forevermorepages's reviews
811 reviews

i relate to frog and toad not having will power to not eat cookies

This is by far the most disturbing book I have ever read, but somehow, I enjoyed it. A lot. I'm probably not in the targeted age range for this book, but I picked it for my junior year paper in my AP US History class without really knowing what kind of content I was getting into. But nevertheless, this was fascinating and by far the most interesting book I've ever read for school.

-Book Hugger

http://www.bookhuggerreviews.com

I ended up loving this book so much more than I ever thought I would, if I'm going to be quite honest. I didn't like either of the other two Steinbeck books I've read (Of Mice and Men and The Pearl). This just felt so much more profound than those, with lessons of free will, family, good and evil, and even religion. If anyone is unaware, it is an allegory of Cain and Abel with a strong look at paternal-rejection and whether someone has a choice in who they turn out to be. Every character faces decisions between good and evil, even the one we're introduced as to be monstrous

though we later see that Cathy is, in fact, just as human as the rest of them, and perhaps, just a little damaged

.

I highly recommend giving this one a try. It's gigantic (602 pages to be precise) and we've been reading it for three months, but nonetheless, I think almost everything in there was important. The only reason I'm giving it four stars instead of five is that it got a little boring at points and I thought the themes were obvious enough that Steinbeck didn't need to blatantly state them, which he, unfortunately, did.

I also give it kudos for being sort of diverse?? At least for the times...one of the main characters is Chinese and he's literally one of my two favorite characters. He's the smartest of everyone in the entire book and his backstory is so tragic. And all of the female characters were really strong when it comes down to it. I highkey love Abra and would die for her at this point.

But my other favorite character was Cal. He faces the true fight between good and evil and the ending was left really open-ended for him. I hope my son grows up happy because he really doesn't deserve any of the crap thrown at him, but I also think that's the point. Life doesn't discriminate between the sinners and the saints, right?

ALSO, I just wanted to point out that I found it somewhat hilarious I read the last few pages before I should have and saw "Cal killed his brother" and assumed it was a repeat of the Cain and Abel thing from the beginning where Charles tried to kill Adam. But IT WASN'T. It was just Cal blaming himself for Aron's death and I just...it broke my heart. But it was sort of funny that I assumed Cal would turn into Cain like Charles did...and I think that was the point. He chose to be good when he could have taken that route, even if he really didn't think he was good. And he didn't mean anything bad by taking Aron to see their mom because Aron deserved to know. Ahh feels.

-Book Hugger

This review is not on my blog, but here's the link anyway http://www.bookhuggerreviews.com

nothing special, but there were a few that really resonated with me

but as far as my eyes can see
we live in a world
where people aren't people
until they fit your perfect mold

book hugger

http://www.bookhuggerreviews.com

not great, not terrible

"maybe gatsby was nick's green light" just leaving that there guys

book hugger

http://www.bookhuggerreviews.com

A Temporary Matter: 4 out of 5 stars
When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine: 5 out of 5 stars
Interpreter of Maladies: 3 out of 5 stars
A Real Durwan: 2 out of 5 stars
Sexy: 5 out of 5 stars
Mr. Sen's: 3 out of 5 stars
This Blessed House: 2 out of 5 stars
The Treatment of Bibi Haldar: 5 out of 5 stars
The Third and Final Continent: 4 out of 5 stars

Overall: 3.6 repeating until the end of the world, so I'm going with a soft 4 stars because I did really love this, the diverse perspectives, and the writing.

-Book Hugger

I'm not entireeeelllyyy sure what to rate this, but I sure as heck loved reading it. So weird.

Not going to full review it because I'm basically doing that for school, so idk, read it? Especially if you like existentialism? Bye

-Book Hugger

Blog: http://www.bookhuggerreviews.com

weird. no full review because i might as well be writing one for school.

-book hugger