Mulling On Monday #18

  2 Stars

  Here we are, yet another dreary Monday as we approach ugly winter. It’s already wet and rainy here, and not very nice out, so that’s just rather unfortunate.

  But, it means I have to stay inside and do something, so, I get to read. And write, since I’m falling behind on my book and on this site. But whatever, here we are.

  The novel that I have for today was one I read over the summer and did not like, even tough lots of people have classified it as ‘an American classic’. One, I’m not American, so maybe I just don’t get the whole thing, but I did not enjoy this novel one bit. Drawn out and pointless, it was a struggle to keep reading.

  The novel is A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, who died in 2001. It’s been deemed a classic, amazing, and such a great read that I picked it up.

  Well, first of all, this was not the novel I thought I picked up. What I had heard of for such a promising read must be somewhere else…or misplaced.

  This novel could quite easily have fit into a short story, so imagine my surprise when I heard that this was indeed a short story before it even came near this 208 waste of time novel.

  Anyways, there were a few things I liked about this novel, or else it would have earned no stars whatsoever.

  What I liked about the novel was the new cover. The colors and the boy in the foreground with the building in the background is wonderful, and I find it to actually be quite pretty. 

  The characters, eventually did develop well enough, and turned into ‘round characters’, who changed by the end of the story (an extreme case of this would be Leper, who ***spoilers*** pretty much loses it and goes mental, such a contrast to his lovely, quiet self. But no, he stars seeing women’s heads on men’s bodies and limbs falling all over, but no big deal, that’s called character development. What???)

  I also liked the setting; it seemed nice, even though I assumed (wrongly, always read the back covers properly) that it would be in England, not New England. But that was my fault. But I thought that for all the metaphors and whatnot, this was the right setting for it.

  What I didn’t like.

  First of all, the characters were very hard to sympathize with; they were very self-centered and coldly focused on goals that made them hard to like. They were also supposed to be 16-17 years old, but I found them oddly immature, especially in the time they were in. I would guess them to be barley 13 if I had to guess without the author throwing the fact that they are old enough to enlist every second paragraph. 

  Along with strange character flips (see spoiler) and with out of place characteristics, the entire thing was hard to read mostly because of the characters.

This means that I also did not like Finny or Gene at all. And if you can’t like the leading characters, or the character’s whose head you are in, then there might be an issue.

  As for the story, like I said, it could have been condensed into 15 pages with little effort. If it had been a short story, I think I would have enjoyed it more than I did. The idea was half decent, it was just the presentation and the characters that killed it.

  Overall, a novel that should not bear the title ‘classic’ without first being a good novel. It needs more character and a better story development.

Phinny is a star athlete with his entire future in front of him. Gene is a brainy kid who shares the same room with him. Soon they become best friends in .he boy’s school that they go to, a peaceful place where the faraway war seem fake and distant.

That peace goes away when Finny falls off a jump from a Tree that belongs to the Super Secret Suicide Society that the boys made up. Finny shatters his leg, and Gene is hiding a secret that could hurt Finny even more…

In a novel that has been called classic, this will make you question right and wrong, and what really matters as a person.

 

 

Author: John Knowles

Published: December 1, 1984

Page Count: 208

ISBN: 0553280414    (isbn13: 978-0553280418)

Mulling On Monday #14

1 ½ Stars (Ew)

This will have to be a quick review, but, nevertheless, it will still be a review. Besides, with this novel, there is very little to say.

So here is a novel that I found on Teenreads. So I went over to Goodreads, and saw the outstanding reviews, and thought that perhaps I would try it.

I hated it. Absolutely hated it. The only thing that saved it from only being a star is the mere idea, and the cool cover.  Everything else was such a turn off for me.

I finished it only becuase I wanted to see if it would redeem itself. But no, I remained disappointed out of my mind.

What I liked was the idea. Ghosts, and a girl who can see one; the mystery of their interlocked pasts. The idea sounded pretty neat.

What I did not like.The entirety of the book, I think.

What really turned me off was the whole ‘sex on top of the stage where a bed magically appears, and to do so while a drama class goes on beneath’. Yeah. That I did not like. And everything just went down-hill so fast from there, it made me sad.

The characters were not as well developed as I would have liked to seen, considering the author had plenty of time to work with, considering the ghost had been a ghost for 130 freaking years. Develop the character please! And the girl was a Disney princess type, with very little to work with, hoping for her prince to save her. Too bad that did not happen.

The characters also tended to be very crude, rude, and while I understand they are supposed to be abusive, there was no need to drop the f-bombs every second word. I not usually strongly opposed to swearing in novels, but it became a little over the top.

The descriptions were also not there.

What was also a turn-off was way things were prestented. It just didn’t work.

Overall, I really don’t recommend this novel, as it is disappointing, and I can’t tell people to read it.

Author: Donna Jo Napoli

Published: October 23rd 2007 by Atheneum

Page Count: 320

ISBN: 0689861761    (isbn13: 9780689861765)

Mulling On Monday #13

2 Stars

I seem to have issues finding a newer novel by an author that I have not read before. The newest novel to fall short of my expectations is A Curse Dark as Gold, by Elizabeth C. Bunce. It was a novel that I had wanted to get my hands on for a while, but just did not have the time to do so. So I finally did, and I find myself disappointed.

What is going to be hard about this review is telling what I did and did not like without giving too much away.

It is supposed to be a re-telling of Rumpelstiltskin. While I was able to see why this would be, and how it would be, I had issues finding exactly where it was. If anything, then it could have been a novel that did not have to reflect a re-telling of any fairy tale, though, again, I can see where it comes into play.

I found the pacing to be off in this novel. In some parts, it was very, very skilled, and had excellent timing. In other parts, not so much. It could be choppy and hard to read.

And while I realize that the majority of it is supposed to have a fairy tale quality to it, I found parts to be unrealistic and not believable. This comes in many forms, whether the decisions made by the characters, to the strange occurrences and ideas. I mean, the author notes that this is supposed to take place just before/the very beginning of the industrial evolution, but it seemed to be more of a Lord of the Rings type era with the magic and curses and such. It was very frustrating for me.

I also did not like, of course, the ending. Abrupt, if not foreseen, not to mention that it left much to be desired. It was too open ended. It did have the closure needed to end a book; it is not like it just ended, but it still seemed abrupt for what I was expecting.

What I did like were the characters. The majority of the characters were deep, well rounded and for the most part kept you guessing. I say the majority because two stick out in my mind that I feel were not adequate. The first one is Jack Spinner. The second is the heroine herself.

Jack Spinner is a character that is, yes, very much essential to the novel, however, towards the end he became more shady and random. He was not the character that I wanted to see. He was choppy and very much random. I also did not like that he seemed to be a bit of a head case, which gets explained by the end, but it threw me a bit.

The heroine, Charlotte, by the end made me really angry. She is so inconsistent, one moment believing in the curse and all that it pertains, and the next denouncing it and calling it folly. Okay then. Her random decision at the fair also made me angry, because who does that? Unless she was drunk (and I checked; she was not, she was just out of character) it does not seem to make sense.

However, they do all end up rounding out nicely by the end.

What I also liked was the cover. The hands bound in gold thread is a very clever idea, kudos to whomever thought of that. The girl also just suits the book.

I also liked learning about the process of the mill…the little that was talked about. The descriptions were fabulous, and I highly enjoyed the strange superstitions that the ‘village people’ had.

Overall, a ‘meh’ book, that I do not think I will be adding to my personal collection anytime soon.

Charlotte Miller needs some serious help.

With a mill to run, a town to keep together and her father’s recent death, any surprised that could cripple the mill could spell disaster.

Too bad her father neglected to mention the enormous debt that he racked up for some unbeknownst cause leaving Charlotte Miller and her sister Rosie in a heap of trouble.

With the bank calling in the debt, they have a very limited time to save the town, their life, and the mill.

The fact that the mill is cursed is not too big of help either.

Any help is welcome. But could the help they get actually cause more heartache and pain? Or will they be able to save everything that they hold dear?

In Elizabeth C. Bunce’s debut novel, A Curse Dark as Gold is a retelling of a classic fairy-tale where so much went wrong, with too much to lose.

Author: Elizabeth C. Bunce

Published: March 1st 2008 by Arthur A. Levine Books

Page Count: 396

ISBN: 0439895766    (isbn13: 9780439895767)

Mulling on Monday #12

   3 Stars 

   So, here we are again, at another week. As of tomorrow, it will be three weeks until the official start of summer. The crowd cheers…yay. 

  Anyways, so for my ‘Monday Mulling’ moment, I have chosen to go a little outside of the box and go with a play, rather than an actual novel. Still. It is a classic, and is part of a few school English curriculum. 

  No, not Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (though that could be a valid option), rather, it is The Merchant of Venice. 

  A classic in any means, with a beautiful story line and marvelous speeches (The quality of mercy is not strain’d,/ It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven/Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest…) that are inspiring, and, once you can get past the Shakespearian wording and phrasing, then it is quite the story. 

  What I like about it is the dramatics. My, oh, my, how they go on and on in the most entertaining way, the sighing and everything that you have come to expect from a classic Shakespearian piece. The characters are not necessarily relatable, but they do represent somewhat of the population in that era. 

  The commentary! The presentation! (See? Dramatic.)And Shakespeare’s nerve to publish such a work is great.   

  What I did not like about this work was the fact that none of the characters are the sharpest tool in thy tool shed. Not really like-able, and they have the tendency to actually make you really upset, like the girl in the horror film that you scream at to not open the door. But what does she do? Open the door. This can be increasingly frustrating, especially when you just know what is being door number one. 

  I know that I had little to no issues reading the regular script, but I do know that many people struggle with the dialogue and the hidden meanings. 

  I realize that this was written hundreds of years ago, when racist and sexist were not words, but I did struggle with the way some of the characters were treated. This is also part of why the characters were not likable. 

  I also did not like the ending. I wish that it could have been a little more twisted, a little more un-predictable. But no, I did not get what I wanted. 

  Overall, a good work, but lacking in some essential areas. 

A classic work from Shakespeare.   

This is the tale of what friends will do for friends, what enemies will do to their enemies, and what lovers will do to their heart’s desires.

This is the battle for love, for allies, for enemies. It tells us how bitterness will lead us nowhere but ruin, and love will bring a smile to one’s eyes.  

It was a simple deal that was supposed to result in love and happiness, but instead triggered a landslide of anguish and dashed hopes. A debt to be paid. A pound of flesh. The chain of events that lead up to the moment in court when the deal must be followed through, and a friend must save another.  

 

  

Author: William Shakespeare

Published: January 1st 2004 by Washington Square Press (first published 1600)

Page Count: 228

ISBN: 0743477561    (isbn13: 9780743477567)

Mulling on Monday #11

2 Stars

Late, I know, but here it is, another Monday.

And while I know that I banned myself from any Nicholas Sparks, this is from a while ago, and I just forgot to put it up. So there. Yet another reason as to why I should go on a Sparks boycott for the time being.

Alright, so I am back and have just finished yet another Nicolas Sparks novel, one that I was unsure if I wanted to read because of who it was half inspired by; yes that would be Miley Cyrus.
So this novel gave me mixed emotions. It was overall written well, as in the Nicholas Sparks brand, but it seemed to slug through certain parts, and yet in some chapters you were bewildered as to where the time went.

Then there was the story line itself.

I am not 100% sure of what story Sparks was trying to tell here. The different elements of the story could have been good plot lines themselves. However, they were all put together in a giant, emotional mixing bowl. It felt at times like you were reading three different stories, and you just happened to know the characters.

What was most disappointing for me was the fact that I was able to put down the novel after, and just read another book. It was a “yeah, okay, that books done.” moment, which is something no author should be looking for.

I also found it awfully predictable. I knew what was going to happen chapters in advance.
Overall, it was an okay novel, though I am glad that I only borrowed it and did not buy it as I had originally planned.

Ronnie’s life is a mess, and it just keeps getting worse.

A shop-lifter in New-York, with slipping grades and a blind hate towards her father, things cannot get any worse when she is condemned to spend the summer with him, in a small town. It’s her own personal hell, come to life.

Things don’t get better fast. That is, until she meets a guy. And from there, everything changes into a different angle.

From the award-winning author Nicholas Sparks, comes a novel that tell of the power of summer love.

Author: Nicholas Sparks

Published: September 8th 2009 by Grand Central Publishing

Page Count: 405

ISBN: 0446547565    (isbn13: 9780446547567)

Mulling on Monday #10

3 Stars

It’s double digits for Monday Mulling now! Crazy how far this little project of mine has come, and the dimensions I have added to it. Sure, it’s only been a couple of months, but it’s still really, really neat.

Alright, so I read this a while ago and decided that it was high time I reviewed it.  It’s Girl With a Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier, a novel that has been acclaimed, and even added into some schools as part of the English curriculum. It’s a simple and unique read, with the topic being about art and the behind the scenes of how the piece was made; after all, everybody recognizes it, even if nobody really knows the why behind it.

This book was on my ‘to read’ list before I started it. I think that I wanted to read it because of the topic; it sounded different, historic, and sounded like a novel that I might enjoy because of the ‘behind the scenes of history’ aspect.

However, by the end, I was a little disappointed.

It is not as compelling as I had hoped when I started the novel; as a matter of fact, it is sort of dull, in a sad way. For a novel that I had been waiting to read for a while, it was a very big let down.

For one, it was slow. It was also very much predictable, which made me angry at some points. When I read a novel, I do not want to read to the end just to see if what I thought was going to happen was right. I want to be kept guessing at every turn, and have all of my ideas about what is going to happen proved wrong. Sadly, this did not happen for me.

I also found some of the book to be vague and blotchy. I felt like I was missing pages sometimes, only to flip back & realize that no, it was not just me.

And, of course, my always-there-nitpick: the ending.  Random.  Strange. Just not good. Could have been done way better than it was, but sadly, was not.

What I did like, however, was the easy pace of the story, with the tension just in the right places. I also really liked Griet, other than her weird thing about her hair. But even then, she is relatable.  She is real. She is a normal sixteen year old in the 17^th century, struggling with life. It is something that any teen girl can relate with, even with the different day and age.

Overall, disappointing for me, but for others interested in the story behind the paining, it offers a pretty good look behind the curtain.

Griet’s life is changing faster than she thought would ever happen. After her father’s accident, she finds herself the family rock, and the only source of income. There is but one problem; she is a maid in a catholic household, in a town that is mostly protestant. Forced to live with her clever and pinching mistresses, and her secretitive painter master, Griet has a hard time adjusting. But this is only the beginning of a hard and strange life that will lead into decisions that might cost Griet everything she’s worked for.

Author: Tracy Chevalier

Published: August 30th 2005 by Plume (first published January 200)

Page Count:256

ISBN: 0452287022    (isbn13: 9780452287020)

Mulling On Monday #9

2 ½ Stars. (Oooh, recently I just cannot get a simply fantastic novel to share with all of you!)

Oh, yet another Monday. A boring one at that, but hey, it could be worse.

This is number nine here! Almost double digits, exciting!

Today I had to really think about what novel to review.  I did not get much time to read over the weekend. Sad, I know. So. What novel does one mull over on such an important date? (Not really, but hey).

So, hello Daughter of Fortune, by Isabel Allende.

It’s a novel that made Oprah’s book club, for any of you who really care. (I personally think that awards don’t really matter; sure they can cover the book with medals and quotes and stars, but it is what’s inside that counts.) The author has written plenty of novels, and has gotten plenty of awards and ‘read-it”s.

This is one novel that I was not impressed with.

I have read it before, actually. But what made me pick it up again (promptly forgetting my disgust with it the first go-round) was me trying to remember another book about a Chinese man and how he met an interesting Englishman while trying to make a living by using acupuncture. Then, bing. Hello. That would be this novel. So I picked it up, wanting to find a story I had loved that was really only two or three chapters in this novel. Oh. Well then.

Let me say that those two or three chapters is what I liked the most out of this novel. The rest seems mashed, mixed, and not well put together overall. The characters are a little hazy, and the story line not really there. Little makes sense in this novel between it jumping around different character that by the end have little to do with anything.

I don’t like it when authors lose their way in their own works, and just randomly wander off with the story until they can fill up a few pages to make themselves feel better. That is what this book seemed like. Just a filler with all the backstories and flashbacks.

What I did like. Well. It’s a love hate relationship, becuase some of the flashbacks/backstories were really good. I mean, some of them were even better than the wanderings of Eliza and the randomness of everything else.

Overall, perhaps a beach read, or even the dreaded ‘read on a airplane’ novel. Ouch.

Eliza is an orphan living in the British colony of Valparaíso, Chile. Found in a box by Miss Rose Summers, Eliza is raised in a Victorian way, filled with music, parties and glamor that tries to live up to far away England. But there are secrets the family harbours, each more dangerous than the last.

And Eliza has a secret that could possibly destroy her family, if it does not kill her first.

At sixteen, Eliza is headstrong, stubborn, and in love with the wild Joaquín Andieta, a Chilean clerk who works for Jeremy. Soon she finds herself over her head when she is pregnant with his child, and her lover has caught a ship to California where gold fever is taking over all of the men’s heads. But when Eliza decides to follow him as a stowaway on a ship, leaving all she knows behind, everything is not as it seems.

In a novel that is proclaimed as Isabel Allende finest work, this will take you back to an era where love was inappropriate, England was master, and gold was the currency of America.

Author: Isabel Allende

Published: May 1st 2006 by Harper Perennial (first published 1999)

Page Count: 432

ISBN: 0061120251    (isbn13: 9780061120251)

Mulling on Monday #8

  1 ½ Stars

 ”Mondays are pothole in the road of life.” – Anon

  Agreed. Mondays are jarring, especially after a busy weekend. But, here I am today, writing about a book I read on teh weekend, squeezing it in at bedtime.

  And, due to my sad collection of library books, it is yet another Jodi Pilcout novel. Songs of A Humpback Whale. And I am wondering why it is even a novel at all.

  No, I mean it. This Jodi novel was not well done. At all. It was messy, confusing, and the plot was all jarbled. One big mess, if you ask me. Just not good!

  First of all, the multiple characters were all right. Matter of fact, they were the only part I could rely on. But to have the story moving in two differnt directions at once…not good. I admire her idea, her creative license, but that was just a no-no that really brought the story down.

  Let me explain how it worked; she had four characters talking like you would usually see in a book; going forwards, the plot progressing. But then Rebecca, the daughter is going backwards. So. You knew the ending of the story before you even really got into it. Hello? Why bother to even finish the novel? I only did becuase I wanted to see how she ended this mess (and trust me, it was not worth it).

  The plot was pointless. Wife has a fight with husband. Wife leaves with kid. Drives across the country. Finds a hot man at her brother’s place. Husband comes. You can figure the rest out. (and no, this is not a spoiler, becuas you learn this almost right away.)

  Whether this novel was just no good becuase it was her debut one, I don’t know what happened here.

  Oh. What I did like. Other than when it ended? (ouch.) It was different than her other novels, which tend to repeat characters and plot lines. But this was just horrible, and not what I was looking for from her. I was expecting the typical, comfortable Jodi Pilcout novel. But this…no.

  Overall? Not good. Don’t really bother.

  Rachel is a survivor. She survived a plane crash with only four others when she was four. She is also a life preserver…she is the glue that holds her parents together.

But when things escalate in the Jone’s household Rebbeca and her mother, Jane,  leave, following only letters that Jane’s close brother sends, bringing them places they have never been, and bringing mother and daughter closer than they have ever been.

It’s not just a journey to get to see her brother though: it’s an exploration of their pasts, of their lives, and everything in between love and hate.

Author: Jodi Pilcout

Published: 1992

Page Count:352

ISBN: 0743431014    (isbn13: 9780743431019)

Mulling On Monday #7

 2 Stars

  Alright, another Monday. Another book to mull over. Another day down untill summer and some time to sit at the beach and read.

  I have just finished a book that had a lot of hype behind is, and was recently made into a movie. The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold. I was told it was a great book, and that it was simply a must read.

  I feel like my time wasted.

  First of, all the action took place in the first few chapters of the book. Then, the rest of the novel is about Susie looking down at her woe-ridden family and friends and their issues. That’s it. Oh, unless you count Susie’s dad having suspicions about the creepy neighbour who we know for a fact killed her. But, I suppose you could count that as an issue.

  It was so drawn out also! The idea was good, okay, but it’s dragged on and on and on, to the point where I almost put the book away so I would not have to read it any longer.

  What I did like…the idea, perhaps? Even if it was not all that original?

  The characters were mostly developed, I guess, but the story threw any good that they would have done out the window.

  I also had issues with the ending (no, hugely this time). It was undeveloped, and the sudden irrelevent twist that really was not a twist at all just deepened my dislike for this already drawn out novel. That and a little other thing that happened at the end (no spoiler here…if you read it, you will know what I mean.) between Ray and Susie/Ruth. Weird, creepy stuff.

  Overall? The novel is a train-wreck of a messy plot and undevelopment.

  Susie Salmon was murdered…in her own community…in an era when these things were not supposed to happen. But now, she is in her own version of Heaven, when all you have to do is wish for something to have it – but even that is limited. Forced to watch her family and friends go through grief and questions, Susie knows all. But all is not enough for the pain she knows her family is goiong through.

This novel follows Susie and her family and friends as they go through the life and lies that would not happened if Susie had not died.

 The Lovely Bones is a novel that will expose other ideas of heaven…and perhaps one’s own personal hell.

Author: Alice Sebold

Published: September 1st 2006 by Little Brown and Co. (first published 2002)

Page Count: 328

ISBN: 0316166685    (isbn13: 9780316166683)

Mulling on Monday #5 1/2

Sadly, I did not get the chance to read anything over the weekend, so I have to sadly admit that I have no novel to mull over for today. However, I am starting to read The Last Song (Nicolas Sparks), and Sarah’s Key (Tatiana de Rosnay). Look for them up later, or for next Monday.