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Books (242)

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- A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (944)
- (Dover Thrift Editions)
- By James Joyce
- Finished on Oct 15, 2012
  
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A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

This book is a semi-autobiography of Joyce in his younger years, as he grows up, learns about the world, and becomes disillusioned with the Catholic upbringing and Ireland National sentiments inherent in the people around him.
I at first found the tendency of Joyce drifting from scene to scene and ... (continue)

This book is a semi-autobiography of Joyce in his younger years, as he grows up, learns about the world, and becomes disillusioned with the Catholic upbringing and Ireland National sentiments inherent in the people around him.
I at first found the tendency of Joyce drifting from scene to scene and time to time annoying, but later thought it was a really cool effect. It made the whole book one big flow, like a real reminiscence. I think this is called "stream-of-consciousness" technique.
I didn't understand a lot of the book. I think a better knowledge of the politics of Ireland and the time and the history of their conflict with the English would have helped, as would a better intimacy of Catholicism (although I feel the book did help with that itself, at least for understanding what the environment might actually be like for a schoolboy growing up).
My favourite section was Joyce's descriptions of art and beauty, which I think were quite clear and added much to the discussion, certainly much better than some of the silly stuff you hear.
I didn't really like the ending, but I won't say anything so that I don't give anything away.

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— Oct 16, 2012 | Add your feedback
- The Prince (458)
- By Niccolò Machiavelli
- Finished on May 20, 2012
  
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The Prince

My favourite part about this book is how Machiavelli takes a practical approach; talking about things as they really are rather than an ideal. This idealization of a prince I've read, is how the subject was handled before Machiavelli.
I'm not saying that I condone evil actions by a prince, only tha ... (continue)

My favourite part about this book is how Machiavelli takes a practical approach; talking about things as they really are rather than an ideal. This idealization of a prince I've read, is how the subject was handled before Machiavelli.
I'm not saying that I condone evil actions by a prince, only that Machiavelli describes what based on the evidence he believes is effective and not effective, whether or not that is labelled evil or good.

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— May 22, 2012 | Add your feedback
- Kim (354)
- By Rudyard Kipling
- Finished on Apr 16, 2012
  
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Kim

As usual, superb reading seems to be slightly above me as I didn't get what was going on at all times, but I liked it alot.
The greatest thing about this book is that it is quite fresh both in terms of its characters and structure. By this I mean that it's such an odd and imaginative array of chara ... (continue)

As usual, superb reading seems to be slightly above me as I didn't get what was going on at all times, but I liked it alot.
The greatest thing about this book is that it is quite fresh both in terms of its characters and structure. By this I mean that it's such an odd and imaginative array of characters (a white orphan boy born native in India, an old llama from Tibet, a Mohammaden horse dealer spy...). The structure is fresh in that it is not the same old introduction and buildup, difficulty, climax, and resolution. Kipling seems to follow his own path and it works.
Glad I finally got to this one as it has been on my reading list for years. Incidentally, just heard about Kipling's travels in Canada and his visit to Medicine Hat, Alberta and his persuasive argument that saved the city from changing it's unique name around 100 years ago.

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— Apr 17, 2012 | Add your feedback
- The Mysterious Island (59)
- (Modern Library MM)
- By Caleb Carr, Jules Verne
- Finished on Jan 23, 2012
  
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The Mysterious Island

I think this should be a novel study in middle school. It's such a great book for growing kids because Jules Verne manages to weave many forms of science into the plotline to demonstrate how amazing and useful our knowledge of the universe is.
A group of 5 gets stranded on a desert island with no r ... (continue)

I think this should be a novel study in middle school. It's such a great book for growing kids because Jules Verne manages to weave many forms of science into the plotline to demonstrate how amazing and useful our knowledge of the universe is.
A group of 5 gets stranded on a desert island with no resources but their own wits. One of their group is an engineer with practical knowledge of all of the sciences. I love how they build themselves up from nothing to a "civilized" existence. We take for granted that just about everything around us comes from our knowledge of science. Jules Verne weaves this in when the engineer calculates their unknown position on the planet by measuring the Southern Cross star location without even having an instrumentation other than sticks, and correcting for the height of the hill he was measuring from using trigonometry. Or to create nitroglyercin to drain a lake to create their home. Or to create mud bricks from raw ingredients which they could then make a furnace out of to make iron in order to make tools in order to etc. etc. You can see how their colony builds up.
On top of that, it's just a great adventure story, desert island story, and there are some mysterious happenings around the island that don't get revealed to the end. AND Verne ties up storylines from two of his earlier books; I won't say which ones so I don't ruin it for you.
How can it get any better than that?
The reader who recorded this in audiobook form on librivox.org is professional and enjoyable.

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— Jan 24, 2012 | Add your feedback
- The Epic of Gilgamesh (82)
- By Richard Pasco, Andrew George, N K Sandars
- Finished on Jun 18, 2012
  
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The Epic of Gilgamesh

It was cool to read the oldest epic tale we have on record. But I found it quite boring and arbitrary.
The penguin edition is a fantastic publication with a detailed foreward by the author, numerous appendices describing in detail such things as how the tablets are recovered and translated, and not ... (continue)

It was cool to read the oldest epic tale we have on record. But I found it quite boring and arbitrary.
The penguin edition is a fantastic publication with a detailed foreward by the author, numerous appendices describing in detail such things as how the tablets are recovered and translated, and not only the classic epic but all sorts of other Gilgamesh stories.

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— Jun 21, 2012 | Add your feedback

- Treasure Island (1280)
- (Bantam Classic)
- By Robert Louis Stevenson
- Finished on Aug 30, 2011
  
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Treasure Island

Thoroughly enjoyable! The quintessential pirate tale. The story of a boy tangled up in a mutiny on the high seas, pirates, buried treasure, fighting, discovery and adventure. Besides being a fun and exciting book to read, well-written, with a number of contrasting A vs. B themes woven into the dialo ... (continue)

Thoroughly enjoyable! The quintessential pirate tale. The story of a boy tangled up in a mutiny on the high seas, pirates, buried treasure, fighting, discovery and adventure. Besides being a fun and exciting book to read, well-written, with a number of contrasting A vs. B themes woven into the dialogue, this book shaped about how we think of a stereotypical pirate today.
I first got the idea of reading this book after spending an afternoon on Norman Island, in the British Virgin Islands, which is considered the most likely setting inspiring the fictional Treasure Island. That was 3 and a quarter years ago, and now I've finally read it. Interestingly, Norman Island with the site of real buried pirate booty in the mid-eighteenth century which was dug up!

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— Aug 31, 2011 | Add your feedback
- The Three Musketeers (352)
- By Alexandre Dumas
- Finished on Jun 15, 2011
  
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The Three Musketeers

I have mixed feelings about this book. Overall, it's a classic, it's a great book. I have to say that I found the moral principles of the main characters and the idea of "What is good" and "What is honourable" quite ridiculous and this kept getting in the way of my enjoyment of the book.
I really l ... (continue)

I have mixed feelings about this book. Overall, it's a classic, it's a great book. I have to say that I found the moral principles of the main characters and the idea of "What is good" and "What is honourable" quite ridiculous and this kept getting in the way of my enjoyment of the book.
I really loved the last part of the book that focused on Milady and she's just a weasel character that you grow to hate! Dumas did a spectacular job with her infamous, archetypal evil seductress character. I was originally going to give this book a 3 star until I got to the last 100, 150 pages.

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— Jun 18, 2011 | Add your feedback
- The Art of War (466)
- By Sun Zi
- Finished on Dec 11, 2010
  
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The Art of War

Sun Tzu must have been a brilliant guy. At the same time, alot of the stuff in the book is obvious so it wasn't always that enjoyable or profitable (although maybe not so obvious at the time, and even if it was, it was the first collection of knowledge like this - a military treatise).
I'm always s ... (continue)

Sun Tzu must have been a brilliant guy. At the same time, alot of the stuff in the book is obvious so it wasn't always that enjoyable or profitable (although maybe not so obvious at the time, and even if it was, it was the first collection of knowledge like this - a military treatise).
I'm always struck by how horrific and barbaric some of the actions of past cultures were (not that ours is not at times, but rarely anything like this). And there is such an emphasis on honour, however some of the prescriptions are completely unhonourable (like in the way one should use and sacrifice spies who were so loyal and gave so much for a general).
A short read, with some decent lessons. I think it's a mistake to apply military ethics to modern business in most cases, which is the reason a lot of people read this book.

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— Dec 19, 2010 | Add your feedback
- The Lord of the Rings (3773)
- By J.R.R. Tolkien
- Abandoned in 2003
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- The Hobbit (3286)
- 70th Anniversary Edition
- Finished in 2003
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- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (456)
- By Jules Verne
- Finished on Oct 24, 2010
  
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20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Jules Verne represents the dawn of modern science fiction. Science fiction normally focuses on the circumstances the characters are placed in and not necessarily on the characters and the relations between them. This is why sometimes science fiction is not thought of as "literature". However, Verne ... (continue)

Jules Verne represents the dawn of modern science fiction. Science fiction normally focuses on the circumstances the characters are placed in and not necessarily on the characters and the relations between them. This is why sometimes science fiction is not thought of as "literature". However, Verne focuses both on the characters and on the fantastic adventure they undergo. Furthermore, the scientific ideas used in the book are researched and grounded. Sometimes the book even becomes boring when the author lists the classifications of all the marine biology he observes in each ocean of the world, but this is not a fault, this is a credit to the book.
Verne leaves alot of questions unanswered about the main character, Captain Nemo, although he meant it to be this way. The ending seemed rather abrupt to me and the plot line didn't really develop throughout the book. However, the adventure is absolutely fantastic and I'll be reading more of Verne's books.

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— Oct 26, 2010 | Add your feedback
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (886)
- (Signet Classics (Paperback))
- By Mark Twain
- Finished in 1993
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- The Adventures of Robin Hood (17)
- By Roger Green
- Finished in 1993
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- Man and Superman (28)
- (Penguin Classics)
- By Stanley Weintraub, George Bernard Shaw
- Finished on Jun 17, 2011
  
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Man and Superman

Love the Tanner character. I used to identify with him alot, but now not so much anymore, only certain aspects. He's actually quite over the top.
Some of this book was over my head, it was only the second play I've ever read and the first I've read by Bernard Shaw. He has a pretty cool style, quite ... (continue)

Love the Tanner character. I used to identify with him alot, but now not so much anymore, only certain aspects. He's actually quite over the top.
Some of this book was over my head, it was only the second play I've ever read and the first I've read by Bernard Shaw. He has a pretty cool style, quite tounge-in-cheek and lighthearted.

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— Sep 1, 2011 | Add your feedback
- The Count of Monte Cristo (807)
- By Alexandre Dumas
- Finished on Jul 11, 2010
  
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The Count of Monte Cristo

My Favourite Fiction Book

This book is the epitomy of an epic tale! This is a tale of the folly of human selfishness, vengeance, and redemption. The author is a master of suspense and what sets him apart from the rest is his ability to reveal the entire story through dialogue rather than resorting to the easier method of tel ... (continue)

This book is the epitomy of an epic tale! This is a tale of the folly of human selfishness, vengeance, and redemption. The author is a master of suspense and what sets him apart from the rest is his ability to reveal the entire story through dialogue rather than resorting to the easier method of telling you what the characters are thinking. He often speaks of the scene as if he is with the reader, in their shoes.
Several people have told me very good things about this book. If someone tells you the same, believe them.
I would also like to mention that the audiobook reader, Fred Williams, is hands down the best I've ever heard. But then again, Blackstone Audio is known for their readers.
Begun on the shore of the Pacific Ocean in Bahia Honda State Park in the Florida keys with the sound of the waves lulling me to sleep. Finished in Kingston, Ontario.

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— Jul 12, 2010 | 2 feedbacks