So summer finally arrived and with sunny days outnumbering
rainy ones the amount of time I’ve spent in doors, bored, on my laptop has
rapidly diminished; hence my attempts at blogging tailed off a bit.
Sunshine makes sitting around doing nothing so much better
and consequently I’ve spent a lot of time lying around outside BUT most
importantly and unsurprisingly I have at all times had a book in my hand.
I’ll be posting a few reviews of the books I’ve been reading.
If you’ve run out of things to read, aren’t sure where to start next or are
just avoiding reading your books for next term, hopefully at least one of these
will catch your eye. Here are the first four –watch out for the next post!
Be Awesome by Hadley Freeman
Everyone should read this book. This is one I chose having
vaguely heard of Hadley Freeman as a writer for the New York Times; normally I steer
clear of all books that claim to be “self-help” or “guides to life”. However,
this book has dramatically changed my opinion. Be Awesome is funny engaging and
honestly true. I frequently found myself laughing aloud at her blunt attitude
to shaving, relationships, work and how to cope with friends who have babies.
Even though it’s captioned a “modern life for modern ladies” Freeman touches
on world issues that are relevant to both sexes. It’s not exclusively for women
–it just focuses on women. Not because she’s a mad “feminist” (in the incorrect
sense of the word) who thinks women are more important, but because she
(obviously) knows more about how social expectations affect women than how they
affect men. By the end of the book you’re no longer referring to her as
Freeman, but Hadley; her relaxed style makes the book seem more like a
conversation than a 200 page critical study of humankind. You can dip in and out of it easily –it’s not
like Game of Thrones with so many characters a three day break means you have
to look up what you’ve previously read on spark notes. It’s a light, laughable
read I would thoroughly recommend.
The English by Matt Rudd
I was slightly disappointed with this book. After having
read Matt Rudd’s columns I was expecting something funnier and more original.
Don’t get me wrong it’s certainly not a bad book. The topics Rudd has chosen –the
office, the garden, the commute, the kitchen, the bedroom - are all entertainingly
presented but I can’t help feeling it’s been stretched a little bit. It could
have made ten very amusing and fantastic articles, but as a book, the uniquely
funny points have been interspersed with clichés which dull Rudd’s hilarious moments.
Nonetheless, worth a read even just prove that people do actually let strangers
come to see their gardens.
The Alchemist by Ben Jonson
Going back in time a bit, this is something I’ve had on my
bookshelf for months. I’ve always felt a bit sorry for Jonson. It saddens me
that someone who was more successful than Shakespeare in his lifetime is now
almost forgotten. Well not in the literary world, but at least in the real
world. True Elizabethan Literature scholars often claim his plays to be far
superior to the Bard’s –unfortunately for Jonson I love far too much (possibly
too much) for him to ever persuade me of that. The Alchemist is a very clever
book. When reading it you cannot help but be aware of the intellectual
superiority of its author. At times this makes it a little daunting for the
reader but with a good edition and some handy notes you can soon gloss over any
blanks in your knowledge and enjoy the complex game of trickery and acts of “magic”
that make this one of the most cleverly constructed and funny plays I’ve read.
However, if you’re a bit nervous of the classics this probably isn’t a good
place to start. The Alchemist is meant to be performed and with the knowing
glances and sneaky winks of Elizabethan actors this play would be far more
enjoyable.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
This again disappointed me. I should really learn not to
believe the hype and then I won’t be so irritated when supposedly great books
turn out to be only average. Although Heart of Darkness gives a really
interesting insight into colonialism it doesn’t delve particularly deep. True
it gives an alternative view on the concept of civilisation, but the
protagonist seems too passive. He does question certain big issues such as the
treatment of natives, but he doesn’t necessarily answer those questions; he
dithers. But admittedly it leaves the reader to decide their own opinion and I
like to have an opinion. Perhaps Conrad’s novel is a true success in its
failure to satisfy. It stayed with me for days and even caused me to re-read
certain descriptions in order to try and guess what Charles Marlowe is actually
thinking. A curious one and at just over a hundred pages will be finished in a morning
but will furnish your thoughts for a week.
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