OscarWilde87: Challenge Accepted!

This is the first time I ever enter a book challenge. That's why I thought it best to start with 25 books. Don't really know how many books I read a year, but 25 sounds quite realistic... We'll see.
So far, I've read those books this year:
#1: The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (I actually started it on December 30, 2011, but I guess that's okay...)
#2: The Book of Lost Tales: Part 1 by J.R.R. Tolkien
#3: Nemesis by Philip Roth
#4: The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands by Stephen King

I am currently reading The Book by M. Clifford. Being about halfway through the book I can say that it is not too bad a read. It's a dystopia where all books are banned. At least the ones made of paper. Reading is still possible with sort of an e-book reading device simply called 'The Book'. But this device turns out to be controlled by the government and the books that are available are highly edited. Words, phrases, whole pages have been altered or completely removed. The protagonist is tryiong to do something against this, getting to know other people who like to read the original paper versions of books along the way. This is pretty risky, though, as the government forbids any possession of paper and especially of books... A pretty interesting idea for a book, actually, pretty alike to Orwell's 1984 or Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.

I am planning to continue reading/to finish The Dark Tower series this year. It's often been said that the series is the best King has ever done. I loved King's The Stand, so I wanted to try out The Dark Tower. So far it's really gripping.

Welcome to the group! I hope you enjoy the Dark Towers Series I read it a few years back (when the 7th book was the conclusion) and found it pretty tear-through-able until the very end. I'm not sure what this new book does to the story.

#5: The Book by M. Clifford

Just finished The Book by M. Clifford. It's been an interesting read but the end turned out to be a little disappointing, but maybe that's only me.
Anyway, probably will start reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown next. I have already read all the other novels by Dan Brown and they were quite good reads. So I'm excited about this one.

#6: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Once I found time to get around to reading The Lost Symbol it was a quick read. As is usual with Dan Brown novels, the action starts to unfold at a somewhat slower pace but after the first 50 or 100 pages you find yourself wanting to read the rest of the book at once. Dan Brown is always worth reading and so was The Lost Symbol. 4 stars for this one.

#7: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Finally got around to enjoy Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. As the story is already well known without ever actually having read the play (or better yet: seen it performed on stage) the plot was nothing new. But I was really looking forward to the actual words and phrases. Liking Shakespeare a lot, I'm not surprised that I loved his probably most famous work. Now I want to see it performed on stage, though...

#8: Ghostwritten by David Mitchell

A brief summary of what the book is about is kinda hard with this one. It's about life, about identity, about things we take for granted. Do we have control over our lives (at least to a certain extent)? Is everything already fixed and living is just acting out our predestined roles? Or is everything due to chance? Are there other entities that control us? Nine stories, on the first glance not related to one another in any way. Taking a closer look there are many connections between the stories. What do they have in common? They let the reader see how our lives might be controlled by others and in how far we are able to control them ourselves. Fate, chance, destiny, volition. Who are we really and why do the things happen they way they do?
My feelings about this book are a little mixed. I just finished it last night and the last two chapters were really good ones. However, I found the book a little boring towards the middle. The last two chapters sort of wrapped everything up again and put the ones before into perspective. You come to regard them in a new light and suddenly I found myself liking them a little more and thinking they are not that boring after all. Now I think this book is definitely worth a reread. No, it actually demands a reread (at least for me) because now I'd really like to give the book another try with a different angle in mind. I won't read it again just now, though. I've never read a book twice in a row without allowing time for some other books in between. Anyway, as you can see, this book really got to me. On some level at least. When I was halfway through I was not sure whether to give it 2 or 3 stars. Now I don't know, why it shouldn't get 4 or 5 stars. In the end, I'll give it 4 stars, keeping in mind that I didn't like the book for quite a number of pages...So, yep, 4 stars for this one.

#9: Dubliners by James Joyce

I liked this collection of short stories about apparently random people in Dublin. However, it couldn't convince me like Ulysses could. The story I liked most: "The Dead". I read "The Dead" some time ago in an introductory course to literary studies at university. Loved it then, still love it now. 3.5 stars for this one.

#10: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The road goes ever on. Or does it?
Not only is this a beautifully written post-apocalyptic story but also a perfectly crafted postmodern tale of the relationship between a father and his son and their way to the coast via 'The Road'. Taking some detours from that very road they come across other survivors of the nuclear catastrophe - few good, many bad, and some even worse.
Cormac McCarthy's The Road depicts a journey with a destination. But this destination is not the end of the journey. Once on the road, the protagonists have to go on traveling in search of a better world. What they find, however, is only worse than what they've encountered before. But what is there to do? The only two choices are staying in one place or going on. Either way, the result is the same: death, sooner or later. In a world where death is the only certainty you have to have something to believe in. In McCarthy's words, you have to "carry the fire." Otherwise you're lost. Completely.
Reading this book, I found myself not wanting to put it down. The tale depicts a world that is bleak, gray, ashen, hopeless. McCarthy's writing is simply superb. On the whole, 4.5 stars for this great novel.

#11: Everyman by Philip Roth

This one is actually a reread. I read the book on holiday a few years back. Sweet little novel about human life and mortality. 4 stars.

#12: Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Here goes number twelve for 2012. I've always wanted to read another Dickens, especially as I liked Hard Times a lot. Beginning to read Oliver Twist, I loved the style of writing. However, as the story went on I came to like the book less and less. The pace was a bit slow at times and somehow I couldn't get 'into' the story. The end was again very well written and I enjoyed reading it. On the whole, however, 3 stars for this one.

#13: The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass by Stephen King

Awesome book. I really enjoyed reading the fourth book in King's Dark Tower series. Makes me want to go on with the next one right away. Many people mentioned in their reviews that the main part of the book was tedious lingering in the protagonist's past but I have to say that I especially enjoyed that part of the story. I always love to get some background information and King just provides it masterfully. Certainly it adds another layer to the story, giving it even more depth. Love it! 4.5 stars.

#14: The Dark Tower V: The Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King

I actually liked this one less than the one before. At a certain point in a series I find it hard to decide which is the best. Now, after the fifth one it gets ever harder. However, I can say that The Wolves of the Calla is not the best book in the series. This is not to say that it isn't good or that I didn't like it, far from that. The fifth book in the Dark Tower series certainly provides an interesting read, especially for those interested in the connections betweeen the different whens and wheres in the tale. Yet, the fight with the wolves was to a certain extent quite predictable and I have to admit that I didn't like the Harry Potter connection (although it was really only marginal). King could easily have done without sneetches and Harry Potter, to my mind. But maybe that's just me. Anyway, I was torn between 3.5 or 4 stars for this book. My final (?) decision seems to be 4 stars. (I always find it hard to rate the books. If anyone has an idea for a fair and just rating system, shoot. It'll always remain subjective, though. But that's okay, I guess.)

#15: The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah by Stephen King

The sixth novel in King's Dark Tower series was a little disappointing to me - at least compared to the ones before. The writing is somehow different (having just finished the book I can't really say what it is exactly) and at points I wondered why King had to go back to the vampire element of his story. I already didn't like the vampire part of Callahan's story in The Wolves of the Calla but in this novel the Dark Tower ingredients that I loved so much (depth, background, good plot, good writing) are somewhat missing. I'm still excited to get to reading the final novel, though. Although not completely to my liking, Song of Susannah is a fairly good book and definitely worth reading if you're into The Dark Tower series. 3.5 stars.

#16: The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower by Stephen King

The final volume of the Dark Tower Series was agin one of the better ones. I have to admit that I was struggling with the beginning to a ceratin extent, but once the story got going and the tower was ever nearer it gripped me again. On the whole, I liked the series a lot, although I liked The Stand better. But maybe that's just me. Anyway, 4 stars for the final book in the series.

Actually it isn't the final volume any more. It's like a scab King just can't stop picking.

Well yeah, I know. But librarything lists The Wind Through the Keyhole as number 4.5 in the series, so I thought plotwise The Dark Tower was the final volume of the series. I'm not sure where The Wind Through the Keyhole will fit in plotwise. But I guess I'll see. Will have to read it sometime. Same as King had to write it, maybe?! (You're definitely right there. King can't stop with the Tower...)

#17: The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

I read this YA novel back at school when I was in 8th grade. Just recently I re-discovered it on the shelf and thought I might give it another try (without a teacher bugging me with tasks and assignments) and well, I didn't like it too much. Maybe this is because I'm way older now and the novel is YA fiction which might not appeal to me anymore (I can't remember whether I liked it back in school, though. I think I also didn't like it too much then.). Storywise I have read far better and far more interesting novels. The plot is very predictable (even without ever having read it before it would've been) and on the whole you don't have to think too much about it. I like it when novels offer some striking issues/points/twists/statements/actions that make you think about you or your life. Only 2.5 stars.

#18: A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway

"There is a class that controls a country that is stupid and does not realize anything and never can. That is why we have this war." (p. 48)

"He had always known what I did not know and what, when I learned it, I was always able to forget. But I did not know that then, although I learned it later." (p. 13)

A quite interesting read. Hemingway's language is both refreshing but also taking a little bit to get used to. Once you're used to his writing it is just wonderful. The story of an American volunteering in the war in Italy and falling in love with an English nurse is highly readable. I was especially fascinated by the writing and the sharp and witty statements. Hemingway is so right. A more than decent book, 3.5 stars.

#19: The Pledge by Friedrich Dürrenmatt

I can only recommend this novel by the Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt to everyone who loves crime stories or a good novel and good writing in general. A brilliant book, excellent writing and an exciting story. In contrast to other crime novels where you can guess the ending before having read it, this one is totally unforeseen. But the ending doesn't matter as much as the intention that is behind it. In a metafictional way, the author deals with the genre of crime novels in this novel, steps out of the plot in between to have look at it again and eventually goes back to telling the ending as if it were just by-the-way. A really awesome book. Great insights into human behavior. Loved it. A lot. I've read it twice so far, but I will certainly re-read it again sometime (although there are so many books that I still haven't read and want to read). 4.5 stars for this great novel.

#20: The Pelican Brief by John Grisham

As I tend to read the novel first before I watch the movie version, I have been avoiding to watch The Pelican Brief for quite a while now. It took me pretty long to finally get around to reading Grisham's novel (I could've done it earlier but there are always so many books...) but it was well worth the waiting. The Pelican Brief is on the whole very nicely written, full of suspense and very fast-paced. I found myself reading and reading once I was at it. I only sat down a couple of times to read the whole book because I just couldn't put it down. I really loved it. The movie will probably not be as good now, but when it's on TV the next time I can (and quite likely will) finally watch it. The novel was just too good not to give the movie a try. 4.5 stars for one of Grisham's most famous and most popular works.

#21: Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

America has come a long way from the dreadful institution of slavery to having its first Black president. Stowe's novel describes slavery from the perspective of several slaves in different episodes and different situations. At first it was hard to get into the novel. Having grown up in a much more liberal world (in comparison to the past, of course; there are still enough issues to be addressed, I guess) where equality of Blacks and Whites (among others) is taken more or less for granted, it was hard for me to read the novel as it seemed to give me a first-hand experience of slavery. Having to read words such as 'article', 'property' or 'creature' in reference to human beings is so obviously and downright wrong to me. To see Blacks as the 'link between man and animals' is in my mind a belief that is so far removed from an enlightened culture that it is hard to imagine a time where this was considered to be the standard (among Whites). You learn all those things in history class, yes, but it seems very far away and one tends to forget the cruelties of the past. That is what is different with this novel. Uncle Tom's Cabin conveys the feelings and thoughts of people suffering under their slave-holders. It has to be mentioned, though, that not all slave-holders are depicted as brutal monsters in the novel (though some certainly are). Rather, Stowe relates different views of slavery, ranging from being against slavery via indifference (slavery is there, I can't help it, so I might as well live with it) to strong support of slavery.
What I did not like about the book was the strong religious touch that is has. It made me recognize that I don't know as much as I thought about slavery and its eventual abolition (that is not why I did not like it; religion was just too omnipresent to my liking). I'm not exactly sure about the exact role of the church, for example.
Anyway, before I am going to digress even more, I'll come to an end. As one might see from al the drivel above, the novel moved me and it made me think and want to know more about slavery. I always find this a good thing in a novel. However, as the novel was not totally to my liking (for reasons of style, that is...this is not saying that the style is bad, just that I did not like it at times), only three stars for this one.

#22: The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare

Again for some Shakespeare. The Comedy of Errors is probably responsible for the whole lot of TV movies where two people are confused because they look alike. The story is easily told. Twins who are separated at birth and thus don't know each other happen to be around the same place and in the course of the play (or movie, for that matter) cause some confusion in the encounter with other characters until the twin brothers are finally reunited in the end and the confusion is cleared up. Pretty cliché from a structuralist point of view (although Shakespeare might claim to have played a major role in the invention of that particular type of story which the movie makers cannot). I have to admit that I do not like that kind of movie particularly. However, Shakespeare's comedy is quite good. There is certainly a difference in quality between Shakespeare's comedy and the TV comedies, no doubt about it (although both are written for the entertainment of large audiences). On the whole, a nice Shakespeare play. 3 stars for this one.

#23: American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

This book relates the story of day-time yuppie and night-time serial killer Patrick Bateman. In the course of the novel, Bateman's actions get more and more drastic and violent. The depiction in the novel is very vivid, at times even too vivid for my taste. Murders and rapes are described in every excrutiating detail and one finds them back to back with seemingly trivial observations by the protagonist: these are comprised of detailed descriptions of people's clothing and behavior, summaries of music albums and expensive gadgets the protagonists treats himself to.
Patrick Bateman is a show-off for whom expensive suits, fancy furniture and going to the most popular restaurants and clubs are all that matter. He is bored by the people around him, even to a point where his mind drifts off during conversations. His only fulfillment in life seems to be his night-time occupation of weird sex followed by brutal murder.
If it hadn't been for the title I wouldn't have expected such a novel from reading the first pages. They are a masterfully written description of America in the 1980s (which one finds throughout the book). Further into the book, Easton starts dropping hints about the 'other' life that his protagonist is leading. Those become more and more frequent until finally murder is depicted first briefly and then eventually in a detailed way.
As I mentioned above, the depictions of the murders and what Bateman does with its victims are much too vivid for my taste. That's mostly what I didn't like about this book. Those scenes almost make you vomit while reading them. Ellis' writing and style, however, are marvellous. On the whole, this book gets 3.5 stars.

#24: The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien

Not only does this book contain The Silmarillion but also The Music of the Ainur and stories of The Fall of Númenor and Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age. I can recommend this book to fans of the Ring lore who want to delve deeper into the world that Tolkien created. But I think you have to be really interested to enjoy this work. Also I find it quite helpful to read the first two volumes of The History of Middle-Earth which are edited by Tolkien's son Christopher. They provide even deeper insights and commentaries to the stories.
On the whole, I liked to read The Silmarillion very much. 3.5 stars.

I just listened to H. G. Wells interview J. R. R. Tolkien on The Dead Author Podcast. You might enjoy it.

@ 24: Thank you so much. I just listened to the interview. It definitely has its funny moments. Am I a literature nerd because I like it?! Anywho, can't help it.

Glad you enjoyed it. It's probably my favorite of the series so far.

I'll give the other ones a try, too. But I guess one has to be really into literature to get it. Odd sense of humor from time to time. Lovely!

#25: The Book of Lost Tales: Part 2 by J.R.R. Tolkien

After reading The Silmarillion, I wanted to finish up on The Book of Lost Tales. I have to say that I liked the first three quarters of the book but found myself a little lost afterwards. I can only recommend this for fans of Tolkien's faery world. Note that this is not a novel, but rather a commented collection of stories. 3 stars.

#26: 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

The story in a nutshell: A stranger appears in the small town of Jerusalem's Lot, Maine. Buying a haunted house upon a hill, the stranger attracts attention in town. Not just because he is a newcomer but rather because of his strange behavior. Soon after his appearance people start disappearing. Ben Mears, a writer, is suspicious of the goings-on in town and starts digging. With the help of others he finds out that the stranger also brought a vampire into town. After the vampire starts killing people who have become close to Ben Mears, Mears wants revenge and sets out to kill the vampire.
On a side note: The village priest in Jerusalem's Lot is none other than Father Callahan, a character probably better known to King fans from King's Dark Tower series.
As I like to read King novels, I'm used to reading longer novels. But this one (with around 650 pages) was not as gripping as other long novels by King, such as Duma Key or The Stand. I can't quite make out whether I find it too long but even a day after finishing it I'm torn as to what to make of 'Salem's Lot. It is far from a tedious and badly written novel, but this was the first time I was a little disappointed in a King novel. I was missing the point where the book grips me and makes me want to read it all at once. Things just kept happening, the plot moved on and on, the pages turned and it was nothing 'special'. It is probably not fair to compare 'Salem's Lot to The Stand or The Dark Tower but one of the reasons I chose to read this novel was because I wanted some background on Father Callahan's story. I found the character of Callahan quite intriguing in the Dark Tower series but 'Salem's Lot does not add much to what can already be found in The Dark Tower.
Only 3 stars for this one. Probably the lowest rating I ever gave to a King novel.

#27: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling

I think there is not much need of a plot summary here. I feel like I'm the last one on the planet to start reading the Harry Potter series, anyway. I never understood the whole hype about the little wizard and I ignored Harry Potter as best as I could (which wasn't easy as the Potter books and films attracted a lot of media attention).
Well, this was then my first experience with Harry Potter and I quite liked the first book. That's why I decided to give the whole series a try now. At times I just loved the book but then again there were also points where I thought it was too much of a children's book. On the whole, 3.5 stars.

#28: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling

Again, no plot summary needed here, I guess. Judging from Harry Potter's popularity here on Librarything (and in the rest of the world, for that matter) everybody's read the book or at least heard a lot about it.
And now for some blasphemy... At least I guess it is considered blasphemy if one criticizes the Harry Potter novels. After I finished reading The Chamber of Secrets I asked myself how I liked the book (I always tend to give books some further thought after finishing them). What I thought I liked was the characters. But then again after a while I came to the conclusion that maybe this is because the characters are quite flat (this is the blasphemous part, sorry to all the Harry Potter fans... I guess). It is quite easy to make out who is good and who is evil. You have all the typical participants of a good vs. evil story and their roles are clear right from the beginning. Well, this is not necessarily a bad thing, is it? At least I liked reading the second Potter novel and wasn't disappointed about the characters. Actually, I loved some of them and how they were 'crafted'. As you can see, I'm torn on the issue. I will go on reading the rest of series and maybe I will resolve the issue for myself. I guess, the characters will become more round throughout the series. Otherwise, I can't explain the hype about the book. Even the plot seems to be quite trivial and there are strong similarities between The Chamber of Secrets and The Sorcerer's Stone from a structuralist perspective.
Enough for the blasphemous thoughts. The book is definitely not a bad one and makes for a lovely (and easy) read. Nothing much to think about. Maybe it's this lack of a deeper layer that I want to complain about. I'm not sure myself. Maybe I just did not get the books and have not found the deeper layer (yet). I thought a lot about how it would change the story if Harry is making all those adventures up and it is just him dreaming in his little room under the stairs at the Dursley's. A child dreaming of a world where there are wizards, witches and magic and poetic justice will come to the rescue of people like little Harry in the end. If that proves a possible reading of the whole series, I would simply love it.
On the whole, 3.5 stars. Just as the first Harry Potter novel. I liked reading it.

#29: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Brave New World describes a world which consists of basically two societies. The first one, 'civilization', is a society with a caste system ranging from the upper class (or "Alpha plus" humans as they are called in the book) to what Huxley calls "Epsilon-Minus Semi-Morons". Via conditioning and genetic engineering all people are happy (or at least seem to be) in their caste. Human reproduction is fully controlled by government and individualism simply does not exist anymore. The other society described in the book is an 'uncivilized' group of 'savages' living in a reservation. When one day, protagonist Bernard Marx, a not so well conditioned Alpha plus with own thoughts and a resulting unhappiness, visits the reservation and takes two savages back to 'civilization' with him (for the sake of science, of course), there is a short flicker of individualism leading to the beginning of a revolution against the prevailing system in 'civilization'. This, however, is put down by the government with the help of soma, a drug that makes one feel ultimate happiness for a couple of hours. In the end, the revolutionaries, among them a savage (Marx is only a passive bystander), are sent off to islands where free-thinkers are kept.
Reading Brave New World made me think about our society, systems of government, and culture. Where does science lead us? The "Brave New World" described in the novel does not seem too distant. However, as the novel was published in 1932, we can already see that mankind has taken a somewhat different path, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. The contrast of the 'civilized' and the 'uncivilized' in the novel shows, to my mind, first, that both of the depicted systems are even alike to a certain extent (in both there are upper class people who control and govern, in both there is punishment, in both you can be an outsider) and, second, that neither of them is completely desirable. At this point I would go with Churchill: "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."
Brave New World is a thought-provoking novel and a good read. Although I did not like Huxley's style of writing at times, I would definitely recommend this novel. To whom? Anyone. 4 stars.