Reviews (kind of): "Bag of Bones" by Stephen King, "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn

I've been suffering from a writing slump. Probably has to do with overwhelming spring tiredness. It's the middle of the March now, and this morning it is minus 20 degrees of cold outside... just made me want to run into a wall.

 

There are three books I have finished but haven't noted down in the blog - the two mentioned in the title and "Persuasion", which I read for the Classics Club. As for "Bag of Bones" and "Gone Girl", I decided to write down my thoughts in very short form, because neither one really moved me to the core (positively nor negatively).

 

"Bag of Bones" had some good things speaking for it. I like reading about literature-y people, and the main character here is writer Mike Noonan. There are piles of references to different authors and books (including a huge spoiler on du Maurier's "Rebecca" - that was bad, please don't spoil books, or at least stick a warning label on your novel :p), and I really liked reading about intelligent characters. Another thing especially praiseworthy in my book is the portrayal of a 3-year old girl. Because whether it be films or books, I tend to have problems with kids in them. Either they are shown over-intelligent and non-believable, or just total brats, or I don't know. It's just an individual thing I guess, but the kid in King's novel was a-do-rable. Super cute. I liked the way she spoke.

 

But, there is an odd thing that has happened to both two King books I read last. The reading process of "Needful Things" is one of the most shocking ones I ever had. I started reading it, and was soooo badly sucked in, I read it all the time and everywhere. Then, somewhere at 75% through point, there was a total halt. There were too many characters by the time, things got very messy and at the point, which was supposed to be a culmination of the story, I lost interest. The book stayed on my bookshelf for months, before I finally pulled myself together and just forced through it.

 

And the same kind of thing happened this time. Around 3/4 through the book, I lost a great slice of interest. I didn't give it up this time (and overall "Bag of Bones" was a lot better book as well), but I just thought if it's going to become some kind of King-curse for me. Maybe I should try some books that people have praised more, like "Stand" or "It" or "Carrie".

 

"Gone Girl" was kind of an experimental purchase, as I would have never picked up this one without all the buzz and fuzz in other book blogs. I was fairly certain that this is the type of book that I'd finish fast (true) and so it wasn't that huge of an investment (except money-wise, hehe).

 

I can't say it was a bad book. It wasn't. I think it was pretty well written, in its genre. Props to Flynn for knitting such an intricate network of twists and turns throughout all 400+ (or how many there were) pages. There were some quite clever and intelligent passages. It was interesting to observe how my opinion of the characters changed as the book progressed. I didn't like the characters but I liked how they were portrayed. At times I got nauseous (that's not all that bad thing when reading - better than feeling nothing).

 

However, I was right when I kind of started having this hunch that these kinds of books, let's call it "curveball prose", ain't really my thing. So much happens in short period of time that I get bored in the end (and after that 54th surprise, you know, 55th surprise ain't all that "surprising" anymore).

Top Ten Series I Haven't Started (Yet)

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the people over at The Broke and the Bookish and today's topic is "Top Ten Series I Would Like to Start But Haven't Yet".

 

I like series. I have read some very nice ones - "Lord of the Rings", "Song of Ice and Fire" (up to as much as has been published), "The Farseer Trilogy" by Robin Hobb. Nowadays the amount of series coming from publishing houses makes me feel a bit uncomfortable, because it seems like it's done for financial reasons, so that maybe explains my lack of interest towards the newer stuff.

 

But, there are some series I would like to read some time in future, and here they are:

 

 

1. Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. It feels odd to be what seems like the only one who hasn't read Harry Potter. After I read that the books are getting new covers, and the first one I actually like very much, I decided that this autumn when the series gets a facelift, I shall buy them and read them, and not feel left out anymore.

 

 

2. The Dark Tower series by S. King. Not being a major King fangirl (post about that coming out as well), I am interested in The Dark Tower books. No idea when I get there, though.

 

 

3. The Liveship Traders series by R. Hobb. Robin Hobb writes lovely fantasy and deserves more attention. Last year I finished her "The Farseer Trilogy", which is one of those few stories that left me weeping like a babe in the end. So I decided to continue with her trilogies. I have the first book at home and maybe I will pick it up, some time, on a whim.

 

4. The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. Very much intimidating, but at the same time I want to read. The bad thing is that as much as I've heard, level of quality of different books in the series is very uneven.

 

 

5. Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson. Probably less known fantasy series, this requires a lot of attention and dedication, and it can take a while to get used to the myriad of characters and the strange worlds. I have started the first book some 2-3 times, and never finished, but I'm not giving up.

 

 

6. The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide by Douglas Adams. Maybe not that kind of conventional series, but it's books, one following another, so... it's kind of series. Hopefully I can click with the humour, otherwise I guess it's pretty impossible to enjoy these. Marvin!!

 

 

7. Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. Because it's old, and classic, and dragons, and could be a fun read.

 

 

8. Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. From what I've heard, this is a series of book-bricks. (I refuse to get intimidated!) But hey. History, fantasy? Yes please.

 

 

9. The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. When I was kid, and where I lived - we never had access to these books. Which is a shame. But better late than never. Should be a fun read :)

 

10. Anne of Green Gables books by L. M. Montgomery. Same as with Narnia, as a little girl I never knew these books existed. And I was exactly the kind of bookworm-child who would have related to Anne so much. Oh well. I do intend to read, if not all then at least some of Anne books.

 

 

 

 

Closing the lid of February

A duckie leaping towards the spring sun. Photo from last year.

This was some short month. Nevertheless, it feels like eons have passed since it was February 1st. It was a month of mixed feelings for me. Some ghosts from the past (pretty big ones) came back haunting, and aftermath can be felt for some time to come, but on the other hand, I discovered strengths and reserves in myself I didn't know ever existed. So overall, I am happy content.

 

Book wise, it was also an o-kay month. Here's what I read:

 

• C. Brontë "Jane Eyre"
• D. H. Lawrence "Lady Chatterley's Lover"
• H. Murakami "1Q84"
• S. King "Bag of Bones"

 

2626 pages in total. Statistically-technically anyway, because "1Q84" I started way back in January, it just took me awful lot of time to get through it. I shall write down my thoughts on both, Murakami and King, in near future. Happy with two Classics Club reads; if the month had had normal length, I would have been able to add "Persuasion" there as well.

 

So what is going to happen in March?

 

At first, it's the month of Classics Club event Modern March. I have picked two books - "Tender is the Night" by Fitzgerald and "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Hemingway. I shall start with the latter, as it is not the book I am super eager to read.

 

Secondly, by April 1 I should also be done with "Arrowsmith", my outcome for the Classics Club Spin event. Apparently, Sinclair Lewis is tough cookie and can not be easily found from shops around here, so I had to order the book. It was sent off a few days ago, so I expect it to arrive some time next week.

 

There is another book on the TBR-shelf, which has kept winking at me for a while now - Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities", the book I lent from friend and which some Classics Clubbers have read and praised lately. Alas, be patient my eager heart - the time has not yet come for Dickens.

 

But first of all, I shall finish off "Persuasion" (which I am, surprisingly, even enjoying in some strange kind of level).

 

 

Brain Food, III

Okay, here come some bricks books I have hunted down during the past ten days or so. I have to admit that I am beginning to get slightly intimidated by all those chunksters that seem to find their way to my home... But what can you do. I love chunksters!

 

Let's go from top to bottom, then.

 

* Stephen King, "Bag of Bones" - because you need a good bite of King when feeling like taking a break from all these wonderful (but sometimes a bit exhausting) classics.

* William Shakespeare, "Hamlet" - I purchased this Penguin version for my Classics Club Challenge. Looking forward to being reacquinted with the Scandinavian Prince again. And look what a tiny little book it is (compared to the rest of the pile)!

* Charlotte Brontë "Jane Eyre" - ditto to the last one. I made the mistake of "I'll just take a little peek into this book...", which resulted in not enough sleep last night. I better just finish it off and be done with that :)

* Arthur Conan Doyle "The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes" - oh boy. How did I end up with this book, and for 5 (!!!) euros only? Because we have awesome second-hand bookshop here in Helsinki, basically in our back yard... ("Jane Eyre" and "Bag of Bones" were 2 euros both. Why was I ever buying new books?) Anyway... Mr Holmes weighs a ton, has 1200 pages and very small font. I predict this one's gonna take some time. Good thing is that you can read a novel or a story now and then and not feel disconnected from the characters or the overall atmosphere.

* Roger Zelazny "The Great Book of Amber" - and the inevitable dose of fantasy. While Sherlock was a brick, this one's a bloody foundation panel... It is the collection of all the 10 books in Zelazny's "Amber Chronicles" series. I read them, or at least most of them, being young, and in Estonian. Lately I really started missing some good soap-opera-fantasy, an easy read but not the like to dull your mind. This series is all about the characters, and the characters are ... hilarious. Imagine members of a royal family/kin, who smoke, drink, swear and constantly attempt to stab each other in the back? Yep. That's Amber.

 

So, out of these, I am already halfway through "Jane Eyre", I started "A Study in Scarlet" and also couldn't resist taking a peek into the scheming in Amber (25/120 pages of the first novel read - yes, they are that short!).