Review: This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Title: This Side of Paradise

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Pages: 255

Source: Personal library

Rating: 10/10

Challenges: Read 'n' Review Challenge

First Sentence: "Amory Blaine inherited from his mother every trait, except the stray inexpressible few, that made him worth while."

Summary (From Goodreads):

In this remarkable achievement, F. Scott Fitzgerald displays his unparalleled wit and keen social insight in his portrayal of college life through the struggles and doubts of Amory Blaine, a self-proclaimed genius with a love of knowledge and a penchant for the romantic. As Amory journeys into adulthood and leaves the aristocratic egotism of his youth behind, he becomes painfully aware of his lost innocence and the new sense of responsibility and regret that has taken its place.


My Two Cents:

Oh, F. Scott Fitzgerald, you never disappoint me.

While this book is not as elegant or rich as my all-time-favorite The Great Gatsby (This was Fitzgerald's first book, after all, and it was written to impress Zelda), it still has a lot of the classic Fitzgerald trademarks which make his writing so fabulous. There's a lot of class and social criticism in here, especially when Amory is at Yale. Fitzgerald has a gift for making fun of those with whom he associated, and the jokes are still funny 90 years later.

I vacillated between liking and not liking Amory throughout the book, but I mostly thought he was a great character. He becomes much more likable as he begins to shed some of the pretensions of his youth and wealth. I couldn't wait to see what he did next, because he was always surprising me.

This book isn't for everyone, and it's not even for every fan of 1920s-era American literature. You have to be in the right mood to read this or else all the fun could be lost on you.

Review: This One Is Mine by Maria Semple

Title: This One Is Mine

Author: Maria Semple

Pages: 289

Source: Publisher

Rating: 4/10

Challenges: Read 'n' Review Challenge

First Sentence: "David stood at the sink, a pine forest to his left, the Pacific Ocean to his right, and cursed the morning sun."

Summary (From back of book):

Violet Parry has a picture-perfect life: a beautiful house, a successful husband, a darling daughter. Violet can speak French, quote Sondheim, and whip up dinner from the vegetables in her garden. She has everything under control -- except her own happiness. All it takes is a chance encounter with Teddy Reyes, a roguish small-time bass player with a highly evolved sexuality, to open Violet's eyes to what she's missing and upend her life completely.

My Two Cents:

I tried to like this book. I really did. There was just so much standing in the way.

Semple's writing is good. It ought to be; she's worked for TV shows. She's funny and can really turn a phrase. She's got a sense for the narrative. And, she can write vivid characters. I could picture each of the people in this book really easily.

The problem was, there was not a single character in here that I either liked or empathized with. Wait. I did like Jeremy and I felt bad for Dot, the little girl, for being caught up in the mess that is her family. But as far as the others? I thought they were terrible people who did terrible things and got exactly what they deserved. And the characters in here did some absolutely awful things, not the least of which was adultery. I understand that this book is about finding happiness and that happiness people who seem to have everything can be incredibly unhappy, but did these characters really have to go to such extreme lengths to find their happiness? Maybe Semple was trying to portray a group of people and a lifestyle with which I don't identify, so maybe I missed a lot of the point, but I just could not take any interest in what happened to anyone in this book.

I've seen several reviews where people enjoyed this book but, for all of Semple's wit and writing talent, I just couldn't like it.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?: May 24, 2010

Hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through a World of Books, It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly bookish meme whereby bloggers share their reading for the past week.

This week, I read:

Life, in Spite of Me: Extraordinary Hope after a Fatal Choice by Kristen Jane Anderson and Tricia Goyer

She's So Dead to Us by Kieran Scott

This week, I reviewed (Click on the title to read my review):

Play Dead by Ryan Brown

Life, in Spite of Me: Extraordinary Hope after a Fatal Choice by Kristen Jane Anderson and Tricia Goyer

A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr

Also on the blog this week:

I ask if anyone has interest in a Ulysses read-along

This week, I'm reading:

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

The Fiddler of the Reels and Other Stories by Thomas Hardy

The Wife's Tale by Lori Lansens

This week, I hope to begin reading:

Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy Book 5) by Richelle Mead

Critical Care: A New Nurse Faces Death, Life and Everything in Between by Theresa Brown

What are you reading this week?

Review and blog tour: A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr

Title: A Month in the Country

Author: J.L. Carr

Pages: 135

Source: Personal library

Rating: 8/10

Challenges: Read 'n' Review Challenge

First Sentence: "When the train stopped I stumbled out, nudging and kicking the kitbag before me."

Summary (From back of book):

In J.L. Carr's deeply charged poetic novel, Tom Birkin, a veteran of the Great War and a broken marriage, arrives in the remote Yorkshire village of Oxgodby to restore a recently discovered medieval mural in the local church. Living in the bell tower, surrounded by the resplendent countryside of high summer, and laboring each day to uncover an anonymous painter's extraordinary depiction of the apocalypse, Birkin finds that he himself has been restored to a new, and hopeful, attachment to life. But summer ends, and with the work done, Birkin must leave. Now, long after, as he reflects on the passage of time and the power of art, he finds in his memories some consolation for all that has been lost.

My Two Cents:

This was such a nice, simple little book that I just couldn't put it down. I think I finished it in just over an hour's time.

I had never heard of J.L. Carr prior to this round of the Spotlight Series tour on the New York Review Books classics, and was surprised to find that this novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. After reading it, I can see why it was given that distinction.

Carr's writing is straightforward and highly readable, but there's a sense of wistfulness that pervades the prose. His narrator, Tom Birkin, is telling the story from many years on (Carr says he wrote this novel in the tradition of Thomas Hardy's Under the Greenwood Tree), and there's definitely a sense that we may not be getting the full story because the narrator's fond memories are glossing things over. That Birkin is an unreliable narrator, however, doesn't take away from this book any. In fact, I think it enhances the reading.

While Carr was able to write some great characters, especially in Moon and Kathy Ellerbeck, but it's the town that really shines as the star of this book. As I was reading this, I could picture exactly the idyllic little town in the English countryside. Oxgodby could have been any one of dozens of little English towns (Places such as Castle Combe came to my mind as coming from my personal travels), and its inhabitants could have been any small-town Englishmen. I felt myself getting nostalgic for the things I had seen and the places I had visited, much like Tom Birkin was nostalgic for the Oxgodby he knew.

I also liked the inclusion of Birkin's uncovering of the medieval mural in the plot. The churchgoing townspeople had this gorgeous, albeit somewhat disturbing, example of the medieval depiction of the end of the world painted right above their heads the whole time, and no one knew it. They were so busy focusing on their own lives (here on Earth) that they didn't look up (toward Heaven) and see what was right in front of their faces. It was a nice metaphor, I thought.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes novels about the English countryside, art or who just wants a quick read.

Note: I purchased a copy of this book for the Spotlight Series tour of the NYRB Classics.

New York Review Books Classics publishes unique and interesting classics from many eras and parts of the world. Some you may have heard of, others you'll discover for the first time! Often they are translated from other languages and include such greats as such as Euripides, Dante, Balzac, and Chekhov. NYRB Classics include not just fiction titles but also non-fiction such as memoirs, cookbooks, travel and literary criticism.

Just a sample of their authors: Daphne DuMaurier, Arthur Conan Doyle, Christina Stead, Mavis Gallant, Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky.

Considered the wide range of eras, genres and nationalities you are sure to find something to suit your tastes.
 

Ulysses Read-along, anyone?

You know that monster of a book that everyone's always afraid to pick up? The one that gives you anxiety just thinking about it? The one that you know you should read, but just can't seem to find the time for?

For me, that book is Ulysses. I read portions of it in college and loved it, and the full book has been sitting on my shelf for the past four years.

Well, I say, NO MORE!!

I'm going to do something about that book sitting on my shelf, taunting me. I'm going to break it down into smaller, more manageable sections. Anyone who wants to tackle this is more than welcome to join me!

Starting August 1, I will be hosting a read-along of Ulysses. I'll lay out a (manageable!) schedule sometime in July, hopefully around 100 pages per week or so, and we can discuss each section. I'll also have an annotation of the book (It's nearly as long as the book itself!) available, so feel free to ask questions!

Who's in?

Review and Blog Tour: Life, in Spite of Me by Kristen Jane Anderson with Tricia Goyer

Title: Life, in Spite of Me: Extraordinary Hope after a Fatal Choice

Author: Kristen Jane Anderson with Tricia Goyer

Pages: 204

Source: Publisher

Rating: 8/10

Challenges: Read 'n' Review Challenge; Take Another Chance Challenge (Challenge #5: Title Word Count)

First Sentence: "Numb. The cold Illinois wind chilled my body."

Summary (From book flap):

Overwhelmed by wave after wave of emotional trauma, Kristen Anderson no longer wanted to live. One January night, determined to end her pain once and for all, the seventeen-year-old lay across train tracks not far from her home and waited to die.

Instead of peace, she found herself immersed in a whole new nightmare.

Before the engineer could bring the train to a stop, thirty-three freight cars passed over her at fifty-five miles per hour. After the train stopped and Kristen realized she was still alive, she looked around -- and saw her legs ten feet away.

Surviving her suicide attempt but losing her legs launched Kristen into an even deeper battle with depression and suicidal thoughts as well as unrelenting physical pain -- all from the seat of a wheelchair.

But in the midst of her darkest days, Kristen discovered the way to real life and a purpose for living.

Life, in Spite of Me recounts in riveting detail the trauma of her suicide attempt, the miracle of her survival, and the life-transforming power of hope in Christ.

For anyone struggling to find the strength to go on, the message of this heart-wrenching yet hope-building book is clear:
God loves you more than you can imagine.
He has good plans for your future.
Life is a gift.

An extraordinary reminder that even when we give up on life, God doesn't give up on us.

My Two Cents:

I've never read an inspirational memoir before, so this was a new experience for me.

I think this book could do people in a certain place in life a lot of good. Anyone, teens especially, struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts could easily relate to Kristen's story. She gives a glimpse of what her life was like following her suicide attempt, such as a party she attends shortly after leaving the hospital, but I would have liked to see more of her daily struggles from that standpoint. We see a lot of how she struggles with depressive thoughts and wishing she were dead, but not a lot about the day-to-day problems she faced after losing her legs.

Her message is one of hope. She had these problems and she tried to do something about them, but God saved her for a higher purpose. It's a great message, and one with which a lot of people can identify. But, I also think her faith may have come a little too easily. Perhaps it's because she already was raised Christian, but Kristen just didn't seem to have the same struggles and questions a lot of new Christians have. I wondered if she really did just accept God that easily (If so, awesome for her!) or if she just left those things out of the book.

Either way, this was a really quick read and I would recommend it to anyone struggling with similar issues or anyone who wants to read a story of God working in a person's life.




I received a free copy of this book courtesy of WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group,

Review and Book Tour: Play Dead by Ryan Brown

Title: Play Dead

Author: Ryan Brown

Pages: 344

Source: Publisher

Rating: 8/10

Challenges: Read 'n' Review Challenge

First Sentence: "The drums outside beat hard enough to form ripples in the water."

Summary (From book flap):

For the first time in Killington High School history, the Jackrabbits football team is one win away from the district championship where it will face its most vicious rival, the Elmwood Heights Baders. On the way to the game, the Jackrabbits' bus plunges into a river, killing every player except for bad-boy quarterback Cole Logan who is certain the crash was no accident -- given that Cole himself was severely injured in a brutal attack by three ski-masked men earlier that day. Bent on payback, Cole turns to a mysterious fan skilled in black magic to resurrect his teammates. But unless the undead Jackrabbits defeat their murderous rival on the field, the team is destined for hell. In a desperate race against time, with only his coach's clever daughter, Savannah Hickman, to assist him, Cole must lead his zombie team to victory ... in a final showdown where the stakes aren't just life or death -- but damnation or salvation.

My Two Cents:

At first, I was skeptical about this book. Anyone who knows me knows that football and I are like cats and water: There's not a whole lot of love there. But, when I saw there were zombies, I had to read it. I so love zombies.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. Sure, there was way more football than I would have liked, but a football game in a football-crazed town was the perfect setting for a team of undead teenagers. I would've liked to see more zombie fun, but, well, I'm used to playing Left 4 Dead, so brain-eating is kind of second-nature to me.

Brown is a skilled writer who knows how to pace his story properly. Things don't move too slowly or too quickly. He also adds a generous amount of humor, which is the mark of any good off-the-wall zombie concept in my book. I'd be interested to see what he comes up with next.

For me, this book wasn't so much about characters as what happened. Sure, I liked Cole and Savannah and Coach Hickman well enough, and I loathed the opposing team the proper amount, but the story was much more what propelled me through this book. I think I finished the whole thing in a few hours' time.

If you like zombies, or if you (Heaven forbid!) like football, I'd recommend this book to you. It's well worth it!