Book Recap (Fiction): Messenger, Night Circus, Fight Club, The Fault In Our Stars

This past month, I read four good books, each entirely different from the others. No monotony :) Here's a run down of what I thought. 


1. Messenger (by Lois Lowry) 

rating: 3/5 stars


thoughts:
I had high hopes for this book simply because it's part of the "The Giver" trilogy. I am most unfortunate to have skipped the second book, "Gathering Blue," because I wasn't aware of the sequence. Fortunately, the story of "Messenger" stands alone and you can enjoy it even without reading the first two books. That being said, I would still recommend that you read the first two because some characters show up in this final installment and it would be easier to appreciate them if you knew their background.


The story is set in a place called Village, where outcasts and newcomers are welcomed and given a place in society (characters from the first two books have fled to this Village to seek belongingness). People are revered for their unique imperfections. Everyone is accepted and there is always a helping hand wherever you go. 


The story revolves around a young boy named Matty who hopes to someday be named as Village "messenger." Because of his familiarity with the forest, he is usually tasked with sending messages or goods to communities outside of Village.  


Through time, some people in the village start changing. They decided that they didn't want to continue welcoming the needy, the imperfect, the handicapped. They fear that their resources may not be enough for them. With this,they decide to close off Village by building a wall. 


I am this close to giving spoilers, so I'm stopping myself while I can. All I can say is that this book gave me a lot to think about. I had a lot of "why" questions and metaphors I needed to piece together. "Messenger" has that depth to it that usually the seemingly simple books have. 


My only problem with it was the ending. While I was reading through the peak of the story, I couldn't help but notice that there were very few pages left. I'm like, "How can the ending be so near? It's only starting to get exciting." And then it does end, and I wish it hadn't ended that way. That abrupt, and as usual, without the closure you get from knowing what happens to them after. Guess Lois Lowry really wants us to keep us guessing.


2. The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern)

rating: 3/5 stars


thoughts:
This book was a recommendation from my boss. I was a bit hesitant to read it at first because I wanted to take some time away from fantasies and read more real-life types of stories. I'm glad I picked this up though because reading it is a thrill to the senses. 


"The Night Circus" is about Celia and Marco, magicians trained from childhood to eventually compete against each other. The problem is *surprisesurprise* they fall in love. The circus was to be the venue of their "battle."


Morgenstern is an expert at creating magical atmospheres, beautiful imagery and mysteriously interesting characters. She probably knows this, which is why practically half of the book are descriptions. It is not a book to read if you're into fast-paced stories. 


To give you an idea about how slow the story is, Celia and Marco don't meet until about halfway into the book. My hair turned white just waiting for them to finally meet. When they do, the story picks up, but not in the way I expected. 


I guess I expected it to be exciting and action-packed, as the summary talks about some sort of competition between magicians. However, there wasn't much action at all. In fact, I think the story just kind of "faded" towards the end (pun intended, but you'll only get it if you've read the book=p). 


I did like reading about the (somewhat shallow) love story though - it entertained me, and the circus and all it's aspects mesmerized me. I desperately want to go to the night circus right this minute. Now that I think about it, The Circus was the main character of this story, not Celia and Marco.

“The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.”


Second to the circus, my favorite part was reading about the "midnight dinners."


“But the Midnight Dinners have an air of nocturnal mystery already, and Chandresh finds that providing no menu, no map of the culinary route, adds to the experience. Dish after dish is brought to the table, some easily identifiable as quail or rabbit or lamb, served on banana leaves or baked in apples or garnished with brandy-soaked cherries. Other courses are more enigmatic, concealed in sweet sauces or spiced soups; unidentifiable meats hidden in pastries and glazes.”

Care for dessert?

"The desserts are always astonishing. Confections deliriously executed in chocolate and butterscotch, berries bursting with creams and liqueurs. Cakes layered to impossible heights, pastries lighter than air. Figs that drip with honey, suger blown into curls and flowers. Often, dinners remark that they are too pretty, too impressive to eat, but they always find a way to manage."


And that is how you describe food. 


I therefore conclude that this book 1)makes you wish this fantasy circus existed, 2)makes you hungry.



3. Fight Club (Chuck Palahniuk)

rating: 4/5 stars


thoughts:
Finally finally finally. It took me ages to finally read this, and I put off watching the movie because they all say you have to read the book first. So now, I've read it and watched it, and I can't decide which one I loved more.


Honestly, it wasn't that easy for me to get into the groove of Chuck Palahniuk's writing, especially when he was jumping from one thing to another after every sentence. Once I got past the first few chapters though, it got better.


It's about a guy living a mundane life who's reality changed after meeting Tyler Durden. Together, they started Fight Club, where men of all backgrounds fight their nights away and go home with a renewed sense being able to handle anything life throws at them.

"After a night in fight club, everything in the real world gets the volume turned down. Nothing can piss you off. Your word is law, and if other people break that law or question you, even that doesn't piss you off."

I can't really say much about this book, except that it blew my mind. Reading it is an experience in itself. It's dark and witty and not as focused on violence as I originally expected. It's more about breaking away from the traps of society and renouncing consumerism.

"You have a class of young strong men and women, and they want to give their lives to something. Advertising has these people chasing cars and clothes they don't need. Generations have been working in jobs they hate, just so they can buy what they don't really need."


It's really good storytelling, a story that's hard to forget. 

""Because everything up to now is a story," Tyler says, "and everything after now is a story."
This is the greatest moment of our life."

What Palahniuk book should I read next?

4. The Fault In Our Stars (John Green)

rating: 5/5 stars


thoughts: So here's the thing. If a book makes me cry buckets, it automatically gets 5 stars. (Following this kind of logic, this book should probably get more than 5 stars.haha!)


This is the story of Hazel and Agustus, two teenagers who fall in love. It's just like any other young romance, only, these kids have cancer. For that, they have a deeper understanding of being alive and being in love, which is evident in the way they talk.


Even though cancer plays a major part in their lives, they don't let it control them. Hazel aptly words it as "living with cancer, not dying of it."


I like that the characters are smart, witty and very likable. They're not cheesy or melodramatic, and they're like regular teenagers in a lot of ways. "Flirting was new to me, but I liked it."


For a book that initially seems daunting because of the theme it tackles, "The Fault in Our Stars" actually made me laugh a lot.

Me: *reading*
Boyfriend: What are you reading?
Me: A book about kids with cancer who fall in love. *continues reading*
(after a while)
Me: *giggles*
Boyfriend: Why are you laughing? Aren't you reading about cancer kids?

And of course it made me cry, too.

Me: *crying*
Boyfriend: Why are you crying?
Me: *still crying, can't talk*
Boyfriend: WHYARE YOU CRYING?
Me: Someone died.
(Well, you can't read about cancer and nobody dies. This is not a spoiler because I'm not saying who died.)

See. You go through the whole range of emotions. Never has the word "okay" meant so much.

It's a beautiful, beautiful book. One that can only be truly appreciated if read because summarizing it would not do justice to the words John Green put together.

"You don't get to choose if you get hurt in the world, but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices."


Favorite book of the year, so far. :)