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One of my favourite books. Recommended by a special friend during a difficult year and read at a difficult time. It so helped me through that. It's a very spiritual book in the sense that it goes deep into the mechanics of relationships and pain. It moved me to my core.
UPDATE 23 October 2018
I just had this flagged up on this day in history and I really have the urge to read it again. I've just bumped it up to five stars because this book has stayed in my memory over all these years - first read it in 1995.
Now that the last one's out, I reckoned that it was time to give these another go. Stephen Fry reads these audio books and is very good. I read the first two back in the late 90s but got bored with them. It's more enjoyable to have Stephen read them to me I think - very entertaining.
As for the story, well, it's predictable and essentially not terribly gripping, but it is a kids' book after all. I like it well enough to listen to the rest of them and, having two young ‘uns, it's a reasonable assumption that these will be a good investment.
When all's said and done, knowing what I know of the series, I prefer the Narnia chronicles and even the Hobbit. That might change as I get through the series though, you never know.
It was such a treat to listen to the Audible version of this. Steven Weber reads it as well as I've heard anything's being read before. Outstanding performance.
And so to the book - for all its flaws, it still completely draws me in and moves in emotionally as I connect to my younger self as I was when I first read this at the age of 19 and again at the age of 26. I'm now 48. It gives me something different each time, but the constant is the connection to childhood that King writes about so well, and the depiction of childhood love that I can relate to so well. (apart from that scene - you know the one if you've read it.)
My first ever literature essay at St Andrews in 1993:
How well does Дама с собачкой illustrate Chekhov's belief that the artist's task was not to solve problems, but to pose them correctly?
57/80
Tutors' comments:
Although it is not a brilliant literary essay, it is a start and it will gradually get easier. Specifically, you need to stick more closely to the assigned question and not talk about other (irrelevant) matters, e.g. narrative viewpoint.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h49x7958z6nwjty/Dama%20s%20Sobachkoy%20Essay.pdf
I think I was in hospital when I read this the first time so possibly 1990? Round about then anyway I'd guess. I always like a Stephen King novel for long drives and this one hit the spot - not too thinky but engaging enough that the miles pass by and keeps the tiredness at bay. Trouble is, my drive was only 14 hours. That left another 10!
I really enjoyed reading this again. Sure it's derivative, but I like fantasy and this holds up pretty well. I read it first time in my late teens. I'm now in my late 40s and some books I've tried rereading don't stand up well at all, such as the Belgariad. The writing in the Shannara books is pretty decent though.
I really enjoyed reading this again. Sure it's derivative, but I like fantasy and this holds up pretty well. I read it first time in my late teens. I'm now in my late 40s and some books I've tried rereading don't stand up well at all, such as the Belgariad. The writing in the Shannara books is pretty decent though.
It's fine. I just don't have time for it in my reading schedule. I got it from the library after hearing a BookTuber haul video that made it sound appealing.
A good read for doing loft work and moving house. By that I mean that I was able to tune out and tune back in without really missing too much. Enjoyable but forgettable.
Read this after a recommendation from Kevin Rose on episode 21 of the Kevin Rose Show podcast. I found it rather dull to be quite honest, although it has made me consider my own honesty policy in a new way, so it wasn't a total waste of time.
Later...
I've found myself thinking of this book I don't know how many times since I read it. The message has stayed with me and I have to revise my rating to 3 and possibly even 4 stars.
As Public Enemy so aptly put it, don't believe the hype.
This book wasn't bad, don't get me wrong, but it's not a 4- or 5-star book in my humble opinion. It could be that it's just not my cup of tea, and that's fair.
Verdict?
My daughter persuaded me to read this. If I were 14 I might have enjoyed it, but I really didn't. I won't say what I thought because it would sound mean and I'm not 14. But really? Harry Potter was great. Phillip Pullman's stuff also. Heck, even Ready Player One and Hunger Games were good. They're all for 14 year olds too, right?
A lovely little book that explains in very simple terms how to meditate and why. I read this in the Arran Youth Foundations cabin while waiting for a guitar pupil to show up and it was a nice moment of calm for me.
I don't know how I hadn't read this one. I wanted a book for a road trip, one that would draw me in, be easy to listen to, and make the miles pass by quickly. This book was that.
I've enjoyed Stephen King since I started reading him many years ago. This was classic King, but what I really enjoyed about this one was the internal monologue of John Smith and the idea of consequences. When he's trying to figure out about people believing only after events and not before, and the idea of fate and whether he really can change it. The religion aspect is interesting too - there are no answers, only questions. Did God put Johnny there to do those things? Was his mother actually not entirely crazy?
I'll save up another King for my next road trip, maybe Cujo or Salem's Lot, another two that have passed me by.
I'm just getting into cryptocurrency on Steemit.com and wanted to understand it. This went a long way to helping me do that.
I'm just getting into cryptocurrency on Steemit.com and wanted to understand it. This went a long way to helping me do that.
This book might just change my life. I'm working a job I hate at the age of 46 and am unhappy. I started building an online brand years ago and didn't really know what to do with it. A few months ago I started trying to grow it with some new content and, again, felt like I was stumbling around in the dark. This book has brought me a light, and rather a bright one !
