Anthem: Part II

Where can I get an awesome nickname like "The Unconquered"?  This guy is turning into a superhero.

So this guy gets beat, slashed, and tortured, and he still won't tell them where his little hideout is. Then he runs out in the middle of no where with his soon-to-be lover "Golden Eyes" (not nearly as cool as The Unconquered, but good effort), and then they find a house. That seems a little random and somewhat frightening. But I'm glad they escaped and are now going to have awesome, little weird-named children together. OH! And where are the police? Seriously, these guys just escape and no one goes after them? I get that its unexpected, but you should have some sort of system set up (note to self)*. Everything just happened too fast.

Ayn Rand totally woo-ed me with the last line of the book though: "The word which can never die on this earth, for it is the heart of it and the meaning and the glory. The sacred word: EGO". It made me really happy. Everyone should read this book.

Anthem: Part I

For any of you out there who haven't read anything by Ayn Rand....well you should. She's kind of amazing. She created a completely realistic, fictional society, but at the same time I can see our world turning into it at some point. She sums up the whole society in this anthem "We are one in all and all in one, There are no men but only the great WE, One, Indivisible and forever."

It was a little confusing at first because it kind just throws you in the midst of a society with a total ignorance to the correct use of pronouns, but after a while you get used to it. But Equality 7-2521 is a total hooligan. And he may be a bit of a kleptomaniac. I think he's stolen pretty much everything in the town by now. But I'm interested to see what he'll figure out. He seems really smart.

Nectar In A Sieve: Part II

Its the same book. Oh, you couldn't find your long lost son at the first three places you looked? How strange. He left his family and his children? How unexpected.  Come on!

Rukmani's experience was a little different than Kumalo's. She didn't have the help of anyone except a little homeless boy for help; which is much different than having the church backing you.  And she ended up working for more money after all her stuff got stolen.  I felt a little sad that Nathan died, but it wasn't so much of a shock.  What made me really sad is that he ended up keeling over into the mud. It just seems sort of a bad ending for a people so dependent on how they appear to others. He was with his wife though, which made everything better. His last words choked me up a little. The whole "Would you not hold me when my time is come?" really brought their entire weird love story into a whole new context for me.

Nectar In A Sieve: Part I

This book is boring. Its so simple that I'm not even sure I could qualify it in the usual "literature" spot. It's not very thought provoking nor does it require an analysis of any kind.  The author rights so simply and lays things so directly in front of you that a rather amazing story comes off a boring.  Going into this, I thought a story about India would be colorful and symbolic, but Markandaya disappoints.  I think some of it may come from the difference between an American style of writing and an Indian one.  I'm probably just an ignorant American who expects to be wow'ed all the time, so I apologize.

So far this book completely reminds me of Cry, the Beloved Country. Everyone is suffering. The modern world invades the traditional village, and then slowly causes more suffering. Sinful behavior is on the rise.  Prostitution is evident. It just mirrors it a lot.  Also religion is quite a big part of the Indian life as it was in South Africa.  I just feel like I'm reading the same book again. Even this quote reminded of Cry, the Beloved Country: "Hope and fear. Twin forces that tugged at us first in one direction and then in another, and which was stronger no one could say."

House of Mirth: Book II- The End

She comes to the realization of what she needs/wants in life to have solidarity in it, and then she dies. Of course. Why did I not see that coming? I thought through the entire book she would be flawed, but not flawed enough to end up dead. I was wrong. Edith Wharton definitely made it realistic.  It was such a quiet, subtle ending to such a loud life.  Then again, I couldn't see this particular anti-hero truly being happy.

The person I feel worst for is Selden. I think he would've made Lily happy, and I think he thought so too, which is why its so sad. He just had really bad timing. REALLY bad timing. 

Overall, it was a good book. I just wish these authors would stop toying with my emotions.