Half Way Book Review: Jane Eyre

We started reading Jane Eyre a few months ago in school and i am enjoying the historicalness and coming-of-age theme of the book so much that i wanted to review it. I am a little under half way through this book. The book starts with Jane in her cousin's house explaining her situation (orphan, lives with cousins, dead uncle). She also explains what was happening while she was explaining this: her heinous cousin John is abusing her and she gets no attention from her aunty. After being provoked by John she lashes out and after this is sent to the "Red Room" and then to Lowood Institution. Lowood Institution is a very religious and rigorous boarding school that people send their unwanted or poor children to. Subsequently, she stays there and miraculously survives. Jane (the narrator) then skips eight years to her being a teacher at Lowood who is advertising for a new job as a governess. When she gets accepted, she willingly leaves Lowood for a new job at Thornfield. Here is where she slowly becomes closer friends with her master despite their class difference.

The story is told from future Jane's memory and point of view. She describes things from so far from her past in great detail. The younger Jane is quite similar to the older Jane because they are both very confident and outspoken. Jane is constantly described as plain and i agree with this; she has a very basic personality towards other people but just like every young person, she over thinks and the reader gets to see this. Finally i have found a character that the narrater explains to be plain and not very beautiful and actually is how they describe; so many novels exaggerate characters but Jane is just plain! What i liked the most so far was the eight year gap for her time at Lowood. This shows that life at Lowood was repetitive and the same for eight years. When she explains the eight year gap, she addresses the reader and directly explains in a chatty manner why she left this gap. I like the sudden pauses in the story where Jane starts to talk to the reader. The character personalities are very clear and different and Adele is honestly the funniest French girl ever. I noticed that Jane is very much like Cassandra from I Capture The Castle; both keep themselves to themselves but can be quite confident.

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Animal Farm Review

ANIMAL FARM is an allegorical and dystopian novel by George Orwell. It is recognised as one of the most culminating classics. It is a very short book of only 120 pages. Orwell found his inspiration after being horrified by what had happened to the so-called socialist party of The Soviet Union. The usurpation of the socialist revolutionary by Stalin's regimen was not welcomed by Orwell. ANIMAL FARM represents the wrong way that his society was transformed.

The story follows the life of a troop of animals on a farm and displays the problems they collide with when power and hierarchy become available. The animals win a battle against the mistreating farmer, which ends in them taking power of the land. For many years, all the animals work contently but then the generation of the revolution dies. The animals are told by the pigs, who were always the leaders, that they are working for themselves. Truthfully, the animals have been brainwashed and blindly ignore the obvious facts that lead to their manipulation and ignore the terrible things that are happening. The story ends with a vividly described scene that depicts the party for the leaders (the pigs) and the neighbouring farm, where you realise how much the farm has and hasn't changed.

Overall the book is an easy, quick read and there was only occasionally a word that i did not understand. Its relations to the real historical facts were simple to interpret and the only problem i faced was reading too far between the lines. Make sure that you are explained the basic history before reading and that you know who every character symbolises. The story shows the corruptness and harsh improbability of there ever being no leader. By the end of the book you realise you have been laughing at the animals stupidity but really they tragically symbolise the people that should have know better.

If the last line of the book is not worthy of a tumblr post then i don't know what is.

Finished Book Review: I Capture the Castle

Finally (after 5 months) i have finished reading I CAPTURE THE CASTLE. If you haven't already read the first part of my review then read it here. I was correct in saying that my opinions have changed. Please note the first paragraph contains spoilers.

A lot has changed since the middle of I CAPTURE THE CASTLE. After Simon and Rose have been together for a long time, her siblings uncover that she does not love Simon and never will. This creates great havoc in Cassandra's mind, especially because she kissed Simon and decided she is in madly love with him. Rose and Cassandra have their first brawl and Cassandra storms out into the dark London night and finds her own way home. Stephan gets a job as a model and an actor but continues to be boring and love-sick. Mr. Mortimer finally begins writing at the end and there is an unexpected twist with who loves who which really shocks the reader.

Cassandra travels to London and is given an extravagant gift from Simon, which she cherishes more than anything. She describes these two main moments with a lot of detail. The way that it is written is exactly how a teenager would write; making every moment sound like the best or worse day of her life. As the story progresses, you learn more about the traditions and way of life of a not-so-normal 1930's family. I liked that, although she laments a lot, i never felt empathetic towards Cassandra. I would have found it very boring if i constantly felt sorry for the narrator. The ceaseless talk about Simon is tiring but believable. I also love how Cassandra is subtly rude about all her family members.

I would recommend this book to every teenage girl. It is not just a girly love story but a more interesting novel about teenage life and living in a castle. Cassandra is at an awkward age and her narrating is highly entertaining. Girls will relate to her embarrassing traumas. After reading it, I have decided i want to live in a castle; there would be so much to write about and discover.

Half Way Book Review: I Capture The Castle

I had an idea to do a book review when i was half way through reading, then do another when i had finished it to see if my ideas had changed and how the story had progressed.

I have been reading this book for a very long time. I am an extremely slow reader. Also, dog face takes up a lot of my time. Lately, i have been finding it hard to sleep (probably due to the fact that there are only three weeks till Christmas) and reading before bed has been my saviour. I normally end up reading about ten pages because it makes me so sleepy but i've finally got to the middle of this book.

I chose I CAPTURE THE CASTLE after reading one of Dodie Smith's other famous novels, 101 DALMATIANS. It may have been a bit childish but it is an absolute classic. It is defiantly different from the film and i think it paints a better picture in your head because of her vivid descriptions. I CAPTURE THE CASTLE is another famous book that appears high on all those 'books that every girl should read' lists. It is J.K. Rowling's favourite book. She says "This book has one of the most charismatic narrators i've ever met" and i agree.. it is as if when you start the book you are meeting someone not just reading about them.

The story is set in the English countryside in the 1930’s.  An extremely poor, eccentric family discovers an abandoned castle and chooses it to be their new home. The narrator is Cassandra Mortmain, a quiet yet witty 17 year-old, aspiring author, who has no experience with friends, socialising and definitely not boys. Her sister, Rose, is effortlessly beautiful just like her stepmother, Topaz. Mr. Mortmain is the writer of a successful and rather intellectual book but unfortunately since then he has been suffering from writer's block - which came on after an argument with his wife and neighbour. 

When two American brothers arrive at the door of their castle, marriage is the only word on everyone’s lips. Rose is determined to marry the eldest brother no matter how desperate she may seem. Cassandra has never thought about marriage until Rose mentions Neil (the younger boy). Stephan, the Mortmain’s life-long friend and house workman is embarrassingly lovesick over Cassandra. He is constantly to be seen in the barn writing amateurish love-poems for her. Cassandra doesn’t return Stephan’s love but does she have feelings for Neil instead?

I think that Cassandra and Neil will get together because their personalities are slightly different but they have conversations that prove them to have the same opinions. I don't think that Rose and Simon will work out because Rose is too overpowering and she is revolted by his beard. So far, the characters have changed from how they were at the start of the book, which i find interesting and more exciting to read. I feel pity towards Rose because she is shown to be immature because of her desperation. Cassandra has become more grown up and is very humble towards everyone. I hope that Dodie carries on dealing with teenage issues and writes more about the castle and England's history.