Sunday, August 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Rating: 5+
Wow. I had always been told that Jane Eyre is boring. Well the people who said that are boring if they don't like stories with romance, mystery, intrigue, action, philosophy, and suspense! That's right, Jane Eyre has all those things! I was completely blown away by how quickly I got sucked into this book. I can see how some might think it is boring in the beginning, although I completely disagree. And near-end it takes a turn that leaves the reader hanging with regard to other characters, but don't worry! it all comes full circle in the glorious end.
Jane has become my favorite literary heroine. Usually the women in literature annoy me. But Jane is sensible, she is charming, she has wit, but she has romantic inclinations as well. She reminds me of myself. I appreciate that she isn't silly and doesn't willfully misinterpret the actions of other characters. She is what ever literary heroine should strive to be.
Wow. I had always been told that Jane Eyre is boring. Well the people who said that are boring if they don't like stories with romance, mystery, intrigue, action, philosophy, and suspense! That's right, Jane Eyre has all those things! I was completely blown away by how quickly I got sucked into this book. I can see how some might think it is boring in the beginning, although I completely disagree. And near-end it takes a turn that leaves the reader hanging with regard to other characters, but don't worry! it all comes full circle in the glorious end.
Jane has become my favorite literary heroine. Usually the women in literature annoy me. But Jane is sensible, she is charming, she has wit, but she has romantic inclinations as well. She reminds me of myself. I appreciate that she isn't silly and doesn't willfully misinterpret the actions of other characters. She is what ever literary heroine should strive to be.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Rating: 3.5
Another children's book where I saw the movie before reading the book. There were some changes that I was surprised by, biggest being Winnie's age. In the movie she is a teenager and in the book she is only ten years old. She escapes from her uptight family into the forest next to her house, where she meets the Tuck family. The Tucks have a secret that Winnie finds out about: they cannot die. She spends time with them and discusses the facts of life with them, debating whether or not she should join them in eternal life of the non-religious kind.
The book didn't strike my fancy. The story is well-written by Babbitt, but it just seemed kind of dull to me. I think I was expecting more action and intrigue instead of the straight-forward way in which the story and all the implications of not being able to die are told. I think this would be a good book to use with students in order to discuss death, because it brings up the good point that death is a natural part of life.
Another children's book where I saw the movie before reading the book. There were some changes that I was surprised by, biggest being Winnie's age. In the movie she is a teenager and in the book she is only ten years old. She escapes from her uptight family into the forest next to her house, where she meets the Tuck family. The Tucks have a secret that Winnie finds out about: they cannot die. She spends time with them and discusses the facts of life with them, debating whether or not she should join them in eternal life of the non-religious kind.
The book didn't strike my fancy. The story is well-written by Babbitt, but it just seemed kind of dull to me. I think I was expecting more action and intrigue instead of the straight-forward way in which the story and all the implications of not being able to die are told. I think this would be a good book to use with students in order to discuss death, because it brings up the good point that death is a natural part of life.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Rating: 5
I read The Kite Runner by the same author last year and, even though I loved it, I was not too excited to read this novel. I was always put off by the displays in Borders with signs reading "If you loved this (big obnoxious arrow pointing to The Kite Runner) then try this (obnoxious arrow pointing in the other direction to Suns). For some reason, I was expecting something akin to the bad sequel of a beloved movie made only for the profit margin (Pirates of the Caribbean, anyone?).
Thankfully, A Thousand Splendid Suns far exceeded my expectations. The true beauty of this novel is the tortured soul of Afghanistan that serves as the backdrop to the lives of Laila and Mariam, two women from vastly different backgrounds who are brought together and become friends. Their story is captivating, but the story that moved me is the history of the country that Hosseini weaves throughout. I was heartbroken by the story of a population that has to deal with war as if it were cancer, continually infecting new areas of the country. The title refers to a poem about the beauty of Afghanistan, and I think Hosseini succeeded in making this a story about that.
I read The Kite Runner by the same author last year and, even though I loved it, I was not too excited to read this novel. I was always put off by the displays in Borders with signs reading "If you loved this (big obnoxious arrow pointing to The Kite Runner) then try this (obnoxious arrow pointing in the other direction to Suns). For some reason, I was expecting something akin to the bad sequel of a beloved movie made only for the profit margin (Pirates of the Caribbean, anyone?).
Thankfully, A Thousand Splendid Suns far exceeded my expectations. The true beauty of this novel is the tortured soul of Afghanistan that serves as the backdrop to the lives of Laila and Mariam, two women from vastly different backgrounds who are brought together and become friends. Their story is captivating, but the story that moved me is the history of the country that Hosseini weaves throughout. I was heartbroken by the story of a population that has to deal with war as if it were cancer, continually infecting new areas of the country. The title refers to a poem about the beauty of Afghanistan, and I think Hosseini succeeded in making this a story about that.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Rating: 4.5
Paterson writes with ease. The story is conveyed with little frills. The novel is not used to show off the author's command of figurative language. Such a welcome relief after reading The Shack!
I saw the movie on a plane a few years ago. I cried and tried not to be embarrassed at the fact that I was crying at a kids movie on a plane surrounded by people that I don't know. Anyway, the book was not what I expected after seeing the movie. I expected it to be a lot more of a fantasy book than it was. Instead, the focus was more on Jess and Leslie's friendship than the actual place of Terabithia. I loved the change. Jess is such a relatable character--he has fears, ambitions, and annoying siblings. There is a lot of poetry in some of Paterson's descriptions, but she doesn't overuse the language. The development of friendship between Jess and Leslie is always at the forefront. Even though I wasn't shocked by the ending, I still teared up a bit. The mark of a good book is one that can make me cry even though I know what is coming. I definitely hope to have this in my classroom.
Paterson writes with ease. The story is conveyed with little frills. The novel is not used to show off the author's command of figurative language. Such a welcome relief after reading The Shack!
I saw the movie on a plane a few years ago. I cried and tried not to be embarrassed at the fact that I was crying at a kids movie on a plane surrounded by people that I don't know. Anyway, the book was not what I expected after seeing the movie. I expected it to be a lot more of a fantasy book than it was. Instead, the focus was more on Jess and Leslie's friendship than the actual place of Terabithia. I loved the change. Jess is such a relatable character--he has fears, ambitions, and annoying siblings. There is a lot of poetry in some of Paterson's descriptions, but she doesn't overuse the language. The development of friendship between Jess and Leslie is always at the forefront. Even though I wasn't shocked by the ending, I still teared up a bit. The mark of a good book is one that can make me cry even though I know what is coming. I definitely hope to have this in my classroom.
The Shack by William P. Young
Rating: 2
Considering I took a week-long break in the middle of this book and read two other books in that time period, things don't bode well for Young and The Shack.
My big beef with this book is the writing style. The story is okay and the theological concepts that Young is attempting to explain are put forth in a unique way, but the way he gets through the story and through explaining all those concepts is ridiculous. After I had read the first chapter, it was clear to me that A.) writing is not Young's day job, and B.) he had an agenda in writing this story. B would have been less transparent if A did a better job of covering it up. Instead, Young probably took Creative Writing 101 and used every concept that he learned on every single page because, after all, that's good writing, right? (write? haha). Absolutely no. Every action is a metaphor or a simile, every description is a hyperbolye, every utterance is "chuckled" or "snorted" or "spat" or "whispered" or "sang." It gets to be too much.
I think this is a good story. What I don't like is how the story takes a backburner to Young's ideas. It serves as the means to his end, not an end in itself. In the story, the main character's daughter is kidnapped and brutally murdered. Mack, the father, slides into a depression lasting for a few years, until he receives a note from God to meet with him at the shack--the place where Mack's daughter was murdered. He goes to the shack and meets with the Trinity and discusses with them every theological question that has plagued mankind since The Fall. Therefore, the story becomes the platform for Young to answer questions like "why is there suffering in the world?" "why do bad things happen to good people?" "if God truly loves people, why does he send them to Hell?" "how does the Trinity work?" etc. Of course, Young gives good answers to these questions, I'm not arguing with that. What I dislike is that every chapter seems to be a response to one of those questions. Young answers them by Mack posing them in the beginning of the chapter, and then the rest of the chapter is one long dialogue of God the Father, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit (personified in a large black woman, a Jewish carpenter, and a flighty Asian woman ... lets not get into the cultural stereotypes that are grossly exaggerated in order to appeal to a diverse audience) answering the questions. If Young wanted to write a theological textbook, he should have done so.
The Wikipedia page on Young says that he wrote the book because his wife wanted him "to put down in one place his perspectives on God." If you read The Shack, that's what you get ... and not much else.
Considering I took a week-long break in the middle of this book and read two other books in that time period, things don't bode well for Young and The Shack.
My big beef with this book is the writing style. The story is okay and the theological concepts that Young is attempting to explain are put forth in a unique way, but the way he gets through the story and through explaining all those concepts is ridiculous. After I had read the first chapter, it was clear to me that A.) writing is not Young's day job, and B.) he had an agenda in writing this story. B would have been less transparent if A did a better job of covering it up. Instead, Young probably took Creative Writing 101 and used every concept that he learned on every single page because, after all, that's good writing, right? (write? haha). Absolutely no. Every action is a metaphor or a simile, every description is a hyperbolye, every utterance is "chuckled" or "snorted" or "spat" or "whispered" or "sang." It gets to be too much.
I think this is a good story. What I don't like is how the story takes a backburner to Young's ideas. It serves as the means to his end, not an end in itself. In the story, the main character's daughter is kidnapped and brutally murdered. Mack, the father, slides into a depression lasting for a few years, until he receives a note from God to meet with him at the shack--the place where Mack's daughter was murdered. He goes to the shack and meets with the Trinity and discusses with them every theological question that has plagued mankind since The Fall. Therefore, the story becomes the platform for Young to answer questions like "why is there suffering in the world?" "why do bad things happen to good people?" "if God truly loves people, why does he send them to Hell?" "how does the Trinity work?" etc. Of course, Young gives good answers to these questions, I'm not arguing with that. What I dislike is that every chapter seems to be a response to one of those questions. Young answers them by Mack posing them in the beginning of the chapter, and then the rest of the chapter is one long dialogue of God the Father, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit (personified in a large black woman, a Jewish carpenter, and a flighty Asian woman ... lets not get into the cultural stereotypes that are grossly exaggerated in order to appeal to a diverse audience) answering the questions. If Young wanted to write a theological textbook, he should have done so.
The Wikipedia page on Young says that he wrote the book because his wife wanted him "to put down in one place his perspectives on God." If you read The Shack, that's what you get ... and not much else.
The Target by Catherine Coulter
Rating: 3
This is another book that I read while on hiatus from The Shack. It is also another book that I read in high school a few years ago before I started developing my own library tastes.
What I like about this book is that it is a nice summer read--it has suspense, action, crime, the mafia, and a good-guy male main character. What I don't like about this book is the stereotypical characters (the drug addict rockstar, the noble judge, the fiery protective redhead mother, the crime lord, the trophy wife with a secret past, the sweet innocent child, etc.) and the cliche plot. That being said, if you just take the book for what it is and accept all those things, it is pretty entertaining. Coulter is no master storyteller but she doesn't attempt to be, either. I would recommend this book for vacation reading.
This is another book that I read while on hiatus from The Shack. It is also another book that I read in high school a few years ago before I started developing my own library tastes.
What I like about this book is that it is a nice summer read--it has suspense, action, crime, the mafia, and a good-guy male main character. What I don't like about this book is the stereotypical characters (the drug addict rockstar, the noble judge, the fiery protective redhead mother, the crime lord, the trophy wife with a secret past, the sweet innocent child, etc.) and the cliche plot. That being said, if you just take the book for what it is and accept all those things, it is pretty entertaining. Coulter is no master storyteller but she doesn't attempt to be, either. I would recommend this book for vacation reading.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
