Monkey

What a great book of adventures! Monkey reminded me of both, Don Quixote and Iliad. As it is a book of sequential little adventures where the gods are active characters in the story and interact with the people living on Earth. Except Monkey is much nicer to read than Don Quixote because, unlike Cervantes's novel, it is the right length, and at least in Arthur Waley's translation it is quite easy and plesant to read.

  I also enjoyed getting to know more about the life that Monkey led before his voyage with Tripitaka, as it made me appreciate more his evolution from stone to Buddha. This is a great translation of a great book. It kept me entretained from beggining to end. I definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a light and humorous read.

Slaughterhouse-Five

I do not really have much to say about this book. The structure of the ideas felt quite strange for the first parts of the book but it gradually became more interesting towards the end in terms of narrative style. Perhaps the quaint manner of telling the story was to convey the feelings of a mad man that became that way because of the horrible experiences that he had gone through during the war. It was an enjoyable read but I would not recommend it.

A Case of Exploding Mangoes

This is a well-written book, easy to read, and at times entertaining. However, I know so little about Pakistan and its political trajectory, that I found it difficult to understand the historical references in it. This would undoubtedly be a much more interesting read for someone who is familiar with the events of the 17th of August, 1988. Whereas I did not even know whether Mohammed Hanif had used made-up names to tell a political story, until after having read the book.

  What I found particulary unfortunate was that the climax, and end, of the story was something that we all (and that includes me) knew was going to happen, and it was not distinctly interesting to read. Overall, my opinion is that this is quite a bland novel. I would be more interested in reading fantasy novels written by him. His writing style makes me think he would be great at it.

The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays

The five plays contained in the book are:

  2. Lady Windermere's Fan
  4. Salome
  2. A Woman of No Importance
  1. An Ideal Husband
  3. The Importance of Being Earnest

In order of appearance, and indexed according to my preference. I was mildly disillusioned with some of the plays. Particularly with The Importance of Being Earnest, because I thought it was absurd without being charming. Whereas my favourite of the plays, An Ideal Husband, was witty, funny, and entertaining.

  However, in general, the plays pale in comparison to the genius of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Mainly because Oscar Wilde takes his supercilious characters to the extreme, forcing wit into some lines which only results in hollow banality. And, in the case of Salome, the play was plain boring.

  This collection of plays definitely leaves me with mixed feelings.

the sun and her flowers

It feels unfair even to say that I did not like the sun and her flowers as much as milk and honey because evidently Rupi Kaur put so much effort and shared many experiences that show how much hardship she has endured, but it also feels true.

  It feels as if the Rupi Kaur that wrote the sun and her flowers is a much younger Rupi Kaur, in her first attempts at writing poetry, unlike the more experienced Rupi Kaur that wrote milk and honey. Which is somehow counter-intuitive as this is her second published book.

  However, this should not undermine the therapeutic properties of writing. Regardless of the quality of the outcome, writing can help alleviate the weight of your thoughts. The courage that it takes to share your experiences with others is to be celebrated.

milk and honey

The first two comments of praise for this book on its cover are a little misleading. At least I thought they were. Not only is this book "the poetry collection every woman needs on her nightstand" as The Huffington Post said, it is also a collection of poetry that every person would benefit from reading, regardless of their gender.

  Rupi Kaur's poetry is powerful and her words adequate and strongly describe rich human emotions. In sharing her experiences she teaches us by letting us know where we might have made a mistake. Her poetry has certainly made me aware of situations where my behaviour has not been appropiate. That is why I believe we could all benefit from it, because we can all learn more about respect, love, and life.

  I am grateful for having bought this book of poetry. I do recommend it, and am looking forward to reading the sun and her flowers.

Norse Mythology

I have quite mixed feelings about this book. It was very funny and easy to read, which I think are great qualities. Neil Gaiman retells Nordic myths with contemporary humour, and it was very enjoyable. However, at some point it did occur to me that the way the book was written made me feel that the names of the characters were less important than the comedy. What I mean is, the book felt more like a collection of jokes than a selection of ancient myths.

  What was worse, there was too much expectation built upon Ragnarok only for it to be disappointingly mundane. The story of Ragnarok did not add much to what was previously mentioned about it in the other stories, and it was written in the most trivial of proses.

  Given that the only thing I knew about Odin, Thor and Loki before reading the book was what I had seen in Marvel movies, I greatly enjoyed learning more about these characters. Perhaps this was a good introduction, and if you are genuinely interested in Norse mythology then look for a more serious anthology.