3/28/2007 — Eleven Books

Okay, so I broke another rule. Terrible, isn't it? I have placed Ada or Ardor back on it's dusty shelf with it's other unread friends. I read Decline and Fall, and finished it (I forget both the beginning date, and the ending date...) and I now am in New Moon, the second to twilight.

Reading is so obscure for me. Some days I feel as if there is nothing I want to read, there is nothing to read. And other days, I'm consumed by the number of unfinished, or never even touched, books that I am slowly procuring.

Certainly am a Bibliophile...

3/21/2007 — Ten Books

So, I broke my rule. I was in the middle of reading Ada or Ardor and I decided to take a nice stop and read Twilight. I broke my rule. I try hard not to read multiple things at a time, it creates problems with actually finishing. (But constantly leaving House of Leaves and The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde unfinished doesn't exactly help my cause.) Anyhow, here is what I said concerning Twilight when talking about it in a writing forum:

I just finished it an hour ago. For a YA about vampires, I suppose it does duty. My inner Anne Rice fan didn't hate it too much, though my lonely teen-aged soul did.

I do have some bones to pick with it though, none the less. It was kind of frustrating to read, I'm done and thinking "What happened?" I suppose that is YA, though. It's not thick, there isn't much to it. I hit page 400, and that's when the story started, not 400 pages earlier, on page one, where it should have. It took 400 pages to get to the thick conflict....sure there was conflict through the rest of it, but the core center of the story was slim, didn't last too long, and was resolved quickly. You could also say the main conflict was, "Will Bella and Edward get together?" but that is answered all to simply. Of course they will be.

Which is another reason I really didn't like it. It leads on too strongly that you can fall in love with some random strange and in days, be risking your life for them, and head over heals forever-in-love-with-them. It was kind of corny and usual, but hey it's YA trying to make you young kids hopeful isn't it?

Then, you look at the over used adjectives, she constantly called Edward a statue of this or that kind and it just got puke-worth after too long. She kept describing them as the same thing over and over again. It's like she was writing and going "Oh, they can't forget Edward is statue-like! They can't forget Bella is clumsy!" I mean, pick any description, and she mentioned it all too often. At the least, she could have gone for better words rather than the same.

But, it wasn't bad. I don't love it, otherwise I wouldn't be picking it a part, but it has its good side. The characters were sweet, and heart felt. I even tried finding plot holes, the only thing I really could barely call a plot whole is her being in the hospital, and rather than being on a steady flow of pain killers which made her not able to hold up the conversation she had with Edward when she woke up, she was only given meds when she asked for them, and other than an "ouch" now and then from something and a dizziness, she could handle a full conversation. My mom was in for routine surgery and she couldn't even hold a conversation; she "fell through a a window". But anyhow. The characters were likable, it was sickly one of those you-can't-put-down books. I'll get a hold of the second as soon as it's available at the library.

Something about it over all I didn't like; whether it was the ending, or the way the whole story felt like a lot of nothing once you got to the end. I mean, its not like he turned her into a vampire at the end, he kissed her. So it's not like I expect anything fantastic...though, I could be wrong.

Probably the longest thing I've posted here.

Slowly, rather slowly, working my way through Ada or Ardor. I love Nabokov with all my heart, but he can be difficult sometimes. Five hundred pages, with small print...ach.

3/17/2007

Nothing finished yet. But as always, I didn't finish The Plague, as somewhat expected. It just doesn't interest me enough. I like the plot. It's just....meh.

So I thought I would let you know, as of Thursday, I started reading Ada or Ardor by Vladimir Nabokov. Yay, more Nabokov! Is kind of long, and very Nabokovian. I give myself two weeks to finish it, maybe more considering I don't read as much as I would like on the week days. But lets hope I finish it, I've had it for a few months.

To add to the list of books I will eventually read: If on a Winter's Night a Traveler Italo Calvino, which was suggested to me by a friend, seems like a hoot. And to read it to my list, since I have always wanted to read it, The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. Let's feed my virus fascination with Ebola this time, rather than Small Pox.

Bravo for reading!
Moi

3/14/2007 — Nine Books

It's pie day: 3.14. :-D Anyway....

I finished The Importance of Being Earnest and Four Other Plays by Oscar Wilde Monday. Currently I am rather between books. I've restarted The Plague by Camus. I started it once, but felt no need to finish it. I started it again, because I remebered it was quick for me to get to and I still don't want to read it. I just don't care. So I'm looking around for something to read, and I do have things I can read. But I'm being picky me as always, I want to read my Evelyn Waugh books... but they aren't here yet. As expected, shipping from Finland and Romania takes about a month, but I'm being rather demanding. "I want them now." So maybe I'll dig through my book shelf.

I feel if I don't read, my brain will rot. I really am addicted. It's something I cannot stop. I've tried looking up addictions to reading, but I haven't found any. Perhaps I am addicted? I wouldn't doubt it.

So yeah, I'm in the middle of deciding what to read. It's tearing me up, and making me bored out of my mind. How bland? Ah well, I'll find something, won't I? And when I do, and when I start reading it, I'll tell you about it.

Oh, I loved the constant dramatic irony that Wilde uses. Though I liked the least An Ideal Husband. It was...I don't know, different from his others. Salomé was creepy, I enjoyed it.

Moi

03/04/07 — Eight Books

So, finished Against Nature yesterday. I started it last Saturday, so I finished it in a week. I was hoping I would finish it before the end of February, so It would make that I had read eight books in two months, but February is too short and the book was too...eighteenth century. Not to say I didn't enjoy it, but if you were to ask me what it was about I would have absolutely no idea. But at the least, I read it, and enjoyed it. I'm just not sure of what the actual plot was. Well. Somewhat.

Currently reading The Importance of Being Earnest and Four Other Plays by Oscar Wilde [actually, rereading Earnest, but it is worth it]. I'm counting it all as one book, rather than five (too bad). I've been wondering if, when I read Shakespeare, I should count that as four books or one, also. The other four plays are Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband and Salomé. I'm excited to read them all. Salomé is translated by Lord Alfred Douglas; hopefully Bosie did a good translation. I'm thinking of doing some research on him. The online information I get of him is from the side of Wilde. Which reminds me, I have yet to finish The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde. Too bad, I should get through it soon, shouldn't I?

I have The Decline and Fall and Vile Bodies both by Evelyn Waugh on their way from Europe. So they will be here in two weeks to a month, if not longer. Those will be good reads, I've been hoping to get my hands on those for a while. Other than that, I'm not completely sure what will happen next. For all I know, I may never read Shakespeare!

Bonne Chance,
Moi