Past reads- Three books off the list

As you can see I have finished three books (besides my annual re-readings of Harry Potter) but I cannot possibly do a full, legit review of them since it was so long ago and chemo brain is a real thing. However I can do a small review for each

Ulysses

This is a massive book that explains one day in the lives of two characters called Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus. When I say massive I mean 265,000 words in length, uses a lexicon of 30,030 words (including proper names, plurals and various verb tenses),[5] and is divided into eighteen episodes according to Wikipedia.  It jumps between multiple characters that are weaved in and out of each other’s lives. This book is the most interesting because of its history of censorship. The book was labeled as obscene and the first shipment was seized by customs when it was being imported in the 1930’s resulting in a court case over its obscenity status. They even burned copies of it in the United States.  In full honesty this is a book I honestly believe that people 1.) Did not fully understand (it is VERY difficult to follow at times and goes off of on what feels like stream of consciousness tangents a majority of the time) and 2. What they did understand (that there were sexual themes) were written in a way that made them feel unintelligent. These two pieces caused the outrage against this book. As far as I remember there is a scene of masturbation and there is a scene of crazy, crazy drug use in a brothel.  Every single element of this book though is described in complex literary detail. It is not graphic by today’s standard in the slightest, even with sex references. There are some really fun riddles and puns but a majority of the time for me personally, I felt like there were tangents just to have tangents and obscurity for the sake of obscurity. I did find the switch in writing styles very interesting. I think that this book is like Citizen Kane, if you only watch the movie compared to current day movies, you lose the groundbreaking nature of the film. This book is the same, I assume that when this book came out it was really groundbreaking. It showed women making decisions that scared a male driven society and it scared them. Compared to current literature this book is not obscene in almost anyway. Overall I do not think this book should be on this list at all, there is not a single part that I thought was too graphic. The only thing this book could do that is bad is make you fall asleep, hurt your back from lugging it around, or inspire you to try and write in a different manner. I am glad I read it so I can say that yes I read every single one of the 265,000 words but I have no desire to ever read it again.

Bridge to Terabithia

I watched this movie when it came out and I loved it but I went in knowing that parents had flipped their shit about the ending. When a book forced a parent to actually BE a parent, they fight to get it put on this list. This book deals with real life issues that children will face in their lifetime-loss, stability, growing up- and it does so with a refreshing grace and beauty. The story follows main character Jesse Aarons and his new friend Leslie Burke and their adventures in dealing with their real life through imagination and creativity. They create an imaginary kingdom called Terebithia where they can be free and get away from their real life issues. This book has been added to this list due to religious zealots not understanding the power of imagination and hating anything that is not Christian literature. There is not a single element of this book that is anti- religion, it really comes down to people wanting to avoid being parents and avoid anything that makes them talk to their kids like human beings. It also boils down to people wanting to control everything that doesn’t fit into their own religious mold. Overall, this book is beautifully written, it is relatively short, but the characters are fleshed out and it is nice story of growing up. I would recommend this book whole heartedly, especially if you enjoy books that remind you of your childhood reading days.

Catcher in the Rye

This is the last book I read and it follows the main character Holden Caulfield as he goes on a teenage rebellion streak. This book is another I do not understand. There is a scene with a prostitute but no sex and no graphic detail. There is a hint that one character is a homosexual and may be a pedophile but it is never fleshed out in the novel.  This book is more about a teenager who is whiny and spoiled and the teenage angst he feels in his privileged life than it is a real book that has anything inappropriate or wrong. The title is derived from his desire to save children from the evils of being an adult- essentially catching them when they get to close to the cliff edge during their play time in a field of rye. It is basically a misunderstanding of Robert Burn’s poem/children’s song where he heard “body catch a body” instead of “body meet a body”. I found nothing in this book to be worth of a challenge. Yes it addresses teenage angst but everyone either was or will be a teenager at some point in their lives. Its censorship history resides in fears of Communism, and fears of children growing up into adults. This is quite humorous when one looks at the themes in this novel. By challenging this book, the censors are merely stepping into the hero role that Holden believe his encompasses. Overall, I do not see what the big deal is about this book to be perfectly honest. There is nothing in this book that is overtly sexual or graphic in nature. In fact this is a pretty tame book when one considers that it revolves around the themes of teenagers dealing with becoming an adult and everything that entails.