Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury's highly acclaimed dystopian classic, Fahrenheit 451, depicts the gruesome tale of a futuristic American society in which books are outlawed. Instead of putting out fires, firemen burn all hidden books and imprison their owners. The novel follows Guy Montag, a fireman who loves his life, and has never questioned his career. When Guy meets a seventeen-year-old girl named Clarisse, however, he begins to challenge his happiness, job, and the entire life he has led. In the days after Guy's newfound realization about the world around him, he is called out to a house where an old woman has been hoarding a stash of books. When ordered to leave her house, the women refuses and instead lights a match and lets the house burn around her. Stunned, Guy is unable to fathom why a person would be willing to die for some old books. Ultimately enthralled, Guy steals a book from the old women's house and smuggles it home. In the days following Guy's thievery, his wife is disgusted by the collection of books that Guy has secretly built up over the course of a year. Alone and confused, Guy seeks out the help of Faber, an old professor who teaches Montag about the importance and necessity of literature. At this point, not only is Guy repulsed by the society he lives in, but subsequently, the fire chief becomes aware of the crime Guy has committed. When Guy's colleagues arrive at his house to burn both it and his beloved books, Montag must runaway in order to preserve the knowledge and rebellion brewing within.

First and foremost, I have to say that I absolutely love the concept behind this novel. Although it is a dystopian story, the elements of the dystopia are not overpowering. The story almost seems as if it is believable or could potentially occur. This was likely due to the fact that there were a large number of diverse connections between this fictitious society and the real one we live in today. There is a striking resemblance between family structure, modern technologies, and general attitudes within the novel and among the current population. The reality of the novel could also have been created by the fact that the story took place in a futuristic American setting. Many references were made to modern cities, historical figures, etc, which made the overall ideas of the novel easier to connect with.

I will say that I discovered one vise within the novel, and it revolved around the fact that the story was slightly confusing. I found myself struggling, at times, to keep up with the rapid pace of the novel. This was probably due to Bradbury's use of futuristic technologies that do not exist. Perhaps the greatest confusion of all, however, was the constant references to the "parlor families." Although I had a pretty good idea of what a parlor family was by the end of the story, the strange terminology and lack of any comparable system within our own era made this futuristic invention hard to grasp. Ultimately, it was difficult to obtain a solid idea regarding what exactly a parlor family was.

Despite the quick pacing of the story, I ultimately thought Bradbury created a nice flow within the book. Because it was extremely fast-paced, there was never time to lose interest in the sometimes-tedious events of the story. Subsequently, I enjoyed the feeling of suspense that carried throughout the novel. The book was nearly the antithesis of predictable, and I felt that I never truly knew what Guy was going to do next. Finally, I thought that the most shocking element of the story was the astounding resolution and Guy's speedy departure. Although I normally feel that a book should have a definite ending, the slightly open-ended resolution truly worked well within this novel. I actually enjoyed the somewhat unresolved culmination for a change. Despite the slight confusion within the novel, I thought Fahrenheit 451 was astounding. I have never felt so personally affected by the subject matter within a book before, and I feel that Bradbury's story truly hit a soft spot inside of me. I would give special recommendation of this book to people who are true book-lovers and passionate about literature, for Fahrenheit 451 definitely breached an important subject surrounding the censorship of books.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

The final installment of Stieg Larsson's iconic trilogy is both intricately designed and masterfully told, as the novel picks up where The Girl Who Played With Fire left off. Lisbeth Salander has just been rushed to the hospital with a bullet in the grey matter of her brain. At this point, it is impossible to determine whether Salander will survive, or if she is doomed to die before she can voice her account of the ongoing murder investigation. With a homicidal father intent on her death a mere two rooms away, Salander begins a painstaking and edgy trek towards recovery. Meanwhile, Blomkvist, Armansky and an array of police investigators, who are convinced of Salander's innocence, discover a secret section of the government with a hidden agenda. With any luck, their mission to expose the sector's true intentions will also assist Salander's journey towards innocence.

Although I thought the second book in the Millennium series was good yet lacked the excitement within the original, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest made up for the sequel's disappointments and far surpassed my expectations. The entire series has been centered around a man vs. women guiding conflict and theme, however, within the final installment of the trilogy, the guiding theme shifted ever so slightly. Throughout The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, there were a series of epigraphs at the beginning of each new section (a tradition Larsson has carried on throughout the span of the trilogy). Within the first novel, these epigraphs were composed of statistics, depicting different percentages of women abused in Sweden. Within the second novel, the epigraphs were centered around complex math equations, which Salander was intrigued by, and acted as a metaphor for the murder investigation. The epigraphs within the final novel surrounded the idea of women acting as warriors in ancient civilizations and serving in other modern militias. I thought this was a truly strong indicator of a central theme that guided the action of the story; women acting as a powerful and important part of society.

Now as much as I love Salander's character for her intelligence and incessant spirit, in comparison, Blomkvist seems rather dull and monotonous. Throughout the entire series I have felt that Larsson may have attempted to make Blomkvist seem interesting as well as possess an exciting personality (by means of his investigative journalism and constantly changing love affairs) yet somewhere his chemical makeup failed. Portions of the series with Blomkvist, especially this novel in particular, seemed increasingly dull and I found myself dozing off more than I should have. Subsequently, I thought the relationship between Figuerola and Blomkvist was unnecessary. First of all, it did not seem plausible that they would form a relationship under those circumstances, while secondly, the relationship just seemed like just another medium used to increase Blomkvist's interesting factor. Overall, I was most certainly not impressed with Blomkvist, although I noticed it in this novel more so than others.

Throughout the entire series I have thoroughly enjoyed the way in which Larsson manages to weave an interesting and compelling sub-plot into the action of each novel. The sub-plot within The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's nest was perhaps my favorite thus far. The sub-plot revolves around the fact that Blomkvist's best friend, and occasional lover, Erika Berger, has left her post at Millennium in order to work as editor in chief at Sweden's largest newspaper. With the beginning of her new job, Berger begins to receive graphic emails and threats via the Internet. Her stalker maliciously attempts to embarrass her at work, and endanger her safety at home. One night Berger's house is broken into and an array of various items of importance are stolen. When her stalker is finally caught, Berger realizes that he is not only a fellow employee at the newspaper, but also an old high school acquaintance who holds a grudge. At the end of the book I was not quite sure why Larsson had decided to focus on Berger so deeply or weave her sub-plot into the novel. I quite enjoyed learning about Berger and her life, however, and felt like this sub-plot added an extra dimension to the multi-faceted story.

Overall, I would truly recommend reading the Millennium trilogy. There were far more elements I enjoyed about the novel than ones I did not. I have said it before and will say it again that Larsson's writing is nothing overly spectacular, yet the concept behind the books and the hidden themes that plague the series are truly a form of art. I have learned so much from reading this trilogy and I hope that everyone who chooses to read it will take away as much as I did.

It's Kind of a Funny Story

At the age of fifteen, Craig Gilner is already on the fast-track to a successful and lucrative business career. Throughout his eighth grade year, Craig studies obsessively in order to ace the entrance exam for Executive Pre-professional, New York's most prestigious high school. With an exam score of 800 out of 800, Craig is welcomed into the school with open arms, however, he soon comes to realize that he is severely unprepared for the challenges that Executive Pre-professional will offer. Craig quickly finds himself not only spending most of his time "chilling" rather than doing his homework, but also unable to eat, sleep, and function properly. As Craig's depression worsens, he begins to see a number of psychiatrists, and take medicine for his condition. When Craig finds himself on the brink of suicide he quickly checks himself in to the last place he ever assumed he would visit, a mental hospital. Six North, however, gives Craig a chance to rediscover himself, away from the "tentacles" of life.

This is one of those rare occurrences where I saw the movie before I read the book and I have to admit that while I truly enjoyed the motion picture, the book far surpasses the movie in both detail and depth. One element of that I truly enjoyed about this novel, was the narrative voice of Craig Gilner. As a teen myself, Craig was an easily relatable character. I was able to understand his somewhat trivial problems such as getting the "highest" score on the math test, socializing with the "right" people, and attending the "best" school. Craig, however, was much more than just a relatable dynamic character, for he also became an extremely interesting narrator. Throughout the novel his voice was slightly sarcastic, yet had a humorous edge to it. I felt that his voice kept the story interesting even at points where I would normally catch myself losing interest.

The few flaws I discovered regarding It's Kind of a Funny Story, revolve around the plot structure. Although interesting, I found the book to be somewhat anticlimactic. There were definite sections of heightened intensity, however, the novel lacked a turning point, which failed to send the falling action spiraling towards a culmination. Vizzini may have chosen to give the novel an anticlimactic feel in order to represent Craig's anticipation of a "shift", which never comes, however, I personally believe that a climax or acme of some sort would have improved the novel. I also felt that the book should have possessed a stronger hook near the beginning of the novel. I did not feel compelled to read or absolutely enthralled by the events of the book until around page two-hundred. Had the book been more attention grabbing from the beginning, I think the story as a whole would have obtained a better flow.

Despite these few discrepancies, I thoroughly enjoyed Vizzini's writing style. Throughout the novel, I came to notice that the word choice very much reflected the slang teenagers use in the modern era. In many instances, "she said" was replaced with "she was like," while "socializing with a friend" was referred to as "chilling". I thought it was very interesting that Vizzini incorporated these elements into his novel, for these simple words gave Craig's voice an actuality and authenticity that a real teenager would have. Although the novel revolved around some tough subjects, I thought Vizzini's portrayal of a mental hospital was accurate as well as interesting, and overall I would recommend it as "kind of a funny story".

The Girl Who Played with Fire

Stieg Larsson's second posthumous bestseller, and the sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, follows Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander roughly a year after the investigation of Harriet Vanger's disappearance and the culmination of the Wennerström affair. The novel picks up in the offices of Millenium, where Blomkvist and editor in chief Erika Berger contract Dag Svensson, a freelancer who is hoping to publish an expose on the hidden world of sex trafficking. Although Svensson's article and book are scheduled to be released in May, Dag and his girlfriend Mia are murdered in their apartment shortly before his work can hit store shelves. Blomkvist is traumatized when he is the one who discovers their lifeless bodies, however, he is sent into an even greater state of shock when the fingerprints of Lisbeth Salander are identified on the murder weapon. Bewildered, Blomkvist attempts to track down Salander, who he has not seen or heard from in over a year. Nevertheless, barely twenty-four hours later, the police discover Nils Bjurman, Salander's legal guardian, dead in his bedroom. Salander is immediately considered a prime suspect in a third murder and the police begin a nationwide manhunt for the "psychotic killer." Blomkvist, who is convinced of her innocence, attempts to determine exactly what occurred on the night of Svennson's murder and he eventually develops a secret line of communication with Salander. As the grim chain of events continues, Salander must not only face the dark events that have haunted her childhood, but she must also allow another person into her harrowing world. Together, Blomkvist and Salander must once again team up to solve a murder mystery, however, this time it is one that hits much closer to home.

Although the sequel was certainly riveting and "page-turning," I felt that The Girl Who Played with Fire was not nearly as interesting as The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. The plot was slow moving in comparison with the original, and I found that the same elements I disliked when I read the first book were once again prominent in the second. To begin with, the coincidences that seemed slightly improbable in the original novel, were downright unrealistic in the sequel. (SPOILER ALERT) What are the odds that Salander's father is the same person Dag Svensson is writing about? I felt that the entire novel was set-up on an implausible base of coincidences and fortuities. Additionally, although I enjoyed the fact that the novel was written from a variety of points of view (in third-person), I felt there were too many characters who were involved in the telling of the story. I think the POV's should have been limited to three or four people rather than upward of six or seven. 


On the other hand, there were quite a few elements of the novel that I truly did enjoy. I absolutely love Salander and her headstrong personality. The main reason I picked up the sequel was simply because of her character. Although her dynamic personality is complex, brooding, fascinating, and bold, I truly enjoy Salander because of her power. She is an immensely strong female character, and I think within our society and time, there is a definite need for empowered female characters like her. I also enjoyed the fact that she is not afraid to take action for what she believes in. At the beginning of the novel, in order to avoid Blomkvist, Salander stays on a small Caribbean island for a number of months. During her vacation she comes across a man who pretends to be taking care of "business" during the day, and abuses his wife at night. When a hurricane hits the tiny resort town, the man takes his wife out into the storm in order to kill her. Salander, however, follows them and saves the women's life by hitting her husband over the head. I not only found myself shocked by her actions, but also by the fact that Salander did not even think twice about risking her own life to save someone else's. She braved a dangerous hurricane just to help an abused women, which is another reason why I admire her.


I also liked how Larsson, once again, managed to cryptically weave an important theme into the novel. The theme itself was both significant and powerful, and I believe that it is extremely important for both women and men to take note of. In the first novel the theme was strictly focused on abuse inflicted upon women by men, however the sequel slightly broadened the theme so that it also focused on the varying gender structure among males and females. Because the novel brought in the added sub-plot of the sex trafficking world, it truly added dimension to the idea of women not only being abused by men, but also being used and manipulated against their will. 

Possibly my favorite (or least favorite) element of the novel was the cliffhanger ending! I love the idea of a cliffhanger ending, but in practice they never fail to leave me craving more. Although I felt that the first book was better, I did enjoy The Girl Who Played with Fire. The sequel definitely held its own against the acclaimed original and I would definitely recommend The Girl Who Played with Fire to anyone who read the first book in the Millennium trilogy. 

Speak

Whether we are willing to admit it or not, at some point in our lifetime everyone has or will experience the feeling of exclusion or being labeled as an "outcast". Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is the quintessential read for a high school student struggling to fit in and procure his or her own voice. Speak follows Melinda Sordino throughout her freshmen year of high school. Within the opening pages of the novel, it becomes evident that Melinda is not only ostracized at school, but also despised by the entire student population. Although Melinda attempts to ignore it, she cannot help but dwell on the night that she and her best friend Rachel were invited to a senior party. As the book progresses Melinda relives the night of the party, in which she becomes intoxicated and is subjected to an occurrence of date rape. Confused and alone, Melinda dials 911 and forever goes down in history as the girl who called the cops on that fateful night. Now friendless, and more abandoned than ever, Melinda falls into a severe depression. She begins to live in a state of denial in which she has told no one about what truly occurred on the night of the party. As she lifelessly sulks through her first year of high school, she begins to withdraw from everyone, forms a habit of skipping school, and even creates a small hideaway in a janitor's closet. When Rachel begins dating Andy Evans, the senior who assaulted her, Melinda knows that she can no longer live in silence or else it will only be a matter of time before someone else gets hurt.

I truly enjoyed Speak for a number of reasons, the most probable being Anderson's writing style. The entire novel was written almost like a screenplay would be formatted, the dialogue set apart from the rest of the text:

Heather: "What do you think?"
Me: "You are a decorating genius."

I have to admit, I may have enjoyed reading this novel simply because I also enjoy reading screenplays. It was more detailed than a movie script, however, as Anderson did not simply rely on dialogue to tell the story, but also included paragraphs of detailed descriptions just like any regular novel would. I felt that this book became an eloquent novel/screenplay hybrid, which was both unique and intriguing. I also enjoyed the fact that the novel was an "easy read". By that, I do not mean that the plot material wasn't difficult or challenging to read morally, but rather that the book as a whole had a nice flow to it. While it never became a "page-turner" per say, I found myself reading for hours upon hours not because I was dying to find out what happened, but simply because it was an enjoyable experience.

The only criticism I had against Speak, was that I felt many of the characters were rather two-dimensional and lacked complete development. This however, is a completely personal opinion that I developed throughout the course of my reading. Otherwise I found Speak to be the heart-rending and emotional tale of a girl learning to find her voice and take responsibility for her actions. I thought Speak was both well-written as well as possessed an interesting plot base. Although I think anyone could learn from Melinda's trials and tribulations, I would recommend Speak to young-adult and teenage readers as I feel that they would obtain the most benefit from the message of the novel.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I am a big believer in "reading the book before seeing the movie," which is why when I saw the trailer for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I knew that this book would become a must on my books to read list. Stieg Larsson's posthumous best-sellers follows an unlikely team on their quest to catch a culprit involved in a forty year old unsolved missing persons case. Mikael Blomkvist, an acclaimed journalist, has just committed his greatest career blunder. After publishing a story with falsified claims, he is committed of libel and forced to serve three months in prison. With the realization that his continued occupancy and involvement with Millennium, a magazine in which he holds the title of both co-founder and publisher, would damage the magazine rather than aid it, he quietly slips away from the media scene in order to take a much needed hiatus. No sooner does Blomkvist resign than he is approached by the legal-adviser to Henrik Vanger, a business tycoon and the uncle of a sixteen-year-old girl who disappeared nearly forty years earlier. Vanger, now in his eighties, contacts Blomkvist with the hope that Mikael will be able to determine what happened to his beloved niece and put his mind to rest once and for all. Simultaneously, the reader is introduced to Lisbeth Salander, a tattooed and pierced surveillance agent mastermind, who works for Milton security. Salander is far different from most twenty-four year old women, not only in appearance but also in behavior, as she is considered asocial and has thus been pronounced legally incompetent. As the novel progresses it becomes evident that Salander has trust issues, for she is often unwilling to partake in a lasting relationship. When Blomkvist decides that he needs a research assistant, Salander is brought on to the investigation. The result is momentous, as the atypical team discovers a sixty year-old secret that has been buried under a long line of family denial.

The first three hundred pages (out of nearly six hundred) are relatively devoid of action. The beginning half of the book, while interesting, basically just serves to provide background information, and establish the base of the novel. The first half of the book describes Blomkvist career blunder, and the character's lives pre-investigation in vivid detail. While I enjoyed this section, I did not feel that it was extremely compelling or of great importance to the story as a whole. Once Blomkvist began to obtain evidence and Salander was brought on, however, the story began racing toward a climax. In a matter of pages the novel went from acting as a simple informational read, to an intense page-turner. I found myself consumed by the character's actions, and felt as though I too had become a part of this murder mystery thriller.

Although The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has climbed near the top of my favorite books list, there were a few criticisms I would offer the novel. The main element I found that irked me about the book was the financial and political references. Blomkvist works at a magazine that deals with mostly financial and political stories. His entire career blunder is centered around a corrupt industrialist billionaire, Wennerström. Blomkvist and his attempts to expose Wennerström's crimes, become a sub-plot within the actual story, however, I found that I did not quite understand this sub-plot, simply because I do not speak financial terms and lingo. I thought that the story would have been more entertaining and interesting had this sub-plot either been down-played, or removed altogether. In addition to this, I found that many of the breakthroughs Blomkvist and Salander discovered in the case were chance findings. All of the clues and leads they discovered seemed like they were something no short of miraculous, which made the book feel slightly unrealistic at times.

The main reason I fell in love with this book was simply because of the story. The plot had a perfect blend of mystery, romance, dimension, and family drama. Within the novel there was also an underlying theme centered around men abusing women. The book both highlighted and brought awareness to this dilemma. Subsequently, there was a statistic at the beginning of each section, which illustrated different numbers of women abused and assaulted in Sweden. I found that these statistics made the violence by a man's hand feel real, rather than just a scene out of a story. Salander, who was abused a few times, eventually got her revenge, which was an interesting take and way to further illustrate this theme. It was empowering and I personally thought that the book sent a pro-women message.

I think that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was one of the best books written in the past decade. I will give warning now, however, as certain parts of the novel were graphically intense. There were a handful of sexual assault/abuse scenes, which is why I would recommend the novel to a mature or adult audience. Although the writing itself was nothing spectacular, the story and plot development was breathtaking as the novel truly became the definition of a page-turner.

The Virgin Suicides

Jeffrey Eugenides' debut novel, The Virgin Suicides, tells the riveting story of five sisters living in a small Michigan suburb during the mid-1970's. Told through the eyes of an obsessive group of neighborhood boys, The Virgin Suicides follows the story of five sisters who individually end their own lives over the course of a single year. The novel opens with Cecilia, the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon, who is discovered half-alive in the bloody waters of the family's bathtub. Cecilia's attempted suicide, as well as the entire Lisbon household, quickly becomes the talk of this small town as the gossip behind her depression begins to spread from one person to another. Less than a month after Cecilia's melancholy "accident," the five sisters throw a chaperoned party, to which the infatuated boys are invited. They are shyly smitten by the girls' brooding beauty, and intense mystique until Cecilia throws herself from the top of the house and is transpiereced by a fence pole, successful in her second suicidal endeavor. With the death of their youngest sister, the remaining Lisbon girls are ostracized at school and drawn even closer together. Their aloof attitude intrigues the boys, and they watch the four sisters with more intensity than ever. In the fall, Lux Lisbon begins a relationship with the school's heartthrob and bad boy, Trip Fontaine. Trip and his buddies take Lux, Bonnie, Mary, and Therese to homecoming, however, when Lux is caught after curfew with the Trip, the Lisbon sisters are promptly pulled out of school and locked away in their house. The boys are tugged away from the mysterious family and become more distant than ever from the Lisbon girls. They feel their memories of the sisters begin to slip away with the fading seasons, for the girls are rarely seen outside the house. In the spring, the sisters begin to contact the boys through pictures, lights, and notes. They abruptly make plans to meet the girls at midnight and help them escape from their overbearing parents. On the night of the rendezvous, the boys arrive at the Lisbon's dilapidated house in the dead of night, only to discover that they have been tricked, for the remaining four sisters ended their lives while they awaited their arrival downstairs.

The narrative point of view is one of the most intriguing elements of Eugenides' work. As the novel progresses it becomes evident that the neighborhood boys obsessively watch the Lisbon girls. The boys are captivated by the sisters' detached beauty and charisma. They watch the sisters from across the street, drive by their home at night, tell stories, and gather personal items belonging to the Lisbon girls. The despondent tale of tragedy and misfortune is told nearly two decades after the suicides have taken place when the boys, who are now middle aged men, conduct interviews in an attempt to once again piece together the forlorn story of five sisters. Although there is a single unnamed narrator who speaks on behalf of the group, the novel is written through "we's" and "us's" rather than "I's" and "my's". I thought this was an interesting take on narrative point of view for a variety of reasons. Before reading The Virgin Suicides, I had never read a novel from the first person plural yet found it to be an acceptable point of view to tell this particular story from. Had the novel been told from the third-person omniscient it would have ultimately taken away from the mystery and uncertainty surrounding the death of the Lisbon sisters. I also enjoyed the fact that the story was told nearly twenty years after the suicides had occurred. It created a sense of unreliability amongst the characters, as I myself could never fully trust what they were saying. When Trip Fontaine told the story about his night with Lux, or Peter Sissen described the interior of the Lisbon house, I could never completely trust that they were not over exaggerating, or that they remembered the details with exact precision.

Although the novel included vivid descriptions and back stories of the characters, sometimes these recounts seemed superfluous and unnecessary. I found that while reading the excess "fluff" I began to lose interest in the story and was more likely to forget the events and motion of the novel. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the book as a whole, the novel certainly had dry moments that kept it from becoming a page-turner. Another element that prevented The Virgin Suicides from becoming a page-turner was the fact that the boys directly stated at the beginning of the novel that all five sisters would die. Although there was a slight mystery surrounding the idea of a "suicide pact," because I already knew what the culmination would entail I felt that there was no ulterior motive guiding the action of the story.

I would definitely recommend this book to an older teen/adult audience, for it was an interesting yet multi-faceted complex read. Although intriguing, a reader would definitely require some patience and an open-minded thought complex in order to fully grasp the events and meaning behind the novel. I found The Virgin Suicides to be an exceptionally well-written and unique story, and am looking forward to reading more of Eugenides' more recent works.