I’m very talented in reading, I read really well, I read everywhere, I read a lot (well, at least if compared to national standards…), I can also read more than one book at a time and not having stories messed up.
Sadly no one’s gonna ever pay me to read… but oh well, I can still enjoy my books š
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger – A classic, and you just need to read the first page to understand why it became a classic. You don’t need to focus on the fact that it was staged in the 50’s (well, sort of) to enjoy the book. Holden is about 16 and he tells you about his life, just like a 16 year old would do. You’re in his head, in his moods, in his way of doing and speaking. Forget about author, narrator, protagonist, you only have Holden and what he tells you. With all those (and I quote freely because I’m translating from the italian translation) “it’s depressing”, “and so on”, “whatever”, “it sucked”, and many more.
Well, now that I’ve praised the prose, let me say that I can’t stand, I can’t really stand him, Holden, Holden Caulfield. It’s such a shame he doesn’t get hit by a car or whatever (and blame me and my absorption of everyone’s way of writing) and then he dies before he can tell you about anything, I almost thought/hoped for a suicide…
It’s mean, I know, but hey, it’s a book, so no one gets really hurt.
A Study in Scarlet by Sir A. Conan Doyle – Sa recommended this book to me, it’s the first time Watson (who I ignored to be a lazy dandy) and Sherlock Holmes appeared on paper. By the way I think Sherlock Holmes is as nice&fun as Mickey Mouse: aka I can’t stand him. He knows it all and in the end he’s always right, even though he was proven wrong ’till the last second.
But gosh this mistery is intriguing! And footprints! And magnifying glasses! It’s like going back to childhood!
Pretty Little Liars by Sarah Shepard (First arc: Pretty little liars; Flawless, Perfect; Unbelievable. Second arc: Wicked; Killer; Heartless) – The thing is I couldn’t wait anymore for the TV series to undisclose the secrets… But this was kind of a fail: the plot on TV has been modified quite a bit (SPOILER ALERT: some of the “main characters” are gone in the books, but not in the show!).
Anyway, it feels like time travel to teenagehood days… Every character is goodlooking, every person is described by eye colour and hairstyle, clothes and accessories, and their cellphones are called “by name” (not “cellphone” but “Blackberry”, “Nokia” and so on). But if you think of the characters, the plot and the target of the book, this is perfect. I don’t know if this was the intended effect but it really feels like being surrounded by high school kids, those who care about those things, like judging someone’s worth by their shoes and clothes. Then, along with the books, it became a characteristic -a quite creepy one- of the entire series: a beautiful place, seemingly perfect (like that pastel toned city in Edward scissorhands) where nobody would ever suspect anything bad is happening… yet everyone has dark secrets and horrible things are happening.
I’ve hit the seventh book just yesterday, Heartless, which means I’m over the “first arc” and past half of the second one… Now I’m in that strange tunnel where I still have no clues for the TV series and I HAVE TO know what is going on with the books… I’m still hoping that maybe something will be cleared.
Ok, eight books read and another started, I’d say that for this month I did my duty, but I doubt that next month I’ll have read as many XD But most of all now is classic-of-the-month-hunt (even though I think it will be Mrs Dalloway, since I already have it in my bookshelf… but you never know!)