After 3 months, I have finally finished Inheritance by, Christopher Paolini. This 849-page book should not have had to exist since the series was supposed to be a trilogy, but, despite that bitterness, I enjoyed the novel overall. The ending to the series was very conclusive and satisfying, but I stopped caring about the world far before the story ended.
I read this book because I wanted to finish the series. With this one, however, I felt that Paolini's writing was self-indulgent and show-offey. He used too many of those vocab words that you learn and say, "hey that's a cool word! I'm glad it exists," but then you never use it except to talk about the fact that it exists (example: susurration).
I also felt that he included unnecessary descriptions and details that I did not care about nor did they add to the story. Particularly in his invented languages and author's note at the end, I got the impression that he was way more into his world than anyone else in the world, and he is completely oblivious to the fact that many of his readers aren't quite there with him. I also struggled with the fact that Alagaesia was very much like Middle Earth, so it felt less unique.
His immaturity as a writer (and human) was demonstrated through the extremely patriarchal society he created, particularly in individual romantic relationships. True, he wrote some extremely awesome strong female characters, but this strength is mostly exhibited in manly ways (such as Arya and Nasuada), whereas the ordinary women (like Katrina) are pretty damsel-like and dependent on their men.
This quarter, I also read The Fault in Our Stars by, John Green (which I have already reviewed), and a book for class that I really enjoyed called Monique and the Mango Rains by, Kris Holloway.
I loved Monique. It was without a doubt the best public health memoir I have ever read. Better than Mountains Beyond Mountains and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. This book is told from the perspective of the author, who reflected on her time as a Peace Corps volunteer stationed in a village in Mali called Nampossela. Her host was the village midwife and sole healthcare worker, Monique. Through Holloway's anecdotes, we get to understand what life in the village is like, how the people (and they are people, just like us) live their lives and think about certain issues, and what the concerns of the community are. I really connected to the people in the book (I'd call them characters, but they're not fictional) and the issues that were raised made me realize how important they are to me. It is so good, and everyone should read this book. READ IT!!!!
Anyway, now I've got two more books to read. They were birthday gifts from a couple of wonderful friends. One of them is called The Shadow of the Wind, and my friend said it is her favorite book and that she's jealous that I get to experience it for the first time, so I'm really excited to see what that's all about. I'm also rather intimidated by the amount of pressure there is for reading a friend's favorite book, but if she likes it so much it must be good. The other book is one that I had on my wish list and it's called Divergent by, Veronica Roth. It's a distopian young adult novel, which is a genre I love, and the sequel comes out in the spring so the timing is perfect.
This week, I also joined a site called goodreads.com where I can rate, review, and get recommendations for other books to read as well as follow friends. It's a lot of fun.
Today is awesome because I had a super-relaxed day to decompress before traveling home for spring break!
No comments:
Post a Comment