Brick Lane by Monica Ali

2/10

I read this book 3 years ago for my Contemporary British Literature class, and all I can say is, "Bo-ring." I mean, look at the book cover. That says it all.

This was not a very fun book to read. It is about this Bangladeshi lady who married this guy twice her age by way of an arranged marriage and moves to England and has to figure out how to adjust to this new culture and way of life. Just not my cup o' tea. I didn't totally hate this book, but I certainly didn't like it. Although, I did hate the way, way excessive amount of way, way long letters that her sister would write her in way, way crappy English. I am assuming her sister didn't write the letters in English, so why are we translating them into crappy English? Just translate it normal. Seriously. You can't expect me to enjoy reading page after page after page of herky-jerky, unintelligible English.

Quote:

"Work in itself, performed with a desire for perfection, was capable of giving satisfaction."

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

8/10

I just finished this on Thanksgiving. I started it a month before school started, thinking I could read 900 pages in one month. Turns out I bit off more than I could chew and fell about 220 pages short. So I have been chipping away at it, here a little, there a little. I did such on weekends. Not the scenario I desired from the outset, but oh well.

When I started this book, I was super nervous because it was written in 1605 (the probability of an entertaining book written in this era was slim, even its critical acclaim wasn't enough to ease my nerves) and I have a tendency to power through to the end of all books that I read whether I like them or not (and this one was long, so if it was bad, it would be bad for a long time). But alas, I absolutely loved it and my worries subsided. It is hilarious. That's right, hilarious. If you are like me, then you probably thought that humor hadn't been invented yet in 1605. But apparently it had (or Cervantes invented it perhaps).

Due to the needlessly long intro and the large amount of quotes I want to share, I will be brief with the plot breakdown. It is about this 50 year old guy who obsesses over books about knights and knight-errantry. So much so that he decides to "go forth on a sally" and become a knight. Oh man, it is so funny, especially at first. He throws together this pathetic outfit, hops on his miserable "steed" and goes out looking for adventure. He always mistakes his surroundings for situations that require his services. Thus, he is frequently found attacking innocent traveling parties misconstruing a female passenger as a damsel in distress. He commonly thinks that common inns are castles and that everyone is serving as a welcoming party and that he is a big-shot, famous knight. He always get massively beat up in each altercation, or "cudgelled." But he always blames it on enchanters who have it out for him.

Also, he eventually gets this guy, Sancho Panza, to serve as his squire, promising him an island for his services. They are the funniest duo ever. They remind me of Balki and Larry from Perfect Strangers (yeah, I just dropped a Perfect Strangers reference). Or, as the editor who wrote an intro to the book, Abbott and Costello.

Much more hilarity occurs. People always recognize Don Quixote's madness but marvel about how smart he is in all other areas that don't have to do with knight-errantry. He has let this little distraction consume his life and it overwhelms all his other attributes.

Also, he performs all his service to glorify his lady Dulcinea. She is some random villager that he designates as Dulcinea even though she has no idea about this and they have never even met. Also, there is a CD titled Dulcinea by Toad the Wet Sprocket and it is very, very good.

How was that for a "brief breakdown"?

To the Quotes!:

"Self-commendation is in effect self-condemnation."

"He was firmly persuaded, that Camila, who yielded so easily to addresses, had acted in the same manner, to some other person: for, this additional misfortune attends a loose woman, that she loses her credit even with the man by whose importunities and entreaties her honour was subdued."

"Diligence is the mother of good luck."

"Virtue is always more persecuted by the wicked than beloved by the righteous."

Classic scathing insult from Don Quixote: "It is your skull that is unfurnished and shrunken; but, mine is more pregnant than the abominable whore that brought you forth." Ha ha.

"Despondence under misfortune consumes the constitution."

"Hunger is the best sauce, and as that is never wanting among the poor, they always relish what they eat."

"Truth may bend, but will never break, and always surmounts falsehood."

"Learning without virtue is no better than pearls on a dung-hill."

"He preaches well who lives well."

"A slovenly dress denotes a disorderly mind."

"Industry is the mother of prosperity; and Laziness, her opposite, never saw the fulfillment of a desire."

"Be not angry, and give thyself no concern about what thou mayest hear, otherwise there will be no end of thy vexation: console thyself with a good conscience, and let them say what they will; for, it is as impracticable to tie up the tongue of malice, as to erect barricades in the open fields."

"From objects of obscenity and turpitude, not only the eyes but even the imagination ought to be kept sacred."

"The beginning of health is the knowledge of the disease, as well as the patient's desire to comply with the physician's prescription. You are now in the diseased condition, aware of your infirmity, and heaven, or rather God himself, who is the great physician, will apply those medicines which are proper for the cure of your distemper; but, these remedies are wont to operate slowly, not in a sudden miraculous manner. And intelligent sinners are much more likely to recover, than delinquents of little understanding."

"Tell me what I shall do to be extremely beautiful?" "Be extremely virtuous."

"Between Said and Done, a long race may be run."

Done.

The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton

9/10

A rare during school-session post.

I read this book in the summer of '04. But not at the Five and Dime. Because that would be weird. But, this actually was the very first book that I read upon my return from the mish. And it was a wise choice. Probably because I was still so close to the Spirit and correct choices flowed forth during this glorious period.

It is based on an actual robbery that occurred in 1855 in England. Most of the book is this Pierce fellow planning this robbery and mastering the timing of all the elements of the robbery and ironing out all the intricate details to pull it off. It is very Ocean's 11. But instead of 11 guys there are only 5 members of the crew I think. So Pierce's 5 then.

There are several fantastic moments in the book. One of my favorites is when Pierce recruits "Clean Willy," yes, Clean Willy, and helps him escape from a very secure prison. It is epic. And then of course the happenings on the day of the robbery. Many unexpected occurrences lead to on-the-fly alterations and last-minute problem solving. I will not specify how it all goes down, but there is more than one plot twist, that much you can bank on.

Plus, this was written in 1975 and one of Crichton's earliest novels. So it was fun to read a book he wrote before he got all big time and all.

I place my stamp of approval accordingly.

An Approach to the Book of Mormon by Hugh Nibley

8/10

I forewarn that this is going to be a long one.

I read this book about 7 years ago. It was, apparently, originally designed for a Book of Mormon course that Nibley taught. It is pretty solid scholarly stuff. There are those silly people out there who love to fight against the LDS church and the Book of Mormon. These people always think that Mormons don't know any of their doctrine or anything about their church (why else would they belong to it? We are just brainwashed to believe what our parents forced upon us, etc.) and that the "evidence" against the Book of Mormon far outweighs its support. What they don't realize is that we do know our doctrine and we think that anyone who sincerely reads the Book of Mormon (not, as Neal A. Maxwell puts it, "scanning while doubting" which leads only to "flippant conclusions") will also come to know the truth of the book and that there is no way that a young boy could have written such an inspired record.

Anyway, much of Nibley's works (not just this) are for the purpose of showing that there are some physical "proofs" to Mormon doctrine and that we don't just sit around on our hands and blindly believe. Or, as Nibley puts it in the book's Forward: "False arguments which in the past have prospered against [the Book of Mormon] are shattered by the material of this course." Unfortunately, I bet about .00000001% of those silly people who fight against the church that were referenced in the above paragraph have actually read this book or anything similar. They just stick to their own slanted anti books and, ironically, blindly accept those as fact. The person trying to disprove something has "the burden of proof" as it were, and, therefore, should be the person disproving "proofs" from books such as Nibley's.

Nibley talks about many things, some of my favorites are:

(1) A breakdown of the names of Lehi's 6 boys. The first two are Arabic names given during a time of Lehi's involvement in the Arabian caravan trade, the next two were given Egyptian names during a time of his prosperity, and the last two are given the humble names of Jacob and Joseph during the tribulations in which they were born. "[I]t was certainly the custom of Lehi's people to name their children with a purpose";

(2) Quoting some random (non-Mormon) scholar who wrote that way back in the day (which also happens to be Lehi's era) the Bedouin people would follow this rule: "any water you may discover, either in your own or in the territory of another tribe, is named after you." This evidence is seen taking place in the Book of Mormon;

(3) Bringing up the old and over-used argument where the Book of Mormon prophesies that Christ will be born in "the land of Jerusalem" when he was born in Bethlehem and pointing out that even Socrates, Sophocles, and Euripides were all Athenian citizens and described themselves as men of Athens even though they were born miles from the actual city. The "land of Jerusalem" is different from the "city of Jerusalem." In fact, "the Book of Mormon refers to the city of Jerusalem plainly and unmistakably over sixty times, it refers over forty times to another and entirely different geographical entity which is always designated as 'the land of Jerusalem.'...The land of Jerusalem is not the city of Jerusalem.";

(4) Pointing out that "the slaying of Laban is no more reprehensible than the beheading of the unconscious Goliath" from the Bible;

(5) Citing this (non-Mormon) archeologist guy who wrote back in 1916 that "in the Babylonian army a platoon contained fifty men" and that it was called a "fifty." This correlates with the incident in the Book of Mormon where Nephi references "Laban and his fifty.";

(6) Showing that the Dead Sea Scrolls are full of Christian terminology and saying that "the one effective argument against the Book of Mormon (i.e., that it introduces New Testament ideas and terminology into a pre-Christian setting) collapses."

(7) Citing another old historian's finding that the early Hebrews "never used the classic hunting weapons of their neighbors, the sword, lance, javelin, and club." This correlates with Nephi's statement that the hunting weapons he used were "bows...arrows...stones, and...slings." That same historian "found that those were indeed the hunting weapons of the early Hebrews."

(8) Further, he points out that according to ancient Arab writers, the only bow-wood obtainable in all Arabia was the nab wood that grew only at Mount Jasum and Mount Azd, which are situated in the very region where the broken bow incident in the Book of Mormon likely occurred.

(9) Pointing out that it is crucial that the language of the Book of Mormon indicates that Lehi's party traveled down the eastern shore of the red sea because, as was discovered only in 1930 (before Joseph Smith's time) this led to "the one place where [they] could find...the materials necessary to prepare for [the] long sea voyage." I like his concluding statement on the matter: "In Nephi's picture of the desert everything checks perfectly. There is not one single slip amid a wealth of detail, the more significant because it is so casually conveyed."

(10) Citing a 1924 historian's finding that Egyptians always referred to bodies of water that don't dry up as "fountains." The Book of Mormon has this language: "the fountain of the Red Sea." If a person were making this book up, they certainly wouldn't call the Red Sea a fountain, but this finding shows another incident that only goes to further verify the Book of Mormon's validity.

(11) Pointing out the formation of Book of Mormon names and the correlation of names from those times and places. E.g. Mor-, Mr- as combinations that are also found in Egyptian names; that "mimation" (names ending with -m) predominated in Jaredite names and that "nunation" (names ending with -n) predominated in Nephite and Lamanite names and showing that mimation was prevalent around 2000 B.C. (the time of the Jaredites) and that nunation succeeded mimation by the time of the Nephites; showing that -iah and -ihah names were very prevalent in Palestinian names of Lehi's time but not so in other times; showing that ancient Semites of the desert would give "pendant names," to their children, i.e. Laman and Lemuel. Coincidence? I think not.

(12) Showing that "men who knew far more about the Hebrew language, customs, and symbols than any modern seminarist ever can, insisted that Ezekiel's 'woods' were writing-tablets or books."

(13) Quoting an early Christian named Origen: "The Ocean is not to be crossed by men, but those worlds which lie on the other side of it are governed by the same ordinances of a guiding and directing God as these." True. Don't see why that is so hard to believe and accept.

(14) Showing that "In Ether the reign and exploits of King Lib exactly parallel the doings of the first kings of Egypt (entirely unknown, of course, in the time of Joseph Smith) even in the oddest particulars."

(15) Citing historian's findings that old Indian and Chinese traditions speak of a wonderful stone that shines in the dark and that "the most celebrated of all its many miraculous powers being a strange capacity for enabling its possessor to pass unharmed through the depths of the waters." Striking correlation with the Jaredite history.

(16) Lots of quotes from Justin Martyr and stating that "[h]is most serious charge against the doctors is, indeed, that they no longer have prophets among them." Strange how inconceivable it is for everyone else to understand the need for prophets, since that is how God always works.

(17) Pointing out that "[p]eople underestimate the capacity of things to disappear, and do not realize that the ancients almost never built of stone. Many a great civilization which has left a notable mark in history and literature has left behind not a single recognizable trace of itself. We must stop looking for the wrong things." Then stating: "An official list of Roman castles from the time of Justinian enumerates 500 imperial strongholds and gives their locations; yet while the stone temples and amphi-theatres built at the same time and places still stand, not a scrap of any of those castles is to be found." Later: "Like the Nephites, the ancients in general built of wood whenever they could."

(18) Quoting an old scholars finding that all apocalyptic writers have revelation in common: 'Christ, who was always from the beginning, has visited the righteous of every generation.'

And now for a few select quotes:

Pointing out the significant timing of the Book of Mormon, "for none knew at the time of its appearance that the saints of the new dispensation would soon be continuing that great tradition of tribulation and triumph in the wilderness. The Book of Mormon was the best preparation and training manual for what was to come."

"In every age the inspired prophets have put down their knowledge in books."

"To produce the Book of Mormon would have required far more than luck and learning of any man."

"Ether was as wholly out of their world as it was removed from the whole world of contemporary science and scholarship, both biblical and profane. So let us have no more nonsense about a perfectly ordinary book that any reasonably clever Yankee could have written."

Citing the brother of Jared story: "Instead of giving him a light on the spot, or at least telling him how to make one, the Lord left it all up to the Jaredites: 'What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels?' If Joseph Smith had written the Book of Mormon, this would have been a stroke of pure genius."

"Hasty pronouncements are typical of much Book of Mormon criticism, building impetuous conclusions on first impressions and never bothering to find out what the Book of Mormon says actually happened."

"The retention of tribal identity throughout the Book of Mormon is a typically desert trait and a remarkably authentic touch."

That's a wrap! Thanks to those who had the stamina and courage to stick with this post to the end.

The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck

7/10

I read this around seven years ago. It is Steinbeck's last novel and it is really good. The title of the book is from the opening line of Shakespeare's Richard III (see the annals of this blog to find my post on Richard III).

The book is about this grocery store clerk and his humble fam. He is an honest guy who works hard for his living while those around him (even his own little family) feel that money can be made in any way, even through dishonesty, and that happiness will result. Soon, he bends to some of this pressure and faces some opportunities to make a quick, dishonest buck, but he does not break. However, he gets pretty down on himself for not being able to instill these ideas on his family and just about loses it in the end. Much of the blow coming from finding out that his son won this huge writing competition but that his essay was plagiarized.

It's a cool book and very well written.

Quotes:

"Piracy is out, but I guess the impulse lingers....Something for nothing. Wealth without effort....It's all dough, no matter how you get it." "I don't believe that. It doesn't hurt the money to get it that way but it hurts the one who gets it."

"A little hope, even hopeless hope, never hurt anybody."

"You who handle poverty badly will handle riches equally badly....In poverty she is envious. In riches she may be a snob. Money does not change the sickness, only the symptoms."

"You know how advice is. You only want it if it agrees with what you wanted to do anyway."

"There's nothing blacker than a wick....It's so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone."

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young

8/10

I read this probably about eight years ago. It was one of the first (if not the first?) of these manuals that the church started putting out there for Elder's quorum/Relief Society. And, I think, it is one of the best. It is loaded with material and is more in depth than most of the manuals (it is one of the few two year manuals, i.e. 48 chapters). Plus, there is no shortage of sweet Brigham Young quotes as he was one to speak his mind with boldness. Case in point: "I wanted to thunder, and roar out the gospel to the nations. It burned in my bones like fire pent up.... Nothing would satisfy me but to cry abroad in the world what the Lord is doing in the latter days."

Quotes:

"It requires all the atonement of Christ, the mercy of the Father, the pity of angels and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to be with us always, and then to do the very best we possibly can, to get rid of this sin within us, so that we may escape from this world into the celestial kingdom."

"It matters not whether you or I feel like praying, when the time comes to pray, pray. If we do not feel like it, we should pray till we do."

"Truth is obeyed when it is loved."

"What are we here for? To learn to enjoy more, and to increase in knowledge and in experience."

"The Book of Mormon...declares that the Bible is true, and it proves it; and the two prove each other true."

"If you let us alone, we will do it a little more leisurely; but if you persecute us, we will sit up nights to preach the Gospel."

Anthem by Ayn Rand

6/10

I finished this book about two months ago. It was a super quick read, only like 105 pages. However, the version I read had an additional 1st edition version of the book with Rand's own handwritten edits in tact. So I of course read that as well. Which was neat because (a) I had a reason to re-read the story (I don't re-read stories too often, even ones that I really like) and it was cool to read it that second time knowing what was actually happening at the beginning; (b) it was cool to see how she edited her work and took out redundant/unnecessary lines/paragraphs. I had planned on reading this book for some time but always opted to read something else because I was aware of the edited version of the same story and didn't want to commit to reading the story twice. But I finally bit the bullet (as evidenced by this post) and it worked out swell and dandy.

The book was cool. I didn't fall in love with it, but it was interesting to read some of Rand's stuff/philosophy (this is my first Ayn Rand book). This dude lives in this society that has pretty much dumbed itself down in the name of unity and helping each other out for the common good. This dude is sort of a rebel and tries to learn stuff on his own (this is forbidden) and comes to the discovery that the individual is capable of great things and a bunch of stuff about how important the self is.

I recommend this book because (1) It is good to read at least one of Rand's books; (2) this is her shortest book and a good choice if you don't want to commit to her other massively large books and it gives a taste for her philosophy that she covers in her other books (so I've heard, remember: I haven't read her other books); and (3) it wasn't half bad and is certainly different/unique.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

10/10

I finished this book a little over a week ago. It had been on my to-read list for years. Years. It was a dandy. A royal dandy.

Let us make this one quick (Spoilers abound). Tess is raped by this Alec fellow, has a baby that dies, goes to work at this farm as a milkmaid, meets Angel, falls in love but resists his requests for marriage due to her past, finally concedes, gets married, tells him of her impure past on their wedding night, he freaks, abandons her for over a year, she suffers tremendously, eventually submits to Alec the rapist's badgering due to a lack of any other viable options, Angel finally comes back and realizes how poorly he treated Tess, finds her, she refuses to go with him, she then goes and murders Alec by stabbing him in the heart, runs back to Angel and tells him that she can now be his now that Alec is no longer living, they go on the lam for like a week until she is finally apprehended and put to death for her crime.

The book was awesome. This was my first ever Thomas Hardy book and I am now a fully converted Hardy Boy, as it were. His writing was magnificent and captivating and heartbreaking. The book was written in the late 1800's and went against the then societal views of sexual misconduct in females and the double standard that is involved. A woman who is raped (against her will) is considered impure and becomes an outcast. Some sad stuff. In the end, old Tessie was broken and had lost all sense of what was right and what was wrong and what would please her Angel. I like the full title to the book, which is "Tess of the D'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented." I recommend this book, but seeing as I gave everything away, I probably ruined all the fun for the rest.

I leave you with the final paragraph written by Thomas Hardy in his Explanatory Note to the book: "I will just add that the story is sent out in all sincerity of purpose, as an attempt to give artistic form to a true sequence of things; and in respect of the book's opinions I would ask any too genteel reader who cannot endure to have said what everybody nowadays thinks and feels, to remember a well-worn sentence of St. Jerome's. 'If an offence come out of the truth, better is it that the offence come than that the truth be concealed.'"

Nathaniel Hawthorne's Tales

7/10

I finished this book a couple of weeks ago at long last. I read several of the stories back in 2009. Finished the rest of the stories and most of the critical essays in 2010. I seriously only had like 40 pages left because I got so burned out on the essays. The essays are so smartsy-fartsy and just very boring to read, for me.

But the Tales, for the most part, are enjoyable and well done (obviously, since it's Hawthorne we're talking about here). I will now commence with listing some of my fav's:

-Roger Malvin's Burial: Two guys are struggling through a forest after having survived a bloody battle with some Indians, but the men are wounded. Roger Malvin can go no further and convinces Reuben to go on and not bury him so that Reuben can make it back alive (if he would have stayed and buried him then he would not have had the strength to make it the rest of the way home). But Reuben commits to return and bury him once he regains enough strength. He goes home, marries Malvin's daughter, life goes on and he just never gets around to it. He feels extreme guilt and never tells anybody and people consider him a hero, making it all the worse, guilt-wise, for Reuben. Later, Reuben and his wife and son go to find a new place to live and journey through the forest. Reuben and his son are hunting for food, Reuben hears a noise, turns and fires and shoots and kills his own son. He then realizes that it is the very place where he left Roger Malvin many years ago. Epic.

-Wakefield: Just a cool little story about this guy who one morning walks out of the house and leaves his wife behind and lives in a house across the street, unbeknownst to his wife, for 20 years. He doesn't really have a reason why either. Pretty interesting.

-The Minister's Black Veil: A minister randomly starts wearing a black veil over his face and doesn't say why. People react differently to this but mostly everyone judges him negatively for it. Although he does gain a following from those who have lived sinful lives and feel like this minister knows them and how to help them. He keeps wearing it all the way until he dies. It is a cool story. I actually read this one out loud to Matt as we drove to Zion's to go canyoneering. I also wrote a paper on this story in college and got an "A" on the paper. Boo-yah!

-The Birthmark: This guy is married to this beautiful woman who is considered perfectly flawless except for this little birthmark that she has on her face. Her husband becomes obsessed with the birthmark and focuses on it so much and determines to figure out a way to get rid of it. He works endlessly in his lab and finally comes up with this medicine that he believes will get rid of the birthmark. His poor wife just wants him to accept her and feels like she has to drink the medicine that he gives her. She drinks it and dies. The dude should have appreciated what he had, duh.

I am a Hawthorne fan. He has a unique writing style that, I think, can turn some people off. But you just got to stick with it and he writes some cool stories with some cool underlying themes.

A quote from 'The Birthmark':

"Yet, had Aylmer reached a profounder wisdom, he need not thus have flung away the happiness which would have woven his mortal life of the selfsame texture with the celestial. The momentary circumstance was too strong for him; he failed to look beyond the shadowy scope of time, and, living once for all in eternity, to find the perfect future in the present."

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

5/10

I just finished this book on Sunday and thought that it was ok. It wasn't as funny as I was hoping for. I was hoping for a "Catch-22" or "The Catcher in the Rye" type of funny. It had its moments, but nothing too spectacular for me.

I think my favorite part of the book was the first chapter and the very last page. The first chapter is this interesting little intro type deal where he is explaining how he wants to write this book about Dresden and this discussion he had with an army buddy and the army buddy's wife and it pretty much reveals what the book is going to cover and gives away the end. I thought it was a funny and creative little opener.

The book is bizarre to say the least, but that is what I was expecting and what I signed up for when I selected this book off the shelf. It is about this guy named Billy Pilgrim who is entirely unfit for army duty and is this quiet, unique type that doesn't say much. Oh, and he is a time traveler who re-lives moments of his life past and present, and often travels back to this planet Tralfamadore where he was abducted by aliens. The title of the book comes from the number of the slaughterhouse where Billy and other POW's are kept in Dresden near the end of the war. The funniest part of the book is at the very end (obvious spoiler alert) where the entire city of Dresden is destroyed. This guy named Edgar Derby is one of the few survivors and one of the POW's in Dresden and he gets arrested for taking this teapot that was among the rubble and he is executed by firing squad. Ha ha. The whole underlying theme throughout the book was an anti-war one and how illogical it all is.

Kick Me by Paul Feig

9/10

Paul Feig is the creator of the T.V. show "Freaks and Geeks" which is one of the greatest shows of all time. The character Sam in the show is based largely on Paul Feig.

This book is hilarious. Laugh out loud type hilarity. I read it during my trip to Virginia as we helped Mike drive his cars out there about five years ago. I remember reading one chapter out loud to Mike during the final home stretch and I was laughing so hard while I was trying to read it. Good times. The book is just a collection of different experiences that he had as a geeky youngster. Most of the stories are extremely embarrassing for him, so much so that you wonder why he would want to publish them for the world to see.

My favorite stories were: (1) The one where he was at home alone and decided for some reason to get dressed up in his Mom's clothes. While in such garb, he hears a car crash on his street and sees that it's his parents car, so he runs down the street to the scene of the incident, high heels and all. (2) The one where, for gym class, they have to practice giving CPR to this dummy and he is terrified because of the germs of all these kids mouths all over the dummy. He fakes fainting and the mentally disabled boy in the class then proceeds to attempt CPR on him. (3) The one where he becomes a statistician for the high school football team even though he knows nothing about sports. This is the one I read out loud to Mike. It was just funny hearing his description of the guy in the booth explaining how to keep the stats and how foreign all of it was to him.

If you want to read a book for some good laughs, I recommend this one.

Maps for Lost Lovers by Nadeem Aslam

8/10

I read this book a handful of years ago in an English class at University. Most of the books we read that semester were quite lame, but I liked this one way more than the others despite the title (yes, I was very embarrassed to ask the cashier at a used book store if she happened to know if they had a copy of a book called "Maps for Lost Lovers").

The author, Nadeem Aslam, who I have never heard of was very good. I really liked his writing style. He was the master of the simile in this book (almost everything he describes is likened to something, and it's awesome).

The book begins with the disappearance of this middle-aged brother and his younger girlfriend. It is presumed that the brothers of the girlfriend did something criminal because the middle-aged brother and the girlfriend were living together romantically without being married and the brothers felt that this was a shame to their family and they must avenge this wrong in the name of honor to their family (that seemed like an incoherent sentence and probably hard to follow, but oh well). Also, I should mention that the families are Muslim and are immigrants living in a largely Muslim community in England, if I remember correctly. The book centers on traditional Muslim beliefs and how damaging it can be to continue to live life in such a way, i.e. honor killings in the name of God, child abuse for those "possessed by devils", etc. The book explores complex relationships between those who are devoutly faithful to the Muslim religion and those that are not but are kind enough to allow such belief and those who are against it entirely. These dynamics are displayed within the main family in the book: the Mom is hardcore Muslim, the Dad is not but lets the Mom do her thing, and most of the kids are quite against it to varying degrees of vocal opposition.

The book was very well done, I thought. The writing was near flawless and there is sympathy to be had for all characters: the immigrant Pakistani Muslims who are often discriminated against by local Brits and for those whose lives are harmed by others who are acting in the name of religion (I think Aslam had an ax to grind in this area and it seemed to be the main theme of the book, at least to me). Plus, it was written in 2003 and qualifies as one of the few books written in this century that I have enjoyed (or probably even read for that matter).

Quotes: (I should have found a sweet example of his simile style in action, but I didn't)

"A lie does not become truth just because ten people are telling it."

"The neighbourhood is a place of...intrigue and emotional espionage, where when two people stop to talk on the street their tongues are like the two halves of a scissor coming together, cutting reputations and good names to shreds." I guess this quote is an example of his simile display.

"She tells herself that she must bear up patiently, that a person is like a tealeaf: drop it into boiling water if you want to see its true colour." Oh, simile again.

"There is nothing that torments Satan more than the sight of a faithful in prayer."

1776 by David McCullough

10/10

I just finished this yesterday. It was a doosy, a humdinger, a ripping good yarn (I'm trying to think of 1776 era expressions).

History was my favorite subject in Middle School. During class, I would look at pictures of maps in my text book that indicated where battles took place and movements of the different armies. I was fascinated with both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. So you could say that this book was right up my alley. I knew that I would like it and it did not disappoint. While I did enjoy my history classes, the teachers really didn't have a chance to go into the kind of depth that I would have enjoyed, and of which I did enjoy with this book. Needless to say, I probably (perhaps sadly) learned more about the Revolutionary War from this book than I did in all my educational history classes. Well, I should say I learned about the mid-1775 to the very beginning of 1777 period (the period that the book covers). I pretty much knew nothing about any of the battles that took place in New York.

McCullough was able to paint some pretty vivid and descriptive pictures. He takes personal letters and journal/diary entries from the men most heavily involved and it brings you right into the heart of the matter, into the very core of this emotional conflict. It was also cool to see such an in depth portrayal of the British army's point of view.

I always knew that the United States were huge underdogs, but, oh boy were they ever. Most of the book shows how undermanned the Americans were. 1776 was a good year for Americans in that it brought about the Declaration of Independence. But it was a terrible year in that the British were pretty much mopping the floor with them during battles. The Americans were pretty much on a constant retreat. They got dominated until the end of the year when the battles of Trenton and Princeton turned the tide of the war.

I was kind of in disbelief as I read about how much courage these men mustered in the face of extreme disappointments and hardships. It was amazing that some of them continued in the cause rather than giving in. I enjoyed how many of these men expressed their feelings of how God is behind them and their fight for liberty. There were many instances where many American lives were saved based on random weather occurrences (fortuitous wind/fog) and they readily attributed such instances to the hand of divine Providence. It was refreshing to read. This country was certainly born and founded by spiritual men who had faith in God. I also learned about some huge American heroes that don't get as much "pub" as they deserve. Nathanael Greene was as much of a hero as anybody in U.S. history, as was Henry Knox. It was nice learning more of George Washington and all that he did and went through. I liked how McCullough didn't paint some rosy picture where all these men were shown to be perfect and flawless. Instead, he talked in great detail of their weaknesses (particularly Washington's indecisiveness), but also showed their remarkable strengths. It was nice to learn of these men and the sacrifices they made for our country.

There is a quote on the back of the book from a guy writing for The Denver Post that I agree with: "Should be required reading in living rooms from coast to coast."

Quotes:

From Washington: "I heard the bullets whistle; and believe me there is something charming in the sound."

Some random clergyman's description of Gen. Lee: "One...which I should have taken for a bear had I seen him in the woods." Ha ha.

Washington: "We must bear up against them, and make the best of mankind as they are, since we cannot have them as we wish."

"That these men found the time, and energy, to write all that they did, given the circumstances, is a wonder, and ought to be acknowledged as another of their great services to their country. Washington, in the time covered by this narrative, from July of 1775 to the first week of 1777, wrote no fewer than 947 letters!"

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

9/10

I think once I post this that I will have made a post for every Dickens book that I have read (which is only five), but I plan on reading others, so this will not be the last. It is another Dickens classic. Does any other author have more "classics" than Dickens? Oh, Shakespeare I guess. Dickens is a characters man. He writes individual characters better than probably any author ever. And that's why I enjoy his stuff. I think this one here is one of his better ones (not sure where I rank it or even if a ranking of Dickens would be possible).

The book is about a boy named Pip (short for Philip Pirrip, but his "infant tongue" could only make "Pip" out of it and so that name stuck). The first part of the book during Pip's youth is completely entertaining. It concerns action with an escaped convict (who Pip assists out of fear) and plenty of good ones with Mrs. Joe (Pip's mean older sister and guardian) and Joe Gargery. Joe Gargery is my absolute runaway favorite character in this book, and one of Dickens' all-time best characters, in my opinion. He is super nice, very uneducated, but everything he says is awesome. It is absolutely heartbreaking when Joe and Pip reunite later on in the book and Pip has changed so much. Then there's the goings on with Ms. Havisham and Estella. Estella's lame and is a jerk to Pip but Pip loves her anyway for some reason. And Havisham is nuts. But good ones still occur. My favorite is when he boxes Herbert Pocket. Ha ha, it is awesome.

Pip all of the sudden receives an inheritance from some random benefactor (he presumes that it is Ms. Havisham and the reader does not find out who it is until nearly the end and it is a fun little twist). Pip starts this tutelage under a lawyer and he gets close with the clerk. Another awesome character is the clerk's way old dad, "The Aged". Oh man, he is showtime. Pip and The Aged's interactions are priceless.

I know I didn't talk much about what was really going on. I will mention how Pip is being trained to be a gentleman and has great expectations for his life now that he has been put in such a fortuitous position. The book, to me, is just mainly about characters and their interactions with one another. And it is sweet.

Two quotes:

"If we all did what we undertake to do...we might live in a Republic of the Virtues."

"Her mind, brooding solitary, had grown diseased, as all minds do and must and will that reverse the appointed order of their Maker."

Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe

8/10

I read this collection of short stories (22 of them to be exact) on the flight home from Virginia after having driven Mike out there as he was about to begin dental school (that was quite a while ago). I should say that I began to read them at that point and I finished the stories up entirely a short time later (I did not read all 22 stories on the plane).

I am what you would call a Poe fan, I am in the Poe corner, and I have Poe's back. I don't want to wax Poetic or anything, but I really enjoy his stuff (ah, see what I did there). Poe , to me, is one of the coolest writers ever. To garner the dark reputation that he has shows that he was effective with his craft (even though, sadly, I don't think he got much recognition in his time from what I've heard).

A few of my favorite stories:

-A Descent into the Maelstrom: I actually really, really liked this one. It's about a dude who recounts a story of surviving a whirlpool after being shipwrecked. He just kept funneling downward for hours, observing all sorts of objects being pulled under. A funny part that I always remember because I am sort of the same way (to a lesser extent) is when, at the start, he is on the top of a summit before he tells his story. The line goes like this, "In truth, so deeply was I excited by the perilous position of my companion, that I fell at full length upon the ground, clung to the shrubs around me, and dared not even glance upward at the sky..." It's funny because I hate seeing other people close to cliff ledges.

-The Murders in the Rue Morgue: Is claimed to be the first detective story. It's in a similar vein as that of Sherlock Holmes, but before Sherlock Holmes was Sherlock Holmes. Instead, it is C. Auguste Dupin. Dupin is showtime. There are three Poe stories with Dupin, and this was maybe my third favorite of them (while still liking it). There is this strange murder in a house where one person's head is nearly decapitated and the other is stuffed up a chimney for a good one. It's interesante.

-The Mystery of Marie Roget: This is a story based on a real-life murder story (apparently it is the first murder story to be based on a real murder). A girls body is found in a river and Dupin does what Dupin do.

-The Purloined Letter: This is my favorite of the Dupin stories. It is the most creative and the most fun. An important letter is stolen and the authorities know who stole it and that the letter is absolutely in this dudes apartment (for reasons that I won't spell out). They tear that place inside and out with the most creative and fascinating searches and they still cannot find it much to their bewildered befuddlement. Finally, Dupin goes and dominates in point two seconds. (Spoiler Alert!) He finds the letter pinned to a bulletin board in plain sight. Ha ha. He knew the guy with the letter knew that the police would assume some elaborate hiding place, and so he hid it in plain sight. Awesome. Then he steals the letter away from him by a cool little decoy trick. Dupin, you've done it a-gain.

-The Pit and the Pendulum: This guy is being tortured by being put in this dark cell. In the cell is a dark pit that the guy almost falls into if not for a fortuitous trip. After feinting, he wakes up and is tied up on this wooden board. Above him is this menacing, swinging pendulum that is slowly sliding downward toward him. He lures rats to come chew off the ropes barely before the pendulum kills him. The walls then begin to move in and push him toward the pit. He is dramatically saved at the last second by some rescuers. It is an intense and crazy free-for-all.

-The Tell-Tale Heart: My all-time favorite. Seriously, probably my favorite story ever. I just love it in every way. Plus, this is one of the earliest stories that I realized that I liked. If you trace my genealogy of a love of reading all the way back, this very well may be my Adam, as it were. No work of fiction has done a finer job of allowing the reader to enter the mind of a deranged mad-man. And boy is it a wild ride. This guy, for good laughs, is so insistent on proving his sanity that he repeatedly states over and over about how he is going to prove to us that he is sane. He, of course, slowly shows the opposite and ends up losing it at the end. The pacing of the story is just fascinating. I liken it to a heart, much like the heart of the old man under the floorboards. The pace is slow and calm at first, slowly picks up, and the story finishes in this rapid, frenzied flurry like a sped up heartbeat. Poe utilizes the exclamation points and italices with perfect precision. Bravo I say, Bravo!

There are plenty of other stories that I also enjoyed, but I think we have gone on long enough. Plus, it is a rule of thumb to always end with The Tell-Tale Heart. Rules are rules.

Pretty sure nobody read this whole thing. But this whole blog thing is more for my sake than yours anyway, so that's in all your faces.

Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card

7/10

I read this book probably like six years ago, so my memory is somewhat sketchy concerning the details. It is the next book in line in the Ender series after Ender's Shadow so that would make it the 6th book in the series. But, technically, it is the 2nd book in the Bean portion of the series. I think I explained this splitting of the sequels in one of my previous posts (probably Ender's Shadow).

So, the big war is over (the one covered in Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow). Back on earth, the kids who were in battle school (largely Ender's squad) are some of the best and the brightest back on earth concerning warfare matters between nations. Well, several of the kids are kidnapped so that certain nation's will be deprived of a brilliant mind to assist the war efforts. The evil Achilles once again rears his ugly head. Bean does his usual brilliant problem solving and so do his cohorts. Much fun is had by all.

I enjoyed the book. The Bean sequels are less science-fictiony than the Ender sequels. Both sequel sets have redeeming qualities about them. But I do like a lighter dose of science fiction it seems like. This book was fun. It isn't some ground-breaking novel, but I don't think it was meant to be anyway. It's just fun to follow some of the characters that one comes to know and like in the first book. And if you are able to buy in to the idea of youngsters being this brilliant and gifted in the first book, then I don't see why we can't continue in that way of thinking for the others.

A quote:

"Death is not a tragedy to the one who dies. To have wasted the life before that death, that is the tragedy."

"But for a Small Moment" by Neal A. Maxwell

8/10

I just finished this book yesterday. It is all about the many things that Joseph Smith learned and all the ways that he grew because of his experiences in Liberty Jail (Maxwell calls the Jail 'the prison-temple' because of the sacred revelations received there). It's a good read, and, in true Maxwell style, is very scriptural and doctrinally oriented. He discusses in depth some of the important doctrines that the Prophet learned while incarcerated as well as the doctrines that he felt were of great importance after his release. A large chunk of the book deals with the doctrine of pre-mortality with some sweet scriptural support. Another main topic, perhaps obviously, is how the Lord strengthens us through trials and how his true disciples handle such adversity. The Prophet serves as a prime example of how to behave when faced with trials. There are a lot of things that one could learn from this book. Simply put, the world would be a better place if they read this book and applied its principles. I am glad that I read it.

Quotes:

"It is a rare person who can appreciate such lessons while the lessons are in process; it takes special perspective."

"For Joseph Smith, suffering increased his obedience."

"The richness of the Book of Mormon has been missed by critics and casual Church members alike. They fail to see that both the intricacy and the simplicity of the book are beyond the capacity of any mortal being to produce, including Joseph Smith. What came through Joseph was beyond him and stretched him!"

"God has no distracting hobbies."

"The promise was and is that those who would try to destroy the work of the latter-day seer 'shall be confounded'. One of the ways in which this promise continues to be kept, of course, is the absence of successful, substantive challenge to the massive, complex translations and revelations which came through Joseph Smith."

"We fully expect such doctrines to be scrutinized and even criticized by others. We reserve the same freedom to engage in scrutiny of their beliefs. All in mutual good will, however."

"Given all the disapprovals of past synods and councils, the doctrine of premortal existence is demonstrably not one that could have been reestablished by backward reasoning or research. It could only have come through modern revelation and restoration. Though the doctrine does not abuse logic, it is more than logic alone can fully support. It rests upon the certitude and direction which can come only from divine revelation and affirmation, which is precisely what occurred."

"We can be comforted to know that God, who knows our capacity perfectly, placed us here to succeed. No one was foreordained to fail or to be wicked."

"Desire, challenge, obedient response, and subsequent development interplay in the life of each serious disciple."

"Of the approximately 70 billion individuals who, up to now, have inhabited this planet, probably not more than one percent have really heard the gospel...Even so, before the final judgment and resurrection all will have had an adequate opportunity to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. This underscores the mercy of God and the justice of God."

"Endurance is continuance in striving for spiritual improvement, outlasting while becoming."

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

10/10

I read this book one year ago. I brought it on our Anniversary cruise. Nothing like laying pool side with epic Russian literature. Also, once I make this post I will be completely updated with making posts of books I have read since the blog began. Every post after this will consist of books that I have either just finished or that I read in the pre-blog era.

This book was tremendous. Simply tremendous. It is one of those books that while you are reading it you know and feel that you are reading something special. In true Dostoevsky fashion, the book deals heavily with moral and spiritual struggles.

The book consists of three brothers who are quite drastically different from one another. There is the oldest, Dmitri, who is undisciplined and rambunctious. He often quarrels with his father (who is a pretty crappy father and person in general) over some money that he felt was owed to him as an inheritance. Ivan is the next oldest (he plays probably the least prominent, but still important, role of the brothers). He is very smart (which leads him to a disbelief in God) and also despises his father but is less vocal about it. Alyosha is the youngest and is mentioned as being the hero of the book in the first chapter. He is the character that the reader identifies himself with since he is the one who has all the good qualities that we all desire to have. He is a student in a monastery under the tutelage of holy men. He is very spiritual and relies on his belief in God to overcome many difficulties that his brothers, in contrast, have a much harder time overcoming. He is the one character that all the other characters respect and have a close relationship with. He is kinda like the Michael Bluth of the dysfunctional Arrested Development family, minus the hilarity. Maybe not the perfect comparison, but I gave it a shot anyhow.

(Spoiler Alert!) After the father is murdered, Dmitri is accused of it based on some overwhelming evidence (although the events leading up to the trial indicate that it was not Dmitri but the illegitimate son and servant (who has epilepsy) of the father. He confesses this to Ivan and claims that he murdered the father with Ivan's blessing. Ivan does not handle this news well. He feels extreme guilt and goes quite insane during most of the remainder of the book. The final trial is fantastic and amazing to read (I think the closing argument by the prosecutor was like over 100 pages or something?)

And there are tons of other important and crucial characters that I haven't mentioned and important and crucial happenings that I skipped over as well. It's just one of those books that must be read. Dostoevsky was planning on writing further and this was just going to be the first part in a series. Unfortunately, he died like 4 months after the book was fully published. Bummer for us. I would have loved to see what else he had to say.

Quotes a'plenty:

Dostoevsky writes this in the preface: "The book can be abandoned at the second page of the first tale, never to be opened again. But then, you know, there are those considerate readers who have a compulsion to read to the end, so as not to be mistaken in their impartial judgment;...It is before this type of person that my heart somehow becomes lighter." Don't know why I like this quote other than I guess it kind of explains my compulsion to finish books even when I dislike them so as to give an honest assessment of the work as a whole. However, Fyodor, you had me from the second page and I did not even think twice about not staying on for the whole ride.

"For men are made for happiness, and any one who is completely happy has a right to say to himself, 'I am doing God's will on earth.' All the righteous, all the saints, all the holy martyrs were happy."

"God and the devil are fighting there and the battlefield is the heart of man."

"For even those who have renounced Christianity and attack it, in their inmost being still follow the Christian ideal, for thitherto neither their subtlety nor the ardour of their hearts has been able to create a higher ideal of man and of virtue than the ideal given by Christ of old."

"It's the great mystery of human life that old grief passes gradually into quiet tender joy."

"Every time you pray, if your prayer is sincere, there will be new feeling and new meaning in it, which will give you fresh courage, and you will understand that prayer is an education."

"They talk of hell fire in the material sense. I don't go into that mystery and I shun it. But I think if there were fire in material sense, they would be glad of it, for, I imagine, that in material agony, their still greater spiritual agony would be forgotten for a moment."

"The sight of an unworthy father involuntarily suggests tormenting questions to a young creature, especially when he compares him with the excellent fathers of his companions."

Henry IV Part One by Shakespeare

6/10

I finished this book in the emergency room of the hospital the night Cassie went in when her gall bladder flared up. I read like half the book there until like 3 a.m. as we just waited and waited. Picture it now: Cassie keeled over in her chair in pain as I greedily turn page after page of Shakespeare excitement oblivious to the sufferings of my dear, sweet wife. Kind of a sad picture I suppose.

So, if you have read my previous blog posts, you well know that I enjoy my Shakespeare. I'm not a nut or anything, just a casual fan. That being said, this one wasn't my favorite by any means, but it was still enjoyable.

This is one of Shakespeare's history plays. It concerns the reign of Henry IV (duh), but the drama arises because he unethically gained the crown by usurping Richard II (also a Shakespeare play, which, for some reason, I decided not to read before this one). Those loyal to Richard II obviously felt like they needed to right this wrong. Plotting is undertaken and eventually a little battle ensues (which, I think, is the best part of the play).

Two characters worth noting (could note more of course): Hal, who is the Prince of Wales and the King's son - he is a rowdy fellow who frequents taverns and gets himself into all sorts of mischief. The final battle is a nice little proving-ground for him. The other character is Falstaff - one of Hal's pals who is the main source of entertainment in the play. Many a splendid pun is made at his expense about how fat he is. While he is in the same rowdy mold as Hal, he is quite a charismatic guy who is always going into some pretty sweet speeches. I think my favorite Falstaff moment comes during the battle where he gets scared and plays possum like he has been killed. Then, after a main player is killed in the battle, Falstaff does this mock dramatic revival and he stabs the dead guy in the leg and tries to take credit for the kill. Ha ha. Good old Falstaff.

One let down to the book was the surprising lack of really great one-liners that I have grown accustomed to with Shakespeare. Here are two lines that I liked:

"Art thou to break into this woman's mood, Tying thine ear to no tongue but thine own!" Oooh, burn on the ladies.

A good burn by Falstaff: "Do thou amend thy face, and I'll amend my life." Ha ha, Falstaff.

Kim by Rudyard Kipling

1/10

I just finished this book a few days ago. I actually started it in January right before school in the hopes to finish it before school started, but then Cassie had to go to the hospital and I had to put the book on hold half way through and finish it after the semester. So there's a cute little timeline recap for you.

I classify this book as "I read it so that you don't have to." Man, this book was so, so crappy. It was a snooze alert times infinity. Which is sad. I mean, have you ever read a book from an author and you really liked it, then you read another book by the author and you are tremendously disappointed? That's kinda what happened here. I enjoyed 'The Man Who Would Be King' (mentioned previously in this very blog several posts ago). But this one just didn't do it for me (which is unfortunate because this book is the one that is actually considered Kipling's masterpiece somehow). In Kim's defense (and Kipling's), it is never a good idea to read a book halfway and then finish the other half four months later. But still, I wasn't into the book in January and they (Kim/Kipling) are just lucky that there was even an excuse available to them at all.

On to the summary: Kim is this youngster (not sure of his exact age, but I pictured him to be 12-ish as the book begins). He is likable enough, one of those inquisitive kids that have no troubles having conversations with adults. This lama comes into town and Kim is super curious about him and ends up tagging along with the lama on various adventures. The lama is looking for some river that will supposedly cleanse him of his sins or something. Stuff happens (not really) and the lama I guess finds his river at the end. I was unsure whether he actually found it or if he metaphorically found it (a perfect example of why I didn't like the book). Now Kim is left to decide to continue in the path of the lama and spirituality or to follow the ways of the world (he went to some military school in the middle of the book).

That's it. Seriously. Plus, I don't really tend to like books that I can't understand (whether that lack of understanding is a fault of the book or a fault of the reader doesn't make the reader like the book either way). The book was just so foreign to me. It took place somewhere in Afghanistan I think and the lingo was weird. The descriptions of objects and places were confusing and difficult to understand for some lame American. I would read a page and just be like, "Uh, what?" And going back a second time didn't help. Confusion built on confusion which, unfortunately, leads to a lack of close and careful reading. In the end, this is one of my least favorite books of all-time. Maybe my least favorite (of the ones that I had the gusto to power through and actually finish). You are here forewarned dear reader. But, if you want to read it for yourself, feel free. Then, come back here and let me know what was so great that I missed out on (if you can find out for yourself what that great something was). It was just one of those books that worships the setting and culture. Which is fine I guess. But setting and culture by themselves don't make for an enjoyable read for me. Obviously it does for others since I think I am in the minority with my opinion about this book.

While I did not enjoy the book, here are three quotes that I did enjoy:

The lama makes this statement about a snake: "Great evil must the soul have done that is cast into this shape." Ha ha. I agree, lama. Snakes are pure evil.

"Very foolish it is to use the wrong word to a stranger; for though the heart may be clean of offence, how is the stranger to know that? He is more like to search truth with a dagger."

"True courtesy is very often inattention."

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

10/10

My problems with this book cover are threefold. First, I could only find a small photo of it and not a huge picture like I am accustomed to posting. Second, it has the "Click to look inside!" on the top (which I hate for my blog), but I can only find a photo that has it. And third, I hate book covers of movie characters on the front. But it is the cover of the book that I actually read and so I had to stay true. But at least it has Kramer and Forrest Gump's mom as two of the actors. Although I have no clue on which characters they represent in the TNT Original Film. The reason being is that there are seriously like 50 characters in this book.

Sorry for the pointless intro. Now, this book was absolutely terrific. It has been well documented by me that I am a Dickens fan. I have read several of his books (many already discussed within this very blog) and the guy can just flat out write. And this book is no exception. I mean, to be able to write about so many different important characters (each with distinct characteristics and personalities) with different important storylines and to have all of their lives intertwine smoothly and flawlessly in Dickens-esque fashion just never ceases to amaze.

I will not really go into the plot at all because I think it best to keep these posts somewhat short, but it is about a boy named David, mistreated in his youth (common Dickens storyline), and follows his life as he grows up and experiences life's joys, trials, and lessons (both personally and by observation of those around him). It really is quite the sweeping epic tale.

Quickly I wanted to just list my favorite characters of the many: Mcawber (so many good ones from this guy who is always hatching up attempted profitable schemes that fail miserably), Mr. Dick (this guy is pure comedy, also somewhat mentally deficient I do believe), David (of course, he is a good dude), and Uriah Heep (cool name and I always do enjoy a good villain; plus, for some reason I always pictured him to look exactly like Scut Farkus from A Christmas Story). Other great characters include Ham, the Murdstones, Steelforth, Peggotty, and many more. I think that is why I truly enjoy Dickens. He creates some great, timeless characters.

Also, one last word before the quotes, of all the books Dickens wrote, this was his favorite. That kinda, by itself, gives one a bit of an idea of how fantastic this book is. He said, "Of all my books, I like this the best. It will be easily believed that I am a fond parent to every child of my fancy, and that no one can ever love that family as dearly as I love them. But, like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favourite child. And his name is DAVID COPPERFIELD."

Quotes:

"Never do to-morrow what you can do to-day. Procrastination is the thief of time. Collar him!"

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery. The blossom is blighted, the leaf is withered, the God of day goes down upon the dreary scene, and - and in short you are for ever floored." One of my favorite Dickens quotes.

"I have never believed it possible that any natural or improved ability can claim immunity from the companionship of the steady, plain, hard-working qualities, and hope to gain its end...Some happy talent, and some fortunate opportunity, may form the two sides of the ladder on which some men mount, but the rounds of that ladder must be made of stuff to stand wear and tear; and there is no substitute for thorough-going, ardent, and sincere earnestness."

"It has always been in my observation of human nature, that a man who has any good reason to believe in himself never flourishes himself before the faces of other people in order that they may believe in him. For this reason, I retained my modesty in very self-respect; and the more praise I got, the more I tried to deserve."

"There never were greed and cunning in the world yet, that did not do too much, and over-reach themselves. It is as certain as death."

Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

6/10

I just finished reading this one. It was the book I picked off my shelf to read during Christmas break. A good time was had by all, except for the millions upon millions of people who died in the book. But it was all make believe so it's okay.

This book was written in 1959 amidst all the worries about nuclear warfare. And believe me, this book wouldn't help to relieve any of those worries for folks back then. It paints a pretty bleak picture. But, if you live in a somewhat isolated area you may survive if Russia decides to unleash 200+ nuclear bombs on the U.S.

In this tale, Randy lived in such a locale called Fort Repose. His brother worked in some government informational dealio and told Randy that Russia will strike any time now. So his brother flies his family to Fort Repose, Randy stocks up on things that he thinks he'll need, and the next day is when "The Day" happens. The rest of the story is about their survival. Randy and a handful of neighbors pretty much set up their own little law of consecration and get by quite well and much better than most.

My favorite part of the book was just seeing how losing some things that we have taken for granted (electricity, running water, a marketplace, etc.) can really be a crippling thing. Makes you respect some of the old-timers way back when who had to fight every day in order to survive.

My least favorite part is how well-versed Randy and especially his 13 year old nephew were with all the lingo. Everyone else were also way up to speed on it too. I wish that there were at least a few characters who were like, "What the h-e-double hockey sticks is going on?" or like, "I did not see that coming." Instead, this 13 year old kid is all in the know with the intricacies of strategic military nuclear warfare and the like. I mean, he calls the Mediterranean Sea "The Med". Pah-lease. Oh well, it actually didn't bother me too much and really didn't take anything away from the book overall.

I bet if I had read this book when it was first written that I would have pooped my pants. Then I would have moved to North Dakota and built the best food-storage of all-time.

A quote:

"Lying was the worst crime, the indispensable accomplice of all others."