"Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller

A book I have recently read is “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller. This novel, written in the 1940s, is separated into two acts and a requiem. The main character is an old salesman called Willy Loman. As we progress into the book, we learn more about his family background; his wife Linda, and two sons, Biff and Happy. Struggling financially, Willy attempts suicide more than once leaving his wife in a traumatic state where she ends up blaming her two sons for the unhappiness of her husband. The Loman family seems to be breaking apart; Willy is not an extremely popular man, Biff sees through his family’s lies and wants to be a better man than his father, however, Happy’s father is his role model for the future. In the final scene, Linda, sobbing, still under the delusion that her husband was a well-liked salesman, wonders why no one came to his funeral. 

The main themes portrayed in this novel are Dreams, Hopes and Plans as oppose to Lies and Deceit. The image of Willy is one of a dreamer. He dreams of material success and freedom. He is utterly unable to distinguish his wild hopes from rational realities in the present. Although Happy and Linda are also extremely optimistic, they are able to maintain distinguish between hopes and reality.

On the other hand, the Lowman’s are also extremely self-deceptive, blinding themselves from reality. Willy convinces himself that he is well liked and successful and that his sons are destined for greatness. Unable to cope with the reality, he abandos it, stepping into his own vivid fantasy world, becoming suicidal. Linda and Happy also have an illusion that their family are going to become a success. Biff is the only character who sees from another perspective, recognizing that he and his family members are consistently deceiving each other and he fights to escape the constant cycle of family lies.

Personally, I found this book incredibly interesting because of how different this family is amongst others. Despite being fiction, everything seems incredibly realistic. I enjoyed how Miller was able to contrast the deception of the family with the success in a perfect manner.

Notes from the Underground

I enjoyed this book very much. The book comes in two parts, and while the second part is packed with dry humour, the first part is the perfect textbook to becoming vain enough to feel contempt even towards your own self, and a step-by-step guide to existentialism and finding pleasure in shame and pain, and denying it in all "consciousness that falls to educated individuals of the 19th century." I found the whole book very humorous, and interesting both in a philosophical and a psychological way.

Reading this book for the first time, I burst out laughing every few pages, highlighting this witty phrase and that, but looking through the book a second time, I couldn't help but sympathise with the narrator, which made me realise that in the playful parts there was always a suffocating sadness, mortification and solitude on the narrator's part, intensified unnecessarily by the amusement experienced by the reader as a result of the narrator's unpleasant feelings. While desperate to explain his thoughts to his readers, show himself to be superior and be recognised for his intelligence, throughout the whole book, the narrator is ashamed of being read and suffers from the feeling of a constant need justify himself (ladies, if you happen to be looking for a man with a cute character...). These feelings of the narrator spoke to me deeply, and I am still very much touched by this book.

Definitely a must-read; I am also looking forward to reading more of Dostoevsky's works.

The 'Thursday Next' Series

Over the winter break, I read Jasper Fforde's 'Thursday Next' series, and I loved it. The books aren't a heavy piece of English literature; they aren't books where you need to analyse every sentence for hidden foreshadows or look in the dictionary every few pages to find the meaning of certain words or phrases that you didn't previously understand. It is a series in which you can sit down, relax, and let the author take you on the most unconventional journey seen in English fiction. 

These books cannot be read by any simple, uneducated and unread person. The reader needs to have read significant works of English fiction, and even at times some ancient mythology, to understand the references and jokes, and to thoroughly enjoy the books. 

Never judge a book by its cover. Or by the first few chapters. I emphasize this phrase if you intend on beginning this series. The cover and the first few chapters of the first book may strike you as childish, junior make-believe, and unappealing; but if you continue reading on, you understand that the book is an absolutely wonderful read. 

The author, Jasper Fforde, keeps this book incredibly fast-paced, and it hooks the reader in almost instantaneously. Make sure you have time on your hands when you begin reading this series, for you won't put it down until you've gotten utterly sick of it. I told Mr. Bérubé that I was bored, and I needed something that would keep me interested; he checked the first book out for me, The Eyre Affair, and told me to read the first few chapters. I read up to chapter 5, then I went back to the library the next day and checked out the next 6 books to the series. I read the whole series in about 10 days over the winter break. I could not put the books down. 

This series is incredibly original, silly, fast-paced and absurd. I recommend this series to anyone who doesn't usually enjoy reading (because they will after this series), and anyone who has trouble focusing on one thing happening at a time. Some of the best reviews for this book so far are: 

"The reader catapulted in and out of truth and imagination on a hectic, humorous and neatly constructed chase" The Times 

"Forget the rules of time, space and reality; just sit back and enjoy the adventure" The Daily Telegraph 

"'The Eyre Affair' is a silly book for smart people" Independent

Wittgenstein / Schopenhauer: A Very Short Introduction

An amazing series. Both books explained the two philosophers' works as thoroughly as an introductory book possibly could, especially the one on Wittgenstein by A.C. Grayling.

The series is made up of small, compact books that can be hidden in any bag, allowing the reader to pick it up during spare times of any duration. As there isn't very much to say about the books themselves, I will focus on the philosophies covered by the books.

Wittgenstein's philosophy fascinated me. The book divided his philosophy largely in two sections: his early philosophy, carefully established through logic, analysing the relationship between language and the world, and his later one, starting more from the base of language and metaphysics and pointing out the almost unnoticeable flaws in his earlier philosophy.

On the other hand, Grayling's criticism of Wittgenstein's philosophy, found at the end of the book, was slightly disappointing in that it sounded overly pretentious, as though he was criticising for the sake of criticising, although it is very possible that I imagined it. 

Schopenhauer's philosophy was less interesting for me, and just as confusing as, if not more confusing than Wittgenstein's. I picked up the book in the first place because Schopenhauer was Wittgenstein's biggest influence. It was a very bad idea, as it made me work backwards in time, but fortunately I had some basic knowledge on Kant, who influenced Schopenhauer greatly -- too much, even.

It was this that disappointed me: it felt like Schopenhauer had taken Kant's metaphysics, gave them a different name, and added some nonsense to it. It reminded me of the quote by Samuel Johnson: "Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good." My opinion could, however, be a result of an incomplete understanding of Schopenhauer's thoughts. 

Overall, I enjoy reading books of this series and very much recommend them, although I wouldn't particularly recommend these two, as the series covers a wide range of topics. 

Chess Story by Stefan Zweig

Psychology, Chess and Nazism; three themes Stefan Zweig intricately and elegantly weaves only days before he and his wife commit suicide in 1942, in a short, captivating and compelling novella entitled Chess Story. I appreciated this book as it is a one-idea book, it is intriguing, immediate and thought-provoking. I adored the world depicted; cold, austere and calculating, and was mesmerized by certain passages, particularly as we see the protagonist's salvation develop into a dark, detrimental addiction. This book is an extended allegory, Nazism is portrayed in the mind of a logic lover. I admire this approach.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I am currently in the middle of Pride and Prejudice. This book is very much one of the classics that, in my opinion, should be read at least once. 

What pushed me to first read this book was that my sister watched the movie and absolutely adored it. I got online and read a couple reviews, and everyone said that they love it. So, I decided to read it. 

I am nearly halfway through this book, and I must admit, I don't feel that the book is going anywhere. It seems that maybe there is a chance that something might happen between Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley, and we obviously know that something will happen between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. I just wish that, maybe, Jane Austen had not been so descriptive, and had sped up the plot a bit. However, I will soon reach the middle of the book, and I am optimistic that it will pick up it's pace, and that the story will finally be able to proceed. 

Animal Farm by George Orwell

I recently finished reading Animal Farm. I started it because we are currently reading Nineteen Eighty Four in class. 

The story of this book takes place in an imaginary farm in England. Both the time period and place are very  vague, so as to allow a bit of freedom as to when this story could have happened. This book s written from the point of view of the animals on this farm. It tries to show how even good intentions can lead someone on to become power hungry, and a dictator. 

The book starts off with the animals rebelling agains their owner, mr. Jones. Since this is their revolution, they have put the smartest animals in charge : the pigs. The animals come up with seven commandments that all animals on the farm should follow, and everything goes smoothly. 

However, it is not ment to last. After a couple of years of their happiness, the pigs start to gain more and more control, turning people against each other, and slightly hanging, and bending the rules, until everything is in complete turmoil. 

I really liked this book because it was a quick read, but very interesting. It is believed that the main theme of this book is the Russian Revolution, however, no one can be sure. If you have studied history, you can clearly notice where the author is making comparisons between the Russian Revolution and the workings of Animal Farm. 

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

 

I have just started this book, but I can say that it has already proven to be a very emotional and captivating book. This book takes place in Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia. It starts off in Mission Hospital, after the death of an Indian woman, during the birth of her twin boys. 

I cannot say much else about this book, considering the fact that I am only on the second chapter, but since I have now visited Ethiopia, I feel that I can relate what I saw there to what is happening in the book. 

Maina Wanjigi: Shepherd boy in pursuit of a virtue

This book shows the life of the former minister and member of parliament Hon. Maina Wanjigi. To me this book means a lot because it shows where i came from and how my grandfather lived his life. He came from living in a small home in a small village of wahundura to now living in Karen with his own farm. the book starts with a very harsh time in kenyas history the period before independence where things were harsh for the black kenyans, a prime example from the book is when Maina's father was killed by the colonial officers and his mother put in jail by suspicion of cooperation with the Mau Mau, which was like the resistance against the british. Maina goes on to study in agriculture and goes on to study economics in stanford. The next step for him was into politics when be came on to become the member of parliament for kamukunji constituency and later the minister for agriculture under Jomo Kenyattas government. Reading this book really changed what I thought of my grandfather it made me understand about him and all the great achievements he has earned.