Book 31: Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

This one is going to be a challenge.  I decided last time around that, if I speak the language in which the book is written, I should read the book in that language.  I did this with The Three Musketeers in French, but Russian is a more difficult language, so I've been shying away from it.

I'm determined this time, though, and I'm going to try to read the Russian version of the book.  One plus side of this is that, in trying to procure a Russian version, I found that my library has an original, 1st edition copy of the book.  It's not in great condition, but there's something cool about knowing that, when Pasternak first published Doctor Zhivago, this is one of the copies that rolled off the presses.

566 pages in this one which would be about 81 pages per day, but I'll be lucky to get half of that number... I'm going to need to make up time once I finish this one.

Review:  Wow!  This one took me a lot longer than anticipated.  Instead of one week it took a total of three weeks to plod my way through it.  At first, I started with the book and a dictionary and was looking up 3-5 words per page, it was taking a long time.  Near the end, I was able to go many pages without having to resort to the dictionary but my reading speed was still pretty low.  Pasternak's writing, it turns out, is quite poetic and therefore very dense.  I am glad that I made the effort, however.  I feel that the practice really improved my Russian reading skills and it was good to read the book in it's original language.

Being unfamiliar with the material, either the book or the films, I was under a wrong impression of this book.  I thought that it was going to be a very romanticized love story between Dr. Zhivago and his love, Lara, set against the Russian Revolution of 1917.  In this way, I thought that it would be much closer in tone and content as something like Anna Karenina.  It turns out, however, that this is not the case.  The story follows Dr. Yuri Zhivago from his youth through his adulthood and his trials during the revolution.  He grows up, marries, is conscripted, released, reunites with his family, is shanghai'd again, escapes, etc. During this time, he is also in love with Lara Guishar, who moves in and out of his life multiple times.  At first, their relationship evolves as events push them around and eventually they depend on each other for support more than any fierce passion.  In this way, the book reminds me more of War and Peace or Gone with the Wind than Anna Karenina.  It's a love story, but one in which the main characters are almost lost amongst the huge, dramatic events unfolding around them.

I liked the book quite a bit, even though it was hard work getting through it.  The writing was beautiful, especially in Russian, and the characters were very likable.  The story was engaging and never really slowed down and you are engaged with Yuri's fate every step of the way.  I would highly recommend anyone to read this book.  Doing it in Russian was merely a challenge for myself and certainly not necessary.

8 out of 10

Book 30: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

I'm back to Harry Potter.  I can tell that this series is good because I'm always excited to get back to it and, here it is, the penultimate book.  The last book fully evolved the theme into it's more adult, darker tone and I'm sure this one will continue in that way.  People tell me that it's a really good book, and I haven't seen the movie for this one yet either, so the entire plot should be a surprise for me.

It's a little bit shorter than the last installment at 652 pages.  To complete it in one week would be 94 pages per day, but I tend to read these obsessively so I may finish ahead of time.

REVIEW: Another great installment of the Harry Potter series.  The thing I liked best about this book was the pace.  Because the plot is now revealed and Lord Voldemort is now acting openly, Rowling is free to advance things much more quickly.  Harry has grown out of his petulant phase and it much more trusting of his friends, Dumbledore is now acting in a much more direct and less mysterious manner and even Harry’s classwork seems to be much more focused and useful.

I like the pace that I’m going through these books as well.  I’m reading them about 10 weeks apart as I cycle through other genres and it builds up the suspense nicely.  I’m glad that I didn’t read them when they were first released or it would be a year or two between books. 

The whole reason that I started reading these books is that I felt that there was too much missing from the movie versions.  I wondered what became of Harry’s first love interest, Cho, and how his romance wth Ginny started.  I also wanted to know more about characters like Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom.  I have been completely satisfied with the books in that regard.  I have even come to like the house elves. 

The book is so full of surprises that I can’t really say much more without spoiling things, but I’m really impressed with the growth of Rowling’s writing and the overall plot of the books.  Harry Potter has definitely justified all the hype that surrounded the series and then some.  I’m looking forward to the final chapter in the story.

9 out of 10. 

Book 29: Solar by Ian McEwan

I really like Ian McEwan's books, though they are, more often than not, quite depressing.  It used to be that he wrote strange little macabre tales where something was off about the lives of his chraracters (children living alone in their house after burying their parents in the backyard comes to mind).  But lately, he's been writing beautiful books with characters that you come to love, then he stabs you in the heart with a tragic twist near the end.  You may love the characters and hope to see them end up happy, but you know they won't.  All that said, I love his writing and am looking forward to this book.

It's got 287 pages, so that's 41 pages per day... although I borrowed this one from the library a couple weeks ago and only have 5 days to finish it... so that's 58 pages per day.

REVIEW: Let me say straight away that I really enjoyed this book.  It his several elements that were bound to grab me.  The main character, Michael Beard, is a theoretical physicist who, a couple of decades ago, won the Nobel Prize for his work with light establishing something called the Beard-Einstein Conflation (which McEwan wisely does not explain).  Now, however, his marriage is in decline and his career has stagnated as he continues to coast along on his successes as a young man.

Ian McEwan's writing is, as always, completely engrossing.  I literally missed my bus stop no fewer than 3 times while reading on my way home from work.  He has a way of writing characters that is completely believable and you find yourself immersed in their lives.  It helped that he did his homework on this book, which helped to write a very convincing scientist-turned-scientific administrator, without making him a stereotype.

As I mentioned in the introduction to this book, McEwan typically has a tragic twist in his books.  One would think that this would get formulaic and predictable, but he has a way of introducing these twists that, while you may expect them, you are always surprised by them.  I don't want to give away the plot in this review, but I will say that, near the end of the book, I knew something was going to happen, but he gave such a complex range of things that could happen that I didn't know which it would be.  That sounds confusing; suffice it to say that Ian McEwan is an excellent writer and, despite the fact that you may suspect that his plot will include a tragic twist or surprising turn, you won't see it coming until it has already happened.

Overall, and as usual, I really liked reading McEwan's latest book.  It wasn't one of his best and the ending was a little lacking, in my opinion, but it was expertly written, completely engrossing and even comic, in a grim sort of way.  8 out of 10.

Book 28: As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

I have to admit, I'm not really looking forward to this one.  I'm mostly reading American Literature to see what I missed in high school and some of it I have found to be very enjoyable.  Ernest Hemingway is still one of my favorite authors.  But, based on the last Faulkner novel that I read, I'm expecting this one to be a downer.  The title doesn't give me much hope of a happy ending either.  I am going to stick with it anyway, though.

Only 261 pages in this one so it should take long to get a verdict.  That's less than 40 pages per day, if anyone is counting.

REVIEW:  Well, Faulkner is still not my favorite American author but it wasn't too bad.  The novel revolves around the death of Addie Bundren, the matriarch of a poor, southern family.  The event and it's aftermath is seen from the point of view of several people who are associated with the events and jumps from person to person with each chapter.

The chief complaint that I have about American literature, principally early 20th century American literature, is it's tendency to devolve into a kind of suffocating tragedy of desperate poverty.  This one is not much different as the surviving family continue to make bad decision after bad decision as terrible luck strikes at every turn.

The writing is interesting, however.  Faulkner tends to write in a stream-of-consciousness style and uses a colloquial voice for his characters.  He is able to give each of his characters a unique style and you can really tell who is narrating by the way they speak.  The story is also interesting and it moves at a nice pace, though it's horribly depressing and a bit frustrating due the choices of the characters.

Overall, this has not done much to improve my impression of American Literature in general.  It had a good story and great writing style but unlikeable characters and a heavy mood.  I appreciate that it's an important piece of literature but it wasn't something I enjoyed very much.  6 out of 10.

Book 27: The Oedipus Cycle by Sophocles

It's time to get back to the classics.  I've read a lot of old Greek and Roman classics, including Oedipus Rex, but I don't remember reading all three pieces.  I actually enjoy reading ancient Greek works.  I like how the characters are still very relatable, very human.  From what I remember of Oedipus, it's more like a Shakespeare play than something by Plato or Aristotle and was very gripping throughout.

My copy is 216 pages, which gives a very easy 31 pages per day.  I may finish this one early.

REVIEW: As you may or may not know, I’m a big fan of Ancient Greek literature.  Therefore, it should come as no surprise that I really enjoyed this book.  To me, the fact that an author can successfully convey emotion though he’s writing in a different country and culture, 2,500 years ago, shows something definingly human.  Anything that can cross that divide must be universal amongst all people.

The Oedipus Trilogy consists of three plays, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone.  The first play portrays the events that Oedipus is famous for: the killing of his father and marrying and having children with his mother.  Though most people are familiar with this plot, I have to wonder how many have actually read the story and realized it’s subtleness.  On the surface, taken literally, Oedipus’ acts are unthinkable, even villainous.  But Oedipus didn’t realize what he was doing at the time.  He didn’t know that it was his father he killed (in self-defense, no less) and he didn’t know that it was his mother he was marrying when he freed Thebes and took her for his queen.  Informed by prophecy, Oedipus goes looking for the wretch who would commit such sins only to find that it is himself.

The second play, Oedipus at Colonus, shows Oedipus as he arrives at Athens.  He is now blinded and beggared led and assisted by his daughters Antigone and Ismene.  Oedipus is befriend by the king of Athens, Theseus and taken under his protection.  Confronted by his son, Polyneices who is at war with his brother Eteocles, Oedipus refuses to return to Thebes and, after a rescue from Theseus, he dies at Colonus, just outside Athens.

The third play follows Oedipus’ daughter, Antigone after she has returned to Thebes.  Her brothers have killed each other and Thebes is now ruled by Creon, her uncle.  Because of the war that Polyneices waged against Thebes, Creon has declared him a traitor and refused him burial rites.  Antigone, as Polyneices’ sister, performs the rites anyway and is arrested.  The whole trilogy basically tells of the downfall of Oedipus and his relations.

The series as a whole inspire a wide range of feeling, from disbelief to revulsion to compassion.  Oedipus falls from a King to a blind beggar, but regains some of his power through justice and prophecy.  I think that anyone who takes the time to read through the myth of Oedipus will find him a far more sympathetic character and far from the deviate implied by a cursory reading of the main plot.  In this, as in most literature, the details make the story.

9 out of 10

Book 26: Persuasion by Jane Austen

Well, I'm back around to Jane Austen.  I've read all but three of her novels so far: Northanger Abbey, Lady Susan and this one, Persuasion.  I have to admit that I really don't know anything about this book so we'll have to see how it goes.  I'm still a big fan of Jane Austen's writing, however, so I assume it will be pretty good.

Only 272 pages, so around 40 pages per day.  Piece of cake!

REVIEW:  This book is now one of my new favorites.  It’s not as good as Pride and Prejudice or even Emma, but even the third best book by Jane Austen is better than most people’s best books. 

The story takes place from the point of view of Anne Elliot, the middle daughter of a baronet, Sir Walter Elliot.  Her mother is dead, her father and sister are vain and selfish and her younger sister is already married and, therefore, head of her own little household, though that doesn’t keep her from meddling in everyone else’s lives.  Anne is the standard refined, smart heroine of Austen’s novels, but she’s unappreciated.  Her good judgment is often disregarded though everyone relies on her dependibility. 

She is now 27, practically a spinster in Austen’s world, though eight years earlier she was engaged to a yound naval officer, Frederick Wentworth.  She loved him dearly, but was persuaded to break off the engagement by her family and friends due to his lack of status and fortune.  Now, eight years later, Captain Wentworth has returned and she must learn to adjust to his contant presence.

While Anne is unassuming, she is not meek, like Fanny in Mansfield Park. She is, therefore, a much more interesting character.  She does have opinions and advice even if they are disregarded.  While she was meek enough to be persuaded earlier against her desires, she is now older and more independent.  Overall, she’s the opposite of most of Austen’s heroines, choosing a self-made commoner over the aristocratic heroes of Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma. 

The story felt a little rough in spots and very hurried at the end, but as this was the last book written by Ms. Austen, in fact, written on her deathbed, it didn’t get the usual amount of revision, editing and polishing that most of her novels did.  As such, it’s simpler, more direct story but, I feel, it comes across as more realistic and moving.

Overall, I really liked this book – 9 out of 10.

Book 25: Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov

Back to some good, old-school sci-fi.  This is the second of the Foundation series and I really enjoyed the first.  This one is supposed to be about the meeting between the Foundation and the old Galactic Empire.  For being such a famous series (in sci-fi circles, at least) I know very little about these books.

What I do know is that it's only 272 pages.  So that's a very easy 40 pages per day.

REVIEW:  As mentioned, this is the second volume of the series and I found it to be quite a bit weaker than the first.  Part of the concept of the series is that the founder of the Foundation predicted, mathematically, the fall of the Galactic Empire and, to forestall some of the worst of the resulting chaos, established the Foundation to harbor the most advanced of the Empire's technology and plant a seed to rebuild society at an accelerated rate.

Because the founder has predicted, scientifically, the future path that his new society will take, it just remains for events to unfold and for the Foundation to grow and overcome challenges that present themselves.  This leads to a bit of a problem though, as far as a story goes.  Because the future has been decided the actions the Foundation takes and the results of those actions start to feel like destiny and there is no real need to do anything as a feeling of "it will all work out in the end" pervades.  Even the characters in the book seem to feel this way and it becomes a little boring.

Now it could be that the first half of the book is written this way to set things up for the second half, which picks up the pace considerably.  But, even given this, you're still stuck with a boring half-a-book.  For some reason, Asimov even has the climax of the first part of the book take place off-screen.  There is a big conflict building but, just as it is about to unfold, you see what happens... from the point of view of some characters that happen to be half a galaxy away... watching it on the news.  No spaceship battles, no planetary invasions, just a ticker telling what happened.

The second half was much more interesting and seemed to take things in a different direction, so that kept things interesting, and it seems to lead directly to the third book in the series.  So, I suppose I'll continue on with the story for one more book.  Overall, though, this one was significantly less interesting than the first book:  6 out of 10.