Book Review: Inferno by Dante Alighieri

Book Review: Inferno by Dante Alighieri

Summary: 
Dante takes a trip through Hell, with the poet Virgil as his guide. Here they meet all kinds of different characters from history, and learn of what punishment is dealt for different kinds of sins, from the unbaptized to treacherous.

Review:
First off, this was a difficult read for me. In some parts, I struggled to understand what was happening, and I didn't know half the people Dante and Virgil met. To understand better, I read the summary of each chapter on Sparknotes, right after I'd read it, so that I knew I was getting what was going on and who everyone was. This really helped, and made it much more enjoyable.

Hell in this story is very thoroughly thought out, and it is quite horrifying the deeper they descend into the depths. It is quite violent and I can understand that people freaked when it was first published. I found it quite fascinating to see the connections between this story and our modern view of what hell is like.

Title: Inferno

Author: Dante Alighieri

Published: 1314 (as a part of "The Divine Comedy")

Language: English

Pages: 208

Rating: 4/5

Season : Summer 2014

Season : Summer 2014
Today is the official start of summer vacation here in Norway - school is out, and so is the sun.

So, today I thought I would recommend five books that I think would be good to read this summer!

1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

One of my favorite books, a quite easy read. It's a fantastic mix of being funny, being sad, being realistic. It's a beautiful love story, and it's so easy to follow and fall in love with! Perfect if you want something light but substantial. 

PS: Bring tissues!

2. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

A captivating story of six teens who meet at a summer camp in 1974, and their lives and friendships from that point on. It addresses the theme of perhaps not becoming as great as one dreamed of - and being around people you view to be greater than yourself.

 It's a little more adult than the first book on this list. Definitely an interesting book, and a good one to take on vacation.

3. Divergent by Veronica Roth

If you haven't read it already, this summer is the time! 

Set in a dystopian Chicago, society has been divided into five different factions, based on five different virtues. In this world, everyone must choose their place, and stay there. But what if you belong in more than one place?

Very interesting story, quite easy to follow, but still exciting.

4. Atonement by Ian McEwan

If you haven't already seen the movie, this is the book to read. It's a sort of love story, but seen through the eyes of someone on the outside of it; the character of Briony Tallis, an imaginative child. It starts on the hottest day of the summer in 1935, when Briony watches her older sister Cecilia and Robbie Turner, a childhood friend. From that night on, their lives will have changed forever.

A truly fascinating story. A bit heavier to read than the other books, but the writing is gorgeous.

5. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Though actually a children's book, this is a beautiful little story, perfect for summer. It's an easy read, but of high quality. It's main character is orphaned Mary Lennox, a horrible child, selfish and spoilt, and we follow her as she moves to Misselthwaite Manor, where she discovers a secret garden. But the Manor holds more than just one secret.

Everyone should read this, no matter what age you are!

Happy reading, everyone!

Word Cloud Classic: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Word Cloud Classic: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain - another gorgeous edition by Canterbury Classics. I love the font on this one, and the rose gold lettering. Probably one of my favorite covers from this series of books.

Definitely one of the most beautiful endpapers I've seen!

Top 5: Unread Authors

Top 5: Unread Authors

So, I have a never-ending list of to-read books. Among those, I have five top authors I really want to dive into.

1. F. Scott Fitzgerald

Irish-american author I have heard so much about. The book I desperately want to read is "The Great Gatsby" because it just seems like a must-read story, and everyone keeps raving about it.

2. Ernest Hemingway

Now, I actually read a short story by Hemingway in school, and I just remember hating it. However, I feel like I didn't really give it a good try, so I want to read "The Old Man and the Sea" because I've heard great things about it (and it isn't too long).

3. Charlotte Brontë

I can't believe I've never gotten around to any of the Brontë sisters, but I really want to. The one I want to read is "Jane Eyre", because it sounds like such a full and fascinating story. I might be most excited about this one.

4. John Wyndham

Simply because I think "The Day of the Triffids" sound really interesting, and I've heard great things about the author.

5. Charles Dickens

Cannot believe I've never read Dickens. It's time, and I want to read "A Christmas Carol" (I'll probably wait until Christmas time though).

I want to try to read these this year, and I can't wait!

Word Cloud Classic: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea

Word Cloud Classic: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea
Another Word Cloud Classic, this one is "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne. I haven't heard of this before, so it'll be a surprise when I get around to reading it.

Can't get over how beautiful these are!

Word Cloud Classics: Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence

Word Cloud Classics: Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence
This is another one of my beautiful Word Cloud Classics; Lady Chatteryley's Lover. Pretty excited to read this one!

Photography Books: Before They Pass Away by Jimmy Nelson

Photography Books: Before They Pass Away by Jimmy Nelson
Yesterday, I went to a talk by Jimmy Nelson at Cinemateket in Oslo, and I thought I would show this photography book: "Before They Pass Away."

This is what it looks like. It has this beautiful cover and the book itself is gigantic, even for a photography book. I was so excited when I got this last Christmas. My poor parents nearly broke their backs carrying it home from the bookstore.

The book contains images of different small tribes all around the world. The title refers to how the culture of these tribes are dying, not the actual people (at least I think so).

Now, what I found interesting about hearing him talk is how he explained the controversy his project has sparked. When I read through the book, I didn't really see it as controversial. Different yes, because it's not your typical style of documentary photography, it has more of an artsy vibe to it (which I love.)

The reason I love these images is because of how Jimmy captures the beauty of the people; not the part where we would see as suffering, poverty and a "hard life", but the pride and esthetic of them and their culture. I think it's a very interesting take on what we would call "primitive people".

If you want to see Jimmy talk about his work, he has a Ted Talk online, which you can watch here.

If you want to read more about his project, you can visit his website.

Even if you don't want to get too much into the subject of the book, you should look at it for the sheer beauty of it. Personally one of my favorite photography books.

Series Review: The Cousins War by Philippa Gregory

Today I thought I would review all the books I've read in Philippa Gregorys "The Cousins War" series.

So far, 5 books have been published, and I think the final one is being published this autumn.

Now, I read these in the chronological order of the story, not in order of publication.

Sidenote: I love these editions, they're so pretty.

Disclaimer: I try to write all my reviews spoiler-free, but you will get the general gist of how the story progresses between the different books.

On to the reviews!

Title: The Lady of the Rivers
Published: 2008
Pages: 443

Rating: 4/5

Summary: 

This is the story of Jaquetta, daughter of the Count of Luxembourg. She is married off to an Englishman by the name of John, Duke of Bedford, the uncle of King Henry VI in the beginning of the book, and we follow her through two marriages and all the intrigue of the English court.

Review:

I found this book intriguing and fascinating, and I found the main character, Jaquetta, to have a good voice. I felt like if I met her, I would like her. I really enjoyed the whole story, though it sometimes felt a little repetitive.

Definitely a good start to the series.

Title: The Red Queen
Published: 2010
Pages: 382
Rating: 4/5

Summary:

In this book, we meet Margaret Beaufort. She is the child bride of Edmund Tudor and has one son with him. This is the story of a woman determined to undermine and destroy the House of York, ensuring that the House of Lancaster and her only son becomes King of England.

Review:

I found the viewpoint of Margaret to be a very interesting one. She is unmoveable in her desire to put her son on the throne. Her life is not always an easy one, but she never surrenders. She is also extremely religious, and believes herself to have a special connection with God. All of this makes her who she is: a strong but obsessed and unlikeable woman. 

I thought the fact that the character is so incredibly unlikeable is what really made this book worth reading. And I loved how she's sort of bat shit crazy already from a very young age.

Title: The White Queen

Published: 2008
Pages: 408

Rating: 4/5

Summary:

This story is written through the perspective of Elizabeth Woodville, the firstborn daughter of Jaquetta (from the first book). Her story is the story of a woman who goes from a commoner to the Queen of England.

Review:

I found this story pretty exciting, although somewhat repetitive at times. I especially enjoyed the feuds at court and how they consume some of the characters. I did wish for a better family tree (one is provided in the beginning of the book), because a lot of characters have the same names, and it gets confusing.

This might be more of a 3.5/4, because I read all of these books back to back, and it feels more and more repetitive in both language and storylines.

Title: The Kingmaker's Daughter

Published: 2012
Pages: 417

Rating: 2/5

Summary:

This time, we hear the story of one of the daughters of Richard "The Kingmaker" Neville. Her name is Anne, and this story centres around how she is used as a political pawn in her fathers never ending game of trying to rule England.

Review:

Now, the main problem I have with this book is that it follows the same storyline of both "The Red Queen" and "The White Queen". This resulted in me knowing almost everything that was going to happen to Anne. The first part of the book gave some new insight, but the rest was simply boring and provided me with very little excitement.

Title: The White Princess

Published: 2013
Pages: 528

Rating: 4/5

Summary:

This story is about Elizabeth, the daughter of Elizabeth Woodville (who is the daughter of Jaquetta). The story centres around the English Court, where Elizabeth is Queen of England, married to a man she doesn't even know.

Review:

This book felt like a breath of fresh air, mostly because of the new timeline. I found the characters fascinating and I liked their development (especially in the marriage between Elizabeth and her husband). I must admit this book feels a little repetitive too though.

Overall, I like this series, but it definitely has its ups and downs. I would recommend this to anyone who really likes historical fiction. If you're unsure, read the first one and see what you think. 

I might recommend not reading them back to back though, because it's a little over the top.