April wrap up
Here are my thoughts on some of the books I read in April.
I capture the castle
This charming novel had been on my radar since the first semester of the year back in the autumn when my creative writing lecturer had started speaking about it's adorable dynamic in a particularly ill attended seminar. I typically do make a point of noting down any books lecturers mention that I havent already read but he droned on for a couple minutes with blushing cheeks and a borderline chesire cat size smile growing on his face, a semi rarity for him so it stuck in my mind all year. Naturally, midnight of week two of qurrantine seemed the perfect the time to impulsively order the book a teacher I barely know and was pretty sure loathed me told a group of us who had barely anything in common we would cherish and boy was I glad I did. The narrative certainly wasnt anything revolutionary but if you wan't a cutesey romantic book with a nostalgic flair that will speak to the soul of your six year old self who would cuddle her Jaqueline Wilson and Cathy Cassidy library books swearing one day she too would be an author just like them because gosh darn it, she could be anything then you will most definitly get a kick out of this one. The setting is a dream come true, the pacing is incredibly natural, the character names are even whimsical. Whilst you won't be losing hours doting on the political symbolism of this bildungsroman you will certainly not be sorry you read this. Think Great expectations' younger female cousin.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
Wow. This book was impactful. This book tells the tale of a real life Slovakian Jew named Lale Sokolov (This becomes his surname towards the end) who brutally endured the horrors of the second world war in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. The narrative follows him arriving at the camp, securing a job as the tattoist artist permanently marking other jews, falling in love and into starvation et cetera. So much happens in this book but I don't wait to spoil any of its events because they are remarkable to read. This is a story that will never leave me. After i finished up reading this one I scouted Goodreads to see how my fellow readers felt, seeking solace and understanding on the plattform I was stunned to come across reviews discussing how this story was a waste on the author but I disagree. I thin the reason Morris' book is an inernational bestseller is because she steps back from flowery descriptions, similies and metaphors which would most likely result in her being critiqued for romanticisng the war. I believe it to be due to her stripping back the narrative, undressing it to show the story for what it really is in its raw naked form that it packs such a punch with its readers. There are frequently books published about world war two but they are not all bestsellers. The absence of buttery, length Nabokivian like sentences allow the narrative to flow, to make the reader flip the page without realising they cant put the book down. This was one of the only five star books I have read this year. My only critique would be to myself for shamefully letting marinate on my shelf for an entire year after I purchased it from the Oxford Literary festival during one of my breaks.
Farenheit 451
Unconventionally, this was not my first Bradbury novel. This classic is oddly very fast paced and for the first time in a long time I found a novel to be too short. It was amazing to me but it also felt like a draft, incomplete and devoid of some flesh although it was unclear to me how much. However, it has become evident to me in my reflection that this is the point, set in a world criminally lacking in books, Bradbury deprives readers in this world of words so we too can experience to a degree what our protagonist feels. The burning of books is depicted in this world as a blissful blaze that is neccessary and right, a grotesque notion exposing Bradbury's intention of satire. The walls in the home, the shelter of the precious nuclear family unit, America's foundation, are plastered with screens in attempt to convey mass media is not being consumed by us but rather consuming us, our humanity as a race, our free will. It has been rotted by these devices we think provide us with pleasure and intellect. The true provider of these things, books are now the devil in a reverse society which has it all backwards thus exposing the extent of our own stupiditity in a society constantly heading further in the direction of Bradburys speculative fiction world. This book will make you think. I will definitly be picking up more Bradbury in the future.
By the pricking of my thumbs something wicked this way comes- an influc of more people into the reading world due to the current global pandemic.
I capture the castle
This charming novel had been on my radar since the first semester of the year back in the autumn when my creative writing lecturer had started speaking about it's adorable dynamic in a particularly ill attended seminar. I typically do make a point of noting down any books lecturers mention that I havent already read but he droned on for a couple minutes with blushing cheeks and a borderline chesire cat size smile growing on his face, a semi rarity for him so it stuck in my mind all year. Naturally, midnight of week two of qurrantine seemed the perfect the time to impulsively order the book a teacher I barely know and was pretty sure loathed me told a group of us who had barely anything in common we would cherish and boy was I glad I did. The narrative certainly wasnt anything revolutionary but if you wan't a cutesey romantic book with a nostalgic flair that will speak to the soul of your six year old self who would cuddle her Jaqueline Wilson and Cathy Cassidy library books swearing one day she too would be an author just like them because gosh darn it, she could be anything then you will most definitly get a kick out of this one. The setting is a dream come true, the pacing is incredibly natural, the character names are even whimsical. Whilst you won't be losing hours doting on the political symbolism of this bildungsroman you will certainly not be sorry you read this. Think Great expectations' younger female cousin.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
Wow. This book was impactful. This book tells the tale of a real life Slovakian Jew named Lale Sokolov (This becomes his surname towards the end) who brutally endured the horrors of the second world war in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. The narrative follows him arriving at the camp, securing a job as the tattoist artist permanently marking other jews, falling in love and into starvation et cetera. So much happens in this book but I don't wait to spoil any of its events because they are remarkable to read. This is a story that will never leave me. After i finished up reading this one I scouted Goodreads to see how my fellow readers felt, seeking solace and understanding on the plattform I was stunned to come across reviews discussing how this story was a waste on the author but I disagree. I thin the reason Morris' book is an inernational bestseller is because she steps back from flowery descriptions, similies and metaphors which would most likely result in her being critiqued for romanticisng the war. I believe it to be due to her stripping back the narrative, undressing it to show the story for what it really is in its raw naked form that it packs such a punch with its readers. There are frequently books published about world war two but they are not all bestsellers. The absence of buttery, length Nabokivian like sentences allow the narrative to flow, to make the reader flip the page without realising they cant put the book down. This was one of the only five star books I have read this year. My only critique would be to myself for shamefully letting marinate on my shelf for an entire year after I purchased it from the Oxford Literary festival during one of my breaks.
Farenheit 451
Unconventionally, this was not my first Bradbury novel. This classic is oddly very fast paced and for the first time in a long time I found a novel to be too short. It was amazing to me but it also felt like a draft, incomplete and devoid of some flesh although it was unclear to me how much. However, it has become evident to me in my reflection that this is the point, set in a world criminally lacking in books, Bradbury deprives readers in this world of words so we too can experience to a degree what our protagonist feels. The burning of books is depicted in this world as a blissful blaze that is neccessary and right, a grotesque notion exposing Bradbury's intention of satire. The walls in the home, the shelter of the precious nuclear family unit, America's foundation, are plastered with screens in attempt to convey mass media is not being consumed by us but rather consuming us, our humanity as a race, our free will. It has been rotted by these devices we think provide us with pleasure and intellect. The true provider of these things, books are now the devil in a reverse society which has it all backwards thus exposing the extent of our own stupiditity in a society constantly heading further in the direction of Bradburys speculative fiction world. This book will make you think. I will definitly be picking up more Bradbury in the future.
By the pricking of my thumbs something wicked this way comes- an influc of more people into the reading world due to the current global pandemic.
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