Captain Corelli's Mandolin- Louis de Bernières

A very good book indeed! I had heard that the film was really good, though never having seen it I thought I would read the book instead. At first I wasn't too enthusiastic about the book as I found some of it quite boring and a bit confusing with each chapter jumping from a different character or situation, but after 6 chapters soon got the hang of it. I suppose most of the beginning really was to create some context. However, anything to do with war and those fine details I find excruciatingly boring and find my mind drifting into other thoughts.

Slightly disappointed at the fact that Nicholas Cage would be given the role of Antonio Corelli as he really does repulse me. So I tried not to imagine that character being Antonio Corelli in my mind.

But other than that it was a thrilling and moving read! My hands and eyes were just glued to the book and its pages. The ending was slightly predictible but not as such where the couple, Corelli and Pelagia lived happily ever after- in fact it leaves room for you to imagine what could happen next.

Definitely one I may read again in many years time or to even watch the movie.

The Book Thief- Markus Zusak

This is one book that I never thought I would end up liking. I had always seen it in the bookstore for the past year, and would always consider it, but then after reading the summary on the back, I feel disinterested in the book. It wasn't until my mom had read it and recommended reading it, that I gave it a chance.

It's about a young German girl, Liesel, who goes to live with foster parents after her own parents are sent to a concentration camp in 1939. The book is narrated by Death (yes, random I know) and follows 5 years of Liesel's life living in Nazi Germany. It took a couple of chapters to really get into it as I wasn't really sure as to where the book was going. I actually enjoyed it by the time I got to the end of the book. I had gotten so wrapped up in the story and this fictional girl's life and at times I felt quite emotional.

Really, I do seem to get quite emotional when it comes to stories about WWII. I know most people now are pretty bored of hearing these stories, fictional or non-fictional, but I find it fascinating and also disturbing that a certain race of people could be treated the way they had been. Although the story follows a German, non-Jewish girl, it still crosses over with the story of the Jews suffering under the hand of Hitler. I suppose that is what makes the story unique to others based during this era, that it brushes on the story of the Jews but focuses on a German girl who has to experience all of this at such a young age.

I may have to look into more books based around this era too. There's just so much to learn from what happened, I don't see how anyone could get bored of it.

The Picture of Dorian Gray- Oscar Wilde

Well after all of the books that I have read thus far since September, this was certainly the most disappointing one to date. I'd seen the adverts for the film on tv at the end of last year and it looked quite good. Really, I prefer to read the book than watch the film, but this was the most boring book I've had to plough through since Life of Pi and I had to give up on that one by the third chapter. I think this will be one film I will be renting out, if I can brave myself to sit through something I fear could be just as relentless as the book!

Speaking to my mom about the book, she didn't like it either, though by this point I was 5 chapters off the end of it.

Though I do have to say I did enjoy the last few chapters. Probably because I knew I was near the end anyway. However, the ending didn't provide such a predictable one, well for me anyway.

It was probably for the best that this was Wilde's only novel. I don't think I could really endure anymore!




Now for a bit of Sue Townsend...