The Great Gatsby

I really enjoyed this book, although I found it slightly thin on the story side. The protagonist, Nick, moves to new york in the 1920s and right next door to the mysterious and much admired mr. Gatsby. Nick and Gatsby soon become fast friends at one of the laters infamous social occasions. We soon find out that Gatsby was formerly involved with Nick's cousin, Dasiy, and he is still very much in love with her, despite her marriage. Daisy's husband, Tom, is cheating on her and so Daisy finds solace in the arms of her former lover. When Tom finds out him and Gatsby argue, with Gatsby and Daisy leaving new york abrubtly. Whilst driving Daisy hits Tom's lover with her car, causing her husband to hunt down and kill Gatsby, as Tom tells him he was driving.

The basic plot is pretty intense, but it still seems rather thin for the most part with all the action packed into the end. I think tho when reading more into the text Fitzgerald's writing is revealed as a cleaver satire on the american dream. What we want the most, in Gatsby's case Daisy, can lead to dire consequences, i.e. ultimately his death.

Many of the sub-plots of the underworld and the boot-legging of prohibiton during the 1920s really intrigue me. I am not a history buff, but Fitzgerald made me want me to learn more about 1920s america, and from this well crafted prose I feel I have a little more insight.

The Virgin Suicides

"A Catcher in the Rye for Our times" the front cover proclaims. "Oh fan-bloody-tastic" I thought, and may have given it a miss if I had actually brought another book to the hospital with me. Faced with a 4 hour wait for my op (screw removal from my broken left ankle) I thought, "Well I best make the most of it and I'll grin and bear it".

I was wrong, or rather mislead. The Virgin Suicides is not a Catcher in the Rye I would say (since I HATED catcher). I enjoyed the virgin suicides, with a morbid interest, almost like watching a natural disaster on the news. The style maybe slightly similar to Catcher, with the familiar tone of the protagonist. The Virgin suicides, however is a recollection, a fuzzy incomplete tale of the entrancing beauties across the street and their tragic demise, told by an unknown boy, who we never clearly "see".

The narrator and his friends are obsessed with the beautiful, pure and innocent Lisbon girls. Now much older, balding and rotund with middle age, they are still obsessed and recount the tragic year that preceded a mass suicide by three of the Lisbon girls. It starts with the youngest, Cecile's suicide attempt. The book then follows through to Cecile's actual suicide, the rest of the Lisbon girl's turmoil. Through out this we know that the rest of the girls will take their own lives, but we read about their struggles to cope with their sisters' death. The book culminates in the death of three of the remaining 4 sisters in a mass suicide (Mary's attempt being unsuccessful). The final few pages are devoted to the boys attempts to return to a normal life, only to see once more the ambulance at the Lisbon house, and Mary, finally prone, carried out. We stand with the boys, the last ones to see her, who offer her a lighter in the air "it was the best we could do for an eternal flame". The last few pages we deal with the boys growing up and leaving each other. Our narrator; balding, middle-aged sums up, in the boyhood tree house with the "exhibits" of the girls, that the children saved.

The book has a beautiful undulating sub-current that laments the loss of youthful innocence. The elms, that dying of dutch elm disease, play an almost integral role to showcase the passing of time, and the passing of age... from childhood into that infinite gap of adolescence. Lux Lisbon's foray into the sexual promiscuous is part of this, the bubbling current of innocence versus experience.

I really enjoyed this book! Hallelujah, I am back to reading books that I enjoy after the fog of the last three literary adventures.

The Subtle Knife

I found it much easier to fall into Pullman's since reading Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife continues Lyra's journey to find out about Dust. Lyra is the main focus of this novel, as well as a new character, Will. Will is from "our" world, as much as I can assume. It is very similar in any case! I like Will. He is definitely a like able character and the bond between him a Lyra develops to a sweetness and innocence, which is really easy to believe.

Will is searching for his father who has disappeared, and accidentally falls into a strange new world, where he meets Lyra. This new world is haunted by spectres that suck the life from adults, leaving children alone. We are later told that the spectres are interested in experience, innocence is not as tasty...

Overall, a good book, but not as substantial as Northern Lights. I will reserve judgement of the overall trilogy until I have finished The Amber Spyglass...

The Perks Of Being a Wallflower

We are infinite...
This is the best of the books I have read so far. A sad, funny and heartfelt account of a naive boy growing up in the early 90s. Chbosky doesn't describe his characters outer appearances, but you see into their souls. I found the lack of description completely irrelevant, it wouldn't have fit with the style. Charlie is our protagonist, who is writing letters to someone, bearing his soul. I found it more like a diary than a conversation, much more introspective and philosophical than communicatorary. In parts it made me cry, and others snort with laughter. I couldn't put it down.

Charlie's way of dealing with the ups and inevitable downs of life really made me think. Remember the good times, they help the bad. Try not to cry unless it's important. Remember the days when you feel like the summer air. Listen and I mean really LISTEN, to songs with your friends, and feel the infinite possibilities. Don't take LSD and fall asleep in the snow. Hand made presents and those that are carefully thought about are better than anything else, and do not require a one-up-mans-ship around them. Books are to be shared. Teachers, are at the end of the day, trying to help. That's what I learned from this book.

Although the ending disappointed me, and took me by surprise and I find it impossible to think of a 15 year old boy who didn't know what masturbation was. This was set in the 90s Chbosky! Charlie does at times seem slightly too naive to be plausible, but then again Charlie isn't normal, he has been mentally ill. I love Charlie's honest descriptions of times he feels like screaming, but realises it's probably not the right thing to do. His description of Micheal's suicide is sad, touching and so vivid you can almost taste the bitter pill of his pain.

I chose not to focus on that. I chose to think of the day when I felt like summer air and spring grass, when I remembered I was infinite...

the litterary adventure begins

Being immobile is increasingly dull, so having been interested in literature, but never really having the time to read, I have decided to buy myself various books from Amazon and ebay. I will review each book as I finish it, hopefully making my time whilst incapacitated a little more productive.

The first order of books

I love books, so limiting myself was difficult, I bought a selection of books I'd heard of and a few that were new "wild cards" in the hope of discovering something new and amazing. I already owned a few books that I hadn't had time to read, I'll include these in the list of books I am due to read. As I go I'll strike out books I've read and hopefully by the time my leg is healed and I am due back to work I will have read all of my list, and possibly started a new list of books to read and review. I am aiming for 2-3 books a week once I have finished this essay, so I should be updating regularly.

1. The Odyssey - Homer
2. Canterbury tales - Chaucer
3. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
4. His dark Materials series - Philip Pulman
5. The Bell Jar - Silvia Plath
6. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
7. The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides
8. The Perks of Being a Wall flower - Stephen Chbosky
9. The Lovely bones - Alice Sebold
   
10. Frankenstien - Mary Shelly
11. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
12. Our Spoons came from Woolworths - Barbara Comyns
13. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
14. One flew over the cuckoos nest - Ken Kessy
15. The Great Gatsby -F. Scott Fitzgerald
16. My Sisters Keeper - Jodie Picoult