Sunday, August 7, 2011
And Then There Were Ten (Books)
I've been intrigued by the novel Atlas Shrugged (1957) by Ayn Rand for quite some time. The main reasons I'm interested in the book just seem to be curiosity brought about by the title (I mean, it has a titan in the name, come on). The language in the novel is not difficult and Rand seems to take a very descriptive and detailed style (or at least in a part of the first chapter). From what I've read from the back of the book, the story seems to be about corrupt industrialists and a man who works to bring about his own end. After picking up a physical copy for the first time I realized that the novel should be used as one of the murder weapons in the game Clue. At about 1368 pages, the book is a little thick. (Mrs. Wegyandt, can I just read this one book for the whole year?)
Fahrenheit 451 (1987) is another book I've been wanting to look into just out of curiosity. This book by Ray Bradbury is about 178 pages long. The book is written in the third person limited point of view the main protagonist Guy Montag. In the America of Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag works as a fireman (which is actually the equivalent of what we would call a book burner). The book also deals with the hot topic of censorship in books and if we should censor something in a book or the entire book if it offends one person.
Gone (2008) by Michael Grant was suggested to me by a well read friend of mine. The book is of good (well, I would say) length with 576 pages. The style seems to be much more modern than a few of the other books on this list and is thus simple to read. I think I recall hearing a review of this book from a blog of a 9th or 10th grader last year and what was described reminds me very much of Lord of the Flies. That book (Lord of the Flies) rattled me even though I had little to no grasp on all the ideas and symbols at the time. Looking up this book made me so intrigued that I even looked up the Milgram experiment (because it was mentioned in a review of the book that also related Lord of the Flies to Gone).
A Wrinkle in Time (1962) by Madeleine L'Engle was also suggested to me by the same person who suggested Gone. The main reason that I had asked my friend to suggest a few books was that she seemed to have read quite a few books and I was looking for suggestions from someone with a wide spectrum of read books. From an excerpt, the language was not anything especially difficult though one character in the passage caught my attention. Charles Wallace Murry. In the book, he is the very precocious and extraordinary 5 year old of the Murry family. The ability he displayed in the passage to understand his sister bordered close to uncanny or even unnerving. Another phenomenal aspect of the child would be his ability to immediately speak in full sentences, thus skipping the stages of "Dada" "Mama". Aside from the characters, the story seems interesting as well as it is one of the few Science Fiction books on this list.
His Majesty's Dragon (2005) by Naomi Novik is yet another book that was suggested by the person who offered the idea of reading the two preceding books on this list. Similar to A Wrinkle in Time and Gone, His Majesty's Dragon is also a Science Fiction book (I have this feeling she likes Sci-fi, but that's just me) set in a different time. Having being first published in 2005, the text is not near as difficult to understand as a novel from the 1500s. The story is set during the Napoleonic times and thus includes flint pistols, swords, and dragons (it's Science Fiction remember? Napoleon needed his aerial dragon force for his fights ya know). The book is not extensively long at 384 pages but it is not short either.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1972) by Hunter S. Thompson is actually a book (somewhat) suggested by Zane. The title alone intrigues me as well as the themes of heavy drug abuse. Speaking of which, the style of a strung out drug abuser may be a bit difficult to follow at times (such as trying to find the difference between reality and what the character perceives as real). I have a creeping feeling that there will most surely be foul language coming from a pair of hyped up high protagonists looking for the American Dream.
Well, this spot was supposed to go to The Highlander but I found out that it wasn't what I had thought it to be. So instead of The Highlander, The Grapes of Wrath (1939) by John Steinbeck will take its place. I had heard earlier that The Grapes of Wrath was once a required book (actually, is it a required book this year?) for the highschool English classes. I had also heard that the book was about a group of Okies during the Great Depression (I had heard this while studying the time period in history class) which also intrigued me. From a small excerpt that I read from The Grapes of Wrath I felt that Steinbeck's style was not difficult to understand and even the bit of Southern jargon was not terribly difficult to interpret. Steinbeck also seemed to easily describe human nature through obscure means and even be critical of human nature at times (describing how we had driven people out of their land and claimed it as our own). Somehow, I feel that there is a bit of intertextuality between The Grapes of Wrath and The Road. Both are about a long journey to attempt to find a better life in an uncertain place and both place this trust in mere speculation. (672 pages)
With an interesting title and apparently a cult classic movie (I haven't seen it though), A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess has also been on my list of books to read for some time. The novella is about 240 pages and concerns the actions of the gang leader of a group of ultra violent thugs. Something that I had not considered (I hadn't read the book when I learned this, so I hadn't really had the chance to see the signs) was that Alex could possibly be considered a Christ figure despite the fact that he raped and was almost desensitized as being a human being. While reading about the Milgram Experiment for Gone, I came across the Banality of Evil which seems to be related to the actions Alex takes in the novel (I haven't read the book, so I really don't know for sure). Something that I noticed quickly when reading an excerpt was that the book is chock full of jargon (or "Nadsat") such as goloss, zoobies, and bezoomny. This may prove difficult to decipher is being said at first, but after seeing the words more the language should be easier to follow.
Anthony Burgess' Catch-22 (1961) caught my attention when I learned that a theme of the novel was the idea of being in a situation which was inescapable. To work oneself into a circle with no escape sounded very intriguing and also very plausible. The novel is a bit of a longer read at 544 pages but the logical paradox may carry me through (I think I just love the idea of this paradox or something). The style should not be excessively difficult. Something I think that I recall is that this novel also criticizes bureaucracy (I may just me imagining that though) and is apparently a very funny novel despite being about a bombardier stuck in a war he desperately wants to get out of.
Braden got me interested in the story of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962)by Ken Kesey as he told fragments of the story in English class occasionally. Also, the book was referenced in one of my favorite video games as a location (and trust me, I did enjoy fighting the lobotomists inside that cave very much). Some of the narration comes from one of the inmates in the mental institute which probably means that these parts would feel simplified in text while a third person narration pulls the simplicity back to normal standards.
Fahrenheit 451 (1987) is another book I've been wanting to look into just out of curiosity. This book by Ray Bradbury is about 178 pages long. The book is written in the third person limited point of view the main protagonist Guy Montag. In the America of Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag works as a fireman (which is actually the equivalent of what we would call a book burner). The book also deals with the hot topic of censorship in books and if we should censor something in a book or the entire book if it offends one person.
Gone (2008) by Michael Grant was suggested to me by a well read friend of mine. The book is of good (well, I would say) length with 576 pages. The style seems to be much more modern than a few of the other books on this list and is thus simple to read. I think I recall hearing a review of this book from a blog of a 9th or 10th grader last year and what was described reminds me very much of Lord of the Flies. That book (Lord of the Flies) rattled me even though I had little to no grasp on all the ideas and symbols at the time. Looking up this book made me so intrigued that I even looked up the Milgram experiment (because it was mentioned in a review of the book that also related Lord of the Flies to Gone).
A Wrinkle in Time (1962) by Madeleine L'Engle was also suggested to me by the same person who suggested Gone. The main reason that I had asked my friend to suggest a few books was that she seemed to have read quite a few books and I was looking for suggestions from someone with a wide spectrum of read books. From an excerpt, the language was not anything especially difficult though one character in the passage caught my attention. Charles Wallace Murry. In the book, he is the very precocious and extraordinary 5 year old of the Murry family. The ability he displayed in the passage to understand his sister bordered close to uncanny or even unnerving. Another phenomenal aspect of the child would be his ability to immediately speak in full sentences, thus skipping the stages of "Dada" "Mama". Aside from the characters, the story seems interesting as well as it is one of the few Science Fiction books on this list.
His Majesty's Dragon (2005) by Naomi Novik is yet another book that was suggested by the person who offered the idea of reading the two preceding books on this list. Similar to A Wrinkle in Time and Gone, His Majesty's Dragon is also a Science Fiction book (I have this feeling she likes Sci-fi, but that's just me) set in a different time. Having being first published in 2005, the text is not near as difficult to understand as a novel from the 1500s. The story is set during the Napoleonic times and thus includes flint pistols, swords, and dragons (it's Science Fiction remember? Napoleon needed his aerial dragon force for his fights ya know). The book is not extensively long at 384 pages but it is not short either.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1972) by Hunter S. Thompson is actually a book (somewhat) suggested by Zane. The title alone intrigues me as well as the themes of heavy drug abuse. Speaking of which, the style of a strung out drug abuser may be a bit difficult to follow at times (such as trying to find the difference between reality and what the character perceives as real). I have a creeping feeling that there will most surely be foul language coming from a pair of hyped up high protagonists looking for the American Dream.
Well, this spot was supposed to go to The Highlander but I found out that it wasn't what I had thought it to be. So instead of The Highlander, The Grapes of Wrath (1939) by John Steinbeck will take its place. I had heard earlier that The Grapes of Wrath was once a required book (actually, is it a required book this year?) for the highschool English classes. I had also heard that the book was about a group of Okies during the Great Depression (I had heard this while studying the time period in history class) which also intrigued me. From a small excerpt that I read from The Grapes of Wrath I felt that Steinbeck's style was not difficult to understand and even the bit of Southern jargon was not terribly difficult to interpret. Steinbeck also seemed to easily describe human nature through obscure means and even be critical of human nature at times (describing how we had driven people out of their land and claimed it as our own). Somehow, I feel that there is a bit of intertextuality between The Grapes of Wrath and The Road. Both are about a long journey to attempt to find a better life in an uncertain place and both place this trust in mere speculation. (672 pages)
With an interesting title and apparently a cult classic movie (I haven't seen it though), A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess has also been on my list of books to read for some time. The novella is about 240 pages and concerns the actions of the gang leader of a group of ultra violent thugs. Something that I had not considered (I hadn't read the book when I learned this, so I hadn't really had the chance to see the signs) was that Alex could possibly be considered a Christ figure despite the fact that he raped and was almost desensitized as being a human being. While reading about the Milgram Experiment for Gone, I came across the Banality of Evil which seems to be related to the actions Alex takes in the novel (I haven't read the book, so I really don't know for sure). Something that I noticed quickly when reading an excerpt was that the book is chock full of jargon (or "Nadsat") such as goloss, zoobies, and bezoomny. This may prove difficult to decipher is being said at first, but after seeing the words more the language should be easier to follow.
Anthony Burgess' Catch-22 (1961) caught my attention when I learned that a theme of the novel was the idea of being in a situation which was inescapable. To work oneself into a circle with no escape sounded very intriguing and also very plausible. The novel is a bit of a longer read at 544 pages but the logical paradox may carry me through (I think I just love the idea of this paradox or something). The style should not be excessively difficult. Something I think that I recall is that this novel also criticizes bureaucracy (I may just me imagining that though) and is apparently a very funny novel despite being about a bombardier stuck in a war he desperately wants to get out of.
Braden got me interested in the story of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962)by Ken Kesey as he told fragments of the story in English class occasionally. Also, the book was referenced in one of my favorite video games as a location (and trust me, I did enjoy fighting the lobotomists inside that cave very much). Some of the narration comes from one of the inmates in the mental institute which probably means that these parts would feel simplified in text while a third person narration pulls the simplicity back to normal standards.
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