"If any American fictional character of the twentieth century seems likely to be immortal, it is Lorelei Lee of Little Rock, Arkansas, the not-so-dumb blonde who knew that diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Outrageous, charming, and unforgettable, she has become the archetype of the footloose, good-hearted gold digger, with an insatiable appetite for orchids, champagne, and precious stones."
What I Liked
I laughed through the entirety of Lorelei's diaries. The characters are so entertaining and the social commentary has an undertone of feminism that reaches far beyond its time. I still can hardly believe the "flapper" lifestyle was a real thing.
What I Didn't Like
While the book's simplicity and poor grammar were intentional, I have trouble gaining as much appreciation from this read as I have from other literature. I had a good laugh as I turned each page, but I found the book ultimately forgettable. Three stars.
"Thomas Sutpen is a poor man who finds wealth and then marries into a respectable family. His ambition and extreme need for control bring about his ruin and the ruin of his family. Sutpen's story is told by several narrators, allowing the reader to observe variations in the saga as it is recounted by different speakers."
There is no denying that William Faulkner had immense talent. But Absalom, Absalom! is so dense. I struggled to get through it from the first page to the last. I often found myself venturing to SparkNotes in order to grasp the storyline at all. The sentences are so long and thick and frustrating. The story itself is so very dark and joyless. I just couldn't fall in love with this piece of literature. Two stars.
"Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank's remarkable diary has since become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit."
Honestly, I can't bring myself to review Anne Frank's diary like I do most books I read. As a young teenage girl under enormous pressure and anxiety, Anne wrote with beautiful eloquence and profound intuition about her inner self and the world around her. It's a privilege to read Anne Frank's journal and I was amazed by her depth at such a young age. Five stars.
"Irene Redfield, the novel's protagonist, is a woman with an enviable life. She and her husband, Brian, a prominent physician, share a comfortable Harlem town house with their sons. But her hold on this world begins to slip the day she encounters Clare Kendry, a childhood friend with whom she had lost touch. Clare—light-skinned, beautiful, and charming—tells Irene how, after her father's death, she left behind the black neighborhood of her adolescence and began passing for white, hiding her true identity from everyone, including her racist husband. As Clare begins inserting herself into Irene's life, Irene is thrown into a panic, terrified of the consequences of Clare's dangerous behavior."
This novella is an incredibly powerful tale of racism in the early twentieth century, the relationship between women, and the motives behind people's action. The idea of "passing" is used in the text when African-American women allow themselves to pass as white, either for convenience or to completely change their lives and society. However, Passing is a reminder that everyone "passes" to a certain degree, placing some mask over their innermost self when they interact with others. Four stars.
"Berlin 1942. When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences."
What I Liked
The simplicity of this fable does not take away from its haunting message about the holocaust and the brokenness of man. Bruno and Shmuel's similarities and differences, the innocence of a young child amidst great evil, are all a new way to remember the atrocities that occurred during this time in history.
What I Didn't Like
There are some historical inaccuracies within the book. The children touch the fence surrounding Auschwitz with little hesitation; in reality, the fence would have been electrified. If I am correct, children under the age of 15 were gassed upon arrival in this particular concentration camp, so it seems unlikely that Shmuel would have been alive in the first place. Five stars.
What have you been reading?
I read for class: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Absalom, Absalom!, Passing
I read for fun: The Diary of a Young Girl, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
I recommend: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Passing, The Diary of a Young Girl, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Three years ago: I'm such a night owl.
Four years ago: Special People
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