theanitaalvarez's Reviews (1.77k)

To begin with, my first interaction with Mrs. Wollstonecraft (whom I also know as Frankenstein's grandmother) was when I was seventeen and was part of the debate team in my school. For one of our debate, the topic was whether the evolution in women's social role had been a positive or negative thing. It also was the first time I could read some work by different feminist and it made sense. But, at the time, I couldn't find any edition of this book in particular. So, when I saw it in my local bookstore, I had to buy it.

This essay basically talks about how women had been made stupid and vain by men, while several intelectuals attributed this qualities to their nature (yes, the eternal debate of nature/nurture). Of course, Mrs. Wollstoncraft is against that idea. She argues that there is no natural preference for dresses and other ornaments, but that women have been raised to prefer them over books and cultivating their intellect. Even if some people may argue that we are way over that idea, I'd say otherwise. Maybe it's because I live in a very sexist country, but I still know of girls (about my age), whose only goal in life is to grab a husband and have a bunch of kids. If you don't have that, you're going to be miserable and sad. And I'm not talking about poor women who haven't had any chances of a good education. I'm talking about girls educated in the same private school as I, where debates such as the one mentioned above were held. The ideas were in the air, but most of them didn't catch them. Even in my own university, I've heard classmates dismissing a girl because she wasn't "girly" (a.k.a: she doesn't wear dresses). There's also people who say that Engineering is a career for men, while Education is clearly female.

So, even within educated people today we find this slight prejudice: women are inherently different to men (I'm not talking about brute force. Wollstonecraft herself mentioned that men are naturally stronger physically than women). There are things which are for men, and things for women. And that's the reason why we still are amazed whenever we have a politician choosing a woman for his cabinet, and that the fact that a female CEO will always be asked in interviews how difficult it was for her to renounce to her family life (I've never read an interview to a male CEO in which the journalist asks this question). And, as Mary Wollstonecraft did, I'm not going to blame only male society of this. Women are at fault here, too. They accept these impositions that come from elsewhere, instead of looking inside of themselves and finding their own ideas about themselves. It's almost ridiculous that even today we're still relying in the same ideas our ancestors had. We all have heard that women are worse in Maths than men, which several studies in the last years have proved a false thing. We have the same capacities for reason, as Wollstonecraft argued. It's just that some women decide to to exercise it.

So, despite this being a book written more than two hundred years ago, the idea of society it presents still exists. There's a long way to go if we want to finally overcome these old ideas and start writing new ones. Ones that conform to actual reality.

It's not a secret that I'm somewhat obsessed with the Lost Generation (Gertrude Stein dixit), so finding this book (it was my self-reward for completing NaNoWriMo last year) in the bookshop was amazing.

My first approaches to Fitzgerald were The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night when I was in school, a long time ago. They were also the beginning of my interest in the Roaring Twenties. The images, the style, the music, the speakeasies, champagne, Paris, everything.

In this book, I got to see more of those days gone by through the eyes of one of the protagonists. Fitzgerald actualy lived through all the parties, jazz and drinking he describes in his novels. But not only that, he was a profound intellectual, who really knew a lot about his trade. He read other authors, became their friend and asked them for criticism, which I found fascinating. We don't normally get to see this side of authors. Fitzgerald had a great sense of humour, as well as a sense of tragedy, which is probably what allowed him to be the writer that he was.

Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy.

I loved most of his quotes and comments about life. I agree with lots of them (not all of them, but quite a big number).

My favorite part was the one of the notebooks. As Mr. Fitzgerald, I own a lot of notebooks in which I jot down ideas, character sketeches and phrases that sound cool. Seeing that one of the my favorites did the same thing was brilliant! I enjoyed a lot getting to see those glimpses into Fitzgerald's mind and how he approached writing. His letters to Scottie, his daughter, were especially

Having said that, I'd also say that I wouldn't recommend this book to everybody. It's great for Fitzgerald fans, or people who want to learn about the Jazz Age from its protagonist. For other people, it won't probably be as entertaining and interesting as it was to me.

I read The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit a long time ago. But, for some reason, I’d never dared to try reading this bad boy until a professor assigned the first chapters for a class (yes, I took a class in which Tolkien was part of the required reading, haters gonna hate). So I decided to go for it and read the whole thing. It is particularly difficult to review it, because there are so many stories within it.

One thing that is pretty cool about Tolkien is how he uses deliberately an old-fashioned (almost archaic, at this point) narrative style. In his case, it works because he’s trying to give us this idea of legend and myth. So, using an archaic and out of fashion style is justified. And it works fantastically, as it just carries you away as you read. His writing is beautiful and fluent in the best way possible, so it makes the whole book a pleasure to read. At least I got wrapped in it and just let myself go with the flow of the words.

The first chapters (the ones I had to read for class) are probably the most beautiful ones, with Ilúvatar creating the world through music. It’s cool and eerie, and I loved it. I like how it shows the world being created as an organic thing that moves through music. And it’s particularly interesting that evil is a part of that world, not something foreign. It adds so much to the whole Mythos of the Middle Earth. And music is a part of it as well (it reminded me of the idea of the Cosmic Dance you get from old-timey philosophers).

Another part I particularly enjoyed was the part of Beren and Luthien. Maybe my inner corny romantic got the better of me, but I believe that if you don’t love Beren and Luthien, your heart is made of stone. That’s it. What I liked most about their story is the fact that both were able to risk their lives together. It’s not like Luthien remained at home, waiting for Beren to save her or something. Actually, it was precisely the other way around. So, Luthien gets points for being one of the coolest role models created by Tolkien (and I’m including Eowyn in that category). So, yes, I fell for them and their story. Because they’re awesome and worth it.

Tolkien does a great work when it comes to world-building. The Middle Earth is clearly a complex world, with a lot of intriguing and exciting mythology. And I love getting a glimpse (because of course there’s probably a lot more than what can be said in this book) at that. I’ll always love Tolkien’s world. Even if he didn’t do a lot in the realms of form, the content in his books is amazing an totally worth reading. Although, if you’re not a big fan of The Lord of the Rings you should probably skip it.

This book is a weird mix between fantasy and sci-fi, but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s interesting how the author deals with the complexities of all the concepts used. But despite all the ideas about time-travelling which are somewhat scientific, the book feels more like fantasy than actual science fiction.

The book begins with Meg Murry, the only girl of a family of geniuses. She’s very smart, but she doesn’t do very well in school, because she feels weird. While she’s good with math, she doesn’t follow the methods her teachers insist on her using in classes, so she gets in trouble. Her little brother Charles Wallace is even more precocious, but he tries to hide it, so nobody thinks of him as a freak.

Apparently, the whole family is composed by brilliant people. Both Mr. and Mrs. Murry are scientists, and he has been missing for some years. The family believes that his disappearance had to do with some experiment he was working in, but they don’t know the details.

So, one dark and stormy night, the Murry household get an unexpected visitor. Meg spies her discussing about something with her mother, but she doesn’t get the entire conversation. The next day, she meets another boy from her school, Calvin. He comes from a fairly abusive family, and feels fascinated by the warmth in the Murry’s house.

Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin are approached by Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which, three women who reveal that they are extraterrestrial beings who are sort of in charge of keeping the universe in order. There is a strange dark force that is swallowing planets into darkness, and it has Mr. Murry. The kids have to rescue him, and quickly.

The rest of the book is basically a straightforward hero’s journey for Meg, mostly. In that way, it’s a pretty clever children’s book. It shows that adults aren’t always infallible, and that sometimes children have the power to save the world, even more than the adults that surround them. And it also deals with confronting one’s fears for the right thing. As the novel goes on, Meg becomes braver and surer of herself, her development is brilliant.

I’ll add a little note on the relation between Meg and Calvin. I mean… that ship sailed itself! Yes, I know they’re basically children, not quite teens yet. But every time either of them searched for the other for comfort and tranquility, I fangirled a little bit. I just couldn’t help it because the two of them are too sweet together. So, yes… I ship them.

The ending, however felt somewhat anticlimactic and predictable.

The power of Love? Really?

In the end, everything got resolved a little too quickly for my taste, but it was the kind of ending I was waiting for in a children’s book. I’m definitely going to read the rest of the books in the series, because I really want to know what’s in store for the Murry’s. Keep tuned!

I'll wait some time to write a review. I think I need to read this one again.