completely unique, engrossing, revealing, dark; rather than being “pretentious” as other reviews claim, I argue that Plath is one courageous enough tocompletely unique, engrossing, revealing, dark; rather than being “pretentious” as other reviews claim, I argue that Plath is one courageous enough to craft a raw and human portrait of the simultaneous struggle and selfishness of suicide, without reverting to glorifying it or demeaning a person. (i am saying this, however, NOT to recommend it to people currently in this struggle; please only read this in a good, stable place of your mental and spiritual health, as Plath’s descriptions are raw and rather graphic)....more
Everyone loves this book but for entirely opposite reasons.
Why? I think it’s fundamentally because Orwell mainly opposes what we all hate (if you havEveryone loves this book but for entirely opposite reasons.
Why? I think it’s fundamentally because Orwell mainly opposes what we all hate (if you have any care for the betterment of society)— totalitarianism.
And then, he *seemingly* leaves up the critique of political systems for people to decide. Or so it seems, as some people quote this book as outrightly anti-communist/socialist (because those are the same thing, right?), and then other people quote this as outrightly anti-capitalist.
But, I think Orwelldideither have a purpose to refute one of those political systems, or he didn’t want to refute either at all.
I encourage everyone after this book to read it with an open mind, and then research about it. You can disagree with Orwell, of course! But make sure youknowwhat he’s actually saying before you agree/disagree.
So, expect an actual review after I follow my own advice above^^:)...more
FIVE STARS!!!! ————— My first Dickens novel, and it was incredible.
Go into this book like I did: knowing nothing of the plot. Maybe not even with anFIVE STARS!!!! ————— My first Dickens novel, and it was incredible.
Go into this book like I did: knowing nothing of the plot. Maybe not even with any expectations (if so, stop reading my review now. It will definitely give you expectations;))
My review below doesn’t describe any of the events, it just talks about how well done the mechanics are. (And spoiler-free, as always!)
PLOT.It doesn’t matter to me if some people thought the plot was “recycled” or the ending “cliche”. First of all, of course it shared similarities to other great stories — there’s a reason cliches are overdone: because they WORK. But at the same time, nothing of this novel felt “over recycled” to me. Maybe some of it was copied from Dicken’s other books —— I wouldn’t know, and so then it doesn’t matter. The thing that mattered to me was everything was connected, from the beginning to the end. Nothing was wasted. There was foreshadowing, there were allegories. And, it had some of my favorite plot elements: political drama, court cases, family heritage reveals, and of course: the ending. I love that kind of ending. It was beautiful and heartbreaking and satisfying and thrilling at all once. AND, I LOVE when an author takes a phrase or word sprinkling it throughout the book, and connecting it to the end. I won’t say what those words are so new readers can discover them for themselves… but readers of this book, you know what they are.
WRITING.Every word of Dickens was also intentional, moving towards the ending while immersing the reader into the present actions Was his writing hard to get into at the beginning? Yes. But it’s always hard for me to start a story anyways. By the end of the book, I LOVED his writing style, and it didn’t slow me down at all. (Hey, maybe this book made me smarter!) There are some absolutely incredible quotes and descriptions and writing techniques… ahhh it’s so good.
CHARACTERS.Every character in this story was unique and dimensional. Dickens assigns a couple phrases to each character that stays significant to them and defines them. Some of the greatest character arcs and redemptions I’ve ever read are in this book. One of the most interesting villains. Everyone is important — so pay attention to every character, no matter how hard it is to keep track at them at times. After finishing this book, I immediately wished I could read it again (though I’ll wait a bit probably) just because I wanted to see the characters from the beginning knowing the end. That’s rare for me. Most books, I know exactly what the characters are like every step of the way. But in this book, I knew there must have been bits and pieces I didn’t think were significant and forgot — but actually contributed to their arc, redemption, and personality.
This is a book I know i will keep discovering new things every time I read it. The story lives on far past the words on paper and far beyond when the words end. ––––––– TW // Character with mental illness because of imprisonment, sexual assault (mentioned, not described), character watches child die, character carelessly runs over child with carriage, and child executed by guillotine, antagonist plans to kill a child. Imprisonment & separation of loved ones, death of loved ones. CW // Violence (descriptions of blood, war, death & murder, suffering, guillotine), poverty, one character is at one time an avid alcoholic.As long as this content won't trigger or harm you, know that the powerful themes of redemption, justice, and love will seriously outweigh the darkness in this book....more
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