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theanitaalvarez's reviews
1766 reviews
Stoner by John Williams
4.0
When the book begins, we get a very quick account of Stoner’s deeds: overall, he was pretty unremarkable. He was a university professor, but didn’t get past the “associate professor” status, his colleagues give an old book to the library of the University of Missouri, where he worked, and it’s said that most of his students won’t remember him. It does sound pretty depressing, and one cannot help but wonder if we really want to read the story of such a loser.
Quick answer: yes, we want.
William Stoner’s story is an ordinary one, but it is a life worth listening to.
He’s born in the late 19th century in a farm. As was common back then, he spent most of his childhood and adolescence helping his hardworking parents in the field. The Stoners aren’t the most communicative of parents, but they seem to want what’s best for their son. So, when they hear that at the University of Missouri, they’re teaching a program on Agriculture, they decide to send their son. Take into account that there’s problem with the soil of the farm, and they are told that in the University they know how to make plantations better. Sending William to University is a way to help everyone in the farm.
So, William goes to Uni. He takes his Agriculture courses and passes them with decent marks. But then, he discovers the awesomeness of Literature and falls in love with it(as another character in the novel says). Isn’t it the dream? Finding something you love and being good at it? Well, Stoner gets it and ends up changing his major.
Not only that, he decides to stay for a Masters’ Degree in Literature. And then World War I begins, so he’s forced to decide whether he wants to enlist. At that point, the University has basically become his home away from home, and he’s clearly anxious about leaving it. So he decides to stay, while his two best friend Dave Masters and Gordon Finch enlist. The first one dies, but the second returns to the University after the Armistice.
As a young professor, Stoner meets Edith, a young girl and the daughter of a wealthy family. He immediately idealizes her, as she’s the complete opposite of all he had known his entire life; she’s delicate and elegant against the roughness of his own parents. After a hasty courtship, they get married and this proves to be quite a mistake. Edith is cold towards her husband and seems to prefer that he wouldn’t touch her (this, and other facts stated about Edith’s relation with her father make me think that she was abused by her father. But that’s speculation on my part). The only moment when she doesn’t seem to think that his company is despicable is when she desires a baby (so they have lots of sex for a few weeks).
Stoner’s life is one of endurance. Whenever he seems to get a little solace of peace and love, it gets destroyed soon afterwards. One particular egregious example is his relation with his daughter, which is very close until Edith decides to kill it (adding to my theory of parental abuse in her own life). The same happens with his work in the University, which he adores. Wherever he tries to find meaning, he finds a wall that stops him.
Yes, Stoner’s life wasn’t very remarkable in the end. But as the novel finishes, you get the feeling that you’re almost losing a friend. The many failures and frustrations of Stoner’s life are displayed in front of your eyes and it’s very hard not to root for him as the novel goes on. His silence and endurance make him quite a strange hero for today’s world, but he’s a hero anyway.
Quick answer: yes, we want.
William Stoner’s story is an ordinary one, but it is a life worth listening to.
He’s born in the late 19th century in a farm. As was common back then, he spent most of his childhood and adolescence helping his hardworking parents in the field. The Stoners aren’t the most communicative of parents, but they seem to want what’s best for their son. So, when they hear that at the University of Missouri, they’re teaching a program on Agriculture, they decide to send their son. Take into account that there’s problem with the soil of the farm, and they are told that in the University they know how to make plantations better. Sending William to University is a way to help everyone in the farm.
So, William goes to Uni. He takes his Agriculture courses and passes them with decent marks. But then, he discovers the awesomeness of Literature and falls in love with it(as another character in the novel says). Isn’t it the dream? Finding something you love and being good at it? Well, Stoner gets it and ends up changing his major.
Not only that, he decides to stay for a Masters’ Degree in Literature. And then World War I begins, so he’s forced to decide whether he wants to enlist. At that point, the University has basically become his home away from home, and he’s clearly anxious about leaving it. So he decides to stay, while his two best friend Dave Masters and Gordon Finch enlist. The first one dies, but the second returns to the University after the Armistice.
As a young professor, Stoner meets Edith, a young girl and the daughter of a wealthy family. He immediately idealizes her, as she’s the complete opposite of all he had known his entire life; she’s delicate and elegant against the roughness of his own parents. After a hasty courtship, they get married and this proves to be quite a mistake. Edith is cold towards her husband and seems to prefer that he wouldn’t touch her (this, and other facts stated about Edith’s relation with her father make me think that she was abused by her father. But that’s speculation on my part). The only moment when she doesn’t seem to think that his company is despicable is when she desires a baby (so they have lots of sex for a few weeks).
Stoner’s life is one of endurance. Whenever he seems to get a little solace of peace and love, it gets destroyed soon afterwards. One particular egregious example is his relation with his daughter, which is very close until Edith decides to kill it (adding to my theory of parental abuse in her own life). The same happens with his work in the University, which he adores. Wherever he tries to find meaning, he finds a wall that stops him.
Yes, Stoner’s life wasn’t very remarkable in the end. But as the novel finishes, you get the feeling that you’re almost losing a friend. The many failures and frustrations of Stoner’s life are displayed in front of your eyes and it’s very hard not to root for him as the novel goes on. His silence and endurance make him quite a strange hero for today’s world, but he’s a hero anyway.
Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
4.0
This book is so sad, but not in a depressing sense of the word, or anything like that. It’s sad and beautiful, the sort of beauty it’s hard to understand. It’s the story of a lonely life, and also the story of a country that disappeared. Short and to the point, the novel manages to show a lot of layers with few words and that’s amazing.
The protagonist is man called Grainier, who has no origins (he came inside a train) and who lives in the middle of an age of changes and wonders. One of the things that is repeated about him is that he’s a “steady man”, and throughout the whole story he shows his steadiness over and over again. He keeps on working hard, and he works through all the difficulties he has to face. Living in one if the turning points of US history, his presence is somewhat interesting. He’s a steady man in a world that’s quickly changing and he appears to be an anchor of some sort.
One of the more beautiful moments in the novel is when he meets Gladys, his future wife. Keep in mind that Grainier has never had an actual family. He lost his parents at such a young age that he cannot remember them, and the family that raised him weren’t really sure if they were related or not. So Grainier’s love for Gladys appears to be doubly sweet; it’s more than romantic love for her, as it’s also the longing for a family, for a place to call home. And when he’s wooing her, he takes the first step towards having a physical home: buying some land (with which he convinces her to marry him, also).
He deserves to get such love and a home, but even that satisfaction is short-lived. While he’s working away from home (as lots of people in the time of the New Deal did), a huge forest fire destroys his lands and kills Gladys and their daughter.
That’s one of the most heartbreaking parts of the novel, when he gets to his little cottage and looks through the ruins of his own life, looking for some signal that shows that his family managed to escape. And then he decides to rebuild the house and stay there. It’s quite sad, as the narrative clearly shows how destroyed he feels, but at the same time he doesn’t appear to be able to spit it out.
Throughout the novel, the question “are there any ordinary lives?” appears to linger in its pages. True, Grainier doesn’t do anything particularly impressive or extraordinary, so one would wonder why anyone would ever care to write his story. But the novel, I think, shows precisely the opposite: everyone has a story, and all those stories can and should be heard. Grainier’s story is sad, and tragic, and he himself is not an expressive man, but his story is as extraordinary as the big heroes we’re used to hear about. And every life can be seen in the same light, I guess. You don’t have to be very impressive to have a story worth telling.
The protagonist is man called Grainier, who has no origins (he came inside a train) and who lives in the middle of an age of changes and wonders. One of the things that is repeated about him is that he’s a “steady man”, and throughout the whole story he shows his steadiness over and over again. He keeps on working hard, and he works through all the difficulties he has to face. Living in one if the turning points of US history, his presence is somewhat interesting. He’s a steady man in a world that’s quickly changing and he appears to be an anchor of some sort.
One of the more beautiful moments in the novel is when he meets Gladys, his future wife. Keep in mind that Grainier has never had an actual family. He lost his parents at such a young age that he cannot remember them, and the family that raised him weren’t really sure if they were related or not. So Grainier’s love for Gladys appears to be doubly sweet; it’s more than romantic love for her, as it’s also the longing for a family, for a place to call home. And when he’s wooing her, he takes the first step towards having a physical home: buying some land (with which he convinces her to marry him, also).
He deserves to get such love and a home, but even that satisfaction is short-lived. While he’s working away from home (as lots of people in the time of the New Deal did), a huge forest fire destroys his lands and kills Gladys and their daughter.
That’s one of the most heartbreaking parts of the novel, when he gets to his little cottage and looks through the ruins of his own life, looking for some signal that shows that his family managed to escape. And then he decides to rebuild the house and stay there. It’s quite sad, as the narrative clearly shows how destroyed he feels, but at the same time he doesn’t appear to be able to spit it out.
Throughout the novel, the question “are there any ordinary lives?” appears to linger in its pages. True, Grainier doesn’t do anything particularly impressive or extraordinary, so one would wonder why anyone would ever care to write his story. But the novel, I think, shows precisely the opposite: everyone has a story, and all those stories can and should be heard. Grainier’s story is sad, and tragic, and he himself is not an expressive man, but his story is as extraordinary as the big heroes we’re used to hear about. And every life can be seen in the same light, I guess. You don’t have to be very impressive to have a story worth telling.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
3.0
What a couple of unlikable characters! As I read this book, I couldn’t avoid trying to get into someone’s side, but I gave up half-way through the book. Both Amy and Nick were awful people and I just wanted both of them to get what they had coming. Mind you, this book kept me hooked for hours. I read most of it while travelling back to Santiago after my holidays, and I stayed until four a.m. reading on the bus. That’s usually my definition for a highly entertaining book, something that keeps you going because you need to get to the next chapter.
I think that part of what kept me hooked was the way in which Flynn develops her story. At every chapter she revealed a little more about these character. While at first both Nick and Amy appeared to be somewhat likable, and the perfect couple to top it all, as the novel progresses you get to see how much their life is everything but perfect.
This is one of the themes that recur throughout the book, how appearances can deceive everyone. Everybody thinks that Nick and Amy are happy together until she disappears, and all the clues point to her husband. That’s the point when the people they know think “so, maybe everything wasn’t so perfect). And Nick’s narration points at that: he wasn’t happy, he felt trapped in his marriage and in his job. The perfect world they liked to portray didn’t really exist.
Maybe they both deserved it, though. As I said before, both narrators are pretty nasty and it was really hard to feel any sympathy for either of them. Nick cheated on his wife (which is always a shitty thing to do) and to top it, did so with one of his students. Big NO-NO there.
But, as awful as Nick was, he was still regular nasty. Amy, on the other hand, was batshit crazy and incredibly creepy. She even made Nick seem like a good guy, despite the cheating and his overall attitude to everyone. And she doesn’t only play with the characters in her world, she does the same with the reader. You spend the first part of the story feeling sorry for Diary!Amy, until you get to the part she reveals that diary was fake. And that’s just the beginning of seeing the psychopath in her. I mean, she manipulated everyone, clearly had problems relating to others and used to displace guilt about the things that went wrong. She blamed everyone for her problems: her parents, her husband, her friends. Seriously, she was a full-blown psychopath and that was very realistically shown in the story. I would be really scared of her in real life. I mean… she dedicated a year to plot vengeance against her husband.
Getting a divorce would’ve been so much easier and nicer for everyone.
But, then again, Amy is incredibly selfish and love to punish people who has offended her in everya way. She managed to make everyone think a friend of hers was crazy and obsessed about her (and later gave said friend a list of the things she’d done to deserve it: very petty stuff), and accused a guy she dated of rape. There was nothing she wasn’t willing to do, except dying. Because then she wouldn’t be there to enjoy her husband’s suffering.
I was seriously creeped by everything she did. And felt really sorry for poor Desi, who only wanted to her. But she was willing to kill in order to escape his “protection”. As said, crazy as fuck.
The ending left me somewhat unsatisfied. I felt that the conflicts weren’t resolved. Amy got the life she wanted, and Nick was trapped with her, but managed to pierce her armor saying he pitied her, but I agreed with Go (Nick’s sister) telling that their relation is crazy.
If you know that your partner is a killer, you get the hell out of dodge as soon as you can, YOU DON’T HANG AROUND!
Still, an entertaining book and a fun read.
I think that part of what kept me hooked was the way in which Flynn develops her story. At every chapter she revealed a little more about these character. While at first both Nick and Amy appeared to be somewhat likable, and the perfect couple to top it all, as the novel progresses you get to see how much their life is everything but perfect.
This is one of the themes that recur throughout the book, how appearances can deceive everyone. Everybody thinks that Nick and Amy are happy together until she disappears, and all the clues point to her husband. That’s the point when the people they know think “so, maybe everything wasn’t so perfect). And Nick’s narration points at that: he wasn’t happy, he felt trapped in his marriage and in his job. The perfect world they liked to portray didn’t really exist.
Maybe they both deserved it, though. As I said before, both narrators are pretty nasty and it was really hard to feel any sympathy for either of them. Nick cheated on his wife (which is always a shitty thing to do) and to top it, did so with one of his students. Big NO-NO there.
But, as awful as Nick was, he was still regular nasty. Amy, on the other hand, was batshit crazy and incredibly creepy. She even made Nick seem like a good guy, despite the cheating and his overall attitude to everyone. And she doesn’t only play with the characters in her world, she does the same with the reader. You spend the first part of the story feeling sorry for Diary!Amy, until you get to the part she reveals that diary was fake. And that’s just the beginning of seeing the psychopath in her. I mean, she manipulated everyone, clearly had problems relating to others and used to displace guilt about the things that went wrong. She blamed everyone for her problems: her parents, her husband, her friends. Seriously, she was a full-blown psychopath and that was very realistically shown in the story. I would be really scared of her in real life. I mean… she dedicated a year to plot vengeance against her husband.
Getting a divorce would’ve been so much easier and nicer for everyone.
But, then again, Amy is incredibly selfish and love to punish people who has offended her in everya way. She managed to make everyone think a friend of hers was crazy and obsessed about her (and later gave said friend a list of the things she’d done to deserve it: very petty stuff), and accused a guy she dated of rape. There was nothing she wasn’t willing to do, except dying. Because then she wouldn’t be there to enjoy her husband’s suffering.
I was seriously creeped by everything she did. And felt really sorry for poor Desi, who only wanted to her. But she was willing to kill in order to escape his “protection”. As said, crazy as fuck.
The ending left me somewhat unsatisfied. I felt that the conflicts weren’t resolved. Amy got the life she wanted, and Nick was trapped with her, but managed to pierce her armor saying he pitied her, but I agreed with Go (Nick’s sister) telling that their relation is crazy.
If you know that your partner is a killer, you get the hell out of dodge as soon as you can, YOU DON’T HANG AROUND!
Still, an entertaining book and a fun read.
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
4.0
This is one depressing book. There’s a lot of people being bastards (and I don’t mean that they are the illegitimate children type), horrendous violence (with heavily detailed descriptions of the scenes) and so on. It’s generally a gruesome read, but in the end it has something that’s really compelling. It is, after all, an exploration of humanity’s darkest impulses.
On an aesthetic level, I actually enjoyed this book. I mean, it’s brilliantly written; the descriptions, while gory and violent, are also original and powerful; and even if the characters are indeed awful people, they are actually portrayed very well.
Though I think the Judge deserves a few lines for him. What a creepy and scary character! None of the character can be thought of as “good guys”, but he took the cake. He was vicious, evil and disgusting in more ways than I can think of, but he was also a freakin’ good character. I’m not sure if I really want to learn how McCarthy got round to creating this bastard, but it was intense. Judge Holden is evil for evil’s sake, he never sleeps and he’ll never die. But the scariest thing about him is the fact that he’s so persuasive. He can make people believe that a priest is a pedophile and kill him. And he’s never seen the man in his life.
I won’t get into what was Judge Holden (he seems to be either inhuman or completely deranged), but I’ll say he gives a bad vibe. Well, the really creepy vibe. And his implid rape and murder of children doesn't really help his case very much.
While I’m totally grossed out by this charming gentleman, the kid (who is the POV character here) is somewhat more ambiguous. It’s easy to feel sorry for him at first. I mean, he’s an orphan. But then he voluntarily joins these people who travel through the desert killing Indians. That’s so not cool. It’s pretty interesting, however, to see how detached the kid becomes towards violence. The descriptions are, of course, in third person, but it’s pretty clear that they are seen from the kid’s POV, so the matter-of-factly tone is slightly more creepy.
But the kid appears to have some good in him. At least, he gets to a point where he tries to make things right (even if you have all that symbolism that seems to say that everything is for nothing). He’s by no accounts “good”, but he tries. His ultimate fate is horrible, because at a point he was able to escape the horrible violence he was almost getting used to.
I was utterly disgusted at Judge Holden’s attitude at the end of the book and hated to be left in such a bleak note. But McCarthy’s epilogue actually made me feel better. Even after a lot of pages of hate and destruction, there was a spot of hope.
Maybe that’s the most important part of the whole mess, isn’t it? People can be horrible, and they can also do good things.
I’m not sure I’d recommend this book to everyone. You need to have a good stomach to read it and be in the right spot psychologically. It can be a really horrible read if you’re depressed.
On an aesthetic level, I actually enjoyed this book. I mean, it’s brilliantly written; the descriptions, while gory and violent, are also original and powerful; and even if the characters are indeed awful people, they are actually portrayed very well.
Though I think the Judge deserves a few lines for him. What a creepy and scary character! None of the character can be thought of as “good guys”, but he took the cake. He was vicious, evil and disgusting in more ways than I can think of, but he was also a freakin’ good character. I’m not sure if I really want to learn how McCarthy got round to creating this bastard, but it was intense. Judge Holden is evil for evil’s sake, he never sleeps and he’ll never die. But the scariest thing about him is the fact that he’s so persuasive. He can make people believe that a priest is a pedophile and kill him. And he’s never seen the man in his life.
I won’t get into what was Judge Holden (he seems to be either inhuman or completely deranged), but I’ll say he gives a bad vibe. Well, the really creepy vibe. And his implid rape and murder of children doesn't really help his case very much.
While I’m totally grossed out by this charming gentleman, the kid (who is the POV character here) is somewhat more ambiguous. It’s easy to feel sorry for him at first. I mean, he’s an orphan. But then he voluntarily joins these people who travel through the desert killing Indians. That’s so not cool. It’s pretty interesting, however, to see how detached the kid becomes towards violence. The descriptions are, of course, in third person, but it’s pretty clear that they are seen from the kid’s POV, so the matter-of-factly tone is slightly more creepy.
But the kid appears to have some good in him. At least, he gets to a point where he tries to make things right (even if you have all that symbolism that seems to say that everything is for nothing). He’s by no accounts “good”, but he tries. His ultimate fate is horrible, because at a point he was able to escape the horrible violence he was almost getting used to.
I was utterly disgusted at Judge Holden’s attitude at the end of the book and hated to be left in such a bleak note. But McCarthy’s epilogue actually made me feel better. Even after a lot of pages of hate and destruction, there was a spot of hope.
Maybe that’s the most important part of the whole mess, isn’t it? People can be horrible, and they can also do good things.
I’m not sure I’d recommend this book to everyone. You need to have a good stomach to read it and be in the right spot psychologically. It can be a really horrible read if you’re depressed.
An Acceptable Time by Madeleine L'Engle
4.0
The protagonist in this book is Polly, Meg and Calvin’s daughter. She’s a smart kid who’s sent to her maternal grandparents for some time, to get a better science education and to be alone for time (Meg and Calvin had been getting busy, apparently, and they have lots of kids), to mourn the loss of her friend, Maximiliana.
While she’s there, of course, crazy things begin to happen around the house. She sees people who clearly are from other times (druids Karralys and Anaral, and warrior Tav), and she’s not the only one seeing them. Bishop Colubra, the brother of Doctor Colubra (she appears in other novels in the series, as a friend of Mrs. Murry), also knows about them and has talked to them several times. She ends up meeting them, as well, and strikes an odd friendship with Anaral. She also manages to travel back in time, as the Bishop has done before her.
However, things begin to get weird around Samhain, when she’s transported into the past and overhears a conversation between Karralys, Tav and Anaral. Tav, apparently, believes that Polly should be sacrificed to the earth for better harvests. The other two are against this idea, but Polly is understandably terrified.
Of course, her grandparents and the Colubras agree on that she shouldn’t get near the spot where you can travel in time. But then Zach Gray, a troubled boy whom Polly likes a lot, appears. And he ends up taking her into the past anyways.
There, Tav doesn’t want to kill her anymore, but the leader from the tribe on the other side of the lake, Tynak, thinks Polly is a goddess and decides that killing her is a brilliant idea. So, he enlists Zach’s help (he’s worried about his heart, damaged by rheumatic fever) to kidnap Polly, in lieu of helping him to heal his own heart.
As all the previous novels, this book is very much centered on the power of love. The obvious opposites would be Polly and Zach. While she’s clearly brave and selfless, he’s very selfish. He’s the stereotypical bad-boy, in the sense of a brooding-snarky kind of guy. He even tells he that he’s dangerous for the girls he dates!
It follows that Polly’ll fall head over heels for him. But, after he betrays her, she begins to hate him. As one of the big themes in the novel is love, she learns that hate is bad and kind of forgives him a little, but decides that she doesn’t want anything more to do with him.
There’s also a nice part in which she’s explaining Klep, a guy from the other side of the lake who was captured after a skirmish, what love is. She says that it is like a connection, and he comments that he sees that there’s a connection between Polly and Tav (you know, the guy who wanted to kill her and then decided not to). That plot point is left unresolved, as they live within different millennia, but it’s kind of nice. It clearly shows that love doesn’t really know about time and space.
This is a nice read. And it’s great to see how generations expand. So, good points here. Also, there were no egregious facts about Antarctica this time, so that’s a plus.
While she’s there, of course, crazy things begin to happen around the house. She sees people who clearly are from other times (druids Karralys and Anaral, and warrior Tav), and she’s not the only one seeing them. Bishop Colubra, the brother of Doctor Colubra (she appears in other novels in the series, as a friend of Mrs. Murry), also knows about them and has talked to them several times. She ends up meeting them, as well, and strikes an odd friendship with Anaral. She also manages to travel back in time, as the Bishop has done before her.
However, things begin to get weird around Samhain, when she’s transported into the past and overhears a conversation between Karralys, Tav and Anaral. Tav, apparently, believes that Polly should be sacrificed to the earth for better harvests. The other two are against this idea, but Polly is understandably terrified.
Of course, her grandparents and the Colubras agree on that she shouldn’t get near the spot where you can travel in time. But then Zach Gray, a troubled boy whom Polly likes a lot, appears. And he ends up taking her into the past anyways.
There, Tav doesn’t want to kill her anymore, but the leader from the tribe on the other side of the lake, Tynak, thinks Polly is a goddess and decides that killing her is a brilliant idea. So, he enlists Zach’s help (he’s worried about his heart, damaged by rheumatic fever) to kidnap Polly, in lieu of helping him to heal his own heart.
As all the previous novels, this book is very much centered on the power of love. The obvious opposites would be Polly and Zach. While she’s clearly brave and selfless, he’s very selfish. He’s the stereotypical bad-boy, in the sense of a brooding-snarky kind of guy. He even tells he that he’s dangerous for the girls he dates!
It follows that Polly’ll fall head over heels for him. But, after he betrays her, she begins to hate him. As one of the big themes in the novel is love, she learns that hate is bad and kind of forgives him a little, but decides that she doesn’t want anything more to do with him.
There’s also a nice part in which she’s explaining Klep, a guy from the other side of the lake who was captured after a skirmish, what love is. She says that it is like a connection, and he comments that he sees that there’s a connection between Polly and Tav (you know, the guy who wanted to kill her and then decided not to). That plot point is left unresolved, as they live within different millennia, but it’s kind of nice. It clearly shows that love doesn’t really know about time and space.
This is a nice read. And it’s great to see how generations expand. So, good points here. Also, there were no egregious facts about Antarctica this time, so that’s a plus.
Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle
3.0
I’m still not sure about the point of this book. I get it, the Murry twins travel back in time (because they did what they were not supposed to do and touched a machine in their parent’s lab) to Biblical times before the flood.
It was highly entertaining, I won’t lie, but the point I’m trying to get to here is that I don’t know why they needed to travel back. To learn about love? To show that history can’t be changed? To meet a different stage of human evolution?
There are too many questions, and so few answers to them. It’s almost frustrating. Especially because this book stands alone among the others in the Time Quartet and the events here, unlike in the other books, are not related to what’s going to happen in the series. Actually, the third book, A Swiftly Tilting Planet actually is set after this one, but the events are never even brought up.
So, Sandy and Dennis travel back in time, as I said before, to the land before the flood. And, of course, they meet Noah and his family. Especially his younger daughter, Yalith, who is strikingly pretty and attracts both boys from the very beginning.
While trying to understand what happened and how to go back, the twins confront a series of perilous adventures, including the hostility between Seraphim and Nephilim, two powerful races of angels who appear to be fighting over the control of the human race. Well, that’s more for the Nephilim, as the Seraphim are more inclined to help humans.
There’s a very original element in this book in the portrayal of pre-flood humans. To begin with, they are a lot shorter than modern humans. And they appear to have longer life-spans and maturation process. So, they reach adulthood at one hundred years old. That’s, apparently, how Methuselah lived so much (and it seems it wasn’t such a big deal back then). And there are also a few mystical creatures that do not exist right now, like manticores, which attack people when they’re hungry. Mammoths are also very much included in the story, as people in the oasis use them to find water and they are about the size of a dog (I imagine them to be very cute). And there’s unicorns! Cool, quantum-leapers, unicorns! How awesome is that? And they only approach virgins, so the twins can totally ride them (they’re about sixteen here).
So, as the novel goes on, the twins learn about love and about history. Or more, they learn about their own role in history. One of the parts I enjoyed a lot was when they commented how chauvinistic the flood story is in the Bible, as only Noah’s sons are named, and not their wives. And Yalith and Mahlah, Noah’s daughters, are not even mentioned at all.
This actually becomes a real plot point because the twins don’t know whether the girls aren’t mentioned because of the chauvinist vision the Scripture gives, or because they aren’t in the Arc at all. And they’re not mentioned in there either, so that may means that they die there in the flood, or that they return home?
A bonus point for the funny sexual stuff you get in there. I remember a line saying that Japheth (one of Noah’s sons) and Oholibamah (his wife, half Nephilim), “become one” (or something along those lines) and “it was good”. And there’s the other bit when Tiglah, a girl who comes from an evil family and that’s involved (probably, in a sexual way) with one of the Nephilim, tries to seduce Dennys. And he says that having sex with her “is not worth losing his ability to touch a unicorn”. Which works as a brilliant euphemism for virginity, doesn’t it?
Anyway, I enjoyed the book and getting to know the twins more deeply. They are cool kids and they don’t get much screen time in the previous installments.
It was highly entertaining, I won’t lie, but the point I’m trying to get to here is that I don’t know why they needed to travel back. To learn about love? To show that history can’t be changed? To meet a different stage of human evolution?
There are too many questions, and so few answers to them. It’s almost frustrating. Especially because this book stands alone among the others in the Time Quartet and the events here, unlike in the other books, are not related to what’s going to happen in the series. Actually, the third book, A Swiftly Tilting Planet actually is set after this one, but the events are never even brought up.
So, Sandy and Dennis travel back in time, as I said before, to the land before the flood. And, of course, they meet Noah and his family. Especially his younger daughter, Yalith, who is strikingly pretty and attracts both boys from the very beginning.
While trying to understand what happened and how to go back, the twins confront a series of perilous adventures, including the hostility between Seraphim and Nephilim, two powerful races of angels who appear to be fighting over the control of the human race. Well, that’s more for the Nephilim, as the Seraphim are more inclined to help humans.
There’s a very original element in this book in the portrayal of pre-flood humans. To begin with, they are a lot shorter than modern humans. And they appear to have longer life-spans and maturation process. So, they reach adulthood at one hundred years old. That’s, apparently, how Methuselah lived so much (and it seems it wasn’t such a big deal back then). And there are also a few mystical creatures that do not exist right now, like manticores, which attack people when they’re hungry. Mammoths are also very much included in the story, as people in the oasis use them to find water and they are about the size of a dog (I imagine them to be very cute). And there’s unicorns! Cool, quantum-leapers, unicorns! How awesome is that? And they only approach virgins, so the twins can totally ride them (they’re about sixteen here).
So, as the novel goes on, the twins learn about love and about history. Or more, they learn about their own role in history. One of the parts I enjoyed a lot was when they commented how chauvinistic the flood story is in the Bible, as only Noah’s sons are named, and not their wives. And Yalith and Mahlah, Noah’s daughters, are not even mentioned at all.
This actually becomes a real plot point because the twins don’t know whether the girls aren’t mentioned because of the chauvinist vision the Scripture gives, or because they aren’t in the Arc at all. And they’re not mentioned in there either, so that may means that they die there in the flood, or that they return home?
A bonus point for the funny sexual stuff you get in there. I remember a line saying that Japheth (one of Noah’s sons) and Oholibamah (his wife, half Nephilim), “become one” (or something along those lines) and “it was good”. And there’s the other bit when Tiglah, a girl who comes from an evil family and that’s involved (probably, in a sexual way) with one of the Nephilim, tries to seduce Dennys. And he says that having sex with her “is not worth losing his ability to touch a unicorn”. Which works as a brilliant euphemism for virginity, doesn’t it?
Anyway, I enjoyed the book and getting to know the twins more deeply. They are cool kids and they don’t get much screen time in the previous installments.
A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle
3.0
From this book, I really liked the message of “everyone’s important”. And I think it’s conveyed very well in the whole story. Charles Wallace’s health is as important as a whole planet, and his farandole are, therefore, incredibly important, even if they cannot be seen with the naked eye.
The story begins some time after A Wrinkle in Time, with Meg firmly installed in High School and appearing to be having a better time there. Charles Wallace, however, is not faring well in school. He’s constantly bullied by other kids and the school’s principal does basically nothing. He’s Mr. Jenkins, the principal that Meg used to fight when she was younger. Despite all of Meg’s attempts, Mr. Jenkins doesn’t seem to be willing to create a non-bully policy for his school.
(*I want to recognize here the fact that Madeleine L’Engle was talking about bullying long before it became a household concept. And it not only portrays the kid suffering from it, but also the attitude the authorities used to take until some years ago: “just learn not to be different”).
The Murrys are pretty worried about Charles Wallace, who besides his being bullied, is also looking horrible. Mrs. Murry has been investigating different diseases and has come to the conclusion that what’s wrong are Charles Wallace’s farandole, which are within mitochondria, deep inside her son’s cells. And even if we’re talking about Little more than particles, they could make poor Charles Wallace die.
In a way, it’s as if farandolae are people, and Charles Wallace is their planet. It’s even stated so in the novel. Of course, this means an obvious parallel between the importance of every little farandole and people in our land. Every life is important for the well being of our system, and we cannot alter that.
Of course, Meg gets really worried about her baby brother. So, when an alien creature offers to help, she accepts without asking much. And that leads her to a journey that allows her to discover (once more) the powers of love and the importance of everyone around her, even Mr. Jenkins.
I’ll add a few lines to say that I’m very much in love with the idea of Calvin/Meg. It was greatly shown in the novel, especially how much the two of them lean on each other. That ship sails itself, almost. I’ve always liked when couples help each other to become better people, and to push their boundaries. That’s the case for Calvin and Meg. My favorite scene in the novel was when Meg was trying to find a nice memory about Mr. Jenkins, but couldn’t find any, so Calvin told him a story that happened to him with the teacher. It was sweet and shows Calvin’s character so very adorably.
It’s a nice book overall, it allows for a lot of conversations with children (a good plus in children’s lit) and tries to give a good image of the universe, using a smaller scale to convey the idea of parts working together. A good and easy read, so it’s a yay!
The story begins some time after A Wrinkle in Time, with Meg firmly installed in High School and appearing to be having a better time there. Charles Wallace, however, is not faring well in school. He’s constantly bullied by other kids and the school’s principal does basically nothing. He’s Mr. Jenkins, the principal that Meg used to fight when she was younger. Despite all of Meg’s attempts, Mr. Jenkins doesn’t seem to be willing to create a non-bully policy for his school.
(*I want to recognize here the fact that Madeleine L’Engle was talking about bullying long before it became a household concept. And it not only portrays the kid suffering from it, but also the attitude the authorities used to take until some years ago: “just learn not to be different”).
The Murrys are pretty worried about Charles Wallace, who besides his being bullied, is also looking horrible. Mrs. Murry has been investigating different diseases and has come to the conclusion that what’s wrong are Charles Wallace’s farandole, which are within mitochondria, deep inside her son’s cells. And even if we’re talking about Little more than particles, they could make poor Charles Wallace die.
In a way, it’s as if farandolae are people, and Charles Wallace is their planet. It’s even stated so in the novel. Of course, this means an obvious parallel between the importance of every little farandole and people in our land. Every life is important for the well being of our system, and we cannot alter that.
Of course, Meg gets really worried about her baby brother. So, when an alien creature offers to help, she accepts without asking much. And that leads her to a journey that allows her to discover (once more) the powers of love and the importance of everyone around her, even Mr. Jenkins.
I’ll add a few lines to say that I’m very much in love with the idea of Calvin/Meg. It was greatly shown in the novel, especially how much the two of them lean on each other. That ship sails itself, almost. I’ve always liked when couples help each other to become better people, and to push their boundaries. That’s the case for Calvin and Meg. My favorite scene in the novel was when Meg was trying to find a nice memory about Mr. Jenkins, but couldn’t find any, so Calvin told him a story that happened to him with the teacher. It was sweet and shows Calvin’s character so very adorably.
It’s a nice book overall, it allows for a lot of conversations with children (a good plus in children’s lit) and tries to give a good image of the universe, using a smaller scale to convey the idea of parts working together. A good and easy read, so it’s a yay!
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
3.0
3.5 stars. It was a nice, entertaining read, but I missed a few details. Some parts of the plot were way too fast, and I’d liked the plot to develop more on them. But I guess that it comes from putting five years of education in less than four hundred pages.
This is slightly like Harry Potter, only that the main characters are college students and there’s a lot of sex and drugs around. Actually, there’s a lot of sex and drugs in this book. Maybe that’s why The New York Times called it “an adult Harry Potter”.
Quentin Coldwater is a regular senior living in Brooklyn, NY. He’s hopelessly in love with his friend Julia, and hopes to go to college after graduating. The day he’s scheduled for an interview with the college of his choice (I think it was an Ivy League school, but I’m not sure), the interviewer dies of a heart attack. Somehow, both Quentin and Julia are swept away to a mysterious place where time and seasons are completely different.
There, they learn that the place is called Brakebills, a college for magicians. Yes, magicians. Julia and Quentin have been selected to take a test to get into the school. Quentin passes, Julia doesn’t. This special college doesn’t begin its classes in September, as normal schools in the Northern Hemisphere, but around November or so. So, Quentin decides to remain there until the classes begin (his parents get an explanation, of course, just not the truth). There he meets a guy called Eliot, who is very mysterious and cool. He’s a sophomore in Brakebills, and has a very complicated relation with his family.
When the course begins, Quentin gets quickly used to this new and strange place. Not only that, he excels at it, and some of the teachers use him as an example to his classmates. But there’s also another girl, Alice, who is very proficient at magic.
Quentin, Alice and Penny (a male student who befriends them at school), are set to advance a year in school, if they complete a test. While they study together, Alice and Quentin become closer, and he learns that, unlike him, she wasn’t invited to Brakebill, but found her way in to be tested. That is, apparently, because her brother died there. The three of them talk about the Fillory books (which seem to be somewhat similar to The Chronicles of Narnia, which are Quentin’s favorites. Alice and Penny have also read them, and enjoy them. But Quentin appears to be obsessed with them, believing that there is some truth in them. In the end, both Quentin and Alice pass it, but Penny doesn’t. The poor fellow doesn’t take the whole affair very well and fights with Quentin, saying that he thinks him and Alice are a couple.
One day, while Quentin and Alice (and the rest of their class) are on a lecture, the professor messes up a spell in Ancient Dutch (or something along that line), and a strange creature appears in the classroom, paralyzing the whole class. It eats a girl, Amanda, who tried to fight back, and disappeared.
Later on, Alice and Quentin join a group of specialized magicians, the Physicals (who appear to have powers related to the external world). Alice is part of them (she can control light), and Quentin is sent with them because he doesn’t fit anywhere else. But they get on with the others in the group: Eliot, Janet and Josh, and are close friends with them.
Aftewards, the school sends the whole class (one half goes on the first semester, the second goes the next one) to a branch of the school in the South Pole. There, they learn the true origin of magic (or something like that). And Alice and Quentin begin an actual relationship.
After graduation, Janet, Eliot, and Josh (who have graduated the year before), arrive at school and invite Alice and Quentin to live with them in New York. Sometime after, Penny appears again. This time, with the key to the mysterious kingdom of Fillory. Yes, it exists.
Shortly before he arrives, Quentin and Alice break up. Why? Because Quentin is pretty much a fool and doesn’t think much. So he sleeps with Janet (who’s an interesting character, I’ll say), and of course Alice is having none of his shit.
I think Alice was all in all my favorite character. She was smart, compassionate and very sensible in everything she did. Despite how crazy and messed up her world is, she always acts logically and makes the right choice.
Quentin was a mess overall, but he was quite endearing. There were a few moments in which I wanted to kick his ass, but the crowning moment was when he had sex with Janet. I almost threw my kindle away.
So, they go to Fillory and, of course, they find out that it isn’t such an idyllic country as they thought it was. And that’s all I’m saying about this, because I have already given away too much of the plot.
I enjoyed the book, overall. There are several references to Harry Potter made by the characters, and I had a few laughs. Of course, this is not much like Harry Potter, neither because of the themes, or the tone of the story. The Magicians doesn’t work like you standard heroic fantasy, which I feel is a good change from the usual stuff we get of heroes destined to become so. I like the fact that Quentin has to be stuffed into this new position. I feel that Grossman did a good work with working out young adults issues (sex, university, identity, studies, relationships, future) in a fantastic setting. The world created was smooth and interesting, and I think I might read the rest of the trilogy if I manage to get them. Most of the mysteries were developed and resolves throughout the novel (well, most of them), which is something I’m thankful for. No loose threads here. Nevertheless, the ending has quite a big cliff-hanger, so it’s kind of inevitable to want to keep on reading the series.
I’d totally recommend it, especially if you like fantasy.
This is slightly like Harry Potter, only that the main characters are college students and there’s a lot of sex and drugs around. Actually, there’s a lot of sex and drugs in this book. Maybe that’s why The New York Times called it “an adult Harry Potter”.
Quentin Coldwater is a regular senior living in Brooklyn, NY. He’s hopelessly in love with his friend Julia, and hopes to go to college after graduating. The day he’s scheduled for an interview with the college of his choice (I think it was an Ivy League school, but I’m not sure), the interviewer dies of a heart attack. Somehow, both Quentin and Julia are swept away to a mysterious place where time and seasons are completely different.
There, they learn that the place is called Brakebills, a college for magicians. Yes, magicians. Julia and Quentin have been selected to take a test to get into the school. Quentin passes, Julia doesn’t. This special college doesn’t begin its classes in September, as normal schools in the Northern Hemisphere, but around November or so. So, Quentin decides to remain there until the classes begin (his parents get an explanation, of course, just not the truth). There he meets a guy called Eliot, who is very mysterious and cool. He’s a sophomore in Brakebills, and has a very complicated relation with his family.
When the course begins, Quentin gets quickly used to this new and strange place. Not only that, he excels at it, and some of the teachers use him as an example to his classmates. But there’s also another girl, Alice, who is very proficient at magic.
Quentin, Alice and Penny (a male student who befriends them at school), are set to advance a year in school, if they complete a test. While they study together, Alice and Quentin become closer, and he learns that, unlike him, she wasn’t invited to Brakebill, but found her way in to be tested. That is, apparently, because her brother died there. The three of them talk about the Fillory books (which seem to be somewhat similar to The Chronicles of Narnia, which are Quentin’s favorites. Alice and Penny have also read them, and enjoy them. But Quentin appears to be obsessed with them, believing that there is some truth in them. In the end, both Quentin and Alice pass it, but Penny doesn’t. The poor fellow doesn’t take the whole affair very well and fights with Quentin, saying that he thinks him and Alice are a couple.
One day, while Quentin and Alice (and the rest of their class) are on a lecture, the professor messes up a spell in Ancient Dutch (or something along that line), and a strange creature appears in the classroom, paralyzing the whole class. It eats a girl, Amanda, who tried to fight back, and disappeared.
Later on, Alice and Quentin join a group of specialized magicians, the Physicals (who appear to have powers related to the external world). Alice is part of them (she can control light), and Quentin is sent with them because he doesn’t fit anywhere else. But they get on with the others in the group: Eliot, Janet and Josh, and are close friends with them.
Aftewards, the school sends the whole class (one half goes on the first semester, the second goes the next one) to a branch of the school in the South Pole. There, they learn the true origin of magic (or something like that). And Alice and Quentin begin an actual relationship.
After graduation, Janet, Eliot, and Josh (who have graduated the year before), arrive at school and invite Alice and Quentin to live with them in New York. Sometime after, Penny appears again. This time, with the key to the mysterious kingdom of Fillory. Yes, it exists.
Shortly before he arrives, Quentin and Alice break up. Why? Because Quentin is pretty much a fool and doesn’t think much. So he sleeps with Janet (who’s an interesting character, I’ll say), and of course Alice is having none of his shit.
I think Alice was all in all my favorite character. She was smart, compassionate and very sensible in everything she did. Despite how crazy and messed up her world is, she always acts logically and makes the right choice.
Quentin was a mess overall, but he was quite endearing. There were a few moments in which I wanted to kick his ass, but the crowning moment was when he had sex with Janet. I almost threw my kindle away.
So, they go to Fillory and, of course, they find out that it isn’t such an idyllic country as they thought it was. And that’s all I’m saying about this, because I have already given away too much of the plot.
I enjoyed the book, overall. There are several references to Harry Potter made by the characters, and I had a few laughs. Of course, this is not much like Harry Potter, neither because of the themes, or the tone of the story. The Magicians doesn’t work like you standard heroic fantasy, which I feel is a good change from the usual stuff we get of heroes destined to become so. I like the fact that Quentin has to be stuffed into this new position. I feel that Grossman did a good work with working out young adults issues (sex, university, identity, studies, relationships, future) in a fantastic setting. The world created was smooth and interesting, and I think I might read the rest of the trilogy if I manage to get them. Most of the mysteries were developed and resolves throughout the novel (well, most of them), which is something I’m thankful for. No loose threads here. Nevertheless, the ending has quite a big cliff-hanger, so it’s kind of inevitable to want to keep on reading the series.
I’d totally recommend it, especially if you like fantasy.