Daniel Vanzin
This is a good book, just might be the best Young Adult fantasy book ever. But I just can't like the YA genre enough to give this a higher rating.
The movie is a carbon copy of the book, so there was not much in the way of wondering what was going to happen. Even though the plot is simple, very few author are able to execute this very well. Like the little tips a long the way that tells who the real villain is.
There was one thing though that really bothered me, that I attribute to the lower end of the YA (for children really). The final scoring of points for the schools. I felt it was really unnecessary to give the victory to Gryffindor. It just felt like another blow for someone who like a more gritty style.
Still this was a pleasant reading. The writing was very easy to understand, all the scenes made sense and had a natural flow to them. Well, made sense for a YA book, where you have to justify the fact that a child by no merit of his (as in Ender) is able to defeat ALONE the greatest evil the world has ever faced.
This was a good book, but the content was too short and simple to make me enthralled and the subject outside of my interest. Dorian Gray is a naive aristocratic young man in Victorian England that is first empty, then vain and then becomes callous, cynical, hedonistic and selfish.
His emptiness of spirit I think it could be attributed to a typical noble upbringing for the time, that resulted in an indifference to the world and no interest for intellectual or artistic pursuits. He would be a typical millennial these days, someone that never had to endure any real hardships, only cares about social events and dreads how boring life is.
This is not elaborated in the book, I'm just assuming that how he was before he met Basil Hallward. This is when he is told that because he is beautiful, nothing else matters. Basil encourages his vanity, but Dorian is still unaware of what all his youth and good looks can get him in the world if he would just learn how to use these qualities to “explore” others.
That's where Lord Henry comes in. He is the personification of everything that is rotten in the world. Well, I don't really think that, but that is how he is portrayed, as an alluring bad influence to young impressionable minds.
Dorian cannot help but to be attracted by this individual that is so interesting and confident. Someone who seems to know everything about life. All of his friends were probably mindless drones that just went with the flow, and suddenly comes into his life this magnetic personality that defies all common reason.
Lord Henry preaches a life of self pleasure, one that does not care for the interest of others as long as you do what is right for you. As times passes by, Dorian's plunges in more deeply into the corruption originated by this hedonistic lifestyle. And the ugliness of his soul is reflected in a portrait that his artist friend Basil has made for him.
Again, this was a good book, with a good message told in an interesting way. But it was not enough for me to like it too much. I'm giving it +1 star because it made a subject I don't care about (aesthetic) into a palatable short story.
A collection of short stories taking place just after WWII in a world where an alien virus have killed or given superpowers to a great number of people. Some were left deformed and forced to live as outcasts to society.
The first story is about Jetboy, a young man who as the best pilot of his time. The story had air fights with WW2 planes, and focused on the drama of this post war hero that doesn't understand the world he came home to and doesn't car for his reputation. It was REALLY boring. No superpowers here.
The second story was about a teenager boy who got a different superpower every time he slept. It was almost interesting, but it had no exceptional elements to it. He had a family he needed to support, so he begin to steal things with his powers. He met a friend who help him to use his powers to get better loot. He wanted to attend to his sister wedding , but he was having a hard time containing his body to mutating again into a new super human. The end.
Just after I started the 3rd story I began to consider how much more of this I was willing to endure. I can stand a slow start if I expect thing to get better, but since this is a collection of short stories, there was bound to have more bad ones and some good ones. I wasn't willing to trudge trough this.
Read 3:20 / 18:59 : 18%
Some Hindu gods are discussing to reincarnate the Buddha in a whorehouse in order to conceal him for some reason. Oh, but don't call it a whorehouse because you will offend the goddess of brothels?
The prose didn't click with me, the story did not interested me. There was no effort to introduce a likeable character, which should be the first thing the author establishes.
Read 43/11:15 6%
A collection of short stories based on the Norse mythology. From the creation of the world, the Giants, the Gods and humankind, until their ultimate destruction, Ragnarok.
Not a great book, but there is something enticing in Neil Gaiman's prose. It is accessible, very easy to read and understand. The stories are short and amusing. Nothing exceptional, but the familiar characters add an instant feeling of kinship with them. Thor, Loki and Odin are known and beloved figures that need no introduction.
As it is the case with ancient myths and legends, there is a lot of things that make absolutely no sense. Like a human sized God being able to hold open the mouth of a colossal wolf that stretches from the earth to the sun.
This book is incredible monotonous. All the characters feel the same and there is too much of them. They're introduced by name and given a police sketch-up artist description. Something I've felt also in Anna Karenina is that all characters are aristocratic, many are princes or princesses. Overall the prose is too descriptive, it feels very stereotyped Russian.
Read 1:43/60:49 3%
'..a 2007 poll of 125 contemporary authors in Time, which declared that Anna Karenina is the “greatest book ever written.”‘
Still just a romance. Ana loves Bob. Bob loves Maria. Maria loves Pedro. Pedro loves Ana. This is the crux of the book. If this is interesting to you, go right ahead and read it.
4:07/35:26 12%
The premise is interesting: an old man looses his mind and believes himself to be an errant knight and the world to be a huge chivalry novel. So everywhere he sees there is adventure to be had. Giants to kill, princess to save, fame and honor to be gained through valiant deeds.
Don Quixote hires a squire named Sancho Panza, a simple minded peasant that follows his master everywhere he goes. Because he's limited intelligence, Sancho actually believes everything his master imagines. So when Don Quixote says that the he is about to charge are actually giants, he is mistrustful at first, because all he sees are windmills. But when Don Quixote then says that the giants are concealed as windmills by the way of magic from an evil sorcerer, Sancho believes in him.
It is a simple yet sufficient logic. Because although mad, Don Quixote is still an intelligent and rational person.
Together, they travel trough Spain getting themselves into a lot of trouble. No matter what they face though, Don Quixote always maintains his delusional view of himself and the world. When all logical explanations fail, he blames it on magic. It is a perfect kind of madness.
Although not every adventure is very interesting, what killed the book for me were the many short stories intertwined inside the main plot. So Don Quixote might find someone in trouble on the road, and that person would tell him how he came to be in that predicament. Or maybe he finds a book, and then the next few pages is the story of that particular book.
All of these breaks the immersion of the plot and prevents me from appreciating the characters. The story isn't that strong to survive all this interruptions.
The book has very little to do with the man in the iron mask. Maybe 5% of the story revolves around him. The four musketeers also play little to no role in this story. And the little role they play has nothing to do with their characters from the first book. So don't expect any sort of continuation here.
Here I will summarize the “plot”, what actually is the first 5% of the book, and it should be clear why I disliked it. I will mark it as spoiler, because although being just the introduction, it is the only part of interest in this story.
- Aramis finds out that the King has a twin brother in prison that no one knows about but him.- Being a good catholic, ~30 years later he decides to free him and replace him for the King. He was getting kind of bored, and there was no TV at the time.- With much effort he manages to gain access to the King, drug him and make the trade. He has done the impossible, because the King is very heavily guarded.- Oh, d'Dartagnan is now the captain of the Musketeers.- After replacing the King, he tells to the "First Minister" (equivalent of doing that) what he has done, and that it would only work if he was on board with the plan.- The First Minister says: "Oh, how marvelous! I always wanted to dethrone the King for no apparent reason and serve an impostor, with no government experience, in his place! I particularly appreciate the fact that you already went to the trouble of doing all of that without ever questioning me on how I would feel on the matter! NOT! " - What he actually does is to give Aramis a head start while he fetches the real King from prison and issues an arrest order for him.- Oh, Aramis managed to make Porthos, his unwittingly accomplice in all of this.
What follows is the pursuit of Porthos and Aramis by the authorities and a LOT of boring scenes with Athos and his son. And I do mean a LOT. And BORING. Other scenes of notebook:
- Athos's son decides to kill himself because the women he loves only likes him as a friend. Athos says that if does that, he would kill himself as well. The son commits suicide, Athos does so as well.- Porthos and Aramis make a last stand in a cave, managing to kill over 50 soldiers by themselves.- Porthos the died of a hearth attack. He was fat fuck.- Aramis is captured by a ship of the King's navy. He is then sent back to France and executed for his crimes. NOT. - What actually happened was that upon arriving on the ship, he asks to talk to the captain, and tells him to send him to Spain. The captain does so. Why? Whoa, calm down there with our though questions Mr. Scientist.- The King decides to arrest that guy, the "First Minister", because he was giving way too many parties in the King's honor. I actually sympathized with the motive, not that he deserved to be arrested for that, but it was incredible foolish of him.- D'Artagnan dislikes this decision of the King. He says so. The King responds "I'm the King, the will of God on Earth. Just shut up, bend over and take it. Or leave this place at once."- D'Artagnan, being a Gascon (someone hot tempered), a honorable man, the Captain of the most elite guard of soldiers of the country, probably the best sword fighter in Europe, pull out his sword and challenges the king for a duel and says he will kill him if he does not take back all the nonsense he said. NOT! - Actually, he just pulled his pants down, bent over and took it.- 3 years later, d'Artagnan died in battle.- These last two events were in sequence. He decided to be a little bitch, then the book skipped 3 years, he wen to war and won the battle. But then a stray canon bullet hit him and he died.
WHAT
A quintessential adventure consisting of a few distinct plots woven together through the recounting of the daily life of mighty figures from the 17th century French aristocracy. The King, the Cardinal (his main advisor), the Queen and four members of France's elite guard known as the Musketeers, all play an important role on this spectacular tale of bravery, loyalty and intrigue. The book feels a bit too mundane at some parts, and there is nothing epic about any of the plots, but the wit and charm of the main characters and the interesting situations they mix themselves with make this a worthwhile read.
TLDR
+ Friendship, bravery and loyalty unmatched by the four musketeers
+ Distinct characters fleshed out with interesting motivations
+ Interesting plots and intrigues, for a reality based (as opposed to epic fantasy) adventure
+ Humor helps to dissolve the absurdity of some scenes
- main character transitions from brash and foolish to prudent and wise in the blink of an eye
- unbelievable villain: I liked Milady fine until the part where she is held captive, which nearly ruined the book for me
- at times the book feels like having too much filler content
PLOT
The young d'Artagnan leaves his home and heads out to Paris, seeking to enlist himself with the King's Musketeers. Upon arrival, he manages to accidentally and consecutively insult three musketeers by the name of Aramis, Athos, and Porthos. He schedules a duel with each of them, but circumstances leads them to become the best of friends. Together they find themselves in mortal danger in defense of the honor and virtue the King and Queen, making in the way a powerful enemy in the of the figure of the Cardinal Richelieu.
The adventures of the main characters are told through distinct main story arcs, like the return of the Queen's Diamonds and The Siege of La Rochelle.
ANALYSIS
The four musketeers are not heroes. They have more vices than virtues. The very first scene of the book describes d'Artagnan as an impetuous sword fighter that seeks to duel and kill anything that moves. He settles his lust for combat by attacking a man just because he was laughing with his friends.
Athos is misogynous and arrogant. He believes his noble birth puts him above other men. He forced a vow of silence on his servant. He advised d'Artagnan to get himself a servant as the most necessary thing he should do. Upon acquiring such servant and not being able to pay him after a while, d'Artagnan decides to beat him up in order to keep him from complaining. When he sees that his method worked, he is very please with himself.
Porthos is avaricious, a glutton and a womanizer. They all are gamblers and ruffians that seek to duel, and often kill, anyone that looks at them the wrong way. They destroy public property without any consideration. They see in the Cardinal, the second in authority in France, as an enemy for the sole reason that he divided the musketeers in King's Musketeers and Cardinal musketeers. They will do whatever they can to thwart his plans, even when those plans would benefit the country.
Cardinal Richelieu is a machiavellian and powerful character. He is a true patriot, willing to do anything necessary for the good of France. He is the one who actually rules France, by negotiating with foreign ministers, deciding when to wage wars, keeping himself informed through a network of spies, coordinating assassinations and intricate blackmails.
I found the Cardinal be the hero of the story, the only one willing to do what it takes to get the job done, even in detriment to his own desires. He is flawed as well though, because his rejected love for the Queen guides some of his actions.
The book pays special attention to the musketeers servants as well, giving each of them a distinct personality and important roles to play during the events of the book.
The book looses some of its focus in between events and mostly towards the end. There are whole sections without any action, intrigue or interesting character involved. I kept reading on waiting for the next adventure to begin, but dismissing those passages as just fillers to the story.
There was one thing though that nearly destroyed the whole experience for me, and that was the scene where Milady was held captive by her brother in law. That whole portion of the book lacked the kind of wit I enjoy reading. There were no plot play/counter-play involved. Milady says she is going do something, spend the next many pages doing it, then moves on to the next thing.
Her brother in law says to the man he entrusted to keep her confined in a bedroom that she is the devil, that she is capable of the most outrageous acts and lies to get what she wants. He describes in details how she will try to seduce him, and act the role of the damsel in distress. The man truly believes him. Yet in a matter of 3 days or so he not only he helps her escape, but also goes on to kill Lord Buckingham, his country's own second in command in the war against France.The thing I was expecting the most in that whole scene was that the guard knew he was being played all along, that Milady whole act was just a ruse. But he decided to make her think he was believing her in order to make her more compliant, and then in the end he would crush her by telling how all her attempts were futile against his superior strength of character.I was also hoping that when Milady met Madame Bonacieux at the convent that the musketeers would have already reached her beforehand, and warned her. So when she mentioned them by name, they would suddenly appear and apprehend her.
The book has some clever and funny situations that I really enjoyed. During the Siege of La Rochelle, the four musketeers decided to go alone and unarmed into an abandoned Bastion in the middle of the battlefield in order to have breakfast. They knew that at any time the enemy would try to capture the Bastion, yet they kept cool and calm eating while attempts were being made to take the place by force.
I wanted to like this book, but expected not to due to previous experiences with sequences of great novels. It is clear the author tried, and some of the aspects I liked in the first book are here.
Two things I did not like and a third failed to impress me:
1) The book started with romance. It took about half the book or more in Outlander for the romance to begin to take place. This book feels like the author received the feedback that “sex sells” from her first book and went with it.
It felt forced, and I was willing to let this go as background noise for the rest of what could be a great plot, but...
2) The prose is too full of descriptions. The author takes too long to transmit an idea. She seems to master the written language very well, but I do not care if there is nothing interesting going on. First sell me on the plot and characters, the prose is a bonus. But hey, the amazing time-traveling, intricate plot was just about sweep me out of my feet, so I could bear this a little longer but...
3) The plot failed to impress me. Jamie and Claire had fled to France and are looking to make themselves useful. They set as their goal to prevent the Scottish rebellion led by the exiled Prince Charles to take place, because it would fail miserably, and lead to the massacred of thousands of Scots and keep the clans under a brutal oppression for two hundred years.
So far so good. But this is developed too slowly. Jamie is trying to get close to Prince Charles and have secured a job as a wine merchant. Claire so far has only managed to make a mortal enemy because of some careless thing she said out loud.
In the midst of some dinners where Claire job is to play the part of a charming hostess, I stopped reading. The first book managed to create an intriguing mystery when she traveled to the past and you were left to wonder what would happen to her. On this one, you already know what happens, because she is telling the story from memory, as she sits safe and sound by the side or her daughter.
The first book was full of characters with unknown motives, a protagonist that doesn't quite know how to behave at that time period, living in an open doors prison where the distance from civilization was her only cell.
In short, the first book captivated me from the start. This one has managed to do little for me in the 6 hours I spent listening to it.
Read 6:15/77:49 8%
I see a pattern here. Another unjustly treated child. Again without consequences. The author spend a lot of time describing the abuses Jane has suffered as a child for no end other then to establish that she lived in an unfair environment. Unless there is some cunning element at play or something that latter will play a major role in the story, I don't care.
Also, while I almost felt sympathy for the character, the story is just a romance. Poor girl meets rich guy. They're both ugly. Rich guy seems to like her, but he is eccentric, so she cannot know for sure his feelings.
Read 7:02/19:15 37%
Just another boring story. The prose felt too old for me. The typical stereotypes revolving a unjustly mistreated child that grows up to be a mean old man holds no sway for my appreciation. This kind of unreasonable treatment of people without any consequence, just as a character building tool, is too annoying, specially when it is so long.
Read 1:58/12:19 16%
This is one of those books that shows how disconnected I am from the world. There is nothing here for me, I couldn't stand over and hour of this.
Huckleberry Finn is a kid. He has friends. He plays with them. He has an abusive redneck father that explores and beats him. He rather be with him then go to school. That's all it took for me to stop reading this.
Read 1:08/11:14 10%