The Count of Monte Cristo

The blurb on this book says that "nothing in his books encourages reflection...or sounds significant depths," but I would beg to differ. Through this work Dumas communicates the dangers that revenge has on a person and the effect of immense suffering. The main example of how suffering effects people was Edmond Dantes, the main character himself. Not only did his personality change, but he physically changed and became the Count of Monte Cristo. Mercedes also changes from the suffering she experiences when she gives up her fortune. But the end uncovers a message: after the many years where the Count had lost hope of ever being happy again, he finally understood that through new loves can come happiness. Other lessons, like greediness leads to nowhere or do not make rash decisions, were common. Now that I think about it each character, of the many Dumas created, had demonstrated a moral lesson. Besides the new, complex vocabulary, the book was thoroughly enjoyable. I think one of the aspects that contributed to its entertainment was the fact that all the characters at one point in the book act dramatically or maliciously which is what makes entertainment, or even life, interesting. But my conclusion is if I had the choice to read another one of Alexandre Dumas' books I wouldn't hesitate.

Pride and Prejudice

This is now one of my favorite books! It was actually surprisingly entertaining. I think my favorite part in the entire book was when Elizabeth runs into Mr. Darcy in Pemberley. I like this part the most of all because it puts forth the possibility that a person and/or people's opinions can change. Another key idea that was really unique throughout the book was the idea that knowledge and wittiness makes one more beautiful than anything else. But probably the most important themes in the book were pride and prejudice; it's a little bit obvious because it is the title. The thing is the two are connected a lot of the time. For example, if Darcy wasn't so proud about his class and family connections, he wouldn't have made all those prejudices against Elizabeth for being less rich than him. But the ironic thing is that throughout the whole book Elizabeth complains about Mr. Darcy's pride, yet she lets her own pride create all these prejudices against Darcy. This shows that she isn't much better than Darcy is in the pride department. But I still like Darcy and Elizabeth as characters. I cannot say the same for Lydia and Mrs. Bingley. That's why the most annoying part of the book was probably when Lydia ran away. I do realize though that Jane Austen tried to make them that way, though. But I do feel bad for the father because he is stuck with Mrs. Bingley. I think that Mrs. Bingley's pettiness was necessary to demonstrate that one just can't be pretty and shallow but interesting and smart to actually make a relationship work. But even with those irritating parts, I enjoyed this book the most out of all the classics I have read.

Handle with Care

Another one of the books I liked, that I read during the summer, was Handle with Careby Jodi Picoult. I have read a lot of Jodi Picoult books so far and I can definitely see a pattern in most of them. I'm not saying that her books are boring, I love her books. But for some reason a lot include the same things.For example, most have to do with relationships strained by one colossal event. There is usually an issue presented with one character that affects the other characters badly. All these conflicts go on inside and in between different characters. Finally at the end, a court case is presented. I think Picoult usually uses court cases because it forces the reader to judge the issues going on in the book. The issues are very controversal and usually has more than two sides. Eventually, the reader could come to the conclusion that different perspcetives are needed to judge a person or group. This book was no different. The reader sees the life of a girl with a disablity and her struggles. We also see the struggles of the different family members affected though. The books goes through moral questions about abortion and parenting children with disablities. The book ends with a case about malpractice. In a nutshell, if the mother, with the disabled child, would have not given birth if she knew of the complications? It caused me to think, and I hope it will do the same for others.

Death on the Nile

Over the summer, I read a few books but I enjoyed reading Death on the Nile , by Agatha Christie, the most. I think what I liked most about reading this book was trying to guess who the killer was. I find that a lot of Agatha Christies' books have many characters, quite a few have meaningful motives, so that it makes it more fun to try to guess. This probably also pulls attention away from the real killer so that when the reader finally finds out, they are extremely surprised. The book wasn't only about the murderer though. It touched on some themes about revenge versus forgiveness or letting things go. Another little theme was how far one should go for love. My favorite part of the book was when Hercule Poirot explains how the murderer killed the victim, when the murderer supposedly had a wounded leg. The explanation made so much sense when it was said, yet someone would have to think way out of the book to be able to come up with it. I hope to read more books like this one.

The Joy Luck Club

The main idea of this book is the relationships between mother and daughter, and the factors that influence it. The book follows the lives of four women and their daughter's lives. It goes through different tales from their lives demonstrating Chinese morals. The tales also give reasons why the mothers treat their children the way showed in the book. Usually a traumatic event makes the mother pull back or judge harshly. Other conflicts in the book are the acceptance of culture in the American-born daughters. They would follow trends to fit in and ignore their mothers, but as some grew up they would travel to China to earn more. The Joy Luck club is a group where these four women would meet to build up hope and happiness when things were not looking so well, like in times of war or traveling to a foreign land. And many of the women in this group have had their share of bad times, as seen in the stories, but still stayed brave and hopeful. I enjoyed the book because I liked hearing of all these inspiring stories, and I will try to read the author's other book as well.

A Tale of Two Cities

I haven't blogged in a while because the book I was reading wasn't exactly the shortest, most entertaining book on the planet. Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities was a very slow paced book at the very beginning. But as I got to the very end, the last 50 pages or so, it was so intriguing I couldn't put it down. This was the part where all the little quirks about the characters and secrets were explained. For example,in Doctor Manette's letter, explaining the events before his emprisionment, he spoke of Charles' parents and the reason for the Doctor making the pair of women's shoes. The book at first didn't seem to have much purpose as it followed the lives of Lucie, her father, Mr. Lorry, and Charles; but the purpose and themes emerged when the French revolution started. The theme was revenge, and it had taken over some people so much they became blood-thristy, like Madame Defarge. Other themes were innocence versus guiltiness and scarifice. This is seen when Madame Defarge has gone so crazy she hunts the innocent instead of the guilty. This is what brings Charles to face the Guillotine. But what saves him is when Sydeny Carton scarifices himself for the happiness of Charles' family. Overall, all the painstakingly boring reading made up for all the excitment in the end of the book.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I enjoyed the book a lot. This really surprised me because I normally am not interested in Sci-Fi books. This book contained humor which is one of the things that made it unique. I also like the main idea that Douglas Adams put into the book. For example, frequently Arthur, the last surviving human, assumes he is above others and that Earth was a wonderful place. Yet it takes him the whole book to realize that Earth isn't the greatest, and compared to the aliens around him he is far from superior. This is strongest when Arthur encounters mice, he reacts with disgust, not realizing mice are one of the smartest species alive. Adams could tell us other thing in this scene, too. Such as, valuing other species, and not believing in human superiority when we don't know what is out there. Other ideas in the book were about computers. In the book, people wanted to find the answer to life, but the computer gave an unsatisfactory answer. To understand the answer they needed the right question which the computer did not have. In the end the computer could not find the question to life, showing how trust in technology must not be too overwhelming. The book was entertaining, yet I feel I will not go on to read the sequel because the ending of this book was perfect for me.