Review: The Hound of the Baskervilles

Typical. Probably the most famous Sherlock Holmes story there is, and I'd read basically all of them except this one. I, as a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, should hang my head in shame.

But no more! Last month, I finally picked up this book after years of wanting to, which kinda what my Classics Catch-Up month was all about! Sure, this one wasn't actually on my TBR for the month, but I never stick to TBRs, and who am I to break the tradition now? ;)

Besides, as I said above, this is almost certainly the most famous Sherlock Holmes story, and I've seen quite a few adaptations of it. So I thought it was high time I read the real thing for myself!

Having read and loved all of the short stories, I found the longer ones I've read (A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four) to be a little disappointing. The stories themselves felt a bit like overlong short stories with a giant rambling explanation on the end, which is not exactly what I wanted from a novel.

But The Hound of the Baskervilles is much more of a fleshed out story, and has more of a novel-like feel to it. The tension builds much more slowly as the threads of the mystery are woven together. I loved the spooky atmosphere of the Dartmoor setting and the lurking threat of the Grimpen Mire, capable of swallowing up anyone who makes one false step.

As far as the mystery goes, I deduced who the villain was fairly quickly. But there were still plenty of satisfying loose ends to tie up after that. All in all, a highly worthwhile read. And it didn't take very long either!

Have you read The Hound of the Baskervilles?

What are you reading over the holidays?

Review: The Catcher in the Rye

The trouble with classics, especially ones as famous as this one, is that it can be hard to feel like your review can possibly contribute anything to the discussion that hasn't been said a million times (and a million times better!) before.

So I think this 'review' will probably be more of a personal reaction to The Catcher in the Rye and my experience of the book, rather than a review in the traditional sense.

Since I was first introduced to this book (when it was mentioned on 8 Simple Rules as being Bridget's favourite book), I've heard mixed things to say the least! Plenty of people declare it a book they thoroughly disliked, while others loved it. Having read it, I can certainly understand both points of view.

The book's protagonist Holden Caulfield made me feel a strong mix of pity, empathy and dislike. He is completely inconsistent, frequently complaining about behaviours and character traits in others that he continually displays himself, and he claims to hate all of his friends, while simultaneously wanting to be around them. Basically, he has no idea what he wants, or who he is, or what his life will be.

And I think that's why I liked this book so much. Sure, it also made me uncomfortable (much like Franny and Zooey did when I read that), but it also felt very real. All the things Holden does, all the little traits he notices in others, ring so true. And while Holden's experiences are certainly not reflective of mine, I think everyone can relate in someway to the feeling of being lost and of not knowing who you are.

I feel like if I'd read this book at a different time, a time when I was less uncertain of the future and more sure of my place in the world, then I wouldn't have liked this book half as much. But as it is, this book came at exactly the right time.

Is that weird?

How about you? Have you read The Catcher in the Rye? And, if so, what did you think?

Have you ever read a book at exactly the right time in your life?

Review: Ready Player One

I'm sure it's not escaped the notice of many of you that Ready Player One by Ernest Cline has been an extremely popular book of late. I've seen reviews just about everywhere, all of which have adamantly sung the book's praises. Once I'd gathered the book's premise, it seemed to me the perfect book to get for my brother (who can sometimes be less than enthusiastic about reading) for his birthday. Then, in true sibling fashion, I immediately borrowed it back, I was that impatient to read it!

So, what did I think?

I must admit, I went into this book with rather high hopes. And it did not disappoint! The world was interesting and (mostly) believable, the dialogue was fun, the characters were good, and the plot itself kept me on the edge of my seat. I actually considered canceling plans with friends because I wanted to keep reading it. That's how gripping it was!

I think part of what was so enjoyable, though, was seeing how much fun the author had obviously had with the book. Every page was crammed with geeky 80s pop culture references and the narration had a layer of snark to it that just added to the effect. To be honest, a lot of the references went over my head (since I wasn't around in the 80s) but I still found them really fun. I imagine the experience would be even better if you got all the jokes.

Let's be honest, this book was pure wish-fulfillment. The nerdy, unpopular, poor, unattractive gamer beating the odds and winning the most epic game in history, while getting a girlfriend and perfect body to boot, is straight out of a stereotypical nerd's cliché daydream. But so what!? It worked! And I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

What did you think of Ready Player One?

Review: Chronicle of a Death Foretold

When I posted a picture of my recent book haul on Instagram (as I mentioned recently, I've finally jumped on that particular bandwagon!), a user called themreadsbooks commented to say that Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcìa Màrquez was an absolutely wonderful book and she highly recommended it. After that, curiosity got the better of me, so I bumped it up my TBR and whizzed through it in a single sitting.

Beneath the deceptively simple writing style, this book is very complex and nuanced. The plot, as far as it exists at all, is minimal, and the main events (or, I should say, event) are revealed very early on. But nonetheless the narrative continues to build, painting a more and more detailed and nuanced image of the 'reality' of what happened.

As it goes on, more and more moral ambiguities are evoked, and there is always a tension between what the characters are morally capable and morally willing to do. Those with the best intentions never seem able to prevent tragedy, and by the end it is clear whether the whole thing is a mess of coincidence or of fate.

The narrator tells the story retrospectively from a point in the future, and the memories, both personal and collective, of those who were there are woven into the story. Somehow, in many cases, the author does this in such a way that it only serves to throw more doubt on the reliability of narrative. Even something as simple as the weather is called into question, with some remembering glorious sunshine and others remembering rain.

There is no real conclusion to the story, and no real point where the themes come to a head or any further meaning is revealed. Instead, everything just hangs in the air and any solid purpose is only hinted at.

There are a great many themes,large and small: the reliability of memory, the individual versus the collective, the nature of moral responsibility in the face of what is (or is perceived to be) inevitable. And all of this against a scorching Caribbean backdrop. This book is not only wonderful and evocative, but incredibly engrossing. Not to mention it's barely over a hundred pages. Pick it up now! You won't be disappointed.

What did you think of Chronicle of a Death Foretold? Do you agree with my review? Let me know in the comments.

Review: The Color Purple

I bought The Color Purple by Alice Walker years and years ago without any inclination of what it was about, how significant it was, or its acclaim. It was only recently that I began to see reviews and anticipate that this novel would be really something.

And I definitely was not disappointed! From the outset, the voice of the main character Celie overwhelms the narrative, and it continues to do so throughout. Celie is not especially strong or smart or even all that likeable at first, but she has her own feelings and motivations, and her own tentative sense of self which develops slowly as the story progresses.

Celie has the worst start in life, and some of the things that have happened to her are really heartbreaking. But, gradually, she is built up by her friendships and interactions with the women around her and her growth as a person is truly heartwarming. The way female friendships are portrayed in this book is really remarkable; they are so full of nuance, balancing moments of fiery confrontation with deep-rooted affection and solidarity.

Not only do the characters feel wonderfully real, but the setting is also brought to life by Alice Walker's writing. In one of the rave reviews inside the front cover of my edition, it talks of 'a whole submerged world', which to me feels like the perfect description of what this novel does. It takes an experience that is completely alien to many of its readers and plunges them in headlong. The use of phonetically-written dialect is instrumental to getting the reader into Celie's head and into her world.

To sum up, The Color Purple is a daring and beautiful exploration of love and life, gender, race, sexuality, identity, family and faith. You don't always identify with or agree with the characters and their choices, but you do end up loving them and rooting for them. Celie is such a wonderful but unusual protagonist! She doesn't seem like anything special, but she loves and is loved, and she grows so much as a character throughout the book. By the end I was so desperate for her to get her happy ending, and when I closed the book it felt like saying goodbye to a friend.

What did you think of The Color Purple? Do you agree with my review? Let me know in the comments!

Seeing Stars - Why I'm Scrapping the Star Ratings

Regular readers of this blog may have noticed that, in my last few book reviews, something has been missing.

That's right, I'm talking about star ratings!

Remember...? they looked like this!

Now, as I think I've mentioned before, I'm a sucker for reviews, and I take other people's opinions on a book very seriously when I'm considering whether or not it's going to be worth my time. Whenever I want to buy a book on Amazon, for example, I spend forever trawling through the ratings and reviews to see if it's really something I want to invest in. More often than not, there is always someone (or many someones) who slate a book for reasons that wouldn't matter to me in the slightest.

Like this...

...or even this!

Not only can star ratings turn you off books that you might really enjoy, but they can also become the only thing you take away from a book review.

It's the same when I get my uni essays back. Most of the time, the class tutor has taken the time to write thoughtful and constructive feedback which will make me write something better next time. But, inevitably, my eye always skips to the mark they've given me. That one tiny box with a number in it is all I can see. After all, the grade's the only thing that really matters, right?

Well, actually, no. The grade itself, while admittedly it's what will actually count towards my final degree marks, is just a number, and doesn't tell me anything about what exactly my essay was like. And not only that, it is also ridiculously subjective. It's common knowledge that all lecturers have different opinions on what constitutes a good mark (not to mention what constitutes a good essay!), and some are much more generous than others. Not only is this rather irritating (though inevitable), it also somewhat devalues the whole concept of using numbers as qualifiers for the standard of our work.

This is even more the case for rating books. Some people might lavish a book with five stars because it ticked all their romance boxes, or they just love all books about werewolves, while others might be particularly fussy about the writing style (me, for example), or dislike a particular genre. The way people rate books is so personal that it is really necessary to know something about the reviewer before you can properly assess their opinion on a book, which is where the star rating system falls flat.

Another reason I started to doubt the usefulness of my star ratings stemmed from my own difficulties in doling them out. When trying to rate books I would find myself trying to compare books that were just not comparable.

For example, I gave Americanah 4 stars, which was the same as I gave As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and I Capture the Castle. But those books are all totally different and each merits a unique approach, rather than all being lumped together in the same category. Similarly, I gave The Road 4.5 stars, and it's true that I did really enjoy it. But I now can't remember what made it stand out to me as deserving a higher rating than those other books. Did something about it actually stand out to me as being superior to those other books? Or was it just the mood I was in at the time? Comparisons like this are just so difficult, and when it comes down to it they probably do more harm than good.

So basically I've decided to cut them out of my reviews, for the simple reason that I don't like putting them there. Though I'll admit I'm still swayed by the star ratings on Amazon (and everywhere else for that matter!), I hope I can be more intentional in future about taking these ratings for what they are, and not seeing them as an infallible way to judge a book.

What do you think of star ratings? Do you use ratings to help you choose books? If so, how has that worked for you? What do you think of my new plan to ditch the stars for good? Let me know in the comments!