Brief Book Reviews

Reading Log since August 2014

Over the past couple of months I have attempted to read as much as possible. The novels I have been able to read are ‘I know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ by Maya Angelou, ‘Between Shades of Gray’ by Ruta Sepetys, “The Old Man and the Sea’ by Earnest Hemingway, ‘The Book Thief’ by Markus Zusak, ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ by George R. R Martin and finally ‘Sherlock Holmes’ by Conan Doyle.

As I have tried to be the most active reader I have also tried to enjoy all the books I have read. We all know that some books are extremely tedious and boring, however most of my read were quite wise choices. This is because I thoroughly enjoyed every book, except for Sherlock Holmes which was distasteful and tedious. Novels such as Game of Thrones have such a fascinating story line behind it, that it simply thrills myself to continue reading such a greatly detailed book. Other novels such as ‘ I know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ is superb, as I adore historical novels and biographies.

Due to the fact that I have a very busy schedule with sports, homework and other activities, I find it hard to slot in reading time. On the other hand when I am able to read I normally do it before falling asleep or when I am not particularly busy, for example when on the toilet. This tends to be within my household, however on the rare occasion when I am travelling I attempt to read as much as possible during flights and other intervals.

Looking back at these statistics and levels of understanding, I believe I am growing as a reader. This is due to the fact that I have become fond of certain genres and seem to enjoy reading books I have researched for. This could include many different genres, however I personally feel that as a reader, I am growing and will eventually be able to predict if I could like a book or not from previous experiences. On the other hand my stamina for reading is not particularly strong, as I can only seem to read for about half an hour at a time without becoming too tired or distracted on something else. In the meantime I am setting myself a goal of reading a certain amount of genres in the next quarter, as I feel that is unnecessary to read as many books as possible, due to the simple fact that quality always goes over quantity.

My Reading Profile 2014/2015

As shown above I have read four books, from the classroom, since the beginning of school. They have all been interesting reads, as they were all different types of genres, varying from historical fiction to mystery and crime solving.

When reflecting back on the four novels I can compare and contrast the four novels and say that the hardest read was by far the Sherlock Holmes novel. As this book was very tedious and uneventful, I was not particularly motivated to continue reading, therefore bringing myself to a very confused state. However in the end I was able to finish it, meanwhile still remained negative about the novel.

Secondly, the next most difficult read was the short book, ‘The Old Man and the Sea’. This was recommended to me by my father, as it contains a very structured format, with exemplarily sentence construction. Despite the novel being only 100 pages, the concept of the book was very old fashioned in the sense that it was not always as clear about the story line. On the other hand I enjoyed the book thoroughly and believe it was one of the best reads.

Thirdly, the following novel was not very hard in the sense that it was hard to grasp the concept of the novel, however the selective language of the time period in american history made the read quite a bit slower. The text ‘I know why the caged bird sings’ is amazing, based on a true story about a young black american being exploited by the racism of the late 20th century.

Finally, the easiest read was the novel, ‘between shades of grey’ this text was a historical fiction. One of my favourite genres! This gave me the motivation to read this book from cover to cover with a clear understanding of most of the story line. As I have been studying the russian rule over eastern Europe in history class, I was able to relate to some of the specific events in the novel.

Overall my reading has not been extremely fast, however I feel I have been able to complete a reasonable amount of books and plan to continue reading more. For example at the moment I am coming to the end of the first Game of Thrones novel. This text I have enjoyed extremely as its complex storyline and great creation of a fictional world has motivated me to finish the book. In the future I plan to read as many books as possible, however I aim to start reading some more classical books or even some more historical fiction or non-fiction. I especially enjoy that genre!

Summer Reading Challenge

Over the summer I have been asked to keep up with my reading. I have thought thoroughly about what I plan to read. Here it is

– As much of the Game of Thrones Series by George R. R. Martin (have watched the tv series and find the story line fascinating)

– The old man and the sea by Ernest Hemingway (was recommended and was told it will help me advance in literature)

– I am the King of the castle by Susan Hill (assigned reading)

– Merchant of venice by Shakespeare (assigned reading)

 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I feel the need to read the Book Thief by Markus Zusak which involves the adventures of a young orphaned girl called Liesel who is called the Book thief by the narrater. At the beginning it recalls the moments in which liesel was being transported to her new home by a rotten train carriage, horrific events took place during that journey as her brother died from starvation leading to the traumatic stress throughout the rest of the book. Set in the period of the second world war it gives a sense of venerability and an unsure feeling of what could happen next. As I have only read the first third of the book I have only discovered the theft of three books so far, however the narrater uses strong foreshadowing to indicate the theft of many more in the future. Despite the harsh reality Liesel is living in, as she has to work for her grumpy step-mum, taking the washing from door to door to be collected or delivered she still finds the time to venture from place to place and house to house discovering new secrets and sometimes new books. The whole concept in which Liesel has to mature very quickly to her new environment shows the progression in which she is more obliged to steal the books to bring to her basement and read with her loving step-dad, Hans Hubermann. So far Hans has played a huge role to support the little girl in reading and taking in the harsh reality of what the Nazi’s would do to her if she was caught stealing those so called ‘demon books’. This so far thrilling novel has inspired me to continue reading this compact book of young romance, mystery and bonding, as the harsh period exemplifies quality of these characters.

Mask Analysis

During class I was asked to decorate a Japanese theatre mask with different coloured paints. I have now been asked to analysis the reasoning behind why I chose these certain colours and shapes. To start off with the use of the red stripes under the eye holes symbolises the strong emotions behind the certain character and gives an incite an what kind of troubles the character is going to face in the rest of the play. The blue line around the eyes gives off the concept of the character being able to see through to peace and tranquility as blue is meant to represent harmless matters. Another aspect to the mask is the thick black lines on the temple, representing horror attempting to penetrate the skull this is well represented as the temple is the most vulnerable part of the head. This should allow people to infer that despite having a strong vision, the mask is still vulnerable to harms way. Finally the use of the brown on top of the forehead indicates the mask is some what protected by the earths colours and that the character is very connected to the earth and nature.

Finish of The wild geese be Ogai Mori

The wild geese was a wonderful book filled with love passion and conflict. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the novel, as at some points I could not put it down. The way in which Okada saved Otama from Suezo by not saving her physically really portrays the way of life and culture in Japan. In Japan the way of life is that they must never portray their family by embarrassing them through sinister acts. These acts are so simple that it seems so hard to live a normal japanese life without having to worry about the consequences around you. In the wild geese this concept was depicted very well in the sense of Otama selling herself as a mistress to Suezo. This was to benefit her own father, not herself. Meanwhile she falls in love with a strong handsome character; Okada. However she is not permitted to do so. Despite the ethics behind her culture she still grasps for that little hope that Okada could be her hero and take her away from the turbulent lifestyle. Okada being the traditional Japanese man follows the ethics of his culture and decides not to embarrass his family and especially Otama’s. This shows how loyal he is to his culture and family, in the meantime it helps Otama realise that she is a very important character in both Okada’s and Otassan’s life.

I strongly recommend the book as it is a great read and you will enjoy it a lot! 

Half way through ‘The Wild Geese’ by Ogai Mori

So far I am extremely intrigued about this story line and how this young women (Otama) is willing to sacrifice herself for the better of her father. When Suezo decides to become a benefactor for Otama and her father, he is faced with a choice to let the father keep his normal life, or grant him the same privileges that he is about to grant Otama. When this new daily life begins the two relatives are very worried about each other, however they decide not to visit each other. Despite living so close. I bewildered me that at one point the father of Otama broke out at his house maid for making such a small error in the process of making food. This mild mannered man that I was introduced to at the beginning of the novel has started to unravel his anger or fustration when he comes to realise he is not able to live with the daughter that he brought up himself. As described in the book; Otama’s mother died in giving birth to her, meanwhile the father has to look after this little girl. In any situation, separation between two such desirable characters is a major twist in their lives.

I am enthusiastic to continue reading to see what happens next!

Memoirs of a Geisha

In english class we watched Memoirs of a geisha. It gave me a whole new perspective of Japanese culture and how women go through the process of becoming a Geisha. A Geisha is a women who dedicates most of her life to become an all rounded artist to be sold and used for entertainment. The rules are that they can never be in a relationship and should never let a man use her body when entertaining. The main character ‘Sayuri’ who was sold by her father to a Geisha family as a result of her very poorly mother. Over the years Sayuri broke the Geisha code and was unable to complete the course, consequently she became a servant. Eventually a women decides that Sayuri has great potential and becomes her benefactor. 

             In a few weeks time I have to present a presentation on Japanese culture to my fellow class mates. This movie really helped me understand the culture more in depth, allowing me to comprehend what I will eventually present. I especially like the task I have been given as I am quite fascinated by how the culture works in Japan. Meanwhile the history behind certain traditions that shape Japan and the way it is.

From the movie I can infer that Geisha’s are highly respected women, whilst making a very good salary. The way they dress is very fascinating because they were something called a ‘Kimono’. A kimono is a long piece of silk which is wrapped around a Geisha’s body. There are different types of Kimonos; some are more valuable than others meanwhile others take years to earn and others are simply bought.

The Wild Geese by Ogai Mori

Recently in my english course I have been asked to read ‘The Wild Geese’ by Ogai Mori. According to some research I have done, Ogai was a Japanese army surgeon general officer. He was born on the 17th of February in Tsuwano Shimane,1862. Ogai died on the 8th of July 1922, aged 60. He fought in both First-Sino Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War. Ogai Mori’s most famous piece of work would be considered Gan (also known as the wild geese).

            From what I have read briefly about Ogai Mori is quite fascinating. I cannot wait to start reading his Novel ‘The Wild Geese’. The main idea of the book is about the unfulfilled love love set against a background of social change. The story outline has given me an idea of a main character who is putting the well being of her sick father before her own, however she makes a horrible decision which ends up effecting the rest of her life. 

Failure is simp…

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.