Mona's place

Feed

A Clockwork Orange

May 12th 2012

By: Mona

No comments

(image taken from http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8810.A_Clockwork_Orange)

Author: Anthony Burgess

Title: A Clockwork Orange

Book Description (goodreads.com)

Told by the central character, Alex, this brilliant, hilarious, and disturbing novel creates an alarming futuristic vision of violence, high technology, and authoritarianism.Anthony Burgess’ 1963 classic stands alongside Orwell’s 1984and Huxley’s Brave New World as a classic of twentieth century post-industrial alienation, often shocking us into a thoughtful exploration of the meaning of free will and the conflict between good and evil.

Personal Note

I loved this book but in the same time I find it impossible to say why. Usually with a book I have a character I like or the plot is amazing – I can’t pinpoint any of these with A Clockwork Orange. It took me a bit to get used to the very weird language and I found all the violent scenes quite extreme. I also cannot agree with the other part, basically taking someone’s choice of good/bad. It seemed to me that those people were just as bad, only in a different setting. Very good read, I’m so glad I finally gave in and took the book from the library, even if I didn’t think I’d enjoy it at all.

BOOKS, Reading List
WWW Wednesdays (May 9)

May 9th 2012

By: Mona

9 comments

WWW Wednesdays are hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading.To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

* What are you currently reading?
* What did you recently finish reading?
* What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading two books right now: “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess and “A Feast for Crows” by George R.R. Martin.

What did you recently finish reading?

I finished “A Storm of Swords” by George R.R. Martin and enjoyed it a lot. Full of twists I didn’t expect at all!

What do you think you’ll read next?

I actually haven’t decided yet, but probably “Midnight’s Children” by Salman Rushdie

BOOKS, WWW Wednesdays
Teaser Tuesdays (May 8)

May 8th 2012

By: Mona

No comments
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
My Teasers:

“Goodness comes from within, 6655321. Goodness is something chosen.”

“A Clockwork Orange” – Anthony Burgess, p. 63
BOOKS, Teaser Tuesdays
The Human Story: Our History from Stone Age to Today

Apr 22nd 2012

By: Mona

No comments

(image taken from http://www.amazon.co.uk/THE-HUMAN-STORY-Paperback-Jul-2005/dp/B007S6C77S/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335100418&sr=1-3)

Author: James C. Davis

Title: The Human Story: Our History from Stone Age to Today

Book Description (amazon.com)

Has there ever been a history of the world as readable as this?In The Human Story, James C. Davis takes us on a journey to ancient times, telling how peoples of the world settled down and founded cities, conquered neighbors, and established religions, and continues over the course of history, when they fought two nearly global wars and journeyed into space.

Davis’s account is swift and clear, never dull or dry. He lightens it with pungent anecdotes and witty quotes. Although this compact volume may not be hard to pick up, it’s definitely hard to put down.

For example, on the death of Alexander the Great, who in a decade had never lost a single battle, and who had staked out an empire that spanned the entire Near East and Egypt, Davis writes: “When they heard how ill he was, the king’s devoted troops insisted on seeing him. He couldn’t speak, but as his soldiers — every one — filed by in silence, Alexander’s eyes uttered his farewells. He died in June 323 B.C., at the ripe old age of thirty-two.”

In similar fashion Davis recounts Russia’s triumph in the space race as it happened on an autumn night in 1957: “A bugle sounded, flames erupted, and with a roar like rolling thunder, Russia’s rocket lifted off. It bore aloft the earth’s first artificial satellite, a shiny sphere the size of a basketball. Its name was Sputnik, meaning ‘companion’ or ‘fellow traveler’ (through space). The watchers shouted, ‘Off. She’s off. Our baby’s off!’ Some danced; others kissed and waved their arms.”

Though we live in an age of many doubts, James C. Davis thinks we humans are advancing. As The Human Story ends, he concludes, “The world’s still cruel; that’s understood, / But once was worse. So far so good.”

Personal Note

I wondered from the start how you can put all history in 400 pages or so and my answer after reading this is: you can’t! I did not enjoy the book at all and felt it was all over the place. Very little detail for important events and I don’t feel like I have learned anything from it. The attempted humour also annoyed me at times. I don’t like saying bad things about books, but I just cannot recommend this.

BOOKS, Reading List
Robert Schumann: Life and Death of a Musician

Apr 21st 2012

By: Mona

No comments

(image take from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Robert-Schumann-Life-Death-Musician/dp/0300163983/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335012787&sr=8-1-spell)

Author: John Worthen

Title: Robert Schumann: Life and Death of a Musician

Book Description (amazon.co.uk)

This candid, intimate, and compellingly written new biography offers a completely fresh account of Robert Schumann’s life. It confronts the traditional perception of the doom-laden Romantic, forced by depression into a life of helpless, poignant sadness. John Worthen’s scrupulous attention to the original sources reveals Schumann to have been an astute, witty, articulate and immensely determined individual who, with little support from his background in provincial Saxony, painstakingly taught himself his craft as a musician, overcame problem after problem in his professional life, and married the woman he loved after a tremendous battle with his father-in-law. Schumann was neither manic depressive nor schizophrenic, though he struggled with financial problems and illness. He worked prodigiously hard to develop his range of musical styles and to earn his living, only to be struck down, at the age of forty-four, by a vile and incurable disease. Worthen’s biography effectively demystifies a figure frequently regarded as a Romantic enigma. It frees Schumann from one hundred and fifty years of myth-making and unjustified psychological speculation. It reveals him, for the first time, as a brilliant, passionate, resolute musician and thoroughly creative human being, and as the composer of arguably the best music of his generation.

Personal Note

I enjoy reading biographies and although I didn’t have a special interest in Schumann, after hearing a lot about his life on BBC Radio 3, I decided to find out some more. I thought the book was very well written and researched – it was objective and used all the sources available.

BOOKS, Reading List
Teaser Tuesdays (Jan 31)

Jan 31st 2012

By: Mona

4 comments
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
My Teasers:

“I’m no expert, but as far as I know, yes, those living spirits all spring up out of negative emotions. Most of the extreme feelings people have tend to be at once very individual and very negative.”

“Kafka on the Shore” – Haruki Murakami, p. 243
BOOKS, General, Teaser Tuesdays
Musing Mondays (Jan 30th)

Jan 30th 2012

By: Mona

3 comments

Hosted by Should Be Reading

This week’s musing asks…

How far along are you in your current read before you start thinking about what you’ll read next?

My Answer:

I usually start thinking about the next read halfway through the current one. It also depends on how entertaining the book I am reading is…sometimes I don’t even have time to start thinking about a new one. I usually have a mental TBR list, formed by the books I have borrowed from the library – those tend to take priority.

BOOKS, General, Musing Mondays
A Study in Scarlet

Jan 25th 2012

By: Mona

No comments

(image taken from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Study-Scarlet-Pocket-Penguin-Classics/dp/0141034335/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327506217&sr=1-2)

Author: Arthur Conan Doyle

Title: A Study in Scarlet

Book Description (amazon.co.uk)

When Dr John Watson takes rooms in Baker Street with amateur detective Sherlock Holmes, he has no idea that he is about to enter a shadowy world of criminality and violence. Accompanying Holmes to an ill-omened house in south London, Watson is startled to find a dead man whose face is contorted in a rictus of horror. There is no mark of violence on the body yet a single word is written on the wall in blood. Dr Watson is as baffled as the police, but Holmes’s brilliant analytical skills soon uncover a trail of murder, revenge and lost love.

Personal Note

I’ll admit, reading the Sherlock Holmes books didn’t cross my mind until I fell in love with the TV show Sherlock. That being said, I liked “A Study in Scarlet” a lot and I’m looking forward to read the next books. It’s fast paced, I like the characters and it’s original. The one thing that bothered me was the sudden change of point of view and plot in the middle of the book. For a few pages, I was more than confused…but I did like how it all came together in the last pages. It’s a very short read, but enjoyable.

BOOKS, Reading List
WWW Wednesdays (Jan 25)

Jan 25th 2012

By: Mona

1 comment

WWW Wednesdays are hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading.To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

* What are you currently reading?
* What did you recently finish reading?
* What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading two books at the moment. “Robert Schumann. Life and Death of a Musician” by John Worthen. This is an ongoing read, and because it’s a large book and i’s taking me a while, I’ve decided to also have a second book to read at a normal pace. Therefore, I’m reading “Kafka on the Shore” by Haruki Murakami.

What did you recently finish reading?

The most recent finished book is “A Study In Scarlet” by Arhur Conan Doyle which I’ve enjoyed a lot. I think for once I am glad I saw the TV show (Sherlock) first, because it somehow made the reading experience even better. I was a bit confused by the sudden shift in plot halfway through the book, but I liked how nicely it linked back to the initial part by the end.

What do you think you’ll read next?

I haven’t decided yet, but I’m oscilating between “Youth Without Youth” by Mircea Eliade and “True Things About Me” by Deborah Kay Davies.

BOOKS, WWW Wednesdays
Teaser Tuesdays (Jan 17)

Jan 17th 2012

By: Mona

5 comments
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
My Teasers:

As he spoke there was a sharp ring at the bell. Sherlock Holmes rose softly and moved his chair in the direction of the door.

“A Study in Scarlet” – Arthur Conan Doyle, p.54
BOOKS, General, Teaser Tuesdays
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 12
- >