud, to taste them, in a way.
So yes, I'd recommend this book. But is one of those you have to be very focused to read, because of all the switching POVs.
This book can get into the list of “weirdest books I’ve read in 2014” (sharing the spot with James Joyce’s Ulysses and Tristram Shandy). The main character is a young woman who was born from an egg and sprouted wings on her back. So, yes, it is a very weird book.
It begins with an American journalist, Jack, interviewing Fevvers, the winged woman. He seems to think that she is a fake and doubts her story all the time. But he’s also fascinated by her. After all, she is the epitome of the exotic (she has WINGS) and she is also more real than anything he’s seen in his life. I mean this in the sense that she is very earthy, in a way. Not the typical idea of ethereal woman you usually get to see.
She tells him about her earlier years, when she was left on the door of a brothel and the prostitutes adopted her. After the madam of the brothel dies, she and her putative godmother, Lizzie, leave the house and move with Lizzie’s family. Out of desire to help the family, Fevvers decides to begin working in what can only be described as mixture between a brothel and a freak show. When the madam of that place sells her to a creepy man who intends to sacrifice her, Fevvers runs and gets back to Lizzie. In the end, she enters a circus, which makes her famous.
Jack, who is clearly smitten by this amazing and unreal woman, decides to follow her around Europe. They encounter adventures is Tsarist Russia, and so on.
The book is really cool over all, but what really sells it is Fevvers herself. She’s one of those amazing female character who is not only strong enough to save herself, but she also saves others.Namely, Jack Walser. She is kind, compassionate and daring, all of which make for a really cool combination in her. She’s obviously the hero of the story, not merely a love interest for Jack. I really think we need more characters like her. In the end, she gets together with Jack, but it is made clear that it’s not your average happy ending. They are both in power in the relationship and are seen as equals.
Angela Carter is a good narrator; she manages to keep the attention of the reader for the entire book. And that’s remarkable considering that great parts of the book are basically description, with very little dialogue in them. But she writes vividly and it’s very easy to enjoy these descriptions. I especially enjoyed the ones in the Siberian section (it may be that I’m not a hot-weathered person, and it’s summer where I live and I love snow and cold weather), describing the beautiful snow-covered trees.
To whom would I recommend this book? To anyone who enjoys strong, well-written and interesting female characters, historical fiction and a bit of magical realism. If you check these three items, please, feel free to get this book as soon as you can.
It begins with an American journalist, Jack, interviewing Fevvers, the winged woman. He seems to think that she is a fake and doubts her story all the time. But he’s also fascinated by her. After all, she is the epitome of the exotic (she has WINGS) and she is also more real than anything he’s seen in his life. I mean this in the sense that she is very earthy, in a way. Not the typical idea of ethereal woman you usually get to see.
She tells him about her earlier years, when she was left on the door of a brothel and the prostitutes adopted her. After the madam of the brothel dies, she and her putative godmother, Lizzie, leave the house and move with Lizzie’s family. Out of desire to help the family, Fevvers decides to begin working in what can only be described as mixture between a brothel and a freak show. When the madam of that place sells her to a creepy man who intends to sacrifice her, Fevvers runs and gets back to Lizzie. In the end, she enters a circus, which makes her famous.
Jack, who is clearly smitten by this amazing and unreal woman, decides to follow her around Europe. They encounter adventures is Tsarist Russia, and so on.
The book is really cool over all, but what really sells it is Fevvers herself. She’s one of those amazing female character who is not only strong enough to save herself, but she also saves others.
Angela Carter is a good narrator; she manages to keep the attention of the reader for the entire book. And that’s remarkable considering that great parts of the book are basically description, with very little dialogue in them. But she writes vividly and it’s very easy to enjoy these descriptions. I especially enjoyed the ones in the Siberian section (it may be that I’m not a hot-weathered person, and it’s summer where I live and I love snow and cold weather), describing the beautiful snow-covered trees.
To whom would I recommend this book? To anyone who enjoys strong, well-written and interesting female characters, historical fiction and a bit of magical realism. If you check these three items, please, feel free to get this book as soon as you can.
Another contestant for “weirdest book read in 2014”! (It seems that we have an awful lot of contestants for that prize). However, this one is also cool. In a slightly creepy kind of way.
The setting is some sort of Caribbean dystopia, where a City is under siege by one man, the eponymous Doctor Hoffman. He has some creepy machines, that change the laws of time and space and allows “mirages” to happen in the same realm as reality. Obviously, people go nuts under this situation and the city becomes unlivable. One man, Desiderio, sees a glass woman, who tells him she is Doctor Hoffman’s daughter, Albertina (obvious literary reference: Proust). He is later chosen to kill the Doctor. And then… a lot of crazy shit happens. It involves a boat-living, creepy child-marrying and cannibal tribe, a lot of automatons and weirder stuff.
Throughout the book, there are several instances when illusion and reality are merged together. We see that in the people who go crazy over Doctor Hoffman’s apparitions, and the river people(Who seem like a decent bunch of people before Desiderio discovers that they plan to eat him) . And that’s part of the themes of the book, how illusion can trick into thinking it is reality. And of course, this doubt remains even after the end of the book. It makes you question if you’re actually seeing reality or being tricked by Doctor Hoffman (or someone in their league).
Though there are some people who say that this book is an example of magical realism, I don’t agree with them. There’s very little realism here, and lots of magical stuff. I’d call this book straight fantasy. Desiderio’s world has little to nothing to do with ours. And this helps Carter bring up a lot of criticism without being openly preachy. So, Mrs. Carter gets a point there. Well done! Being Angela Carter, there’s lot of feminist commentary in this book (just think of Albertina’s character, she is merely a pawn in her father’s game), and there are point in which she seems to be criticizing porn industry (many of Doctor Hoffman’s visions are of erotic nature) and even modern conceptions of sexuality. There’s a lot of sex here, and it’s nearly always a bit disturbing, as if to call attention to how much we have made sex to be strange and alien, instead that of a part of life. There’s also criticism towards the media and so on. I really think we can go on for ages trying to see all of the things Carter criticizes here. She throws darts wherever she pleases, really.
I don’t think this is a book for everyone. It’s weird, disturbing and at some points, really dense. If you have no problem with all of these things, go ahead. You might enjoy it. If not, maybe go read something else instead. And if you want to begin reading Carter’s works, I think you should begin with Nights at the Circus or The Bloody Chamber.
The setting is some sort of Caribbean dystopia, where a City is under siege by one man, the eponymous Doctor Hoffman. He has some creepy machines, that change the laws of time and space and allows “mirages” to happen in the same realm as reality. Obviously, people go nuts under this situation and the city becomes unlivable. One man, Desiderio, sees a glass woman, who tells him she is Doctor Hoffman’s daughter, Albertina (obvious literary reference: Proust). He is later chosen to kill the Doctor. And then… a lot of crazy shit happens. It involves a boat-living, creepy child-marrying and cannibal tribe, a lot of automatons and weirder stuff.
Throughout the book, there are several instances when illusion and reality are merged together. We see that in the people who go crazy over Doctor Hoffman’s apparitions, and the river people
Though there are some people who say that this book is an example of magical realism, I don’t agree with them. There’s very little realism here, and lots of magical stuff. I’d call this book straight fantasy. Desiderio’s world has little to nothing to do with ours. And this helps Carter bring up a lot of criticism without being openly preachy. So, Mrs. Carter gets a point there. Well done! Being Angela Carter, there’s lot of feminist commentary in this book (just think of Albertina’s character, she is merely a pawn in her father’s game), and there are point in which she seems to be criticizing porn industry (many of Doctor Hoffman’s visions are of erotic nature) and even modern conceptions of sexuality. There’s a lot of sex here, and it’s nearly always a bit disturbing, as if to call attention to how much we have made sex to be strange and alien, instead that of a part of life. There’s also criticism towards the media and so on. I really think we can go on for ages trying to see all of the things Carter criticizes here. She throws darts wherever she pleases, really.
I don’t think this is a book for everyone. It’s weird, disturbing and at some points, really dense. If you have no problem with all of these things, go ahead. You might enjoy it. If not, maybe go read something else instead. And if you want to begin reading Carter’s works, I think you should begin with Nights at the Circus or The Bloody Chamber.
Angela Carter being a feminist, she decided to rewrite several classic fairytales into feminist tales. However, these are not made for children. They may be based on fairytales, but there’s nothing childish about them. Disclaimer made, I cannot be hold accountable for any traumatized child. I told you.
The Bloody Chamber
This one is based on Blue Beard but is set in the early 20th century. A young girl marries a mysterious aristocrat who’s been widowed several times in the past few years. But he seems a nice guy and she marries him anyway. After the wedding, he announces to his young bride that he’ll go away in a business trip and gives her a bunch of keys, telling her not to open the door that is opened by the smallest key. Of course, we all know how that story ends. Carter’s plot twist is that it is not the brothers (she has none) who save the girl. Instead, her mother is alerted by mom’s sixth sense and rides to save her daughter from the horrible man she’s married. And the mom is bad-ass. Seriously. At some point, her daughter mentions several adventures her mother had and they involve pirates. Who needs brothers when you have such a cool mom?
The Courtship of Mr Lyon
This one is based on Beauty and the Beast. The story is basically the same as the typical fairytale and the Disney film, but Beauty here seems to have more agency than in other versions. And the relationship between Mr Lyon and Beauty has a lot more depth than other versions of this story. So, pretty cool. And it’s my favorite fairytale ever, so this feminist version was perfect.
The Tiger's Bride
This is another retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but it has a more radical plot twist in the end: Beauty changes into a tiger to be with the man she loves. While you can argue that she “is changing for a man”, the way in which Carter shows it, it becomes very clear that it’s her choice to transform, she is not doing it because he tells her so.
Puss-in-Boots
This one is really funny. It’s a retelling the fairytale of the same title, but narrated by the eponymous cat (and he’s sassy). Here, the young man falls in love with a married woman. The cat doesn’t really like this, but decides to help him anyway, thinking that having the affair with the woman will remove her from his master’s mind (and he argues that in order to get to her, the young man has to play “the bad boy”, saying that all women love that). But in the end he also falls in love with the woman’s cat and the two cats plan to kill the woman’s husband so that they can be together ever after (and their masters as well). They do. If you don’t like cats because they seem treacherous, this story will confirm your worst fears.
The Erl-King
In this story, a young girl walks into the forest and finds the eponymus Erl-King, who acts very nicely towards her. He seduces her and they engage in a sexual relationship, which she seems rather content with. However, she soon realizes that he’s planning to trap her forever transforming her into a bird, as he’s done with other girls, who are put in cages all over his house. There’s no dashing brave knight in this version, and it’s the girl the one who saves all the other girls, returning them to their own form, after killing the Erl-king and using his hair to cord a fiddle. Bad-ass.
The Snow Child
This is probably the saddest story in the book. If you’ve ever read The Snow Girl, you’ll probably crashed by how this story ends. As in the original story (with a bit of Snow White in it, as well), there’s a couple who can’t have children. Seeing the combination of colours red, white and black, the woman says that she wished to have a daughter with that coloring. As they keep walking, they encounter a young girl that is exactly what the woman has wished for. However, the woman quickly orders her to pick a rose, and a thorn kills the girl.And then, the husband RAPES THE BODY, crying all the time. In the end, it’s all weird and depressing. And it’s the shortest story!
The Lady of the House of Love
The protagonist here is a young soldier (who’s a virgin) who gets to an abandoned castle that’s inhabited by a vampire version of Sleeping Beauty (or at least, that’s how it sounds to me). The vampire lady takes an interest to the man, and tries to seduce him. When they are in the bedroom, she cuts herself, which the soldier kisses to cure. In the end, the soldier wakes to find the woman dead in the end. It’s an interesting reversal of Sleeping Beauty, I think.
The Werewolf
In this story, when Little Red Riding Hood is on the way to her grandmothers, she meets a wolf. Because she’s not a little scared girl, she fights it and ends up cutting one of its legs. When she gets to her grandmother’s house, she finds out that one of the old lady’s hands has been cut recently. She accuses her grandmother of being a witch and the people from the village kill her. I think that the girl is very creepy, especially because in the end, she lives in her grandmother’s house, as heir of all her possessions.
The Company of Wolves
In this story, we get into a town where wolves and werewolves seem to be part of life. And when a young girl meets a handsome stranger in the woods, she decides to race him towards her grandmother’s house. He gets there first, and reveals himself to the grandmother as a werewolf, and proceeds to kill her. When the woman gets to the house, he’s waiting for her. She instantly realizes that the guy killed her grandmother, and seduces him to save her life. Again, it’s all very creepy and disturbing.
Wolf-Alice
This story takes on the idea of kids who are raised by beasts, but instead of showing it from the outsiders’ perspective, it’s narrated from the girl’s. The story focuses in the ideas of identity and self-definition, as the girl struggles to find her own self. At first, some nuns try to teach her to behave properly, and then is sent to a weird Duke’s house. In the end, the girl seems to come to terms with her identity.
There’s nothing simple about Carter’s stories. She attempts to create a counterpart to the traditional male-driven fairytales and succeeds in her attempt. And I also love the dark nature of all these stories, because a little part of me enjoys horror stories. If you want to give Carter's work a try, I think you should start with this.
The Bloody Chamber
This one is based on Blue Beard but is set in the early 20th century. A young girl marries a mysterious aristocrat who’s been widowed several times in the past few years. But he seems a nice guy and she marries him anyway. After the wedding, he announces to his young bride that he’ll go away in a business trip and gives her a bunch of keys, telling her not to open the door that is opened by the smallest key. Of course, we all know how that story ends. Carter’s plot twist is that it is not the brothers (she has none) who save the girl. Instead, her mother is alerted by mom’s sixth sense and rides to save her daughter from the horrible man she’s married. And the mom is bad-ass. Seriously. At some point, her daughter mentions several adventures her mother had and they involve pirates. Who needs brothers when you have such a cool mom?
The Courtship of Mr Lyon
This one is based on Beauty and the Beast. The story is basically the same as the typical fairytale and the Disney film, but Beauty here seems to have more agency than in other versions. And the relationship between Mr Lyon and Beauty has a lot more depth than other versions of this story. So, pretty cool. And it’s my favorite fairytale ever, so this feminist version was perfect.
The Tiger's Bride
This is another retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but it has a more radical plot twist in the end: Beauty changes into a tiger to be with the man she loves. While you can argue that she “is changing for a man”, the way in which Carter shows it, it becomes very clear that it’s her choice to transform, she is not doing it because he tells her so.
Puss-in-Boots
This one is really funny. It’s a retelling the fairytale of the same title, but narrated by the eponymous cat (and he’s sassy). Here, the young man falls in love with a married woman. The cat doesn’t really like this, but decides to help him anyway, thinking that having the affair with the woman will remove her from his master’s mind (and he argues that in order to get to her, the young man has to play “the bad boy”, saying that all women love that). But in the end he also falls in love with the woman’s cat and the two cats plan to kill the woman’s husband so that they can be together ever after (and their masters as well). They do. If you don’t like cats because they seem treacherous, this story will confirm your worst fears.
The Erl-King
In this story, a young girl walks into the forest and finds the eponymus Erl-King, who acts very nicely towards her. He seduces her and they engage in a sexual relationship, which she seems rather content with. However, she soon realizes that he’s planning to trap her forever transforming her into a bird, as he’s done with other girls, who are put in cages all over his house. There’s no dashing brave knight in this version, and it’s the girl the one who saves all the other girls, returning them to their own form, after killing the Erl-king and using his hair to cord a fiddle. Bad-ass.
The Snow Child
This is probably the saddest story in the book. If you’ve ever read The Snow Girl, you’ll probably crashed by how this story ends. As in the original story (with a bit of Snow White in it, as well), there’s a couple who can’t have children. Seeing the combination of colours red, white and black, the woman says that she wished to have a daughter with that coloring. As they keep walking, they encounter a young girl that is exactly what the woman has wished for. However, the woman quickly orders her to pick a rose, and a thorn kills the girl.
The Lady of the House of Love
The protagonist here is a young soldier (who’s a virgin) who gets to an abandoned castle that’s inhabited by a vampire version of Sleeping Beauty (or at least, that’s how it sounds to me). The vampire lady takes an interest to the man, and tries to seduce him. When they are in the bedroom, she cuts herself, which the soldier kisses to cure. In the end, the soldier wakes to find the woman dead in the end. It’s an interesting reversal of Sleeping Beauty, I think.
The Werewolf
In this story, when Little Red Riding Hood is on the way to her grandmothers, she meets a wolf. Because she’s not a little scared girl, she fights it and ends up cutting one of its legs. When she gets to her grandmother’s house, she finds out that one of the old lady’s hands has been cut recently. She accuses her grandmother of being a witch and the people from the village kill her. I think that the girl is very creepy, especially because in the end, she lives in her grandmother’s house, as heir of all her possessions.
The Company of Wolves
In this story, we get into a town where wolves and werewolves seem to be part of life. And when a young girl meets a handsome stranger in the woods, she decides to race him towards her grandmother’s house. He gets there first, and reveals himself to the grandmother as a werewolf, and proceeds to kill her. When the woman gets to the house, he’s waiting for her. She instantly realizes that the guy killed her grandmother, and seduces him to save her life. Again, it’s all very creepy and disturbing.
Wolf-Alice
This story takes on the idea of kids who are raised by beasts, but instead of showing it from the outsiders’ perspective, it’s narrated from the girl’s. The story focuses in the ideas of identity and self-definition, as the girl struggles to find her own self. At first, some nuns try to teach her to behave properly, and then is sent to a weird Duke’s house. In the end, the girl seems to come to terms with her identity.
There’s nothing simple about Carter’s stories. She attempts to create a counterpart to the traditional male-driven fairytales and succeeds in her attempt. And I also love the dark nature of all these stories, because a little part of me enjoys horror stories. If you want to give Carter's work a try, I think you should start with this.