Peter Pan...random thoughts

I'm so tired right now that I probably shouldn't even be attempting this review (we had a garage sale today, and will be having it again tomorrow...ugh!), but since this is the last day of May, I figure I better get this in as it's for the Celebrate the Author Challenge.

So anyway. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. Hard to believe one can reach my age without having read this, huh? But true nonetheless. And what did I think? Well, I hate admitting, but I didn't fall madly in love with this story. I read this aloud to the kiddos, and that may have been part of the problem. Now that sounds simply awful, doesn't it? It's not that I don't enjoy reading aloud to them, I swear...I, of course, love our reading time. But this book simply wasn't an easy book to read aloud. I had a hard time with the flow. Which I'm sure wouldn't have been a problem if I'd been reading it silently to myself. On top of that, there were a lot of "big words" for the little guys. Some pages, they would interrupt as many as three or four times to ask what a word meant. I'm glad they want to learn some new vocabulary, of course, but whew...can that make for some loooong reading sessions just trying to get through a chapter or two.

This book also led to some interesting discussions. Particularly because of the less than flattering, stereotypical images of "redskins". I hate reading things like this in books and I hate even more having the kids exposed to them. But it's so much better encountering them together so we have a chance to talk about them. You know, those real life teaching moments.

I, of course, am a grown-up. And as everyone who knows anything about Peter Pan, that is not a good thing. So, my opinion of this book isn't the opinion that really matters, is it? From the mouths of the youngsters when asked what they thought:

Annie: I really loved it!

Gray: It was okay. Sometimes it was hard to understand.

Annie: I didn't think it was hard. I just thought it was a great story.

Max: I thought it was good. I'd give it a five if we were rating it. (We use a 5 point rating system with picture books.)

Gray: No, not a five, but it was pretty good.

So there you have it...the munchkins seem to think it was quite a worthwhile read.

*****

If you have also reviewed this book, please leave me a link in the comments and I'll add it here. Thanks.

*****

Read for:




Celebrate the Author Challenge.

Initials Reading Challenge.

A-Z Reading Challenge.

Decades Challenge '08.

Read-aloud.

Fahrenheit 451...random thoughts

Fahrenheit 451. While this is only my third book by Mr. Bradbury, I just have to say that his writing is just the most exquisite I've ever read. And yes, I do love his stories, but its his writing that really blows me away.

"It was a pleasure to burn.

It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of the blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history...."

Thus begins Fahrenheit 451. I could spend years trying, and still never be able to put words together in such an amazing way. But now, having said all that, I have to admit that, for the most part, I wasn't quite as captivated by the writing in this book as I was by that in either Something Wicked This Way Comes or The Halloween Tree. The reason for that may be, though I'm not sure, that this story was just more thought-provoking. While Something Wicked This Way Comes is wonderfully sinister in its own way, Fahrenheit 451 was even more terrifying because of its utter plausibility.

Guy Montag is a fireman. But the profession of fireman in this novel is far different from what it is today. Firemen in Fahrenheit 451 destroy, as opposed to preserve. And what they destroy is books. And homes that hide books. And sometimes even the people who own these books.

In the space of just a single week, Guy Montag's world is turned upside down. Though really, the seeds of this tumultuous turn-around were sown long before. Montag just hadn't realized this before meeting Clarisse, a seventeen-year-old girl who still found wonder and beauty in the world. And because she did find wonder and beauty in the world, she was considered crazy. Montag's brief talks with Clarisse awaken something inside him. Later in this life-altering week, Montag witnesses a woman choose to burn with her books as opposed to living without them. From here, his world begins spinning out of control...

As I said earlier, this book was all the more terrifying because of its plausibility. The censorship of books in this tale did not begin with the government, though it did eventually become illegal to read books. It began with apathy. With people choosing to give up books on their own. With people choosing to spend their time in rooms comprised of wall-sized screens. Do I really see this book as a prophecy of what's to come? No. I'd like to believe it couldn't really happen. But then there's a lot happening in this world that seems unfathomable.

This is Annie's and my next literature selection for school, and it should make for some interesting conversations. But as for me, I'm anxious to now dive into another book for Once Upon a Time II.

The War of the Worlds...random thoughts

Last week during my at-home mini-vacation, I did manage to finish up a few books. Not nearly as many as I should have, I suppose, but such is the life of an extremely slow reader. The one drawback to having finished these books is that I now have to review them. Well, I guess I don't actually "have" to...there's no gun to my head or anything...but as three of the four of them are for challenges, it does seem the right thing to do. They're quite a varied lot, and I thoroughly adored three of them. As for the fourth, well, I'll try to explain my feelings when I talk about it.

First up...The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells. Though I've wanted to read this book for a while, it was really Carl's Sci-Fi Experience that urged me to pick it up at this particular time. Oh, and am I glad it did...so thank you, Carl! I can't tell you how much I loved this book...in fact, it's my favorite read of the year so far. (O.K., O.K., I know I haven't really knocked that many out so far this year, but still.)

I honestly didn't know what to expect from this book. I, of course, did know the general idea...Martians invading Earth. But beyond that, no clue. And as I've never read anything by H.G. Wells, I didn't know what to expect from his writing. I'm willing to admit that I tend to be slightly "afraid" of classics sometimes, that I sometimes don't have the level of appreciation that I probably should. But I needn't have worried here. The War of the Worlds was exceedingly readable. And fun. And suspenseful. And quite simply a great story.

I'm certainly no science fiction aficionado (one of the reasons Carl's Sci-Fi Experience appealed to me so much was the opportunity to expand my horizons a bit), but this book definitely contains some of my stereotypical visions for the genre. Ah, but the way Wells wrote about them was just wonderful...

We've got Martians:

"I think everyone expected to see a man emerge--possibly something a little unlike us terrestrial men, but in all essentials a man. I know I did. But, looking, I presently saw something stirring within the shadow: greyish billowy movements, one above another, and then two luminous disks--like eyes. Then something resembling a little grey snake, about the thickness of a walking stick, coiled up out of the writhing middle, and wriggled in the air toward me--and then another."

We've got heat rays:

"However it is done, it is certain that a beam of heat is the essence of the matter. Heat, and invisible, instead of visible, light. Whatever is combustible flashes into flame at its touch, lead runs like water, it softens iron, cracks and melts glass, and when it falls upon water, incontinently that explodes into steam.

That night nearly forty people lay under the starlight about the pit, charred and distorted beyond recognition, and all night long the common from Horsell to Maybury was deserted and brightly ablaze."

We've got giant metal "monsters":

"And this Thing I saw! How can I describe it? A monstrous tripod, higher than many houses, striding over the young pine trees, and smashing them aside in its career; a walking engine of glittering metal, striding now across the heather; articulate ropes of steel dangling from it, and the clattering tumult of its passage mingling with the riot of the thunder. A flash, and it came out vividly, heeling over one way with two feet in the air, to vanish and reappear almost instantly as it seemed, with the next flash, a hundred yards nearer."

As I said this book is quite suspenseful. Frightening. I can only imagine how much more so it must have been back when it was first published. I think one of the ways Wells managed to keep me so involved was through his first person narrative. Unless I missed something somewhere, we never even learn the man's name. And while the story takes place over just a few short weeks, we witness this man going through a life-time's worth of emotions.

I have enjoyed the Sci-Fi Experience so much that I'm going to attempt to squeeze in one last book before its official end. With all the wonderful things I've read about Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, how can I possibly resist any longer? I know Chris will be proud of me.

Anyway, in addition to the Sci-Fi Experience, this book will fill the "W title" slot in Joy's A-Z Challenge, the 1890s slot in 3M's Decades Challenge (though this wasn't one of my original choices), and fulfill another requirement in Ariel's Unread Authors Challenge. Four for the price of one...can't beat that, huh?




Hmmm...I'd originally planned to post all of my reviews in one post, but I think that might just be too long, huh? Guess I'll be back later with another.

The Giver...random thoughts

(This is also my first book down in the Decades '08 Challenge.)

The Giver by Lois Lowry...what a great little book. Given Lois Lowry's reputation and all the raves I've heard about this book, I admit I had pretty high expectations. And I wasn't disappointed. I enjoyed this little book immensely.

One of the main reasons I picked this one up was to use it for homeschooling. And I have to admit that I think knowing that Annie and I will be using a book for a literature selection somehow distorts my experience. Maybe "distort" isn't quite the right word, I don't know. When I'm reading entirely for pleasure though, I'm free to just get lost in the story. I admit it...I'm not a big analyzer of the written word. (Which is probably why I can't write a decent review to save my life.) Maybe I'm just shallow, but usually I just enjoy letting a book capture my emotions. Sure, there are definitely times when a book forces me to think...and I love that. I just don't go looking for it.

But I have to dig a little deeper when I know that Annie and will be discussing it. For instance, The Giver will give us great opportunities for delving into subjects like genetic engineering and euthanasia. If I'd been reading purely for pleasure, I would have allowed myself to experience the topics viscerally without the pressure of needing to put all my feelings into words.

I have no idea if any of what I just wrote will make a lick of sense to anyone but me. If not, I apologize.

So, The Giver...it's the story of Jonas, a boy ultimately chosen for an unimaginable job. He lives in a community free of crime and violence and unemployment. Yet this community is also free of love and other true emotion. The people are entirely without choice; everything from their career to their spouse is chosen for them. They do not even get to bear their own children. Yet they know no other way and seem quite content in their existence. When Jonas is chosen as the new Receiver, he must take on the burden of all knowledge of the way life could be and once was...both the painful and the joyful. But is this a burden he can bear?

As I said at the beginning, I enjoyed this book immensely. It is a book I can definitely see myself reading again. If by slight chance there is someone out there who has not yet read this one, my recommendation would be to change that.

*****

If you have reviewed this book, please feel free to leave a link in the comments, and I will add it here. Thanks.

Nymeth at Things Mean A Lot