June 2017 Wrap Up

I didn't read that many books this month, but there were a few I enjoyed quite a bit and some I didn't like at all, so there's a good mixture of opinions in here. I'm hoping to read a bit more this month, as the semester is coming to an end, but here's what I did finish in June: 

 

Twelfth Night - Shakespeare 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

 This month I discovered that Spotify has all of Shakespeare's work, many of them are full cast dramatised versions and so I chose Twelfth Night. It was really good to listen to, the actors did a great job. I read the text version along because this was the first time I listened to a play, and the audio conveyed the humour and wit much better than only reading the texts. I'm hoping to listen and read to all of his plays in the future, it's just so much better than only reading it. Now to the play itself. I don't think this is my favourite comedy of his, that spot goes to Midsummer Night's Dream so far. But it was still great fun, the confusing plot surrounding the twins and their secret romantic troubles, especially Viola's part, were very entertaining. The musical interludes and pranks played on Malvolio were my favourite part of it, however. I'm sure this was due to the audiobook, because the different actors really conveyed the air of mischief and mayhem. So I can only recommend trying to read and listen to a dramatised version of Shakespeare's plays!

The Shadow Rising - Robert Jordan 🌟🌟🌟

This is the fourth book in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. I really enjoyed the first two books, but I must confess that I can't remember much of the third. I do like that this is a very slow and long series, with much world building and interesting plot. The Aes Sedai parts are very interesting, I quite like that there is much to learn about the magic, that it is such a broad field to study and how every culture seems to have it and use it differently. Another feature I really enjoy is the circular time concept. It's very fascinating that time is shown as having a pattern and certain things being fixed and predestined. I'm curious to learn more about the first Breaking of the World as well as there's so much mystery about it. The audiobook for this is also quite good, there are two different narrators, one reading the chapters concerning the women (Elayne, Egwene and so on), and one reading the men's chapters. Whether this is necessary or not, it helped when perspectives switched in one chapter. What I'm not too fond of about this series is the characters. Every single one of the major characters is very angry, they argue and fight a lot and don't seem to accept anything. I get that their situation isn't easy to deal with at all, but fighting with each other doesn't sound like the perfect solution to me. Elayne and Egwene aren't as bad, but especially the men, Rand, Mat and Perrin are portrayed as extremely aggressive. I suppose that's just my personal taste, I never like books with protagonists who are angry non-stop. However, I do want to continue the series and might get used to it. The audiobook featured a short interview with Robert Jordan, who explained his reasons for writing the series as it is. He mentioned that he chose to take up the fairly common 'chosen one' trope, but wanted to show how it must feel for a normal person to be dragged into such a situation. I do want to see how he continues with this, but I also hope that his characters will eventually accept their roles and grow into them. There definitely were signs of this in The Shadow Rising, so maybe I'll enjoy the next books more.

The Histories- Herodotus 🌟🌟🌟

Since I've already written a full review on this book, I don't want dwell on this book for too long. Suffice it to say that I did enjoy most of it, but that it also dragged in several places, for example when it came to rivers. Over all, it was still a fairly interesting read and I may go back and reread it at some point in the future.

Panic- Lauren Oliver 🌟

This was a book I was required to read for one of my children's lit classes at uni where we talk about heroes. This was pretty hyped on social media when it first came out and I didn't hear too many great things about it when people finally read it. So I wasn't happy at all when I saw it on the reading list, and I was even more disappointed when I finished it. This just isn't a book for me, the plot and the characters, not even the writing are what I would look for in a book. The plot just seemed very silly to me, I wouldn't take any of the characters for heroes. I know they endanger their lives and aren't fully motivated by egotism, like Heather who wants to improve life for herself and her sister. But the concept of 'Panic', the game these kids play each summer, where graduates put themselves through life threatening situations, just was over the top for me. These kids spend nights in burning houses and deliberately instigate car crashes that can have fatal consequences, and the major justification they name is that in Carp nothing happens over the summer and the kids are bored! Of course, some of them have difficulties at home. Well, actually every single one of them seems to have some issue or other and all of them seem to have crappy families. The only kid that appears to have a functional family has other issues, because having one character who isn't deeply troubled would just have been boring, I suppose. Every relationship in this book was just weird and dysfunctional, so these kids participate in a highly illegal and dangerous game to get out. No one really considers a conventional way of getting out of this oh so terrible town, which might be preferable to falling to your death from buildings. I think it's quite clear that this story isn't my thing at all, the characters just felt very flat and stereotypical, like the author wanted to include as many teenage troubles as possible and created her characters around these tropes and ideas. But instead of having the people fight through their troubles in a sensible way, they play a game with their lives, and even get through with it! I'm looking forward to finishing this class and never having to pick up books like these again..

Royal Assassin- Robin Hobb 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This is another book I reviewed on this blog, so check that out if you want to hear more about my thoughts on it. Here I'm only going to say that it was a reread for me, and I loved it even more than the first time round. I'm planning on rereading and finishing all of the Realm of the Elderlings books this year, and I'm very much looking forward to it, it's just so amazing and lovely!

The Figure in the Carpet- Henry James 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I also read this short story for uni, a class on Henry James. The Figure in the Carpet is only 40 or so pages in the edition I read (the Everyman edition), but it was absolutely brilliant. We follow a literary critic who wants to figure out what his favourite author's work as a whole is meant to do. Said author teased him that there's a general, big idea behind all of his books taken together, and our narrator goes about finding out what this "figure in the carpet" might be. I'm not going to say whether we get an answer or not, any fan of Henry James will probably be able to guess how the story ends anyways. I'm falling in love with James' style and stories the more I read of him. He manipulates language in such a cunning way to show the play of the human mind and imagination, there is meaning in every single sentence he writes. There might be something autobiographical in this story as well, as I feel like Henry James' work could be considered as being concerned with one big idea on a whole as well, with hiding one central figure in it's very artistically woven carpet full of rich pearls. I'm not yet sure what this idea could be, maybe human imagination or life in general, but I will watch out for it while I'm making my way through his books and stories!

Iwein- Hartmann von Aue 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This was part of my research for my Bachelor Thesis. I'm comparing fantasy literature with ancient and medieval epics and romances, so this is a very central part of my reading. And it was great! We follow the arthurian knight Iwein on a quest to redeem the honour of his kinsman, how he wins, looses, and wins back the lady of his heart. Not only is this, like arthurian romance in general, very pleasant and fun to read, it's also a very insightful piece of medieval literature when it comes to the concept of love, nature, leadership, knighthood, duty, and so on and so on.. My edition is by Reclam and has the original middle high German text and a German translation, plus many notes with hints on current scholarship concerning the themes portrayed. I really love editions that offer so much more beside the text, I take in so much more of what I'm reading and it's so inspiring to pay more attention while reading.

Waltharius - Ekkehard I. von St. Gallen 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This is another piece of medieval literature, this time a rather short story from the 10th century, originally written in Latin. We follow the hero Walther of Aquitaine, who is taken hostage by the king of the huns, along with Hagen of the Franks and his promised, Hildegunde of Burgundy. Although all three of the hostages are honoured at Attila's court, they yearn for their native land and first Hagen, then the two lovers secretly flee. The central point of the story is Walther's battle for his and Hildegunde's freedom, as enemies lurk in unforeseen places. What I found most interesting about this story is the depiction of rulers. We have two very contrasting concepts of loyalty that clash in this story, that of a man's loyalty towards his liege, and that of his personal loyalty towards his friends. These two do not always go together, and we see here an argument of how to deal with such a situation. Striking is also that these rulers, who demand the duty and loyalty of the heroes, are not exactly honourable and wise, so I would not have blamed Walther or Hagen had they decided to act against their rulers. I think these are the central themes of the story, and I very much enjoyed it because it depicted these, and other moral values of the time, very nicely and interestingly. I'm really enjoying medieval literature at the moment, there is always so much to find in these stories!