Book Reviews: 1 - 5 of 2018

Wow - so I haven't posted about any of the books I've read this year, lol. So these are a few I read at the beginning of the year...

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey was a great way to start out my year. I went into reading this expecting a typical self-help book, but I was happily surprised. This book is extremely intelligent and covers basics that make sense no matter what your individual beliefs are. The 7 habits really are universal principles that can help everyone. I was thrilled to discover I was already practicing a few, so I consider myself on my way, lol. Who knows if any of us will ever perfect being "highly effective", but this book certainly gives you the blueprints to make that happen if you work at it throughout your life. I aspire to get better, and I plan on re-reading this periodically as a refresher. This should seriously be required reading. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a true classic that deserves its time honored status. The book follows the story of Raskolnikov, a poor student scraping by in any way possible. He develops an idea that murder can be justified if it benefits more people than it harms, and he also believes that he is intelligent enough to not get caught. He justifies murder by believing that some people are destined to be great men and no one questions those they kill along the way to achieving their greatness. He methodically plans out who he will kill, gets everything ready, then carries it out. Raskolnikov is then haunted by his actions for the rest of the book, constantly worrying about getting caught. I also believe it's very ahead of its time with the lengths he goes to to protect himself from forensic evidence. This is certainly one that everyone should read at some time.  I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote is a novella told through the eyes of a nameless narrator. He tells the story as a memory of his dealings with his interesting neighbor in his first New York apartment - Holly Golightly. Holly is a hopeful social (more-so financial) climber trying to marry into money. She is a model who tries to rub elbows with any man that might make her rich. The narrator falls in love with her, as most men do, and he steps in to try and save her from some of the unsavory situations she puts herself in. Having always loved the film based on this book, I was very surprised at how little in the movie is actually in the book. It's an interesting story, but the film certainly fills in the gaps better than the book does. If you're expecting a written account of the movie, you will be disappointed. I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells is a story of the future we may inherit. The adventurer creates a time machine and takes himself on a few journeys into the far distant future. He ends up 800,000 years in the future and discovers that the human race has split into two species - the Eloi and the Morlocks. Each of the species embodies a separate side of human nature. The books becomes far more about evolution and analyzing what we as humans represent than any time travel. This is a social commentary. I will say that while the story was interesting, I listened to one of the worst audiobook narrators I've ever heard read this book. It was so choppy that I would have to listen to passages again just to understand the sentences. That made it very difficult to get into the story. I'll have to try physically reading this again some time. I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is one of those "Books you must read in your lifetime" that I can now check off my list, but that's the most I can really say for it. I firmly believe that you need to have lived in the time this was written (where everyone had a knowledge of the military and how it is run) or have spent time in the military to fully enjoy this book. I acknowledge that the concept itself of Catch-22 is brilliant, but the rest of the book is full of such ridiculous characters and plot lines that go absolutely nowhere that I just couldn't enjoy it, not to mention the fact that every female character in this entire book is either a loose nurse or an actual prostitute. Aside from a few stories that were entertaining, the rest of the book just seemed pointless to me. I fully realize that there are people out there who would argue the absolute hilarity that was lost on me, some may even thing I'm dumb for not catching it - I'm fine with that. I honestly did not enjoy this book and it was a major slog to get through. At least now I can say I've read it and cross it off the list, lol. I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Book Review: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

This is one of those titles that is always somewhere on the Top 100 Books To Read In Your Lifetime type lists, so I thought it would be beneficial to read it.

The Brothers Karamazov is about the 3 sons of Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov, a truly horrible man who has almost no affection for his children or anyone else. The oldest, Dmitri (called Misha), is the only child by his mother, and lead a very indulged life which made him a very irresponsible and ridiculous adult. He is known for his heavy partying and drunken brawls, constantly coming to his father to ask for more money only to be cut off in a way he feels is cheating him out of his inheritance (clue: it isn't). Ivan is the middle child and oldest of his mother, his father's second wife, is the "learned" one - he's an atheist and aspires to travel the world and learn of other cultures. Alexei (Alyosha) is the youngest all around and second of his father's second wife - he is the religious one who joins a monastery under one of the reputed Great Elders of his time in hopes of becoming a monk. There is also one additional young man, Smerdyakov, who is a local orphan that everyone knows is actually the unrecognized son of Fyodor Pavlovich - he works as a sort of cook/ groundskeeper/ servant to his "father", though he is never acknowledged as his son. The first half of the book is all exposition to show the different characters and temperaments of those involved. All three sons were sent away and raised by other relatives, with little to know contact or care from their father in their entire childhoods. There is much description of the philandering of Dmitri and the religious path of Alyosha, as well as a debaucherous history of their father, Fyodor.

The story really takes off when it gets to the main plot. Months before the brothers all come to live with their father in their twenties, Dmitri commits an awful moral crime. Dmitri meets a respectable girl, Katerina Ivanovna, and she snubs him. Later he finds out that her father is going to be in a huge financial predicament, owing his regiment thousands of rubles that he does not have, and Dmitri lets Katerina know before anyone else and tells her he will give her the money if she will sleep with him. She is shocked, of course, and runs off, only to find out he was right later that day. She comes back to him and takes him up on his offer, keeping things very secret. Eventually things for her father get better, and she returns the money to Dmitri, telling him she is in love with him and they become engaged. Dmitri basically decides that he does not want what he has already had, and falls in love with a local tavern girl, known as Grushenka, and blows all of his inheritance, plus a few thousand more that Katerina entrusted to him to deliver to her relatives, on a big drunken spree with Grushenka. He begs his father for the money, but he has been cut off, so Dmitri starts threatening to kill his father to take "what is rightfully his". The main reason his father denies him the money is that he, too, has the hots for Grushenka, and puts 3 thousand rubles in an envelope for her and hides it in his room, telling her that if she comes to him she can have this money. Long story short, Fyodor Pavlovich ends up dead with his skull bashed in. Everyone in the town heard Dmitri threaten his father, and everyone knew the drama that was going on, so when Dmitri is found with thousands of rubles on him having another drunken spree the night of the murder, he is arrested and put on trial for his father's death.

The story line has a very modern feel to it, so I'm sure it must have been quite scandalous back in 1880 when it was first published. I found things a bit slow for about the first third of the book, but once it got going I was thoroughly stuck in. The story really examines lots of complex issues - what truly makes someone "a father"? How much can a persons character be held against them when they cannot help the way they were raised? At what point does circumstantial evidence become enough for a conviction? The trial itself read just like any trial scene of the time from any "Western" country in the world, which just feels strange given the state of Russia's government for the last 100 years. The lawyers really are very good, and present both sides to their advantage. I really loved the differences between the brothers and how they each show a different "life path" and where it can lead. In Dmitri's case, his constant self indulgence and lack of personal control lead to his ruin, while Alyosha's life is almost the complete opposite. I particularly loved the recollections of Father Zosima, the elder Alyosha follows, just before he dies. He tells the story of his life and how he was really not a good person in his youth and the way end became a monk. His story is all about finding happiness in spite of affliction. which I am a big believer in lately. Overall, I enjoyed the book very much, though it wasn't quite the "wow" I was expecting from its reputation. I do recommend the book to anyone interested in a good murder mystery and trial story. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.