Books Galore!

Currently, I am reading three books at a time. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Lolita, and Giovanni's Room. They're all great novels and they're all on the list of 1000 books to read before you die!

100 Years has taken months to read, or at least it seems like months. I pick it up and i'm astounded by how in 5 pages 5 years fly by. Plus, all of the characters have very similar names and ones who are long dead will suddenly be mentioned fifty pages later. I still am not sure who the protagonist is!! I'm assuming it's Ursula simply because she's a main character throughout the entire novel and hasn't died or been forgotten. I'm excited to finish it however, because usually books like these end well.

Lolita is a pretty easy read, character-wise. The only things that really trip me up are the French phrases and very elevated diciton. It is creepy to understand how this pedophile's mind works, but the novel itself is very well written and i at least find it interesting. The novel allows pedophiles to be viewed humanely. I mean, most people assume pedophiles would abduct, rape, and then murder a child but in reality I believe the majority know right from wrong and wouldn't purposely hurt any child. But then again, that's getting into psychology in which nothing is completely proven. Still, it's a very good novel and I think it's important to get both sides of the story anyway.

Giovanni's Room is written by James Baldwin, an author who just fascinates me. He was an African-American and openly gay during the 1950's and wrote controversial novels like Giovanni's Room. The amount of discrimination and prejudice he must have received in the United States during the 1950's is just unimaginable. Good for him, though for still being himself and successful despite the ignorance. I'm not very far in Giovanni's room (I started it during lunch today), but it's highly recommended by many of my friends so I have high expectations. The first 7 pages are depressing, but hopefully it won't make me too sad. Probably.
I need to catch up on my reading because I'm still a little behind.

For this week so far:

100 Years of Solitude: 0

Lolita: 10

Giovanni's Room: 9