World Book Day Tag

I recently came across a lovely tag on the blog Stephanie Pomfrett and decided to give it a go as it looked fun.

I hope you enjoy reading my answers.

1. If you were stranded on a desert island with one book to last you the rest of your life, what would it be?

How can I choose one?! I would be tempted to go for something like Pride and Prejudice or Jane Eyre as they or my faves but if I have a lifetime I could take something really deep like 1984 to analyse. But, then I realised, I would have to take the Bible and spend the eternity growing closer to God.

2. Which book changed your life?

I first read Wuthering Heights which really got me into reading literature. Then Lord of the Flies got me into analysis and reading deeper novels. But 1984 has really changed how I look at the world.

3. What was the first book that made you cry?

I don't really cry much... I cried when I read One Day. 

4. What was the last book you read that completely baffled you?

I was baffled when I first read Gatsby. Wide Sargasso Sea I struggled to understand wholly too.

5. What’s your favourite novel?

Probably Pride and Prejudice as it is just the ultimate classic and it's not just is it a brilliant love story but a satirical novel that comically observes society.

6. What’s your favourite non-fiction book?

Anne Frank's Diary, that's non-fiction, right? It is really moving and you can really get into the atmosphere during the 30s through the book and understand how life must have been a bit better.

7. Have you ever read a book you loved so much that you refused to watch the film?

I refused to watch the film of The Great Gatsby until recently. Also I don't watch any adaptations of books by Orwell.

8. What is your favourite way to read a book?

In bed with a cup of tea and a bar of galaxy caramel.

9. What’s at the top of your ‘to-read’ list?

I want to read Tender is the Night by Fitzgerald next as I loved reading Gatsby.

10. Finally: if you were me and you had to dress up as a character for World Book Day, who would you choose?

Definitely Elizabeth Bennet - any excuse to wear Regency clothing really!

The Loudness of Silence

A while ago I wrote a poem which I want to share with you all today. As it was a while ago it doesn't reflect my current emotions or situation - so don't worry, guys!
I hope you like it and I would love to hear your opinion and if you would like to see more of my poems.

Bleary eyed 
I cross the path of a thousand embracing lovers
Not knowing what I had lost
Until it was too late

Like a cup
Dashed from the lips of the drinker
With only a taste
Of you left behind

I have not know as I do now
The loudness of silence
The truth in the cliches
Which fill my mind as your words once did

The Book Lover Survey

I came across this tag on the blog Makeup Etc and thought I would give it a go as it looked fun.
I hope you enjoy this and I would love everyone to have a go at this.

Do you remember how you developed a love for reading? 
I read from a very young age - apparently when I was 5 I used to read the dictionary (cool kid). But as I got a bit older I was always sent to bed but allowed to read for a bit as people rarely had TVs in their room back in the day of my childhood, so I would stay up too late reading.

Where do you usually read? 

I like to read in bed but as I sleep in a bunk bed I have to sit on the floor or elsewhere. 

Do you prefer to read one book at a time or several at once? 

I always read more than one book. Usually one at home then one at college.

What is your favourite genre? 

I like classical literature like Jane Austen but also anything deep like 1984 or Lord of the Flies.

Is there a genre you will not read? 

I don't like modern horror at all nor would I ever read any modern 'romance' books (you know the sort).

Do you have a favourite book? 

I really love Pride and Prejudice.

What is your least favourite book?
I once had to read Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys for college which I really didn't enjoy as it is too jumpy.

What is the longest book you have ever read? 

Homer's Illiad is quite long so probably that.

What was the last book you bought? 
Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 

Do you prefer library books or buying books? 

Buying books all the way! I always buy from charity shops as they are so cheap but I also love buying antiquarian books from antique shops.

What are you currently reading?
I'm currently rereading Pride and Prejudice as well rereading The Great Gatsby.

I hope you enjoyed this post and I tag everyone to do it too!
Let me know if you give this tag a go.

The Start of a Story

I am really into writing and when I was younger I used to write a lot of stories but I kind of got out of the habit of it. I have currently started writing one though and intend to try to finish it. I hoped that I would be able to post on here about my progress and show you snippets of the story.
I have just started it and wrote the opening sections so I am going to share them with you and I would love to hear your feedback.
I haven't thought for a title for it but I intend to have a story of two very different people and their experiences in life.
So, here goes..

Arthur reclined in his chair as he basked in the golden warmth that the fireplace emitted. The low drum of conversation laced the atmosphere with cordial assurance that he was not alone and, in the safety of feeling part of the common thread of humanity, he closed his eyes and allowed his face to be warmed in the cheerful glow.  His cheeks slowly becoming like a rose emerging from beneath a blanket of snow, his mind tumbled slowly through his hopes and expectations for that evening’s plans.  

The cold air slashed at her face as she fought through the frozen mist that hung dense and dead in the raw air. Through the shadows casting uncertainty upon what lurked beneath them, she sliced through the murkiness with as much vigilance as her strained eyes would allow. 

I hope you liked this post and I would love to hear what you think and any advice. 

I would also love to know if you would like to see more posts like this.

Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading Tag

So, I saw that loads of people have done this tag on Youtube and a couple of bloggers too I thought I would give it a go as it looked like fun!
You can find the original video here.

Questions:

1. If you could step into the life of one fictional character for 24 hrs, who would it be and what would you do?

2. It's the zombie apocalypse and you find yourself locked in a basement with 3 fictional characters. Who would you want them to be and why?

3. Which 2 fellow Booktubers would you want by your side in that basement as you wait to be rescued?

4. Which fictional characters would be your best friend? Which would be your mortal enemy?

5. Which villian/evil doer do you secretly admire?

6. Who are your top 2 favorite fictional pairings/ships (it doesn't have to be romantic...can also be 'partners in crime', best friends etc)

7. If you could change the ending to any book you have read, which one would it be and why?

8. An alien race invades earth. What book do you give to their leader in order to better understand humans/humanity?

9. Using the title of a book you have read, what would you call the story of your life?

10. If you HAD to kill off a character from one of your favorite books...and you can't choose a villain (that would be too easy), who would it be?

1. If you could step into the life of one fictional character for 24 hrs, who would it be and what would you do?

Hhm, there are so many characters in books which I have read that I get so angry at for not doing a certain thing. I would very much like to be Bridget Jones and go and tell Daniel Cleaver to just go away and stop annoying me, tell Mark Darcy that I love him an awful lot and stop with the whole 'I hate him...or do I?' scenario and I would stop working for that repugnant misogynist of a boss who runs the Sit Up Britain channel. I would also love to be Lydia Bennet from Pride and Prejudice and dump Wickham because he is a big, fat meany who just wants money and probably doesn't even love her. But, in all honesty, I would most like to be Lizzie Bennet as she marries Darcy and I would just spend 24 hours just being with Darcy! I mean, who wouldn't want to marry him?!

2. It's the zombie apocalypse and you find yourself locked in a basement with 3 fictional characters. Who would you want them to be and why?

I would want Mr Darcy to be there because I love him and I know he wouldn't go mad and eat us all when we started to starve. Hermione would have to be there as she would have her time turner and we could go back in time and save humanity! And Achilles from the Iliad because he is super strong and almost immortal so he would look after me!

3. Which 2 fellow Booktubers would you want by your side in that basement as you wait to be rescued?

I would like to be with Bookish Thoughts and Books And Quills because they are both great and they both seem to be quite positive which is what you need in a zombie apocalypse. 

4. Which fictional characters would be your best friend? Which would be your mortal enemy?

I would like to be Jane Eyre's best friend because she seems really nice and a strong, moral character and maybe I could be her second Helen Burns (poor Helen *sob*). I would also like to be friends with Jane Bennet - we are making our way through the Bennet sisters here! Any guesses to my favourite novel?! My enemy would be...hm...Daniel Cleaver because I hate how he treats women. Or maybe Napoleon from Animal Farm. 

5. Which villian/evil doer do you secretly admire?

I am going to go for a trick answer here - my secretly admired villian is Snape as I though he was a villian then he wasn't so then I admired his love for Lily and how helped Harry. Yurp. 

6. Who are your top 2 favourite fictional pairings/ships (it doesn't have to be romantic...can also be 'partners in crime', best friends etc)

I really like Emma and Knightley from Austen's Emma as Knightley is so friendly and they seem destined for each other. Also Lizzie and Darcy..

7. If you could change the ending to any book you have read, which one would it be and why?

I would make it so that Boxer didn't die in Animal Farm! Although it says a lot about the savageness of life under Napoleon, it is very sad.

8. An alien race invades earth. What book do you give to their leader in order to better understand humans/humanity?

I think Bridget Jones' Diary says a lot about what life here is like. Maybe that because I can't reallt hink of anything else. 1984 honestly depicts the susceptibility of humanity but you wouldn't want to give that an invading power..

9. Using the title of a book you have read, what would you call the story of your life?

All the books I have read have pretty obscure titles.. hm, ok, I'm gonna cheat and use a title of a book I haven't read but have heard reviewed a lot - cheat that I am - The Perks of Being a Wallflower because I am a wallflower and my other options were books like Lord of the Flies and 1984.

10. If you HAD to kill off a character from one of your favorite books...and you can't choose a villain (that would be too easy), who would it be?

Mrs Bennet would be a goner! I don't dislike her but I don't think she is amazing. However I don't think the book would be the same without her. Maybe Mary Bennet instead..

I would love for everyone to have a go at this tag! If you do be sure to let me know.

The Great Gatsby Book Review & Analysis

I recently came across a book reviewing competition run by Distinctive Chesterfields to win a gorgeous armchair and £100 of book tokens. You can find out more about this competition here.

                                     

When I first read Gatsby I wrote a blog post of my first impressions of the book on my other blog but, I have to say, my opinions of the book are now very different. I definitely think that this is one of those books which you have to read more than once to appreciate as is doesn't describe everything in great detail so it can be a bit jumpy so if you re-read it you can just appreciate everything better rather than just struggling to decipher the storyline.

                            

The book is set in the 1920s and is told through the eyes of Nick Carraway who, I believe, is an absolute wallflower and is always around but doesn't really do a great deal nor play a big role in the plot. He tells the story of what happened during the summer of when he moves to a small house beside the mansion of the allusive and mysterious billionaire Gatsby who the story is mostly based around. The story takes place in Gatsby's mansion, where he holds huge parties, New York and in a few of the other character's houses. It shows the development of Gatsby's relationship with Nick and the other characters as Gatsby tries to delve into the past to rediscover something that he once lost. This story deals a lot in themes of illusion and reality but also with the past and whether we can relive the past.

                                            

When I first read this I didn't love it as the characters aren't ones which I immediately were drawn to and I felt the atmosphere seemed rather superficial. However, as I am studying this for English Lit, I have found these points which previously deterred me to be points which draw me in now. I love how nothing is as it seems and Fitzgerald plays around with ideas about illusion and identity and I feel like the novel is arguing that no-one is as they seem and everyone lives within this image of themselves and always aspires to be true to this image but as it is merely an image it can't really be achieved as it is based purely upon the character's imagination. Moreover the narrator is often described as 'unreliable' but I think that Nick is a more reliable narrator than one who would see and know everything as he is realistic. Nick seems to be the one voice within this fairly land of illusion who is true to himself and that makes him totally unreliable to convey events without partiality. At points he argues that he is likes Gatsby and at other times he says he feel disdain for him. Yet Nick changes and is versatile in his opinions and thus doesn't stay faithful to one idea of himself thus making him able to adapt yet not able to convey events impartially.
I also enjoy reading this book from a feminist perspective as it is really interesting how the role of women is conveyed within a time when women were said to have more freedom. Through the character of Jordan who is quite masculine it is suggested that, even in the 20s, for women to progress they had to make themselves more masculine (think Lady Macbeth in a flapper dress). Moreover the hate that people have for Daisy, I think, is based upon our patriarchal mindset. Daisy and Gatsby are very similar but Daisy is demonised because she cannot live up to the image Gatsby has of her yet Daisy also has an image that Gatsby falls short of. As the story is told through Nick's eyes, which have particular partiality for Gatsby, Daisy is put forward as the victimiser in a situation where she could never win - how could she live up to Gatsby's ideal? Moreover Nick sees her, and the majority of the women, in a quite objectified manner. His description of Daisy's voice and his constant reference to the sound of it makes it more like a noise rather than a conveyance of speech thus isolating her further.

                         

Ultimately this book is really interesting and can be analysed so deeply (I could probably go on in the manner as I did above for ages). I love this different image of the 20s and the beauty of Fitzgerald's writing is breathtaking and I believe it to be unparalleled in literature.

                                               

I hope you enjoyed this post and I aplogise for not having posted for so long.
I would love to hear your opinions of the book!