Book List 2006
Progress: 22/45 • update
Ask me about any of these books if you want a review.
01. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
02. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
03. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
04. Away Laughing on a Fast Camel by Louise Rennison
05. Lizard by Banana Yoshimoto
06. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
07. White Oleander by Janet Fitch
08. Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut
09. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
10. Candide by Voltaire
11. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
12. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
13. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dosoevsky
14. The Communist Manifesto by Friedrich Engels & Karl Marx
15. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
16. We the Living by Ayn Rand
17. Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Murakami
18. Dubliners by James Joyce
19. This Side of Paradise by Fitzgerald
20. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
21. Answers: the Best of Her Q&A by Ayn Rand
22. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo
23. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
24. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Currently Reading:
Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
Books to Read
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Ninety-Three by Victor Hugo
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
I think Ayn Rand said it best, "[Madame Bovary] says, 'Man should not aspire to have values.'...a woman should not be romantic." (Ayn Rand's Answers.) With this in mind, I couldn't stand the book; I almost didn't finish it. The problem with Madame Bovary is that not only do I despise the theme, but it could have at least been better presented. The issue here lies in the fact that Madame Bovary herself was prone to bad decisions; if she had been heroic and failed, then the point would have been much stronger. As it stands, she was idiotic, and thus only suffered the consequences. She had no idea what she wanted in life--and that's apparent. But I certainly don't find this applicable to everyone; Madame Bovary is one in a large number of people.
Dubliners by James Joyce
I've said this before, but I'll post it here again: I stopped reading Dubliners less than halfway through because I lost interest in the stories. I don't deny the story of it's literary merit; enjoying a story and recognizing its artistic value are separate things. However, with the theme of "stagnancy," the book by nature is going to be boring. I enjoy progress and compelling storylines, and Dubliners has neither. If you're at all considering in picking this up, I found An Encounter to be the most interesting.
Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Murakami
The book opens with the essential idea: "I'm a narrator who can't tell up from down, because HELL, why should I trust my senses?! I'm only HUMAN." Now, you know that I am obsessed with the capabilities of mankind, so reading this was much more than I can stand.
The rest of the story follows with an absurd and confusing plot--because, after all, you know only as much as THIS narrator can tell you--which isn't a lot, and never comes to be much more than that. The narrators allow themselves to be thrown from one place to the next without much thought as to why they are doing things. They don't investigate anything, and they don't care.
But aside from that, the characters aren't even driven by IDEAS--they're driven by social norms that would take place in a "normal" conversation or a "normal" story. (I didn't think these things could be quantified until I read this book.) They make no convictions. They're mirrors. The only character with redeeming qualities in the story is the old man, the scientist. He invents, he makes convictions, he has a consistent personality. The rest of them have no personality, no character, no defining quality.
Additionally, the philosophy of the book--an idea that two realities can coexist on the same plane at the same time--is proven utterly wrong by the fact that the two co-running stories can't be typed a-top one another. HAHA. The book is ridden with contradictions--most from which spring from this one idea. Others are just technical errors.
Inconsistency, absurdity, and confusion are the defining themes of this book--and I have a feeling this was unintentional.
The Communist Manifesto by Friedrich Engels & Karl Marx
Nonfiction! YAY! I recommend EVERYONE reads this "essay," because it's breaks down the basics of the philosophy and the intententions of the party. It's really helpful to have read it when books/history professors/anyone or thing makes a reference to it. But for my opinion--I actually enjoyed reading it because it was so STUPID. One would think it was practically written in an absurd tone of voice, but no--it's completely serious. I just find Communism to be so absurd it's comical. INDIVIDUALITY? PRIVATE PROPERTY? REAPING THE BENEFITS OF LABOR AND INTELLIGENCE?! Psh, you bourgeois capitalists are something else.
We the Living by Ayn Rand
For now: the best book I've read. I LOVED We the Living, because it damns Communism and shows you WHY, because the characters are strong and "elven" (as Catherine would say--though sometimes I find this a problem in her stories), and because everything written in the book is there because it's completely necessary. It also progresses in terms in character adaptation and plot and has a compelling storyline--things I talked about as being important to me in enjoying a book. So there you have it.
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Okay, Okay. I know you all are getting tired of reading about Ayn Rand in my journal, but she is the genius responsible for two of the best books I have ever read, and I've read a lot (but that's irrelevant).
The Fountainhead embodies everything I've ever valued about humanity and words it in a way so utterly logical and beautiful; it describes convictions I've held since I was young, and proves to me you can achieve happiness by upholding these convictions and living by them; and of course, answers questions I've had in a way that makes sense. I could go into specifics, but that's for another time (You can always ask me if you'd like, though).
For 700 pages (size has never mattered to me, but for those of you who look at long books and scream "OMG!!"), the plot is compelling and incredibly interesting. Above that, Ayn Rand's style is direct; she doesn't salt the story with unnecessary descriptions and obscure wording. So if you claim to be "unintelligent" or "not a good reader," I'm telling you you really can't go wrong with this story.
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo
I finished The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, or The Notre-Dame of Paris as it should have been called. Why do the publishers insist on calling it by the wrong title, fully aware of the fact that Hugo hated it? I'm sure it's for popularity's sake--you know, more people are familiar with the Hunchback, even though he isn't the focal point of the novel.
With that aside, I loved the novel. The characters are all extremely well-developed and the plot progresses in a logical (and exciting!) manner. There are historical "essays" and lavish descriptions of buildings that also tie into the novel and are extremely interesting--especially as told by this historian-narrator, who likes to insert his own ideas at times. But above all, the novel is heroic and beautiful; though it's not necessarily happy, there are characters in the story who live for justice and know what it means to love. There are characters who don't, and they are punished accordingly. I don't want to go into lavish detail about the novel, in case you haven't read it, so I'll stop here. But I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who loves a good, heroic story.
Ask me about any of these books if you want a review.
01. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
02. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
03. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
04. Away Laughing on a Fast Camel by Louise Rennison
05. Lizard by Banana Yoshimoto
06. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
07. White Oleander by Janet Fitch
08. Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut
09. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
10. Candide by Voltaire
11. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
12. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
13. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dosoevsky
14. The Communist Manifesto by Friedrich Engels & Karl Marx
15. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
16. We the Living by Ayn Rand
17. Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Murakami
18. Dubliners by James Joyce
19. This Side of Paradise by Fitzgerald
20. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
21. Answers: the Best of Her Q&A by Ayn Rand
22. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo
23. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
24. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Currently Reading:
Books to Read
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
I think Ayn Rand said it best, "[Madame Bovary] says, 'Man should not aspire to have values.'...a woman should not be romantic." (Ayn Rand's Answers.) With this in mind, I couldn't stand the book; I almost didn't finish it. The problem with Madame Bovary is that not only do I despise the theme, but it could have at least been better presented. The issue here lies in the fact that Madame Bovary herself was prone to bad decisions; if she had been heroic and failed, then the point would have been much stronger. As it stands, she was idiotic, and thus only suffered the consequences. She had no idea what she wanted in life--and that's apparent. But I certainly don't find this applicable to everyone; Madame Bovary is one in a large number of people.
Dubliners by James Joyce
I've said this before, but I'll post it here again: I stopped reading Dubliners less than halfway through because I lost interest in the stories. I don't deny the story of it's literary merit; enjoying a story and recognizing its artistic value are separate things. However, with the theme of "stagnancy," the book by nature is going to be boring. I enjoy progress and compelling storylines, and Dubliners has neither. If you're at all considering in picking this up, I found An Encounter to be the most interesting.
Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Murakami
The book opens with the essential idea: "I'm a narrator who can't tell up from down, because HELL, why should I trust my senses?! I'm only HUMAN." Now, you know that I am obsessed with the capabilities of mankind, so reading this was much more than I can stand.
The rest of the story follows with an absurd and confusing plot--because, after all, you know only as much as THIS narrator can tell you--which isn't a lot, and never comes to be much more than that. The narrators allow themselves to be thrown from one place to the next without much thought as to why they are doing things. They don't investigate anything, and they don't care.
But aside from that, the characters aren't even driven by IDEAS--they're driven by social norms that would take place in a "normal" conversation or a "normal" story. (I didn't think these things could be quantified until I read this book.) They make no convictions. They're mirrors. The only character with redeeming qualities in the story is the old man, the scientist. He invents, he makes convictions, he has a consistent personality. The rest of them have no personality, no character, no defining quality.
Additionally, the philosophy of the book--an idea that two realities can coexist on the same plane at the same time--is proven utterly wrong by the fact that the two co-running stories can't be typed a-top one another. HAHA. The book is ridden with contradictions--most from which spring from this one idea. Others are just technical errors.
Inconsistency, absurdity, and confusion are the defining themes of this book--and I have a feeling this was unintentional.
The Communist Manifesto by Friedrich Engels & Karl Marx
Nonfiction! YAY! I recommend EVERYONE reads this "essay," because it's breaks down the basics of the philosophy and the intententions of the party. It's really helpful to have read it when books/history professors/anyone or thing makes a reference to it. But for my opinion--I actually enjoyed reading it because it was so STUPID. One would think it was practically written in an absurd tone of voice, but no--it's completely serious. I just find Communism to be so absurd it's comical. INDIVIDUALITY? PRIVATE PROPERTY? REAPING THE BENEFITS OF LABOR AND INTELLIGENCE?! Psh, you bourgeois capitalists are something else.
We the Living by Ayn Rand
For now: the best book I've read. I LOVED We the Living, because it damns Communism and shows you WHY, because the characters are strong and "elven" (as Catherine would say--though sometimes I find this a problem in her stories), and because everything written in the book is there because it's completely necessary. It also progresses in terms in character adaptation and plot and has a compelling storyline--things I talked about as being important to me in enjoying a book. So there you have it.
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Okay, Okay. I know you all are getting tired of reading about Ayn Rand in my journal, but she is the genius responsible for two of the best books I have ever read, and I've read a lot (but that's irrelevant).
The Fountainhead embodies everything I've ever valued about humanity and words it in a way so utterly logical and beautiful; it describes convictions I've held since I was young, and proves to me you can achieve happiness by upholding these convictions and living by them; and of course, answers questions I've had in a way that makes sense. I could go into specifics, but that's for another time (You can always ask me if you'd like, though).
For 700 pages (size has never mattered to me, but for those of you who look at long books and scream "OMG!!"), the plot is compelling and incredibly interesting. Above that, Ayn Rand's style is direct; she doesn't salt the story with unnecessary descriptions and obscure wording. So if you claim to be "unintelligent" or "not a good reader," I'm telling you you really can't go wrong with this story.
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo
I finished The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, or The Notre-Dame of Paris as it should have been called. Why do the publishers insist on calling it by the wrong title, fully aware of the fact that Hugo hated it? I'm sure it's for popularity's sake--you know, more people are familiar with the Hunchback, even though he isn't the focal point of the novel.
With that aside, I loved the novel. The characters are all extremely well-developed and the plot progresses in a logical (and exciting!) manner. There are historical "essays" and lavish descriptions of buildings that also tie into the novel and are extremely interesting--especially as told by this historian-narrator, who likes to insert his own ideas at times. But above all, the novel is heroic and beautiful; though it's not necessarily happy, there are characters in the story who live for justice and know what it means to love. There are characters who don't, and they are punished accordingly. I don't want to go into lavish detail about the novel, in case you haven't read it, so I'll stop here. But I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who loves a good, heroic story.