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Literary Round Up
Ok, so as I am too lazy to change the currently reading pics on my sidebar, I figured I'd do a literary round up instead of the last two books, one of which never even got as far as the side bar, I really am very lazy. Caution, while I'll try not to reveal too much of the plot, there may be slight spoilers in it. War And Peace - Leo Tolstoy A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemmingway
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It seems like eon's ago I started this one, with Anna Pavlona's social, and it was a long haul, I'd be lying if I didn't say it felt like it too, I'm not very patient and like to finish books in a week or so, so this was a challenge. However, the story is very well written, and all of the main characters are developed in depth so you really get to know them and what drives them, the book is punctuated by events, many of them important moments in history, so you're never far from the action, and the plot flows well, sometimes flitting backwards in time by a month or two to catch up with events in one of the other key locations while he's been focusing in on the main characters. It was enjoyable, however I think that partly this was because I studied and am interested in Russian history, I think if Russia or Napoleonic History doesn't interest you it could get pretty boring. The novel itself was very good, however it was let down by the First Epilogue, which nearly made me give up. I wanted to read it as it was tying up loose ends with the characters, etc, but it was far too long for an epilogue, people like Fitzgrald would have fitted a fully entertaining story in the space of it, and Tolstoy, who was prone to philosophise a bit during the novel took this too far in his epilogue, esspecially with some of his Patriotic conclusions about the events of 1815, which in fairness were completed before the Tsar arrived in Belgium and thus it seemed as though the novels even handedness was marginally undermined by over stating the Tsar's position in 1815. That said, it's still a good read, but I think those who call it the best novel ever are getting carried away, its brilliant, but length which allows for the brilliance detracts from the ease of reading.
The first Hemmingway I've read, and I have to say I was surprised by the style of the book, which is written entirely in the first person. It's very fast paced and tells of Fredrick Henry, an American in the Italian army in world war one, it's a very ineteresting depiction on what sometimes seems the forgotten front in the first world war, and paints a vivid picture of the men living in that with the daily knowledge that they were in immense danger. As ciggie said in the comments to a previous thread, it is very much full of testosterone, but I found it worked well, being a novel about war and all, the plot was well driven and the main female character seemed to me to be more developed than the male, but that may be because the lead female, Catharine, reminded me of someone I know. (just don't tell them I said so) I liked the style of this book, esspecially coming on the back of something so in depth as War and Peace, the pace and the twists worked very well, although, as Huw will testify the last three or four pages are possibly the saddest moments in fiction ever. So much for the fairytale I thought it was becoming. Good read, but only if you don't mind sadness in a book.
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Huw / Website (5.9.06 15:02) Well reviewed! Anna Karenina next? I love that book... The characters are so vivid they walk off the page in a few sentences. |
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amillionpieces / Website (5.9.06 15:07) Hehe, Anna Karenina sometime Huw, but I have the rest of the Hemingway and the history box sets to dig into for a bit too, hehe, my pile is growing! |
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Huw / Website (5.9.06 15:37) Wow! All of Hemingway in one go? That's brave! |
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amillionpieces / Website (5.9.06 15:57) Ahh, hehe, I think I'll probably alternate, a couple of them and then something else... |
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ciggie / Website (5.9.06 16:46) Thanks for the name check! Hopefully you can read my book in the not too distant future. I really enjoyed the roundup...don't get too butch and into bull fighting reading all that Hemingway. |
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amillionpieces / Website (5.9.06 16:57) I'm not sure about reading the bull fighting ones, bull fighting is grotesque. I await your own eagerly. You inspired me to try writing myself, I started a short story, but I think have about given up already... |
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huwwilliams (5.9.06 18:59) Yes, but you can't not read 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'...! |
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Arty / Website (5.9.06 21:46) I very nearly bought that W&P book, I mean those Wordsworth Classics all go for 1.99. War and Peace for under 2 quid, I mean! Because in flipping through the pages, I was a bit taken by the fine style of writing, but splitting the book up the middle I was shocked to find it was like two tomes side by side. Long. As you know, I went to secondary school in the US and we read A Farewell to Arms in the American Lit year....about age 16 I think. Back then, to me sadness was purely theoretical; I could write about it and talk about it, but I couldn't feel it yet. I wish I could read it again because 13 years later, sadness is a familiar companion. So I think if I did read it, the pages would be crinkled with my dried tears. |
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amillionpieces / Website (5.9.06 22:13) Oh, yeah, Huw, I'll read that for sure, it sounds like it had more to it than bullfighting, but I'm not so sure about 'Men without women' which sounds a bit hard. Arty, oh, I think you'd still enjoy war and peace, it's worth the read, but like you say its way long, so you need stacks of time to do it. You should reread a farewell to arms, its odd how as kids we can read these things to no effect, like Of Mice and Men, how tragic for poor Lenny, but at the time it was a bit meaningless. |
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Flighty / Website (6.9.06 10:38) I read both many years ago. I might reread the Hemingway, but not the Tolstoy! I'll do a book review entry over on BookBuffs linking to this entry. Cheers. |
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ciggie / Website (6.9.06 10:43) get writing AMP...don't give up, you have a good turn of phrase. Writing is like exercise - you've got to train yourself before it comes easy. |
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sppadic / Website (6.9.06 12:02) wow..matey..u actually read war and peace...i salute u..i once took the book..and read the first few pages..and decided that i couldnt handle it..that was 12 years ago...ahh sadly my reading book days are all but over...i wish i could get focussed and start the habit again...but well done matey....now Tv shows and general couch potato stuff..theres something i believe i can sink my teeth into..:-) .. |
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amillionpieces / Website (6.9.06 15:09) Flighty, thank you  Thats appreciated
Ciggie, hmmm, I may keep up a little longer, but I lack longevity I move on between 'scenes' too quick, I think. sppad, you should give some shorter ones a try, like Fitzgerald, Great Gatsby is a heck of a book, and pretty short to get you back into reading, as is The Thirty Nine Steps. |
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cigs / Website (6.9.06 16:55) It won't let me comment in the latest entry! 1) Seymour Stein - Belle and Sebastian 3) Take it or leave it - The Strokes 6) This is only a modern rock song - Belle and Sebastian 18) Ratrap - The Boomtown Rats Bryan Adams...for shame! lol |
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amillionpieces / Website (6.9.06 17:01) Ciggie!! Four! Nice one. And yes, I am suitably ashamed! But at least I was honest, I could have skipped! |
