Tag Archives: reading

Reading Together #16

I present to you my sixteenth instalment of Weltenwanderers and Schlunzenbüchers „Gemeinsam Lesen“ (Reading Together).

Each Tuesday one of them asks four questions, with the first three always being the same about the book one is currently reading and the fourth a new one by either of them. All questions below are obviously translated from today’s German post.

1. Which Book are you currently reading and which page are you on?

This week I’m kind of reading two books.
On the one hand did I start with The Fellowship of the Ring, Part One of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, which I chose as part of BiblioSmile’s Summer Book Challenge as a book I always meant to get around to.
With this one I’m on page 69.
On the other hand did I start with The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis, which is the first part of the Chronicles of Narnia, even though it was published last.
Here I’m currently on page 146.
I kind of switch between them on occasion and today I explored Narnia.

2. What is the first sentence on your current page?

„What’s the Thing talking about, Horse?“

or in German:

„Wovon redet das Ding, Pferd?“

3. What do you desperately need to tell about your current book? (Thoughts, Feelings, a Quote, whatever you want!)

One of the reasons I switch is because it is exhausting to read the long and carefully structured sentences in the Fellowship. I have to read some of them several times before I fully grasp what they mean and that means I can’t follow the story as easily as I had hoped. The Narnia book is a nice alternative here, as the phrasing is fit for children, though sometimes just as confusing.
While reading I remembered bits of the first LotR movie already and I think, I also already saw a few differences between the written and the movie-version. But it’s still nice to get a different angle on the whole thing.
And there weren’t as many pages describing the Shire (I had to think for a moment what it was called in English as I’m too used to the German version: Auenland – meadowsland) as I had anticipated from others‘ tales.
The only thing that actually bugged me was that it was never said which dwarves visited Bilbo on his 111th Birthday. I wanted to know if there were some we knew from the Hobbit. >_<
And I was surprised that Frodo turned 50 before the whole story actually began…the movies give you a totally different impression here…
Narnia has a completely different narration and it’s odd when the narrator addresses the audience, but it is still quite interesting to read about the discovery and birth of Narnia.

4. Do you put the books you are going to read into an order early on or do you decide spontaneously which one will be the next after you finished a book?

Like so many things this depends.
Most of the times I just pick a book I feel like reading, but there are also times – especially now in regards to the challenges – where I think which would be best to read next in order to finally finish them.

Additional thoughts

You can obviously participate in these questions by either using my translated or the original German version.
PoiSonPaiNter
© For the cover, the quote and the banner belong to their rightful owners.

Reading Together #15

I present to you my fifteenth instalment of Weltenwanderers and Schlunzenbüchers „Gemeinsam Lesen“ (Reading Together).

Each Tuesday one of them asks four questions, with the first three always being the same about the book one is currently reading and the fourth a new one by either of them. All questions below are obviously translated from today’s German post.

1. Which Book are you currently reading and which page are you on?

I couldn’t resist finishing Die Seiten der Welt (The Pages of the World) by Kai Meyer yesterday, but I didn’t feel like tackling the next book yet. Though I know what it will be: The Fellowship of the Ring, Part One of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.
As part of BiblioSmile’s Summer Book Challenge I chose it as a book I always meant to get around to.
I’m currently on page 1, if I actually skip the forewords and the ring-poem at the beginning. I’m impressed that this version really starts with page one after all the ones before that and not with a numbering according to the empty pages again.

2. What is the first sentence on your current page?

This book is largely concerned with Hobbits, and from its pages a reader may discover much of their character and a little of their history.

or in German from this edition:

Dieses Buch handelt zum großen Teil von Hobbits, und der Leser erfährt daraus viel über ihre Wesensart und ein wenig auch über ihre Geschichte.

3. What do you desperately need to tell about your current book? (Thoughts, Feelings, a Quote, whatever you want!)

For the longest time I meant to get around to read LotR, but never really felt like it, though I thought that if I read the books I would finally be able to understand the movies better. I’m curious how that’ll turn out.
Even though we have a German version at home – which is the weird translation where Sam refers to Frodo as Hey Boss – I chose the English version, as it was recommended to me and because of the fact that I managed to read the Song of Ice and Fire series so far without any understanding problems.

4. With whom (aside from the Internet) are you exchanging thoughts on your reading passion? Do you have like-minded people in your circle of friends or family?

I’ve got my passion for reading from my Mum, so when she finished a book I asked her what it was like, just like I tell her things about the books I’m about to read or currently reading.
Aside from her I can discuss books with pretty much every person I know. Recently mostly with Anice or Unmei, but I also had face-to-face discussion with the people from The Forum, the Black Pack and colleagues.
So, technically I don’t have a shortage of discussion partners.

Additional thoughts

Reading Together #14

I present to you my fourteenth instalment of Weltenwanderers and Schlunzenbüchers „Gemeinsam Lesen“ (Reading Together).

Each Tuesday one of them asks four questions, with the first three always being the same about the book one is currently reading and the fourth a new one by either of them. All questions below are obviously translated from today’s German post.

1. Which Book are you currently reading and which page are you on?

As I finished A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin last Friday I now am reading Die Seiten der Welt (The Pages of the World) by Kai Meyer.
I’m currently on page 233, which is about half way through.

2. What is the first sentence on your current page?

As the actual first sentence isn’t a complete sentence I’ll cheat and take the next one:

Furia hob die Spitze der Glasfeder.

or in English:

Furia raised the tip of the glass feather.

3. What do you desperately need to tell about your current book? (Thoughts, Feelings, a Quote, whatever you want!)

It’s been a while since I read a book that was originally written in German; namely Kinder des Judas was the last one in 2013. But I didn’t read that much the last few years, so the possibility that I read a German book wasn’t that high to begin with…
Anyway, I learned about this book through Weltenwanderer, I think, and it just sounded interesting. So I had to take it with me when I saw it on display in the library. (Though that time, a few weeks ago, I picked up 4 books and a comic even though I just wanted to renew the rental for one book…libraries are evil…just like comic book stores)
Anyway, for a Young Adults novel I really like it.
Though which Bibliophile wouldn’t like a book about people being capable of using the magic of words to do sorcery-like things (the aptly called Bibliomanten – Bibliomancer, I’d say, judging from the translation of Nekromant to Necromancer)? Especially if there are such things as living letters and Origami and most of all a cranky arm chair and a sassy reading lamp? 😀 Oh and you can jump from one place to the other through two books of the same edition! This destroys the book you used, but it’s still a great idea.
The world Meyer creates in this book is just so fascinating that you just want to continue to learn more about it. That there are also some murders, intrigues and dark secrets in it makes it even better. Though the characters themselves are quite superficially constructed. I don’t really have that much of a connection with the main character (I rarely do, but that’s beside the point), but I do think I can add a yet. There aren’t that many pages left, so I’m curious how the end of the book will be pulled off…

4. The 100th time „Gemeinsam Lesen“! Let us take a look back and tell us since when you participate, what you like about Reading Together, or do you have suggestions for improvement? Is there anything that you miss, that you would like to change? Or something you like most about it, that makes this project unique and perfect?

This is my fourteenth participation, so I’m still quite new to this, but I already can say that I am grateful that those two picked up the project from its original creator and continued it up till now – and hopefully many more weeks to come.
It is an incredible motivation to continue with a book, simply because you don’t want to present the same book each week over and over again.
It’s also a great way to keep track of your own thoughts or at least put your own thoughts together throughout the reading.
And you can rant about something within the book before you write the review afterwards. 😀
The fourth questions is always something you usually don’t think about that much (Like last weeks tomes or the dislikeable character from the week before that or the the perspective a book is written in).
So it’s always interesting to see what you’ll have to think about next.
Even though it’s a good way to learn about other Blogs and others‘ current reads, I do have to admit that I only browse through the other entries, as by now there are really a lot of participating Blogs.
So as a suggestion I think it would be nice if every participant had to add the name of the book they are reading in their comment on the current Question-Post, so the browsing becomes easier.
Last but not least: A huge thank you to Schlunzenbuecher and Weltenwanderer who keep this project going and to Asaviel for creating it in the first place!
Here’s to many more weeks spent Reading Together!

Additional thoughts

Don’t forget to check out my raffle for posting two hundred posts on this Blog!
You can obviously participate in these questions by either using my translated or the original German version.
PoiSonPaiNter
© For the cover, the quote and the banner belong to their rightful owners.

Reading Together #13

I present to you my thirteenth instalment of Weltenwanderers and Schlunzenbüchers „Gemeinsam Lesen“ (Reading Together).

Each Tuesday one of them asks four questions, with the first three always being the same about the book one is currently reading and the fourth a new one by either of them. All questions below are obviously translated from today’s German post.

1. Which Book are you currently reading and which page are you on?

I’m still reading A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin, though I haven’t managed to read as much as I would have liked last week.
I’m currently on page 508, which is not so far away from the end already.

2. What is the first sentence on your current page?

In this city of splendors, Dany had expected the House of the Undying Ones to be most splendid of all, but she emerged from her palanquin to behold a grey and ancient ruin.

or in German:

In dieser Stadt des Prunks hatte Dany erwartet, dass das Haus der Unsterblichen das Prunkvollste von allen war, aber als sie aus ihrer Sänfte hervortrat erblickte sie eine graue und uralte Ruine.

3. What do you desperately need to tell about your current book? (Thoughts, Feelings, a Quote, whatever you want!)

All these wannabe kings are even more idiotic than I had thought last week, but I have to admit that some of their ways to rid themselves of their enemies are quite interesting. Though I fear the battles will continue throughout the series…why could they not have listened to Catelyn? Though it is curious that she and Tyrion, who are so much at odds, are the only one’s striving for a peaceful solution amongst the masses of kings.
I also have to admit that I am currently a bit tired of Arya, some of her tales were interesting and I liked the twist that brought her into her current predicament and what happened with Jaqen H’ghar, but I kind of would like her to re-unite with Needle and move on. 😀
On the other hand her brother Bran‘s story gets more interesting and I really like the way his dreams are described. Just as I found it funny that I understood the meaning of the green dream shortly after it was told by Jojen (I currently also like the appendix and a Wiki for the spelling of names…).
While reading one of Catelyn chapters her brother Edmure made a quite interesting claim:

„They shall not cross“

I have no idea, what that reminded me off. 😀

4. Huge tomes (>500 pages) – do you like reading them or shy at them? And why?

I rarely look at the pages when I choose to read a book. Either I want to read it or I’m not interested.
As I mentioned before in some book reviews are 200 pages nothing for me and I consider it a short read. Most of my books have around 400-500 pages, which makes this an average read. In case of A Game of Thrones, my current book and Wolves of the Calla there are even more pages, though I don’t think I’d consider them tomes to begin with. If the content of the pages is interesting than it doesn’t matter how many there are. If it drags on I just want to finish like it was towards the end of the 939 pages of latter one. Which incidentally (according to Goodreads) also makes this the third-longest book I’ve ever read, with Wizard and Glass of the same series coming second (957 pages) and Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix on the first place with 1021 pages, though I don’t remember that I struggled with them as much as I did with the wolves…

Additional thoughts

Reading Together #12

I present to you another instalment of Weltenwanderers and Schlunzenbüchers „Gemeinsam Lesen“ (Reading Together).

Each Tuesday one of them asks four questions, with the first three always being the same about the book one is currently reading and the fourth a new one by either of them. All questions below are obviously translated from today’s German post.

1. Which Book are you currently reading and which page are you on?

Last Thursday I finally finished The Dark Tower: Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King (see these four for more information: #8, #9, #10 and #11). But before I started my current read I also finished part three of the Vampire Diaries series (Part 1, Part 2), just to have an easy read before I started into a new endeavour.
On Saturday I finally was able to pick up A Clash of Kings again, after I couldn’t help myself but reading the prologue after picking it up from the library.
I’m currently on page 318, which is nearly half way through.

2. What is the first sentence on your current page?

Meera moved in a wary circle, her net dangling loose in her left hand, the slender three-pronged frog spear poised in her right.

or in German:

Meera bewegte sich in einem wachsamen Kreis, ihr herabhängendes Netz hing lose in ihrer linken Hand, der schlanke, drei zackige Frosch Speer selbstsicher in ihrer Rechten.

3. What do you desperately need to tell about your current book? (Thoughts, Feelings, a Quote, whatever you want!)

Just like with A Game of Thrones is this one really captivating. Luckily there is no Advent Calendar this time to stop me from reading (Though there is a bit of writing I have to do for Your Picture – A Story and The Extremis Review).
New POV (Point of Views) were added and everyone is conspiring and plotting for their turn on the Iron – or any other – Throne.
I still don’t know what I should make of Tyrion as a character, but his schemes are brilliant and quite interesting to follow.
Davos (new) look into the planning of Stannis Baratheon, on the other hand, leaves me as bewildered as Theon’s does appal me in regards to the Greyjoy’s way of living. So much stupidity and arrogance is just beyond me. Sure, their tactics make sense as well, but the way they are pursuing them could be more, well, efficient I’d say. With all their plunder this, conquer that or do this to gain that, it looks very much like they’re wasting their resources. The Lannister’s aren’t better in this, with all the raids their bannerman enforce unto the land – especially if they are attacking neutral parties – I somehow doubt there will be many subjects left to rule when someone finally settles on either Throne for good. In my opinion it’s not really a clever way to ensure someone’s victory. Here I prefer the peace approach Catelyn Stark suggests to her son, though it seems that the majority of those on the receiving end of these offer are too stubborn and bloodthirsty to even consider a treaty and even the stags are more interested in bashing their heads together than teaming up against a common foe.
In short: A bunch of thick-headed royals are slaughtering their way to be allowed and acknowledged to sit on a fancy chair.
I’m not entirely sure why this is still so damn captivating…
Maybe it’s the way those plans are foiled or have turns and twists you don’t expect in the beginning.
Maybe it’s the writing style, that is easy to understand, even for a non-native speaker.
Maybe it’s just some kind of weird voyeurism that makes you want to see how imaginary people cope with certain situations.
Probably a bit of all of those.
And apart from all that there is Jarman/Jarmen Buckwell, where I’m curious how Martin came to name one of his characters like my hometown.

4. Is there a person in your current book that you don’t like at all? If so, why? And if you could tell that person anything, what would it be?

There are several in a way. Though mostly not because I don’t like them, but because I think they’re idiots. There is Sansa that still has to learn a lot to no longer be just a pretty bird. Then there are Theon, who is just an arrogant prat and Stannis, who doesn’t really listen to reason. And probably some more I can’t name right now.
What I would tell them if I could? Good question…
I probably wouldn’t say anything, but instead shake my head and role my eyes in annoyance/disapproval.
Imagining for a moment there wouldn’t be any consequences for giving them a piece of my mind, I guess I’d tell Sansa to get her head out of the clouds and be realistic; I’d probably slap or hit Theon and rant about his treatment of others, especially women – though it is satisfying to see how his sister Asha does a nice job of humiliating him 😀 – and I’m not entirely sure what I’d tell Stannis, but I guess it would be along the lines of questioning his sanity…

Additional thoughts

Reading Together #11

While I’m at home redecorating I present to you another instalment of Weltenwanderers and Schlunzenbüchers „Gemeinsam Lesen“ (Reading Together).

Each Tuesday one of them asks four questions, with the first three always being the same about the book one is currently reading and the fourth a new one by either of them. All questions below are obviously translated from today’s German post.

1. Which Book are you currently reading and which page are you on?

I’m still reading the book by my favourite author that I haven’t read yet for BiblioSmiles’s Summer Book Challenge: The Dark Tower: Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King. Which is the fifth part of the Dark Tower-saga.
I’m currently on page 790, which isn’t that far away from finally finishing the book.

2. What is the first sentence on your current page?

Tian Jaffords war in seinem Leben nie ängstlicher gewesen als jetzt, wo er auf der Bühne des Pavillons stand und auf die Folken von Calla Bryn Sturgis hinabsah.

or in English:

Tian Jaffords has never been as frightened in his life as now, as he stood on the stage of the pavilion and looked down onto the Folken of Calla Bryn Sturgis.

3. What do you desperately need to tell about your current book? (Thoughts, Feelings, a Quote, whatever you want!)

I’m nearly finished, but I didn’t manage to read these past few days and this is quite bugging me. As I had hoped last time, did the story pick up at last and I want to know how they will defeat the Wolves.
Eddie returned to New York, as did Callahan, they finally all know about Susannahs secret and the key players come more and more into focus.
The writing itself has now also become more like what I’m used by King and therefore is way easier to read.
Maybe later today I will finally be able to read a bit.

4. Do you like writing down quotes from books? Are you collecting them and do you maybe have favourite quote?

I don’t write down quotes.
Some stuff sticks with me (like quotes from Faust), other things don’t.
My most favourite quote from a book – that I also like using as a signature – is from George Orwell’s 1984:

“If liberty means anything at all,
it means the right to tell people
what they do not want to hear.”

I really like this quote and I try to live by it, as should many other people.

Additional thoughts

If you haven’t already checked it out there is my second story for Your Picture – A Story over at DF.PP Entertainment: Eisige Zutat (German)
You can obviously participate in these questions by either using my translated or the original German version.
PoiSonPaiNter
© For the cover, the quote and the banner belong to their rightful owners.

Reading Together #10

My Book-Week is over, but I still present to you another instalment of Weltenwanderers and Schlunzenbüchers „Gemeinsam Lesen“ (Reading Together).

Each Tuesday one of them asks four questions, with the first three always being the same about the book one is currently reading and the fourth a new one by either of them. All questions below are obviously translated from today’s German post.

1. Which Book are you currently reading and which page are you on?

I’m still reading the book by my favourite author that I haven’t read yet for BiblioSmiles’s Summer Book Challenge: The Dark Tower: Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King. Which is the fifth part of the Dark Tower-saga.
I’m currently on page 544, which isn’t far away from were I were last week.

2. What is the first sentence on your current page?

„Betten sind fertig“, sagte Rosalita Munoz, als sie zurückkamen.

or in English:

„Beds are ready“, said Rosalita Munoz when they returned.

3. What do you desperately need to tell about your current book? (Thoughts, Feelings, a Quote, whatever you want!)

The story is dragging a bit on, but slowly picking up, but I didn’t really have time to read last week, but I didn’t feel like doing it either. With A Game of Thrones I always had the book in the back of my mind and I just wanted to continue, but it’s not like that with this one. It’s more of a „I want to finish this chapter, because then I’m closer to the end of the book.„, which is a pity as I remember that I enjoyed the previous books.
The look into the background of Callahan was interesting in ways of world-building and I liked the idea and story of the Oriza, but it pushed the actual story storyline further away.
I spoilered myself a bit, that one of those things will play a role in the long run, but I do believe that both of them are important for the finale.
Which is still quite far away. My book version has more than 900 pages and I still have about 400 more to go, which feels quite long. The book is divided into prologue, epilogue and three main parts of story and I’m close to finishing the second main part. I won’t stop reading, but I do hope the story picks up a bit more and resolves some of the current plot threads along the way.

4. Besides reading, what is your biggest hobby?

This is a good question. I’m not even sure if I would count reading as one of my biggest hobbies. Yes, I really like reading and can find myself deeply engrossed in a book, but there are times, were I don’t even want to pick up a book.
As far as things go that I like doing instead of reading I do believe that watching Series and Movies, as well be attending Festivals and Concerts or Travelling would fill this category as well. Though I have no idea which one I would put ahead of which. I enjoy doing all of them and I don’t really want to choose.

Additional thoughts

If you haven’t already checked it out there is my first story for Your Picture – A Story over at DF.PP Entertainment: Der Ruf des Meeres (The Call of the Sea)
You can obviously participate in these questions by either using my translated or the original German version.
PoiSonPaiNter
© For the cover, the quote and the banner belong to their rightful owners.

Joanne K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Today you get a review for one of my childhood favourites for BiblioSmiles Summer Book Challenge. Especially as today I am at the Harry Potter Exhibition in Cologne with Unmei.

What is it about?

4 of 5 stars

The young orphan Harry Potter leads a normal life with the Dursleys: his aunt Petunia, his uncle Vernon and cousin Dudley. That is until a strange letter arrives that is accurately addressed at Harry, regardless of where he currently is.
On his eleventh birthday Rubeus Hagrid finally hands him the letter telling Harry that he is, in fact, a wizard. Confronted with the truth about his parents and himself, he soon learns about his fame as The Boy Who Lived and sets off to his first school year in the Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. There, for the first time, he gains friends (Ron Weasley, Hermoine Granger)- and foes (Draco Malfoy, Severus Snape) alike – and together they uncover a secret hidden within the school.

The reading experience

When I was about the same age as Harry and the others I read this book several times, I do believe at least seven times. Re-reading it after all these years I looked a bit different at the writing itself though.
I still knew what happened in each chapter by simply reading the title, still I didn’t remember the exact words that were used. This kept the whole thing exciting and still captivating whenever it was interesting.
The writing style did, however, feel like it was indeed intended for young people. It didn’t bother me much though (it was a nice and welcome change from the complexity of A Game of Thrones). I do believe the later books are written a bit differently, but as a series continues, so does an author improve and I wouldn’t be surprised if there really is a change. Like always I can only make my assumptions from the German versions of the book(s).

The characters

I grew up with Harry, Ron, Hermoine (though the latter was spelled Hermine) and Neville and have lived through their trials. Even after all this time I think Harry can be quite a brat sometimes, just as Ron can be quite idiotic, Neville was always quite underrated and Hermoine was – and still is – my hero.
As I have mentioned before am I not a fan of „you/I-have-to-do-this-because-you’re/I’m-the-main-character“- story lines and each book pretty much follows the same principle. The highlight is when the others get involved. Here they are still getting to know each other and the exploring-together part is quite left out and instead we see them butt heads. I never liked it when the boys talked down Hermoine or rid themselves of Neville. I like(d) those two and wanted to see more of them. Ron’s sometimes unwanted stupidity still made him likeable.
When I first read the book I think I was as shocked by the twist at the end, as the characters themselves, but when I re-read it with that knowledge, I saw the hints that are already there and that’s what keeps a story interesting.
Some characters feel like stereotypes, many are named, but not explored, but still, no two characters are the same – well, maybe with the exception of the Weasley-twins. 😀 I never understood why anyone would badmouth the Weasley’s, they are an awesome family…
Regardless of that am I just time and again surprised how soon Muggle-born or Halfbloods forget the technological advantages of their home. Sure Computers weren’t nearly as good back in the early 90s as they are nowadays and many things couldn’t be found with the help of the Internet, but still it’s weird that the Magical community does not show any kind of interest in it…

General Opinion

I don’t know what I can say here.
I really liked the book when I grew up, I desperately waited for my letter for Hogwarts and I still enjoy exploring the world after all these years.
The book might not be a masterpiece – some story lines jump quite a bit, some things could have been covered more, stereotypical characters – but it is one of those books that I will probably always enjoy reading. It makes you want to join this magical world, just like Harry – without the whole Boy Who Lived baggage though – who was allowed to part from a mundane life and experience all that.
Every kid should have the chance to read this book while growing up.

Stuff I’d like to add

If some of the things above sounded familiar than that’s because I mentioned some of it already in these Reading Together: #6 and #7
PoiSonPaiNter
© For the cover belongs to its rightful owner

George R.R. Martin: A Game of Thrones

After so many people have told me to try it and I got more and more curious about it, I finally decided to read it as part of BiblioSmiles Summer Book Challenge 2014 as the book someone else picked for me. And you now get the review as fifth part of this Book-Week.

What is it about?

4 of 5 stars

Life in the North, in Winterfell, is harsh, cold and simple, but when Eddard Stark and his kin are visited by the King of the Seven Kingdoms everything changes.
Ned becomes Hand of the King (most important advisor) and he is to accompany him to Kings Landing, the seat of the king. Taking his daughters Arya and Sansa with him he strives to uncover the truth about his predecessors death; leaving behind his wife Catelyn and their son’s Robb, Rickon and Bran, with the latter heavily injured after a fall from a high tower.
Ned’s bastard son Jon Snow uses his father’s departure and leaves with his uncle to join the Night’s Watch, a fading brotherhood that guards an ice Wall at the northern border of the realm. He is accompanied by the Queens dwarf brother Tyrion Lannister, who simply wants to see the wall for himself, but unlike Jon returns to re-join his family again, when he is accused for a crime and taken prisoner.
Meanwhile across the Narrow Sea the last descendants of the house Targaryen join with the Dothraki (horse riding warriors) to regain their rightful place on the Iron Throne.

The reading experience

I read this book in English and somehow expected it to be more complicated, but I understood it quite well. (Except that in my mind „after a fortnight“ was on the day after tomorrow and not in two weeks…)
With relatively short chapters it was nicely split and I could read at least one during a bus trip.
At first I thought – as many have warned me about this – it would be confusing to read about all these different characters, from all these different angles, but it wasn’t. As written before did I think the book would be written in I-perspective from each character that got a chapter, but I soon learned it wasn’t that easy.
While it is a partly omniscient narrator and it doesn’t feel like a complete personal narrator either, does it mainly focus on what the current character knows and experiences, yet it is no I-perspective, as the character is still referred to in the third person.
It is an interesting perspective to say the least.
For reference‘ sake was the focus of this book on: Eddard, Catelyn, Bran, Arya, Sansa, Jon, Daenarys Targayen and Tyrion.
As I said before was I quite captivated by the story and barely wanted to put the book away and I probably would have finished the book far sooner if I had given into that urge.
The only thing that bugged me about the reading was that there were barely any – if at all – paragraphs and a chapter was a complete block of writing and all this with a rather small font.

The characters

Martin is praised for his portrayal of strong female characters (read actual women) and I agree with this. His cast is that varied that you have all kind of different personalities and amongst them those highly praised strong women, but his men are just as diverse. I really enjoy the portrayal of the characters in the book so far, especially Arya and Daenarys. I really liked how Ned handled the whole thing with Needle (or generally interacted with his family) and I grinned while Dany gave her brother a piece of her mind upon their arrival in Vaes Dothrak (Home of the Horselords).
On the other hand was I just as shocked as Catelyn when she met her sister again. Sansa though is a different leaf altogether. As much as I didn’t like the slapping she got towards the end of the book, as much would I have liked to do it myself a couple of times earlier… I really hope it’s true and she’ll finally grow as a character with the next book.
As for the men, I don’t know what to make of Tyrion.
He’s an interesting character, with good advise and clever lines, but he still seems a bit too superior to me at times. Even with his physical restraints he can do a lot of things with seemingly little effort (- and just to be on the save side: This is not intended to be a pun.). Of course his pain is mentioned, but it still feels a bit too much like “look at this character, he is an imp, but look how awesome he is”. Kind of like one of those imba-characters in games or role plays. I still enjoy the scenes he’s in though.
Jon on the other hand is one of those characters that I don’t want to like, due to a possible death, but still do. It’s great how he changed from lordling to tutor and protector of his Black Brothers.
The others have so far had only little screen time and I don’t really know what to say for them. Some of them surprised me with their actions (the Hound/Sandor Clegane), others were pretty constant in their doings (most Lannisters), again others leave me pretty confused (Tyrion, Varys) and then there are those that are nice to have around in a scene (Bronn, Samwell Tarly, Ser Jorah Mormont).
I know I should not get too attached to the characters, but I already have a couple of favourites. With my luck in these kind of things will pretty much all of them die…
A side note for all interested in translations: From what I read so far are some names very strange and sometimes literally translated. The Lannisters e.g. became the Lennisters, Jon Snow is Jon Schnee (German word for snow) and Theon Greyjoy is Theon Graufreud (grau means grey and freud is an abbreviated form of Freude/joy), Kings Landing is Kings Mouth (Königsmund) and probably some other things as well…

General Opinion

I did not expect to like the book as much as I did, but it became the highlight of the books I read last year. I’m really curious how this story will continue and if those characters that I now know will even make it the the currently last book.
For everyone still considering if starting with this series is worth it, let me tell you: It is.
It is incredibly written, very interesting and captivating and has such a refreshing variety of characters that all those pages the book has are sooner behind you than you think.
I also noticed that the characters have a different view on peoples ages, but when I read Sansa‘s comment on how old someone was, who was closing in on twenty two I certainly had to take a moment to let this sink…
Sure she is eleven and a brat (if you haven’t noticed already, she’s also my least favourite of the Stark-bunch), but people can’t have high life expectancies if mid-thirties are considered close to death and mid-twenties regarded as old, but it does fit the context.

Stuff I’d like to add

I made the mistake of watching most of the episodes directly after I’ve read the portrayed chapters and they aren’t really as according to book as I’d have liked.
There are several things that bugged me quite a bit while watching, but I think the worst was that the females got toned down and males got their lines.
As a writer myself, I would also be quite interested in learning how Martin decides to end his characters (does he create them to be killed or does he decide it along the way?). Does anyone happen to know an interview where he talked about this?
Some of the stuff above was by the way already used/mentioned in these Reading Together: #2, #3 and #4 and in a comment over at Geekritiques Review of the book, just so you know, why it may sound familiar. 😉
On a side note: I think it’s funny how his name shortens to GRR…maybe that was the reason why the first family he introduces have their Direwolves… 😀
On a completely different note: I’m on my way to Cologne to visit the Harry Potter Exhibition with Unmei tomorrow.
PoiSonPaiNter
© For the cover belongs to its rightful owner

J.R.R. Tolkien: The Hobbit

Back in October I spent a weekend with Anice in Berlin. As I knew she’d be sleeping in and I would wake up early I had brought two books with me: A Graveyard for Lunatics that I was close to finishing and Earthsea for when I finished. But Anice had a book with her as well: The Hobbit, so when we showed each other what the other had brought we decided to switch books. I got the Hobbit and she the Earthsea book. So thus I was able to read one of the fantasy classics for the first time.

What is it about?

4 of 5 stars

The Hobbit Bilbo Beutlin leads a quiet life in his Hobbit hole until twelve dwarves knock at his door one after the other and occupy his living room, eat all his food and drink all his beverages.
The sorcerer Gandalf has let them there to turn Bilbo into the thieve they needed to reclaim the Lonely Mountain as home of the dwarves and crown Thorin Oakenshield as King under the Mountain.
But before they even reach their destination they have to travel through Middle Earth and face foes and friends alike, not to mention Smaug the dragon who is guarding the dwarven gold and cast out the dwarves in the first place.

The reading experience

Before I started reading I expected the writing style to be completely different. It was a translated version, but I still didn’t think it would have been written like a children’s tale, as the narrator explained things quite easily. It was a nice surprise though.
Besides the Fairytale-like narration the book was also filled with sketches. You could see the dwarves, Gollum, trolls and of course Smaug, who looks a bit different than in the movie adaptation. 😀 Additionally, some of the books characters also fell into song on one or the other occasion.
It was a nice and fluent read and even in German you could see Tolkiens love for language.

The characters

Bilbo was a quite interesting character. A no-one that grows with his tasks and experiences, who is smart enough to know what is the right thing to do.
The dwarves on the other hand were kind of walking on the thin line between like and dislike, while swaying from one direction to the other. Whenever Bilbo did something good they praised him and called him their best friend, but if he, however, had a strange idea or did something that seemed wrong at first they talked him down and even insulted him. I have no idea how Bilbo managed to stay as calm as he did when they were like that and even how he could stay.
Most prominent with this behaviour was Thorin, whom I didn’t like for most parts of the story. His opinion and moods were ever changing and he was basically just an ass. Still, the finale caught me off guard and I didn’t like what happened to him.
The dwarves I sympathised most with were incidentally also the once that treated the Hobbit best: Balin, Bombur, Kili and Fili. Balin the eldest and most reasonable, Bombur, with his good nature and a heart that seemed to be about the same size as his appetite and the youngest brothers that were still less stubborn than the other dwarves. Needless to say I again questioned my luck with character-choices at the end of the book…
The side character were also quite interesting even though they had very little screen time. Still, an enjoyable contrast to the stubborn dwarves. Though „you-thought-I’d-be-accompanying-you-all-the-way?“-Gandalf, didn’t really earn many sympathy points from me either.

General Opinion

I liked reading this book. There are some things that didn’t go well with me (annoying Thorin, some conclusions and characterizations,..), but they don’t really matter as the bigger picture leaves you quite content in the end.
The story was fun, exciting, interesting, sad and all those things that I can’t name. The end could have been a bit longer, as it felt a bit rushed, but every journey comes to an end at some point.
It’s really a story I wouldn’t mind reading again one day and I’m not sure if I’m disappointed in myself that I haven’t read it sooner or if it is all right that I can now appreciate it more.

Stuff I’d like to add

As I said before is the spelling dwarves based on Tolkiens writing and I still think that is pretty cool.
By now I’ve also seen the movies, which I didn’t want to see before reading the books, but I don’t know if and when I’ll be writing a review about them.
PoiSonPaiNter
© For the cover belongs to its rightful owner