Macbeth

Rating: ★★★★

Method of Reading: Personally owned paperback script for an English class, 191 pages
Dates of Reading: May 13, 2011-May 16, 2011
Author: William Shakespeare
Publication Year: 1611
Recommended To: Lovers of the Bard.

Quotes: It's Shakespeare... you expect me to choose only enough to fit here?

Movie: Of course. And because of my English teacher's dislike of actually instructing class, we watched it in school.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macbeth
Link: http://nfs.sparknotes.com/macbeth/

My View: The eternally brilliant story of a man racing fate and losing, and nobody tells it better than Shakespeare himself. I'm always enchanted by Shakespeare's brilliant language, and this story really is quite worthy of his talents! All of the characters are eerily personable, and that, I believe, is what makes it so immortal.


Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliographic info:
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia

Rating: ★★★

Method of Reading: Kindle, 352 pages in hardcover
Dates of Reading: April 8, 2011-April 12, 2011
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Publication Year: 2006
Recommended To: Travel-types, those who feel lost, and anyone who needs some light entertainment.
Quotes: 
   "You gotta stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone oughtta be"
Movie: Yessir, fairly recently. I didn't see it but I read the book because the commercials looked good.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eat_pray_love
Link: http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/eatpraylove.htm

My View: Although slightly over-written and occasionally foul-mouthed, this book was headed for a solid 5-star rating until the "Love" portion came around and Gilbert randomly became excessively risqué and simultaneously boring (how do you even combine those things?). I really enjoyed "Eat" and "Pray," and even the first half of "Love." Overall, it has some good, thought-out content and you do feel like Liz's friend, confidante, and mentor throughout the read. You can sense her growth of confidence and comfort, even if I don't always like how she uses it. Generally, her over-use of "writers-only" language is compensated for by her well-meant humor.
   I think too many women use this as a self-help guide, but I will, with reserve, appreciate this for what it is--a memoir.


Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliographic info:
Gilbert. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything across Italy, India, and Indonesia. New York: Viking, 2006. Electronic.

Still posting...

This is finally coming along! I'm still adjusting the format, but I think it's looking nice. Moving this quickly, mistakes happen. Let me know if you find any!

This morning I had a sad moment. Clearly, I've never had a comment on this site, but I hope to get a community started here soon. Anyway, when I woke up this morning I looked at my phone and got so excited because I had an e-mail saying I had a comment!! But then I looked at the comment and it was spam. Upsetting.

Point of post: I'm posting, please post back.

I also accept the possibility that no one reads this.

Oh well.


Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Rating: ★

Method of Reading: Personally owned paperback novel read for a high school English class, 184 pages
Dates of Reading: April 4, 2011-April 5, 2011
Author: Dai Sijie
Publication Year: 2000 (in English, 2001)
Recommended To: Unless you're super-interested in the Chinese Cultural Revolution... no.
Quotes:
Movie: Yes, and when we had to watch it in class, I was internally screaming "WHY?" for a couple hours.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balzac_and_the_Little_Chinese_Seamstress
Link: http:/.www.gradesaver.com/balzac-and-the-little-chinese-seamstress/wikipedia/plot-summary/

My View: I admit that I had to read this for class and had a less than inspiring teacher who really hyped this book to a place where disappointment was inevitable. So this review is doomed to be negative.
   So here it goes. Eh-hem... "This novel was not entertaining, inventive, or grabbing. As far as I can see, it's a sub-par and inartistic arrangement of 'popular' plot points stocked with average characters, thrown together in a weak effort to make a story, and then placed in the middle of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, adding more useless and confusing 'drama.' I had high hopes for this book, especially since the class had just read Asher Lev, but this was a major disappointment. I do not understand its critical acclaim, although I am open to all explanations."


Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliographic info:
Dai, Sijie, and Ina Rilke. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. New York: Knopf, 2001. Print.

The Chosen

Rating: ★★★★★

Method of Reading: Public library hardcover novel, 284 pages
Dates of Reading: March 19, 2011-March 25, 2011
Author: Chaim Potok
Publication Year: 1972
Recommended To: People who enjoyed the Lev books. I read these three back-to-back, but even if you haven't read a Potok novel in years, this is worth picking it back up!
Quotes:
Movie: Yeah, and it seems pretty by-the-book, but also like a weird adaptation, emphasizing unimportant themes. I don't really care to see it.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chosen_(Potok_novel)
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chosen_

My View: Reading this right after the Lev duo was a great idea. This was wonderful work from Potok, and showed a different side of the Brooklyn Jewish sects we thought we understood from Asher. Danny bears a strong resemblance to Asher, but they are wholly different characters, and I think that Reuven represents the happy medium of secularism and Judaism which both rebelling minds were trying to find. When Asher achieved this balance (mostly) in his second book, and Danny came so close at the end of this book, I felt like this was incomplete without a sequel. Leaving Danny and Reuven posed at the end of that show-down with Reb Saunders and without a defined future didn't seem like Potok's style and I was so excited to find out about The Promise and I hope to read that soon. I think that his book complements the Lev books wonderfully because reading these three books back-to-back allowed you to feel like all three boys lived at once, and seeing Danny and Reuven's lives helped you decode some of Asher's and vice-versa. Great, thought-provoking/intriguing AND entertaining.


Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliographic info:
Potok, Chaim. The Chosen: A Novel. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967. Print.

Jo's Boys

Rating: ★★★★★

Method of Reading: Kindle, 320 pages in paperback
Dates of Reading: May 16, 2011-June 9, 2011
Author: Louisa May Alcott
Publication Year: 1886
Recommended To: All women
Quotes: TOO. MANY.
Movie: Yessir, and a TV series.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo's_Boys
Link: http://www.online-literature.com/alcott/jo_boys/

My View: These were such epic stories, I felt like the characters truly had no end and, therefore, couldn't have had their lives wrapped up as neatly and quickly as happened in this book. Overall, however, satisfying and true to Miss Alcott's general form (something I truly appreciate. EVERYTHING she writes is lightly foreshadowed, creating a glad and unworried but slightly suspenseful rhythm). Loved it.


Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliographic info:
Alcott, Louisa May. Jo's Boys. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Electronic.

Little Men: or Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys

Rating: ★★★★★

Method of Reading: Kindle, 384 pages in hardcover
Dates of Reading: April 13, 2011-May 16, 2011
Author: Louisa May Alcott
Publication Year: 1871
Recommended To: Those who enjoyed Little Women.
Quotes: Too many...
Movie: Yes, and apparently even a TV series.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Men
Link: http://www.online0literature.com/alcott/little_men/

My View: Exactly the book I wanted to see from Louisa May Alcott: it continued the March family's story without losing any of the warmth we found in the first book. Jo's domestic life helps you to love the adventurous little girl evermore, rather than feel distanced by her maturity. A great sequel with fresh new characters and a continuing grace in thought and entertainment.


Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliographic info:
Alcott, Louisa May. Little Men. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Electronic.