1900s

Brave New World – Aldous Huxley

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BOOK #649
Reviewer: Tall, Short, Tiny & a Pickle

Brave New WorldBrave New World joins 1984 (George Orwell) and We (Yevgeny Zamyatin) on this list as three of the most influential dystopian (or, anti-utopian) novels of the twentieth century. I haven’t read We, but of the other two, Brave New World is easily my favourite.

Set in A.F 632, ‘this year of stability’ is 632 years after the advent of car king Henry Ford. Huxley has cleverly chosen Ford as his “deity”; the Model T was the first car to be manufactured using mass-production methods and specialised labour. In Brave New World, the World State is maintained through biological engineering and excessive conditioning; its citizens have been “hatched” to fill pre-destined social roles, and throughout infancy, they are taught (through hypnotism and sleep-teaching) the “virtues” of passive obedience, promiscuity and mindless materialism. As adults, they are encouraged to take (and freely given) a government-approved drug (similar to marijuana), and to engage in orgies, all to further instil the virtues of Community, Identity, and Stability.

Every member of society in the World State seems to be happy with their life, except for Bernard Marx. Bernard alone seems to find the situation unbearable, and longs to escape from the brainwashed idealism. He visits a Savage Reservation, where there are people living the old way; by the end of the novel, he is resigned to the way of life in the World State and has accepted his role in this world.

I really enjoyed this book, with its moments of pure comic gold (hopefully intentional!) interwoven with seemingly prophetic passages. I think Huxley was trying to make the point that at some stage, humanity is going to lose some of its spontaneity, individualism and uniqueness in its quest for a society where everything is seemingly perfect. The idea that possessions will soon become more important than people is something not far off the way of the world now (and just before Christmas, it might be quite timely that I’m thinking this way?!).

I liked Huxley’s style, and his characterisations – they were still human, and still real in their “created” personalities, and their interactions were quite normal. Obviously, some of the ideas and reactions were rather different, but they were believable.

The other big plus for me was that this was an easy, quick read; I didn’t struggle to get through it the way I did with 1984 (which I still enjoyed; it just took me a while), and I didn’t find it depressing as I did with Orwell’s dystopia.

After the Quake – Haruki Murakami

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Book #64

Reviewer: Inspirationalreads

11299Murakami is another author that I have been in awe of and yet a bit wary.  He is a firm favourite among many of my fellow readers, highly lauded by many a critic/reviewer.  This was the last available to review on this list of the four books he has on here.  And yet I was intimidated by the highly surreal nature often referred to where his books are concerned, where readers were unsure of what was happening but were enjoying themselves, happy to be taken for the ride.  This was further emphasised when I read After Dark, another short story collection of his that is not on this list.   So nabbing this last opportunity to review a Murakami for this list (so far at least) I put myself in the mindset of being open and willing to go wherever Murakami wanted to take me.  Which for all my mental preparedness ended up being very middle of the road.

After the Quake features six short stories all set in the aftermath of the destructive 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan.  Rather than being directly set in and around Kobe, or having the characters be directly affected by the earthquake itself, these stories are more ripples than aftershocks, the earthquake being a passing mention,  a distant motivation.  So while this collection is called After the Quake, this is far less a unifying theme as there is another more obvious ; that of human relationships.  Be it the losing of some and gaining of new, re-connecting with yourself, searching for a connection that is missing, or re-connecting in a more meaningful manner this thread of connectivity runs throughout five of the six stories here. For me, this was unexpected and whether or not it was because I had mentally prepped myself for something different, a little disappointing in their straightforwardness and accessibility.  That is not to say that these stories are not poignant or meaningful, as this common thread does make for interesting thought when looked at as a collective.  The reactions of these different characters and the different aspects of human inter-connectivity are displayed in scenarios that never feel forced and could be everyday occurrences anywhere.  In the first story, our main character’s wife leaves him and he is given the opportunity of a new connection when he is sent on a mysterious work trip.  In another, a business woman has a spiritual encounter that encourages her to let go of the painful past in order to move forward and connect more truthfully and happily in the future.

It is just that this does not feel like a new handling of a common theme; nothing here is fresh and off-kilter like one would come to expect from Murakami.  It is not until I got to the fifth of the sixth stories, ‘Super-Frog Saves Tokyo’ that the absurd surrealism that I have come to associate with Murakami comes into play and for me, this story becomes the saving grace of the collection.  This thread of relationships can be drawn through this story as well, even though it is, as the title depicts, about a super-sized, super-skilled frog battling a giant worm to prevent an earthquake in Tokyo.  A loan collector, who thinks little of himself, is chosen as Super-Frog’s companion due to his selflessness and giving nature towards not only his family, but his friends and colleagues too.  Perhaps it is that he, who is humble and giving in his relationships with others is worthy of such a task, that of defending the city of Tokyo.  This odd little tale was a bright spot that stood out because of how different it was and was enjoyable because of the difference.

This book would be an odd choice as an introduction to Murakami so I would not recommend it for this.  It is however a nice study of human interaction and a must read for Super-Frog alone.  Maybe Murakami’s plan was to make the expected unexpected and therefore not so far out of his scope after all. Maybe this is just a lesson for me to leave any and all expectations at the door, especially when it comes to this author.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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Book #804

Reviewer: Ms Oh Waily 

TAOSH I read The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes a good number of years ago as a teenager and enjoyed them.  But they were essentially consigned to memory until I thought to revisit them after my earlier review of The Hound of the Baskervilles.

The adventures are a series of twelve, relatively, short stories.  Most will set you back less than an hour to read and each is a little vignette of Holmesian deduction.

The twelve cases are:

  • A Scandal in Bohemia
  • The Adventure of the Red-Headed League
  • A Case of Identity
  • The Boscombe Valley Mystery
  • The Five Orange Pips
  • The Man with the Twisted Lip
  • The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
  • The Adventure of the Speckled Band
  • The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb
  • The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor
  • The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
  • The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

The most likely story that you would be familiar with is the first, A Scandal in Bohemia.  It is in this piece that we meet ‘that woman’, Irene Adler.  American opera singer, socialite and apparently a brilliant woman to have outwitted Mr. Holmes.  Then you read the story, or listen on audiobook as I did, and you are left wondering at the idea that being observant and quick witted equals being a brilliant woman and a great opponent for the master deducer.
Oh how times have changed Sir Arthur, oh how they have changed.

Each of the succeeding stories brings out different mini-mysteries, some of which Holmes solves faultlessly while others like the Irene Adler case, are not so clear cut in the perpetrators being brought to justice.  In some instances, it is a case of unmasking goings-on rather than actual crime.

I found the writing to be almost as good as The Hound of the Baskervilles, with just enough setting for each story before getting to the nitty-gritty of the various mysteries to be detected.  Holmes’ deductions are sometimes obvious in advance of his explanations, other times not so much.  And as I mentioned in my previous review, unlike the often portrayed superior attitude of Holmes to Watson in film versions, there is nothing to note of that in these stories either.  In fact, he is quite complimentary and warm about his companion for the most part.

It is another pleasant read, or listen, that will not tax you.  It is worthy of a place on the list as a good selection of the different types of mystery story and if you enjoy it enough you will find it to be the first of five Sherlock Holmes short(ish) story collections for you to hunt out.  This one is the earliest, dated 1892, and was published ten years before The Hound of the Baskervilles but only two years after The Sign of Four.
If you find yourself enjoying the Victorian world of Holmes and Watson, I can only imagine reading the novels and short stories in published order, would give an even more rounded aspect on Conan Doyle’s characters.  To do that, start at the beginning with A Study in Scarlet, and then check the list at the bottom of the page here at Wikipedia for published order.

I hope you enjoy this slice of Victoriana as much as I did.

A Room With A View – E.M Forster

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Book #761

Reviewer: Tall, Short, Tiny & a Pickle

A Room With A ViewWhen I was 16-years-old, a friend and I became obsessed with the novels of E.M Forster. We thought we were incredibly sophisticated and open-minded, and went so far as to write our own stories using similar language and ideas.

One of my favourites was A Room With A View; it was amusing in its portrayal of pretentious Victorian manners, and the dialogue was brilliant. In flicking back through the novel for the purposes of this review, I found myself again smiling at a few exchanges.

“Am I to conclude,” said Miss Bartlett, “that he is a Socialist?”
Mr Beebe accepted the convenient word, no without a slight twitching of the lips.
“And presumably he has brought up his son to be a Socialist, too?”
“I hardly know George, for he hasn’t learned to talk yet. He seems a nice creature, and I think he has brains. Of course, he has all his father’s mannerisms, and it is quite possible that he, too, may be a Socialist.”

A Room With A View is set in Italy and England. In Florence, Italy, young Lucy Honeychurch and her cousin Charlotte meet a Mr Emerson and his son George; they are staying at the same hotel and when the gentlemen offer to switch rooms with the young women, they are offended by their lack of “manners”. Charlotte forms an instant dislike of the Emersons and convinces Lucy to feel the same; Lucy falls for young George, but upon her return to England, accepts the proposal of someone else. The novel ends back in Florence, with Lucy having eloped with one of her suitors…you’ll have to read it to find out who!

Like many writers of the time, Forster had a tendency to comment on sexuality, religion and class. A Room With A View is a definite commentary on these, with a focus on the repression of women and feminine sexuality at the time. There is an obvious struggle in Lucy between the old-fashioned values she has been raised by, and the more liberal values she believes in. This is made more prominent for her after her stay in Italy, where the gap between the classes is much less than in England, and she realises how much ridiculous value is placed on class and society back home. Most importantly, A Room With A View is a novel about following your heart, despite what society thinks or tells you to do.

The notes at the back of my copy of the novel explain the symbolism of the title of the book, which is rather handy, because I know 16-year-old me wouldn’t have picked up on this: the “rooms” refer those characters and places that are considered conservative, like England, Lucy’s mother, and her pretentious fiancé, while the “views” refer to those that are considered liberal and open-minded, like Italy, the Emersons and Lucy herself.

I enjoyed A Room With A View immensely as a young adult, and the passages I re-read now brought that enjoyment flooding back. A recommended read if you like amusing Victorian-era novels that allude to society’s failings before their time.

Rickshaw Boy – Lao She

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Book # 626a

Reviewer: Kara

RB“The life of a poor man…was like the pit of a date, pointed on both ends and round in the middle. You’re lucky to get through childhood without dying of hunger, and can hardly avoid starving to death when you’re old. Only during your middle years, when you’re strong and unafraid of either hunger or hard work, can you live like a human being.”

This is the essence of Lao She’s Chinese classic novel Rickshaw Boy. Xiangzi is an impoverished rickshaw puller in his twenties who is ambitious enough to make sacrifices and save up to improve his lot in life, only to have his hopes and dreams dashed over and over again. The moment things are going right for Xiangzi, another misadventure befalls him. Despite this endless tragedy, Lao She’s story is comical, if painfully so. The sheer unfairness of the ups and downs and the matter-of-fact tone of the writing force the reader to laugh with a grimace.

The city of Beiping (now known as Beijing) plays a critical role in the book.  As a rickshaw man, Xiangzi knows every nook and cranny. Despite the poverty and lack of opportunity he faces, Xiangzi never has a negative thought about his city. In fact, “Xiangzi had but one friend: this ancient city.” He can’t imagine ever leaving it, even if leaving might improve his situation. Beiping is home for Xiangzi in the fullest sense of the word.

Ultimately, Rickshaw Boy is the story of the hopelessness that results from extreme poverty. Without the slightest chance to ever live comfortably, Lao She makes clear that a rickshaw man has little reason to work any harder than he must to survive the day:

“Sloth is the natural result of unrewarded hard work among the poor, reason enough for them to be prickly.”

He also has little reason to even think about the future. After all, any gains he makes will be taken from him:

“Experience had taught him that tomorrow was but an extension of today, a continuation of the current wrongs and abuses.”

Rickshaw Boy is a quick and fairly easy read, with a very overt message. What I enjoyed most about it reading it was the fact that it took me well outside the usual realm of literary classics from America and Great Britain. Rickshaw Boy is a Chinese story and a successful portal into 1930s China. But it’s also a universal story of the hopelessness that extreme economic disparity breeds; this is a very relevant message in our world today.