Slaughterhouse 5 (Or, the Children's Crusade) by Kurt Vonnegut

4
This is well-known modern classic that follows Billy as he jumps through his timeline in what is an utterly bizarre story that somehow didn't lose my attention, though I expected otherwise.

It's an incredibly short book, which is nice. I think that had this book been maybe another 50 pages longer then I would have been annoyed; what featured in the book was that which was applicable and relevant. And there isn't actually anything bloody (despite what it's name suggests). There is some death but of a gory description. Billy actually repeatedly say "So it goes." as a simple to just accept death and move in. This kind of sums up the tone of book in general- it's emotionless without being bland or boring. Billy is stolid about most events in his life (either because he is or he has to be) so even the death of loved ones does not bother him in any discernable way.

The time jumping theme is also very well done. In some ways, it's like reading 3 or 4 different stories at different points in a linear timeline. The two goods things of this are, one, that when the other stories are perhaps less exciting, one stories will remain more interesting as it builds to a small conclusion of something that has been built up to. The other is when all the stories come to pinnacles at the end. In way we know what they'll be (what with time jumping and all) but watching everything come to a conclusion in tandem really pushes an idea of time to the forefront.

The idea, courtesy of the Extra Terrestrial Trafalmadore species, is that time isn't expressly linear and that everything you do in life is merely a path we can't see. This annoyed me in some ways since I don't believe in fate or destiny (and I get the impression that Vonnegut doesn't really either) but I appreciated the effect it had in terms of telling a story. It was one of the reasons that Billy was so stolid; because he knew what woul happen in the future and so he wasn't worried about it happening. There was a wonderful idea that since those moments in our life surround us, we are constantly living in the past or future in the best moments of our lives. So the point I took from the ending of stories all being reached similtaneously is that your life comes down to crucial moments that you are constantly working towards. The notion of legacy is always one I find interesting, and is a message I always take from a Chekhov production. Mortality scares me as much as anyone, but I like to think I live in other ways that aren't so tangeable. I'm not talking afterlife: I mean the influence you have on people, the things you do and the impression you make.

Quite famously, this is meant to be an anti-war novel. I can see it now I look back, but it wasn't something that leapt out at me, but I did notice some things. The major one was the nonchalant way in which the Trafalmadore know they will destroy the Universe when testing spaceship fuel. But knowing this, they assume it cannot be stopped; that time always has ended, always is ending and always will end at that time for that reason. Again my anti-fate idea is showing since my argument would be that that is no just excuse to destroy all life. Part of me wonders that Vonnegut didn't make war considered inevitable in the book only because, as humans, we are so adamantly against those ideas. True, some believe a higher being has a plan for them, but no one thinks their entire life is etched in marble; we like to believe we influence our owns lives and make our own consequences, for good or for ill.

Truly, this is a great book. It's the kind of one I'd pass to someone who wants to read more fiction and is perhaps leaning towards trying classics at some point. It's not at all difficult to read, and my only problem with it was that the Science Fiction element of the Trafalmadore felt wrong. It was well written and worked for the story, but it felt off. The book wouldn't have been the same without either though, so I am of two minds about this.

Anyway; this was excellent so I urge you to buy it somewhere and read it. Did I mention it's only 150 pages too? Beats a 700+ page Dickens novel.

The Fairy Tale Trap by Emily Casey

4

The Fairy Tale Trap is a debut novel by self-published author, Emily Casey. As the title suggests, it is a fairy tale adaptation- this time for Beauty and the Beast.

Personally, I only know the Disney version; the one with music, singing furniture and a nice little battle to round off the ending tragically. It’s been dramatized, but this book opened my mind to how much so. Thankfully and intelligently, and original version of the story had been included at the end to show how the story links in with the book and how Ivy inadvertently changes the story. There are other things added in addition to Ivy’s story concerning things a reader wouldn’t really abide by reading- my favourite being the ‘comfort spells’ that explain why there is food, water and clothing. What can often be inexplicable in a Fairy Tale is made explicable here- to wonderful effect.

The premise of the story is that Ivy Thorn- our protagonist- is stolen by a pixie (not a fairy) and finds herself in the well-recognised tale solely for this pixie’s amusement. It’s a sadistic idea (like how I see reality television programs) and is made worse by the kidnapping element. As a military man’s daughter, she is used to leaving people and things behind but never so absolutely or with so much force. She does have moments of weakness, but at no point does she become whiny. Like any good heroine she turns this ill-fortune into her motivation to succeed in escaping this nightmare.

Yet the story isn’t solely Beauty and the Beast. This is a series of books so there are other elements and characters involved that we learn only little about- such as the pixie or woman in white. We can make intelligent guesses about them and know enough to be content, but they are still shrouded in mystery on the whole;

The writing is fluid, and I found myself laughing on occasion. It’s never laugh-out-loud funny, but a witty comment that leaves a smile on your face. I think there were some hiccups in the tone that jolted me out of the story. About a quarter of the way through, I noticed two similar phrases ("how charming” and “how lovely” I think) being used near one another and I noticed overly much. Yet there was none of this jolting at the end, so it wasn’t ruined at all.

It’s written in first person which-despite a deep-seated aversion to it- I always find more immersive. The same happens here and it’s easy to be drawn in. It’s a fast paced story and it’s only accentuated by first person. I constantly found myself saying “Just one more chapter” until I had no choice but to stop. The fact it’s a short book means you could finish it soon, and you are aware of this. It’s also very visual, so I can see everything, but still lets me fill in details.

A great debut novel that I’d recommend to readers of any kind of fantastical taste.  I tend not to read Fairy Tale re-workings, but this was an encouraging introduction to the area.


If you're still not convinced you can find sample chapters here. Also, a book trailer! (Be sure to read the bit beneath the trailer as well!!!)

                                                                                                                         

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As part of a blog tour, Emily has been wonderfully, incomparably kind and offered one lucky winner the chance to win (!) a copy of The Fairy Tale Trap for yourself! Enter now, it's really worth getting (and consuming) for a great read!

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

4
For those unaware of it, this a dystopian novel (in my mind similar to 1984) about a boy Alex (!) who, like many his age, is extremely violent and speaks with rather unintelligible slang. He's an anti-hero in many ways, but he isn't, actually, completely evil. In many ways, this book is also a very different kind of coming of age novel.

First off, I think it's important to get my warnings out of the way. Alex is a violent person, which can be gruesome, but most of us can move past that; but there is also sexual crime, perpetrated by him, in the book. There isn't a great detail, but it's something obvious in the story and he has a very objectifying perception of women.

There is also the "NadSat" talk. It's the slang that the teenagers use and has mainly Russian derivations, while others are just nods towards certain ideas or people. Starting the book, I really struggled with this. I got a dictionary up online to help understand what was happening since he'd speak normally for many a page, but then start using NadSat for almost every other word. It was taking me out of the story so I had to do something. Apparently the author didn't like the NadSat Dictionary idea since he wanted people to actually go away and look up the Russian stems, so that everyone might have a slightly different interpretation, but though I tried, it was too difficult.

As I often find with classics, the story didn't jump out at me so much as the ideas behind it; it was merely the podium on which the ideas had to stand in order to be seen. It isn't bad, though. There's three parts; '1' is life before jail, '2' is life in jail and during "treatment" while '3' is after jail and when he rejoins society. Basically, we get to know Alex and see him commit crimes, then we see his droogies (friends) turn on him so he goes to jail. here, he gets involved in Ludovico treatment- a treatment which breeds an aversion to an act by subjecting someone to unbearable sensations when seeing or thinking of the act. An association-aversion treatment. I'll leave the ending in case you decide to read, but you can sort of guess where it is heading (but I promise you couldn't guess it in it's entirety). Also, each part has 7 sections- appealing to my OCD. The idea was that 21 (culturally an age of maturity) is when Alex finally starts changing since I wouldn't call it maturity.

The main idea that leaps from this novel is the argument of whether it is better to do good things, but only because you have been conditioned for it, or to do as you wouldst, even if you do bad. Alex is turned into an acceptable citizen who will never be violent, never misuse someone, never commit a crime. He is the perfect denizen in the eyes of the Government since he costs no money, and goes about doing his own job. The Prison Chaplain is the main character we have against this. He says it is wrong to take away free will and that if one does bad things then it is acceptable only in the light that it is chosen. Everyone, I think, believes Free Will is paramount, but equally believes that it is wrong to cause or allow evil to fester. It's a hard question because it pits two ideas against one another, and in many ways comes down to the self versus the community. Ultimately though, I couldn't defend taking away Free Will. The right to choice is so fundamentally human and I can't bear elements of subjugation or oppression. Cured Alex is no longer a human because there is more powerful force controlling his ability to function. I think the novel veers you in that direction overall, so I am biased, but I don't think that undermines the argument at all.

There's other ideas present, but to a lesser extent. For example, there's the notion that merely having good taste does not make one good. Ask yourself what kind of music a criminal listens too. Contemporary mainstream, I imagine? Alex, he likes Classical Music. He describes it really beautifully until he starts imaging violent images and his adoration for it humanises him and is one of those things that makes you like him since, subliminally, I think we think someone who likes classical music can't be all bad. In fact, this idea is murmuring throughout the entire novel. Burgess is poetic in his writing, and reading him is no effort at all even if you don't exactly understand. He's written really beautifully, despite the subject matter. There's probably a notion of making bad things look good to fool the majority that you could argue, but that's one level of inference too far for me to be going.

I have some minor issues with the book. There's a noticeable lack of female characters in the book; when they are there they are merely plot devices, it seems. I didn't take this as sexist though, I think Burgess was just trying to draw the parallels to Alex and the Government. Though it doesn't say it, I get the feeling it is a very strong patriarchy- that Alex just isn't as discreet as his superiors. The only hint at this is when they are demonstrating the treatment to the officials and the beautiful woman walks off stage and Alex sees the hunger in the men's eyes.

NadSat is the other issue because, though I expected it, I didn't expect it quite so much so it took a small while to get used to.

Some good things I didn't mention too include how I found the book rather funny. One in particular was at the end of part two and the Chaplain says "God help the lot of us" after the treatment is found successful. He sees what no one else does: that the Government doesn't care who they use it on. He seems to have finally given up since no one can see this obvious fact; it just made me smile. I love Cassandra (Greek) characters. The characterisations are also marvellous considering the little time we see some of them, though perhaps a bit black and white.

This was a really enjoyable book. If you don't read classics (modern or otherwise) then I really recommend trying this one if your interested in trying to read more. It's a typical dystopian, and would probably appeal to fans of 1984, though they may see too many parallels with the two. Once again, a fantastic and pleasantly short read.

Witches of the Glass Castle by Gabriella Lepore

Won from Goodreads

3.5

This is a story about siblings who discover they are witches and have to learn how to control their new found powers. It’s an engaging read, but felt perhaps a bit rushed for me personally.

I think the start really threw me when I first picked this up. You’re thrown straightaway into the story and, for me, this requires a really obvious danger or lots of action. Instead, we were told there was danger and didn’t really see anything. After this first hiccup I was fine and the story started to draw me in. I guess for some the start would feel too slow, but I always approach fantasy with the mind for a slow start that I can relish and learn from.

The protagonists are Mia and her brother Dino, both witches (witches is more an occupation than the counterpart to warlocks). Mostly, I felt, we’re in Mia’s head and I much preferred that. The sporadic times in Dino’s mind sometimes confused me and in general, I didn’t like him. After he explained why he kept brushing Mia off, it wasn’t as bad, but I felt he had little tact throughout the events.

Learning the magic was interesting (if a bit quick) and I liked the idea that witches have different types of set skills, with varying levels of ability. The only kind of annoying thing was that every type seemed to be destined to be incredibly powerful. I’m not really into witch-lore, but surely logic dictates you’ve got to have some people who are particularly weak?

The romance in the book was another element that felt rather quick, and I had to suppress an “Oh” of surprise when it happened. I knew it would happen, but the speed it happened really annoyed me. It was, again, the whole paranormal element that I really hate. Girl meets boy who is dangerous and mysterious, someone she is warned against. Boy feels like he isn’t allowed/shouldn’t be there. They fall in love anyway; because love overcomes everything… I’m being judgemental, but I’d like my heroine to exercise some common sense: everyone can overcome their feelings in some way. That aside, I felt that he really did like her; I wasn’t as sure with her love. But the struggle he had with it, and the false bravado, is something I could understand and that made him more human and empathicable (I just made up a word!).

The wording sometimes threw me a little too. One passage was Without another word they accepted their fate and left the security of the car. The simple act was the first step on a path that would subsequently change their lives for ever. Neither was prepared, but destiny had picked them and it was out of their hands. My exact not read: "Just...what?" I don't really know how to respond, as a reader, to that statement. I just dislike the bit about destiny picked them: it just seems weird.

This is not a bad read, and at around 250 pages, it only took me a few hours to digest. I wouldn’t rush out to buy it, but if it’s on sale you might be relatively pleased with it.