Friday Reviews Week 8

🍁 Friday Reviews Week 8: 🍁

October 21st- 27th, 2017

☠️ Book 1: Tropic of Kansas by Christopher Brown 💀

Narrated by Josh Bloomberg and Bahni Turpin 

Listened to October 16th -22nd

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Going into this book I was not sure of what I was going to think about it. I am not a major fan of dystopian books. I have read two dystopian series, The Hunger Games and the Divergent series. Also, I have read The Giver. Really, I lost interest in dystopian books while reading the Divergent series. Tropic of Kansas looked interesting though and I wanted to do a review on it because I thought the description was intriguing.

We follow along two characters mainly throughout the book, Sig and his foster sister Tania. In this book, the United States does not exist anymore, at least as it now. It's split into territories that are fighting back and forth. At the center of this is the wasteland which the citizen's call "the Tropic of Kansas."

Sig is a fugitive orphan who is trying to survive out in the wasteland. He causes a lot of mischief as he traverses the territories trying to get to New Orleans. Tania, his foster sister, who used to watch over him when he was very young, is sent out to get him for the government. If she does, they tell her that they will let her trouble-causing mother out of prison. As she goes searching for him, we learn about their past and what has happened to the country.

Overall, I thought that this had an interesting premise. The narration for this audiobook was great with the two different narrators. The beginning of the book was not the best, but it got better as it continued. I would recommend this to readers that enjoy dystopian books. You might just enjoy this book.

*I was given this audiobook for an honest review.*

🎃 Book 2: Macbeth by William Shakespeare 👻

Read October 20th- 23rd

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This is my favorite of Shakespeare's plays and every time I read it again it brings back so many great memories. I first read this play when I was in eighth grade. We performed the Double Double scene in class on Halloween exactly ten years ago. This is one of my favorite pieces from any piece of literature let alone play. Macbeth is a play that I know that I will be able to go back to again and again and still enjoy it. 

🍂 The Plot 🍂

We begin the play with Macbeth and Banquo going to three witches after defeating the invading armies. The witches prophecize that Macbeth will become king of the Danes but also that Banquo's sons will be future kings. This is what starts all of the conflicts in the play. 

Macbeth tells his wife of this prophecy and she is the one to come up with the plan that Macbeth has to kill King Duncan. After the murder of the king, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are driven mad with guilt. 

🍂 The Characters 🍂
Macbeth: Macbeth struggles with what the witches (the weird sisters) have told him throughout the play and does not want to complete the crimes originally. It is with the insistence of his wife that he finally decides to complete many of the deeds in this play. 

Lady Macbeth: Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, is manipulative, calculating, vicious,  and altogether a wicked seeming woman. She is the one to push Macbeth multiple times and even does some of the actions for him when he cannot even stomach them himself (I won't say what so I don't spoil the plot). Eventually, though we see a switch in her character. Once Macbeth takes on the role being the vicious murderer and becomes cold himself, she fully escapes into madness. This is where the famous "Out, damned spot" line comes from. She is a very interesting character to watch throughout the play and is definitely the most intriguing other than the witches. This is because of her drive and also some of the lines that she says. To me, she is one of the best Shakespeare female characters. 

The Three Witches (Hags/ The Weird Sisters) and Hecate: The witches are my favorite characters from any of Shakespeare's plays, besides the multiple fools/clown characters. They are some of the driving force behind this play. Macbeth first learns about becoming king from them and if he did not he would have most likely never become one. Their parts throughout the entire play are enjoyable to read/ watch/ or listen to. Also, it's kind of funny to see how they react to seeing Macbeth's downfall. They totally enjoy it and make it much worse for him later on in the play. The plays on wording that Shakespeare uses in this play, especially with the witches, is some of the best that I have ever read. 

🍂 Overall Thoughts 🍂

Again I would like to say, that I love this play. It's my favorite of Shakespeare's plays for a reason. For those interested in finding a Shakespeare play to read, I would recommend this one. I believe that you will find it interesting. 

🍂 Favorite Quotes 🍂

~ALL.              Double, double, toil and trouble, 

                         Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. 

2. WITCH.       Fillet of a fenny snake,

                         In the cauldron boil and bake;

                         Eye of newt, and toe of frog, 

                         Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,

                         Adder's fork, and blindworm's sting, 

                         Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing-

                         For a charm of pow'rful trouble

                         Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. 

ALL.                Double, double, toil and trouble, 

                         Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

3. WITCH.       Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,

                         Witch's mummy, maw and gulf...

ALL.                 Double, double, toil and trouble,

                          Fire, burn and caulron bubble.

2. WITCH.       Cool it with a baboon's blood, 

                         Then the charm is firm and good. ...

                         Something wicked this way comes. (4. 1. 1-45)

~ MACBETH. The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

                         Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player 

                         That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

                         And then is heard no more. It is a tale

                         Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, 

                         Signifying nothing. (5. 5. 23-28)

🦇 Book 3: Sourcery by Terry Pratchett 🕸️

Read October 23rd- 25th

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The fifth book from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series and the third book in the subseries: Rincewind/ Wizards/ Unseen University. If you are new to this series or want a refresher here is a link to all my posts, Terry Pratchett's Discworld. This book is part of the series and also the subseries, but really can be read as a standalone.

🍂 A Short Synopsis 🍂
Sourcery is about a wizard who had seven sons and then he had an eighth son-  a Sourcerer. On the Discworld, wizards are not supposed to have an eighth son, but the dying wizard at the beginning of the novel does not really care. He's actually quite evil.

" 'What is he?' (Ipslore, the wizard says this). 
THE EIGHTH SON OF AN EIGHTH SON OF AN EIGHTH SON, said Death, unhelpfully. "- Terry Pratchett's Sourcery 
- To explain this quote a little better if a person has an eighth son who was the eighth son, their son is then a wizard. Then if a wizard has an eight son, they get a sourcerer (which is not a good thing at all).

We then jump ahead eight years and are in the Unseen University where we follow along Rincewind (the most inept wizard on the Discworld) and many of the other wizards. The Sourcerer comes to the Unseen University with his staff and causes great trouble. The child is only eight years old and is easily the most powerful being, but he is much more than he seems. Throughout the story, we see his scenes, Rincewind and his companions, and other forces in the Discworld.

🍂 Rincewind 🍂
The book focuses mainly on Rincewind as our hero. He's the most unlikely of heroes, but that also as a wizard. This really makes his journey throughout this book even better just seeing how foolish he can be. This is the third book I have read of his subseries and I just cannot get enough of him.
 As I have mentioned above, Rincewind is inept. It is described a lot throughout the book on how horrible he really is (in extensive detail). He may just surprise us all though in the end.

"Examine Rincewind, as he peers around the sullen shelves. There are eight levels of wizardry on the Disc; after sixteen years Rincewind has failed to achieve even level one. In fact it is the considered opinion of some of his tutors that he is incapable even of achieving level zero, which most normal people are born at," Terry Pratchett's Sourcery. 

🍂 Other Important Aspects 🍂
There are many other characters that we follow along with other than Rincewind. Many of the wizards at the Unseen University are focused on throughout. They are blindly following along with the Sourcerer and we see a different side of them. Each feels very differently about the way to use magic. It's very obvious why they shouldn't rule anything, ever.

Then we come to The Luggage. The Luggage is a character that makes appearances in at least every Rincewind book so far. The Luggage is an aggressive suitcase that was given to Rincewind by a tourist. It eats people, falls in love (or at least develops a crush), and follows it's master across the Discworld.

This little fellow is The Luggage. Doesn't it look friendly? 

 One other character that really stood out to me is the Librarian, who has been in basically all of the books so far. The Librarian at Unseen University was turned into an orange orangutan in The Light Fantastic (Discworld Book 2) when a spell blasted the library. He speaks in a language of ooks and eeks, that most people understand. The reason he kept his job as the librarian after the spell was because of how good he is at it. He takes great care of the library. I really loved his storyline in this book and how comical and understandable Terry Pratchett makes this character.

Oh, and make sure you don't call him a monkey. He hates that.

🍂 Overall Thoughts 🍂

Again, I would like to say how much Terry Pratchett amazes me as an author. This man was a genius with his descriptions and just writing in general. The little puns and wordplay were a joy to read yet again. Reading his books always makes me a little sad inside when I think about his untimely death. This man was a genius wordsmith. 

The only reason I dropped this down a star was because of how it sometimes gets bogged down in the descriptions. I would recommend this book to anyone that loves a great fantasy book. You could go into the series at this book or at any of them. 

👻 Book 4: King Lear by William Shakespeare 🎃

Read October 27th
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This was the first time that I have read this play and overall I enjoyed it. It took me quite a while to actually get into it. I read and also listened to an incredible production of the play. It did not become a favorite for me, but it was enjoyable.

The play centers around a king of England, King Lear and his journey into insanity. Lear decides in the beginning that he wants to give his kingdom to each of his daughters because he is getting old. He decides that he will give them each a share, leaving the largest for the daughter who convinces him that she loves him most. His two oldest daughters, Goneril and Regan, who are foolish and deceitful, flatter him with their devotion. They are very insincere though while doing it. His youngest daughter, Cordelia, speaks truthfully and tells him that she does not want to just state her love of him for his kingdom. This enrages Lear and he disowns her and drives her from the kingdom.

He drives himself into madness with his treacherous oldest daughters helping along the way.

At first, I really could not stand any of the characters in this play besides Cordelia. The rest were just so awful to each other. Every character seems to be scheming against one another. Then there's King Lear, who is completely obvious to any of this going on around him. Over the course of the play, my early perception of Lear changes. By the end of the play, I really felt sorry for him.

This was different for me than any of Shakespeare's other plays. I have never found a tragic hero in any of his plays change so much in my view of them by the end of the play. It was what really made me like the play. I would recommend it. The characters can be quite annoying, especially Goneril and Regan, they are awful. The third-fifth acts of the play make up for this though.