The More I Suffer, the More I Love

I had been looking forward to reading Bernhard Schlink's morality tale, The Reader, since hearing of the film and watching Kate Winslet cinch her Oscar win for it. I still haven't seen the movie, but I knew what it was about and anticipated an intense and dramatic novel to accompany its dark and tumultuous themes. Unfortunately, I found myself a bit underwhelmed.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed reading the novel. It's plot and themes (without giving away too much) are imaginative and thought-provoking, looking at the divisive nature of the holocaust from an entirely different perspective, but I found that the writing and character development left something to be desired. The whole novel just felt a bit flat. However, the part of the book from which the novel draws its title is beautiful and inspiring. It will be interesting to see if the movie follows along the same lines.

All in all, though, I'm giving The Reader a solid B+. It's minor plot twist and ultimate messages are wonderful.

65 down, 936 to go!

"People who commit crimes are not necessarily monsters. If they were, things would be easy. But they aren't, and it is one of the experiences of life." (Bernhard Schlink)

He Who Ruled Scent Ruled the Hearts of Men

Anyone that knows me well - actually, anyone merely acquainted with me - knows of my profound love of Alan Rickman. Whether my love is unhealthy or just enthusiastic is up for debate, but regardless, I was thrilled that Patrick Suskind's novel Perfume: The Story of a Murderer made this list. The movie (featuring Alan Rickman, of course) that this book inspired is brilliant, one of my absolute favorites. A subtle tale of horror, it's plot is so imaginative and the end is so unexpected that I acutely remember staring at my blank television screen in silence for about ten minutes after the credits were done rolling. Although I am generally of the belief that books are always better than their film counterparts, I admit being somewhat concerned that I would be disappointed; I did, after all, already know the ending.

However, the novel was the farthest thing from a disappointment. For fear of giving anything away, the most I will say about the plot is that the main character, the murderer, experiences the world not through sight or touch but through scent. It is truly an imaginative notion. To have such developed descriptions of his thoughts and feelings that are not explored within the limited narrative voice of the film was delightful. Reading the novel makes Suskin's ideas about scent and the emotions that they can inspire much more of a way of thinking about the world as opposed to mere plot points.

Stylistically, Perfume reads like a good mystery novel; suspense is always subtly building. At the same time, however, it takes the time to offer reflections on such important things as Beauty and Truth. It's fabulously written and truly one of a kind. I give it a resounding A and encourage everyone to read it AND see the film. You won't be disappointed... if not a little disturbed.

64 down, 937 to go!

"No human being can go on living in the same house with a pigeon; a pigeon is the epitome of chaos and anarchy." (Patrick Suskind)

Those Had Been Wonderful Times and They Never Returned

In the postings of my mini-reviews of books I have previously read, I notice that I am tending to focus on those which I like. I figured I should break up all this praise with reviews of some works of which I am not as fond. The first is The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.

There are a few other Kafka books on this list of 1001 that I have yet to read, and I am more than willing to give this author a second chance. However, there was little in The Metamorphosis that interested me. Anyone that knows me well can attest to my deep fear of insects, and to think of waking up as a giant cockroach is repulsive to me. The story doesn’t get much better from there either. After his transformation, Gregor is shunned by his family and left to die. Fortunately for Gregor, that happens rather quickly, and his family moves on seemingly unaffected. I very well admit that there could be some hidden symbolism and social commentary, but I wouldn’t go looking for it myself. As much as it pains me to dislike a work of literature, I give it a D.

12 down 989 to go!

"A book should serve as the axe for the frozen sea within us." (Franz Kafka)