| Books I Have Read: |
| Hamlet -AP English Lit, Urbandale High School Two thumbs up. An interesting way to tie up all of the loose ends... 1984 -AP English Lit, Urbandale High School Two thumbs up. A great and rather frightening book. Animal Farm -8th grade, Urbandale Middle School Two thumbs up...at least I don't remember disliking it...that was a long time ago. Jane Eyre -AP English Lit, Urbandale High School Two thumbs up. I enjoyed it, but it was rather lengthy, especially with what seemed like completely unnecessary descriptions. Wide Sargasso Sea -World Lit Topics: Post Colonial, Truman State University One thumb up, one thumb neutral. Not even half the length of Jane Eyre. About the mad woman in the attic, Bertha. When I read Jane Eyre, I didn't mind Rochester, and this book depicts him as even more of a villian. However, we can all choose to take what we want to out of our experiences, and I chose to continue liking him as a character, Alison Ver Schuer aside. The Great Gatsby -AP English Lit, Urbandale High School Two thumbs DOWN! GATSBY WAS NOT GREAT! I thought this entire book was pointless, and I didn't really find any reasons to like it. Crime and Punishment -AP English Lit, Urbandale High School Two thumbs up. Although this book did drag quite a bit, and it was rather repetative, and even though I didn't really agree with the ending, I enjoyed this book. It gives a discussion some very interesting topics. Catch-22 -On my own Two thumbs up. I don't remember too much of it now, but it was written VERY randomly. I think I was surprised that I liked it. Catcher in the Rye -AP English Lit, Urbandale High School Two thumbs DOWN! This book was written randomly as well, but I didn't like it. And I hated Holden! He was such a whiney, hypocritical PHONEY! Huck Finn -AP English Lit, Urbandale High School One thumb up, one thumb neutral. I really liked it until the ending. Then, through a series of miraculous coincidences (I think Twain got tired of writing the book), everything is resolved happily. Uh huh. But otherwise, like Crime and Punishment, people can have very interesting discussions about how Jim was treated by Huck, and how Huck thought he was being bad by treating him that way. Subhuman Redneck Poems -World Lit Topics: Post Colonial, Truman State University Two thumbs neutral A very strange collection of poetry by an Australian guy. I was very confused, even after we figured out what they meant. If you actually can find this book, and go to the trouble of doing so, look at the poem, "The Maenads" and see what I mean. Actually, I couldn't figure out what was going on in that one... The Road from Coorain -World Lit Topics: Post Colonial, Truman State University One thumb up, one thumb neutral. Overall, fairly good, but the fact that we know so much, yet so little about the main character bothers me. It isn't actually a fictional book, but a memior, so I suppose I shouldn't refer to her as a character, but she doesn't really seem real to me. Death of a Salesman -Intro to Theatre Arts, Truman State University One thumb up, one thumb neutral This was a pretty good story (yes, I know it's a play, but so is Hamlet :P ), but it got confusing at the end. That wasn't really the problem, however. The main problem was that I couldn't relate to some of the language. There was a lot of repetitiveness, and that just didn't seem natural to me. Crossing the Mangrove -World Lit Topics: Post Colonial, Truman State University Two thumbs up A fairly good book, even if a little dubious in some personal relations... The Curse of Chalion -Fantasy, Truman State University Two thumbs up I enjoyed this book, although it's a little confusing at the beginning. While I wouldn't rate it as one of my all-time favorites, it was a good story with some interesting ideas. Frankenstein -Writing About Literature, Truman State University One thumb down, one thumb neutral Part of what I didn't like about this book was the style, which comes from the time period. However, I simply had problems believing in the characters at times, especially Victor, who was a moron. This having been said, I do think it's a good book to read, because there are allusions to it on many other works. Cats in Cyberspace -Fantasy, Truman State University TWO THUMBS DOWN! It sucked. Two cats trading stocks online to save their owners from having to work. And we read this in a FANTASY class. Local Custom -Fantasy, Truman State University Two thumbs down Kind of a blend between sci-fi and fantasy. I didn't really like the characters, and I personally couldn't really care less about the storyline, either. The WIld Blue and the Grey -Fantasy, Truman State University One thumb down, one thumb neutral An alternate history about WW1, but in it, the South had won the Civil War. I have nothing against historical fiction, and as far as that goes, this book was ok. However, there were an insane number of cutesy references to historical figures that annoyed me to now end. A Midsummer Night's Dream -Writing about Literature, Truman State University Two thumbs neutral Well, I've read this play once before, and seen it performed. But, it was still annoying to have to look at footnotes every three words. I don't really have any strong feelings one way or the other for this book. The Professor's House -Writing about Literature Two thumbs down Mainly a character study. Nothing really happens. It's well-written, but rather boring. Fire and Hemlock -Fantasy, Truman State University One thumb up, one thumb neutral A fantasy set in (nearly) modern-day England, based on the Ballad of Tam Lin. I think it would have really helped me out if I had known anything about the Ballad before I read this book... The Eyre Affair -Fantasy Two thumbs up Set in an alternate reality world where the lines between literature and the real world are weak enough to cross sometimes. Confusing, but good! Ivanhoe -English Senior Seminar, Truman State University Two thumbs up The classic tale about knights, Jews, and thieves that I'm glad I *finally* got the chance to read. The Egoist -English Senior Seminar Two thumbs very far down Oh, how I despised this book. It's really the only other one I could really remember from the class, and that's because of the violent feelings of hatred I harbor towards it. And no, the title is not a typo. The Aeneid -LATN 351 & Roman Lit in Translation, Truman State University Two thumbs neutral The best well known, traditional Latin epic. But, it happens to be an epic. And it's about Aeneas. The Metamorphoses -Classics Senior Seminar, Truman State University Two thumbs up YAY FOR OVID!! I haven't read all of it; it's twelve books long, but it is a truly wonderful and entertaining work. Catullus' Poems -Roman Lit in Translation, Truman State University Two thumbs up <3 Catullus. That man is SO entertaining. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde -on my own one thumb up, one thumb neutral Go see the musical. Yeah, the short story is pretty good, but I love the musical! Le Fantome de L'Opera -on my own two thumbs up Okay, okay, so I read the translation. I don't speak French. Aside from that, this book is actually a really good Victorian novel. Far more entertaining and readable than anything I've read for class from that time. It's nice to be able to tell the difference between high literature and pleasure reading, even in other time periods. John Keats, The Poems -on my own two thumbs up Keats has written a great variety of poetry from epics to odes to lots of stuff in between, and they're all really good! I think that's about it for now... |
| At least, the ones I can remember... |
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