The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray is the story of a delicate and alluring young man named Dorian Gray. This story takes place in the late nineteenth century in London, England. The protagonist is young, wealthy, cultured and sensationally beautiful. He is an archetype of male youth and beauty. From his allurement and elegant innocence to his developing egoistic and self destructive behaviour, we go through a journey with this man whose moral exploitation eventually leads to his downfall. In this novel, Oscar Wilde exposes the vulnerability of beauty and self-love.

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I found the depiction of depravity in this novel very intriguing. Along with Oscar Wilde's refined style of writing and ability to describe beauty vividly, his ability to portray gruesome details throughout the book is astonishing.

Having read this book, it has been decided to be one of the most illustrative novels I have ever read. Every page of the book was transformed from words to images inside my mind. Wilde's use of imagery in this book is incredible.

Ethics: A Very Short Introduction

Again, a book from the Very Short Introductions series. Covering different threats to ethics, as well as some fundamental ethical ideas, Ethics: A Very Short Introduction by Simon Blackburn is a good starting point for anyone interested in ethics.

On the other hand, I found this book to be more biased than the others of the series that I have read, although this could well be because of my being more familiar with this subject more than with the others.

In this book, Simon Blackburn starts by dismissing ideas that threaten the value of ethics such as the need of a superior being, such as God, to set rules for ethics, or the idea that we have no free will, and therefore are not responsible for our actions. This step is essential for any book that attempts to explain the basics of ethics, and in his introduction, Blackburn uses arguments against these threats that were either not explained well or unconvincing. He also relies on circular justifications, dismissing the threats through the very fact that they were threats to ethics.

Blackburn always seems to be encouraging his readers to either support or oppose each ethical idea he is explaining throughout the whole book. Of course, there is nothing wrong with defending or disapproving of certain ideas. However, Blackburn mentions in the preface that his goal is to introduce readers to ethics without bias to allow them to make their own judgement. Ethics: A Very Short Introduction certainly serves as a good introduction to ethics, but fails to achieve the goal Blackburn set at the beginning of the book.

Go Ask Alice - Anonymous (*Beatrice Sparks*) (New Book not yet finished)

Just started the book, I had a few doubts about the book at the beginning, I am not really accustomed to real life experiences and all, therefore it was a new thing to 'dive into'.

The entire book is Alice's diary, and her entirely fluctuating emotions. The first few short entries into her Diary, starting from September are quite intense, they throw you into a teenage girls life as swiftly as being one yourself. Alice is insecure, and very unhappy that a boy stood her up after asking her on a date, a boy that she was insanely in love with. She feels quite empty and hurt, and she needs to act blasé about everything that happened. The author, Beatrice Sparks, writes in the perfect way for the targeted audience: teenagers. Alice has a quite insane life and she cannot keep up with what is happening, until her dad gets a new job as Dean of Political Sciences in a different university. She plans on doing what every teenage girl wants to do when she has something worthwhile to start anew, she goes on a diet. Quite funny how exact the author catches every single teenage girl and her wishes to be a 'supermodelesque' beauty with perfect clothes, perfect skin and an amazing body. All to impress some guy that they hope will not break their heart like the previous one. The book seems interesting so far, nothing to say about it in the negative side, but the first few pages run quickly and so you get immersed in them quickly.

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is a classic that most people must read, due to its classical and transient way of writing.

I shall not write a summary about it, because, if searched for it can be easily found, however, I would like to explain the points that I liked about the way the book was written, and the points I did not enjoy as much about the book.

To ensure I was convinced about my opinion, I chose to read select chapters throughout the book and see what they made me feel or think, hence i took note of the feelings that were conveyed and the things i disliked about the text.
The points that are positive about Jane Eyre are the following: Charlotte Brontë's elaborate way of developing characters is a flowing trip that you enjoy, and as it keeps progressing, the discovery of new hidden secrets of each character is a 'game' worth participating in constantly. Now what I do also love is the way Brontë connects us to Jane as a part of the book; 'Dear reader', 'my dearest reader you would understand'. She includes the reader amazingly  and makes the reader feel part of it in such a way that the reader feels that they have embarked the journey with Jane in her mind, along with her feelings, her likes and her dislikes. The whole book is a trip through the lanes in horse carriages, governess rules, servants, house rules, children and romance in the way that it was before. I have never been fond of romance novels, never really liked the whole cheesy aspect to it and the unrealistic notions that there always is a happy ending no matter what. However, the way Brontë wrote it, it was pretty exaggerated on the 'in love' side of it, but not enough for me to put the book down.

Certain dislikes I have had about the book are not really connected to the way it was written, other than the 'cheesy love story and searching for the Great Perhaps' part of the book, I enjoyed Brontë's flowing writing and very inclusive prose. What I really did not like was the development of Jane... It seems that Brontë created a girl that she wishes she could be, a sort of fictional alternative self that she seems more impressed about, a quite unrealistic one as well. What I am technically doing is trashing on the main character and heroin of many women's dreams... Yes indeed, Jane is the portrayal of innocence, patience and understanding on a new level that not many of us can relate to, or even want to relate to. The fact that I dislike her, and her choices, just made me read the book with a different perspective and less of the naïvety many have read it with. It is an exceptional book, yet one that I must not have the level of maturity or understanding, or liking to read in such a way for it to capture my attention further than simply wanting to know "Does she finally end up with the man she has always wanted?" Or "Does Jane die getting killed by the mentally ill, actual, but not so actual wife of Lord Rochester?" The book is a twist of charisma and confusion all knotted together in a very well organised mess. I guess we could say that I did not put up with the feminine invention of the whole love story.

This is why I do not like women being authors, (not meant in an offensive way I know many female writers that are

For short, I am not really sure if I like the book or not, but seeing as I would not be willing to read it again it explains itself... Do not let my opinion get in the way of you reading it, like I said, it's a classic that most need to read, and many enjoy and have enjoyed it.

Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction

A relatively well done short introduction to Political Philosophy; concise, condensed and compelling. David Miller takes a position in the contemporary debates of the field, and despite a considerable bias, successfully presents arguments to an acceptable degree of fairness. It is an enjoyable and enriching read for anybody interested in the Engineering of Society, Social Justice and/or Democracy. The only thing I would reproach is that there were passages that were unnecessarily simplified, as well as occasional ambiguities, that limited the clarity of certain domains such as that of social psychology.

"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.