As You Like It by William Shakespeare

As You Like It by William Shakespeare 

"All the world's a stage

And all the men and women are merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts,

His acts being seven ages"

Yay! I have finally finished reading my first Shakespeare play off of my own back and although it was hard, I loved it. After finally being taught how to actually read and enjoy Shakespeare in A2 literature I set myself a target for the summer which I am slowly accomplishing.

It's supposed to be a comedy and if I had read it with others then I might have seen the humour but it was hard to understand some parts so I was constantly referring to the internet which possibly made it lose the humour. It's also a romance, although Shakespeare didn't categorise it as that! I'm not usually into romances and I think that's why it took me so long to get through it because I have little interest in them. 

The lack of deaths surprised me and made me realise that Shakespeare doesn't need to kill everyone like he did in King Lear. However, like in King Lear there are too many disguises which you lose track off sometimes so need to keep paying attention. 

The play is about Rosalind, a banished daughter falling in love with the banished son Orlando. It is about people having to change not only their values but also their identity to save their true selves. Rosalind is supported by Celia, her cousin. 

"Tears do not become a man"

 

I love this quote because it doesn't just have to be used for a man but also anything. Crying just makes you feel worse when that act in itself is in no way productive. 

I hope you enjoyed this as hopefully there will be more reviews on Shakespeare as I am planning to cram as much reading in before September. 

The Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury

The Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury

Hey! Sorry I haven’t been able to write which is now about a month but I have been so busy with parties and revision that I haven’t had the chance to read (I know) let alone write a book review. I don’t think it gives the book away when I say that every page is a plot twist! This book review is going to be really hard, trying to describe the book as well as not giving it away. Anyway, here it goes.

I have to admit, I didn’t really enjoy reading the first parts of this book because it all seemed a bit unrealistic (I’m not into those kind of books) but I soon started enjoying it and getting used to it. I had to accept it for what it was. The book seems historic and set in a feudalist/ medieval castle and grounds. A young girl is adopted by the castle and it is her purpose as a weapon to punish traitors. Twylla (still don’t know if I’m saying it properly) is blessed by the gods and has the ability to kill people with one single touch. I suppose you could say that it’s her special power. However, her powers make her isolated because this poison in her skin means that she cannot hug or touch anyone without killing them. No one is immune. They will die if she touches them! The queen takes advantage of this and anyone that annoys her will be killed by Twylla. Twylla’s special power has cost her her family and friends.

Twylla is adopted by the royal family which includes Merek who she is destined to marry. The King is Merek’s stepfather who is kind to both Merek and Twylla but the queen is the one everyone fears. She is Twylla’s puppet master. All of the castle fear putting one foot out of line because she could order Twylla to kill them. The royal family has gone through some harsh times including the loss of their daughter and they believe that Twylla is their gift from the gods to ‘replace’ her. That’s what they tell the people anyway.

The castle and grounds believe in the gods who have chosen Twylla to be marry the prince, Merek, and be Dauen Embodied (meaning she can kill people). Twylla has to be protected and is therefore anointed a new guard called Leif who is very outspoken and tries to tell Twylla the truth. But what is the truth?

Twylla’s mother is a Sin Eater who eats all the foods representing their sins after people’s deaths. Before Twylla is adopted, she is destined to fulfil this role too. I would not want to do that. She saw living with the queen a dream. It is any girl’s dream to be adopted by a queen and become a princess. But at that age, Twylla didn’t know the truth and maybe that’s why her mother refused to keep in contact with her.

This book is somehow intertwined with folklore of the castle which keeps re-emerging throughout the book but it isn’t until the end when you realise how prevalent the tale of “The Sleeping Prince” is. If you are planning to read this, which you should be, make sure you pay special attention to it.

I hope you have enjoyed this and I hope you make the time to read it. It's worth it!

Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider

Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider

I absolutely loved this book. It was so simplistic in language but I loved the storyline. I loved the constant use of metaphors. It’s amazing and I know it sounds depressing but it really isn’t. I wish I’d written down all of the metaphors because they are the kind of ones you would want put on a sign around your room- I would anyway (The happy ones anyway).

 

I know that my blog is not about graphics and art but can I just mention that I love the front cover. It’s a picture of lungs that obviously represent the lungs infected by TB but turned upside down they also represent the trees and the forests that Lane and Sadie hang out in. They are not testicles though like my friend suggested.

 

The main character Lane has been diagnosed with TB which has reached epidemic in America. Scientists want to cure it and change Latham House, an old boarding school into a research centre which allows the teenagers with TB to be relaxed and hopefully leave. However, no one knows whether you will leave because you died or whether you leave because you are cured. I’m making this sound like a really depressing book but I promise, it really wasn’t. The main character Lane struggles to fit in and accept that he needs to focus on getting better rather than concentrating on school work.

“New places are like jeans. Sure, they might fit but they’re not comfortable”

Lane gets down and you feel that he thinks that being sent to Latham is a death sentence for ill kids but then he meets Sadie and her friends who are not the best behaved, or rather they live their lives to the fullest.

The book flips narrative perspective from Lane to Sadie which I always like in a book because you feel like you’re a step ahead of the characters. You feel really sorry for them both because they are both making the same mistakes. They both remember each other from summer camp when they were little but they both have since believed that the other one stood them up. However, once they realise the truth Lane understands that Latham isn’t just about being ill. Latham is about breaking the rules and falling in love.

You forget that the book is about ill children and it’s an inspiration for ill people that you can still live your life to the full. You forget about it until there are the subtle reminders of the possibility that the med sensors might go off if they have too much fun (heart rate increasing as opposed to a fun monitor).

“Life goes on until it doesn’t”

The book holds morals for everyone about having a positive outlook on life which I feel is summed up in the line,

“No matter how strong the current beats against you, or how heavy your burden, or how tragic your love story. You keep going”

 

Hope you enjoyed this book review. :)

 

The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles

The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles

Sorry I haven’t written a book review for what seems like ages but I’ve been trying to read this book. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy it but I had to stop half way through as it’s not a book you can just pick up and read a little bit each evening. If I had more time, possibly in the summer, I would like to reread this when I can read it in bigger chunks.

The book is set in Dorset, mainly Lyme Regis which is a town I regularly visit in the summer so I was able to read and understand the context of the book without too much research. I recommend it even if you haven’t visited Dorset.

Who is the French lieutenant’s woman? Sarah. She is a young girl who had a relationship with a French lieutenant but then found out that he was married and was never coming back. However, despite moving town from Weymouth to Lyme Regis she does not want to start a new life? Why? No one knows. Maybe they tell you in the second half of the book.

Charles and Ernestina are the other two main characters who live in Lyme Regis to escape the busyness of London. They have recently got married.

I’ll admit I don’t know much about this book even though I’ve been attempting to read it for three weeks. However, it has travelled all the way to Portugal. But what really interested me was the narrative as it is a modern narrative but it’s set in 1860s as if it’s a memory.

I hope you enjoy it because I really hope I have the time to revisit it over the summer.

The Accident Season by Moïra Fowley-Doyle

The Accident Season by Moïra Fowley-Doyle

I thought I would take a break from the classics and saw this in the library. I thought it looked different, especially the title from any other book I’ve read and it was. I promise it’s not as depressing as it sounds. I kind of hope that this book will be turned into a film as I’d like to see how a director would portray it.

“So let’s raise our glasses to the accident season,

To the river beneath us where we sink our souls,

The bruises and secrets, to the ghost in the ceiling,

One more drink for the watery road.”

Every October, the same family always experiences freak accidents; broken limbs, car crashes and deaths. Both their father and uncle were killed in the accident season. However, they cannot work out why. The mother turns over protective during the month, hiding anything dangerous out of reach of her teenage children. Well, when I say children- she has two daughters, Cara and Alice and their “ex-stepbrother” Sam who is the same age. It’s complicated. The mother’s ex-husband had a son but when he, Christopher, left, he left all of them. However, Cara whose perspective it’s written from is in love with Sam. Awkward.

"Is it a curse or a coincidence?"

 

Cara realises that in every photos she has ever taken there is a girl who she comes to realise is called Elsie. Who is she? When Cara starts looking for her, no one has ever heard of her or knows anything about her. Who is she? How did Cara find out about her? Will she find out who she actually is?

As well as Cara and Sam’s weird ‘incest’ relationship, they prepare to hold a Halloween party in a haunted house. Sounds quite cool. However, they have no idea when the next accident will take place.

Alice is known as a ‘witch’ at school because she takes cards around and claims she can predict the future. That’s quite a good talent until it claims that that following month, Alice and her ‘siblings’ will experience the worst accident yet.

I hope you enjoyed this book review and I really recommend it because it is nowhere near as depressing as it sounds.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

“Love makes you want to be a better man- right. Right. But love, real love, also gives you permission to just be the man you are.”

You have to read this book before you see the film- it wouldn’t really work the other way round. However, if you haven’t read it yet- you must! The film did the book justice but the length of book is much better to build up suspense. You can’t really fit everything; the suspense, details or elements, in a 400 page book into a film. Actually seeing the film was an event. I read the book before I found out they were making it into a film but when I found out they were, I persuaded my mum and my aunt to go with me. We got ready, went to the cinema and mum asked for two adults and a child- OMG- the film was an 18. I’d read it and it’s not that bad. Anyway, it took me a while to actually get hold of the film but it’s not that bad.

“My mother had always told her kids: if you’re about to do something, and you want to know if it’s a bad idea, imagine seeing it printed in the paper for all the world to see.”

The book is full of affairs, murder and weird stuff.  Amy Dunne is married to Nick who is framed for her murder. There’s a crime scene which has been badly covered up. Forensics assume there was a murder but no body can be found. Where is it? Police officers find Amy’s diary which along with neighbours’ accounts of Nick show him to have a psychopath personality. However, Nick pleads that he never murdered her and that he had nothing to do with it. However, no one believes him. Nick starts to question whether he did actually murder his wife. Did he?

Every year, Amy leaves clues for her husband on their fifth wedding anniversary but this year she is murdered. Is it a clue, a freak accident or a tragedy? However, Nick starts finding the clues left behind but the question is, who are they from?

 

The book reminisces over their past; how they met, their difficulties, their affairs and you start to question whether their marriage was real or a cover up and could it have led to Amy’s murder?

Books like these are really hard to write book reviews about without giving away the point of the story. What actually happened to Amy Dunne? Well you’ll have to read it to find out won’t you?

I hope you’ve enjoyed this book review and I’ll write soon with my next one.

Fight Club by Chuck Palanuik

Fight Club by Chuck Palanuik

"Only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything."

Hey. Sorry I've had quite a dramatic and eventful week with my house centre-meters away from flooding and loads of coursework due in. That means I haven't been able to read as much as I have wanted to. So I thought I'd write a book review on a book I actually enjoyed doing at school for coursework: Fight Club.

"Welcome to Fight Club. 

The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club. 

The second rule of Fight Club is: you DO NOT talk about Fight Club! 

Third rule of Fight Club: if someone yells “stop!”, goes limp, or taps out, the fight is over. 

Fourth rule: only two guys to a fight. 

Fifth rule: one fight at a time, fellas. 

Sixth rule: the fights are bare knuckle. No shirt, no shoes, no weapons. 

Seventh rule: fights will go on as long as they have to. 

And the eighth and final rule: if this is your first time at Fight Club, you have to fight."

Don't watch the film of this before you read the book to understand because it is nothing like the book. It's a great film but in its own right. 

I studied this book and had to compare it to The Great Gatsby- how? Exactly. I compared the animals in each which I really enjoyed. Surprisingly doing my coursework on it hasn't ruined reading it for fun. Probably because it's such a weird book. Yes it doesn't make much sense but that's kind of what makes it such a great book. 

The book is utter madness about a nameless guy and Tyler Durden who lead a group of men known as 'space monkeys' to do terrorist like acts. Yes the book tells you how to make bombs- do they work? I have no idea.

I definitely recommend this book if you want something weird and wacky because that's what it is. Read and accept without trying to make sense of it- does that make sense? And enjoy.