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Post by rukia888 on Aug 25, 2008 19:28:18 GMT -5
Enduring Love by Ian McEwan You're quite right, Kaatopp! I enjoyed it very much! I didn't really know what to expect from it when I first started reading it. It was quite a gripping and suspenseful thriller. I felt really sorry for Joe. Nobody seemed to believe him at first. I was even questioning his sanity myself. I was like, "Was this whole situation with Jed all in his head?" I'm glad that it wasn't just a figment of his imagination and that Jed really was crazy. I'm also really happy that Joe and Clarissa reconciled at the end (I thought that Clarissa was being really unfair to Joe). I guess their relationship is the definition of enduring love; they went through so much, but their love still made it through. Poor Jed's obsession with Joe could be seen as enduring love, too, although it's always going to be one-sided, unfortunately. Jed's never going to give up on it. I also enjoyed the side story involving the Logans -- another fine example of McEwan's famous theme of miscommunication. In fact, this whole novel dealt with miscommunication (Jed and Joe, Joe and Clarissa, the Logans). Too bad McEwan's other two novels involving miscommunication, Atonement and On Chesil Beach, didn't end so well. I have to admit that I liked Enduring Love better than Atonement, but On Chesil Beach still remains my favorite from McEwan. Have you seen the movie adaptation, Enduring Love? It stars Daniel Craig. I think I'm going to check it out. I'll let you know what I think of it. Oh, and which Ian McEwan book are you going to read next? I'm considering to read either The Innocent or The Child In Time. Or both. 
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Post by kaatopp on Aug 26, 2008 3:58:21 GMT -5
Rukia, I am sooooo glad you liked Enduring Love, after all my talking up I was thinking that it would be a bummer if you didn't care for it too much. I had no idea that there was a movie version of the film, I am quite excited to hear about this and I will be adding it to my library queue immediately! While the title definitely works for both the relationship between Joe and Clarissa and Jed and Joe, at the end, I was struck by Jed's final letter from the asylum (I am assuming you read the epilogue) and I realized that for Jed, this is enduring love, a really intense and powerful, never ending love, and that was quite meaningful to me in some way. I was glad it wasn't just with reference to the whether or not Joe and Clarissa's love could make it through all the trials. It makes the title of the book a lot less cheesy and a lot more disturbing in a way. And yes, Clarissa's way of handling Joe really upset me. I doubted his sanity for a bit too and wondered if the book was going to take an unexpected turn with regards to his mental state (that could have been quite interesting too actually). Clarissa was definitely unfair, she was not my favorite character haha.
I have The Comfort of Strangers sitting on my desk waiting for me to read but right now I am reading The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, it is taking me a longer than usual time to read because its a non-fiction about the 1960s, the merry pranksters and acid, much of the writing in turn is written to describe acid trips, etc, it makes reading go a bit slower. I recently finished Orlando by Virginia Woolf too, that was quite good although I am not sure I have any idea of what really happened to the main character as she changed genders, sexualities and centuries. I have the movie in queue so hopefully that will do some explaining.
I may peak into TCOS since it is so short and read it along side The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test because I am sort of itching for yet another McEwan book!
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Post by rukia888 on Aug 27, 2008 14:22:28 GMT -5
While the title definitely works for both the relationship between Joe and Clarissa and Jed and Joe, at the end, I was struck by Jed's final letter from the asylum (I am assuming you read the epilogue) and I realized that for Jed, this is enduring love, a really intense and powerful, never ending love, and that was quite meaningful to me in some way. Yes, I did read the epilogue. I agree that it's quite sad that Jed will never ever get over Joe and that the only way that it'll ever end is when he dies. I was thinking the same exact thing! I thought it would've been a great twist if the whole Jed situation turned out to be all in Joe's head. Or if it was actually Joe that was obsessing over Jed and not actually Jed obsessing over Joe. Yes, I didn't like her that much either. I was feeling Joe's frustration and irritation throughout the whole book. Let me know what you think of The Comfort of Strangers. It wasn't too terrible, but somehow I was just really bored by it. Don't be discouraged by my reaction to it though! Definitely read it! |
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Post by kaatopp on Aug 28, 2008 0:06:19 GMT -5
^ I will definitely read it once I make my way through The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, I suppose I'm about half way through that. I have like three other books waiting too, but I'll read them, I swear, I'll just keep renewing them at the library!
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Post by quackattack on Aug 28, 2008 4:11:13 GMT -5
The Last Battle in The Chronicles of Narnia series. Got about 40 pages left, but had to stop for tonight because I'm too tired to finish it. It's my first time reading through the series and I have to see I really liked and enjoyed it. It's a great fantasy series and I'll probably read it again sometime.
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Post by rukia888 on Sept 2, 2008 0:45:47 GMT -5
A Certain Chemistry by Mil Millington
I felt like reading something light. It's pretty much your typical "chick-lit" (think along the lines of Bridget Jones, Devil Wears Prada, Shopaholic, Jane Green books) except that it's written by a guy and that the protagonist is a guy. It was an amusing and funny read, but I was a bit ticked off by the protagonist at times. He's such an annoying coward. I was very satisfied with the ending though. Recommended for anyone who enjoys some light chick-lit. (Or is this categorized as "lad-lit" or "d*¢k-lit"? Do guys even read this stuff?)
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Post by ashleyrose09 on Sept 2, 2008 15:56:22 GMT -5
Dracula by Bram Stoker. What else can I say, classic. Sorry but Twilight can never measure up, no matter how hot the characters are.  |
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saintkitten
Seriously Infected
Blue eyes get me high.
Posts: 96
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Post by saintkitten on Sept 3, 2008 1:43:50 GMT -5
Dracula by Bram Stoker. What else can I say, classic. It's a fantastic book! I've read it like... ten times you now ;D wonderful. |
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Post by kaatopp on Sept 6, 2008 2:23:35 GMT -5
Rukia, read The Comfort of Strangers, I really liked it a lot! I read it in one sitting, on a bus ride to Ohio. As always, Ian McEwan impresses. I think I like TCOS better than TCG, the latter of which I liked A LOT. They were both pretty different books but for short reads by McEwan, I think I liked TCOS better just because it seemed to have a bit more action. The ending was really interesting because I wasn't expecting it at all and it made me hate Robert (is that his name? The stranger they meet) soooo much, I wanted to murder him. I hated him basically from the minute our two main characters met him. I did not like the way he bossed them around and would constantly touch their hands, arms or shoulders. I could just imagine what that would be like, what it would feel like, to have the pressure of this strangers hand on your shoulder, sort of forcing, sort of guiding you to do something. Its a repulsive and uncomfortable thought but it is mostly infuriating because I can imagine how I would react to someone not letting my hand go or consistently pushing me to walk or move in a certain direction. I just want to smack the sh*t out of Robert! Bleghh. But anyway, sorry for that digression, I loved the book a lot all the same. I am interested to know why you did not like it too much Rukia. I would give it an 8 or 9 out of 10.
I am stilllllllll reading The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test but I am almost done, finally! Only a couple more chapters, the book has been pretty good but it has just taken me way too long to get through and I have more books that I want to move on to!
Up next are The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers and Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson. I want to read another McEwan novel soon too, I think I will try Amsterdam. I want to read Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf soon too.
What McEwan book is next for you Rukia?
(and I have Enduring Love, the dvd, checked out from the library so I should be watching that any day now. I can't wait!)
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Olivia
Newly Infected
Posts: 29
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Post by Olivia on Sept 6, 2008 8:46:30 GMT -5
Reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince again. Forgot how good it was.
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Post by nellie on Sept 6, 2008 12:47:11 GMT -5
Breaking Dawn
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Post by razzthekid on Sept 6, 2008 17:56:19 GMT -5
Dracula by Bram Stoker. What else can I say, classic. Sorry but Twilight can never measure up, no matter how hot the characters are. I've just started Twilight and i'm loving it! ;D |
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Post by rukia888 on Sept 7, 2008 12:56:23 GMT -5
Rukia, read The Comfort of Strangers, I really liked it a lot! I read it in one sitting, on a bus ride to Ohio. As always, Ian McEwan impresses. I think I like TCOS better than TCG, the latter of which I liked A LOT. They were both pretty different books but for short reads by McEwan, I think I liked TCOS better just because it seemed to have a bit more action. The ending was really interesting because I wasn't expecting it at all and it made me hate Robert (is that his name? The stranger they meet) soooo much, I wanted to murder him. I hated him basically from the minute our two main characters met him. I did not like the way he bossed them around and would constantly touch their hands, arms or shoulders. I could just imagine what that would be like, what it would feel like, to have the pressure of this strangers hand on your shoulder, sort of forcing, sort of guiding you to do something. Its a repulsive and uncomfortable thought but it is mostly infuriating because I can imagine how I would react to someone not letting my hand go or consistently pushing me to walk or move in a certain direction. I just want to smack the sh*t out of Robert! Bleghh. But anyway, sorry for that digression, I loved the book a lot all the same. I am interested to know why you did not like it too much Rukia. I would give it an 8 or 9 out of 10. Quite honestly, I don't think I can give you a good reason why I didn't like The Comfort of Strangers. I simply found it quite dull. It didn't have that much action to me at all (with the exception of the ending). The book just dragged along for me just like how Colin and Mary were dragging themselves aimlessly around the city. I had a sense of bad things to come, and I had a bad feeling about Robert and Caroline, but I just didn't really care for the characters that much. The ending was quite good (the whole revealing of Robert and Caroline's masochistic relationship was classic McEwan macabre), but other than that, the book wasn't all that great to me. I'm glad you liked it though; it just didn't quite hit the spot for me. It's probably going to be a while before I get to them (I've been taking an interest in reading light, chick- lit as of now, heh. It's a guilty pleasure of mine.  ), but I'm planning to read either The Innocent or The Child In Time next. Amsterdam sounds intriguing; let me know how it goes for you! Let me know what you think of it definitely! As for me, I just finished reading...
Happiness Sold Separately by Lolly Winston Yes, it's a chick book. (I have a thing for chick books right now; it's not literature at its best or anything, but I like them, so shoot me. ) It's more romantic drama than romantic comedy. It's about marriage, fertility, and infidelity problems. There were some quite heart-wrenching moments, but in the end, I didn't really know which characters to side with. It's a quick and easy read. The ending could've been better though. It didn't really resolve much of anything, and it's kind of left up to the reader. What's up next: Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos (Yes, another chick book. I heard it's quite sappy, but we'll see if I can stomach it.) The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver (I'm quite excited to read this. Yes, it's a chick book, but it sounds interesting with the premise of alternate realities and what-if speculations.) Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk (I've been wanting to read this, but I keep on forgetting.) |
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alia
Newly Infected
Posts: 8
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Post by alia on Sept 10, 2008 10:37:50 GMT -5
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.
A friend recommended it to be, and once again her recommendation was good. it's been a very interesting book so far. ^^
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Post by quackattack on Sept 10, 2008 14:32:54 GMT -5
Choke by Chuck Palahniuk, since I saw the movie last week.
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), but I'm planning to read either The Innocent or The Child In Time next. Amsterdam sounds intriguing; let me know how it goes for you! 