~ilikeorange

So, I've finished reading The Inferno and Animal Farm by George Orwell and here are my thoughts.

The Inferno:
Surprisingly, it was very easy to read, it flowed tremendously well and had a real nice rhythm. It wasn't contrived at all and the images were very nice, so props to Jon Ciardi for his excellent translation. On a side note, I went to the bookstore today (20% off!) but couldn't find his translation of Purgatory and Paradise . A journey through hell, with a political motive. A social commentary with an attitude. It went far beyond the reaches of a normal commentary and stepped into religion and faith and a full belief system, further than that, into morality, then there was the great imagination that brought Hell away from pure fire and brimstone into a colourful world of divine retribution. To think it was fully thought out and structured so that every single word served a purpose. The one thing I didn't really get was the inclusion of mythology from other religions. Sure, Virgil was the guide and he wrote of these myths, but to merge them into the faith of Christianity seems awkward. I mean talk of Jesus and Heaven, but bring in Jove? But I liked it, and I can't wait for Purgatory and Paradise.
Overall Rating: Brilliant!

Animal Farm:
My first impressions weren't that good. It was simplistic, like a child's story book would be simplistic. At first, it didn't seem to have the depth that I usually look forward to in books, still, I was willing to forgive and go on to taste the political commentary. Thank goodness I did. As the story progressed, the themes came out bold and with their flags up in the sky. By the end, the entire picture with the references to Communism at the time were clear and apparent. The characters took on different roles: Moses the crow who spoke incessantly of the Sugar candy Mountain was the voice of religion, Napolean, obviously, the tyrant, Squealer was propaganda. Everything was a well painted picture. Yet now as I look back, i realise it was slightly contrived, beautifully crafted, but the idea was forced throughout the novel, leaving it unable to stand as nothing else but a political commentary. There was no beautiful imagery to harp on, nor were there great metaphors or devices that were not there for the sole purpose of driving the book's own purpose. Definitely there were amazing lines: All Animals are equal, Some animals are more equal than others, but all fell under the book's overarching goal. Overall, it was a well written political commentary, and nothing else.
Overall Rating: Good

Out of the realms of Literature and into what we do during our everyday lives. I finished watching the second season of Brothers and Sisters and to say the truth, I am fairly disappointed. The first season was brilliant, it tugged on emotions and rent the characters into different levels of struggle. It was heart-wrenching and amazingly witty and funny. It all changed. The season started well enough, with Justin coming back from was and all, and his thread stayed fairly okay until they threw him back into his drug dependency plotline which drew cries of 'been there done that'. The other story arcs fell to pieces in haphazard showers that failed to hit any mark. In fact, I felt cheated: We followed Kitty and Robert in their presidential campaign for so long only to have it stop and reducing them to 'I want a baby' mode. We went through a season and a half of trying to accept Rebecca as an addition to the Walker family only to find out she isn't the dead Walker Patriarch's daughter with his mistress. Worse than that, they threw her and Justin together as a couple. Talk about incestuous relationships. Sure, they aren't brother and sister anymore, but they have been for a season and a half! The business drama was contrived, as was Nora's romance. In fact, the only story arc that was carried through pretty decently was Kevin's blossoming relationship with Scotty. This was of course with whoops of joy on my part as he really is my favourite character; he played support in the season 1 story arcs. Despite having this story arc closed up nicely with a commitment ceremony, the season ended on a very bad note with news not only of a romance between Rebecca and Justin(Ewww!) but also with new of another possible Walker sibling roaming the world... Aren't there enough of these Walker kids fathered by a very unfaithful husband who, unlike the rest of his family, can keep a secret? Overall, a very disappointing follow-up season.

Oh well, off to continue doing everything I want to do...that is, read, play the games I haven't played and watch the stuff I haven't watched

Clubs :