iamjudgedredd's reviews
261 reviews

I liked it, but I thought that As I lay dying was better. It's got some great themes from the the Old South and the prose themselves are, as to be expected from Faulkner, very rich.

I liked the book, it's short and sweet, but not Dickens' strongest work. There are some great anti-utilitarian moments that I had a good laugh about. All in all, an inoffensive work that I was grateful was only 300 odd pages. Any longer and it would have been a drag.

I liked it. It was good, and the more I reflect and think the more I like it. The memers say it's just post war rich kids drinking, and whilst on the surface that can seem to be the case, there's much more depth to the novel than that.

It's very much inspired by Hemingway's own experiences in Europe and the characters are characterizations of people he really knew. This makes the novel more melancholic, the loss of somethings in everyone's lives as a result of the War.

Stylistically it's very 'Hemingway' he uses as few a words as possible, and non of the $10 words but the beauty in Hemingway is the things he doesn't talk about.

At times this book was full of adventure and exploration with deeper forays into the human condition. At other times it was an exhaustive list of tasks and chores that felt dry. When Friday finally shows up the book takes on a renewed vibrancy that is the author's way of relating Crusoe's elation at having human contact once again, which was interesting to experience and was very enjoyable.

This is obviously one of Shakespeare's earliest works, as identified by certain themes, and events that recur in other plays in more polished and refined way, but truly some of the wit and word play in this lesser know work is hilarious. I found myself snorting and laughing out loud at some of the exchanges between the servants. This is well worth a short read.

It was okay, it had it's moments but generally wasn't great and seemed tired after the first hundred pages or so.

It was okay. some of the prose were beautiful, exactly what to expect from Chesterton, but the short stories of Father Brown seemed formulaic and flat. some had interesting twists or were good but generally the book was simple and uninspiring with catholic theological tidbits thrown in. father brown came off as a smart arse, because there was never any build up and tension, he'd just waltz in three pages later and call people morons go missing there point.

Book was enjoyable. For some reason I seem to be drawn to books that involve the sea, or at least the sea is a topic that comes up in a lot of literature. The sea is a theme I am always fascinated to read about and this book scratched some of that itch. This was my first novel by Kerouac and was his first novel. It could have been more polished, but from what I can tell that wouldn't be very 'Kerouac'. This book contains snippets of greatness in some of the characters and some interesting thoughts to reflect upon about experience and condition, but at times the book is shallow. It's semi autobiographical and in being so you get a window in Kerouac's early life but it seems to not be honest enough.

A lot to consider in this book, some parts are simply sublime. highly recommend.