Book Reviews – 100 of the Greatest Books Read and Reviewed

“The Sun Also Rises” by Ernest Hemingway (Review)

I love Hemingway’s writing style, as bold and fancy free as it is. This is a classic example of the genre. It probably helped that I read this novel after completing Dickens (Our Mutual Friend) so the style could not have been more different. Both are, of course, classic approaches to writing and it is wonderful to experience the differences.

Many of Hemingway’s passions are on display here, especially his abiding love of bull fighting. Many years ago I was enthralled (and appalled to be honest) with his non-fiction account of this sport in “Death in the Afternoon” and much of the same is on display here as this coterie of lovers/friends/rivals makes their way to the Pamplona festival in Spain.

The writing is, of course, matter of fact but nevertheless when dealing with the love/unrequited love/jealousy themes there is much depth here. In may ways the feelings and emotions are merely hinted at, leaving it to the reader to imagine how those must be played out. This is particularly true of Cohn who seems to suffer the most from the dalliances of Lady Brett, even more so than her intended husband Michael, who seems to be long suffering indeed. There is no doubt that the friendship (more than friendship) of Brett and Jake is central to this story, and again, the reader is certainly encouraged to imagine how this will play out finally.

I think it would have been fascinating to have met Hemingway, either in his Parisian years or later, although I think I would have found him incredibly boorish, sexist, homophobic and probably anti-semitic. He does, however, live large still, and his shadow in literature is long indeed. His writing reveals his passionate life and he is very unafraid to surprise the reader and generally take us on a journey with him.

This has been described as the quintessential novel of a lost generation, meaning those for whom WW1 was uppermost in their formative or early adult lives. I understand that. However the war, as in several of his novels, forms the background, or even the foundation to what follows rather than being front and center. That certainly seems to be the case here. Jakes wound is never discussed in detail, and it is easy to miss in the narrative itself although it shapes his entire relationship with Brett. It is rather melancholic in times I feel – there is a lot of drinking, partying, arguing, lovers flings, depression etc. Again, these all seem to reflect the character of the man and his life. He is perhaps one of the best equipped authors to explain these things to us through prose. There is clearly a lot of his personal experience here, a roman a clef indeed.

There are may themes of interest here but some things are troubling to me. There seems to be a streak of implied or actual anti-semitism in much of the canon of world literature. Those of the jewish faith often seem to be depicted in a distinctly unflattering like (Shylock, Fagin) herein represented by Cohn who is very much an outsider and subjected to anti-semitic taunting. This is unsettling to me as is Hemingway’s overtly masculine approach to seemingly everything.

Still, this is book I much enjoyed. This type of dialogue-heavy, minimalist writing that nevertheless has a lot of depth beneath the surface is very well worth reading. It’s a book that keeps you thinking throughout, and post-reading.

“Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (Review)

Don Quixote is one of those truly weighty classics that one know something about even if one has never worked their way through the 1000 plus pages that make up the two books telling the tale of the worthy, though slightly mad Don and his faithful Sancho.

Since this book was written in the 1600s it has a long and storied history in the annals of literature. Of course, it is translated from Spanish so it is bound to lose something in translation (maybe even from 1600s Spanish to modern Spanish?) but since my language skills are poor I don’t have a choice unfortunately.

There is also quite the history to Quixote of which I was unaware prior to reading the book and researching it a little. It covers the wanderings (quixotic having entered the lexicon) of the titular character and his long suffering sidekick and squire Sancho Panza. The book is in two parts, written a decade apart although they are basically of a similar ilk. The cover Quixote’s obsession with chivalry and knight errantry that he learned from reading books. It is strongly implied, especially in the second half, that Quixote is mad. There is quite the evidence to suggest this throughout (tilting at windmills, seeing all inns as castles) the narrative but it is more up front in part 2.

Cervantes seems to really admire Quixote and is always writing about his good heart. Panza, too, is given sympathetic treatment and is quite the comical character although, of course we are seeing the wise fool versus the foolish wise man. The literary style of the novel has been commented upon by people a lot more erudite than me but it is very interesting, interspersed as it is with sub stories (including the introduction of another widely used term in “Lothario”) that sometimes cover a lot of ground in their own right.

The wanderings are long and frankly, sometimes I was rather lost in the lengthy descriptions of events but the development of the relationships is fascinating and well explained, but wow, it takes a lot of time to work through this novel. However that seems to be true of all such epic novels and I am glad that I made the effort and I feel more able to understand the terms that have made it into common usage as a result of the influence of this novel. It takes some reading though!

“Great Expectations” – Charles Dickens (Review)

This book was, as I’m sure it was for many, was assigned to me as a set text at school when I was perhaps 14 and altogether too young to appreciate it. In fact, it left me with a jaundiced view of Dickens that lasted several decades.

This is one of the most enjoyable of his novels that I have read as I work through his canon. The opening of the book is famous and rightly one of the better known scenes in all Dickens, if not the whole of literature. From there the plot develops with, for CD, quite some pace as we follow Pip’s life and development, via an unknown benefactor, from a blacksmith’s apprentice to the life of a “gentleman”.

Of course, this is a love story too, or at least a story of unrequited love as we are introduced to Miss Haversham and her adopted weapon against men; Estella. As ever when I read Dickens I am struck by the realism of his characterizations. Of course there are themes that run through all the plots, good versus evil perhaps uppermost among them as is the case here. As a result we are presented with some of the finest villains in all literature as well as, usually, flawed heroes. As we learn about the main characters though, we find aspects to dislike in the heroes, and elements of sympathy in many of the antagonists (although perhaps not Uriah Heep) and this is the case here.

Miss Haversham herself is an iconic literary villain. Her manipulation of Estella into vicariously acting out her vengeful plans resulting from being jilted are macabre and sinister. She, too, develops a compassionate side towards the end but the descriptions of her decaying, crumbling, shrine of a house are haunting and disturbing indeed. Dickens is so good at painting a picture with words, one can almost smell the decay and the malevolence that issues from the rooms where Miss Haversham dwells.

Pip is certainly flawed, although it is impossible not to like him. Told in the first person, we see the whole plot through his eyes and Dickens is extremely adept at this form of story telling although it must be very hard to outline plots in this way. Because of this, we know Pip very well by the end of the story and understand his thought patterns. Whilst overall a “good” character, there are elements of snobbery and disgust about him that are most unpleasant, especially in his dealings with his adoptive father, Joe. These are resolved eventually as the development of Pip’s character (and his “expectations”) is a central theme and this is beautifully written throughout.

We see changes in most other characters too (except Joe) as Pip discovers who is the source of his “Great Expectations”. There is much symbolism and social comment here as always. The narrative takes place exclusively in and around London and we learn about crime and punishment in Victorian England, the issues of wealth and status, social class and people “knowing their place” and also Dickens’ well known thoughts on these issues.

I am not a writer but it must be very hard to conclude a novel. I am disappointed in the published ending to Great Expectations. Fortunately this edition also provides the two or three paragraphs of the original ending. I much prefer the original that, apparently, Dickens was persuaded to change by some of his fellow authors and literary friends. It is well worth seeking this out as I find it by far the more convincing of the two. The published ending panders to the reader’s desire for a happy ending and I find it very incongruous with all that has gone before. Did we really need to close it out that way? I wish Dickens had left the original which, like Hemingway in “A Farewell to Arms” would have been bolder in my opinion.

So the ending rather spoiled it for me since I thought Dickens cared more for realism that pleasing those looking to feel good at the end of a great novel. He’s certainly never seemed reticent about doing so in other novels. Still, this is a great read and if, like me, you were put off by this book when first exposed to it, I strongly encourage you to become reacquainted with it. Dickens is a literary genius and not nearly as unapproachable as I thought for all those years.

“Madame Bovary” by Gustave Flaubert (Review)

It is never satisfactory to read a translation of course. However, being unable to read this in the original language, I am not able to do anything else. In this case, one hopes that the translation is reasonably accurate and reflects the literary style of the original. This is not possible for someone who isn’t bilingual to determine of course, but I did very much enjoy the prose and the writing style.

This is supposedly one of the first “realist” novels, and some have deemed it to be the greatest ever written. I am not sure I would go that far but there is no question of its strong merit and readability, as well as what it has to say about the human condition. As with much classic and serious literature, this is not necessarily good! This is a dark theme of contrasts, in particular the titular character’s disgust with her boring provincial life and husband, and the life she wishes she had that leads her into affairs and profligate spending and eventually to ruin.

There is certainly realism here. I find none of the characters likable. At all. Emma herself is on this quest for true love and excitement since these are things about which she has read. However she marries a boring man and then embarks on a life of cheating, duplicity, extravagance, Machiavellian sorties and general “bad behavior”. Her husband is, to me, much the more sympathetic figure although he comes across as week and ineffectual. This is where Flaubert does have a genius though; all the characters are recognizable from our everyday lives. Dare we say it, recognizable within ourselves and this is uncomfortable.

The story is one that probably plays out everywhere, every day. Lies, scheming lovers, overly trusting spouses, attempts to generate excitement in an otherwise boring life. I doubt many end in such a dark way as this one does, and with one of the other unlikeable, albeit more minor character, prevailing to the detriment of the main protagonists.

There is a pleasure to be had here in the writing, the straightforward story telling and the fluidity of the story itself. It is easy to follow and one is not overly bogged down in the minutiae of separate story lines that need to be kept straight. There is pleasure in that too (Dickens being perhaps the prime example) but a story that unfolds along a linear path like Bovary has much merit too. Hard to imagine in these more, ahem, liberal times, that this novel should have been scandalous in its depictions of the morals and sexual relationships of Madame Bovary, but apparently this was so.

The writing, albeit in translation is wonderfully flowing and imparting the details of the scenes with delightful smilies and use of language. A couple of examples:

“One’s duty is to feel what is great, cherish the beautiful, and to not accept the conventions of society with the ignominy that it imposes upon us.”

“But, in her life, nothing was going to happen. Such was the will of God! The future was a dark corridor, and at the far end the door was bolted.”

I find other elements that amuse me in this narrative, most especially some of the snide remarks about religion put into the mouths of some of the characters. Can’t help feeling this is what Flaubert felt, along with the frequent and relatively admiring references to Voltaire. A great read, pity that I found no characters to like or admire but, I guess, that is the point of realism sometimes.

Hamlet – William Shakespeare (Review)

Classic literature lists generally include a sprinkling of plays. Obviously any list of seminal works is going to include Hamlet, commonly regarded as Shakespeare’s greatest work. Now, I am always conflicted when I read plays. There is no doubt that one gets a lot from the text itself, but I always feel that the language is designed to be spoken and given life by actors on a stage, therefore reading those words loses something.

However, there is great enjoyment to be had reading this play. In addition to the unfolding plot, the edition I read came from my high school kids’ english class, therefore there were detailed notes including translations of the highly Shakespearian words from which the narrative is obviously compiled. This is often helpful for the most obscure and obsolete words although it tends to disrupt the rhythm of reading.

Obviously this tragedy is a well known story and, indeed, a theme that resonates throughout literature – revenge. In common with most such themes the reader is initially sympathetic to the main protagonist and shares some of the outrage that leads them to swear revenge on the perpetrators. However, as the quest continues, the character becomes more and more obsessive and, as a result, much less likable. Hamlet himself isn’t a particularly sympathetic character to me. His treatment of Ophelia is harsh and his determination to avenge his father (driven by the latter ghost) leads him to his own, and pretty much everyone else’s destruction.

Obviously this is a great play and the theme, whilst not original to Shakespeare of course, is extremely well developed here. One is familiar with the approach but since this is written before such other famous revenge driven plots such as “The Count of Monte Cristo”, it represents one of the earliest explorations of this damaging quest.

I haven’t seen Hamlet on stage for decades and would like to reacquaint myself with the live performance. There is so much in Shakespeare that has entered the English lexicon and one is not always aware of that until it becomes apparent in the text. I love coming across such phrases in their original context.

I am always glad to read plays and this is perhaps the all time classic of the theatre.

A Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway (Review)

Hemingway is another answer I sometimes give when asked as an ice breaker: “Who would you like to have dinner with if you could choose anyone, dead or alive?”. Specifically I would like to hang out with him on the Left Bank in Paris during his heyday although I have no illusions about my ability to keep up with him intellectually or in the consumption of alcohol.

I have enjoyed his work over the years although, with my tendency in past times to read nonfiction, I tended to confine myself to these works. This is the first of his celebrated novels and it made a nice change from struggling through William Faulkner’s impenetrable Absolom. This was nothing like that and the narrative is straightforward although beautifully crafted as one expects from Hemingway.

The story is the developing love affair between an American ambulance driver for the Italian army and Catherine, an English nurse. The descriptions of the war, the dying soldiers, the injury that befalls Frederic, the escape to Switzerland are gripping and flow through the story. I find these much more compelling than the narrative describing the love affair itself.

Obviously this is of its time and much more is implied than is written and this is first class literary writing of course. Much is left to the imagination which adds to its power in my view (even though this word was STILL censored at the time in some places). However I find Catherine’s characterization unconvincing – she (and he to an extent) come across as needy and constantly in need of validation for their feelings. This isn’t a problem early on but becomes tiresome. Maybe I miss the point here somewhere.

The ending is, of course, well known and poignant. It is sad actually. It is perhaps appropriate and certainly makes a change from a “happy ever after” ending that is so prevalent in modern writing but it is nonetheless stark, dark, emotional and jarring. The metaphorical “walk into the sunset” which is actually a walk into the driving rain is haunting and evocative. One is left asking: “what happens now?” and “How would I cope with that?” and it is viscerally moving. I was, although expecting it, shocked at the stakes of the ending, outlined as it is in a couple of matter of fact pages.

Hemingway apparently agonized over the wording of the ending and toyed with several versions, some ostensibly much happier than the final version. It is very dark to me but nonetheless real for that, and certainly something that has happened to many. Set against an overall backdrop of death and destruction, one is left with a very bleak feeling that Hemingway certainly doesn’t care to alleviate for us. This is great writing to be sure, it is a shame that the characters of the main protagonists tend not to be that likable, at least to this reader.

Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner

As I progress down this literary road, I have already come across several bumps. This is one of them. Never having studied literature per se (apart from basic middle school English) I have found that I lack an appreciation for the more, shall we say, imaginative styles of prose. In short, I don’t understand them.

Absalom is one such novel. I really struggled with it and I have had to resort to study guides to get beyond a most basic understanding of, frankly, what the heck was going on. Add to the difficulty I found in actually piecing together the story from the disparate strands of the prose, the fact that the sentence structure is interminable. This being the case for me, I found the wonderful language employed to be bordering on the pretentious.

I think I erred in not reading the three previous novels (The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying and A Light in August) so I at lease knew who the narrators were. It was not even clear to me from the text who was writing. There are interesting themes here for sure, and the irony for me is that I read a lot about the South, the Civil War, racism and white privilege and so on and Faulkner has a lot to say on this subjects but I found it impossible to get much out of this due to the impenetrable style of writing. This is a shame and a missed opportunity as the story itself of dynasty building, war, racism, family feuds etc. is in itself, very interesting.

Hopefully as I read more such novels (and I will try some of his others) I will get more out of it and this style, but this joins Catch-22 and Slaughterhouse 5 as novels that I just found hard going and that passed me by somewhat.

Frankenstein – Mary Shelley

Frankenstein. Perhaps one of the most well known of titles in literature, even though many assume that the titular character is the monster rather than the creator.

I enjoyed this novel and was quite surprised by it. The humanity of display here, from the monster no less, is extremely well observed. His morose nature and philosophical examination of his situation and what has turned him to evil is poignant and very realistic. The three of four chapters in which he tells his story to Frankenstein and pleads with him to help him and provide him a mate, are the best in the book in my view.

Ultimately, of course, a gothic horror novel. I love gothic works but I found this to be less atmospheric and creepy than, for example, The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe. Still, the rampaging monster is sufficiently alarming to merit great attention, and to me, he almost seems supernatural in his ability to shadow his creator, pounce and then seemingly vanish. However this is not a faceless, sociopathic fiend (although Shelly frequently uses that noun to describe him) but a human, hurt being who wanted to fit in and has turned to violence, mayhem and revenge on his creator when he is shunned and feared. He seems to use the justification many have used in literature and in life: “if I can’t be loved I will be feared”.

He is very successful indeed in exacting revenge on his maker although through the medium of murdering innocents around him which is, of course, very unpleasant. I found Frankenstein himself a less than sympathetic figure too although one has to respect his decision regarding producing more “monsters” but he seems, overall, a selfish and not that intelligent man. It is clear that the blame for most of this lies with him.

The Promethean illusions are certainly here. Man gaining dangerous knowledge and being punished as a result. The duality of man, what it means to be human, the danger of isolation and being an outcast are all interwoven here. The book is somewhat flawed in places in my opinion. I found, for example, Frankensteins lack of care and protection for his wife totally unbelievable.

However, overall, it was an enjoyable, if dark read. Shelly wrote this when she was 19 and its influence on subsequent literature, art and even the language itself, has been immense. One of the shorter reads on the list and not difficult to read.

I have also reviewed this book on my Goodreads profile.

This was the 15th book I have read on the list of 100.

Brave New World – Aldous Huxley (Review)

As amazing as it sounds, this book somehow passed me by when we were studying literature in high school. It was on the list but for some reason my class didn’t read this one. So it wasn’t until I reached my fifties that I finally read it, and then for a book club in combination with that other dystopian classic, Nineteen Eighty Four.

It is definitely worth comparing the two and whilst the horror of totalitarianism is perhaps more viscerally illustrated in 1984, I am not sure that Brave New World isn’t perhaps the more disturbing for me. The endings in particular, whilst very strong in both, and more disturbing in Orwell’s work, is very poignant in Huxley’s horrific vision.

Of course, I am sure there are nuances of plot and symbolism that passed me by although I found the most profound and interesting section the Controller’s explanation of World civilization and particularly his discussion with John the Savage late in the novel. It is an interesting take on future society for sure and the intimation that we truly need suffering to be human is well taken here. Even though I sometimes feel that a few grammes of Soma would certainly be welcome, we all know that, with the drugs we do have, that isn’t the long term answer.

It was these messages, as well as the consumerism and the conditioning that I found more interesting than the “process” of producing children. I found the reverence for Ford, though, to be somewhat bizarre and whilst I understand this in terms of his production line approach, it just seems weird to me and a little forced, although perhaps this was AH’s way of suggesting that the introduction of the Model T was somehow the start of the descent into this dystopian nightmare.

More relevant to today’s horrendous descent into a modern day nightmare is what I fear is actually becoming true i.e a disdain and contempt for history and reading in particular and intellectualism in particular. It is pathetic and disappointing to me how many people never pick up a book to read for pleasure, spout the importance of one’s country and patriotism without the first idea of the major events in said country’s (or indeed any world) history. Today’s equivalent of the feelies in Brave New World is surely reality TV to which we are endlessly subjected when the information age should make learning easier than ever. I think that Huxley’s fear that nobody will want to read books is more prescient that Orwell’s fear that they will be banned, although the latter may well happen too.

There is a lot that is prescient here of course but it would be interesting to see what Huxley would write now, given an understanding of genetics and genetic engineering. However as one who generally believes in conditioning, this element of the novel is fascinating indeed. Also the guess that helicopters would still be the primary means of transport in 2450 seems off the mark given where we are with transport in 2018, many decades after this work was penned.

Very much an enjoyable read though, ultimately as I suspect is the intent, a bleak ending. I guess if one is looking for a happy ending then one has innumerable options from which to choose. This ending somehow strikes me as much more satisfactory and frankly, if such a society were to develop (as it certainly could) much more likely.

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

I had never read Kafka before and wondered about the term “Kafkaesque” that appears in literary reviews and the general lexicon. I guess if you give rise to a word in the language, you have really achieved something. The Metamorphosis is perhaps Kafka’s most famous work and the opening line is famous and sets the tone for what follows: “As Gregor Samsa awoke from unsettling dreams one morning, he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin”.

Translations vary of course and it is never very satisfactory to read books in a different language to that in which they were penned but, not reading German, I have no real choice! The vermin in question is a hideous insect although Kafka is at pains to spare us too many details although, at one point, a character describes him as a huge dung beetle.

This is a surreal, disturbing and sad story. I finished it late into the evening which wasn’t a great idea – it kept my brain churning well into the night. I wonder about the symbolism here, which may be a fruitless exercise when it comes to Kafka. There is no reason for the transformation, and initially it is clear Gregor believes his situation to be temporary or indeed, simply a dream. Inexplicably, his family, although horrified by the change, keep him in his room and although treat him fairly badly, seem to go on as normal, if not slightly better.

Gregor tries to adapt and survive but his family are not uniformly interested in him as he stays in his metamorphosed state and he becomes depressed, injured and ultimately gives up. Some of the descriptions are very depressing as he basically becomes a big insect kept in his room with minimal interaction. His family, in contrast to his plight, seem to metamorphose themselves into better workers and in the case of his sister, a more comely individual altogether.

It is bleak. Kafka wasn’t happy with the ending it is said (indeed many of his works were unfinished, suggestive of a difficulty in rounding off his tales) but it seems fitting to me. Even if the family is basically seeking to rid themselves of what Gregor has become. Is his change a metaphor for death and decrepitude? There is a suggestion that he wants to remain in his state and initially he seems to think that he can more or less carry on as usual. I am not sure what we are to take from this as allegory but it is a fascinating story – Kafka must have had a somewhat dark mind indeed.

I read this translation from Barnes and Noble Classics (Link below) which also includes: The Judgement, The Stoker, The Penal Colony, A Country Doctor, An Old Leaf, A Hunger Artist, Josephine the Singer and Before the Law.

This is a version that only includes this story, but the translation will likely be a little different (sometimes “vermin” is replaced by “insect” for example in the opening sentence)