Mirror, Mirror on the wall, Will Vinay read these by next fall? (2010)

[vinay87]

OK, I knew I wouldn't be doing much reading once college starts. But I'm adjusting now, I think.

 

I'm post-poning reading HG Wells's War In the Air for now. I restarted Alexandre Dumas's The Count Of Monte Cristo which, halfway-through, seems to be a better read than even his Three Musketeers!

 

I'll be sure to review it later. Anyone wishing to buy this book, please buy the Wordsworth translation. It's a little short on the required amount of comments and study notes to understand the innumerable references Dumas makes to his contemporaries but worth it all the same. I doubt any other translation is this beautiful.

[vinay87]

I knew I'd read The Count Of Monte Cristo quicker!

 

60 pages today, and so far it's getting even better!!! weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[SueK]

I'll be sure to review it later. Anyone wishing to buy this book, please buy the Wordsworth translation. It's a little short on the required amount of comments and study notes to understand the innumerable references Dumas makes to his contemporaries but worth it all the same. I doubt any other translation is this beautiful.

 

 

Hmmmm, might have to take issue with you on that one vinay. The Robin Buss translation is superb (that is the Penguin Classic and has around 1,200 pages). The Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation recommends this version too:)

[AbielleRose]

I knew I'd read The Count Of Monte Cristo quicker!

 

60 pages today, and so far it's getting even better!!! weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 

I'm excited to hear your final review when you finish this one The movie is one of my favorites and I've debated whether or not to read the book for some time (but decided not to because I love the movie so much and don't want to stain that love if the book doesn't match up.)

[Nollaig]

The book is fantastic!!

[vinay87]

Hmmmm, might have to take issue with you on that one vinay. The Robin Buss translation is superb (that is the Penguin Classic and has around 1,200 pages). The Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation recommends this version too:)

 

 

Oooh!

 

That's what Nollaig was talking about I think... I'll be sure to buy it as The Count is nearing my love for Les Mis right about now.

 

 

I'm excited to hear your final review when you finish this one The movie is one of my favorites and I've debated whether or not to read the book for some time (but decided not to because I love the movie so much and don't want to stain that love if the book doesn't match up.)

 

I'll be sure to review it. I can already tell you that it'll be the totally biased review of Dumas's newest fan(atic) though.

Edited February 11, 2010 by vinay87

[Kylie]

I'm excited to hear your final review when you finish this one The movie is one of my favorites and I've debated whether or not to read the book for some time (but decided not to because I love the movie so much and don't want to stain that love if the book doesn't match up.)

 

I've only seen the Guy Pearce version of the Count and I hated it. It's not a patch on the novel, which is one of the most brilliant novels I've ever read. I don't think a movie could ever do justice to the novel.

[vinay87]

Darn, I haven't read a word in over a week!! That's it, I'm finishing the book today! (has over 500 pages left o_0)

[vinay87]

Sigh I knew reading would be hard to do after college started.

 

In other news, I got three new books yesterday.

 

1. Hungry Stones And Other Stories by Rabindranath Tagore.

2. A Journey To The Centre Of The Earth by Jules Verne

3. Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

[poppyshake]

Hi Vinay ,

 

Liking your new books, 'Pinocchio' should be interesting as it's said to be quite different from the Disney version we all know and love ... much more dark and sinister.

[vinay87]

Hi Vinay ,

 

Liking your new books, 'Pinocchio' should be interesting as it's said to be quite different from the Disney version we all know and love ... much more dark and sinister.

 

 

Yep, I got a wonderful illustrated version which is just beautiful to look at. But I started off with A journey to the centre of the earth. I'm looking forward to reading Pinocchio though.

[vinay87]

Updated the TBR. (Finally!)

[vinay87]

Updated the TBR. Yeah, I'm definitely not dying any time soon.

[vinay87]

Updated the TBR.

I've read The Sign of Four and The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde last month.

[vinay87]

Now for the reviews.

 

Arthur Conan Doyle - The Sign Of Four

 

As a kid who grew up reading comics, I've been an Iron Man fan for a long time. The movie made me an instant fan of Robert Downey Jr. And that led me down the road to watch Sherlock Holmes. Now, I'm not forming an image of Holmes from the movie, you must understand, but I found it an amazing idea. I've never really read Sherlock Holmes books until now, I found them boring as a kid when I was obsessed with Dame Christie. But the movie made me curious. And luckily, I'd bought the entire set of Holmes during my May splurge. And although I read A Study In Scarlet last month, I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed The Sign of Four.

It's an excellent story that introduces many characters and once you get used to the idea of Holmes being a drug addict, it changes your experience. Holmes at onces becomes that eccentric college mate you might have met, genius but bound to his own form of chosen insanity through his drug addiction.

I'm certainly going to look forward to many more such experiences as I read more of the stories amidst my other books.

 

R L Stevenson - Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

Who doesn't know this story? I'd say everyone who hasn't read it. Even if you have seen the clich�d Hyde character in movies or cartoons or during Halloween, the experience of reading Stevenson's book is at once different. Hyde is loathsome, you will learn to appreciate how a person can change form with a well practiced stoop. Stevenson's style is flawless. Though I was annoyed at the typos with my edition, there were far too many sadly, I found the pace amazing for a classic. While I have read exploratory science fiction by Jules Verne and HG Wells, I cannot believe that I will ever find a telling of a tale as macabre as this one. Though yes, I have yet to taste the concoctions of EA Poe.

 

I was supposed to have started Oliver Twist on Monday. I'll skip that for now and read Victory by Joseph Conrad.

Edited August 8, 2010 by vinay87

[Kylie]

Great reviews Vinay! I loved both of those books too.

 

Poe is brilliant and I really think you'll like him. I hope you get to read some of his stuff soon!

[vinay87]

Yeah, I've bought a book containing his poems and some of his tales. I'll read those next week.

 

Sigh, I dropped Victory. I guess I'll give Silas Marner a try now.

[vinay87]

I have been bad with my reading for the past month or more. So today, I sat myself down and finished Pinocchio. I also bought and finished The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and The Little Prince.

 

Antoine de Saint-Exupery - The Little Prince

 

Every childhood should be characterised by this book. If that doesn't make it clear that I love this book, then let me spell it out for you. It is unbelievably spectacular. From the simple writing, it is easy to pass this off as "just another children's story". Or as a story filled with nonsense, as most stories are tailored to suite the child's imagination. But I kid you not when I say this story has a meaning. It shows that a child can understand the simple things an adult thinks are complicated. That a child can shed light on the deepest of human thoughts and then turn the concepts on their heads, making adults wonder if we dumb down with age.

 

When you read this book, you will understand that the Little Prince is such a normal figure and yet so alien, in more ways than one, to the narrator. The narrator is like many of us who are cast down when we showcase our childhood talents to our parents. He forgets his talent and tries to become something else.

 

A definite 10/10

 

 

Washington Irving - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

 

This is a story all halloween buffs will know, or at least recognized. The movie is honest to the story but reading the story out loud to a room full of children on a rainy night should be entertaining. I've said before that I never get scared reading a book, and I'll say it again. But it was a tale well worth the time spent reading it. It'll be a tale I'll pick up once again when I'm going to begin focussing on reading horror for a while. Should be some time in the next year, I guess.

 

~8/10

 

Carlo Collidi - Pinocchio

 

Okay my opinion of this is tarnished forever, mostly because of the translation I got my hands on. I don't know who translated it, but I'm going to be hating it for a long time for various reasons that I don't want to list.

 

But as a person who hasn't seen the Disney movie, I must say it is a strangely endearing book. It's a rather stern tale of how good boys are supposed to be. Though the chewing off a cat's paw and chopping off his nose every few pages does seem a bit too much. I most definitely won't tell the next generation to read it. But as all great classics go, that won't matter at all. Adults should find it entertaining, if only to contrast it with the movie version. Maybe my opinion would have been better if not for the abysmal translation.

 

~5/10

Edited August 8, 2010 by vinay87

[vinay87]

2 books this week! Wooo! Time to start/continue reading Villette.

[vinay87]

Now for a review of both the books.

 

 

Arthur Conan Doyle - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

 

I'm a huge Sherlock Holmes fan now, as opposed to the newcomer I was when I picked up the collection a few months ago. This collection is very entertaining; to the end that I made it a habit to read 3 stories every morning during breakfast. The style suits the pace and every word tells the story.

 

My favourites from this collection were:

1. The Adventure of the Speckled Band

2. The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor

3. The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet

4. The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

5. The Five Orange Pips

6. The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb

 

Holmes' humour and his methods are surely something I am looking forward to and I will be rereading these stories ever so often in the years to come. I am planning to read The Hound of the Baskervilles following the completion of Villette and Victory.

 

R L Stevenson - Treasure Island

 

Pirates, talks of keel hauling, mutineering, marooning and brandishing cutlasses. These are the first things that come to mind now that I've finished the book. I must admit, I vaguely remember reading the book when I was in my early teens. Now, nearly eleven years later, returning to the classic has been an adventure in itself.

 

The story of Jim Hawkins and his adventure to Treasure Island, or, as Long John Silver calls it so aptly, Skeleton Island, is a story for a rainy day, when there is little to do and much to expect from a book that is nearly legend. It has suspense, action and the thrill of the voyage in every word. Not a chapter goes when we do not wish to turn to the next chapter. Every page flies as though we are watching a movie that is meant to keep us wanting more. The book starts with the most memorable scene, just how R L Stevenson does it, with a buccaneer who sings out loud a rhyme that will forever be the standard of all pirates to come.

Fifteen men on a dead man's chest,

Yo ho ho! and a bottle of rum!

Drink and the devil have claimed the rest,

Yo ho ho! and a bottle of rum!

The book is definitely one to gift to someone who wants a good read, or to treat oneself to. It is a world you can get lost in; but be warned: you might actually hear Capt. John Flint's voice echo when next you look at the sea:

"Pieces of eight!" or if you are worse for it, you will hear the footsteps of Long John Silver himself. And far be it from me to warn you if you end up fearing Davy Jones's Locker from that moment on.

 

Needless to say, both of the books get a solid 10/10.

[vinay87]

Time to update this thread now that I've actually managed to read a few books since my last post.

 

 

Michael Crichton - Timeline

 

I was told about this book several years ago by a close friend. He told me it involved time travel in a very believable setting, and that this book would teach me a lot about the Medieval Age in England.

 

The book took me about a week to read, which isn't saying much for it seeing as the cover reviews call it "hard to put down". It didn't do much for me during the first half and only after most of the book did I actually get the patience to sit down and finish it once and for all.

 

I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of Crichton's works but I honestly don't expect to enjoy them much. I will read Jurassic Park some day, but will I like it more than I did the movie? That's difficult to say.

 

6/10

 

 

Pearl S. Buck - The Story Bible Vol. 1 : The Old Testament

 

Although I'm a Hindu, my childhood was outlined by my inner conflict about religion. My father converted to Christianity and naturally expected my mother and I to go to church with him. I was too young to understand my mother's pain in being forced to abandon our native religion this way, and since I was, and still am, very much interested in a good story, I thus found the church and enlightening place. Needless to say, the first story I've ever read was The Greatest Story Ever Told.

 

I'm still devoted to my own religion, you must understand, yet my upbringing taught me to naturally want to learn more about every religion there is. And of course, all religions have a great story behind them.

 

The Bible is one of my favourite books. I've been meaning to reread the entire Bible for the past few years but seeing as how I only own the King James version, I put off the task since it seemed too daunting and laborious.

 

So to my surprise, I came across Pearl S. Buck's The Story Bible and didn't need to think twice before buying it. Needless to say, my money was well spent.

 

I've never read any other of her books but by her simple and clear cut writing style, which takes away nothing of the magic that I've always loved the Bible for, Buck has won my adoration.

 

From the first words, as memorable as ever, she captured me and threw me head first into the land of Israel. Reading her words held me in awe as my own children's version had, nearly twenty years ago. I took the book along for my morning walk and I was in tears when Joseph revealed to his brothers that he was their long lost brother. I wanted to yell out in joy when the walls of Jericho fell. I could imagine Saul's anger when Samuel forsook him, just as Saul had forsaken the Lord. Jubilation filled me when David defeated Goliath of Gath. The story of my favourite prophet, Elijah, and how he mocked the priests of Baal made me laugh out in joy. And I was in awe when Buck's words described how the fish swallowed Jonah who refused to go to Ninevah in service of the Lord.

 

I suppose this explains how much I absolutely loved the book. I'm saving Vol. 2 : The New Testament for a rainy day, because though I love the Old Testament, no other story did I love more than the resurrection of Lazarus. I'm going to love reading Vol.2.

 

10/10!

 

George Orwell - 1984

 

I picked up this book because I'd come across the name on this forum. THANK YOU!

 

I've said several times that Stephen King failed to chill my bones. Even horror movies don't really scare me. Not even Anthony Hopkins' voice as Hannibal could give me a nightmare.

 

Yet. This book frightened me with nothing but one idea.

 

1984, as the blurb states, has come and gone. Yet we are still held in awe at the edge of our seats as George Orwell presents to us his idea of what could happen to the world in the form of a story that will never grow old.

 

It's my first George Orwell book and I swear to you that I will buy Animal Farm the next time I visit a bookshop.

 

The book is astonishing. Nothing scares me more than the idea that we could lose track of recent history. That a person could be erased, or even manipulated by the government is just frightening. We, who take freedom for granted, we, who think that the information that we have access to via the Internet, we, who can talk freely of any topic that could involve political slander on open streets, can't imagine a world as chaotic as one in which we can do none of these things.

 

If we were always monitored, if children betrayed their parents to the Government for slander, if our dearest friend vanished overnight just because he was wondering if what the Government was doing is right or wrong, then what could we do?

 

Free thinking is forbidden the citizens of Oceania. Entire histories are being rewritten openly. Humanity is being reduced to stupid drones.

 

This is a story that will shake your mind should you be able to appreciate it. I'm certain that there will be people who find it boring, but that is because the idea itself hasn't taken root in their own minds. Imagine not being able to kiss your loved one in public, or even in private! Imagine not being able to trust your own children. Imagine openly wanting to turn in your parents because they think too much.

 

Remember, as you read this book, Big Brother is always watching.

 

10/10

 

Jules Verne - Around The World in 80 Days

 

First off, I'm surprised by the size of this book. I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me how long this is in the original french text. I mean, any writer of today would have blown this book to massive proportions. Books that take place in one city hardly fall under 250 pages these days; a book that spans the entire earth could actually have its own series.

 

And still, Verne does it again.

 

This book is as small as it needs to be. No word is unnecessary, and no scene too long.

 

We follow Mr Phileas Fogg and his new attendant, the frenchman, Passepartout in a wild journey to win a bet of 20,000 Pounds. Along this journey, the devious Inspector Fix follows them, suspecting Fogg of thievery that involves 55,000 Pounds. The two adventurers travel through Paris, India, China and the USA while trying to gain time and to find time to even rescue an Indian Princess.

 

I'm a huge fan of Jules Verne, seeing as I've reread A Journey To The Centre of The Earth at least five times by now, and this book does not disappoint.

 

PS: Shame on Bantam Classics btw! They used a painting of the duo travelling in a weather balloon which I was anticipating throughout the book. There is no such scene in the entire book! Wikipedia tells me that this is a popular misconception regarding this book because of the 1956 movie. Bantam should have done its groundwork before deciding to use that picture for the cover.

 

10/10

Edited November 14, 2010 by vinay87

[Kylie]

Great reviews Vanay. I read A Journey to the Centre of the Earth recently and loved it. Like you, my cover art was incorrect because it showed an extra person taking part in the adventure where no such person existed in the novel! It really is pretty atrocious to do something like that.

 

I'm really glad you enjoyed 1984 too. And I'm sure you'll love Animal Farm.

[vinay87]

Ah, yes I've come across many other books which depict wrong covers which are based on popular misconceptions. To think the fact that almost every copy of Frankenstein I've come across has the generic picture of Boris Karloff on it! It kept me from buying Frankenstein till recently when I found a cheap (1$) used copy of it with brilliant art. The publishers are inexistant now, I think. The book didn't even have an ISBN for me to search for.

Edited November 15, 2010 by vinay87

[vinay87]

Jules Verne - The Mysterious Island

 

This book is the last part in a series of novels by Jules Verne. First in the series is Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and the second is In Search of the Castaways. I have read neither of those two and it didn't really take much away by means of enjoyment. I do recommend others read those first, because well, Jules Verne said so!

 

Now for the review.

 

This book is amazing. I am a fan of the Robinson Crusoe story. I love the idea of a man stranded on an island for a few years and trying to cope with nature and trying to escape his plight. This book takes the idea and multiplies it by five.

 

Five men and a dog escape their confines as prisoners of war, using an air balloon. But alas, Fate had something else in store for them as a storm lashes against them and forces them to throw away all their supplies and land on a desert isle near a large island. Wasting no time in trying to cope with nature, the five men set themselves to trying to make their life more comfortable, for the island seemed bountiful with her gifts.

 

But as time passes, they come to wonder if they really are alone upon the island. And if the island is indeed inhabited, is the unseen master of the island a friend, or perhaps foe?

 

The story is gripping as it is entertaining, a story to tell children by the fireside, a story to read when you are trapped home because of the winter cold. And as always, Verne is entertaining beyond belief. More than anything, you will be astounded at how much there is to learn from a story such as this.

 

The characters you will come to love and cheer for. Just as the "colonists" of Lincoln Island believe, you too will believe that their leader, the intelligent and resourceful Engineer Cyrus Smith, is capable of anything. After all, he seems to have an answer to everything. Joined by his companions, the reported Gideon Spilett, the sailor Bonadventure Pencroff, the slave Neb and the teenage boy Herbert, the engineer tries to master the island and to best the hand of Fate. Reading this book, you will be awestruck by the sheer depth of this story and also spellbound by the fact that though Destiny has one thing in mind, you can always save yourself by remaining calm and by working together.

 

The story is one I will read again and again, for as all of Jules Verne's stories, it doesn't loose any of its magic with reading. Indeed, it seems to be able to pull more rabbits out of its hat with every thought.

 

I highly recommend the Modern Classic Library version since it supplies a translation by mr Jordan Stump who has excelled (if you can't read French of course) and also reproductions of the original illustrations by Jules Férat.

 

11/10

 

I am glad to be ending my reading year with such a fine work of classic literature.

[Kidsmum]

I've never read any Jules Verne before but after reading your review I'm definitely going to look out for his books .