Showing posts with label classic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label classic. Show all posts

Tuesday, 3 April 2018

Top 10 Authors I Won't Read Again


I guess never say never, but I don't plan on reading any books by these authors again. I'm not here trying to convince anyone not to read any of these authors works, that would be horrible. I'm just here to say I personally didn't enjoy what I read.

10. V. C. Andrews


I’ve had one bad experience with one of her books and so I’m never reading one again. This one occurance was with none other than Daughter of Darkness and I won't actually tell you why it was so horrible because that's a spoiler, just know you don't want to read it.

9. Jennifer E. Smith


I just don’t care for her style of writing. I know a lot of people love her writing, but I’m not a huge fan. I read her book The Geography of You and Me and I just didn't have strong feelings for it other than a bit of dissapointment. 

8. K. R. Grace


As you may already know, she wrote my most hated book of 2017. It was horrible that just thinking about it makes me angry again. Not gonna happen.



7. Karina Halle


I’m a bit on the fence about her books. There have been some that I’ve enjoyed and some I really haven’t liked. It makes me sad that I don’t enjoy her books as much as I hoped and i just don’t think I’ll be reading anymore of them.



6. Emma Hart

I read one series of hers and I wasn’t too impressed by any of the books. Honestly, I can barely remember what happens in them.

5. Aleatha Romig


I read Aleatha Romig's Consequences series and I was very dissapointed. I went in with expectations and they weren't met. I also didn't like how she went about the story in general, I just don't think we would mesh well and I don't want to read books I don't think I would like.



4. Lisa McMann


She wrote the Wake series everyone talked about back in the day. I just wasn’t impressed by her writing style of really any of the contents of those books and so I have to give up.



3. P. C. Cast


I used to love her House of Night series until I realized just how awful and problematic it was. I’m just not entirely sure she knows how to write teenagers. This seems to be her target audience and I just can’t see myself spending money on more of her books.

2. Sara Shephard


I don’t like the way she writes humans. It just doesn’t feel right so I won’t be reading anymore of her books. I read the first 3 books in her Pretty Little Liars series and just hated it. I don't even know why I bothered reading three whole books.






1. F. Scott Fitzgerald


I didn’t like The Great Gatzby. It pissed me off. Also, I just found out he plagiarized a lot of his works. I don’t plan on reading his work again unless I have to for school.








What authors do you guys not plan on ever reading again?

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Thursday, 14 September 2017

The Stephen King Book Tag


I watched the It movie on opening day. Funny story, I went about two hours early with my friend to make sure we got good seats. The theatre ended up not even being full. I mean, it was a four o'clock showtime, but it was opening day so it should have been really busy. I guess it was better that it wasn't. I also have to mention, some lady brought her small children to see this movie. This movie was terrifying and I bet her children will be scarred for life. I just wanted to mention that. It was a wild movie-going experience. 



I should also note that this tag wasn't originally in English, I had to translate it from French and while I speak some French I am not the best at it so some of the questions may be wrong. I just thought you should be aware of that before hand. Disclaimer.

How many Stephen King books do you own?

9

How did you discover this author?



The movie The Shining, I was really into horror movies at the time.

What is the first book you read by him?



The Shining, it's probably Stephen King's most recognized work as it is also an incredibly famous movie, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that this is the first one to catch my eye.

How long have you been a fan?

For about five years now.

What is your favorite book? Who made you most afraid?


(I was going to use a picture of the book cover, but then I came across this badass picture and decided to use it instead. When I clicked on the photo it linked back to the Goodreads page so I don't actually know who made this, but I totally commend them for making such an awesome poster.)

My Favorite book as of now is Doctor Sleep. 



The character who scares me the most is Pennywise the Clown. I’m terrified of clowns.

Which book did you like least?



Cell, it took me quite a while to get through this one, and even when I was reading it, it was more like skim reading because I didn't care.

Do you have any Stephen King books in your TBR pile that you have not read yet?

Four: Finders Keepers, End of Watch, Under the Dome, and It.

What is your favorite new book?



I feel like I may not have translated this question correctly, but I’ll give it a go. I’m assuming this means, what is a newer book that I love, and if I’m not counting Doctor Sleep, then I would have to go with Mr. Mercedes. It was such a good book.

What do you like most in the style of this author?

His books always feel very nostalgic, no matter if they are scary or just about crime, they have this coming of age type feel that I love.

What do you think of adaptations? What is your favorite?




I for the most part really enjoy the adaptations, some could be better, but there are definitely some amazing ones out there like Stand By Me and the Shawshank Redemption that are pretty amazing. My favorite would have to be the original It mini series. The new It movie was a lot better in quality than the mini series, the mini series had a perfect mix of horror and the coming of age feeling that is attributed with a lot of Stephen King's work and I love it.

We all float down here.


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Friday, 11 August 2017

Why Romeo and Juliet Made Me Angry


I had to read Romeo and Juliet for school in the tenth grade. Let’s just say I was a little unhappy by the whole play. By unhappy I mean I hated everything about it, it was just such a stupid play, so I decided to rant about why I think it was a stupid play.

Also, if you haven't read or heard the story yet then SPOILER ALERT!

1. Juliet did not have to die



Friar Lawrence went to her and said something along the lines of 'yo, I can bring you to a convent, you can be a nun. You don't have to marry Paris.' And she was like “nah, I'm gonna stay with Romeo” and then she kills herself. It was so f*cking ridiculous I could not handle the levels of stupidity that this girl had. I was so pissed at her, and then the nail in the final nail in the coffin was the Friar just left her there. He knew what was going on and he just left!

2. Marriage



They literally got married after knowing each other for a day. A fricken day. This is absolutely ridiculous, I mean she didn't even know she was supposed to marry Paris yet. She saw him and was like 'He is so hot! I need to marry him' and fucking did exactly that. I can't deal with this, it makes me want to rip my hair out.. They are just so stupid. Plus, if they had lived through the play they probably would have ended up resenting each other so much. I mean what future did they have? He was an exile and she was 'dead'. I don't understand.

3. Friar Lawrence



If Romeo had just went and talked to the Friar about Juliet's death and all that jazz, he would have realized that it was all just a ploy. And, the Friar should not have given a 13 year old a potion to fake her death. 13 year olds don't make good decisions. He should have made sure that Romeo had gotten the message too. You can’t just help a girl fake her death so she can be with a guy and then not tell the guy about it.

4. Paris (guys Paul Rudd played him in the Baz version of the movie)



Honestly, Juliet should have just married Paris. She didn't even know Romeo more than she knew Paris. For all she knew she could have fallen in love with Paris and lived happily ever after, but no, she had to choose the rebellious teenager route and marry a guy her parents hate. Juliet is such a frustrating character.

5. Rosaline



Romeo was 'heartbroken' over Rosaline literally the day he met Juliet. Juliet was just the rebound. Does anyone else see the flaw? Romeo is such a player, literally anything to get into a girls pants. Romeo was the original fuckboy.



Did you like Romeo and Juliet? Did you hate it like I did? Tell me your thoughts down below!

Thursday, 10 August 2017

Lolita Spoiler Free Review


Lolita
Lolita
by Vladimir Nabokov




Synopsis:



Humbert Humbert - scholar, aesthete and romantic - has fallen completely and utterly in love with Lolita Haze, his landlady's gum-snapping, silky skinned twelve-year-old daughter. Reluctantly agreeing to marry Mrs Haze just to be close to Lolita, Humbert suffers greatly in the pursuit of romance; but when Lo herself starts looking for attention elsewhere, he will carry her off on a desperate cross-country misadventure, all in the name of Love. Hilarious, flamboyant, heart-breaking and full of ingenious word play, Lolita is an immaculate, unforgettable masterpiece of obsession, delusion and lust. 

My Thoughts:


I gave this book 5 stars. Lolita was the most confounding and generally confusing book I've ever read. The narrator is unreliable and therefore you don't get the "real story" which means you have to figure it all out on your own.


I first read Lolita when I was 14 years old and at the time I was under the impression that Lolita was "romantic". I loved Humbert so much and I wanted him to be with Lolita. As I got older my perception of Humbert changed so completely I'm surprised I didn't see it to begin with. Humbert Humbert was a man who was having a disgusting pedophilic relationship with his stepdaughter. The man was mentally ill. 


We got to see this man's deepest thoughts and feelings. His scarred passed and his "love" for Lolita. We fell for his character and ignored all the signs of something wrong. This all came at the cost of little Dolores Hayes. Humbert ruined her life to the point where she couldn't stand to be around him. I honestly can't tell if he's a sociopath or just delusional, he definitely shows signs of both.


I bought the 50th Anniversary Edition of this book and when I was looking at the back cover there is a small blurb from Vanity Fair saying "The only convincing love story of our century" and at the time I took that to mean that it was a romance. Now I think that either this is in complete irony. It's Vanity Fair's way of saying "love is dead" or "fairy tale romances are so unlikely, this is real life", but I could also take it to mean that whoever wrote the review at Vanity fair might also have been completely fooled by Humbert's charm. Nabokov created Humbert's obsession with Dolores Hayes and made it into this living thing. We all saw it as love, but it was far from it.


The reason I gave this book five stars was because of the authors ability to turn my on mind against me. It was something that should have disturbed me, but ended up as a fantasy. If I had to choose I would put this book in the horror genre, it's scary how we can lose our morals when things are said in a pretty way. 


The style of the writing itself was poetic. It was beautiful writing which was another reason that Humbert was so hard to hate. The man was a romantic who, even on paper sounded like the perfect man. It romanticized what this man was doing, it was a silkscreen over a cesspit. 

In the words of Taylor Swift, this book is "a nightmare dressed as a daydream". Humbert was a man willing to do whatever it took to get what he wanted, despite how terrible that truly was. He ruined so many lives in his quest to have Lolita, including her's. 


Overall, this book is truly a masterpiece. It's something everyone should read, it's something that is very good for discussion. It isn't something you can't have an opinion about. I would highly recommend reading this book.


Quotes:



“And the rest is rust and stardust.” 


“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta. She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita.”

“I need you, the reader, to imagine us, for we don't really exist if you don't.” 


“You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style.” 


“And she was mine, she was mine, the key was in my fist, my fist was in my pocket, she was mine.” 


Friday, 28 July 2017

Best Book Adaptation: The Princess Bride


Time for another rant or rave! This week is a rave, as evident by the title. I just have to as that I'm so sorry it's been like two weeks since I've done one of these, I just kept going back and forth between two raves I wanted to do and just ended up settling on this one. Now let's get into it.



I read the Princess Bride a few months ago and loved it. Before I had read the book I'd seen the movie. Now obviously the movie is a classic, everyone and their mother has seen the Princess Bride. It's a necessity of life. What really cements the movie as worth a watch is that it is also incredibly accurate to the book.



I don't think anyone realizes just how true the movie is to the book. While I was reading the book I was just amazed that the movie had actual dialogue from the book, not just a line or two like most adaptation. This legit had entire scenes that were exactly as they were in the book. Honestly I could have watched the movie and read the book at the exact same time as reading the movie, just using the book as a script or something because it was that precise.



As for the casting choices, I think those were also fantastic. Especially Andre the Giant as Fezzik. The casting directors completely lucked out when they found him because all I could think whenever reading about Fezzik and what he looked like was that Andre was perfect for the role. Now the rest of the cast was also pretty good, especially Wesley who I have to admit was really attractive. Overall Andre was the best casting choice by far.



I might have even liked the movie a bit more than the book, it kept it more simple. In the book there is this entire subplot with the author and his fake life as an author and it was a bit confusing to say the least. On this not I thank the writers of the movie for just making it about a man telling a story to his grandson because that entire subplot in the book was just a huge whirlwind.



To end off, the story itself is truly one of a kind. It takes stereotypes and tropes and flips them on their head. Instead of being cheesy it's packed full of action, adventure, and true love. There is something there for everyone and that's what I think is the best part about the Princess Bride.



I can honestly say with 100% certainty that this was the best book to movie adaptation of which I have both read the book and seen the movie. This doesn't count those that I have only seen the movie or only read the book of.

Has anyone else read the book or the movie? What did you think?


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