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Curtis W

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Curtis W is currently reading

The Catcher in the Rye

by J.D. Salinger

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(page 119 of 277)
— Apr 29, 2016 09:35PM

Apr 29, 2016 05:10PM

Curtis W is currently reading

To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

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Reading for the 2nd time

read in February 2016

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Curtis W said: " To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was an interesting yet slow read to me. The book is very well written and technically nice to read with a relatively comfortable vocabulary. The book covers many issues that Southern U.S. faced in the 60’s most not To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was an interesting yet slow read to me. The book is very well written and technically nice to read with a relatively comfortable vocabulary. The book covers many issues that Southern U.S. faced in the 60’s most notable racism and generally corrupt legal system. At least for me it was interesting for the perspective that it provided, Myself being fairly liberal it was interesting to see the world from what was at the beginning the view of a stereotypical westerner. It allowed me to better see why a person like scout at the beginning would think the way that they do. Most of the struggles went over in the book were already self explanatory to me, but what was insightful was seeing how people in this time and place responded to these issues. To be able to see the socal growth that was made by scout over the course of the book emphasised how much of the ingrained problems of the area and time where due to ignorance. The book also did a good job in demonstrating the social flexibility of children as opposed to adults in the time and how far ingraining good messages at a young age can go for a person.
Some of the things that I did not like about the book was the pacing and some of the shift between realistic and unrealistic events. For me the pacing of the book was a bit too slow, the book spent too much time on insignificant part and small details. The argument can definitely be made that the level of detail was to build the atmosphere and I can see how that would be true, but for me the book was a bit boring. I also felt that parts of the book where a bit too far exaggerated particularly bob yule and boo radley. In most aspects the book was fairly realistic and true to life but in the instances it got kind of ridiculous. The prospect of Boo Radley being so shut in due to troubles as a teenager was hard to believe. One of the main points of the book that being bob attacking scout and jem over the court case seemed quite exaggerated in an otherwise fairly realistic book. Despite this it is sometimes necessary to set up unrealistic events to keep the book interesting and to effectively get a message across.
Overall To Kill a Mockingbird was not a very engaging read but it provided a neat sense of perspective to the reader. It has the ability to engage the mind of an active reader and there are things to be learned from the book about the society of the southern U.S. and people themselves. There are actually few real downsides that took away from the book itself. If social philosophy is your thing or just looking for a solid classic read I would recommend it. ...more "

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(page 324 of 323)
— Feb 18, 2016 05:28PM

Mar 03, 2016 07:34PM · see review

Curtis W is currently reading

A Clockwork Orange

by Anthony Burgess

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Reading for the 2nd time

read in December 2015

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Curtis W said: " A Clockwork Orange is one of the best books I have read in recent history. The book explores so many humanistic and political philosophies, from the morality of rehabilitation systems to the native savagery of man. On top of the thought provoking ide A Clockwork Orange is one of the best books I have read in recent history. The book explores so many humanistic and political philosophies, from the morality of rehabilitation systems to the native savagery of man. On top of the thought provoking ideas the book has an interesting and engaging plot. This book takes place in a post apocalyptic world where the youth run wild and go on massive sprees of violence and drugs. The book follows the leader of a volant gang or rich teenagers, that gets caught and put through a brutal rehabilitation system. The system does do his job and change his violent actions but it also destroys part of his humanity.

One of the parts that I personally did not like was the new vocabulary and slang used in the book. I understand that it was a stylistic choice, but I found it to be annoying and did not add too much to the meaning of the book.

The dynamic between the reader and the main character Alex was interesting to me. You understand from the actions that he does in the beginning are tearable things, but as the book goes on you find yourself wondering if his behavior was due to the society into which he was born. After Alex gets back from rehabilitation and is no longer able to be violent he gets beat up and taken advantage of by the people around him making you realize how important it was for him to be able to be violent. Alex himself does not seem like a sympathetic main character but you find yourself feeling sorry for him multiple times throughout the book.

Arguably the biggest theme in the book is the idea of free will. The book seems to suggest that humans are naturally savage based on all the terrible things that the unchecked people chose to do to each other. The rehabilitation system seems to drastic and robs people of their humanity. So one question posed by this is weather or not humanity outways the price of violence. This also puts into question the validity of the government in this world because they seem to want to be able to change people without taking the time and effort to do it morally. This can also make the reader question whether or not the criminal justice system in their society is the best that it can be.

Overall I just found the book to be really good with, interesting character and plot dynamics. Real in depth thought provoking concepts perfect for philosophical people. The unique writing style in the book stood out from the vast amount of dystopia books. The grotesque and gritty concepts made it captivating to read. The only downside that i felt was the choice to change the vocabulary. Overall it was a really well crafted book that I would recommend to someone else. ...more "

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(page 212 of 192)
— Dec 06, 2015 09:20AM

Dec 11, 2015 05:50PM · see review

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