Sunday, November 23, 2014

Opposites Attract?

 

"He was a lonely ghost uttering a truth that nobody would hear.  But so long as he uttered it, in some obscure way the continuity was not broken.  It was not by making yourself heard but by staying sane that you carried on the human heritage."  from 1984 by George Orwell


My two recently finished books are so totally opposite:  1984 and Gone Girl -- kind of like my seemingly constantly-shifting personalities.  I get frustrated with myself in that I don’t ever seem to know exactly what genre I will wake up in the mood for on any given day.  I guess that’s why I’m always in the middle of multiple books.
Upon re-reading 1984, what I found I remembered about it was only the first part, the happy part.  I had completely blocked the memory of the last part.  I remembered the love and the sex but forgot the torture and the soul-killing loss of true life that ends the book.   That could be an analogy for my own memory choices about my past, but that’s a different blog post.  Anyway, I am glad I re-read the book, which was very well-written, inventive, and forward-thinking, given the time of publication.   It put me in the mood for some more dystopia.  I still haven’t read The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.  Maybe that will be up soon.

Gone Girl is harder for me to write about.  So many people loved it.  I liked it.  Ish.  I did.  I just think I should have read it when it came out before all the hype.  Expectations, you know, I don’t do well with them.  I did find it to be entertaining and diverting.   I’m going to leave this one as having been over-hyped by the time I got to it.  I do think I will like the movie.
My current reads are Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, which I am loving, and The Divide by Nicholas Evans, which I am liking.  K and I also are still reading The Good Earth aloud, and I'm listening to A Tale of Two Cities in the car.  Audiobooks are a new experience for me, but I'm enjoying it.  I may read the sections after I've listened to them just for clarity.  I read A Tale of Two Cities in high school, but I remember little about it except that I loved it then...lo those many years ago.   This weekend I'm reading Lord of the Flies along with Anna.

Have a great reading Thanksgiving week!

10 comments:

Bryan G. Robinson said...

I enjoyed Gone Girl too and would like to see the movie. I did think there were too many endings, but otherwise, I enjoyed it -- even though I didn't like either narrator.

Lord of the Flies is one of my favorites, although I know plenty of people who don't like it. I was "forced" to read it in high school, but I still liked it.

Amy said...

I'm enjoying Lord of the Flies more than I expected to!

I agree about the Gone Girl narrators. I didn't find either particularly likeable.

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

I think I missed the train with Gone Girl and I'm (honestly) glad I didn't jump on. I'd rather spend my time reading the good stuff.

Readerbuzz.blogspot.com

Amy said...

That's how I often feel when reading popular books, Deb.

Anonymous said...

I love all these classics you are reading!

I taught Tale of Two Cities for eight years and always looked forward to re-reading it.

Amy said...

I love going back to the classics! I taught high school and middle school English years ago but never taught a Dickens novel. I did let some of my upper level 8th graders read Great Expectations for reading group. Loved it!

thecuecard said...

Yeah I just thought Gone Girl was crazy and far out but I did keep reading. I would like to read Gilead very soon, perhaps in January. I've heard so many good things. Cheers. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
http://www.thecuecard.com

Amy said...

Gilead is beautiful so far! Happy Thanksgiving to you too Susan!

Vintage Reading said...

Glad you are enjoying Gilead! Can't decide whether to read Gone Girl or not.

Amy said...

If you're like me and your reading time is limited, I'd advise just watching the movie.

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