Abandoned this one too. I really wanted to like this - it started off SO good. I was immediately grasped by the story of Jim Hawkins and the coincidenAbandoned this one too. I really wanted to like this - it started off SO good. I was immediately grasped by the story of Jim Hawkins and the coincidental appearance of a pirate at his parents' inn. It was when the crew got to Treasure Island that lost me. I was bored by all the nautical language and with scene after scene of fighting. The last straw for me I think was when Long John Silver offered Captain Smollett a truce - leave us the treasure and you can go unharmed. WHAT AN IDIOT YOU ARE CAPTAIN SMOLLETT. Take the deal and you and the lives of your crew would've been saved. I didn't care enough about any of these characters after that happened to continue reading. I might've enjoyed this more as a child and maybe I'll re-visit it someday. But as for now, I'm closing the pages of this pirate story....more
I honestly did not care for this novel at all. Dare I say it, I found it boring. Just pages upon pages of plot-less language. This book did not have theI honestly did not care for this novel at all. Dare I say it, I found it boring. Just pages upon pages of plot-less language. This book did not have the same magic as All The Pretty Horses. In that novel, I felt I was traveling along with John Grady Cole both physically and emotionally. Here, while Billy did take me all around Mexico with him, I just felt I completely missed the point of what was happening and could not connect with him as a main character. Ultimately I found him to be a coward who left his brother in Mexico to die.
Again, maybe finishing the trilogy will help me understand this installment more. But for now, I will put it to rest knowing that I will never pick it up again....more
My first experience with travel literature. This time, we are traveling to Tibet, specifically, Mount Kailas. Kailas is a sacred mountain to 1/5 of thMy first experience with travel literature. This time, we are traveling to Tibet, specifically, Mount Kailas. Kailas is a sacred mountain to 1/5 of the world's population and is present within the religion of many different cultures. After the death of his last living family member, Colin Thubron decides to take the pilgrimage that so many other religious devout have done prior to him.
I did not like this book. I thought it had all the elements to be good but ultimately fell flat. Thubron was particularly talented in his descriptions of his interactions with the local Nepali families. He offers the reader a glimpse into striking poverty. Within this poverty are good people desperately hoping for their families to break the cycle and make a difference. Thubron constantly compares himself to the locals he encounters -
But I belong helplessly to another culture. He is focused on spiritual continuance, while I am overborne by individual death. What is it, I ask, that survives to be reincarnated?
I believe this novel would have been absolutely fantastic if Thubron continued in this thread and documented his interactions with all he met on Mt. Kailas. Thubron has a talent for bringing an atmosphere and people to life, but does not use this talent in the novel. The book became bogged down with religious descriptions of Hinduism and Buddhism. These descriptions and historical narratives made the book, dare I say it....BORING. And this is extremely disappointing because Thubron is doing something DIFFICULT and EXCITING. I would've rather read about his struggles and the actual journey up the mountain. Even though Thubron felt he had to include descriptions of the religious cultures, they caused me to lose sight of Thubron's actual experience because there would be pages of historical background that didn't add anything whatsoever to his travel story.
I truly would not recommend this book to anyone. As a genre, so far, I am not impressed....more
This book is floating somewhere between a two and three star read for me. Unfortunately, Adams has lost me. I believe his writing is getting a bit tooThis book is floating somewhere between a two and three star read for me. Unfortunately, Adams has lost me. I believe his writing is getting a bit too cocky - it is either that, or he is trying way too hard to be witty with his story-telling. I found the plot of this book to be completely pointless - there was so much buildup at the end of book #3 about God's Final Message to Creation. I thought that this book would have been dedicated to the journey to find this message. Instead, we get 150 pages of a forced, awkward, love story between Arthur and Fenchurch. Dare I say it... I just found the whole thing extremely boring.
I am extremely disappointed because books 1 and 2 were so great. I am hoping that Adams ties up everything in a way that makes sense with his final book, but my hopes are not high....more
I could not stand this book. I did not care for any of the characters nor did I particularly care about what happened to them. This was just not for mI could not stand this book. I did not care for any of the characters nor did I particularly care about what happened to them. This was just not for me. I feel that I probably would have enjoyed this book in my early 20s - the whole life on the road, trying to find yourself thing would have been very appealing at that time in my life. I just saw these characters as a bunch of losers who couldn't stomach settling down like normal people.
Maybe I missed the point. I certainly would not re-visit this one again....more
I was less than impressed with the next part of the Hitchhiker Series. I did not think that narrative flowed with the first two books. Adams would jumI was less than impressed with the next part of the Hitchhiker Series. I did not think that narrative flowed with the first two books. Adams would jump around from scene to scene, leaving me wondering how the characters got there and what the actual point was?
However, this was still wildly entertaining in some parts. One of my favorite scenes was Arthur Dent being confronted with the knowledge that reincarnation is real. Not only did he learn reincarnation was real, he also learned that HE had killed one creature over and over again, and that creature was cursed to a life of continuously being killed by Arthur Dent. Another very amusing part was the one about the alien whose sole purpose in life was to fly around the universe, insulting everyone in alphabetical order because it made him feel better about himself.
Ultimately, in the midst of all this nonsense, the characters are still searching for the meaning of life and have not had much success. Hopefully the events of book three were just a distraction and they get some more answers in part four....more
I was wildly disappointed in the last book to this trilogy. I decided to sleep on it before I wrote this review and I am very glad that I did. The booI was wildly disappointed in the last book to this trilogy. I decided to sleep on it before I wrote this review and I am very glad that I did. The book started out extremely strong and there were parts that I liked. I enjoyed how Grossman continued to create new things about Fillory that the main characters had never discovered. I also enjoyed the excerpts from Rupert's memoir, which answered a lot of questions about what happened to Martin Chatwin, questions that had been left for us to ponder since the first book. Lastly, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I appreciated the perspectives of Eliot and Janet, who are constants in the other two books, but never truly explained. I think Grossman could have given us insight into their characters a little more than he could have - I'm almost certain he could have done more than one chapter for each of those characters.
With that said, the rest of the book just fell flat for me. Excuse me for saying so, but I was just expecting more. It's not that I am against happy endings, but the first two books left me spellbound in the last 100 pages (and they were also pretty violent and gruesome). Nothing like that happened in this book - it almost seemed too easy for Quentin to save Fillory. And then, as soon as he achieved his highest power, he gave it all up - which made me think that Grossman albeit unintentionally wrote the most cliche and anticlimactic ending of all time. I looked up from the pages and thought, "Wow, this is really it?" In the end, Quentin gets the girl and saves the world, the ultimate hero. But I'd never really liked Quentin to begin with, so I was just thoroughly annoyed. It was also completely unnecessary to bring Alice back - this was solely for the purpose of giving Quentin everything he wanted, which also left me thoroughly annoyed.
I compare this book to a bad sequel to a movie that was a blockbuster hit. I guess I'll never get the point Grossman was trying to make - I'm sorry you hated Harry Potter and Narnia, dude, but I'm more sorry that you ruined fantasy novels for the rest of us....more
My rating system has always been relative. Sometimes I'll rate stories on how entertaining they were, other times I'll rate them based on the message,My rating system has always been relative. Sometimes I'll rate stories on how entertaining they were, other times I'll rate them based on the message, and still other times I'll rate them based on one scene that I liked or didn't like. But this book is stumping me. I guess I'll start with my complaints and see where I go from there.
Kaitlyn's Complaints About the Magicians
1. Quentin Coldwater, you are my number one complaint about this story. You started off as a likeable character - nerdy, naturally intelligent boy who wasn't good enough to get the girl at his high school.. I like that. I sympathize with that. But place this nerdy, naturally intelligent boy in a school of magic and give him power - he becomes the most arrogant prick that I've ever had the displeasure of meeting. Let me just name a few ways he annoyed me throughout this 400-page monstrosity: 1. Pardon my French, but he treated Alice like shit. And then when she got back at him by doing exactly what he did to her, he acted like what she did was a billion times worse. 2. He was incapable of understanding that he is the person who dictates his own happiness. He was always searching for something that would make things better, even though he had good things right in front of him. 3. He was impulsive. There were so many times when he opened his mouth to speak and I cringed thinking of the consequences. and finally, 4. By the end of the book, he became somewhat of a sociopath obsessed with control. I'm scared, thoroughly afraid of what the next book is to bring.
2. This book borrowed way too heavily from Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia. A magical school was J.K. Rowling's idea. And Narnia was C.S. Lewis's idea. The Magicians was Harry Potter meets Narnia, with a lot more sex and booze. I just couldn't get past the similarities between the stories - welters and Quidditch, a magical school that trains students to use magic for good, entering a hidden world through the use of a button. As I was reading, there were several times that I thought, "Hey, haven't I been here before?" And as one of the biggest Harry Potter fans, probably ever, this thought did not sit well with me.
3. The ending. They killed off my favorite character in the entire book, right as she was reaching her full potential. For some reason, I saw Alice as myself (or the person I try to be). And when she died Lev Grossman left us with the remaining drunken degenerates. Who have decided to go back to Fillory, the most dangerous place on Earth - to start the events of the next book I assume. Good lord Jesus this seems like the worst idea ever, but somehow I'm not surprised.
And yet, even though I hate the protagonist, the story ripped off some of my childhood favorites, and the author killed off my favorite character, I couldn't help but keep turning the pages in this book. I felt like I'd invested so much time in following these characters around that I had to know what happened to them. I didn't particularly care for any, except for Alice, but I need to know. And still do. The book definitely had its moments - it offered commentary about graduation, going off into the real world, and being happy with your station in life, topics that are really relevant to where I am at right now. I was able to relate to those parts. However, I can also express my fear after reading them. I don't want to grow up living a pointless life, I don't think any people my age want that. It was refreshing to see that this is a common thought, but unfortunately the book didn't leave me with any consolation that no matter what, people can be happy doing whatever their life path sets out for them. If anything, the book stated the opposite - no matter what you do, there might be something more out there. But maybe that's just Quentin Coldwater and his outrageously depressing view about life.
4/5 for Lev Grossman - for the pure entertainment value. Minus one for stealing from Harry Potter....more
I have finally completed the whole Hitchhiker series. I have to say that I was actually really impressed with the way the series ended. Adams tied allI have finally completed the whole Hitchhiker series. I have to say that I was actually really impressed with the way the series ended. Adams tied all five books together in a way that made me put the book down, and think about how it was all a complete mind-f***. This was hinted at from the very beginning of book 5 where the opening pages state:
Anything that happens, happens. Anything that, in happening, causes something else to happen, causes something else to happen. Anything that, in happening, causes itself to happen again, happens again. It doesn't necessarily do it in chronological order though.
The ending completely knocked my socks off. All five of these books were part of a cohesive story, but the story is not told in chronological order because the characters are traveling through space and time. That is brilliant.
Overall I rate the series a solid 3.5 stars. I think Adams had an amazing idea and I could've read another 500 books if they were about all of the made-up planets and parallel universes, along with their cultures. Adams' creativity in bringing different worlds to life was truly impressive - for example, I laughed out loud at the Lamuellans, a peaceful people who worshipped Arthur Dent because he introduced them to the sandwich, and contributed to their society as The Sandwich Maker.
However, I think what detracted from the series was Adams' inability to keep the story on one track. He would introduce a storyline, then not come back to it for hundreds of pages, after the reader had already forgotten the seemingly pointless story line when it was introduced. It was all tied together in the end, but I feel along the way Adams almost lost track of where he was going with certain things and had to remind me.
Ultimately, the story of Arthur Dent is a pretty depressing one. His home planet is destroyed, he travels around space trying to find a place where he belonged, until he returns to the same home planet only to have it destroyed once more. The theme present throughout the entire series is the search for purpose. Unfortunately, Arthur Dent (or any of the other characters for that matter) failed to find their purpose in the end and died just as a confused as they were when they were living. I imagine Adams is hinting that we truly do not know why we are here - which is what makes the series so believable as a science fiction work. I am not sorry I read this. I think it is an important series....more
This was a wildly entertaining, coming-of-age story about a young man named John Grady Cole. John Grady disappears into Texas with a friend, Lacey RawThis was a wildly entertaining, coming-of-age story about a young man named John Grady Cole. John Grady disappears into Texas with a friend, Lacey Rawlins, in search of a new life. There, they run into the mysterious Jimmy Blevins, who brings with him a whole load of trouble.
The writing here was absolutely beautiful - it was my first experience reading McCarthy and it certainly did not disappoint. His mastery of language left me in awe after some passages. However, I found myself getting lost and having to re-read parts because I was not really sure how we ended up in a certain spot. I did not love the main character - though I appreciated him for what he brought to the table. He was a good person, who was forced to do a lot of bad things, and this leads to a major identity crisis.
I know that a trilogy must be judged once all three books are read, so I may come back to this review later....more
I was surprised at how much I loved these stories. They were surprisingly easy to follow and kept me interested. I always wanted to know what happenedI was surprised at how much I loved these stories. They were surprisingly easy to follow and kept me interested. I always wanted to know what happened next. Of course I had heard versions of Aladdin, Ali Baba, and Sinbad the Sailor before. But these translations added something new to what I thought I had known. I also loved some of the stories that I hadn't heard before. One of my absolute favorites was the story of Abou Hassan, the poor guy who the caliph tricked into thinking he himself had the caliph's power. I also loved the story of the barber, who would not stop talking even though his nickname was The Silent.
What was also pretty surprising to me was the intelligence of the women. At the time this was written I was expecting a much worse portrayal of them, especially in the Muslim countries. Scheherazade, the heroine of the main story, was brilliant. She persuaded the murderous sultan to spare her because she interested him too much to kill.
For a work published so so long ago, I was truly impressed. I would not recommend reading it all in one sitting though. A story a night worked for me, as it can get monotonous....more
Out of all the books I've read so far on my quest to conquer the 1001 list, I consider finishing this one my greatest accomplishment. I was so surprisOut of all the books I've read so far on my quest to conquer the 1001 list, I consider finishing this one my greatest accomplishment. I was so surprised by how much I liked it, as its intimidating size left me a little hesitant to tackle it. It is evident that Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra poured his heart and soul into this work. The amount of allusions, poetry, and storytelling that he did was truly incredible. There were several digressions from the story, particularly in the first part. I thought I would be annoyed by these but it turns out that they could have been novels in and of themselves.
There's so much to say about so classic a work. I probably won't do it justice. But what I will say is that the message I took away from this was that Don Quixote was a good man, even though he was mad. People ridiculed him for his delusions without realizing how much they loved him for them. This book was laugh-out-loud funny at times, but also sad. The jokes that were played by Don Quixote were often the catalysts for the novel to progress, but I found myself cringing every time Don Quixote was fooled and taken advantage of. And Sancho Panza, words can't express how cute, funny, and all-around loveable you are. The author did a fantastic job of making me feel every emotion possible and that is the sign of a good read. Ultimately I took away that even if a man is a fool, he is not harming anyone and we should leave him to be happy in his own little world.
I'm glad I met Don Quixote, for he taught me that it's important to be yourself, even if the world around you laughs....more
Not really sure why I'm seeing all of the so-so reviews of this book. I thought it was a very worthy prequel of a captivating ****SPOILERS, AS ALWAYS.
Not really sure why I'm seeing all of the so-so reviews of this book. I thought it was a very worthy prequel of a captivating trilogy. Yes, it is written from the point of view of the main villain in The Hunger Games, but don't people want to know why and how someone evil becomes the way they are?
So many are saying Coriolanus was a conflicted character. I disagree. I don't think he was ever really torn between being loyal to the Capitol and supporting the rebellion, even during the Hunger Games. Ultimately, he was driven entirely by his desire to keep the Snow name from being tarnished, and that was the only driving force behind any of his actions. Rather than accept the consequences of events, Coriolanus protected himself, leading to the demise of his only friend, and the only love of his life.
Dr. Gaul, while painted as the great villain of this book, simply led Coriolanus to realize his own inherent evil. And that is what he was - inherently evil. As his character developed and grew, so did his loyalty to the Capitol, even when the Capitol had wronged him. In this way, it was inevitable that Coriolanus and Lucy Gray would not end up together because he would always be Capitol, and she would always be "district."
I truly enjoyed how I was kept on my toes. With one turn of the page, a classmate of the protagonist was getting her throat cut, or attacked by a tankful of snakes. Lucy Gray and the Covey were an otherwise bright spot in a very dark story revolving around a very dark character. Overall, I was very impressed with the prose writing of Collins once again. I think a lot of people on Goodreads need to just savor an entertaining story without trying to break it down too much. A very rare 5 stars from me, and a pleasant surprise release that has made me get back into my true favorite hobby of reading anything I can get my hands on....more
I'm not even going to preface my review with something nice - there's spoilers, sorry. Don't read if you haven't finished the book because my entire rI'm not even going to preface my review with something nice - there's spoilers, sorry. Don't read if you haven't finished the book because my entire review is going to center around the ending..... I also realize the irony in taking out my frustrations about this book to an online group of strangers a la Julia but it's absolutely necessary.
WHY IS EVERYBODY TALKING ABOUT POOR WITTLE QUENTIN CRYBABY'S FATE? I'm sorry, but I don't give a shit what happened to Quentin. If you read my review for The Magicians, you will learn that he was perhaps my least favorite thing about these books. I think I liked this book so much more because I wasn't forced to read his thoughts for 400 pages. It made me happy to see that he finally got knocked down a few pegs.
Example: "If I could have the floor for just a moment. Yes, Penzance is a real place. It's a town. It's in Cornwall. And it's real, as in it exists on Earth. You're all so obsessed with other worlds, you're so convinced that this one is crap and everywhere else is great, but you've never bothered to figure out what's going on here. - Poppy"
Well that just made me giddy. Earth won't be so bad Quentin, you have a palazzo in Venice. Now let's get on to the real stuff that NO ONE on this site is talking about.
WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK LEV GROSSMAN. You make me fall in love with a character - she's dark, she's different, she's crazy smart, tough, and mad determined to get what she wants. You allow her to master all 250 levels of underground magic but along the way make her sleep with a bunch of dirtbags, abandon her entire family, give up 7 Ivy-League acceptances. Was her character just not interesting enough for you after all of that? Oh no it wasn't. Let's have her get violently raped by a fox-god until her humanity is yanked out by his giant fox penis. That'll really get the readers going.
I know what this book symbolizes now. This dude legitimately hates the fantasy genre. Here's my theory: a 10-year-old Lev Grossman crawled into a closet expecting Narnia and got bitten by a rat in there and got rabies. He builds up magic into this awesome out-of-this-world force then tears the entire thing down simultaneously by giving us horrific violence. Never will I ever trust an author again....more
"Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral Arm of the Galaxy lies a small un-regarded yellow sun. Orbiting th"Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral Arm of the Galaxy lies a small un-regarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-town million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea. This planet was - or rather had- a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much all of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy."
This was the best opening passage that I have read in a long time. Not only was it hilarious, it hit home for me that this was a description of the Earth from an outsider's perspective. From there, I knew the book was going to be a stunner. And stunner it was. This book is extremely funny, interesting, and not entirely unrealistic! I loved the concept as well - a bunch of wander-lusting explorers hitchhiking through the galaxy searching for the meaning of existence. The characters get some answers along the way- for example, Arthur learns that the Earth was actually a simulation controlled by mice who were also searching for the answer to the question of existence. However, the answer (and the question) are never actually revealed. The novel works because WE don't actually know why we exist. There are explanations, such as religion, or scientific evolution, but there is no certainty as to why we continue to live the life that we do. Therefore, we are placed on the same footing as the characters, as non-human as they may be.
Perhaps I am old and tired, he continued, but I always think that the chances of finding out what is really going on are so absurdly remote that the only thing to do is say hang the sense of it and just keep yourself occupied.
I am excited to read the rest of this series, and maybe find out the answer to the Ultimate Question in Adams' world. I also look forward to seeing these characters develop more. They were truly interesting and I want to get to know them on a deeper level. I know I'm late to the game in discovering this series, but better late than never! On to The Restaurant at the End of the Universe!...more
I am just going to continue along this awesome journey of trying to find the true meaning of the universe. It has been a long time since I have found I am just going to continue along this awesome journey of trying to find the true meaning of the universe. It has been a long time since I have found a story where I genuinely want to know how it ends.
Restaurant at the End of the Universe picks up where The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy leaves off. Arthur Dent and company bounce from planet to planet, in search of the meaning of life. Along the way, they meet truly unforgettable living creatures, escape danger after danger, and marvel the different planets in the vast universe. I think what is so appealing about this series is that it describes events in a way where you think to yourself.... "wow, that really could be plausible!"
I may have liked this book better than Hitchhiker, mainly because the "introductions" to the main characters and the world-building has already been done. In this book, the meat of the adventure is taking place. Zaphod Beeblebrox's character is also explored on a deeper level, which I truly appreciated. I think his character is fascinating. He is just as hungry for the meaning of life as the rest of the characters here, but he is somewhat different because he has two brains, sometimes with competing and crazy thoughts, that he must grapple with in order to stay sane.
I am truly excited to see where the rest of the adventure goes. The next book is Life, the Universe and Everything. Maybe the Ultimate Question will be revealed!...more
I sat down to read this book on a quiet stormy night in October when my boyfriend was playing video games. Next to me sat a baby lion cub, who purred I sat down to read this book on a quiet stormy night in October when my boyfriend was playing video games. Next to me sat a baby lion cub, who purred as I threw him some of the leftover steak that we had had for dinner. The cub did not try to use its already-too-sharp-for-a-baby fangs to attack me, it only expected the food I continued to give it. It was like me in a way - Life is a string of events between meals. Every now and then, I heard a loud quacking sound from the next room.
"Oh, it's just boyfriend's game..."
It wasn't.
Turns out that a goose had flown through the open window and landed on the edge of his beanbag chair, frantically searching for a warm place to hide before the winter. I continued to read. Wow, what a story. Pi was stuck on a boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal Tiger. That's way worse than having a baby lion cub attached to you. I was amazed at the perseverance and cunning that Pi showed throughout the story. He used the knowledge that he gained as a zookeeper's son to survive when all the odds were against him.
The story ended. Pi survived. I looked over at the empty spot next to me and wished my boyfriend's kitten wasn't hiding under the bed. Stories are better with wild animals. Pi said so. And as I closed the book, I wondered whether any of it was real....more
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