WEEK FORTY-SEVEN - 'THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON'

'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' by F. Scott Fitzgerald

November 17, 52 pages

I feel like this 'book' is a bit of a cop-out for a week's worth of reading. It's just a story.

But it's a great little story. I do enjoy the way F. Scott FItzgerald writes. It is quaint. He is a brilliant storyteller. 

It's an interesting idea. And really quite sad; it shows that being different in a world that is the same is tough. Even at the end of the story no one appreciates Benjamin Button's uniqueness: he dies alone.

I've heard people say that life would be better lived backwards like this. And maybe it would, as long as everybody else lived the same way.

I should really see the movie. I think I would enjoy it.

WEEK FORTY-SIX - 'STUFF WHITE PEOPLE LIKE'

'Stuff White People Like' by Christian Lander
November 10 - 13, 203 pages

Well, I haven't read a book like this yet this year. It has pictures! It's a list of one hundred and fifty things that 'white people' like. It's pretty funny.

It's even funnier when you realise that some of the points describe you completely. Also a little bit concerning.

This is a great read if you feel like laughing but not concentrating very much. You can read it cover-to-cover (like I did) or just open it up at random pages for a giggle.

Lander also has a blog, which I just checked out - pretty good, and some other books. Oh, and for the record, I am 20% white according to this book.

WEEK FORTY-FIVE - 'OLIVE KITTERIDGE'

'Olive Kitteridge' by Elizabeth Strout
November 4 - 6, 270 pages

What a real book. It is told through stories which eventually overlap. In each new chapter we meet new characters who are facing their own challenges. But mainly it's about Olive Kitteridge, a retired maths teacher. A complex portrait of her emerges as you read.

It's about pain and family and growing old - ugly, but beautiful. It's about not being perfect. I really enjoyed this. Definitely deserved the Pulitzer Prize. A real tapestry. Honest and thought-provoking.

'They did not know that lumpy, aged, and wrinkled bodies were as needy as their own young firm ones, that love was not to be tossed away carelessly'

WEEK FORTY-FOUR - 'NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND'

 

'Notes from Underground' by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

October 27 - 31, 118 pages

It was high time I read some Dostoyevsky. This book had been sitting around waiting to be read for quite a while. I was looking forward to it for three main reasons: its excellent reputation, I love Russian literature, and I also love the cover (despite the spelling mistake: 'unatractive')

It took a while for me to get into this novel. It's quite abstract - packed full of ideas rather than events. Once I found my feet (missing some key ideas on the way I'm sure) I found myself enjoying it. It's funny. It's also quite concerning. And it's very clever.

 I think it would improve being read again. But after I've read some other Dostoyevsky novels.