Book Reviews

I know it seems weird that I have gotten to read so much this summer, but I am a huge audiobook listener. I like to listen to audiobooks when we travel because it makes time fly and helps to keep me from getting motion sickness. I also like to listen when I am working around the house. It makes me more motivated to go and work because I can't wait to hear what happens next. I have been trying to read a lot of what most consider to be "classic literature" because I want to keep my mind working while I am not in school. Here is a rundown of some of my most recent reads:

"The Woman in White" - Very Awesome. Not on every classic literature list, but on some. This is one that my book club picked out to read over the summer break because it is very very long. It is considered to be the first mystery. It is told like an investigation. There is a combination of many different narrorator's accounts of a series of events that all combine together to reveal one thing. I'd highly recommend that one to anyone. The language is a bit hard to get into at first, but if you stick with it you'll love it.

"The Odyssey" - The coolest thing about this book is the author. It is beyond me that a story or book could survive for so long. It is debated as to when Homer lived, but it is believed that it was at least 600 B.C. I think it is crazy that we have other quotes, poems, stories and philosophies from ancient Greece. There are many different translations of this story though, but I think the overall story would be the same. I read the translation by W.H.D Rouse which in itself is over 100 years old. It is written in the form of the long poems that tell a story like "Beowolf". I had to read that one for school one time and I can't help but see all of the similarities. It is action-packed and filled with lots of blood and gore and love. But not written as graphically as people write today. It is written very matter-of-factly with lots of indifference to human life. But I think it is a classic because you come out knowing not only about every Greek God & Goddess but their own story and their personality which I thought was interesting. It was a lesson on mythology (which, by the way, I am not sure why that is considered a valuable subject, though interesting) and astrology. It was a good ancient story and I liked it. But I probably won't read it a second time. I think everyone should read it once though.

"The Great Gatsby" - I have to say that though I liked this book; I am not sure why it is considered a classic. I think that most classics are educational in some way. Though this is a pretty good story and is well written, I couldn't see the educational value. Maybe it is just me. Also, I didn't think that Gatsby should qualify as a "Great", in fact I thought he was kindof an idiot. So that one puzzled me. Still, it was a good story, but pretty slow and when it ended I went, "that's it?" Not highly recommended by me. Any thoughts on that one?

"The Jungle" - I really wanted to read this one because it is considered to be one of the most influential books in American history. I knew that this book was a hit to the meat industry in 1905. This book single-handledly made our country start the FDA. That is pretty amazing. What I didn't know is that That is not what the book is about. Sure, he talks about the meat industry in pretty gory detail, but he really was making a huge case for socialism. I am a pretty staunch believer in limited government and free markets, but half-way through this book you are asking where the communist party meets. It is pretty powerful. I read a quote, though I can't find who it's by, but they said "Sinclair wrote this book to hit America in the heart, but he ended up hitting her in the stomach." I read that he does acknowledge that he missed his original intentions and the ending of the book falls really short of the rest of the story. The last few chapters of the book are an all-out propaganda case for socialism. That's where he lost me. I thought it was interesting to have it all spelled out like that, but the story was more convincing than the lecture at the end. What I loved about this book is that it is such a vivid picture of how people lived in Chicago in 1905. It is so capivating as it shows all the gruesome details of that life. But, by showing that way of life he really does expose the issues with capitalism run rampant without any sortof checks or balances. The terrible things happening in the food industry were just one of the fall-outs of a completely corrupted government from top to bottom. It was really sad, depressing, and almost hard to read. But I think this is a book that everyone should read. It is extremely powerful and very well written. It is the polar opposite of "1984" which I read last summer. Both are powerfully convincing in their cases, but I can't help but think there has to be a middle ground somewhere.

I have just started "The Lost Symbol" and so far it does not disappoint. I am a big Dan Brown fan, so I was super excited for this one to come out. I am not excited about either book that my book clubs are reading this month. They seem a bit too light and fluffy compared to what I have been reading. But I will read them just the same. That is the whole point of being part of a book club is reading things that you would never have picked out yourself. It has broadened my horizons. Anyways, that post was a novel (get it?), but it is raining outside so some of my projects are on hold right now anyways.