Making Good on Resolutions – Reading More Classics

After reviewing my progress against my reading goals for the year, I realized I was planning to read more classics but by the month of May had only read one. So, this month I have read two more classics and loved both of them.

The first one was John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. I had never read anything by Steinbeck and after reading this short novella, I am definitely planning to read more of his books. The story is about two drifters traveling around California picking up odd jobs and dreaming of one day getting their own place and enjoying a simple life on a farm. George is definitely more of a leader in this pair. He makes all the decisions and takes care of Lennie, a child-like man of immense physical strength who most likely has some sort of mental disability. It is a very short and sad book. I can’t really say much about the plot as I don’t want to ruin it for those who have not read it. The story is very poignant and powerful. It is amazing that Steinbeck is able to pack so much into such a short book. I definitely recommend this one.

The second classic I read was To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee. I know a lot of people read it in high school, but I never have, and now with Harper Lee’s new book coming out this summer, I really wanted to read the first one. This book is amazing. I loved everything about it: the writing, the setting, the plot, the characters.  Lee is the maters of transporting her readers into a small Alabama town in the 1930s and relaying a heart-breaking story of racial injustice as seen through the eyes of an 8-year old girl named Scout. Through childlike innocence, we get to know the inhabitants of the town with all their prejudices, faults and virtues. Truly, out of the mouth of the babe comes out the unmasking of hypocrisy and lies. If you never read this book, you definitely should.

"Sula" by Toni Morrison

This is another of those novels that probably gets over-analyzed by literary critics, college professors and literature students. I personally had to take a few days to ponder the book after I finished reading it before I could put my impressions into words. Without a doubt, like other Morrison's books, the novel tackles issues of racial, social and gender inequality and injustice. It also examines motherhood, marriage, what makes a family normal or dysfunctional, what things are accepted by the community and which ones make a person an outcast.

To me, "Sula" is first and foremost a story of friendship between Sula and Nel. Regardless of what happens in their lives (Sula and Nel are torn apart first by distance and then by a bitter betrayal and pain), in the end the only thing both of them grieve is their friendship. Friendship is the thing that lasted above all. It also occurred to me today that perhaps Sula is just an alter-ego of Nel. Nel is this perfect, good and likable (for the most part) person whose passions and wild proclivities are early tamed by her mother. Sula, on the other hand, is the ultimate anti-hero in the story. She challenges all norms, and is for all intents and purposes, considered to be a devil by the citizens of the Bottom. Their families are also complete opposites of each other. Perhaps Sula is that wild streak, that insatiable curiosity in each upright and good woman that yearns to burst out and challenge everything in life. In the end, this alter-ego hurts Nel, and then dies, but Nel still mourns its passing because she remembers growing up together. It was a part of her.... The reason I started thinking along these lines is because the novel is called "Sula" but a lot of pages in the story are dedicated to Nel and her family. So perhaps Morrison writes about the evil one in each of us... And which one is evil? Needless to say, I enjoyed the book tremendously, I am still enjoying over-analyzing it in my own way and I highly recommend it to all book-lovers.

Reading Epic Fantasy: George R.R. Martin's "A Game of Thrones"

I've had a copy of A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin sitting on my shelf for probably over a year. I've heard so many great things about the book and the show, but I was still intimidated both by the size of the novel and the genre. I had a terrible experience reading Lord of the Rings by Tolkien a few years ago, mostly because I found the book to be incredibly drawn out and frankly quite boring.  So for a while I honestly felt that high fantasy was not for me.  But then at the end of April, sort of on a whim, I decided to give A Game of Thrones a try. It is a fantastic book. Finishing it gave me a real sense of accomplishment. Not only is it an 800 plus page book with super small print and a very dense text, it is an epic fantasy with a complex world, a multitude of characters and numerous points of view. I am really glad I picked it up. It definitely lives up to all the hype. I loved the world and the characters. Martin is an amazing story teller, who can write some beautiful prose. His world is based on medieval Europe with knights and keeps and jousts. It also has dragons and supernatural wolves and evil creatures called the Others (who are probably akin to vampires or at least some sort of undead beings). There is also a lot of politics, court intrigue, backstabbing and coming of age stories. Martin has been quoted to say that those who do not read live only one life. Well, reading his book, one definitely lives at least a dozen lives through the eyes of his characters. Going into the book, I was a bit apprehensive because I'd heard that Martin kills off his main characters quite regularly throughout the series. But being warned about this helped me not to get attached to any of them and just know that no one is safe in his world. I really enjoyed reading this book. It took me roughly two weeks to get through it and I had to take a break half way through to read some graphic novels just for a change of pace, but overall, I do highly recommend the entire Song of Ice and Fire series. I will definitely continue with it after taking a well-deserved break to read something a bit shorter.

"The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton

I cannot believe I waited so long to pick up this book! It was absolutely amazing.

The story is set in the 1960s and is written from the perspective of a fourteen year old "greaser" named Ponyboy. The teenagers in this town are divided into greasers and socials. Greasers live on the poor side of town. Lots of them have rough family situations, run-ins with the law, bad grades at school and no real prospects in life. The socials on the other hand are the rich kids, who drive expensive cars and wear trendy clothes. To them belongs the future and all the best that life has to offer. At least, this is the view that Ponyboy has. The two groups are pretty much at war all the time. Our main character Ponyboy lives with his two older brothers. Their parents were killed in an accident, and the oldest brother Darryl had to forgo his dream of going to college in order to support his two younger brothers. The second brother, Sodapop, has dropped out of high school and works at a gas station.  Ponyboy is the youngest and the smartest in the family. He makes good grades, likes to read and watch sunsets and overall does not belong in the rough neighborhood where he lives.

Hinton does a great job describing the life of teenage boys that live seemingly outside of any adult supervision or help. Their lives are governed by the laws of the street where being tough means protecting your buddy even if he committed a crime. When I read the book I clearly remembered what it was like being a teenager and having to build your own relationships with your peers, where your interactions are not necessarily what your parents know of your life. Without giving away too much of the plot, I would just like to say that it is a great story about the social tension among teenagers, their everyday struggles, real dangers and secret hopes.

I was also completely blown away by the fact that his book was written by a sixteen year old girl. In fact, S.E. Hinton was 15 when she started writing it. She had to use initials instead of her full name because at the time, the publisher thought that no one would believe a girl could right such a book! This is definitely one of my favorite books of all time. I highly recommend it.

Revisiting my New Year Resolutions about Reading

In January I posted a list of reading goals I have for myself for 2015. Since we are 4 months into 2015, I think this is a good time to look back over the list and see how I am doing.

First of all, I set a goal to read 70 books this year. So far, I have read 36 (soon to be 37) books, which means that I am more than half way done after only 4 months of reading. Great job on this one!

Since I did not do so well with reading classics last year (I read only one), I planned to read more classics in 2015. Well, so far I've read one: Metamorphosis by Kafka. I still have 8 months, so definitely need to squeeze in a couple of classics in there.

My next challenge to myself was to read a book in Russian. Well, since I actually read Metamorphosis in Russian, I guess I kind of killed two birds with one stone there. But I do plan on reading more books in Russian. I already have several in my Kindle and will try to get to them as soon as possible.

Next up was to read a biography or two. I did pretty well in this category. Wild by Cheryl Strayed is definitely biographical in nature and I have just finished reading it in April. In addition, the three graphic novels by Marjane Satrapi Persepolis, Persepolis 2 and Embroideries are all biographical and you can see my reviews of them on this blog.

Then, I wanted to read at least one book written entirely in verse. I have not completed this challenge yet. However, I did download Rumble by Ellen Hopkins onto my e-reader, so will definitely be reading it soon.

Finally, I was planning to read several series, and I am doing great with this goal. I have read 6 duo-logies/series this year so far - Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi, Eon/Eona by Alison Goodman, Seraphina by Rachel Hartman, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, The Rosie Project/The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion and The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke. I have also started new series so definitely doing great on this goal.

To sum up, I am very pleased with my progress towards my reading goals so far. Definitely need to make a push on classics and books in Russian, or maybe just read some Russian classics.