Scotland Takes Drugs in Psychic Defence

Growing up in a suburb of Philadelphia, I've lived a rather sheltered life. Sure, I've come across the random acquaintance who, on occasion, smokes weed or takes hallucinogenic drugs, but I have no absolutely no experience with "drug cultures" or junkies. This, however, is precisely the culture depicted by Irvine Welsh in his cult classic, Trainspotting. I had watched the film based on the book during my freshman year study abroad experience in London. The professor of my British Life and Culture course was obsessed with the evolution of British youth culture, and Trainspotting certainly defines a particular area its history.

The novel follows a group of friends in Scotland, bonded by their mutual need to shoot up. They share everything: drug cocktails, needles, AIDS, and girls. Of course, their destructive habits are not without consequences, and the book's plot serves as a chronicle of both their individual and mutual downfalls. This is, of course, not at all surprising. Fortunately for both the characters and the reader, it ends with a glimmer of hope.

What sets Trainspotting apart from other novels that examine the same dark subject matter is the language and perspective. Welsh writes his chapters from the viewpoints of a variety of narrators, each accompanied by his or her own distinctive Scottish dialect. The phonetic spelling of these dialects can be hard to read and understand at first (for example, my ignorance of the Scottish slang word for "baby" had me missing that one of the characters had an abortion in the opening chapters), but as the novel continues, this difficulty is almost completely erased. The confusion of the reader in experiencing the phonetic spelling of the Scottish accent, in my opinion, even enhances the confusion that the drug addled minds of Welsh's characters experience.

This book is a fascinating one to read, both as a character study and as a literary work. I give it a B+ and would highly recommend it, although it is certainly not for the faint of heart. Those opposed to reading graphic descriptions of unsafe drug injections or sexual acts, all told in extremely explicit language, should skip this one.

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"I didn't have any concept of Trainspotting being published. It was a selfish act. I did it for myself." (Irvine Welsh)

This Is the Sorcery of Cities

Arcadia (n): a region or scene of simple pleasure and quiet.

This is certainly not the definition with which Jim Crace is working in his novel of the same title: Arcadia. Rather, his theme focuses on the corruptive nature of cities in opposition to the rustic life that country settings provide. In the book's second half, the building of "Arcadia", what is supposed to be a modernized country-style market, only causes destruction and grief. His themes show clearly in his characters, who all carry some sort of burden as a result of their city-inspired ambitions.

His plot is not a fast paced one, nor is it particularly imaginative. The true gem in Crace's writing, here, is his imagery. He truly is a painter with words, making his descriptions wonderful to read. Reading the novel, I felt that I was seeing exactly what Crace, as an author, wanted me to see. While some might find that limiting, I am of the opinion that it serves to enhance his theme. A division between two alternatives cannot be completely understood if one does not have a clear picture of the two alternatives in and of themselves.

Crace does a wonderful job with a fairly slow-moving plot line, keeping the reader interested in the setting more than the action. Definitely worth the read; I'm giving it a B.

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"There is no remedy for death - or birth - except to hug the spaces in between. Live loud. Live wide. Live tall." (Jim Crace)

The Answer to the Great Question of Life, the Universe and Everything... Is... Forty-two

I have, since grade school, been meaning to read Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Once, when I was home from school, sick, a very good family friend lent me his VHS (yes, I just said VHS... I was in grade school, remember?) set of the BBC mini-series adaptation, and I absolutely loved it. Then, lo and behold, Marvin the manically depressed robot was voiced by Alan Rickman in the 2005 adaptation. Could I possibly love The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy more? Yes; I could read it.

What's there to love, you ask? What isn't there to love? This book is just plain fun. It's hilariously clever and sarcastic, and I found myself, on several occasions, laughing out loud. Don't be fooled, though, it's surprisingly poignant in some places. Isn't it just a book about aliens, you ask? Not really. True, it's "science-fiction-y" enough for those of us who enjoy that sort of thing, but it's not so far "out there" that it's rigidly genre-specific and off-putting to those who claim to hate sci-fi classics the likes of Star Wars. It has to be that way, in a sense, given Arthur Dent's whirlwind introduction to intergalactic travel. To that end, the excerpts from the actual Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy are not only helpful in acclimating the reader to new planets and their inhabitants, but they are written in a fun and light-hearted manner. It's as if much of the book is written like one big inside joke between Douglas Adams and his readers, and it makes it a true delight to read. Screw the quintessential chick-books often referred to as "summer reading" and pick this up instead. Sure, you might get some strange looks on the beach, but I have a feeling you'll be much more satisfied. Hands down, a well-deserved A+.

It should be noted that The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is only one of five novels that tell the entire story of Arthur Dent's journey through space. However, why stop there when it's end so clearly sets up the next novel's beginning? I didn't! Barnes & Noble *insert shameless pitch for my place of employment here* currently offers a beautiful leather-bound book with all of them in one; I strongly suggest purchasing it. It costs less than buying all five separately! Even less if you have a membership! *insert shameless pitch for the Barnes & Noble membership program here*

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"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." (Douglas Adams)

All of the Advantages of Christianity and Alcohol; None of Their Defects

I love when professors just happen to assign books on this list. Not that I find reading other course books useless, but there's a nice sort of satisfaction in reading something that will "double count" for something. It makes me feel much more productive. And so, as per my syllabus, I completely dove into Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World.

I must admit that I enjoy dystopian novels, especially those that serve to point out how humanity will destroy itself if it continues down the path on which it is currently venturing. Is that morbid? Perhaps, but these books, in my opinion, are fascinating to read. However, I admit that I most likely would not have liked this particular novel as much were it not for the humanities gateway for which I am reading it. Thus far in the semester, my class has been examining the shift between the classical and modern views of the world and how the scientific revolution served as the catalyst of this drastic change. We have considered whether what we view today as "scientific progress" is really progress at all, and how all of our contemporary conceptions of reality are altered if we look at the world as a series of forms that have their own intrinsic meanings. In Brave New World, reality takes one more shift away from us, serving to exaggerate the very principles by which we are living life now. The allusions to our previous class discussions abound. Rarely have I seen a work of fiction so well employed in a class that has previously been reading philosophical works and scientific treaties.

I still, however, maintain that I would not have enjoyed this book as much without this class. Huxley's novel is surely not a literary work of art. There is nothing particularly admirable about his writing style; his sentence structure is short and clipped. Yes, this partly serves to demonstrate the barren nature of the world he has created, but is nonetheless unimaginative. His plot is interesting, but, as I suppose must be the case considering the setting, there is little to no character development. The entire plot, especially the ending, is rather abrupt. I felt as though the book should have been longer.

But despite this, Brave New World leads us to ask questions that are vital for the world in which we currently live. And for that, I give it an A.

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"It's with bad sentiments that one makes good novels." (Aldous Huxley)

And We're Back!

Okay, so I've been reading and reading, and I'm getting way too behind with reviews that I have to write. So, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to list the books I've read thus far but haven't reviewed. Then, I'll begin reviewing again. Technically I'll be "caught up". There's just no realistic way that I'll sit down and write all of these reviews. Anyway, here we go!

34: Barchester Towers - Anthony Trollope - A
35: Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro - A
36: Anna Karinena - Leo Tolstoy - C
37: Little Women - Louisa May Alcott - A
38: The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood - B
39: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon - A
40: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twian - C
41: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson - A
42: Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson - A
43: Les Miserables - Victor Hugo - A
44: The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo - A
45: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce - B
46: The Death of Ivan Ilych - Leo Tolstoy - B+
47: Tender is the Night - F. Scott Fitzgerald - A-
48: Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert - A
49: The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway - B-
50: Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll - A
51: Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There - Lewis Carroll - A
52: The Lambs of London - Peter Akroyd - A
53: The Virgin Suicides - Jeffery Eugenides - B+
54: The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells - B-
55: David Copperfield - Charles Dickens - B
56: Les Liasons Dangereuses - Choderlos Laclos - A
57: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle - A

58: The Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle - A

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