Frankenstein

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


My Favourite Quote:

"How mutable are our feelings, and how strange is that clinging love we have of life even in the excess of misery!"

This book was written very verbosely, and it was hard to remain captivated.

There were lots of interested passages on morality and humanity, but they were surrounded by long, uninteresting narrative.



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Dipping Carrots in Dressing

I don't understand why people dip carrots and other vegetables in dressing. The only reason I eat vegetables is because I feel like I have to.

People dip vegetables in the hope of making them enjoyable. But if I want something enjoyable, I would be eating cake. I don't know why you would go to the trouble of eating carrots, if you are just going to make them fattening anyway.

I say, if you are going to sacrifice, go the whole way. I support eating carrots dry. If I want to actually enjoy eating, I eat cake or cookie dough. If I have to eat something healthy, I want to make sure it is actually healthy.

Brave New World

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


My favorite quotes:

"One of the principal functions of a friend is to suffer (in a milder and symbolic form) the punishments that we should like, but are unable, to inflict upon our enemies."

"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamor of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesque of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overflow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."

This book provides a harsh view of the future. Even today, the reality of Huxley's words is evident. He speaks of a world where the family unit is completely broken down. Where people are molded and controlled to believe the same as everyone else. True passion is completely forgotten and replaced by momentary pleasure.

The characters are shocked to hear that people once stayed faithful to a single person for their entire life. I think that Huxley's words are definitely true. There are so many people today who already feel this way.

This book is good for people who like books like Fahrenheit 451, which reveal something about our own world through dystopia.



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The Catcher in the Rye

This book was worst book I've read so far by a long shot. It was like The Great Gatsby, but without any interesting themes or concepts governing it.

If you want to read an entire book that doesn't contain any single page of interesting story, and on top of that has no deeper meanings or ideas to bring to light, then this book is perfect for you.

This was probably the most boring book I've ever read.

Heart of Darkness

My favorite quotes:

"They were called criminals, and the outraged law, like the bursting shells, had come to them, an insoluble mystery from the sea."

"The earth seemed unearthly. We are accustomed to look upon the shackled form of a conquered monster, but there- there you could look at a thing monstrous and free."

"True, he had made that last stride, he had stepped over the edge, while I had been permitted to draw back my hesitating foot. And perhaps in this is the whole difference; perhaps all the wisdom, and all truth, and all sincerity, are just compressed into that inappreciable moment of time in which we step over the threshold of the invisible."

This book had some interesting points to make, but I don't think it did that great of a job of illustrating them.

It provides insights into the darkness within humanity, and the irony of "civilization" verses "barbarianism," which proves to be different than the "civilized" perspective.

Overall, other books do a much better job, such as Lord of the Flies.

1 star