WEEK THIRTEEN - 'ANIMAL FARM'

'Animal Farm' by George Orwell
March 22 - 24, 95 pages

Yes, I am one of those people who has not read 'Animal Farm.' Well, I was. Now I am a changed person. I now feel like there is not something fundamental missing from my 'books I've read' list.

An excellent book, as you probably know because you have most likely read it already. Very clever. His concept and execution is so simple and done so well. We need books like these. Books that say something; commentaries on society; powerful, and yet so accessible. A book that makes you believe and makes you see.

'Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers.'

A nice, quick read. My favourite quote from this novel is 'All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.'

I also found it quite entertaining picturing pigs walking only on their hind legs.

WEEK TWELVE - 'A CLOCKWORK ORANGE'

'A Clockwork Orange' by Anthony Burgess
March 15 - 20, 149 pages

'What's it going to be then, eh?' I like the way that each of the three parts of this novel begin with that line. I generally like things like that.

Anyway, moving along. What an interesting novel. I don't really know what to think, but it definitely made me think. It's an interesting question that Burgess asks, is it better to be bad at your free will, or to be forced to be good? It's a tricky one.

Although somewhat confusing at first, I enjoyed the 'nadsat' slang that Burgess created. It was very clever, especially the way that the reader can understand what Alex is saying, despite being unfamiliar with many of the words he uses. I think I might start using 'gulliver', 'vecks' and 'malenky'. 

Yeah. I'm glad I read this. It has got me thinking. And the slang is awesome.

WEEK ELEVEN - 'CLOUDSTREET'

'Cloudstreet' by Tim Winton
March 8 - 13, 431 pages

I've been wanting to read a book by Winton for a while and, I'll be honest, I probably wouldn't have gotten around to it yet if it wasn't for this book's extremely awesome cover. Love it. Anyway, after reading a few pages of this I was kicking myself for not reading it earlier. I love the way it is written. So... refreshing. It was great reading something Australian. I haven't read anything Australian for a while and I forgot about that warm, fuzzy, comfortable feeling you get from 'our' literature.
'It was like they were electric with all knowledge, all places, all people.'
I love the way this book just happens; no quotation marks, written just how the words are said. 
Beautiful. Here's one book that you can definitely judge by its cover.

I'm so disappointed that I have finished this book. I just want it to keep on going. Here are some other quotes that I liked:

'After a time the shop was Cloud Street, the people said it, Cloudstreet, in one word. Bought the cauli at Cloudstreet. Slip over to Cloudstreet, willya love, and buy us a tin of Bushells and a few slices of ham. Cloudstreet.'

'You didn't always know what they meant, but you did know how they felt.'

'You shouldn't break a place.'

WEEK TEN - 'HAMLET'

'Hamlet' by William Shakespeare

March 1 - 6, 174 pages

Shakespeare is one of those people who fascinates me. I love reading biographies and looking up lists of words and phrases that he coined. I mean, he's a genius, and reading this play just confirmed that to me once again. He does so much with his words; there are so many double meaning, play on words that go on in his plays that it is very hard to keep up. I'll be honest, reading lines like, 'To be or not to be: that is the question' and 'to thine own self be true' gave me shivers. Imagine being in the audience in 1601 listening to those words for the first time! I really want to read more Shakespeare. I didn't find it too hard - reading the notes at the bottom of each page certainly helped. All in all a wonderful play 'Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts, / Of accidental judgements, casual slaughters, / Of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause, / And, in this upshot, purposes mistook / fall'n on th' inventors' heads.'

You know what else got me really excited? Milton Glaser illustrated the cover of this edition. How extremely awesome. I was just reading an article about how he was the first ever graphic designer to win the National Medal of Arts. And the sticker on the front of this book (it's a 'Signet Classic' from 1963) says it costs 75c. Seventy-five cents for one of the best plays of all time with a cover illustration by one of the biggest design icons of all time?! Outrageous.

WEEK NINE - 'GREAT TALES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY'

 

'Great Tales from English History' by Robert Lacey

February 22 - 27, 453 pages

I really enjoy reading about history, particularly European history and I decided it was time to get a big overview of English history. This book was perfect. It was very accessible, but also very comprehensive. It was always great to read about an event that I had vaguely heard of, and learn the full story.

I am trying to recall a favourite 'tale' but it is difficult. There are 154 stories, starting from 7150 BC to 1953 AD. The tales are diverse, from the Domesday Book, to the Triangular Trade, to JMW Turner. It really is a history of all things English.

I am always fascinated by British monarchy and after reading this I feel I have a much better understanding and knowledge of the English Kinds and Queens through history.

Well that was not very well written. And ended quite abruptly.  

WEEK EIGHT - 'A TALE OF TWO CITIES'

 

'A Tale of Two Cities' by Charles Dickens

 February 15 - 20, 382 pages

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ..." Oh how I wish I had the space here to write out that quote in full. Best opening line ever. I love Dickens, and I'm sure that most people who know me can vouch for that. He's great. I love that he always says something, and he really says it well; every part of speech reinforces the message. Plus, he's very funny - "'If those eyes of yours were bed-winches,' returned Miss Pross, 'and I was an English four-poster, they wouldn't lose a splinter of me.'" This novel was exciting, jam-packed with action from the French Revolution. I was interested in the ideas of life and death, and being "Recalled to Life" sometimes, as with Sydney Carton, at death (hey! I can now open with the first line and finish with the last!) - "'It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I ever have done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I ever have known.'" 

I really enjoyed exploring London and Paris during this exciting time in history. This really is the quintessential commentary of the French Revolution. "The leprosy of unreality disfigured every human creature in attendance upon Monseigneur."

I struggle to think of many feelings better than that of having a Dickens in your hand and a comfortable place to sit.

WEEK SEVEN - 'THE LITTLE STRANGER' & 'ON THE ROAD'

'The Little Stranger' by Sarah Waters
February 8 - 11, 499 pages

I can't remember the last time I read a ghost story. I struggle to believe in anything paranormal and so am not much of a fan of this genre. However, when protagonist Dr Faraday continues to supple rational explanations for the strange happenings at Hundreds Hall even I want to shake him: there's obviously a ghost!

This was a nice book, quick to read with wonderful descriptions of the old house - 'the essential loveliness of the room stood out, like the handsome bones behind a ravaged face.' The novel really was about Hundreds, an ode to a beautiful old building and, as a lover of architecture, it was a pleasure to read.

'On the Road' by Jack Kerouac
February 11 - 14, 291 pages

This book was lots of fun. I felt like I really experienced mid-century America. 'All he needed was a wheel in his hand and four on the road.'

'On the Road' was wild. It made me want to leave home and just see something. Be somewhere different and exciting. It's written exactly how he lived it: fast-paced, impulsive and pure. 

Some quotes from 'On the Road' which I scribbled on my bookmark:

'... I had reached the point of ecstasy that I always wanted to reach, which was the complete step across chronological time into timeless shadows, and wonderment in the bleakness of the mortal realm ...'

'the thing that bound us all together in this world was invisible' 

'But no matter, the road is life.'

And my favourite: 'Until you learn to realize the importance of the Banana King you will know absolutely nothing about the human-interest things of the world.'