1001 books: some quick thots on preliminary reads

[cloudedhues]

this doesn't even count as a review post although i will tag it as such.

(*) asterisk denotes mandatory classroom reads, aka i don't remember what the fuck i read

1. Life of Pi by Yann Martell

a story about a boy marooned in the middle of the ocean with a bengal tiger. if it sounds fantastical, that's kind of the point. honest to god one of my favorite novels; i've probably read this at least ten times.

2. Beloved by Toni Morrison*

i just remember that the woman got pregnant with a rock, or a stone, or a boulder, some type of sedimentary material. i think it was metaphorical. god, i hope it was. 

3. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood*

no, i haven't watched the hulu original because i'm depressed.

4. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

"war is hell" told by a holistically "time-travelling" veteran. it's a lot funnier and sadder than it sounds. 

5. The Godfather by Mario Puzo

not to be a white male with a cinema degree but i love this movie so i just had to read the book. it's, uh, a pretty bad time if you go in thinking women should be, you know, people and all.

6. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

this was the first and only try by my short-lived book club with my roommates (which was our attempt to connect with each other post-college) and they all either hated it or didn't finish it. i, on the other hand, belonged to neither category. i was astounded by the prose and the wordplay. the way alex's voice and his violence were foreign languages but became so ingratiated that the two became second nature by the last sentence. burgess is an absolute genius.

7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee*

one of the few classroom-mandated that i loved. i refuse to read go set a watchman because i don't want to lose faith in one of the few white men i trust.

8. Animal Farm by George Orwell*

one of those "now more than ever" books. i have no other significant thoughts about this besides the fact that the "live-action" hallmark version i watched in class was probably more fucked up than the actual book.

9. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

i read this because i was playing curley's wife in the school play and i had zero sex appeal and was wondering whether the book would impart anything. it did not, in fact.

10. The Awakening by Kate Chopin*

housewife chafes under expectations of society and her family. i'm sure i would have liked this a lot better had i understood the significance of its historical and societal context. but i didn't and also i hated my english teacher so

11. Dracula by Bram Stoker

lucy westenra was not straight and she deserved better.

12. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde*

oscar wilde was not straight and he deserved better.

13. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

i actually read the brick before getting into the musical and was sorely disappointed to see that "dog eats dog" didn't include a 300-page explanation of paris's sewer system.

14. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens*

i only liked this one because we watched the ioan gruffud movie version and he was hot in it. also estella is a lesbian.

15. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne*

all i got from this is that the puritans were repressed and not even in a sexy fun way.

16. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

my absolute favorite. never has an ugly man hiding his wife in his attic been more romantic.

17. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

victor frankenstein is a punk ass bitch and doesn't deserve his son.

18. Persuasion by Jane Austen

captain wentworth's letter in the end is the epitome of romance tbh. "half-agony, half-hope" ugh fucking deck me. this is arguably austen's best and most underrated book and deserves more adaptations.

19. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen*

i had to read this book in middle school and thought it was about a racist narcissist until i read the cliffnotes version.