BB is watching you.

Book 11 - A book with a number in the title.

 

1984 by George Orwell

 

I don't even know what to say.

If you have read this particular novel then you will possibly understand my current amount of uneasiness. An uneasiness which follows such a novel is not so easily shaken. 

I was warned by Moma before even beginning the journey back to 1984 that the book was: ew. I did not have the same feelings, but I did feel rather perturbed by many of the concepts discussed and displayed in the workings of the novel.

1984, written in 1949, I would consider a futuristic novel although we have already come and gone from the year 1984. We know that the events which took place in the novel are not real; and I must say, I am glad for that!

(Just a warning for the reader, I shall be engaging in themes that are of the *spoileralert* sense. Please be careful with the next few paragraphs.)

With ideas such as; the past doesn't exist there is only the present, every move you make Big Brother is watching you, and there is no safety in your own thoughts; we are transformed into a world which is not only a question of what the future could be like, but a scary possibility to behold.

Imagine a world where you can't even be protected from your own thoughts. If you talk in your sleep and someone hears you say something against what the Party (dictators of life) wants, you could be captured and taken to Room 101. Not only will you be tortured, but you will be forced through that torture to let go of your current thoughts and resort back to the acceptable thoughts of the Party. If you can't seem to grasp what the Party wants and they can't force you to fully believe it, you will disappear and it will become like you had never existed in the first place.

This fictional world is filled with telescreens that follow your every move. There can be no time to sit around without having something to do. In order to keep everyone in line with what the Party wishes, they must be constantly sending out new bulletins, drilling in new ideas and monitoring those who stray in order to keep the general public in line.

The main character works primarily in an area involved in keeping the past unknown. If someone dies, their name is removed from every piece of written paper that exists in the records. When Oceania was suddenly at war with Eastasia rather than Eurasia, every news article had to change to reflect that they had always been at war with Eastasia. I'm not sure I could handle such a cold regard for the history that has formed this wonderful world. I do rather love history.

What I often find with these futuristic novels which promote a utopian world, is that those worlds seem to be just as messed up or even more so than our world is today, just in different ways. It's rather ironic how we try to change this world (through fiction), only to find that it is just as good the way that it is.

In any case, make sure you are in a rather excellent mental state before embarking on this rather unpleasant journey through time. You will need to then check that you still have a large majority of that excellent mental state before operating heavy machinery. This is all just a suggestion, but I know you will take it seriously.

 

this is t-bear signing off

The world isn't a wish-granting factory.

Book 10 - A book at the bottom of your to-read list

 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

 

It may have been at the bottom of my to-read list, but this is not to say that I felt that the book wasn't going to be worth reading before I had even read it.

As often happens with the young people of today, they pick a book that is becoming a movie and become obsessed with it. I had firmly decided that I was not going to ever read this novel. Then, one day whilst browsing the vast assemblage of books collectively known as Chapters, I bought the novel. Don't ask me why, I'm still trying to work that part out.

It has been about three years since I decided I wasn't interested in reading this novel. The movie had not been announced yet, but there were many people in my Grade 12 English class who were unnecessarily excited about Mr. Green. After listening to such classmates drone on about the "wonderful" nature in which Mr. Green records his innermost thoughts on paper, I became fully unexcited about reading The Fault in Our Stars.

Yet, here we sit, less than 24 hours after finishing the novel. From the conversations of friends, I was under the impression that I would be full out balling by the end. Alas, this was not the case. I didn't cry once. I may have become a little teary at times, but never actual crying.

This novel is another one of those teenage love stories that incurs a problem throughout the novel which threatens the foreverness of their love. Unlike most novels which display a more mild cause for brief separation, ultimately resulting in a happy conclusion of everlasting love, this novel involves *spoileralert* one of the lovely lovers dying. I won't say more as I'm sure you all want to read the novel after such a vivid recount.

I had a rather difficult time identifying with the main character because (and this won't spoil anything because you learn this first thing) she is faced with a difficult life involving the big C. As a result of the cancer that took over her body, she has poor lungs and is always attached to an oxygen tank. There is a great deal of courage involved in the lives of the characters because most of them have or have had cancer.

The part that I can easily identify with is how they all live their lives in full humour even though they have been dealt the worst hand. I often approach difficult situations with humour rather than seriousness. I rather enjoyed the sarcastic remarks made by the characters.

If you are in the place I was before reading this novel, you can stay there. I don't feel as though my life has grown in any way based on what I have gather from its pages. If you really want to read the novel and just haven't had time, maybe your busyness is trying to tell you something.

I think I would enjoy this novel much more if my feelings hadn't been tainted by the general public who fervently informed me that it is the greatest book ever written. My question is; have they ever read any Harry Potter book?

 

Okay? this is t-bear signing off

P. B.

Book 9 - A book you can finish in a day

Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne

As a child I always rather enjoyed reading stories and watching movies about Pooh Bear and his friends. However, I have never read this particular story.

I found this precise copy on the bookshelf in the living room, with a lovely inscription in the front cover reading: Uncle K from Aunt A 1965.

If you know anything about Uncle K, then you will know that he has never read a book in his life. Magazine, yes. Book, no. I remarked to Moma that he may wish to have this book returned to him at some point, but we easily decided that he would never read it. At the time it was given to him, he would have been six and, therefore; has probably only been privy to its innermost ideas as a result of a bedtime story courtesy of dear Oma. He probably doesn't have any remembrance of the existence of such a gift. Maybe one day his grandchild(ren) will appreciate such a token of history. I shall keep it safe just in case such a moment arises.

If you have ever read this tale, or rather mixture of tales, then you may understand where I'm coming from here.

As I began reading, I felt such excitement in getting the opportunity to discover something from my childhood that would easily go along with everything  I already know about the tales of Pooh Bear. However, I soon realized that, like most books from our childhoods, the themes in the stories were of a much older nature than something for a small child. There were many things that made me stop and wonder about what the author was really thinking when pairing such a group of words. With the reoccurring image of little Christopher Robin and his gun, and the ever gloomy Eeyore, I started to wonder if it wasn't one of my better ideas to read the book in my more advanced years.

Upon further reflection, one will notice that the parts of the book that I found to be troubling or maybe not age appropriate, will have little negative effect on the way a child would see the story. As children we are all graced with the ability to be innocent, and although many children's books and movies from my childhood seem a bit disturbing to me today; they were quite harmless when I was but 4 feet (which was not very long, let me tell you).

I quite enjoyed reading the "without a brain" way that Pooh Bear takes on life and the rather philosophical things that he thought while assuming that he didn't have a brain.

If you are planning on reading this novel in the near future, you will need about three hours to finish it. It involves little intellectual attentiveness, which is rather wonderful sometimes for reading.

Beware the Woozles, this is t-bear signing off

Will Shakes

Book 8 - A nonfiction book

 

The Treasures of William Shakespeare by Catherine M S Alexander

 

If you didn't already suspect, I am not normally a nonfiction reader. I am usually more of a fictional kinda person, but the book challenge called for a nonfiction book; so I read a nonfiction book.

In my many years of reading I have not read a lot of nonfiction books outside of the textbooks I have been forced to read in class. However, I have been able to find enjoyment in some nonfiction books as a result of assignments where I was able to choose the topic. With pages about Charles Dickens, Henry Ford or Greek mythology how can one not enjoy a nonfiction book?

You may be wondering why I have such a nonfictional book on my shelf, and feel inclined to tell you that I didn`t purchase it to be put upon a shelf of rather fictional origins. I was graced with the presence of this nonfictional book at Christmas time as a gift from my broski and his dearest girlfriend. As it was a gift, I at first felt the need to read it, even though it is a nonfiction book, but then I found out that the book challenge called for it. That's when things changed.

Alas, I would much rather be immersed in a novel of the fictional kind; if historical characters, settings or events happen show up, that's fine, but the storyline had better be fictional in the end.

Anywho, this book is about the great Will Shakes.

The first time I was introduced to Mr. Shakespeare was in high school when we were forced to read Romeo and Juliet as part of our English class. Since then I have been privy to the written ideas involved in The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, King Lear and Hamlet, along with Twelfth Night and As You Like It as performances at the Stratford Festival. I think, after all that Shakespeare, I still like King Lear  the best. That may have something to do with the fact that I actually read the play the whole way through and didn't just see the stage performance, but I`m not so sure.

This book travels through the life and times of William Shakespeare; the time period he was born in and what theatre was like at the time he began writing. Over the course of the book, we are taken on a journey through the different plays that Mr. Shakespeare wrote, the changes in the theatre life, and how the plays have been changed from the performances on the stage in the 1700s to the films created in the 21st century.

I was quite excited to learn that there are four pouches in the book that each have copies of documents that were somehow closely connected to Mr. Shakespeare. There are tickets and brochures from significant performances, birth announcements of the Shakespeare twins, and even a copy of William Shakespeare's will.

After everything that I learned I wish that I had read more of the plays before reading. There were so many references to all the plays that I would like to read at some point in my life. I guess I`ll have to reread this book after I`ve taken the Shakespeare challenge and read them all.

In any case, if you take a liking to Mr. Shakespeare, read this book, it will tell you all you need to know.

Can't believe I'm saying this, read a nonfiction once in a while. You may just learn something fantastic about this world.

 

this is t-bear signing off

The K. C.

Book 7 - A trilogy

The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan

The trilogy. Oh the trilogy.
What to say about the trilogy.
Well, besides the fact that it took me a little longer than previously anticipated to finished the novels, I always love a good Uncle Rick series. Although, I'll have to step it up a notch this next round. I'm already on the tenth week and I haven't even started the tenth book! Have no fear, there are still 42 weeks left.
If you know me at all, you will know that I am a rather large fan of Mr. Riordan. I was very excited the last time I visited, the lovely, Chapters when I purchased this series.
I wasn't too sure about the books when I first saw them sitting on my shelf, mainly because I knew absolutely nothing about them. Then I started to read and I realized that Uncle Rick didn't let me down. Why I ever doubted him, I do not know.
Anywho, these books are not about Greek gods or even Roman ones. The gods of the Kane's stories are of the Egyptian sort. The main characters, Carter and Sadie, are not demi-gods, like the characters in The Heroes of Olympus, they are magicians who aren't supposed to be meddling with the lives of the gods. As we all know, a good story wouldn't contain characters who follow the rules. In the first novel of the trilogy, Carter and Sadie find out how the rest of the magicians feel about the presence of the gods in their lives, even if it wasn't their fault.
I am pleased to say that even though there were many mentions of apocalypses and Doomsday; our brave main characters turned out to be just the heroes we needed in order to maintain the balance of the universe and continue to be human beings. I had my doubts (not at all) but they pulled through in the end, which created the wonderfully, ever present, happily ever after.
Not to be biased, but if you haven't read any of Uncle Rick's books, now would be the time. They are the most spectacular pieces of paper your eyes will ever have the opportunity of gazing upon. Don't underestimate the power of the sarcastic and sassy dialogue all mixed into the seriousness of the end of the world.
Remember, keep reading!!

Wear your rubber boots tomorrow, this is t-bear signing off