Hanananah Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Hey guys, bit new to the site but I've recently started up a little blog on the books I've read recently and will continue to update it as I read more books over the summer and hopefully after that. There's only a couple of posts on there at the moment but I do intend to update at least weekly as I go through books fairly quickly. So any thoughts on the books I've read or the blog itself would be much appriciated http://hanananahsboo...al.blogspot.com Thanks xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 (edited) I read and enjoyed both of your reviews Hannah. Agree that Dragon Tattoo was a slow starter, but more than made up for it. Welcome to the site. Edited June 23, 2012 by pontalba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Hello and welcome to the forum! As per the rules of BCF, new members are not allowed to post any links on any sites so I've had to remove your links. But you are very welcome to post your reviews on the books you've read on here on your reading log, and I'm sure this way you will also get a lot more feedback to your reviews and get some great discussions going on the books! If you become an active member, you are later allowed to link to your own website, but we like to encourage people to review their books on here rather than post links to their own book blogs. You might like to take a look at other people's reading logs on here and see how other people go about it. I think on this forum you will also find a lot of other kinds of threads that may interest you, we talk movies, music, hobbies, etc. I hope you enjoy it here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanananah Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 Oh right, I see, thanks for letting me know Currently I am reading Morning, Noon and Night by Sidney Sheldon but I do have a few more posts to put up on my blog (and on here of course) including, The Picture of Dorian Grey, Welcome to the Working Week, and Stephen King's Carrie. Pontalba, have you read the others in the Millennium trilogy, if so what did you think of them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 (edited) Currently I am reading Morning, Noon and Night by Sidney Sheldon but I do have a few more posts to put up on my blog (and on here of course) including, The Picture of Dorian Grey, Welcome to the Working Week, and Stephen King's Carrie. Pontalba, have you read the others in the Millennium trilogy, if so what did you think of them? Yes, I've read the others in the Milliennium series, hoping for a 4th of course. Alas. I loved them. Some of it was a little hard to take, but so integral to her personality I don't see how the story could have done without them. Besides her retribution was every victim's dream come true. I'm not sure if I've read that particular Sheldon, but I did read a number of his years ago and enjoyed them as well. Haven't dipped into them in ages though. Haven't read Carrie, but have recently (re)read The Stand and have read his novella, The Fog (think that's the name) along with that book of short stories, and Thinner. Oh, and one written under Richard Bachman....The Running Man. Enjoyed them, but couldn't get into It. /shiver/ What other sorts of books/genres do you enjoy? Edited June 23, 2012 by pontalba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Hello Hanananah - welcome to BCF. I read a Sidney Sheldon years ago (something about Windmills springs to mind). I loved Dorian Gray and the first two Millennium books - I have the third on my 'to read' pile but goodness knows when I'll get round to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Currently I am reading Morning, Noon and Night by Sidney Sheldon but I do have a few more posts to put up on my blog (and on here of course) including, The Picture of Dorian Grey, Welcome to the Working Week, and Stephen King's Carrie. I can't wait to see your review on Carrie! It's a King classic I think any King fan should read, for obvious reasons The first time I read it I was a teenager and I didn't really 'get' it, and why it was supposed to be such a great novel, but I've reread it a few times after that and it keeps getting better and better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanananah Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 I read pretty much anything really, it's hard to find a specfic genre I would say I like the most. I took English Literature for A Level are really enjoyed it, we read, The Great Gatsby, Dracula, MacBeth, King Lear, Oranges Aren't the Only Fruit, The Bloody Chamber, there were others I read around those such as Atonement. I enjoyed all of these Oranges Aren't the Only Fruit possibly the least but I think that was more to do with a limited understanding of the religious culture of the time period the book was set in. Dorian Gray was on the background reading list but I never got round to reading it at the time. I have recently finished it despite starting it around January I greatly enjoyed it and will hopefully be writing a post about it tonight. I need to get hold of the next two Millennium books as I enjoyed the first so much. The first was very hard hitting but it was written so well it didn't make me feel needlessly uncomfortable. I didn't think I'd enjoy Stephen King but Carrie was so well written it took me by surprise! I will have to read some of his other stuff to determine if I like him as a writer or I just enjoyed the story and concept of Carrie too much. I just happened to come across Sidney Sheldon the other day and am in the last thrid in the second day of reading it. I enjoy the writing style and am thinking of picking up some others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanananah Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 My thoughts on The Picture of Dorian Gray: This book is one of the classics and like most of the classics I’ve read it took me a long time to read. Maybe it’s because of the heavy influence on setting and character description that it takes me a while to get my head round it. I started reading The Picture of Dorian Gray in around January as I remember it was on the recommended reading list for my English Literature A-Level. Unfortunately, at the time I never really found the time to read anything that wasn’t completely necessary. Written in 1890 The Picture of Dorian Gray tell the story of a beautiful young man who is part of the well-off society of the time who is fully taken with the new idea of hedonism which is introduced to him by Lord Henry Wotton. Lord Henry speaks to Dorian telling him that he is beautiful and should live his life to suit him. Dorian’s friend and well known painter Basil Hallward finds great pleasure in painting portraits of Dorian and soon becomes infatuated. One particular piece is painted, which is where the book begins, which is seen as absolutely astounding by all three men. The portrait captures Dorian’s beauty magnificently and Dorian wishes for the portrait to grow old instead of him. Little did he know that his wish had come true. Due to the influence of Lord Henry, Dorian begins to live his life to please himself with his own beauty being the centre of his life. He meets lowly young actress, Sybil Vane becomes besotted and proposes to her. Dorian, so taken with Sybil’s talent, invites Lord Henry and Basil to accompany him to one of her shows. However Sybil had fallen so deeply in love with her ‘Prince Charming’ her talent had faded which angered Dorian as her beauty, which was her acting had gone and no longer had interest in her. He returns home and notices the portrait had changed and realises that the sins he commits are reflected onto the portrait rather than him.Over the next years Dorian experiments with many vices and committing many sins, with his portrait becoming uglier over time. Eventually Dorian’s conscience catches up with him and he begins to realise the damage he’s done by looking at the terrifying portrait. He decides that a confession is what is needed to repent. However this isn’t enough so he takes a knife and stabs the portrait, killing himself. The Picture of Dorian Gray is a fascinating one; it concentrates so much on how beauty and aesthetics are important in life. It is often mentions throughout the book how beautiful Dorian is, or how certain objects or scenes are beautiful. There is also constant talk of ‘falling in love’. I specifically remember Dorian saying ‘I haven’t fallen in love in at least a week’. The concept of love then (or at least to the higher members of society) is very different to the ones we hold today. I often translated characters ‘falling in love’ as just them being fascinated or admiring someone or something rather than the affection and feelings we associate love with today. The novel also highlights the difficulties of leading a dual life. Dorian lives his life being a socialite attending various well-to-do people’s houses for dinners and luncheons as well as attending events; on the other hand his life is full of hedonism, vanity and criminality which are shown through the degradation and his detest for the portrait. It is very apparent that Dorian is heavily influenced by Lord Henry’s hedonistic ideals, this is picked up upon by Basil, who is distraught at the thought of Dorian’s dark descent into vanity. Dorian had served as a muse to Basil’s work and deems his portrait of him as his best work and is mortified when Dorian shows him what the portrait has become. Basil confesses his attraction and fascination with Gray, who then almost mercilessly murders him, adding more deformity to the portrait. The character of Basil is by far my favourite as he doesn’t seem to be influenced by vanity and hedonism as much as Dorian and Lord Henry have. However, Dorian, unable to take responsibility for his terrible actions blames Basil and his portrait for what he has become and even blames the knife he used to kill Basil as responsible for the murder. Basil also represents the homosexual undercurrent of the book. As previously mentioned, Basil is infatuated with Gray and revels in his beauty. The Picture of Dorian Gray was used against Wilde in court for him being a homosexual which at that time was definitely an offence which he spent time imprisoned for. Even though The Picture of Dorian Gray took me a very long time to read, I truly enjoyed it. Reading the slow dark decent of Dorian is upsetting and something I feel is still apparent today, many people are easily influenced into behaviours which are immoral sometimes never escape from them. This leads me to question if Dorian ever really repented for his sins and if we feel a sense of catharsis in his death. Personally I think not, Dorian was simply driven insane by the ugliness of his portrait and couldn’t bear to see himself in that way but due to the hedonistic state of mind he was in I highly doubt that he felt truly apologetic for the crimes he had committed. These are just my thoughts and ramblings really rather than a critical review or something. Any thoughts or discussion would be appriciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 (edited) Excellent review. The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of my favourite novels ever, so I was interested to hear your thoughts. There is also constant talk of ‘falling in love’. I specifically remember Dorian saying ‘I haven’t fallen in love in at least a week’. The concept of love then (or at least to the higher members of society) is very different to the ones we hold today. I often translated characters ‘falling in love’ as just them being fascinated or admiring someone or something rather than the affection and feelings we associate love with today. A good point well expressed there. I think you got the idea of 'falling in love' that's ever-present throughout the text, spot on. It's to highlight Dorian's frivolous, ever-changing, hedonistic attitudes, and indeed those of the social circle that he moves in. He's always searching for something new to appease his appetite for entertainment. The novel also highlights the difficulties of leading a dual life. Dorian lives his life being a socialite attending various well-to-do people’s houses for dinners and luncheons as well as attending events; on the other hand his life is full of hedonism, vanity and criminality which are shown through the degradation and his detest for the portrait. Again you express this well. I wrote heavily on duality in The Picture of Dorian Gray and Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde in my A Level English Literature coursework. In addition I think the dual life that Dorian leads is in some ways representative of the divisions between personal and public nature that Oscar Wilde suffered from, being forced to hide his true sexuality. This leads me to question if Dorian ever really repented for his sins and if we feel a sense of catharsis in his death. Personally I think not, Dorian was simply driven insane by the ugliness of his portrait and couldn’t bear to see himself in that way but due to the hedonistic state of mind he was in I highly doubt that he felt truly apologetic for the crimes he had committed. I'm glad that you enjoyed it; I feel that it's a novel everyone would benefit from and I'm inclined to recommend it to pretty much anyone I talk books with. I'd also personally agree with you regarding the dénouement; suicide in this case is the very climax of his selfishness and vanity. In essence, he does what he does for himself, with no repentant thoughts at all. I look forward to reading your future reviews, and once again great job in summarising your thoughts on Wilde's classic. Edited June 23, 2012 by Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanananah Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 I'm glad that you enjoyed it; I feel that it's a novel everyone would benefit from and I'm inclined to recommend it to pretty much anyone I talk books with. I'd also personally agree with you regarding the dénouement; suicide in this case is the very climax of his selfishness and vanity. In essence, he does what he does for himself, with no repentant thoughts at all. Oh wow! I really wasn't expecting this sort of feedback! I was kinda expecting everyone to tell me I've got it wrong and I didn't understand it at all or disagree strongly with my thoughts or something I do agree with what you said about it being a book that everyone can benefit from. Even though it being written in 1890 I feel it still has a lot of relevence to people today (as I said in my thoughts) I realised it whilst I was writing this up (a lot of what I write it off the top of my head) Dorian's vanity is the same as the vanity many people show today, it's just expressed in different forms now. You mentioned doing A-Level English Lit (I did too!) what books did you study for that? Would be nice to compare and such Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 (edited) I do agree with what you said about it being a book that everyone can benefit from. Even though it being written in 1890 I feel it still has a lot of relevence to people today (as I said in my thoughts) I realised it whilst I was writing this up (a lot of what I write it off the top of my head) Dorian's vanity is the same as the vanity many people show today, it's just expressed in different forms now. Most definitely. I mean, it's true that some people believe themselves to be bigger and 'above' society in the same way Dorian did. He was a man that had no morals and in some ways no fears. I think criminals in this day and age have the same mentality, but I also believe that some 'more influential' or powerful figures consider the world their oyster, and that nothing can stand in their way, too. You mentioned doing A-Level English Lit (I didtoo!) what books did you study for that? Would be nice to compare and such I see from your earlier post that what we did was much of the same. The Great Gatsby and Macbeth were novels I covered, and we also read The Canterbury Tales, a play from Harold Pinter called Betrayed, more Shakespeare with Othello. Hmm let me think, we did Coleridge's epic poem 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. I believe that just about covers everything if memory serves. Edited June 24, 2012 by Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanananah Posted June 24, 2012 Author Share Posted June 24, 2012 I see from your earlier post that what we did was much of the same. The Great Gatsby and Macbeth were novels I covered, and we also read The Canterbury Tales, a play from Harold Pinter called Betrayed, more Shakespeare with Othello. Hmm let me think, we did Coleridge's epic poem 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Cool, we did more or less the same thing then What did you think of The Great Gatsby, I just wrote a bit about it on a thread on here (in the classics section I think it was), I absolutely loved it! I did Macbeth too, I had already done it in previous years but I found it so interesting studying it at a higher level. We also did 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' (not one of my favourites but I can appriciate it nonetheless). We did a play called All My Sons by Arthur Miller, I think it was about war profiteering which was interesting to look at. I remember reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time but I was rather young when I read it so I definitely need to read it again, I do remember enjoying it a lot though. Frankenstein was on our list of background reading as was Dorian Gray, so I'll have to give that a read (about 2 or 3 years too late though ). You mentioned Jekyll and Hyde earlier, I have access to that at the moment and is on my TBR list so no doubt there will be a blog about that soon About what you said about The Picture of Dorian Gray being relevent today with criminals and political figures and I totally agree, it's disgusting when you think about it. I also have celebrities and just terribly vain, for use of a better word 'plastics' in mind too, maybe they should all give The Picture of Dorian Gray a read Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanananah Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 Hey guys, just put up my thoughts of Welcome to the Working Week by Paul Vlitos, hope you enjoy http://hanananahsbookjournal.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/welcome-to-working-week-by-paul-vlitos.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanananah Posted June 26, 2012 Author Share Posted June 26, 2012 I can't wait to see your review on Carrie! It's a King classic I think any King fan should read, for obvious reasons The first time I read it I was a teenager and I didn't really 'get' it, and why it was supposed to be such a great novel, but I've reread it a few times after that and it keeps getting better and better. Well frankie (and everyone else) here it is! http://hanananahsbookjournal.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/carrie-by-stephen-king.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Hannah, can we please ask you to share your thoughts directly on the forum. I appreciate bloggers like to get comments etc, and you can link to it in your sig as long as you remain an active member, but please share your thoughts here rather simply linking to your blog. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanananah Posted June 26, 2012 Author Share Posted June 26, 2012 Ooops, sorry, it's just easier to link than to thinks, didn't mean to break any rules or anything. My views on Carrie by Stephen King: I really enjoyed this, so much so I read the entire thing in one night. I loved the epistolary style of it, with the extracts hinting more and more to what would happen. I found it very refreshing to read a horror story, something I hadn't done since reading Dracula at A level! The whole build up to the disater was built up so well. Reading this has also made me want to read more Stephen King, anyone have any ides on what one's of his I should read next? Yes, I've read the others in the Milliennium series, hoping for a 4th of course. Alas. I loved them. Some of it was a little hard to take, but so integral to her personality I don't see how the story could have done without them. Besides her retribution was every victim's dream come true. My boyfriend bought me the second and third as an early birthday present so I shall get started on those asap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Looking forward to hearing how you get on with Darren Shan's Cirque du Freak. I read the entire series earlier this year; enjoyable, quick reads, and certainly a relief from bigger, more challenging classics such as The Picture of Dorian Gray for instance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanananah Posted June 26, 2012 Author Share Posted June 26, 2012 I finished Cirque Du Freak today, didn't take long at all to read. I really enjoyed it, like you said it's a great relief from stuff like Dorian Grey I'm planning on reading the whole series as the first layed down the foundation for the series quite well, you can really tell it's the beginning a series book as well, I don't think it would be as good if it was a stand alone book but as I know there are many others I'm looking forward to reading the rest I really like how he got the narrative of a young boy so spot on, some of the story was very sad at times, really pulling at my heartstrings which I think is quite brave for a kids book, so like I said, really looking forward to reading the others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 My views on Carrie by Stephen King: I really enjoyed this, so much so I read the entire thing in one night. I loved the epistolary style of it, with the extracts hinting more and more to what would happen. I found it very refreshing to read a horror story, something I hadn't done since reading Dracula at A level! The whole build up to the disater was built up so well. Reading this has also made me want to read more Stephen King, anyone have any ides on what one's of his I should read next? Carrie is a great read. My King favourites are Misery and Pet Sematary so I'd recommend those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanananah Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 I've heard Misery is good, will have to get hold of that and get it read Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 I've heard Misery is good, will have to get hold of that and get it read I totally cringed throughout that one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanananah Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 Definitely going to have to read it then Since joining here, I have so many more books that I intend to read! This is going to be one busy summer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Since joining here, I have so many more books that I intend to read! This is going to be one busy summer! That happens to pretty much everyone, I've never had more books on my shelves waiting to read before I came here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I'd be worried if you didn't have so many more books to read after being on here a couple of weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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