Siddartha by Herman Hesse

To start off, I will let you all know that I absolutely HATE philosophy. I hated reading The Apology, The Cave or anything else from Socrates, Plato, Aristotle. Absolutely abhor it. I don't feel the need to answer a question with a question and never get an answer. I am straight forward as it gets. That being said, we can now determine that I wasn't a fan of this book.
I picked up Siddartha at Barnes & Noble since it was part of their classics series where the books are between $3.95-$9.95 and I really like classic novels and want copies if I can. I saw it a few months ago now and bought it. I finally picked it up in August and thought it was going to be a quick read. Was I wrong.
I started reading the first chapter and fell asleep. I went back to the book a few days later and made myself read the first two chapters. I literally did everything in my power to NOT fall asleep and to finish the book. It was painful, especially the first part of the novel. However, I finished it, and I am finally writing a review on it.
The book is only about 160 pages long but if you're like me and hate philosophy, good luck. The novel is about Siddartha who is born into wealth and is a nobleman. He decides to leave his family and name behind and search for enlightenment, which of course makes his father sad. He shuns all personal belongings and becomes a beggar, depending on the kindness of people to survive. He even runs into Buddha, where he realizes that true peace cannot be taught but must be experienced. So this throws Siddartha for a loop. The first part of the novel is Siddartha trying to attain true peace and then in the second part of the novel, he goes back into the human world. He takes up with a consort, attains great wealth and then for whatever reason, he attains some sort of peace and decides to shed all of his worldly possessions and decides to live with the ferryman. The novel comes full circle in the end but I really was bored by it. I enjoyed the second part of the novel because there was more story to it, but the first part really killed it for me.
I have been reading lots of books lately so I will definitely have another review up. The next book I read was Wise Children by Angela Carter and The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.

Until Next Time,
Happy Reading

Gone With The Wind and other relationships gone KAPUT

FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY

I finished Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Good Luck with the reading if you ever decide to. I struggled with the last 100 pages until I had 30 pages left. Then the action started all over again and then I was engrossed once more.


This book is almost 1000 pages long and it is an easy read, as I have stated before but it does just keep going and going. Scarlett O'Hara is an infuriating character but she is so real because we all know a Scarlett O'Hara in our lives. I cannot fault Mitchell on her character development because it was damn good. I wish I had read this novel during school because I would have loved to write a paper on the love triangle (in Scarlett's mind) between Ashley, Rhett and Scarlett. When she FINALLY realizes that she is in love with a memory that is Ashley and really loves Rhett, I wanted to bitch slap her and say "DUH, Scarlett, you ignorant slut!" (Thank you Michael Scott). And when she also comes to the realization that Melanie was her only real friend, that was a DUH moment (ignorant slut). While I loved to hate Scarlett, she was the only one who had any gumption to seize the day and do something even after the world she had known was destroyed.

One of my favorite parts of the book was after Scarlett returns to Tara and she is foraging for food for the family. She is struggling with her load and she declares that she will never from this forth go hungry ever again. I loved the imagery and totally envisioned the scene so vividly.

I have a lot of issues with the book in terms of the historical information. I feel that Mitchell glamorized a lot of the confederacy and from reading it seems as if she used a lot of what she was told by others. I appreciate the view point of a southerners' perspective of the Civil War, but too much glamorization and ignoring of the facts. Mitchell obviously was no fan of Uncle Tom's Cabin, as she jabs at the book multiple times.

Now the question remains whether I should see the movie. But to quote Rhett Butler, "My dear, I don't give a damn". After reading the novel, not sure if I want to sit through a 4 hour movie and be disappointed.


Next book I am reading is for the 1001 Book Club, A Passage to India. Much shorter then GWTW, hopefully it's a good read.

Until next time!

1001 Books

I decided to turn this blog into my literary journey of trying to read the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. It all started interestingly with MENSA, you know, those "wicked smhat" people who have only geniuses in their group. There was in article in Newsweek I believe (haha, yes Newsweek still has some journalistic stories) that gave the top internet sites that MENSA chose. Interested in what they heck MENSA would think were awesome sites, I saw the website www.goodreads.com, a place where you can discuss books with others and discover new ones.

I definitely needed this, let me tell you. I have been on an Agatha Christie kick for the past couple of months now, with no end in sight. I have no strayed into any other genres or authors except for Alexander McCall Smith, who writes The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series.

I am so glad I have good Goodreads. Those at MENSA got it right. (Fun Fact: James Woods is part of MENSA. They've got JAMES WOODS!) Anyway, you can join groups on goodreads and I joined some awesome groups, all with different topics and one of them happens to be 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.

So, here begins my journey. The first book that I read which you have until May 15th to read (you get a whole month) is The Rainbow, by D.H. Lawrence, which I have completed. I have already had some lively discussions on the book, so I will post my comments and feedback on the novel shortly, as I will do with other books that I will be reading that happen to be on the list. Other books that I am reading from other book clubs, such as The Next Best Book Club and The Victorians, also have me reading books from the 1001 Books, which is good, because I can kill two birds with one stone!

I hope by joining me on my journey, you might also be compelled to start reading some different books you never would have ever read. I am glad that I found Goodreads. I love discussing with others my point of view and I love reading awesome books!

Right now I am currently reading One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I will post a progress report shortly as well!