Not a big fan of plays, but I did really like this. It was witty, entertaining, and Oscar Wilde's writing is great.Not a big fan of plays, but I did really like this. It was witty, entertaining, and Oscar Wilde's writing is great....more
I feel so smart. I just read an essay, and not one I had to read to give sugarcoated peer feedback on in a required class. And I enjoyed it, Woolf madI feel so smart. I just read an essay, and not one I had to read to give sugarcoated peer feedback on in a required class. And I enjoyed it, Woolf made a lot of good points and I do really love her writing. Though it did seem like a lot times, Woolf's almost superiority complex would shine through with the points made. There were a few classist and elitist takes that just irked me. Also there are way too many people named Mary in this book. But overall, this was a solid essay on Woman and Fiction.
Some quotes I liked:
"Why did men drink wine and women water? Why was one sex so prosperous and the other so poor?"
"Yet it seemed absurd, I thought, turning over the evening paper, that a man with all this power should be angry. Or is anger, I wondered, somehow, the familiar, the attendant sprite on power?"
"Indeed, I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without singing them, was often a woman."
"Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind?"
"Now all that, of course, has had to be left out, and thus the splendid portrait of the fictitious woman is much too simple and much too monotonous. Suppose, for instance, that men were only represented in literature as the lovers of women, and were never the friends of men, shoulders, thinkers, dreamers; how few parts in the plays of Shakespeare could be allotted to them; how literature would suffer! We might perhaps have most of Othello; and a good deal of Anthony; but no Caesar, no Brutus, no Hamlet, no Lear, no Jaques—literature would be incredibly impoverished, as indeed literature is impoverished beyond our counting by the doors that have been shut upon woman."
This was underwhelming and not at all compelling. Definitely not what I expected, but at the end of the day, I really just have no strong feelings aboThis was underwhelming and not at all compelling. Definitely not what I expected, but at the end of the day, I really just have no strong feelings about anything in this book. Expect Tom. Tom can choke....more
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is definitely one of my favorites classics simply because of how amazing the writing style is. It was immaculate and my fRebecca by Daphne du Maurier is definitely one of my favorites classics simply because of how amazing the writing style is. It was immaculate and my favorite aspect of the book. Which is odd to say the least, but I simply just adored it.
This is Gothic Fiction I believe, and I loved how it set up the atmosphere of the story. It made it easy to get lost in the story, even when there wasn't much happening. This book follows our unnamed main character, who marries Maxim de Winter, a wealthy man, who's wife, Rebecca, passed away a year before. When our main character arrives at Manderley, his home, it seems Rebecca's reputation, legacy, and presence is everywhere and looming in every corner of our main characters new life, determined to destroy and cast her out. She is especially treated with distaste by Mrs. Danvers, Rebecca's close friend and head housekeeper of Manderley.
I did really love this book. A lot of times, classics feel like a chore for me to read, but that was not the case here. Unfortunately, there was one part, the Fancy Dress Ball, that made me really uncomfortable. The weird racial stereotypes (mostly portraying my own culture btw) and costumes were not it. Initially, I took off a star for that because it rightfully didn't sit right with me. But now, after almost a year of having passed since I read this book that lives rent free in my mind, I recognize that while this aspect is problematic, I can still acknowledge this while also loving the book. It is a testament of it's time, but I'm not choosing to be ignorant about it and I will not pretend it isn't there, of course. The fact that this was a social norm at the time does not justify or excuse it, and I realize not everyone is able to love this book despite this like me, and I absolutely respect that.
But overall, I did enjoy Rebecca. I'm definitely considering reading more of Daphne du Maurier's lesser know books in the future because I'm obsessed with the writing and will never shut up about it. ...more
This is my second read of this book, and I am still shocked about how little I appreciated it the first time around. I mean, ~ 5 stars ~
(Re-read 2021)
This is my second read of this book, and I am still shocked about how little I appreciated it the first time around. I mean, this book is a masterpiece in itself. Not all classics deserve that status, but this one surely does.
The drama? Top notch. The characters? To die for. The setting? *chefs kiss*
Jane Austen is a genius. Her writing is witty and charming. I know her writing style is not for everyone, but I personally really liked it. The way she is able to put all these characters together and produce such an atmospheric and immersive story is phenomenal. It isn't the strongest plot or high action by any means, but it is a fun time.
I adore Elizabeth Bennet. She is smart, strong, and so easy to love and root for. Plus she's definitely a feminist. I was invested in her and all the other Bennet family member's lives. Seeing Lizzie's and Mr. Darcy's character development and their journey to finding love was definitely an experience. Mr. Darcy is also just as iconic as Lizzy.
The lavish lifestyle of this story, while that is not something most people can say they relate too, made the book. Rich people drama is great. I honestly love the aesthetic of period dramas. I am due for a rewatch of the adaptation. I haven't watched the BBC version, but the 2005 version is one of my all time favorite movies.
There is not much about this book that hasn't already been said so many times, so there isn't much I feel the need to point out, but ultimately, to end this off, I want to recommend Pride and Prejudice to all that have not read it....more
I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I haven't liked a lot of classics but I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I loved it. The writingI did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I haven't liked a lot of classics but I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I loved it. The writing was great, the themes were interesting, it was atmospheric, Dorian's character arc was executed very well, and overall, there isn't much I can complain about here. Reading The Picture of Dorian Gray as my last book of 2021 was a great way to end the year. ...more
TW/CW: talk of rape and homicide, physical and mental abuse / torture, misogyny
This has to be my most disappointing read of the year so far~ 2 stars ~
TW/CW: talk of rape and homicide, physical and mental abuse / torture, misogyny
This has to be my most disappointing read of the year so far. Everything I expected, and everything I wanted never happened. I thought that the political aspect was interesting, and while I liked that part, it sadly was not enough to save this book.
I’ve been wanting to read this for a while as it’s considered such a staple in dystopian, and in general literature. I’ve even watched a school play which I enjoyed, but of course, that had excluded all the problematic aspects, so I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
This book takes on an authoritarianism and totalitarian government, propaganda, censorship, surveillance, etc. and I thought it dealt with that well enough, and making connections between current day and this book was an experience, i'll say that.
Having known this going in, it seemed like something I would love, and it checked off many boxes of what I was looking for at the time. I even had many quotes I had highlighted for this review that I thought were insightful, but my very smart self returned the ebook without recording them all. Other than the ones I used for my reading updates of course, but most of those were ones I used to complain.
But other than that aspect, it felt like a chore to read. So many things that I didn’t like, and so many things that angered me. I’m reading a story, I want to be immersed, and invested, not bored out of my mind. The writing was nothing special, and the story itself was blander than white bread.
The info dumps were absolutely painful too. I don’t know how I pushed through, though barely considering it took me almost 20 days to complete. There was one particular infodump that I especially suffered through, one that would serve to bring up some of these political discussions and simultaneously throw up a bunch of world building on me. It took up more than 13% of the entire book. 13 PERCENT. My brain felt all mushy by the end, and I’m not sure I properly processed any of it. What was the reason? It couldn’t have been any less digestible.
And then of course we have the characters. I would gladly fist fight Winston, who is our protagonist. I don’t care if some would consider that elder abuse, I would if I could. I have read from such unlikable characters before, but Winston is on another level of terrible. Again, must I ask, what was the reason? Why was he so absolutely horrible? He constantly sexualizes the women he “loves” in disgusting ways, and her youth, and has some weird grudge against anyone that is “pure”, whatever that means. No, sorry, he just hates women in general. Before knowing Julia, his love interest, he imagined raping her, and then slitting her throat for being, what he thought then, celabite. He contemplated smashing her head against the wall. And those weren’t solidary situations. He spends the entire book saying and thinking creepy, disgusting and irritating stuff. I hate him.
And then we have Julia, the only female character that spoke more than one line. And her only role is that she is shallow and weak, existing solely for Winston and his pleasure, and his sexual fantasies. And that is all she cares about. Sex. That is all she lives for, and nothing else. She has no thoughts of her own, and her personality is as annoying as can be. It definitely plays into the whole “women are objects” thing, which of course angered me even more. I mean for goodness sake, the misogyny was so strong with this one. As in the overused trope, which in itself promotes that internalized misogyny. Julia outright says how she hates women. Excuse you?
And all the other characters didn’t matter, at least to me, so that neither hurt or helped my experience, but the two we knew the most made me want to chuck the book out the window more times than I could count.
And Winston and Julia together was even worse than I could ever imagine. Not only do they not have any chemistry, just a lot of possessiveness, but they are already confessing their love never having properly talked before. Winston spends a good chunk of the book hating on her, but then when she confesses her love, suddenly he is in love with her too. Winston even tells Julia about how he wanted to *coughs* murder her, and she just laughs it off as if it is something normal. If only this behavior was condemned, as it should be.
This is the most unromantic relationship ever. And obviously I am aware that perhaps I should not judge the book by it’s characters, and their portrayal, as that is not what the story is truly about. That’s not what is important. But don’t you think that if I’m going to be following their story, that I should at least be able to tolerate them? At the very least. I don’t think I am being unerasable. And perhaps I could have overlooked the characters, had I actually been interested in the story itself, but I did not. Little by little, any hope I had was crushed, and I was bored to no extent, so having to deal with an incel on top of it all did not bode well for
Final Thoughts: Overall, I dragged through this. It was not a good read. This is so highly praised and I just expected better. I can see where people who like it are coming from in some way, but it was a big no for me. I’ve also been informed that this is basically just a rip off of We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, which is a better book, so perhaps I will pick that up in the future. Maybe i’ll even read Animal Farm for the sake of it, and also because I’m curious to read about talking pigs....more
My fatal flaw as a reader is DNFing books that I picked up at a wrong time rather than books I dislike. And this is one of the situations~ DNF @ 31% ~
My fatal flaw as a reader is DNFing books that I picked up at a wrong time rather than books I dislike. And this is one of the situations. I didn't get the relief of the warm feeling I went into this wanting and craving. This book was written differently than the first 3, and quite frankly doesn't hold the same magic to it. I'm not completely sure if I even want to revisit this series in the future, but for now, I am content pretending like this series is a trilogy...more
Well, I finally did it. I have read 1/3 of The Lord of the Rings. This book has been sitting on my shelf since the beginning of summer last~ 3 stars ~
Well, I finally did it. I have read 1/3 of The Lord of the Rings. This book has been sitting on my shelf since the beginning of summer last year, and I finally pushed through it.
The Fellowship of the Rings follows Frodo Baggins. He has inherited The One Ring from his uncle Bilbo Baggins ( who is our protagonist in The Hobbit ). He goes on a journey with companions to destroy the Ring in the fire of Mordor, before the enemy gets their hands on it, as it would cause great destruction and evil.
I thought that this book had both it's negatives and positives. I think I expected more from this book, but I'm glad I finally finished it. I loved the movies, and I'm looking forward to continuing on with the book.
The plot:
I thought this very much dragged. It took so long for something interesting to happen, that I didn't really care until after they left Rivendell and the real journey started, and only then did my reading experience become easier. Just so much walking and repetitive and unnecessary things happening. It took so long setting up. I liked the ending though. Sam and Frodo's friendship makes it all worth it.
The world-building:
Very interesting. I love the world that Tolkien has created. But what I don't like, is how we got a lot of the world-building through info dumps. But I'm excited to explore more of it.
The writing:
I don't think it's for me. It didn't capture my interest nor helped me become immersed into the story. It's not easy to get through and I am still not completely acoustomed with it especially considering I listened to The Hobbit.
Also I do not like the random song breaks, I skipped those.
The characters:
My favorite part of the book! I liked this cast of characters much more than the ones in The Hobbit. The friendships were wonderful. Sam, my cinnamon roll, I've adopted him in case you didn't know. He's too precious and was my favorite. I still do think we could have known a lot of them better, and that some did not have the same charm as in the adaptation, but overall I like following them and the bonds they are building.
Final Thoughts: Hopefully The Two Towers is better in the aspects I disliked. I mean the concept is interesting, but this was pretty boring. I expected better from this book and it took me so long to read, but it wasn't terrible. It was a middle tier book, so 3 stars makes sense.
••••• (2/15/21) Okay, Attempt #2 at reading this. I'm excited to try again, and hopefully I can push through this time!
••••• DNF @ ≈25%
(November 20th, 2020)
Yes I was enjoying it, and yes this DNF is temporary. But unfortunately I don't have the mental capacity to finish this book nor am I in the mood for a classic. School is just too exhausting and I just want to read a bunch of trashy YA books and books that don't require for me to use more than my 2 remaining braincells. Not to mention the fact that as intresting Tolkien's writing is, it takes a while to get used to it and considering the fact that I listened to the Hobbit on audiobook, I am still not able to completely be immersed. Maybe I'll try it out again during winter break? We'll see....more
This review is only based upon part 2 of Little Women. My copies of this series splits book 1 into two volumes, Little Women and Good Wiv~ 1.5 stars ~
This review is only based upon part 2 of Little Women. My copies of this series splits book 1 into two volumes, Little Women and Good Wives. And my opinions on Little Women compared to Good Wives, despite them being techniqually the same book, are vastly and drastically, different.
***Spoilers ahead***
I hated this book. It really had potential to be a new favorite as I adored part 1. But then everyone became a grown up and annoying as hell. Then becoming older was glow down. It lost the frivolous charm I loved before.
~ what I disliked ~
• I thought the lessons of family and relationships were sweet starting off. But then, once I started this book, I realized that they were becoming so astronomically pretentious. I wasn't a fan of a lot of the things it was preaching. Then I realized, back to the fact that I think that them growing older is a contributing factor, is that it started to talk a lot about romance and marriage. You would think that I should have taken the fact that this book was called "Good Wives" as a hint that this was going to be unbearable, but alas, here we are.
• And the glow down of the century award goes to.... Margret. She really became just a background character, and not even one I even slightly cared about. Just a caregiver for her man child husband and nothing else.
There was one aspect that especially irked me with that, which was how it dealt with the fact that Meg and John Brooke, her husband, who's doesn't really have a personality, were a bit disconnected because they were leading sperate lives.
With John always at work or at the neighbors discussing politics, and Meg taking care of the house and the twins, it almost made it seem like it was Meg's fault for not doing enough to satisfy him.
When Meg expresses to her mother how she felt neglected, Mrs. March spins it as if Meg was perhaps the one neglecting him... Because she is spending all her time taking care of her kids. Which yeah, I just hate that logic so much.
That's not how it works. Meg is overburdened by the task of this, and I'm sure Mr. Brooke, could insist upon helping if he wanted. I'm sure chitchating with the neighbors is less important than his own children.
It's not Meg's job to make sure he doesn't fell "left out", and the difficulties of being a parent and maintaining the relationship shouldn't be all on her. Why must she be the one to compromise everything?
• I love Jo. She is amazing. Undoubtedly. But her ending was pretty unsatisfactory. What happened to her writing? She literally just decided that the only entire life aspirations she had was running a boarding school for boys, and marrying Mr. Bhaer, a walking coffin.
In my opinion Jo should have ended up single. A strong independent women. But no, instead she settled for someone 10 minutes away from death. If not with Laurie, than what is so wrong with her being along? She would have been better off that way, y'all just aren't ready for that conversation. There is nothing wrong with that. It would have fit her character well.
• Beth dying was absolutely unnecessary? I don't even remember what she died of to be completely honest here.
• I don't like Amy. She rude and uptight. She devoted her whole life to marrying rich, which same, we love that for her, but she's so unbelievably shallow.
She was wholeheartedly ready to marry Fred because of how rich he was, the only thing that stopped her was Laurie (who's even richer, keep that in mind). She claims she loves him, but if you ask me, he deserved better than her.
Might I mention that she calls "My Lord". That's embarrassing. I'm glad she secured her bag, but there is no need for her to stuck up to him like that.
I also don't like how we just never find out what her art skills lead to. One trend I saw, is that all the sisters gave up their passions, Meg singing and acting, Jo writing, and Amy art, once they got married. Beth just died, so this doesn't apply to her, but still, what is up with that??
~ short intermission from my rant to share fanart ~
• Where did Laurie's love for Amy come from. It felt so unnatural and forced. Almost like he felt as if Amy could be the only one to fill the whole that Jo left because of their relation, but he didn't really care for her.
My proof:
" He consoled himself for the seeming disloyalty by the thought that Jo's sister was almost the same as Jo herself, and the conviction that it would be impossible to love any other women but Amy so soon and so well"
Laurie has always had a more friendship type relationship with Jo, and a sibling bond with Amy. Friends to lovers as a trope is an acceptable one. Do you know what trope isn't? Siblings to lovers. I rest my case.
• It was so boring: I didn't find myself attached to the story or the events as I did with the first half. I skimmed a lot of it. Especially those letters and poems/songs, which took up a good chunk of this book.
• What the hell does petting mean?! Laurie always talks about being pet, or asking for Jo to pet him. And Jo asked Beth to pet him when she was away. So like a dog. This is weird and I am scared. Someone please tell me what this means.
Final thoughts: I'm sad, dissatisfied and frankly kind of disappointed. I came into this so hopeful that I would love it, but didn't. I was let down. Perhaps I will pretend that part 1 was a standalone.
I don't know that I will continue with the series either, which sucks, because I bought the entire box set for really cheap, but unfortunately, this story has quickly became one I am bitter towards....more
I want to start by saying that I really liked this book, it is was quite enjoyable for the most part.
This review is only based upon par ~ 4.5 stars ~
I want to start by saying that I really liked this book, it is was quite enjoyable for the most part.
This review is only based upon part 1 of Little Women. My copies of this series splits book 1 into two volumes, Little Women and Good Wives. And my opinions on Little Women compared to Good Wives, despite them being techniqually the same book, are vastly different.
~ The Characters ~
Having connected with the characters, I found myself much more invested in the story.
Jo was my favorite out of the sisters as I related to her the most but I was fond of the others too.
Laurie is so great too. Even if he doesn't end up with Jo, their friendship and dynamic is still one I love.
~The Writing ~
This writing style is one I really liked. Not only does it have the charm of classics where its all proper, pretty, and elegant, but it is also easy to understand. It didn't stump me despite the fact that I am not accustomed to the language.
~ The Relationships ~
The friendship and sibling bond was *chefs kiss*. I don't see sibling relationships portrayed much in books, or at least accurately.
~ The plot ~
The one thing that I wasn't particularly a fan of, was that it's basically just a bunch of scattered events over a longer period of time, and while there were stories and parts of this book I loved, even adored, there were also a few I skimmed out of disinterest in the particular happening. And that is why I knocked it down half a star.
Final Thoughts: It's great, and I highly recommend....but only to the right person. I realize that this particular style of story or writing is not for everyone....more
2.5 I really wanted to like this book, but it was a let down. The story of Peter Pan was not one I really knew too well, nor have I ever read this book2.5 I really wanted to like this book, but it was a let down. The story of Peter Pan was not one I really knew too well, nor have I ever read this book or seen the adaptation. Perhaps if I read this a few years ago I would be less critical. And to enjoy this book, I have a strong feeling that being so, takes away from it's charm. A charm which of course is unmistakable and is very apparent. That is why I didn't have the heart to to be able to rate it any lower. The ending was also bittersweet, which is something I can appreciate.
The aspects in this books which I didn't enjoy are:
- the racist undertones. I get that it is a different time, but that doesn't make it excusable or something I can just brush under the rug. I don't want to go into details for this one, but for anyone that has seen the adaptation or read to book, I'm sure you know which character I am referring to.
- the characters: I didn't connect or fall in love with any of them. I find characters an important aspect of books, because if I'm not rooting for a single character in the book, than things are just less interesting.
- the odd writing: I get that this book is a children's book, and that not everything has to make sense but I litterly thought that Peter had killed Wendy... For like 5 pages. And then she showed up, and I suddenly realized that I had misunderstood an entire paragraph. Also the way some things were described or happened just made me laugh because the way it was written.
- Wendy's story: Wendy, being a mother to kids , not much younger than her and spending all her time cooking and telling stories didn't sit well with me. And then all her kids, and all their kids were destined to the same outcome, so that Peter doesn't get lonely. I honestly wish that Wendy had more relevance this entire book than being a caretaker.
Anyways, like I said, I really wanted to like this because I know it is well loved. Perhaps my high expectations got in the way....more
I didn't love this one as much as the 2 before as some of the stories felt repetitive and less interesting, but that ending was everything ~ 3 stars ~
I didn't love this one as much as the 2 before as some of the stories felt repetitive and less interesting, but that ending was everything I was waiting for and more. Anne's story is so charming and if there is one thing that I love, it is her persistence to get and education and to live her life to her fullest. Her character growth is an admirable one. And Gilbert! I love Gilbert, he's such a sweetheart....more
It good and very charming per usual. I must admit it doesn't have the same type of magic as the first book, but it was uniquely special i~ 3.5 stars ~
It good and very charming per usual. I must admit it doesn't have the same type of magic as the first book, but it was uniquely special in its own way. It was great seeing Anne all grown up and mature, but still the same imaginative and caring person she always was. I am looking forward to the next book!...more
I really liked this book. Experiencing Emma's journey and seeing how she deals with certain situations and all her mess ups and imperfections was inteI really liked this book. Experiencing Emma's journey and seeing how she deals with certain situations and all her mess ups and imperfections was interesting. I do think that if I would have spent less time reading it or if it was shorter that I would have liked it so much more though....more
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