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Sunday, 20 February 2011

Your favorite novels (By 'your', I mean 'my', but you can always comment posting yours)

This is something that in all honesty, I should have already blogged about. I love reading, especially fiction. Non-Fiction is great and all but doesn't engage me as much as fiction does. Hence why I absolutely love reading Novels.

So, what am I favourite novels? Well this is something that is not even remotely difficult for me to answer. I have quite a few novels that I would consider to be my favourite. I shall write about each of them in this post in no particular order until I get to my actual favourite novel, which will be the last one I type about.

So, let's begin!

Quick Disclaimer: This is just my opinion. I shall try my best not to slag other books off, but I'm making no promises. I will probably subconsciously end up insulting other books. Forgive me.

So one of my favourite books is Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman. I can remember when I read this book. It was in year 9 (I was about 13/14), and we were reading it as a class in English.
This book is absolutely awesome. Now, one could argue that the story-line isn't all that original because it's basically a modern take on Romeo and Juliet. Which it is, it is more or less just a modern take on Romeo and Juliet, however when reading, I didn't feel like it was predictable, I wasn't sure what was going to happen.

And unlike Romeo and Juliet my reaction to the romance between Callum and Sephy (The two main characters) was not 'Oh gimme a break'. Unlike Shakespeare, I don't think Blackman was mocking young love (I think Shakespeare was to an extent, I mean the whole R&J romance happened in the space of a few weeks) However, in this books, you really the see the characters grow. You understand why they act the way do. I think that is an amazing achievement. It's really hard to actually feel sympathy and empathize with fictional book characters, but Malorie Blackman really made it easy.

The book is written quite differently, as each chapter varies in point of view. For example, the first chapter could be written by Sephy, which would be indicated by a 'X' in the beginning. So the reader can really get a good sense of how she feels and why she, as a character behaves the way she does. I just think it's a wonderful idea and it works really well.

I would really honestly recommend this book. I was only 13 when I read it for the first time, and even though it had very depressing undertones and quite graphic bits, I really enjoyed reading it. I think anyone who actually has a love for novels will enjoy this book. It has pretty much everything. Action, comedy, romance... Everything!

My favourite character is Jude- Callum's brother. I think he's so complex and just completely awesome.

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Book number 2 leads nicely on from number 1 actually because it's called 'Knife Edge' also by Malorie Blackman. It's the sequel to Noughts and Crosses and in some ways, I prefer to it to Noughts and Crosses. The main reason being is, it focuses mainly on Jude as a character.


I'm not going to write much about this book, because by doing so I will most definitely ruin it for you. HOWEVER, It's an awesome book and very complex. It gives a great insight into Jude as a character. He's one of those characters that you know you should hate but can't help loving. I just think he's amazingly well written, and he's very funny in a twisted, creepy,  you belong in a mental home kind of way.

- - -

Lord of the Flies.

I read this book Summer last year, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will admit it had a very, very slow start, and unless you're an avid book reader you'll be tempted to slam the book down and scream 'GET TO THE POINT ALREADY' in frustration. However, I do think the slow start helps add an extra element of shock when you start to realize how the book takes a turn for the worse (not the book becoming terrible, but the actual story in the book takes a savage turn; it's very entertaining).

I do think this novel is one of the greatest pieces of literature ever written; mainly because it sends a very important message through a very simple story. It's one of those books, that I wish that I'd written. Like honestly, sometimes I contemplate, building a time machine, going back to the time when William Golding was just a mere baby, and writing the book before he did. But, that's mean and wrong and obviously, never going to happen. But, if I do make a time machine, remind me to delete this post as, well it's incriminating evidence. 

I'm going way off topic. My point is it's an awesome book (I really need more adjectives), it made me think for days after I'd finish reading it. It made me really scared of humans too, especially little boys named Jack.

My favourite character: Piggy and/or Ralph <- They were the ones with working brains.

- - -

I'm going to be honest and say I didn't read the last two chapters of this book. I hope this doesn't mean, that my review is some what inaccurate. But, in a way, I guess it shows how awesome of a book it is, as even though I didn't technically finish it. It still managed to worm its way into my favourite novels. 

It's one of those books that people always say you should read, and you can almost be certain that you'll enjoy it.

So yes I went into reading it, with very high expectations.

 My expectations were met. It's a wonderful book, and I think what makes it wonderful is the fact that such important and complex issues are shown through the eyes of a child. It makes you realize just how innocent children really are, and sometimes how wise children can really be... You know? Their minds haven't been corrupted that much, they haven't been exposed to much wickedness, so their naivety and un-bias attitude is what makes them really good judges of character.

They didn't judge Tom Robinson on the colour of his skin. They could cearly see that he was innocent (Sorry, If I'm ruining it) and it's just wonderful they way Harper Lee wrote the whole book through the eyes of Jem. I think that's why the book is so poignant and it really makes a big impact on you when you read it.

I would highly recommend this book, like most people would.

Favourite Character: Atticus <- I honestly wish he was my Father. He's just... Epic.

- - -


Quick Mentions: Other books that I think are awesome but I'm just too lazy to write in length about...
  • A Thousand Splendid Suns: Such a depressing book, but it's so wonderfully written. I can almost promise you that it will make you weep. It made me weep. Such a lovely book. It's by  Khaled Hosseini.
  • The Kite Runner: Also by Khaled Hosseini. It's an amazing book. Also very depressing, but it's very well written. It's one of those books that takes you through a person's life, and it really pulls at your emotions. It's just wonderful.
I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can think of right now.
- - -

And.. the winner of my favourite ever book  (so far) is: 

A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess. I just think it's a literature masterpiece. It's a wonderful, beautifully written, funny, sadistic, original, awesome and just an overall perfect book. I love it. I love it so much, I pretty much think about it every day.

I fell in love with the main character, Alex. He is just one of the best characters ever created. He's so sick in the head, but what makes him awesome, is that he thinks is rather insane actions are so normal. 

He just thinks the world is out to get him. He's written in a way that even though you're meant to hate him, and in reality he would make anyone physically sick, you just can't help but love him. You're rooting from him pretty much all the way through (Apart from when he rapes two 10 year olds, and kills some guy's wife after he rapes her) <- apart from that. You love him as a character.

The whole book is basically asking you, the reader: 'Is it better to be bad, if that is what you choose. Or, is being good better even if it means being forced into it'

It's all about free will. It also made me question the idea of prison. You can't truly force someone into being good. Can you? Does it really count if they're forced into it?

I don't know... It just really made me think.

I must warn you; this novel is written largely in a fictional language called 'nasdat'.

 Don't be put off, it's not that hard to pick up. It's a bit hard to understand at first, but then you just get into it. You also feel like the ultimate 'Don' when you're able to completely understand it. The language also gives the book an awesome rhythm, and the fact that such vulgar things are described in slang, also adds to idea that Alex really doesn't see what he's doing as that bad. I'm rambling. It's an awesome book.

It's also a film too. I haven't seen the film, but I hear it's awesome and it has cult classic status. So, if you're not much of a reader, then go watch the film. READING IS AWESOME THOUGH.

Favourite character: Alex.



- - -

So yes! Those are my favourite novels. That took me ages to type. I should read it all the way through and check for typos, but my fingers hurt. :(

Please comment stating your favourite novels, if you want to... maybe. Please?





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