Well, my numbers this year were disappointing at best. I read a grand total of 4 books....2 of which were not even on the list, and 1 that I had read already. All in all, I crossed Cloud Atlas off my list this year.
Maybe 2014 will be the year I finish Lord of the Rings.
Even with my dismal end of the year outcome, today has been an exciting day for reading, and I joined the modern world (of 2010 or so) and bought a kindle. I've had it for less than half a day, but I am really enjoying it so far. I figured out that many of the books I need to read are free as they are out of copyright, and many of the rest I can borrow from the library online somehow. Today I borrowed and downloaded The Golden Compass so that I could start the His Dark Materials series. I have read that book before, but it was during high school and I was not such a fan. (However, I felt obligated to read it, as it was a birthday present from a friend). The only thing I remember about it was that it took place somewhere with snow and was kind of mysterious and there was a girl with a funky name who had a shapeshifter pet with her at all times.
So, now I'm about 15% through the book (my kindle now conveniently calculates my percentage) and enjoying it much more than the first time. Hopefully it will be a quick read for me. Apparently the whole book will take me less than 6 hours.....not sure how the kindle knows that but so far it's pretty accurate, so we'll see.
Back to reading!
Monday, December 30, 2013
Saturday, November 16, 2013
TKAM: Check!
I finally finished To Kill A Mockingbird. [does celebratory dance]
I started reading the book this summer after chasing around and trying to decide which version to buy. I had a terrible time deciding, because I wanted a paperback with the tree on the front, but without the ragged pages. Every paperback with the tree had the ragged pages, and so did the hardcover. Eventually, after much turmoil about needing to have the "right" cover, I gave up and got the cheapest version with no ragged pages and a different cover. I ended up liking the cover I got very much, especially because there is a tree on the cover that continues to the spine and back. On the spine is the knot in the tree with a dolls and a watch and coins in it, and there are silhouettes of Scout and Jem and a bird and the title is written out on the branches of the tree. While it is not original, I enjoy it quite a bit. Here is a picture of the front and back cover and spine.
I had to read this book in ninth grade in little chunks and answer comprehension questions. At the end we had to take a test on the plot of the story. I liked the book OK while answering questions, but it was too disjointed for me to pay attention to what was actually going on. So, I reread the book in preparation for the test and liked it SOOO much better.
This summer I got a "craving" to read it, and so I started it. I continued reading throughout the summer and even took it with me on a mini road trip vacation. I was about 2/3 done when I got a full time job and put it on hold for a while, only to pick it back up a week ago and finish. It was even better than last time.
Then I caught the reading bug again. I have a list of movies I'd like to see when they come out on DVD, one of which was "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." However, I decided I needed to read the book before I saw the movie, so I read it in a couple of days and literally just finished. It was interesting because it mentioned To Kill A Mockingbird in the very beginning, and really reminded me of The Catcher in the Rye, which is another book the main character, Charlie, reads. I enjoyed the book in the first half, and then it started getting kind of gloomy. It wasn't my favorite ever, but it was definitely a quick read. As a bonus, I can watch the movie now.
As always, my goal is to finish LOTR next, but as we all know, I will inevitably become sidetracked by something else that takes 3 months and I say I will finish it later. I'm hopeful, though. Happy Thanksgiving!
I started reading the book this summer after chasing around and trying to decide which version to buy. I had a terrible time deciding, because I wanted a paperback with the tree on the front, but without the ragged pages. Every paperback with the tree had the ragged pages, and so did the hardcover. Eventually, after much turmoil about needing to have the "right" cover, I gave up and got the cheapest version with no ragged pages and a different cover. I ended up liking the cover I got very much, especially because there is a tree on the cover that continues to the spine and back. On the spine is the knot in the tree with a dolls and a watch and coins in it, and there are silhouettes of Scout and Jem and a bird and the title is written out on the branches of the tree. While it is not original, I enjoy it quite a bit. Here is a picture of the front and back cover and spine.
I had to read this book in ninth grade in little chunks and answer comprehension questions. At the end we had to take a test on the plot of the story. I liked the book OK while answering questions, but it was too disjointed for me to pay attention to what was actually going on. So, I reread the book in preparation for the test and liked it SOOO much better.
This summer I got a "craving" to read it, and so I started it. I continued reading throughout the summer and even took it with me on a mini road trip vacation. I was about 2/3 done when I got a full time job and put it on hold for a while, only to pick it back up a week ago and finish. It was even better than last time.
Then I caught the reading bug again. I have a list of movies I'd like to see when they come out on DVD, one of which was "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." However, I decided I needed to read the book before I saw the movie, so I read it in a couple of days and literally just finished. It was interesting because it mentioned To Kill A Mockingbird in the very beginning, and really reminded me of The Catcher in the Rye, which is another book the main character, Charlie, reads. I enjoyed the book in the first half, and then it started getting kind of gloomy. It wasn't my favorite ever, but it was definitely a quick read. As a bonus, I can watch the movie now.
As always, my goal is to finish LOTR next, but as we all know, I will inevitably become sidetracked by something else that takes 3 months and I say I will finish it later. I'm hopeful, though. Happy Thanksgiving!
Monday, July 8, 2013
The Secret Life of Bees
The good: I finished one of the three books I was simultaneously reading.
The bad: It was not on the list.
(the ugly: it probably didn't deserve to be on the list anyway)
I finished The Secret Life of Bees. It was decent, in the way that most former bestsellers are. I could see why it was popular, why it initially cost $14 and how I ended up paying $0.50 for it at a used book sale on the half off last day. It was an easy read (I would also categorize it as a "quick read" even though I took my sweet time getting through it) and it was entertaining and would have been a perfect vacation book had I needed something to take to the beach. I enjoyed the book, but found it a little predictable, oddly pervy, and got the impression that it was trying too hard. The symbolism was a little forced, in my opinion, and there were too many symbolic/motif things going on at once. The queen bee, the Virgin Mary, the mother, Beatrice the Nun, etc., made the symbolism too jumbled, and the more there was, the more confusing it became. It was like one of the characters was supposed to symbolize the queen bee, but there were too many other symbols that made it difficult to figure out exactly which character it was. However, there can only be one queen. It was like the author was making arguments for each character......
......which is why when I googled this just now, I got a variety of answers, none of which I agree with. I will come back to this later.
Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the story, the characters, and especially the setting. It made me want to start driving to the middle of rural South Carolina and find the pink house and just stay there, like Lily. However, the thing I most enjoyed were the epitaphs in the beginnings of the chapters. All were from nonfiction books on bees and beekeeping, and gave some insight into the story. The one that stuck with me the most was the one about a queenless hive:
"The queen, for her part, is the unifying force of the community: if she is removed from the hive, the workers very quickly sense her absence. After a few hours, or even less, they show unmistakable signs of queenlessness." (epitaph for chapter 1)
Another that I liked:
"A queenless colony is a pitiful and melancholy community: there may be a mournful wail or lament from within...Without intervention, the colony will die. But introduce a new queen and the most extravagant change takes place." (epitaph for chapter 14).
Back to the answers who "Who is the queen bee in the story?"
One possible answer: August, because she is the leader of the sisters and the congregation they started and is the person who Lily feels closest to in the story.
My thoughts: Disagree, because queens are by definition mothers, and August is not a mother. Additionally, the epitaphs regarding queen bees are not relevant if August is considered the queen bee...exactly.
Another possible answer: Mary, because she is "the mother of thousands," as Lily says herself.
My thoughts: This is possible. While Mary is a mother, and brings people together, the epitaphs do not seem completely relevant UNLESS the message in this book is that everyone must have religion. In that case, the epitaphs regarding queenlessness are really about not having a religion. And while I agree that religion can bring people together, I do not agree that a community can "die" without religion. So while it is possible, I find it a little far fetched and preachy for my tastes.
Which is why I believe the actual queen is not a specific person at all, but a mother figure. Initially, I believed Lily's mother Deborah was the actual queen bee in the novel, and to an extent I believe that is true. That is why chapter 1 begins with an explanation of "queenlessness" that shows T.Ray and Lily's relationship and family without Deborah around. It is clear that they do not respect each other or value each other, and that Lily feels incomplete without her mother there. Lily's life is "pitiful and melancholy," and she sends much of her time obsessing over her mother and the circumstances surrounding her death. She blames herself and is confused by the things she cannot remember. For most of the book, she dealt with this "without intervention," i.e. by keeping it a secret. However, when she opens up to August and pieces together the truth, she is able to deal with it and move on. While is still "queenless," i.e. motherless, August is introduced as the new queen, or new mother figure, which is why we begin to see a change in Lily.
(You can probably now see why I felt the symbolism regarding the queen bee was a little jumbled with Mary thrown into the mix).
Next I plan to finish To Kill A Mockingbird. Stay tuned for a further discussion of symbolism, this time (if I remember correctly) more subtle and less jumbled. And then LOTR. For real this time.
(Side note: I have been buying one Harry Potter book per year (what's that you say? How could I not own them when I have read them all multiple times? I ask myself that same question every day) to add to my collection to spread the cost out/so I can use coupons/so my package is not 100 pounds/to keep track of years passing/etc, and while it was out of order, I bought #7 (the hardcover) today at a thrift store for (drumroll please!!!!!) $2.42!!! If I could put numbers in caps, I would, I was was that excited. And my standards for buying books, especially used books, are extremely high, including no torn or bent pages or covers, and no creases in the binding (unimportant in hardcovers with sleeves), which explains why it is a big deal when I buy anything at a used book sale. However, this one looks like it was preordered, read once the night it came out, and never looked at again. It didn't even smell weird! I WAS SO EXCITED!! So now the only one I have missing is the sixth one, and I may have to do some creative trading on the fifth one, which is the most recent one I have purchased, and while it is very nit-picky and ridiculous, it irks me that the pages are not as thick as the other books, so while #5 is technically the longest book, it actually is smaller than #4 because of the pages thickness. Ridiculous, I know, but something that has been bothering me since I got it a month or so ago. So.....I'll figure it out. I wish they had the other ones at the thrift store too so I could complete my collection for not much money. But I did the calculations, and based on the original price of $34.99, I got the book for a whopping 93% off. While that is fabulous, I am currently asking myself who donates Harry Potter to the thrift store? Seriously?)
The bad: It was not on the list.
(the ugly: it probably didn't deserve to be on the list anyway)
I finished The Secret Life of Bees. It was decent, in the way that most former bestsellers are. I could see why it was popular, why it initially cost $14 and how I ended up paying $0.50 for it at a used book sale on the half off last day. It was an easy read (I would also categorize it as a "quick read" even though I took my sweet time getting through it) and it was entertaining and would have been a perfect vacation book had I needed something to take to the beach. I enjoyed the book, but found it a little predictable, oddly pervy, and got the impression that it was trying too hard. The symbolism was a little forced, in my opinion, and there were too many symbolic/motif things going on at once. The queen bee, the Virgin Mary, the mother, Beatrice the Nun, etc., made the symbolism too jumbled, and the more there was, the more confusing it became. It was like one of the characters was supposed to symbolize the queen bee, but there were too many other symbols that made it difficult to figure out exactly which character it was. However, there can only be one queen. It was like the author was making arguments for each character......
......which is why when I googled this just now, I got a variety of answers, none of which I agree with. I will come back to this later.
Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the story, the characters, and especially the setting. It made me want to start driving to the middle of rural South Carolina and find the pink house and just stay there, like Lily. However, the thing I most enjoyed were the epitaphs in the beginnings of the chapters. All were from nonfiction books on bees and beekeeping, and gave some insight into the story. The one that stuck with me the most was the one about a queenless hive:
"The queen, for her part, is the unifying force of the community: if she is removed from the hive, the workers very quickly sense her absence. After a few hours, or even less, they show unmistakable signs of queenlessness." (epitaph for chapter 1)
Another that I liked:
"A queenless colony is a pitiful and melancholy community: there may be a mournful wail or lament from within...Without intervention, the colony will die. But introduce a new queen and the most extravagant change takes place." (epitaph for chapter 14).
Back to the answers who "Who is the queen bee in the story?"
One possible answer: August, because she is the leader of the sisters and the congregation they started and is the person who Lily feels closest to in the story.
My thoughts: Disagree, because queens are by definition mothers, and August is not a mother. Additionally, the epitaphs regarding queen bees are not relevant if August is considered the queen bee...exactly.
Another possible answer: Mary, because she is "the mother of thousands," as Lily says herself.
My thoughts: This is possible. While Mary is a mother, and brings people together, the epitaphs do not seem completely relevant UNLESS the message in this book is that everyone must have religion. In that case, the epitaphs regarding queenlessness are really about not having a religion. And while I agree that religion can bring people together, I do not agree that a community can "die" without religion. So while it is possible, I find it a little far fetched and preachy for my tastes.
Which is why I believe the actual queen is not a specific person at all, but a mother figure. Initially, I believed Lily's mother Deborah was the actual queen bee in the novel, and to an extent I believe that is true. That is why chapter 1 begins with an explanation of "queenlessness" that shows T.Ray and Lily's relationship and family without Deborah around. It is clear that they do not respect each other or value each other, and that Lily feels incomplete without her mother there. Lily's life is "pitiful and melancholy," and she sends much of her time obsessing over her mother and the circumstances surrounding her death. She blames herself and is confused by the things she cannot remember. For most of the book, she dealt with this "without intervention," i.e. by keeping it a secret. However, when she opens up to August and pieces together the truth, she is able to deal with it and move on. While is still "queenless," i.e. motherless, August is introduced as the new queen, or new mother figure, which is why we begin to see a change in Lily.
(You can probably now see why I felt the symbolism regarding the queen bee was a little jumbled with Mary thrown into the mix).
Next I plan to finish To Kill A Mockingbird. Stay tuned for a further discussion of symbolism, this time (if I remember correctly) more subtle and less jumbled. And then LOTR. For real this time.
(Side note: I have been buying one Harry Potter book per year (what's that you say? How could I not own them when I have read them all multiple times? I ask myself that same question every day) to add to my collection to spread the cost out/so I can use coupons/so my package is not 100 pounds/to keep track of years passing/etc, and while it was out of order, I bought #7 (the hardcover) today at a thrift store for (drumroll please!!!!!) $2.42!!! If I could put numbers in caps, I would, I was was that excited. And my standards for buying books, especially used books, are extremely high, including no torn or bent pages or covers, and no creases in the binding (unimportant in hardcovers with sleeves), which explains why it is a big deal when I buy anything at a used book sale. However, this one looks like it was preordered, read once the night it came out, and never looked at again. It didn't even smell weird! I WAS SO EXCITED!! So now the only one I have missing is the sixth one, and I may have to do some creative trading on the fifth one, which is the most recent one I have purchased, and while it is very nit-picky and ridiculous, it irks me that the pages are not as thick as the other books, so while #5 is technically the longest book, it actually is smaller than #4 because of the pages thickness. Ridiculous, I know, but something that has been bothering me since I got it a month or so ago. So.....I'll figure it out. I wish they had the other ones at the thrift store too so I could complete my collection for not much money. But I did the calculations, and based on the original price of $34.99, I got the book for a whopping 93% off. While that is fabulous, I am currently asking myself who donates Harry Potter to the thrift store? Seriously?)
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Simultaneous Reading
Well, it's finally summer. The season of no school, of hot weather, of vacations and swimming and having lots of time to myself to just read. It's also the season of street fairs and used book sales and me ordering books online to use for tutoring and treating myself to a few as well. This year, summer brought a late spring cleaning, which led to me inheriting some books that my sister got from the woman whose children we used to babysit after her book club was done with them. Needless to say, I am even more surrounded by reading material now, have no space, and am not sure what to read next!
So, I have unintentionally embarked on a journey of reading several books at once. It started with my trip to used book sale #1, where I picked up (for fifty cents each) The Secret Life of Bees, Catch Me If You Can (the book), and Bridget Jones's Diary (already read but hilarious). My sister then gave me The Tales of Beetle the Bard, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, The Time Traveler's Wife, and Water for Elephants (which I have already read and enjoyed but not as much as the movie). I then attended used book sale #2, where I purchased Vanity Fair (#79) for another fifty cents. So, that's 8 books for a whopping $2.00. I then decided to purchase some books online as a gift to myself, which ended up being Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (in preparation for next year, since I have been buying myself one book per year until the set is complete), To Kill A Mockingbird, and Bossypants by Tina Fey (which I have listened to on audiobook and loved and definitely had to own it, especially since the new version is an orange-y peach color).
I then got a very strong urge to read To Kill A Mockingbird, and was a little ashamed that I did not own the book. I went on an excursion to several book stores and could not find a version that I liked (the hard cover with the correct cover had ragged pages, the hard cover with nice page edges had the wrong cover and was expensive, the paperback versions was too small, etc.) so after hemming and hawing for a couple of days, I decided to just get the small paperback with the wrong cover (I was never a big fan of the strange looking tree anyways) because it was cheaper, and now that I have it, I like it and enjoy the fact that it looks unique. I'm just a little ways in right now and Jem has just rescued his pants from the Radley's fence. I remember reading this freshman year of high school and enjoying it (and rereading it in a day because I had, as most high schoolers do, run out of time to read for homework (ie procrastinated and found better things to do) and sparknoted most of the book) and did want to reread it for this challenge.
While school is in session, I like to have a book in my bag that is an easy read that can be easily taken out and put away and read in small sections, so I started Secret Life of Bees for that purpose and got a little ways into that one as well. I'll have to finish that one up to decrease the number of books I'm reading at once. My plan is to possibly get an audiobook of it, as I am going to be driving 7 hours to visit a friend this weekend and may enjoy hearing the story on the way.
The third book I'm reading is Vanity Fair since it ended up at my boyfriend's house after the sale we went to, and although I am about 5 pages in right now, it seems enjoyable and a little easier to read than I had anticipated.
So, once at least two of those are done, I'll head into Lord of the Rings. (but I've said that so many times that I hardly believe myself and definitely wouldn't bet money on it!) Happy Summer!
So, I have unintentionally embarked on a journey of reading several books at once. It started with my trip to used book sale #1, where I picked up (for fifty cents each) The Secret Life of Bees, Catch Me If You Can (the book), and Bridget Jones's Diary (already read but hilarious). My sister then gave me The Tales of Beetle the Bard, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, The Time Traveler's Wife, and Water for Elephants (which I have already read and enjoyed but not as much as the movie). I then attended used book sale #2, where I purchased Vanity Fair (#79) for another fifty cents. So, that's 8 books for a whopping $2.00. I then decided to purchase some books online as a gift to myself, which ended up being Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (in preparation for next year, since I have been buying myself one book per year until the set is complete), To Kill A Mockingbird, and Bossypants by Tina Fey (which I have listened to on audiobook and loved and definitely had to own it, especially since the new version is an orange-y peach color).
I then got a very strong urge to read To Kill A Mockingbird, and was a little ashamed that I did not own the book. I went on an excursion to several book stores and could not find a version that I liked (the hard cover with the correct cover had ragged pages, the hard cover with nice page edges had the wrong cover and was expensive, the paperback versions was too small, etc.) so after hemming and hawing for a couple of days, I decided to just get the small paperback with the wrong cover (I was never a big fan of the strange looking tree anyways) because it was cheaper, and now that I have it, I like it and enjoy the fact that it looks unique. I'm just a little ways in right now and Jem has just rescued his pants from the Radley's fence. I remember reading this freshman year of high school and enjoying it (and rereading it in a day because I had, as most high schoolers do, run out of time to read for homework (ie procrastinated and found better things to do) and sparknoted most of the book) and did want to reread it for this challenge.
While school is in session, I like to have a book in my bag that is an easy read that can be easily taken out and put away and read in small sections, so I started Secret Life of Bees for that purpose and got a little ways into that one as well. I'll have to finish that one up to decrease the number of books I'm reading at once. My plan is to possibly get an audiobook of it, as I am going to be driving 7 hours to visit a friend this weekend and may enjoy hearing the story on the way.
The third book I'm reading is Vanity Fair since it ended up at my boyfriend's house after the sale we went to, and although I am about 5 pages in right now, it seems enjoyable and a little easier to read than I had anticipated.
So, once at least two of those are done, I'll head into Lord of the Rings. (but I've said that so many times that I hardly believe myself and definitely wouldn't bet money on it!) Happy Summer!
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Cloud Atlas: Check!
I finished Cloud Atlas. Mind blown. Definitely was an experience through time and through characters that left me questioning what actually happened in the book and which characters may have been reincarnates of each other. It made me realize that humans are not so different from each other, our ancestors, and those yet to come. Good job, David Mitchell.
My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops? (pg. 509)
Next up: Lord of the Rings Return of the King, I promise!! I want this series over and done with. Then what? No idea. Hopefully I'll be done with that book by November, haha.
My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops? (pg. 509)
Next up: Lord of the Rings Return of the King, I promise!! I want this series over and done with. Then what? No idea. Hopefully I'll be done with that book by November, haha.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Life of Pi: the Movie
I never intended this to be a movie blog, but last night I watched Life of Pi. Originally, when it came out, I wasn't interested in watching it because it took me long enough to get through the book and was not too willing to watch 2 hours of a seasick man and tiger on a boat in the middle of the ocean. However, after it won so many Oscars, I reconsidered and wanted to see what all the buzz was about. I enjoyed the story but after a while it became more and more tedious. However, the movie kept me captivated the entire time. I loved (as in the book) the beginning with all the Indian culture and bright colors. And I had forgotten all the religious aspects of the book, so it was a good chance for me to rediscover the main theme of the book. (And it definitely cleared up my question about how they did not know the tiger was in the boat.)
Some quotes I liked:
"You only need to convert to three more religions Piscine, and you'll spend your life on holiday."
"Above all, don't lose hope"
Adult Pi Patel: Can I ask you something? I've told you two stories about what happened out on the ocean. Neither explains what caused the sinking of the ship, and no one can prove which story is true and which is not. In both stories, the ship sinks, my family dies, and I suffer.
Writer: True.
Adult Pi Patel: So which story do you prefer?
Writer: The one with the tiger. That's the better story.
Adult Pi Patel: Thank you. And so it goes with God.
Some quotes I liked:
"You only need to convert to three more religions Piscine, and you'll spend your life on holiday."
"Above all, don't lose hope"
Adult Pi Patel: Can I ask you something? I've told you two stories about what happened out on the ocean. Neither explains what caused the sinking of the ship, and no one can prove which story is true and which is not. In both stories, the ship sinks, my family dies, and I suffer.
Writer: True.
Adult Pi Patel: So which story do you prefer?
Writer: The one with the tiger. That's the better story.
Adult Pi Patel: Thank you. And so it goes with God.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Cloud Atlas: 28% and 3/11 sections down
At my last update, I recapped the first section (Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing) and most of the second (Letters from Zedelghem). I have just finished section 3 (Half Lives: The First Louisa Rey Mystery)
Toward the end of Letters from Zedelghem, Frobisher continues to get visits from Jocasta. One night, while Jocasta is "visiting," Ayres comes in needing Frobisher's services because he has woken up during the night with a song in his head that he needs to write down immediately. He then warns Frobisher that his wife can be a flirt, and asks Frobisher if his wife has made any advances. Frobisher lies and says no. He then gets an offer from Ayres to stay for another year, which he is contemplating as the section ends.
The sections are getting better and better. While I did not enjoy the first section, I liked the second and was sad to see it end. However, the third section, which takes place in California in the 70's, was even better, and now I'm sad to see that one end as well.
Louisa Rey is the daughter of a now deceased famous reporter, who is now a reporter herself. She has recently been dumped, and lives in an apartment in a town near Los Angeles. She is friends with her 11 year old neighbor who has a rough home life, and who crosses the balconies of the complex to visit Louisa. One day, Louisa and Rufus Sixsmith (the recipient of Frobisher's letters), now in his 60's, become trapped in an elevator due to a brownout. Sixsmith is one of 12 scientists working on a nuclear power plant(?) or some kind of nuclear project called HYDRA. Sixsmith's research has led him to the conclusion that the reactor (or whatever it is) is not safe due to the possibility that it will fail and melt down, and he prints his findings in a report. However, the company he works for tries to cover this up, and tells the scientists to keep their mouths shut. Sixsmith is the only scientist of the 12 who is having a hard time with this, and he lets something slip to Louisa about his conflicted thoughts. Louisa then attends the opening of the reactor in an attempt to get a good story out of it for her magazine, and finds herself wandering the halls of the building looking for Sixsmith's office and report. When she finds it, she finds Isaac Sachs looking through Sixsmith's work as well, but then gets escorted back to the party by the PR rep, Fay Li.
At some point, Sixsmith gets a call from an anonymous source (Sachs?) that he is no longer safe in California and should return to England, his home country, immediately. Sixsmith is skeptical, but complies. He is unable to get a flight until the next day, and stays in a hotel in the meantime. During his stay, he is murdered by Bill Smoke, an employee of the reactor company that is sent to forever silence employees who speak out against the company. However, the press and police rule that his death was a suicide, something that Louisa refuses to believe. She then tries even harder to get a copy of the report and go public with it. Eventually, she runs into Isaac Sachs again, who gets drunk at another event at the plant and agrees to help Louisa find the report. He does, and leaves it in her car. However, the top executives, including Smoke, get wind of this and follow Louisa to the plant. When she gets there, Smoke hits her car and it ends up in the water.
End of section (DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN!!!!!)
That was definitely my favorite section so far, although it's really difficult to compare them since they are all so different. I hope the next section will be just as good. While this one was clearly a thriller (I haven't read a lot of thrillers, so I'm not sure if they are all like this, but I found it very similar to Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (side note: I just rented the Swedish version of the movie and have yet to see the American one) in the speed, the way the narrative jumped around between characters to show the actions of everyone, and how the main character is a journalist looking to expose information and solve a murder) the next is apparently more comedic in nature. And it looks like the one after that is completely written in interview form.
Here are the connections I've found so far:
-Louisa and Frobisher both have comet tattoos on their shoulderblades
-Frobisher finds the first half of Ewing's journal at Zedelghem
-Louisa orders Frobisher's "Cloud Atlas" sextet (gasp! I knew the title would reveal itself eventually)
-Frobisher and Sixsmith were friends
I'm sure there will be more, and I'm predicting it will really come together as we go backward through time in the second half of the book. But for now I'm more than halfway to the half, which is pretty good for only a couple of days (even if they were vacation days).
Toward the end of Letters from Zedelghem, Frobisher continues to get visits from Jocasta. One night, while Jocasta is "visiting," Ayres comes in needing Frobisher's services because he has woken up during the night with a song in his head that he needs to write down immediately. He then warns Frobisher that his wife can be a flirt, and asks Frobisher if his wife has made any advances. Frobisher lies and says no. He then gets an offer from Ayres to stay for another year, which he is contemplating as the section ends.
The sections are getting better and better. While I did not enjoy the first section, I liked the second and was sad to see it end. However, the third section, which takes place in California in the 70's, was even better, and now I'm sad to see that one end as well.
Louisa Rey is the daughter of a now deceased famous reporter, who is now a reporter herself. She has recently been dumped, and lives in an apartment in a town near Los Angeles. She is friends with her 11 year old neighbor who has a rough home life, and who crosses the balconies of the complex to visit Louisa. One day, Louisa and Rufus Sixsmith (the recipient of Frobisher's letters), now in his 60's, become trapped in an elevator due to a brownout. Sixsmith is one of 12 scientists working on a nuclear power plant(?) or some kind of nuclear project called HYDRA. Sixsmith's research has led him to the conclusion that the reactor (or whatever it is) is not safe due to the possibility that it will fail and melt down, and he prints his findings in a report. However, the company he works for tries to cover this up, and tells the scientists to keep their mouths shut. Sixsmith is the only scientist of the 12 who is having a hard time with this, and he lets something slip to Louisa about his conflicted thoughts. Louisa then attends the opening of the reactor in an attempt to get a good story out of it for her magazine, and finds herself wandering the halls of the building looking for Sixsmith's office and report. When she finds it, she finds Isaac Sachs looking through Sixsmith's work as well, but then gets escorted back to the party by the PR rep, Fay Li.
At some point, Sixsmith gets a call from an anonymous source (Sachs?) that he is no longer safe in California and should return to England, his home country, immediately. Sixsmith is skeptical, but complies. He is unable to get a flight until the next day, and stays in a hotel in the meantime. During his stay, he is murdered by Bill Smoke, an employee of the reactor company that is sent to forever silence employees who speak out against the company. However, the press and police rule that his death was a suicide, something that Louisa refuses to believe. She then tries even harder to get a copy of the report and go public with it. Eventually, she runs into Isaac Sachs again, who gets drunk at another event at the plant and agrees to help Louisa find the report. He does, and leaves it in her car. However, the top executives, including Smoke, get wind of this and follow Louisa to the plant. When she gets there, Smoke hits her car and it ends up in the water.
End of section (DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN!!!!!)
That was definitely my favorite section so far, although it's really difficult to compare them since they are all so different. I hope the next section will be just as good. While this one was clearly a thriller (I haven't read a lot of thrillers, so I'm not sure if they are all like this, but I found it very similar to Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (side note: I just rented the Swedish version of the movie and have yet to see the American one) in the speed, the way the narrative jumped around between characters to show the actions of everyone, and how the main character is a journalist looking to expose information and solve a murder) the next is apparently more comedic in nature. And it looks like the one after that is completely written in interview form.
Here are the connections I've found so far:
-Louisa and Frobisher both have comet tattoos on their shoulderblades
-Frobisher finds the first half of Ewing's journal at Zedelghem
-Louisa orders Frobisher's "Cloud Atlas" sextet (gasp! I knew the title would reveal itself eventually)
-Frobisher and Sixsmith were friends
I'm sure there will be more, and I'm predicting it will really come together as we go backward through time in the second half of the book. But for now I'm more than halfway to the half, which is pretty good for only a couple of days (even if they were vacation days).
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Finally Started Cloud Atlas
I have finally started reading again. This time I am working my way (slowly) through Cloud Atlas, which I received as a gift this fall and had a hard time getting into. The format of the book is very interesting, and it has been compared to nesting dolls. It's as if Mitchell laid six stories on top of each other and then folded them into a book. Basically, the book is comprised of six stories, and all but five are interrupted about halfway through and finished later in the book in reverse order. The only uninterrupted story is the sixth story, which is in the middle of the book. It is sandwiched by the two halves of the fifth story, and so on, so that the story begins and ends with the first story.
The first story is called The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing. Adam is on a journey on a boat headed toward California and at some point he discovers someone on the boat who is not supposed to be there (I think). To be honest, I found this section kind of dry and uninteresting, and I had a hard time following the action since there was not much of it at first. By the time anything happened, I was so lost that I was unsure of what was going on, but not lost enough to want to reread. I figured if I moved on maybe it would become clear later. (I advise my students against this, and I would tell them that not knowing what is going on is a red flag and to go back and reread or choose an easier book....I guess this is an instance of "do as I say not as I do"). Actually, I thought something was wrong with my book at first, as this section cuts off mid-sentence, only to resume over 400 pages later. I had to look it up online to see if that was indeed correct or if somehow there was a printing error. Luckily, that section only lasted about 40 pages, but nevertheless it took me months to get through.
The next section, Letters From Zedelghem, which I am in the middle of now, is much less dry. It's written in epistolary form, from Robert Frobisher, a broke and disowned musician, to his friend Sixsmith. So far, Frobisher has run out of money and jumped out of a hotel window to avoid paying his bill. He took a train to the Netherlands and borrowed a bike from a police officer to ride to the chateau of a famous composer, Vyvyan Ayres. Ayres is going blind and slowly dying of syphilis, so Frobisher convinces him he needs someone to help him write down his musical compositions. So far they have written a short piece that is the talk of the town. Vyvyan and his wife Jocasta have a bitchy daughter named Eva who is amusing to read about. She is skeptical of Frobisher, and often brings up his family and money, and wonders aloud to all present why he never receives letters or things from home. Frobisher has Sixsmith write him a few letters just to cover up the fact that he has been disowned by his family. Recently, Frobisher and Jocasta have started an affair, which Eva is starting to pick up on, but no one has figured out yet. (It was mentioned that Jocasta has not slept with Ayres since he contracted syphilis, just to clear that up since I was wondering about it as well). I have about 15 more pages of this section to go until reaching section 3, which is entitled Half-Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery. Hopefully that section will be good as well, but I am going to miss Frobisher.
I will leave you with some quotes that I enjoyed. A few made me laugh out loud as I was reading. Good thing I was home.
"A half-read book is a half-finished love affair." (p. 64) (If that is true I have many love affairs to finish)
[Eva is mad that her father likes Frobisher so well and has offered him a better room, and sarcastically exclaims that he should be added to the will and given part of the estate. Ayres exclaims that it's the first good idea she's had in her entire life and tells her that at least he earns his keep]
"My hosts wouldn't hear my apologies, they said Eva should be apologizing to me, that she has to lose her pre-Copernican view of a universe revolving around herself. Music to my ears. Also re: Eva, she and twenty classmates are bound for Switzerland v. soon to study at a sister school for a couple of months. More music! It'll be like having a rotten tooth fall out." (p. 66)
"The meadow is turning yellow, the gardener is anxious about fires, farmers are worried about the harvest, but show me a placid farmer and I'll show you a sane conductor." (p. 71)
The first story is called The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing. Adam is on a journey on a boat headed toward California and at some point he discovers someone on the boat who is not supposed to be there (I think). To be honest, I found this section kind of dry and uninteresting, and I had a hard time following the action since there was not much of it at first. By the time anything happened, I was so lost that I was unsure of what was going on, but not lost enough to want to reread. I figured if I moved on maybe it would become clear later. (I advise my students against this, and I would tell them that not knowing what is going on is a red flag and to go back and reread or choose an easier book....I guess this is an instance of "do as I say not as I do"). Actually, I thought something was wrong with my book at first, as this section cuts off mid-sentence, only to resume over 400 pages later. I had to look it up online to see if that was indeed correct or if somehow there was a printing error. Luckily, that section only lasted about 40 pages, but nevertheless it took me months to get through.
The next section, Letters From Zedelghem, which I am in the middle of now, is much less dry. It's written in epistolary form, from Robert Frobisher, a broke and disowned musician, to his friend Sixsmith. So far, Frobisher has run out of money and jumped out of a hotel window to avoid paying his bill. He took a train to the Netherlands and borrowed a bike from a police officer to ride to the chateau of a famous composer, Vyvyan Ayres. Ayres is going blind and slowly dying of syphilis, so Frobisher convinces him he needs someone to help him write down his musical compositions. So far they have written a short piece that is the talk of the town. Vyvyan and his wife Jocasta have a bitchy daughter named Eva who is amusing to read about. She is skeptical of Frobisher, and often brings up his family and money, and wonders aloud to all present why he never receives letters or things from home. Frobisher has Sixsmith write him a few letters just to cover up the fact that he has been disowned by his family. Recently, Frobisher and Jocasta have started an affair, which Eva is starting to pick up on, but no one has figured out yet. (It was mentioned that Jocasta has not slept with Ayres since he contracted syphilis, just to clear that up since I was wondering about it as well). I have about 15 more pages of this section to go until reaching section 3, which is entitled Half-Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery. Hopefully that section will be good as well, but I am going to miss Frobisher.
I will leave you with some quotes that I enjoyed. A few made me laugh out loud as I was reading. Good thing I was home.
"A half-read book is a half-finished love affair." (p. 64) (If that is true I have many love affairs to finish)
[Eva is mad that her father likes Frobisher so well and has offered him a better room, and sarcastically exclaims that he should be added to the will and given part of the estate. Ayres exclaims that it's the first good idea she's had in her entire life and tells her that at least he earns his keep]
"My hosts wouldn't hear my apologies, they said Eva should be apologizing to me, that she has to lose her pre-Copernican view of a universe revolving around herself. Music to my ears. Also re: Eva, she and twenty classmates are bound for Switzerland v. soon to study at a sister school for a couple of months. More music! It'll be like having a rotten tooth fall out." (p. 66)
"The meadow is turning yellow, the gardener is anxious about fires, farmers are worried about the harvest, but show me a placid farmer and I'll show you a sane conductor." (p. 71)
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