Category: Reading Challenges

Book Challenges, Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading, Reading Challenges

Review: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

by The Lit Bitch5 Comments on Review: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Well it’s taken me a few months but I have finally finished Great Expectations! Yes I know I started it like months ago and have been slowly trying to finish it up between the move and other books I’ve been reading.

I started reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens for the Gothic Literature Reading Challenge, I had it down to read for the Victorian Literature Reading Challenge also but I decided to use it for the Gothic one since it had a lot of classic Gothic themes which I love.

I have struggled with reading Dickens over the years only because I think he is wordy and often his stories seem a little slow to start.

However, last year I read the book Drood which is a fiction work based on two English literary greats…Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens. After reading that book I was curious about Dickens’s life and works. After signing up for both the Victorian and Gothic literature challenges having some Dickens novels on my ‘to read’ lists was a no brainer.  Continue reading “Review: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens” →

Book Challenges, Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading, Reading Challenges

Review: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

by The Lit Bitch5 Comments on Review: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

I decided to read Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness as part of the Victorian Literature Challenge.

I have read Heart of Darkness before for a Comparative/Literary Criticism class in college. I’ll be honest, I didn’t care for it much then and I didn’t care for it reading it again two years later. Though I hoped that not having to write a paper on the book and not having to deconstruct the entire concepts would help me be able to get into it more but I was sadly disappointed.

Conrad’s novel is an interesting specimen in literature, it is more of a transitional book that has a foot in the Victorian era but also has a foot in modern literature. The book is about one man’s journey into madness while he travels the Congo.

The main character (Charles Marlow) is on the Themes on a boat waiting for the tide to change, he beings to tell his travel companions about his adventures in the Congo. He talks about the ‘evils’ he expeirences while there and how he worked to transport ivory down river….he was more or less a mercenary. Continue reading “Review: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad” →

Book Challenges, Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading, Reading Challenges

Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

by The Lit Bitch3 Comments on Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

I have settled on re-reading one of my fav books of all time….The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

I decided to read Dorian Gray for the Gothic Reading Challenge, I had it on my list to read for both the Gothic Reading Challenge and the Victorian Literature Challenge but decided to use it for the Gothic Challenge since I am in a ‘dark’ mood with all the madness happening…..why not have madness in my literature too LOL.

Oscar Wilde is one of my most fav authors, he literally just didn’t care who he made mad and wrote about what he loved….he is eccentric, carismatic, and philosophical in his writing style, I just cannot get enough Wilde :).

In Dorian Grey, we as readers are introduced to many “monstrous” sides of vanity and pride. We first met protagonist, Dorian Gray, as a naive young man who is gentle and kind. He is oblivious to the idea of age, maturity and growing “old”. The story focuses on the moral disintegration of Dorian which of course is a metaphor for the Victorian/Gothic era….the who era is about ‘darkness’, moral corruption, and the ‘daemons’ in us all.  Continue reading “Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde” →

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Review: A Beautiful Blue Death (Charles Lenox Mysteries #1) by Charles Finch

by The Lit Bitch9 Comments on Review: A Beautiful Blue Death (Charles Lenox Mysteries #1) by Charles Finch

In between books I picked up the first book in the Charles Lenox Mysteries, A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch. I read this book as part of the Historic Fiction Reading Challenge hosted by Historical Tapestry.

The HF Reading Challenge required one thing….the book must by set in a historic setting so that means any genre (mystery, sci-fi, YA, fantasy….anything.

I don’t really know too much about the series but the books sounded like they would be right up my alley. I saw the series listed on Goodreads and they had favorable reviews from readers. The are more or less a remake of the Sherlock Holmes Mysteries and since I have read many of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries I thought these would be a modern twist on an old classic.

The series follows protagonist Charles Lenox who is a wealthy gentleman who resides in the posh/exclusive London address of Mayfair. He is what most readers refer to as the ‘armchair explorer/detective’. Because he is independently wealthy he has lots of time on his hands…and he has a very analytical mind and pays attention to details. He has a great ability to deduce little things which no one else seems to make heads or tails of (like Holmes in that way at least). Continue reading “Review: A Beautiful Blue Death (Charles Lenox Mysteries #1) by Charles Finch” →

Book Challenges, Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading, Reading Challenges

Review: Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami (Haruki Murakami Reading Challenge)

by The Lit Bitch4 Comments on Review: Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami (Haruki Murakami Reading Challenge)

I just finished reading Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami as part of the Haruki Murakami Reading Challenge hosted by Murakamichallenge.blogspot.com.

I will admit, I knew absolutely nothing about this author and I am NOT a huge fan of Asian literature except for the more popular/mainstream Asian fiction books like Memoirs of a Geisha and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.

When I saw this reading challenge I decided to join because the author sounded intriguing and from what I read, his books sounded like something that would be right up my alley. I am a huge film/literary noir, hardboiled, and avant-garde fan and from what I read about Haruki Murakami (HM), his books have many of these themes. HM’s books focus on surreal, mystical, post modern ideals of loneliness and isolation.

When I decided to join the challenge I went with the list of options–reading one book by HM as I was not sure what to expect and I’ll be honest I have to be in a ‘mood’ to read some of the darker, heavier books and most of HM’s books seemed heavy.

I choose Sputnik Sweetheart for the challenge because it sounded like I could relate to the main character the most out of all his other books. While the story WAS far from light, it was very beautiful–the language was very lyrical and poetic which helped relieve some of the heavy content. The story follows protagonist Sumire, a young aspiring writer who falls in love with her older friend Miu. Though much of the book is based on this love story, it is more about self discovery, isolation, and loneliness. Continue reading “Review: Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami (Haruki Murakami Reading Challenge)” →