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I don't care how old this book is, it shouldn't be a suprise to anyone that knows me that I don't keep up with book series. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling, which I'm sure everyone knows. I did start to read this years ago, and then I completely stopped. Oh well, as old as this book is, it's still a compelling read. I'm a huge fantasy fanatic, so I already loved Harry Potter when the series began. I think this book was great, but I can't really relate to Harry. No, I don't mean I can't relate to living in a world of wizards, but rather to his personality. Thinking about this chamber, the basilisk, pretty much every scary thing in Harry Potter, I can't imagine myself facing it. So, naturally, it feels a bit strange to read about how he actually bear all this. Honestly, being in those hallways at the school is enough to scare me out of my mind. I know, the hallways aren't really an issue for the book, so I'll get back on topic.
As I was typing, Harry's valiant behavior is intriguing to read. To picture myself as a person that brave is already quite an adventure, but then to picture myself staring down mutant spiders is just incredible. I think I agree more with Ron's personality. If I saw a sign, like a trail of spiders, I think I'd be already too creeped out to follow it, especially when it's a dark forest.
Aside from the spiders and giant basilisk, the book had that necessary step towards mystery and humour.
This book is great for fantasy lovers, and anyone who likes mysteriously creepy storylines that are far from ordinary.
I don't really have much to say about this book, seeing as how Harry's actions all involve being brave in some way, and how I can't help but think about how I would chicken out at every point Harry would take a chance.
I think J.K. Rowling did a good job setting up these interesting storylines, making it scary (for me) and still adding a bit of humour with the house elf, Dobby, and that "famous" coward Lockhart.
Well, thinking a bit more about it, I guess I can add in my thoughts about the chamber itself. It sort of feels like a strange nightmare. It's pretty fine when he first gets to Ginny, and talks to Riddle, but once he runs off into the tunnels of the chambers, things naturally get scarier. I feel like, if I had enough courage to even be in that chamber, I'd wanna somehow escape the basilisk without going into the tunnels. It feels strangely safer where Ginny is lying, I guess because, for one thing, it doesn't give off such a lonely feeling, and also because I wouldn't wanna be trapped in tunnels with a giant snake tailing me, but rather out in the open where I can run around like a maniac and scream for help.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Ender's Game
The book Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card was a very intriguing book. I'm really not a fan of science fiction, but I managed to get myself to read this book. It turned out to be more fantasy tied than I expected. The book started off slow, but I really became hooked as I continued reading. The Mind Game that Ender plays kept me thinking, as I kept trying to visualize the interesting dream-like events. Not to say that the rest of the book wasn't interesting, I was simply more interested in the more fantastic and mysterious portions. But, to move on away from that, the actual science fiction was great. The author put in a lot of visualization on the feelings and actions of the characters, providing a nice idea for what life was like in this time period. I have never read any of the sequels to this book, so I remain curious as to where the book leads to.
I felt a very empathetic connection to the characters. It was touching to read about Valentine's relationship with Ender, but I almost felt like Valentine when she realized how she no longer knew her brother. As for the Mind Game, I sort of felt drawn to the world Ender was in, the strange obstacles and the mysterious findings. Ender's returning to the game frequently made it feel like having a dream over and over, but every action performed is imprinted into the dream and remains there the next time around. It actually felt sort of depressing, but that's just because I drifted too much from what was actually happening to the idea of not being able to go back. Ender kills that giant, and it's still dead when he returns. It almost gives off a lonely feeling, to know that once you conquer everything, there is nothing left to return to.
Strangely enough, it keeps me thinking about a game I play, when you play outside of the story, you can destroy all the obstacles in the area, some providing more life into the game with movements, and once everything is destroyed, the area is still, and you just feel a sort of emptiness, it feels fake, and the joy is sucked out by the idea that you are alone.
The same feeling was created with everyone on earth going to live on another planet. I've had a dream where the apocalypse came and we had to go live in outer space. Despite being with so many people, it felt extremely depressing to be living a completely new life, devoid of all ties to my old life, not to mention how depressing space is on its own.
I'm going off topic here, so, to finish this off, I felt there was a lot of depth to each event, each relationship, and I think anyone with a love for science fiction, and even fantasy and some mystery, would thoroughly enjoy this book.
~~~~Just a side note~~~~
After immersing myself in this book, I tried reading Ender's Shadow to get some background on the other little genius, but, not being an actual sequel, but rather a compliment to the book, I felt rather uninterested. I don't know how it works for other readers, but once I become emotionally bound to a book, reading the ending pretty much severs the ties along with my interest, and as much as I think about how great the book was the first time around, I feel totally uninterested in reading it a second time.
I felt a very empathetic connection to the characters. It was touching to read about Valentine's relationship with Ender, but I almost felt like Valentine when she realized how she no longer knew her brother. As for the Mind Game, I sort of felt drawn to the world Ender was in, the strange obstacles and the mysterious findings. Ender's returning to the game frequently made it feel like having a dream over and over, but every action performed is imprinted into the dream and remains there the next time around. It actually felt sort of depressing, but that's just because I drifted too much from what was actually happening to the idea of not being able to go back. Ender kills that giant, and it's still dead when he returns. It almost gives off a lonely feeling, to know that once you conquer everything, there is nothing left to return to.
Strangely enough, it keeps me thinking about a game I play, when you play outside of the story, you can destroy all the obstacles in the area, some providing more life into the game with movements, and once everything is destroyed, the area is still, and you just feel a sort of emptiness, it feels fake, and the joy is sucked out by the idea that you are alone.
The same feeling was created with everyone on earth going to live on another planet. I've had a dream where the apocalypse came and we had to go live in outer space. Despite being with so many people, it felt extremely depressing to be living a completely new life, devoid of all ties to my old life, not to mention how depressing space is on its own.
I'm going off topic here, so, to finish this off, I felt there was a lot of depth to each event, each relationship, and I think anyone with a love for science fiction, and even fantasy and some mystery, would thoroughly enjoy this book.
~~~~Just a side note~~~~
After immersing myself in this book, I tried reading Ender's Shadow to get some background on the other little genius, but, not being an actual sequel, but rather a compliment to the book, I felt rather uninterested. I don't know how it works for other readers, but once I become emotionally bound to a book, reading the ending pretty much severs the ties along with my interest, and as much as I think about how great the book was the first time around, I feel totally uninterested in reading it a second time.
The Pact—Beginning
I read some of my classmates' reviews on this book, or maybe just one review, anyway, it seemed interesting, so I bought it. Even the first few pages gave me a good feeling. After reading up to the part in the hospital, I decided to stop and read the blurb on the back. A "suicidal pact" sounded quite intriguing.
Anyway, I found the language in this book to be quite realistic. It would describe all the masks the characters wear, and then give a mini exposé on how they really feel. Picoult didn't hold back on the characters' feelings when writing this, which seemed quite refreshing compared to other books that weren't so focused on emotions. I have to say, I was caught off guard with how realistic it was, particularly the language used by and to describe the characters' feelings.
So, I haven't gotten very far in this book, but it certainly has an attractive quality about it, and I'm looking forward to finding out how this writing style guides the story.
Anyway, I found the language in this book to be quite realistic. It would describe all the masks the characters wear, and then give a mini exposé on how they really feel. Picoult didn't hold back on the characters' feelings when writing this, which seemed quite refreshing compared to other books that weren't so focused on emotions. I have to say, I was caught off guard with how realistic it was, particularly the language used by and to describe the characters' feelings.
So, I haven't gotten very far in this book, but it certainly has an attractive quality about it, and I'm looking forward to finding out how this writing style guides the story.
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