So, I was tagged in this ongoing challenge in Facebook to list ten (10) books that stayed with me for some reason. And since I already made the list, why not post it here? I did add the descriptions and comments though. Here they are!
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
A book that I loved more for the style than the content. “Flowers for Algernon” is about a fully grown man with cognitive disability who underwent experimental surgery that turned him into a genius. The effects of the surgery were, however, unstable and his mind eventually regressed back into its state prior to the surgery (or was it worse?). The diary style of writing not only effectively illustrated the evolution and eventual devolution of his intellect without actually using adjectives, it also effectively used first person point of view to show how actions, things, and events are perceived through different intellectual and emotional lenses. There are many social issues contained in the book, but you can find out all about that from other reviews or by reading the book.
Oh, Algernon is a mouse who was used for the same experiment. He exhibited the same increase in intelligence after the surgery, but also regressed thereafter and eventually died. I might have pitied the man here, but I might have cried for the mouse.
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Assigned as a reading task in one of my college Humanities subject and hated by most of my classmates, this book made me discover that I have (or used to have?) a thing for fictional inter-generation saga. I had to refer to the family tree at the beginning of book repeatedly though since the characters names are same or similar. It is still contains my favorite last line – “… because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth.”
I am not sure if I understood exactly what the book is all about. All I know that the idea that the 100 years fate of several generations have all been preordained and that the book ended where the last of the race also ended.
- Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Yes, I cheated. I am not referring only to the first book. I am referring to the whole series. I do not even know why I like it – Anne’s imagination maybe, her spunk, her mischief. I. Just. Like. It. Oh, and I was actually rooting for Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe to end up together.
- The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
It makes me cry just remembering this book. The tree just giving and giving and giving until he has nothing (sorry, I do not want to refer to the tree as “it”). And even then, he is still giving.
Reminds me of the song Puff the Magic Dragon which also makes me sad; although, people will probably just think me weird.
- Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
I don’t know. I might just like books that personify things and animals – that portrays their struggles. When Black Beauty found her way back to the people who loves her, well, that is what home means, right?
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Can you kill a friend – a person you love – to save him from a more cruel way of dying? To save him from murder by other people’s hands. I actually watched the movie before I read the book.
- The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Majority of the book did not affect nor thrill me. It is, for me, actually just an ordinary book. The ending though when two sons promised their father, a formerly very poor man, that they will never sell their lands while nodding to each other to signify silent agreement to do the opposite is heartbreaking for me. I have a soft spot for parents and old people.
- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
I do love reading classics. If I extended this book list, more classic books will actually get in. What do I like about Dorian Gray? Not his narcissism, but more his ability to hide his corrupted soul behind a portrait.
- Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen
I cheated again. My love for Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales, though, is a product of my love for Disney fairy tale movies (I still watch them, by the way). Knowing that these stories I watched as a child have much darker origin intrigued me when I became an adult.
10. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Betrayal, deception, revenge, and manipulation. Sometimes, I imagine that I lived at the book’s timeline and I am one of those lesser nobles lucky enough to enter Edmond Dantès’ lavish parties, but only looking and watching his life from afar.
I also watched the movie and I was seriously, seriously, seriously disappointed.
It is a little sad that the last book I read that is in this list, I read 4 or more years ago. I just don’t read much anymore. I did say I will change that. I just hope it is soon.
’til next time,
~miss guinevere