Arka’s blog

So, it’s been a while since I blogged on here, or even mentioned that whole 50-books-to-read-in-2009 thing, which is clearly going at a decent pace so far. These are the books I have read so far in the year 2009, at least those I have completed.

I’ve already talked a bit about these:

1. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. Let it Snow, by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle
3. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Volume 1, by M.T. Anderson
4. Harry Potter & Imagination, by Travis Prinzi

 Now, bear in mind that my interpretation of these books here isn’t horribly analytical, and I did notice a lot more while reading them.

Looking for Alaska*, by John Green

Obviously an amazing novel, which, after reading Catcher, I can truly say embodies the spirit of Holden Caulfield. It questions life, and the struggles of adolescence, in a manner that’s dead serious, though witty and humorous.

The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck

It really makes you think about our values, and what we would do or not do according to them in life. It reveals the humanity of people even after much hardship…

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

This book is actually a really fast read, even for someone who has yet to beat his last-Harry Potter-book-release-night reading speed. It looks at people in a post-apocalyptic world, where people seem to have lost all their basic values. The government had absolute control, and the wealthy people are “phony” and rich and happy, while the people living normally have very basic lives. It is mostly centered around this competition in which kids fight against each other last-man-standing style, and as you can tell, questions what people would do in desperate circumstances, and how far our selflessness would go. It also kind of looks at whether people can be too cynical of others, and how important trust is.

The Great Gatsby*, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Yes.

1984*, by George Orwell

Totalitarianism. Decay of language and communication. People not being able to express themselves. The (still HIGHLY possible) future of our barbaric government and world politics, as well as the ridiculous things people live for.

Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

Similar to 1984, even though the means and ways of society are in some ways the complete opposite.

Animal Farm, by George Orwell

Totalitarianism. Equality. Inevitable corruption through power.

The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Sin. Innocence. Manipulation. Revenge.

Peeps, Scott Westerfeld

Vampires. No, not in the dreaded sense people associate them these days, nor the traditional crazy magical vampires. It’s — wait for it — biological vampires! Vampirism that spreads through a parasite! But yes, it deals with, I guess, trust and lying, and I’m not really sure what else…

Are We There Yet? by David Levithan

Brotherhood (1.0). A lot of this book was stuff like, tell the truth or protect with a lie, and other interesting questions. It deals with the whole complex-people thing, and neither of the two narrators are completely reliable or true in their depictions of the other.

The Last Days, by Scott Westerfeld

Sequel to Peeps, though the main characters of that book were featured as background characters here. Has a lot to do with music and bands, perhaps the artistic mirror to the biological Peeps.

AP Chemistry, by the Princeton Review

AP Calculus AB, by the Princeton Review

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks*, by E. Lockhart

Made my head explode. A very interesting book to have read right before Catcher. A lot of school stuff like boyfriends, cliques, social struggles, etc. Even though the narrator vehemently tries to set herself up to be above and better than all those typical school stuff, she ends up like most other teenage girls. However, she does posess that social criticism that you wouldn’t expect; she really tries to argue against the secret all-male society, and the dumb, subtle injustices at school, but does so in a very controversial way. The ending is kind of sad in the way Octavian Nothing is, but I don’t know, it can’t make you not think.

The Catcher in the Rye*, by J.D. Salinger

Whole post for this some day.