Reading Challenge - 30 to 34

30 - The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

The Book of Lost Things seemed, at first glance, exactly the right read for me: dark with fairy tales gone wrong. But it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.


Full Review



(3,5/5)



31 - Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
Lord of Light is a strange book. At first I was having trouble finding the science fiction in it: it seemed more like a religion book about the life of the Gods, the kind that is usually given away on the street. I was also constantly lost amidst the different Gods, with all the name/position changes.

It did get better, but not by much. I was able to understand the gist of it, which lead me to believe that I would have probably loved the book if it wasn't so vague and confusing.

(3/5)


32 - The Book of Imaginary Beings By Jorge Luis Borges
The book of Imaginary Beings is a bestiary of fantastical animals, from folklore, mythology and literature. It is in no way comprehensive, but it's a good reference for anyone who enjoys to read about human imagination and its history. Some of the beings are alike, as their descriptions get mixed up throughout the ages, and sometimes the same name is given to beings so different.

I really liked the bits of imagined beings by other authors, especially the ones by Kafka.

Not your standard literature book, more of a reference of sorts, but very enjoyable nonetheless.

(4/5)

33 - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and other stories by Washington Irving
It was an OK book: some good stories, some bad, one awful.

Full Review

(3.5/5)







34 - Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
This is, undoubtedly, a very strange book. Good kind of strange. At this point I'm not sure I can say much about it. I'm not even sure I liked it (or disliked it, for that matter). I will probably need time to digest the story.

What I will say is this: There are things in the book that I loved, and that includes the characters, and most of the plot. But I'm not sure if I wanted it to end how it did, or even if I wanted it to end.

The friend that lent me this book told me it was like an anime. It is. But not the action kind of anime. We're talking about sureal, philosophical and heavily metaphorical storylines here. But it's just like an anime.

Full Review (written a few days later)

(4/5)

The Book of Lost Things By John Connolly

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

The Book of Lost Things seemed, at first glance, exactly the right read for me: dark with fairy tales gone wrong. But it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.

Taking place during World War 2, it tells the story of David, a twelve year old boy who recently lost his mother, and finds himself living in an old house, with his father, his stepmother and his newborn stepbrother. David's only comfort are the books that he is constantly reading and that speak to him (and I mean, literately speak). But when he hears the voice of his dead mother calling him, asking him to help her, he embarks in a journey in a fantasy world.

It's an allegorical story, that is quite clear from the beginning. To what the allegory referred to, it took me a while to guess (and some of the nuances I only learnt at the end, when the author explained). It is mostly about coming of age, but told with a bit of nostalgia, so it seemed to me that it was a book for adults (actual adults, to whom the childhood was a happy time long ago, and all the bad parts stopped being quite that bad as memory fades, and worse things happen), about a young boy; and not, like I supposed, a book for teenagers with a bit fantasy and horror.

The story and the fairy tale retellings were nice, but I felt distanced from the main character and his quest. This was probably because I'm an only child, and most of the anger and resentment that David felt for his younger stepbrother were completely lost on me. The book really starts to get good towards the end, when this "brotherly" envy is no longer as important.

Another thing that didn't sit well with me was the moralizing factor of the book. I know fairy tales are meant to taught us morals, and some are more subtle than others in that. But as far as subtlety goes, The Book of Lost Things has none. I knew I was being taught morals, regardless of whether I had them in the first place or not, or of whether I wanted or not. And I didn't want, nor did I need them.

My edition contained a lot of extras, and I think it is safe to say I probably enjoyed the extras more than the book itself. The biggest part of the extras are devoted to the fairy tales in the book, how they relate to the story of David and what he was going through, their history, and finally, the fairy tale itself. So, I guess I enjoyed the deconstruction and analysis of the story more than the story itself.


(3,5/5)