Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

I picked up this book at Barnes and Noble last week, straight off the shelf. With no prior research on the book or its author, I took an uncharacteristic chance in choosing this book for this week's review -- and it turned out to be great. 

Starting in Cinque Terre, Italy, the story follows Pasquale Tursi as he manages a small inn that he inherited. Every character that emerges subsequently is, in some way, connected to Pasquale. The story hops across continents and spans decades while beautifully detailing the romance, hardships, and happiness that occur in each character's life. 

I really enjoyed this book. The writing in this story is like kettle corn; savory, but ever so sweet. The plot is like 60% cacao chocolate; bittersweet, but enjoyable. Reading the book is a slow-melting indulgent treat. 

I'd recommend this book to anyone because it is a masterpiece of great story-telling. The way the characters' stories intertwine is magical and I award it five out of five stars.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Ahead of its time when it was published in 1932, Brave New World explored a number of advanced ideas like eugenics and cloning. 

This novel's world is very unlike those of the other dystopian novel that I have read. The citizens treat Henry Ford as the God (in place of Christ) because he invented assembly line-style manufacturing. The government applies Ford's invention to manufacture human clones who are assigned to five different castes. Additionally, when  people are overwhelmed, they turn to a drug called soma that makes them forget their troubles. Despite these attempts made by the government in order to control the way people grow and feel, one individual is unhappy and discontented. He acts on those feelings to disrupt the authorities' controls.

This book is frightening, but not like a horror novel. The government thinks that it is better to control the development of the human species as opposed to having diversity among people. The ideas of the book foreshadowed Adolf Hitler's attempt to eliminate the Jews and many other groups to further his desire for a master Aryan race, although no killing of this caliber is described in the book. The caste system in the book parallels that of India where the lower castes perform the menial jobs and the upper castes have more opportunities and wealth. The ideas of this book, when executed in the real world, can have enormous and harmful consequences for society. 

Huxley writes with passionate style. Even when he describes scientific concepts and structures, he uses an imaginative voice which is refreshing and unexpected. 

There is little closure at the end of this book and many plot elements are left unresolved. The story hops around frequently, making it hard to keep up, so I'm giving BNW three out of five stars. 

I think this book marks the end of my dystopian-classical literature phase -- for now. 

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Published in 1962, A Clockwork Orange is a dystopian novella that is  Anthony Burgess' most popular work, despite his preference to be known for his other books.

Alex is a teenager who acts like a character in a violent video game; he rapes and kills, ransacks and steals -- all for fun. One night, the police catch Alex and lock him up for murder. The standard sentence for this crime is 14 years; however, Alex has heard about a way to shorten it -- a new correctional program. In treatment, he is forced to watch violent films and receive injections, both of which hyper-sensitize him against violence. After he is "cured", Alex is released back into society. However, he has now grown up and realizes that his old ways were childish and he plans to abandon them.

I can only describe this book in one word: unpleasant. The descriptions of murder, rape, and torture are very brutal. Still, Burgess is an incredible author whose writing style displays virtuosity and originality. 

This book is a difficult read. It's not the plot, it's the gibberish. Many words in the book are made up, comprising an original language shared by the protagonist teenagers. It's a read that requires a lot, if not all, of your attention. 

A Clockwork Orange is like the strange love child of Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Catcher in the Rye (both previously reviewed here). The government disapproves of Alex's desires to participate in unlawful activities and they set out to cure him. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, the government disapproves of Winston's contrary beliefs and sets out to reeducate him. Holden Caulfield (of Catcher) and Alex both grow from their youthful selves to more mature almost adults.

I rate this book four out of five stars because I really like the message about there being a time to grow up. I dropped one star because the invented language can be hard to comprehend.  

To Autumn by John Keats

Preface: My apologies - this week I was extremely busy and I didn't have time to read. However, dear readers, I'm happy to say that I will definitely have another book review next Sunday. 

This week, please enjoy one of my favorite (and timely) poems. In 15 days, the Northern Hemisphere's summer will die and fall will be reborn. This poem reflects on joys that accompany this season. 

To Autumn 
(written by John Keats, September 19, 1819)

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, 
  Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless 
  With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees, 
  And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; 
    To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells 
  With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees, 
Until they think warm days will never cease,
    For summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store? 
  Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor, 
  Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep, 
  Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
    Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep 
  Steady thy laden head across a brook; 
  Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
    Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they? 
  Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,-
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, 
  And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn 
  Among the river sallows, borne aloft
    Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies; 
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn; 
  Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
  The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft, 
    And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.