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isaacblevins's Reviews (460)
Writing characters and situations in a manner that nestles comfortably alongside Dickens and Thackery, Michel Faber creates a wonderful novel that keeps the reader enthralled despite its epic length. The central character, a prostitute named Sugar is marked as special from the very beginning. Her transformation from streetwalker to social climber to genuine completeness is both intriguing and heartrending. The characters that surround her range from the most pitiful of innocents to the blackest of villains...and yet each one beckons the reader further into the novel. In a time when many novels are so light that they hardly seem more than a sitcom between two covers, The Crimson Petal and the White provides a very long embrace to warm even the coldest of evenings...much like Sugar herself.
Many, many people recommended that I read The Hunger Games. Honestly, in the past year, it has been the most highly recommended novel among my friends. I put off reading it for a variety of reasons, but chief among them is the fact that I HATE post-apocalyptic fiction. It's always depressing to me and always seems like it veers toward the same story-lines. However, after finishing a very, very long novel recently, I decided I wanted something quick and engaging, and I picked up The Hunger Games.
True to the many recommendations I had gotten, it is exciting and addictive. The heroine, Katniss, is complex enough that I was never quite sure how she truly felt throughout the novel. The most interesting part of the book was the way that the author handled the love story. Rather than have the two characters fall madly in love from the beginning, she has the boy feel true love while Katniss remains convinced that its all for the sake of the game. Even in the end, we aren't sure what Katniss feels for Peeta.
After the love-sick mooning of recent vampire fiction, this was a refreshing change in the trend of YA love stories.
The whole idea of the games is interesting, as is the structure of the society in which the characters live. This is post-apocalyptic fiction that I can handle because it doesn't dwell on destruction and the past. The characters are so far removed from our time that they don't know anyting about it.
Will I read the other novels in the series? Probably. Do I think that this is the best YA fiction I've ever read? Not entirely. I do think, however, that it is a very well plotted novel that kept me reading anxiously and would fully engage my students. I will surely be recommending it to them.
True to the many recommendations I had gotten, it is exciting and addictive. The heroine, Katniss, is complex enough that I was never quite sure how she truly felt throughout the novel. The most interesting part of the book was the way that the author handled the love story. Rather than have the two characters fall madly in love from the beginning, she has the boy feel true love while Katniss remains convinced that its all for the sake of the game. Even in the end, we aren't sure what Katniss feels for Peeta.
After the love-sick mooning of recent vampire fiction, this was a refreshing change in the trend of YA love stories.
The whole idea of the games is interesting, as is the structure of the society in which the characters live. This is post-apocalyptic fiction that I can handle because it doesn't dwell on destruction and the past. The characters are so far removed from our time that they don't know anyting about it.
Will I read the other novels in the series? Probably. Do I think that this is the best YA fiction I've ever read? Not entirely. I do think, however, that it is a very well plotted novel that kept me reading anxiously and would fully engage my students. I will surely be recommending it to them.
I have never considered myself a fan of high fantasy. Sure, I read and enjoyed The Lord of the Rings when I was younger, but I have never devoted myself to a huge door-stopper series. George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones, the first in his Song of Fire and Ice series, may have changed that. Why is Martin's book different from the countless other entries in the field of fantasy? Let me explain...
First, there is the plot: there is no epic quest or magical item that has to be retrieved or destroyed. The existance of an entire world does not hang in the balance - nor is the entire hope of the protagonists placed in a reluctant hero. The world of Westeros is more historical than magical (Martin based his plot on the English War of the Roses). What magic there is is confined to one family and to the mysterious beings that may (or may not) live beyond the great wall that seperates the country from the north. Rather than being dazzled and caught up in the mystical quality of the author's creation, we can really focus on the characters and their motives.
Second, the characters: I was most impressed by the characters Martin has created. These are not typical heroes and villains - in fact, there are very few characters that are clearly fully good, or fully evil. Very little is black and white in Westeros. I was especially fond of two of the characters, Tyrian Lannister and Jon Snow. Tyrian is the dwarf son of the treacherous Lannister house. Because of his size, he is little more than an afterthought to his father the lord. Because of this, Tyrian has grown into a very interesting and dynamic character, capable of seeing through the politics of the warring houses and sypmathising with the plight of the misunderstood and the overlooked. Among these is Jon Snow, the bastard son of the northern lord. Jon desperately wants to be loved as part of his family - and is shown love and acceptance by his father - but the lord's wife, though a good woman, simply cannot bring herself to accept the product of her husband's infidelity. These are characters that I care about and love - characters I look forward to spending time with.
Third, the structure: Not only are the characters brilliantly drawn, but we get to know them intimately through the novel's structure. The point of view in each chapter shifts between a group of characters giving us a glimpse into the heart of every side in the rather complicated workings of each house.
I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and look forward to traveling with these characters again. If you have never been a fan of fantasy you should give this book a chance - it may change your mind. If you enjoy historical fiction - especially of the medieval period - you should certainly check the book out.
First, there is the plot: there is no epic quest or magical item that has to be retrieved or destroyed. The existance of an entire world does not hang in the balance - nor is the entire hope of the protagonists placed in a reluctant hero. The world of Westeros is more historical than magical (Martin based his plot on the English War of the Roses). What magic there is is confined to one family and to the mysterious beings that may (or may not) live beyond the great wall that seperates the country from the north. Rather than being dazzled and caught up in the mystical quality of the author's creation, we can really focus on the characters and their motives.
Second, the characters: I was most impressed by the characters Martin has created. These are not typical heroes and villains - in fact, there are very few characters that are clearly fully good, or fully evil. Very little is black and white in Westeros. I was especially fond of two of the characters, Tyrian Lannister and Jon Snow. Tyrian is the dwarf son of the treacherous Lannister house. Because of his size, he is little more than an afterthought to his father the lord. Because of this, Tyrian has grown into a very interesting and dynamic character, capable of seeing through the politics of the warring houses and sypmathising with the plight of the misunderstood and the overlooked. Among these is Jon Snow, the bastard son of the northern lord. Jon desperately wants to be loved as part of his family - and is shown love and acceptance by his father - but the lord's wife, though a good woman, simply cannot bring herself to accept the product of her husband's infidelity. These are characters that I care about and love - characters I look forward to spending time with.
Third, the structure: Not only are the characters brilliantly drawn, but we get to know them intimately through the novel's structure. The point of view in each chapter shifts between a group of characters giving us a glimpse into the heart of every side in the rather complicated workings of each house.
I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and look forward to traveling with these characters again. If you have never been a fan of fantasy you should give this book a chance - it may change your mind. If you enjoy historical fiction - especially of the medieval period - you should certainly check the book out.
The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy-Tale Detectives is one of the books that I read aloud to a class of second graders this year. While it was sometimes over-their-heads, they enjoyed it greatly. The book is very much in the fantasy/quest/Harry Potterish vein, with orphaned heroines whose parents disappeared mysteriously. They quickly learn that they are the ancestors of the Brothers Grimm and that they, along with their grandmother, Relda, must keep order amongst the fairy-tale characters who live in the area (a hidden location seperated from the outside world).
Though I did not choose to read any of the other books in the series to the children, I am curious as to what the sisters find themselves involved in next - and the reason for their parent's disappearance. Perhaps I will give the other books a chance when I have the need for some easy reading.
Though I did not choose to read any of the other books in the series to the children, I am curious as to what the sisters find themselves involved in next - and the reason for their parent's disappearance. Perhaps I will give the other books a chance when I have the need for some easy reading.
I don't know how I missed reading The BFG when I was growing up. I always heard the title being passed back and forth as a suggestion for a great read...but somehow I got it mixed up with the Oscar Wilde fairytale The Selfish Giant. Other than the fact that both stories center around a giant, there is no similarity at all. I read The BFG aloud to a class of second graders (which may be the perfect way to enjoy a Roald Dahl novel!). I must say, that I fell in love with the characters in the novel just as my listeners did. How can you not love a giant (though one much smaller than other giants) with big ears who confuses his words and chooses to live on a disgusting vegetable rather than eat "human beans"? When Sophie, an orphan, sees the giant blowing dreams into the windows of a house across the street from her orphanage, she is taken by the giant and transported to his home. Once there, she discovers that the other giants feed on humans and that they must be stopped.
Aside from being a genuinely good story, the novel is also very, very funny. The children roared with laughter as the giant misused words and explained his ways to Sophie - I laughed at the clever jokes that Dahl seems to always include for the adults who may be reading his works to children....
This book has made me fall in love with Roald Dahl all over again. I can't imagine a better author to share with children who need a little magic, a little adventure and a little nonsense in their lives.
Aside from being a genuinely good story, the novel is also very, very funny. The children roared with laughter as the giant misused words and explained his ways to Sophie - I laughed at the clever jokes that Dahl seems to always include for the adults who may be reading his works to children....
This book has made me fall in love with Roald Dahl all over again. I can't imagine a better author to share with children who need a little magic, a little adventure and a little nonsense in their lives.