Another novel that I would never have read if I didn't have to read it for grade 11 English. The philosophical discussion at times went over my head, Another novel that I would never have read if I didn't have to read it for grade 11 English. The philosophical discussion at times went over my head, but the characters were thoroughly entertaining and I love the message of the story. Will definitely re-read someday!!
23/02/24 It has been re-read. This time the philosophical discussions did not go over my head, and I love it even more with this new understanding. A brilliant work!
“I felt deep within me that the highest point a man can attain is not Knowledge, or Virtue, or Goodness, or Victory, but something even greater, more heroic and more despairing: Sacred Awe!”...more
I can't remember the last time I actually enjoyed a book I had to read for english class! This was really great right from the first chapter. The endiI can't remember the last time I actually enjoyed a book I had to read for english class! This was really great right from the first chapter. The ending was quite a twist too. I'm actually thinking of reading the next two books....more
A moderately scary story, but I didn't really see the point of it. Maybe I'm missing something? Yeah, the religous-culty murderous children are creepyA moderately scary story, but I didn't really see the point of it. Maybe I'm missing something? Yeah, the religous-culty murderous children are creepy, and so is (view spoiler)["He Who Walks Behind the Corn (hide spoiler)], but otherwise, I couldn't see any message or theme behind it. I'm not surprised the movie sucks, since there's not much to draw on....more
A very intelligent and compelling essay. She puts forth her ideas and theses in a unique way, engaging her audience with colourful imagery and anecdotA very intelligent and compelling essay. She puts forth her ideas and theses in a unique way, engaging her audience with colourful imagery and anecdotes. She's not forceful with her views and has a reasonable perspective on society and gender politics within academia, unlike many feminist writers of today. I really enjoyed discussing this book with classmates and debating on the subject matter. ...more
I lied, I didn't read it. But I skimmed over the Sparknotes, does that count?
Yeah, this is just a shitty novel. Ok, maybe that's a little harsh. If itI lied, I didn't read it. But I skimmed over the Sparknotes, does that count?
Yeah, this is just a shitty novel. Ok, maybe that's a little harsh. If it was a truly shitty novel, it wouldn't be tought in high school. But I'm still allowed to dislike it. Austen wasn't kidding when she said "I want to write about a character whom no one but me will like". Yeah, you pretty well nailed that one, Janey. Emma embodies all the qualities of the worst woman I can imagine; she's narcicisstic, petty, meddling, and superficial, and in my eyes really has no redeeming qualities....more
The Shining: ★★★★ (29/06/18) It started out a bit slow but picked up about halfway through. Some things were a lSalem's Lot: ★★★★ (want to read again)
The Shining: ★★★★ (29/06/18) It started out a bit slow but picked up about halfway through. Some things were a little hard to get past, like just how intelligent Danny seemed to be for a 5-year old, and the hedge animals that felt like something out of Harry Potter more than Stephen King, but I really liked it. I keep thinking that I’ve read enough horror/thriller novels to be immune to them, but I was thoroughly scared towards the end. King is brilliant!
Carrie: ★★★1/2 (10/05/21) This one definitely accomplished what it was meant to do, and that's disturb the hell out of me. The most terrifying thing was probably Carrie's mother... yeesh, religious fundamentalists scare me. I liked the length, I think it suited the nature of the story perfectly, but I didn't vibe with the format of using exerpts from newspapers, legal reports etc to tell part of the story. Also there were too many details about teenage girls' boobs, and that made me very uncomfortable. I'll give Steve a pass on those things though, it's his first book after all. Now I can finally say I've read it!...more
After getting about 1/3rd through the book I realized it was an adaptation of a BBC documentary series of the same title and containing the exact sameAfter getting about 1/3rd through the book I realized it was an adaptation of a BBC documentary series of the same title and containing the exact same information, so I stopped reading and just watched the series.... But honestly I don't feel too guilty about it, because it was actually much more informative in documentary format, because they (obviously) had more visuals of the artifacts and locations and it was more engaging to have a person speaking to you. (loooooooved Neil Oliver's Scottish accent ^_^) Maybe that says something about my learning styles lol
This was a great "read"! It wasn't exactly what I expected, but it was still very informative and I learned a lot. Like I said, it brought the reader closer to Neolithic people, even though they lived 5000 to 10000 years ago, which I think says a lot about the writer's talent....more
"You leave and you leave quick when the sun starts to go down, he thinks in his dream. That's what you do. And if you spare a last thought, maybe it's"You leave and you leave quick when the sun starts to go down, he thinks in his dream. That's what you do. And if you spare a last thought, maybe it's the ghosts you wonder about... the ghosts of children standing in the water at sunset, their faces young, sure, but tough... tough enough, anyway, to give birth to the people they will become, tough enough to understand, maybe, that the people they will become must necessarily birth the people they were before they can get on with trying to understand simple mortality. The circle closes, the wheel rolls, and that's all there is.
"You don't have to look back to see those children; part of your mind will see them forever, live with them forever, love with them forever. They are not necessarily the best part of you, but they were once the repository of all you could become.
"Children I love you. I love you so much."
I don't know where to begin with this book. All I can say now is that this book is so much more than I could ever have imagined. Yes, it's a fun scary story, sometimes with cheesey monsters. But it's also an indescribably beautiful story about friendship, growing up, fighting your fears, and love. Even writing that makes it sound cliché. But it's not; you have to believe me.
I don’t think I could have picked a better time to read this novel. With my 18th birthday just around the corner, I’m grappling with leaving childhood behind, like I think all teenagers do. And thank you Cameron for reading this with me. It made the experience a lot more special!...more
I was expecting more of this novel. It wasn't bad by any means, but not perfect either. I didn't find any of the characters particularly likeable, espI was expecting more of this novel. It wasn't bad by any means, but not perfect either. I didn't find any of the characters particularly likeable, especially Dorian; they were all rather pompous English pricks who thought too much of themselves. Basil was the only person who was appealing (not to mention I kept imagining him played by the amazing Stephen Fry the entire time). I found the plot utterly predictable, but it was still a good story arc.
The characters' dialogue involved too much pretentious philosophical discussion. I thought the overall message and philosophy behind the plot itself was interesting, but the dialogue was dragging and gave me, as Lord Henry would say, "ennui." I'm almost positive that this was intentional, though, to emphasize the superficiality and fake profundity of 19th century English upper class society....more
This is the kind of story I wish I could completely forget about, just so I could know it again for the first time. Since I saw the movie before readiThis is the kind of story I wish I could completely forget about, just so I could know it again for the first time. Since I saw the movie before reading the book, I knew the twist. So obviously reading the book wasn't as exciting. Even so, it was pretty good. Teddy and Chuck's back and forth, ping-pong-like rapid banter was really fun to read. And all the stuff about his wife was just heartbreaking. I really felt for them. And boy, does Lehane use some very colourful metaphors! He has such a knack for describing things in a weird way that somehow works. This was a great read, but one of those rare cases where the movie is better than the book!...more
Well this was a nice change after the abismal prequal Red Dragon. Even though I'd already seen the movie (which follows the book very closely), this wWell this was a nice change after the abismal prequal Red Dragon. Even though I'd already seen the movie (which follows the book very closely), this was a great read. It drew me in pretty good and it was difficult to put down, as any good thriller should! The killer was thoroughly creepy, and boy oh boy did I love reading Hannibal and Starling's encounters. Everytime Hannibal made a comment about the case, I went "what the hell is he talking about?" but about 20 pages later I would literally be screaming out of realization of what that smart bastard meant! He's a really fascinating character and I don't know if I should love him or hate him... and I love that! And with that ending, I really want to read the next one. The only reason I give this 4 stars and not 5 is because of the criminology and FBI administrative stuff. To some people I'm sure all that is fascinating, but I guess crime thrillers aren't really for me....more
From the getgo, I was skeptical about the format of the plot. The murderer and his motive are revealed to the reader right away, so the whole point ofFrom the getgo, I was skeptical about the format of the plot. The murderer and his motive are revealed to the reader right away, so the whole point of the book becomes to see if the detectives will figure it out in time. However, in retrospect, I'm glad the book was about the murderer and not entirely about Will Graham and Jack Crawford; because the detectives' side of the story is incredibly boring and frustrating. There was too much babble about documents and evidence and messages being passed through various police units. The technical talk wasn't interesting and insightful, as you would expect if to be; instead it felt like filler that I wanted to get past as soon as possible. And so was all of Will's personal drama. It was poorly explained and I felt no sympathy whatsoever for him or Molly. Honestly, Will was just overall annoying.
The really interesting part of the story was the telling of how Francis Dolarhyde became so screwed up, and what was going on inside his head. Like I said in one of my updates: he's a very disturbing but also hugely fascinating character. I can't believe I actually started to sympathize with him when (view spoiler)[he met Reba McClane and started to like her. I was rooting for them! I was really hopeful that she would change him and he would abandon his murderous and necrophylic ways. Maybe that was wishful thinking, though. (hide spoiler)] The fact that I started to like the villain of this novel is a point in favour of the author's writing skills (and he should take all the points he can get, considering the rest of the novel was written rather poorly).
The ending of the story was pretty confusing. I'm not sure I liked how it ended. (view spoiler)[At first when Dolarhyde attacked Will and his family on their island I thought Will was dreaming, because I was so sure Dolarhyde was dead. It came totally out of nowhere. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the "big reveal" wasn't set up very well. Crawford's explanation of the events seemed too convenient, like the end of a Shakespeare play when that one guy stands up and miraculously solves all the problems. And Dolarhyde's trick of kidnapping some guy at a gas station who he had had a brief scuffle with (seriously, I had to think really hard to remember that incident when it was brought up again at the end) seemed like kind of a stretch. (hide spoiler)]
But my biggest contention with this novel is that Hannibal barely appeared in it. He could have been completely removed from the novel, and the plot wouldn't have been affected at all. Seriously. All he did was taunt Will a little bit and recieve a letter from Dolarhyde. He didn't help in solving the case, didn't have any effect on the characters... nothing. It literally says on the front cover of the book: "MEET HANNIBAL LECTER FOR THE FIRST TIME", but I feel like this is false advertising. This book barely has anything to do with the next 3 in the series.
I'm overall disappointed, but it wasn't a complete waste of time. Average rating. I still plan to read Silence of the Lambs....more
This story (and the movie) is probably my biggest guilty pleasure. It makes me cry like a baby every single time I read it or watch the movie, but thaThis story (and the movie) is probably my biggest guilty pleasure. It makes me cry like a baby every single time I read it or watch the movie, but that hasn't stopped me from watching it 10+ times. Also, the soundtrack is heartwrenchingly good: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list......more
My dad gave me this book to read when I was about 10 years old, which is a very questionable thing to do, in my opinion. God knows why he thought a 10My dad gave me this book to read when I was about 10 years old, which is a very questionable thing to do, in my opinion. God knows why he thought a 10 year old could read Ray Bradbury... but I tried anyway... and it completely went over my head. I had no clue wtf I was reading the entire time. But since then I've become an enthusiast of horror, so I hope to read this again some day.
UPDATE: Well, this book wasn't as good as I hoped. It wasn't all that scary, and the message was pretty basic. Also, the author's incredibly long and elaborate way of describing things with metaphors and imagery got kind of annoying. But it was enjoyable enough to warrant 3 stars....more
This book is amazing. It's sooo different from the stuff I normally read, but it's enchanting. The movie was just as good, but I feel like they didn'tThis book is amazing. It's sooo different from the stuff I normally read, but it's enchanting. The movie was just as good, but I feel like they didn't make (view spoiler)[Charlie's molestation by his aunt (hide spoiler)] obvious enough in the movie. I've read this book multiple times, whenever I feel angsty and need to indulge in YA.
(05.11.17) Reading this book again was really great, and I understand the themes a whole lot better. This novel makes life feel so.... poetic, in a way. Charlie's writing style is very flat, but it really brings out how he feels about the world very accurately. To me this isn't even really "YA". Yes, it's about a teenager, but it's really about more than than. You know what I mean?...more
Let me start off by saying I totally saw the end coming. (view spoiler)[ It became pretty obvious that Brady was going to die by the same fate as his Let me start off by saying I totally saw the end coming. (view spoiler)[ It became pretty obvious that Brady was going to die by the same fate as his victims in Mr Mercedes ; being run over by a car (or in his case, a caterpillar snowmobile. Yikes.) (hide spoiler)] Even (view spoiler)[ Hodges' death (hide spoiler)] was predictable. Even so, I was heartbroken when it happened. To be honest, this finale to the trilogy didn't really shock me in any way. It didn't have any major twists or mind-fuck moments some of King's really good novels have, but it was entertaining nonetheless. The characters were loveable (the non-murderous ones, at least), and it had a nice fast pace that I expect from crime novels. I'll admit that I was kind of in a hurry to finish it because I REALLY want to read IT next, but it's not like I had to force myself. It was genuinely good, but not quite good enough to warrant 5 stars.
Just a quick comment on the TV adaptation: It's EXTREMELY good. I mean, pretty much any crime story is perfect for the episodic format, but I think the quality of the show based off theses books is just further proof that King's books are best suited for TV, not 180-minute movies (Just look to The Dark Tower if you don't believe me. I'm still cringing about that.) Then again, Under the Dome translated terribly to TV, but I would argue that's for entirely different reasons....more
Excellent read. The story was really well put together and grippingly suspenseful at the end. I'm not even mad that Brady wasn't in this one too much,Excellent read. The story was really well put together and grippingly suspenseful at the end. I'm not even mad that Brady wasn't in this one too much, because he'll obviously be playing a big role in the last book!!! That ending made me scream, I'm so excited to read the last one!...more
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