Author: Cormac McCarthy
Title: Blood Meridian
Publisher: Vintage
Date of Publication: 1985
Source: My good friend Nick told me it had blown his mind. A colleague of his said that Blood Meridian says more about America than any other 20th Century novel. These two comments made me want to pick it up.
Response: I was completely transfixed by this book; so much so that when I was travelling I left it on a bus and I went to a bookstore and bought a brand new copy so I could keep going. Blood Meridian is probably the most violent book I've ever read. It is set in the post-Civil War American southwest, with a decidedly porous Mexican border, when one could make a lot of money scalping Natives and Mexicans. The novel follows a character known as the kid and his travels with a band of scalp hunters. One of the leaders, the judge, seems to take on superhuman qualities of strength, intelligence, knowledge, and brutality. The writing is uniquely spare - characters are as likely to spit as they are to actually say something in dialogue. Days seem to go by with only three or four words passed between these men of evil purpose. It is simply engrossing, but not for someone who is troubled by violent writing - nothing is gratuitous, but it can be quite graphic. McCarthy writes about death as casually as taking a drink of water. It is with purpose, though, because these characters cannot afford to trouble themselves with the implications of their actions. If they did, they would slow down, and if they slowed down, they would die. I wonder if this book says so much about America, what that means for us today?
A Taster: "Glanton rode his horse completely through the first wickiup trampling the occupants underfoot. Figures were scrambling out of the low doorways. The raiders went through the village at full gallop and turned and came back. A warrior stepped into their path and leveled a lance and Glanton shot him dead. Three others ran and he shot the first two with shots so closely executed that they fell together and the third one seemed to be coming apart as he ran, hit by half a dozen pistolballs. Within that first minute the slaughter had become general."
Rating (1-10, 10 being the best book I've ever read): 8.5
If you would like extra credit in the first quarter, reply to this posting with your own book. Please follow the format above, and think about your response to your selected book before you post.
15 comments:
Author: Malcolm Gladwell
Title: Blink
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date: 2005
Source: My brother picked it up in Scotland while he was there for the year. He got realy into human psychology and stuff like that.
Response: I read the entire book in one day. It was so mind boggling. Blink is not a novel, but rather a non-fiction exploration of the "Power of Thinking without Thinking". The book explores how humans make split second decisions and how those are often more accurate, or as accurate as decisions we make after careful consideration. It cites many examples and studies that have been made out of this. There is one example that is a marriage consultant who can watch 15 minutes of a tape of a married couple talking, not necessarily about anything of consequence, just talking, and that consultant can decide from those 15 minutes, with over 90% accuracy, whether the couple will be together in 15 years. Gladwell argues that as humans we have the natural capacity to "thin-slice" things. We get the gist and can make accurate decisions. Obviously there are ways where this goes wrong and Gladwell also explores that, and how people can get better at making accurate quick decisions without thinking. It is really a fascinating look at the human mind.
Taster: "Not long ago, one of the world's top tennis coaches, a man named Vic Braden, began to notice something strange whenever he watched a tennis match. In tennis players are given two chances to successfully hit a serve, and if they miss on their second chance, they are said to double-fault, and what Braden realized was that he always knew when a player was about to double-fault. A player would toss the ball up in the air and draw his racket back, and just as he was about to make contact, Braden would blurt out, "Oh, no, double fault", and sure enough the ball would go wide or long or it would hit the net... "It literally scared me. I was getting twenty out of twenty right, and we're talking about guys who almost never double-fault."
I forgot to rate mine too.
I would give Blink an 8 out of 10. It was really fascinating, and so mind-boggling to think about this kind of stuff, but it got a little repetitive and redundant.
I read Gladwell's other book, The Tipping Point, and it was amazing! His style is very readable but also thoughtful and engaging. He is a regular columnist for The New Yorker and always is working on something really interesting. I highly recommend his stuff! - Mr. T.
This is from JE:
Author: Sarah Dessen
Title: the truth about forever
Publisher: The Penguin Group
Date of Publication: 2004
Source: I got this book as a late birthday present from Jessie Hawkes. She said that she sawit and thought that it looked like a book that I would like to read.
Response: I loved this book! It was so good that I couldn’t put it down and was finished in three days. Every second that I was at home, you could find me reading this book. It is about a sixteen-year-old girl named Macy and the summer that changed her life. The first big change in her life was that her boyfriend, Jason, was going away for the summer and she won’t see him. The second change was that her father was just hit by a car and killed. She and her father were very close and she needs to figure out how to accept her father’s death and move on. During the summer she meets a catering company called Wish Catering, and a boy named Wes. You can probably guess the ending from there, but it is still a really wonderful book. Any girl who likes romance novels should definitely read this book. It is great!
A Taster: “My dad died. And I was there.
This was how people knew me. Not as Macy Queen, daughter of Deborah, who built pretty houses in brand new cul-de-sacs. Or as the sister of Caroline, who’d had just about the most beautiful wedding anyone had ever seen in the Lakeview Inn the previous summer. Not even as the one-time holder of the record or the fifty-yard dash, middle school division. Nope, I was Macy Queen, who’d woken up the day after Christmas and gone outside to see her father splayed out at the end of the road, a stranger pumping away at his broad chest. I saw my dad die. That was who I was now.”
Rating (1-10, 10 being the best book I've ever read): 9
This is from RT
Author: Erich Maria Remarque
Title: All Quiet on the Western Front
Publisher: Fawcett Books
Date:1958
Source: This was a required reading book in World History II last year with Mr. Bond.
Response: As with many of my required reading books I dreaded a melancholy, depressing book about lots of death and destruction. It was rather depressing as I suspected, but Remarque's unique and exquisite writing talents kept me riveted to the pages of the book. The story is about a young German soldier, Paul Baumer, in World War one. At the beginning of the story Paul is an enthusiastic young army enlister ready to take on the world and be part of the "Iron Youth". As the war progresses, his friends all begin to die, he is forced to kill another soldier face to face, and he soon grows to see the war for what it really is, and unnecessary evil. The end is also truly tragic, but I won't give away the ending. If you're into war stories and don't mind too much gore this is a fascinating and highly recommended book by me!
A Taster: "At first astonished, then embittered, and finally indifferent, we recognized that what matters is not the mind but the boot brush, not intelligence but the system, not freedom but drill. We became soldiers with eagerness and enthusiasm, but they have done everything to knock that out of us."
Rating: 8.5
From JK
Author: Stephen Sondheim, John Weidman
Title: "Assassins"
Publisher: Theatre Communications Group
Date of Publication: 1991
Source: While browsing the internet in my spare time this summer, I came across a clip of the 2004 Tony Awards, in which the revival of Assassins was playing Not knowing anything about it, I was intriqued to see a line of historical assassins lined up with guns and singing how "everybody's got the right to be happy". More out of curiosity as to who each assassin was than out of interest, I searched for the play online and found the script.
Response: This is a dark historical comedy that draws the reader in with its first image- a deserted fairground with a brightly colored neon sign "Shoot! Win!". Around the fairground shuffles miserable souls caught in limbo, the assassins and attempted assassins of United States History. They appear lost and purposeless until a Carnie promises that all their problems can be solved if they "Come 'ere and shoot a president!" Thus begins Assassins.
The play is a chilling portrayal of murderers and a satire of their motives all at once. In one scene, you have John Hinkley and "Squeaky" Fromme singing a comical love song to Jodie Foster and Charlie Manson (respectively), and in the next scene your skin is crawling as John Wilkes Booth outlines the reasons why Lee Harvey Oswald should shoot JFK. You do not know entirely WHAT emotions you should be feeling as the plot progresses, as each scene has a different purpose to serve. It is an emotional roller coaster ride as only Sondheim can illustrate.
What was most interesting about Assassins was that it neither glorifies nor condemns the actions of these figures. Rather, in rather historically accurate details it portrays the varying motives and lifestyles of the respective characters and allows the reader to decide for himself whether to feel pity or hatred. What is important to realize (and what Sondheim and Weidman successfully portray) is that these characters cannot simply be written off as crazed murderers and then forgotten-no matter how horrendous their acts, they all thought that they were doing best for the country, and their motives are important to study to avoid future tragedies. Assassins will make you laugh and will send shivers up your spine, but it will also make you think and examine these characters who are so often written off as footnotes in American History. It was truly an intriguing read (and listen!)
A Taster: JOHN WILKES BOOTH-Take a look, Lee. Do you know what that is? That is America, the land where any kid can grow up to be president-The Shining City, Lee. It shines so brightly you have to shade your eyes. But in here, this is America too. "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." An American said that, and he was right. But let me tell you somthin': there are no lives of quiet desperation in here. Desperation? Yes. But quiet? I don't think so. Not today, today we are going to make a joyful noise, this is the big one-YOU are the big one. YOU are the one who's gonna sum it all up and blow it all wide open. I have seen the future Lee-And you are it.
Rating: 7.5
From SP
Author: Victoria Hislop
Title: The Island
Publisher: Headline
Review
Date: 2006
Source: My mom bought it when we were in Athens, Greece and when I finished the two books I brought with me, I decided to give it a go.
Response: It was a really moving novel about a girl trying to learn about her mother's past on the Island of Crete. It tells the story of a leper colony off the coast of a small town on the Crete. It was told in the prospective of a woman who never went to Spinalonga, the leper island, but witnessed everything from the mainland. The whole town was damaged when the beloved teacher and friend was sent to the island. Her story is remarkable and although bad tings happen to her, the island grows from her kindness. Eventually the daughter of the teacher has to go to the island as well and when they find a cure for leprosy she gets to leave. The book was so interesting and although it was sad, it was a truly excellent novel.
Unfortunately my mom lent this book to my grandmother so I am unable to provide a taster.
Rating (1-10, 10 being the best book I've ever read): 9
From KW
Author: Max Allan Collins
Title: CSI: Binding Ties
Publisher: Pocket Books
Date of Publication: 2005
Source: My grandfather gave me this book as a brithday present because he knew I loved the televsion show CSI.
Response: This was an excellent mystery/murder book. This was the first murder novel that I have read and I really enjoyed it. It was about a series of murder in Las Vegas, which were exactly the same as previous murders committed by the serial killer, known as "CASt" ten years before. CASt was never caught and the detectives were worried that he was active again. They had to investigate whether these murders were committed by the real CASt or a copycat. The real CASt, or so he said, sent a letter to the detectives saying that he was not responsible for these murders. However, the detectives were confused because the murders were exactly the same, even facts that had not been released to the press were the same. This book was really hard to put down because of the way new clues led to different suspects, and the ending was a real twist.
A Taster: "Well if it's a copycat, he or she knows way more than was ever in the media." Nodding, Catherine said, "You kept things back, so you could sort through the false confessions. Of course..." Grissom said, 'Whether this is a blast from the past, or a latterday cover artist...we're going to need all the help we can get." Catherine drew in a deep breath and let it out. "New or old-this is one vicious killer." pg. 26
Rating: 9. If you are into CSI and those types of crime shows then you would really enjoy reading this book.
From EL
Author: Pete Hamill
Title: Forever
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Date of Publication: 2003
Source: I was browsing the Border’s fiction section on a rainy afternoon, when I came across this novel.
Response: What an entertaining and creative story Hamill created! The unique plot of the book first caught my attention. In the mid 1700’s an Irish boy, Cormac O'Connor lived peacefully in the countryside with his family. But after his mother was irrationally killed by the Duke of Warren, he journeyed to America to find his mother’s killer. While he was in New York, he met Kongo, a wise African man. Together, Kongo and Cormac devised a plan to slay the Duke, which they later carried out. Not long after, Cormac daringly ended his own life by saving Kongo’s. However, Kongo’s people and the African gods acknowledged his brave deed and revived him. He was rewarded with the gift of immortality as long as he remained on the island. For the next three centuries, Cormac’s tale continued with the events of the ever-changing New York. The novel involved many accurate historical facts, with an added fantasy of eternal life in Manhattan. Forever was a wonderful blend of reality and imagination.
A Taster: ‘“You can be shot or stabbed, your bones can be broken, your blood can flow, you can sicken with disease and suffer its agonies. Life will not free you from pain. But you will not die.” He was speaking without emotion, while Cormac listened. “But in order to live,” Kongo said, “you must truly life. You cannot simply exist… to find work that you love, and work harder than other men. To learn the languages of the earth, and love the sounds of the words and the things they describe. To love food and music and drink. Fully love them. To love weather, and storms, and the smell of rain. To love heat. To love cold. To love sleep and dreams. To love the newness of each day.”
Rating: 7.5
From JP
Author: George Elliot
Title: A Mill on the Floss
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date of Publication: 1860
Source:
My grandmother encouraged me to read it, as I love romance novels and such. She thought that I would enjoy a somewhat more challenging piece, other than my typical mainstream beach reads :)
Response:
Awesome....I laughed, I cried- the works. It was a little hard to get into at first, but once the characters were really established I couldn’t put it down. It was exactly as promised an intense love triangle or quadrilateral if you will...
The story is about the young and mischievous Maggie Tulliver, who grows up on the Dorlcote Mill with her beloved brother Tom. She goes through Catholic school, and you grow up alongside her. She falls in love with a crippled man named Philip, and worships him really. However, Philip's father has been feuding with Maggie's for several years. And so, they are, as it goes, star crossed lovers. Maggie is loved and sought after by Stephen, another local man, and runs away from home with him- although he is married.
She ends up with neither Philip nor Stephen, but the real heartbreaker is her brother’s disappointment in her. For her single goal in life was to please him. Let’s just say this novel ends with bittersweet-ly....ahh such an awesome read!
Taster:
(Said by Tom to Maggie)
"'What will keep you?...Not religion; not your natural feelings of gratitude or honour...I loathe your character and your conduct...It is enough that I have to bear the thought of your disgrace: the sight of you is hateful to me.'"--Yeah good stuff--
Rating:
9.5- seriously
Author:Jane Austin
Title:Pride and Prejudice
Publisher:Bantam Dell
Date of Publication:1813
Source: I read this last year for my Brithish Author Paper from the advice of a friend, who loves Jane Austin. I re-read the book this summer after watching the movie, because I thought the book was infinately better.
Response: It's amazing how much more information can be obtained simply by re-reading a book. I was blown away at how much I missed the first time I read it. While Austen isn't by any means trying to change the world with her book, it isn't just a simple romance story. She definately has something to say about the roles of women during her time period. The plot is about a girl named Elizabeth and her sister Mary, who both have complicated love lives throughout the book. However, through certain points in the book, like when Elizabeth refuses to marry Mr. Collins despite his promising future, which for a girl approaching the "old maid" age in her time was an absurd decision. One of the biggest things I missed the first time I read it was the importance of Elizabeth's best friend, Charlotte, who does marry Mr. Collins, despite the fact that she does not love him. Not only does this contrast the two characters to prove Elizabeth's originality in her time, but it also provides a look of what a typical girl's life would look like in the 1800's. I'm glad I got the oppertunity to re-read and re-analyze this book over the summer.
A Taster: “In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” Elizabeth’s astonishment was beyond expression. She stared, coloured, doubted, and was silent. This he considered sufficient encouragement, and the avowal of all that he felt and had long felt for her, immediately followed. He spoke well, but there were feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed, and he was not more eloquent on the subject of tenderness than of pride. His sense of her inferiority—of its being a degradation—of the family obstacles which judgment had always opposed to inclination, were dwelt on with a warmth which seemed due to the consequence he was wounding, but was very unlikely to recommend his suit.
Rating:7.5
Post a Comment