Update: What's next?

So, I finished The Hobbit and I decided I needed to take a break from new stories.
The whole purpose of this blog was to get me reading things that were new, to stop me rereading old stories and I can honestly say that in the year since this blog was set up I haven't reread a single book.

I've decided to take a break from new fiction for a month or so, I reread The Fault in Our Stars by John Green last week and I'm currently rereading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I'll be back here no doubt with insights on these old books I think of as I reread them, and I already have my eye on what I want to read next, although I'm waiting for it to be released in paperback so it's easier on my student budget.

Don't go away, I'll still be here, just in smaller doses whilst I plough through these exams!

Thank you all for sticking with me, I appreciate it :)

FINISHED: The Hobbit

I finished 'The Hobbit' about two weeks ago, and still don't know entirely what I think of it.

I enjoyed the read, the process of reading it reminded me a bit of reading a Pratchett book in that I laughed out loud despite it not necessarily being a comical book. I loved the way Tolkien wrote little side notes to the reader, stating when he was going off track, or that such things were stories for other times. He reminded me of Gandalf (or should that be the other way around) in that he was very frank in his storytelling. It felt very much like an aural experience rather than a read experience.

I enjoyed the story, although like Lord of the Rings it had a few false endings I could have done without. Especially with children's fiction (which this is) I like my stories to have a defined ending point, one that matches the goal at the outset of the story. That didn't happen here, but that is more of a personal quibble than a fault with Tolkien's storytelling.

I have surprisingly little to say about such a popular work, but I enjoyed it, I will tell others to read it if they like fantasy and will probably read it to my children if I ever have them.

I look forward to the film!

8/10

Currently Reading: The Hobbit

I'm getting there with The Hobbit, I promise!!

I am nearly 90% through, review will be coming soon. Stick with me guys, being home for Easter means I'm not reading as much as I should...

STARTING: The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

 Having recently watched the first two Lord of the Rings films with DB (we didn't have time to watch the third, although I guarantee we will watch it this weekend), I decided that I needed to read some Middle Earth tales for myself.
I also thought I'd ease myself in gently with the 'childrens' version... take from that what you will.

FINISHED: Life of Pi (spoilers)

So, this story is about so much more than a boy, a tiger and a lifeboat. But the tiger certainly helped in my case (tigers are my favourite wild animals).

Pi is a boy who lives on a zoo in India, he has a passion for God so strong he is a practicing Muslim, Hindu and Christian. The passages where he describes his impressions of the seperate religions upon first encountering them and then as he comes to understand and appreciate them are beautiful and often hilarious. For the first time since The Virgin Suicides I found myself underlining passages in pencil.

After the family uproots from India, travelling on a cargo ship to Canada to start a new life, and to sell the animals abroad where they will get more money, the ship sinks and Pi is left stranded on a lifeboat with Richard Parker, the Bengal tiger. The desperation of the situation is put across perfectly, you feel as though you've been on the lifeboat by the time it reaches land. I simultaneously was desperate to find out what happened, but also to slow down to make it last longer. I didn't want this book to end.

The only part I felt uncomfortable with was during Pi's temporary blindness and the emergence of the frenchman, mostly because I was confused, but I assume that was the point.
It as been noted before I am not a fan of unreliable narrators, and the ambiguity in whether or not this part was real made my brain ache. But after Richard Parker intervenes (best name for a tiger.. none of these pet names), the story is back to its normal self and all the better for it.

But the ending is perfect, although somewhat sudden (but I suppose Pi's personal ending is spread throughout the book). Two stories, one fantastical, one incredibly grim but more realistic. Which do you choose?
I don't consider myself a religious person, but I prefer the tiger. Tiger over the true ruthlessness of the human race any day.

9/10

(On a side note I watched the film today and it was very well done considering the book is almost entirely internal monologue. Two things I would have liked to have seen more of were the writers opinions on the story which are interspersed throughout the book but only featured at the beginning and the end of the film, and Pi's struggle to find food for Richard Parker. His use of the turtle shells for defense against Richard Parker struck a chord with me. Although it may have been too gruesome for the screen...
It deserved its BAFTAs and Oscars wholeheartedly.)

Currently Reading: Life of Pi

Oh this book you guys, this book.
I'm only 89 pages in and I'm infatuated.

The descriptions of religion we've had so far have pushed me to underline certain phrases in pencil. And I barely ever write in my books. I'm pretty sure the only other paper book I have ever done this in is The Virgin Suicides and that is basically my favourite book. So this is saying a lot guys.

I have very few coherent thoughts about this book, all I can get out is a stream of ALKJALRILAJR IT'S SO GOOD but that may be the horrendous cold I am suffering from.
I'll be back once I'm done with hopefully a better review than bashing my hands off the keys!

STARTING: Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Not sure I really need to say much about this book! Other than it involves a tiger and therefore I have to read it! See you all soon!